Judge to address how he'll proceed with contempt inquiry into AEA deportations

Source: ABC News

November 19, 2025, 5:16 AM


U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, in a hearing Wednesday, is set to address how he will proceed with the early stages of contempt proceedings into whether Trump administration officials violated a court order by deporting hundreds of men to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act in March.

The Trump administration invoked the AEA -- an 18th-century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process -- to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a "hybrid criminal state" that is invading the United States.

Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order and ordered that the planes be turned around, but Justice Department attorneys said his oral instructions directing the flight to be returned were defective, and the deportations proceeded as planned.

Boasberg's earlier finding that the Trump administration likely acted in contempt was halted for months after an appeals court issued an emergency stay. While a federal appeals court on Friday declined to reinstate Boasberg's original order, the ruling allows him to move forward with his fact-finding inquiry. Attorneys representing the men sent to El Salvador will also argue for a preliminary injunction to allow them to contest their AEA designation.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-address-hell-proceed-contempt-inquiry-aea-deportations/story?id=127644181