Boasberg orders Trump to bring back CECOT migrant class deported in March

Contempt of court? Judge Boasberg targets Trump White House over deportations 'The Big Weekend Show' co-hosts break down the latest legal clashes over President Donald Trump's deportations of illegal immigrants. A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to provide due process to a class of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador in March, and gave it two weeks to detail how it will do so - setting up another high-stakes clash between the White House and the federal courts. In March, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to halt its plans to immediately use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act wartime immigration law to quickly deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to CECOT, a Salvadoran maximum-security prison. That did not happen, and the planes landed in El Salvador hours later. Boasberg concluded that the Trump administration's actions were illegal, conducted in defiance of the court, and deprived the migrants in the CECOT class of their due process protections - including prior notice of removal, a "meaningful opportunity" to contest their removal from the U.S., and the ability to dispute their designation as a member of the Tren de Aragua gang. He ordered the Trump administration to submit to the court by Jan. 5 its plan to provide due process protections to the CECOT class - which he said the administration could do by either returning the migrants to the U.S. to have their cases heard in person, or to otherwise facilitate hearings abroad with members of the class that "satisfy the requirements of due process." "On the merits, the Court concludes that this class was denied their due-process rights and will thus require the Government to facilitate their ability to obtain such hearing," Boasberg said Monday. "Our law requires no less." APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN'S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT Judge James E. Boasberg stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)) The Justice Department is almost certain to appeal the order. Monday's ruling adds new clarity to a complex immigration case that began 10 months prior, and which sparked a flurry of appeals, contempt inquiries and open questions as to the status of the CECOT plaintiffs and the ability the U.S. has to order their return. Boasberg said Monday that the U.S. appeared to be operating with the knowledge that it had some level of constructive custody over the migrants detained at CECOT, citing the terms of an agreement made between the U.S. and El Salvador to house the migrants for at least a one-year period. He also cited multiple public remarks from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other senior DHS officials, which appear to cast CECOT as an "extension" of U.S. detention facilities. "These statements strongly undermine the Government’s contention that El Salvador retains complete discretion over what to do with individuals" removed from the U.S., he noted. JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE...

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