US Officials Likely in Contempt for Deportations, Judge Says
Deported individuals from the US arrive on a flight at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, on March 24.
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A federal judge said there is “probable cause” to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt of court for sending accused Venezuelan gang members to an El Salvador prison last month despite his order to immediately halt the deportations.
US District Judge James Boasberg issued an order Wednesday saying that officials acted in “willful disregard” of his verbal order on March 15 to turn around planes carrying Venezuelans now held in a notorious prison in El Salvador. Boasberg had said at a court hearing on April 3 that “the government acted in bad faith” throughout that day.