A federal judge on Wednesday found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for transferring two planeloads of passengers to a mega-prison in El Salvador in violation of his March 15 temporary restraining order halting hasty deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members.
“As this Opinion will detail,” Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia wrote in his 46-page decision filed Wednesday, “the Court ultimately determines that the Government’s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt. The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses has been satisfactory.”