Trump Administration Targets Judge Boasberg in Escalating Deportation Dispute

The Trump administration filed a request with a federal appeals court Friday to block U.S. District Judge James Boasberg from conducting contempt hearings next week and to remove him from the deportation case.

This move escalates a dispute between the administration and Boasberg that originated in March after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to expedite deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members. In the latest legal filing, the Department of Justice asserted that Judge Boasberg has demonstrated bias and should no longer oversee the matter. The DOJ specifically cited Boasberg’s creation of “a strong appearance that the district judge is engaged in a pattern of retaliation and harassment, and has developed too strong a bias to preside over this matter impartially.”

Judge Boasberg recently ordered testimony from former Justice Department employee Erez Reuveni, who provided whistleblower disclosures about deportation flights carrying over 100 Venezuelan men to El Salvador. This testimony is expected to inform Boasberg’s evaluation of whether to refer Trump administration officials for criminal contempt charges. Boasberg previously determined that his March order directing deportation flights to reverse may have been violated.

Another Justice Department attorney, Drew Ensign, has been ordered to testify on Tuesday. The DOJ statement accompanying the filing stated: “This long-running saga never should have begun; should not have continued at all after this Court’s last intervention; and certainly should not be allowed to escalate into the unseemly and unnecessary interbranch conflict that it now imminently portends.”

Documents submitted by Reuveni detail meetings in mid-March when administration officials prepared to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, including a meeting where former senior Justice Department official Emil Bove is alleged to have discussed resisting court action. The materials also include internal emails sent during efforts by the American Civil Liberties Union to block the deportation flights.

In an earlier filing, the Department of Justice noted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directed the deportation flights to continue. Ensign submitted a sworn declaration stating he relayed Boasberg’s order to DHS and senior Justice Department staff.

Judge Boasberg’s handling of the case has drawn criticism from Republicans, with President Trump publicly calling for the judge’s impeachment. The judicial figure has repeatedly been central to legal conflicts between the federal judiciary and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement. Earlier this year, Boasberg found “probable cause” to pursue contempt charges against administration officials for allegedly ignoring his March 15 order to halt deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act—a wartime statute used to remove Venezuelan nationals, a claim the administration disputes.

Boasberg’s efforts to scrutinize executive branch actions faced pushback in August when a federal appeals court blocked his attempt to pursue criminal contempt proceedings, ruling his approach was overly broad and raised separation of powers concerns. More recently, Boasberg reopened the contempt inquiry to examine whether officials authorized deportation flights to proceed despite his directive, deepening an ongoing clash between the judiciary and the Trump administration over immigration authority.