Appeals Court Blocks ‘Rogue’ Judge’s Plot To Hold Trump Officials In Contempt

A federal appeals court on Friday temporarily halted U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s contempt proceedings against Trump Administration officials after the Obama-appointed judge accused them of refusing to comply with his order to turn around flights loaded with violent foreign gang members.

In a 2-1 ruling, with Judge Nina Pillard, another Obama appointee, in dissent, the court placed a temporary hold on Boasberg’s claims of finding probably cause that the administration defied his March 15 order to turn around flights loaded with deportees as they were headed to El Salvador. The administration has argued that there was no way to comply with the order, as it was hastily handed down and would have created national security and safety risks.

The judge’s quest is notably bizarre, as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his initial order that blocked President Trump from invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Under the terms of the seldom-used act, the Trump Administration can use extended powers to quickly detain and deport illegal aliens suspected of having ties to foreign criminal or terrorist organizations.

Trump’s legal team has argued that Tren de Aragua—a violent transnational gang tied to drug trafficking and extortion—qualifies as a national security threat, justifying use of the law. The administration has labeled the gang a “hybrid criminal state” and reported its members are infiltrating the U.S. under the guise of asylum seekers.

Boasberg previously halted two deportation flights in March that were set to expel over 200 Venezuelans, claiming the government failed to provide legal notice and due process.

The Obama-appointed judge’s block on the order was overturned in a 5-4 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, in which Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the high court’s three liberals in dissent.

While the Supreme Court did rule that deportees can appeal their cases, this must be done so in the jurisdictions they are being processed in. The ACLU had filed a lawsuit on behalf of some deportees in Washington D.C., which landed it in Boasberg’s courtroom.

The high court’s ruling effectively removed the matter from Boasberg’s jurisdiction, though that has not stopped the judge from seeking to hold Trump Administration officials in contempt for allegedly defying his now defunct order.

Judge James Boasberg speaks at the ABA conference on April 2, 2025

In a 46-page ruling handed down earlier this week, the left-wing judge raged against the Trump Administration and said he found probable cause to continue with contempt proceedings.

“As this Opinion will detail, the Court ultimately determines that the Government’s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt,” Boasberg wrote.

“If a party chooses to disobey the order — rather than wait for it to be reversed through the judicial process — such disobedience is punishable as contempt, notwithstanding any later-revealed deficiencies in the order.”

The proceedings have now been placed on hold following the appeals court’s ruling, though the court did note that it was not making a final ruling on Boasberg’s claims. Instead, petitioners have been given an April 23 deadline to file their reply, while the government has been given their own deadline of April 25.