Judge Boasberg Doesn’t Think He Has the ‘Power’ to Block Trump Deportations

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg declined to grant an emergency motion blocking the Trump administration from deporting more people under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) on Friday, saying he doesn’t think he has the “power” to do so because of a recent Supreme Court ruling.

Why It Matters

The Trump administration has ignited a firestorm over its deportation of more than 200 migrants to El Salvador. The migrants, many of whom have not been convicted of crimes, are being held in El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).

Boasberg has been at the center of a protracted fight over whether the White House and Department of Justice (DOJ) were legally authorized to deport the migrants without due process.

The Supreme Court recently ruled that while the government can deport people under the AEA, detainees must have the chance to challenge their removal. It also ruled 9-0 that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of one of the migrants, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was being held at CECOT until Friday, when he was transferred to another prison in El Salvador.

Both the Trump administration and El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, have said they lack the authority to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.

Then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump salutes during a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center on October 11 in Aurora, Colorado.

Alex Brandon/AP

What To Know

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed several emergency motions on Friday seeking court orders blocking what the group said was an imminent second round of deportations.

The civil rights organization asked Boasberg for an emergency order requiring the government to give anyone subject to the AEA 30 days to file a habeas corpus lawsuit, which is a legal action challenging someone’s detention or imprisonment.

But Boasberg declined to grant ACLU’s motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO), saying at a Friday hearing that while he was “sympathetic” to the group’s concerns, he doesn’t believe he has the authority to issue a nationwide TRO.

“I’m sympathetic to everything you’re saying,” Boasberg said at Friday’s emergency hearing. “I just don’t think I have the power to do anything about it.”

Boasberg pointed specifically to one part of the Supreme Court’s April 7 ruling, which said that legal challenges to deportations under the AEA must be filed in the jurisdictions where individuals are detained.

Shortly after, Boasberg issued his ruling, declining to grant ACLU’s motion.

A lawyer representing the government had said earlier that there were no plans for immediate deportations but later left the door open to the possibility.

“I’ve spoken with [Department of Homeland Security]; they are not aware of any current plans for flights tomorrow,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign told Boasberg on Friday. “But I have also been told to say that they reserve the right to remove people tomorrow.”

ACLU has also filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Trump administration is defying the court’s recent ruling by trying to deport more people under the AEA without due process.

What People Are Saying

Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for ACLU, told Boasberg: “I do not think that the Supreme Court anticipated that its ruling would be ignored like this.”

The Trump administration interpreted the Supreme Court’s ruling as a victory and the Justice Department said: “As the Supreme Court correctly recognized, it is the exclusive prerogative of the president to conduct foreign affairs.”