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A US federal judge said on Wednesday he had found “probable cause” to hold President Donald Trump’s administration in “criminal contempt” for deporting alleged members of Venezuelan gangs to El Salvador, despite the judge issuing a temporary restraining order to halt the deportations.
In a written opinion, district judge James Boasberg cited “evidence” of the federal government engaging in a “deliberate or reckless disregard” by proceeding with the flights despite the restraining order, news agency AFP reported.
Boasberg wrote, “Defendants provided no convincing reason to avoid the conclusion which appears obvious, that they deliberately flouted this court’s written order and, separately, its oral command which explicitly delineated what compliance entailed.”
The judge added, “The administration’s actions were sufficient to conclude that probable cause exists to find the government in criminal contempt.”
However, Boasberg offered a final chance to the Trump administration to “purge such contempt” or face further court action.
The judge had issued a temporary restraining order on March 15 to pause the deportations, carried out under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The obscure wartime law strips away the usual legal due process.
White House plans ‘immediate’ appeal
The White House said it would file an “immediate” appeal to the decision by the district judge.
“We plan to seek immediate appellate relief. The president is 100 per cent committed to ensuring that terrorists and criminal illegal migrants are no longer a threat to Americans and their communities across the country,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement after the ruling.
The Alien Enemies Act had only been used previously during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II; Trump said he was targeting “transnational gangs” he had declared foreign terrorist organizations.
These included the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua, but lawyers for several of the deported Venezuelans denied their clients were gang members, and stated they had committed no crimes and were targeted largely “on the basis of their tattoos.”
