Full Breakdown
Federal Appeals Court to Review Criminal Contempt Inquiry Over 2025 Deportation Flights
By Drooid · · How we work
Background and Context
In March 2025, the Trump administration moved to deport Venezuelan migrants it alleged were members of the Tren de Aragua gang under the Alien Enemies Act. Two planes carrying the detainees were already airborne on March 15, 2025 when Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a temporary restraining order barring any removals for 14 days. Boasberg later gave a verbal order that the flights should be returned to the United States, but the planes continued to El Salvador and the migrants were placed in the CECOT maximum-security prison.
Legal Arguments and Court Decisions
Boasberg asserted in April 2025 that he had probable cause to believe the government deliberately violated his order and announced a criminal contempt inquiry. The government responded that the verbal order was not binding and that a written order issued less than an hour later barred removal but did not require the return of already-departed migrants. In April 2026, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit, in a split decision, ordered Boasberg to end the contempt inquiry, holding that the written order was insufficiently clear to support criminal contempt and that the judge had overreached by probing high-level executive deliberations on national security and diplomacy.
Official Statements & Responses
The Department of Homeland Security identified former Secretary Kristi Noem as the official who directed the transfer to Salvadoran custody after receiving legal advice. Noem, removed from the DHS post by President Donald Trump in March 2026, has not been charged. The government maintains that the decision complied with the written court order. In August, 204 former judges filed a brief urging the appellate court to allow the contempt inquiry to proceed, describing the district court’s investigation as “wholly proper and appropriate.”
What’s Next
The full D.C. Circuit has agreed to rehear the panel’s decision and will hear arguments on Tuesday. If the en banc court permits the inquiry to continue, Boasberg could refer Noem for criminal contempt, pending sufficient evidence. The outcome will shape the limits of judicial oversight over executive actions involving immigration enforcement and diplomatic transfers.
