Judge Warns Trump Officials Over Deportation Defiance

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found probable cause to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for willfully defying orders to halt deportations of both Venezuelan and Salvadoran migrants under the Alien Enemies Act. The administration continued deportation flights to El Salvador and has refused to return Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadoran man deported from Maryland despite court protections, with the White House asserting he will never be allowed to return. Both the federal judiciary and the US Supreme Court have ordered the administration to facilitate the return of deported individuals, but officials have not complied. Boasberg has criticized this 'willful disregard' for judicial authority and warned of possible prosecution if corrective action is not taken. He has given officials a final chance to purge contempt by proposing compliance measures that do not necessarily require the physical return of deportees. The case has heightened tensions between the executive and judicial branches and raised concerns about the rule of law and separation of powers.