A federal judge overseeing a “fact-finding” hearing on Monday challenged the Trump administration’s argument that it had the right to disregard his court order while deporting over 200 alleged gang members to El Salvador over the weekend.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg expressed skepticism toward Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys, saying it was “a heck of a stretch” for them to claim his directive could be ignored.
On Saturday, Boasberg had verbally instructed the administration to turn back any aircraft carrying deportees if they were still in the air. However, sources say senior Trump administration lawyers and officials decided to let the flights continue, arguing that once the planes were over international waters, the court’s authority no longer applied.
Boasberg’s verbal directive accompanied a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from deporting noncitizens after President Trump invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to fast-track removals of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
During Monday’s hearing, Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli defended the administration’s actions, arguing that the judge’s verbal directive was not binding until it was issued in writing later that evening.
Boasberg pushed back forcefully.
“You knew in the morning that there would be a hearing at 5 p.m., so any plane that you put in the air around that time, you knew I was having a hearing about,” Boasberg told DOJ lawyers. “So when I said directly to turn those planes around, the idea that my written order was pithier, that this could be disregarded—that’s a heck of a stretch.”
DOJ attorneys refused to provide additional details on the Trump administration’s deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, citing “national security and diplomatic concerns.”
Kambli insisted that the administration had complied with the written order but failed to provide supporting evidence. Instead, he offered conflicting defenses, including claims that Trump’s broad executive authority justified the deportations.
The hearing raises further legal questions about whether the administration deliberately circumvented the court’s ruling—a matter that could lead to additional legal challenges in the days ahead.
