A federal judge hauled the Trump administration into court on Monday to explain why it defied his verbal order to hold off on deporting some Venezuelan nationals accused of being Tren de Aragua gang members.
The hearing sets up a potentially explosive constitutional showdown between the executive and judiciary branches of government and comes as Trump allies have repeatedly suggested impeaching or otherwise removing judges who issue rulings unfavorable to the White House.
The Context
The Department of Justice (DOJ) argued Monday that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s verbal order to hold off on deporting the Venezuelan nationals was “not enforceable.”
The government made its remarkable claim in a court filing submitted to Boasberg shortly before a hearing in which Boasberg asked the DOJ to explain whether it violated his order to stand down on deporting more than 200 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador over the weekend.
Trump officials have insisted that the White House complied with Boasberg’s order, while also saying federal courts “have no jurisdiction” over Trump’s power to deport undocumented immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has historically only been invoked in wartime.
Alex Brandon/AP
What To Know
In its six-page filing before the hearing, the DOJ argued that “an oral directive is not enforceable as an injunction,” adding, “Written orders are crucial because they clarify the bounds of permissible conduct.”
Boasberg appeared deeply skeptical of the assertion that a verbal court order is not enforceable.
“You’re telling me, when I made that very clear point, you’re telling me you felt you could disregard it because it wasn’t in the written order?” Boasberg asked Abhishek Kambli, an attorney for the DOJ.
Kambli replied: “Your honor, our argument would be that this court lost jurisdiction the moment they were out of U.S. airspace.”
Boasberg also pressed Kambli on how many planes took off from the U.S. on Saturday based solely on the Alien Enemies Act.
Kambli responded that he was only authorized to say that “no planes took off from the United States after the written order came through.”
Boasberg pushed back on Kambli’s assertion. “If what you’re saying is it’s classified and you can’t tell me, then you’re going to need to make a good showing,” the judge said.
He went on to direct the DOJ to submit to the court in writing by noon Tuesday why it couldn’t share more information about the timing of the flights. He also demanded more information about how many planes took off, where they went, what time they took off, when they landed and how many people were transferred from each plane into the custody of the country in which they landed.
Trump on Saturday issued an executive order announcing that he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act to expel Venezuelan nationals over age 14 who have ties to Tren de Aragua.
On Saturday evening, Boasberg blocked the administration from using the law to carry out the deportations and verbally ordered planes carrying the Venezuelan migrants to turn around and return to the U.S. The Trump administration went ahead with the deportations despite Boasberg’s order.
In their filing before Monday’s hearing, DOJ lawyers again drew a distinction between Boasberg’s verbal order and his written order.
“The narrower written order may well represent a more considered judgment by the court about the proper exercise of its powers,” the DOJ said. “In accord with this well-established law, the written minute order governed.”
“The Court’s written injunction, which issued at approximately 7:25 PM EDT, properly did not seek to interfere with the President’s Article II powers to conduct military operations overseas by directing the return of aliens associated with a designated foreign terrorist organization who had already been removed from United States territory — even though the written order did memorialize other, narrower oral directives from the hearing,” the filing said.
The Justice Department went on to make another extraordinary claim: that government lawyers did not have to show up for Monday’s 5 p.m. hearing because the Trump administration will not provide further details about the deportation flights. The department said that as a result, Boasberg should “vacate” Monday’s hearing.
Boasberg rejected the request.
DOJ lawyers also sent a letter to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., which oversees Boasberg, asking it to remove him from overseeing the case while citing his “highly unusual and improper procedures.”
What People Are Saying
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox & Friends earlier Monday that the administration will plow ahead with its deportation plans, saying in part: “We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think, I don’t care what the left thinks. We’re coming.”
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Basically, Judge Boasberg is treating this like a fairly normal immigration-related case. The government makes arguments, he decides whether they are valid, and things proceed normally. Meanwhile the Trump admin is suggesting it’s like ordering the president not to kill Hitler.”
Matt Tympanick, founder of Tympanick Law, P.A., wrote on X: “From a purely non-partisan standpoint: Telling the Judge they didn’t violate the order because it was verbal order instead of written isn’t going to fly. Most Judges make their rulings orally from the bench and they possess the same power as a written order.”
This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
