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By Shane Croucher
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President Donald Trump has attacked the judge who blocked his deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members as "crooked" and an "agitator," demanding his impeachment for thwarting the democratic will.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg temporarily blocked the Trump Administration from using an 18th-century wartime law—the Alien Enemies Act—to accelerate the deportation of Venezuelan gang members.
The act allows noncitizens to be deported without the opportunity to go before an immigration or federal court judge. Trump's Saturday proclamation called the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.
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"This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges' I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday morning.
"WE DON'T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY."
In response to Newsweek's request, a representative of the U.S. District Court for D.C., where Boasberg is chief judge, declined to comment.
Why It Matters
The Trump Administration is fighting a wave of legal action against its attempts to overhaul the U.S. and is frustrated by what it sees as judicial overreach as judges block its actions in areas such as immigration and cuts to federal spending.
However, Trump's opponents say his administration is stretching beyond the legal bounds of its powers, and the courts are a necessary constitutional break on its excesses.
These legal battles—many of which may end up in front of the conservative-majority Supreme Court—may reshape the scope of executive power in the U.S.
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What To Know
Two legal advocacy groups—the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Democracy Forward—filed a suit on behalf of five Venezuelans held in immigration detention who feared they would be falsely labeled members of Tren de Aragua and deported under the Alien Enemies Act.
Boasberg barred those Venezuelans' deportations Saturday morning when the suit was filed, and then broadened it to all people in federal custody who could be targeted by the act after his afternoon hearing.
Boasberg noted that the law has never before been used outside of a congressionally declared war. He added that plaintiffs may successfully argue Trump exceeded his legal authority in invoking it.
Boasberg had ordered a halt to deportation flights for at least 14 days and directed that planes already in the air be turned around. But those flights already off the ground continued anyway to El Salvador, where the Venezuelans were to be detained.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele agreed to house about 300 immigrants for a year in his country's prisons for $6 million.
Boasberg held a hearing on Monday over the "possible defiance" of his court order.
Trump's lawyers argued they were complying with Boasberg's written order, given some time after his oral instruction in court, which is why the in-air flights continued.
The lawyers also said that the order couldn't apply to flights outside the U.S. and that they could not answer Boasberg's questions about the trips due to national security issues.
Boasberg called the arguments "one heck of a stretch."
"The administration did not 'refuse to comply' with a court order," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Sunday.
"The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory."
The administration has not identified who was deported.
What People Are Saying
"This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President," Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to Boasberg.
"He didn't WIN the popular VOTE (by a lot!), he didn't WIN ALL SEVEN SWING STATES, he didn't WIN 2,750 to 525 Counties, HE DIDN'T WIN ANYTHING!
"I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY.
"I'm just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do," the president said.
"Oopsie … Too late," Bukele wrote on the social-media site X above an article about Boasberg's ruling.
The Brennan Center for Justice criticized Trump on Saturday for his invocation of the wartime act. "The Alien Enemies Act may be used only during declared wars or armed attacks on the United States by foreign governments," the center said.
"The president has falsely proclaimed an invasion and predatory incursion to use a law written for wartime for peacetime immigration enforcement."
Lee Gelernt of the ACLU, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the suit trying to block Trump's deportations, warned that "I think we're getting very close" to a constitutional crisis.
What Happens Next
Boasberg's temporary restraining order is only in effect for up to 14 days as he oversees the litigation over Trump's unprecedented use of the act. It is likely to raise new constitutional issues that can only ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Boasberg had scheduled a hearing Friday for further arguments, but the two organizations that filed the initial lawsuit, the ACLU and Democracy Forward, urged him to force the administration to explain in a declaration under oath what happened.
This article uses reporting by The Associated Press.
Updated, 3/18/25, 11:55 a.m. ET: This article was updated to say the U.S. district court declined to comment.
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