Judge Boasberg Rules Deportation Revelations Allow Migrants to Challenge Removals, Posing Challenge to Administration
U.S. judges mandate habeas review for non-citizens deported to El Salvador's maximum-security prison.
In a significant development in the ongoing legal battle over U.S. immigration policy, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Wednesday issued an order compelling the Trump administration to ensure that all non-citizens deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador are given the chance to seek habeas relief in court. This ruling allows these individuals to challenge their alleged gang affiliations, a move that directly contests President Donald Trump's application of the centuries-old 1789 Alien Enemies Act to expel certain migrants.
Judge Boasberg’s order, filed late Wednesday afternoon, stated, “In short, the Government must facilitate the Class’s ability to seek habeas relief to contest their removal under the Act.” The judge added that the precise steps required to provide such facilitation would be established in future proceedings, citing the need to balance national security considerations with the constitutional mandate to offer meaningful remedies for legal wrongs. “Although the Court is mindful that such a remedy may implicate sensitive diplomatic or national-security concerns within the exclusive province of the Executive Branch, it also has a constitutional duty to provide a remedy that will 'make good the wrong done,'” Boasberg wrote.
This sweeping order notably covers the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian migrant and alleged MS-13 member who was deported from Maryland to El Salvador this March. Administration officials admitted his removal was an administrative error. That incident sparked intense legal wrangling and led to an emergency review by the Supreme Court in April, further escalating tensions between federal courts and the executive branch over immigration enforcement.
Judge Boasberg emerged as a central figure in debates over Trump-era deportation policies after he previously granted an emergency restraining order blocking the administration from using a 1798 law to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals. Protected individuals included alleged members of the violent South American gang known as Tren de Aragua. In March, Boasberg ordered that a plane carrying migrants removed under the law be brought back to the United States “immediately,” though that order was ultimately not followed by the administration.
The Trump administration continues to face mounting legal challenges regarding the use of the Alien Enemies Act to expedite deportations, particularly those carried out in March. Judge Boasberg’s latest decision signals heightened judicial scrutiny over how executive authority is exercised in matters involving immigrants’ rights and due process.
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