From the Washington Examiner: The Trump administration is urging a federal appeals court to reassign a case challenging its use of the Alien Enemies Act for swift deportations, arguing that the judge overseeing the matter has handled the case improperly.
In a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Justice Department called for the removal of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, after Boasberg issued a nationwide injunction on Saturday blocking the administration’s plan to deport suspected members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.
“This Court should also immediately reassign this case to another district court judge given the highly unusual and improper procedures — e.g. certification of a class action involving members of a designated foreign terrorist organization in less than 18 hours with no discovery and no briefing from the Government,” Drew Ensign, deputy assistant attorney general for immigration litigation, wrote in the filing.
The request came just hours before a 5 p.m. hearing before Boasberg, in which he was set to weigh whether the administration violated his court order by sending deportation flights to El Salvador on Saturday evening.
More details from Fox News: During Monday’s hearing, which lasted about 45 minutes, Judge Boasberg at times appeared frustrated as he pressed government lawyers for more details as to why his Saturday order—which called for the administration to immediately return all planes with expelled migrants, including the Venezuelan nationals and alleged Tren de Aragua gang members—were not brought back to the U.S.
“My orders don’t seem to carry much weight,” Jude Boasberg said near the end of the hearing. Both parties are due back in court Friday for a hearing over the Trump administration’s request to vacate the case.
Judge Boasberg repeatedly demanded to know how many flights carrying illegal aliens took off on Saturday, but the Trump administration refused to provide that information, citing national security concerns.
Boasberg has demanded that the Trump attorneys provide more information by noon on Tuesday.
The battle all started when two far-left groups, Democracy Forward and the ACLU, had filed a lawsuit on behalf of 5 illegal aliens believed on the deportation flights, claiming that the deportations would likely pose imminent and “irreparable” harm to those being deported.
Boasberg had sided with the plaintiffs, ordered the deportations to be halted, and demanded that “any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States.”
The Trump administration said by that time the planes were already over international waters and out of Boasberg’s authority.
Fox News reported that Boasberg appeared “incredulous” that his orders were not obeyed, and declared, “Isn’t then the better course, to return the planes to the United States and figure out what to do, than to say, ‘We don’t care, we’ll do what we want?'”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is incredulous that the judge would literally seek to stop the deportation of illegal alien criminals and gang members, and say he lacks authority to interfere in the matter.
Activist Judge Jeb Boasberg is undermining President Trump’s Article II powers by blocking the deportation of violent, illegal alien gang members.
This is a blatant threat to American lives, and the Trump Administration must ignore these reckless orders and prioritize national… pic.twitter.com/tgbnhY0YTI
—
Mike Davis
The DOJ responds to Judge Boasberg:
Bondi highlights immediately “the Court lacks the jurisdiction” to interfere with Trump’s national security and foreign affairs authority.
They also say Trump’s role as Commander in Chief is “not subject to judicial review or intervention.” pic.twitter.com/GRuoFALFtr
— Daniel Baldwin (@baldwin_daniel_) March 17, 2025
Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp
The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.
