Administration could be held in contempt
Federal judge finds 'probable cause' in Venezuelan migrants' deportation case
By: Trevor Hughes
Sudiksha Kochi
and John Bacon
USA Today
WASHINGTON - A federal judge found "probable cause" to hold President Donald Trump's administration in contempt of court for violating his order last month [03/2025] halting deportation of Venezuelan migrants under a wartime law, as a Democratic senator arrived in El Salvador seeking the return of an "illegally abducted" man.
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Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg's April 16 [2025] order is the latest escalation in the Trump administration's standoff with the courts over its deportations of migrants to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, which has been criticized for its harsh and dangerous conditions.
..... Boasberg said the administration demonstrated "willful disregard" for his March 15 [2025] order barring the government from deporting Venezuelan alleged gang members to El Salvador under the alien enemies Act, a 1798 law that previously had only been invoked when the U.S. was at war.
..... When Boasberg issued the March [2025] order, two planes of Venezuelans were on their way from the United States
to El Salvador and had not returned to the United States. he said there was probable cause to find the government in criminal contempt.
..... "The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions," Boas berg wrote in his ruling. "None of their responses has been satisfactory."
..... Boasberg ordered the administration to produce a timeline of the deportation flights, including when they took off, when they crossed into international airspace and where they landed.
..... He also ordered the administration to report exactly, which men were put on the flights under the alien Enemies Act, and which were removed for other reasons. Acknowledging the national-security concerns raised by Justice Department attorneys, Boasberg said the response could be filed secretly.
..... The Supreme court ruled earlier this month [04/2025] that Trump has the right to remove people form the U.S. under the 1798 alien Enemies Act, but also said those people have the right to challenge their removal. Boasberg's ruling came in the case of five men transported to CECOT without the opportunity to make their case before a judge.
..... Meanwhile Senator Chris Van Hollen D-Maryland, arrived i El Salvador on April 16 [2025] on a mission to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a union sheet metal worker and father of three from Maryland who was wrongly deported to the Central American country is being held in the prison.
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Van Hollen said he spoke with the vice president of El Salvador, Felix Ulloa, and asked for a meeting but was refused. The lawmakers said he hasn't been able to access the infamous prison - or speak to Abrego Garcia by phone. Ulloa also could not guarantee that Van Hollen could see Garcia if he came back next week. [[04/21/2025]
..... "I won't stop trying and I can assure the president and the vice president that I may be the first United States senator to visit Al Salvador on this issue, but there will be more," he told reporters.
..... Two
House Democrats are requesting an official congressional delegation to visit to the El Salvador prison and "conduct a welfare check" on Abrego Garcia.
..... Representatives Robert Carcia, D-California, and Maxwell Frost D-Florida, made the request in a letter sent April 15 [2025] to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Kentucky. it comes as other Democrats, seek to travel to the prison."Congressional oversight is warranted following President Trump's recent remarks in which he expressed a desire to send 'homegrown criminals' - including U.S. citizens - to this facility," Garcia and Frost wrote, referring Trump's suggestion this week [04/15/2025] that he could also send American citizens who commit violent crimes to El Salvador.
..... The Democratic lawmakers can visit El Salvador on their own, but they would need permission from Comer for it to be an official delegation paid for with government funds. A spokesperson for Comer did not immediately return a request for comment.
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The Trump administration contends Abroeg Garcia is a member of the MS-13 criminal gang but has provided little evidence. he entered the U.S. illegally as a teenager to flee gang violence in El Salvador, but a federal immigration judge in 2019 granted him a legal protective order allowing him to stay in the country. Abrego Garcia's attorney say he is not gang member. he has not been convicted or charged with any crimes.
..... The Trump administration admitted in court documents that Abrego Garcia's deportation to El Salvador was a mistake, which it blamed it on an "administrative error." But the Justice Department said it has no authority to return home to the United States because he is in a foreign country.
.... Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who met with Trump on April 14 [2025] in Washington, told reporters he does not have the power to return Abrego Garcia and called the suggestion he would release him "preposterous."
..... The Supreme Court ruled on April 10 [2025] that Trump administration "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return - but did send the case back to a federal judge in Maryland for clarification. that judge, Paula Xinis, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, warned Trump administration lawyers on April 15 [2025] to comply with the order, and admonished government attorneys for failing to provide evidence of what they were doing to bring him home.
..... "There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding," said Xinis. "To date, what the record shows is that nothing has been done. Nothing."
..... Attorney Gen real Pam Bondi, however, says the government satisfied the order to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return by telling Bukele that, if El Salvador wants to return Abrego Garcia, the U.S. would provide a plane.
..... Representing the Trump administrator, attorney Drew Ensign said Bukele's comments in the Oval Office showed that Abrego Garcia's case "was raised with the highest authority El Salvador."
..... Contributing: Philip M Bailey George Petra, Riley Beggin and Veronica Bravo, USA Today