The Trump Administration Likely Violated a Court Order | Let's Break it Down

What will be done as a result?

The Trump Administration likely violated a court order. Let’s break it all down. As promised, all my news, including these deep dives, will always be free. But, I cannot continue to do this without your support. My news isn’t funded by billionaires or big ad companies. It’s funded by you. Consider becoming a paid subscriber today:

Donald Trump Signs The Alien Enemies Act Proclamation

On Friday, Donald Trump signed a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798—a law originally designed to expel foreign nationals from enemy nations during wartime or invasion. The decision to dust off this centuries-old statute was seen by many as a legal maneuver to bypass existing immigration protocols, allowing the federal government to swiftly deport noncitizens deemed a security threat.

Judge Boasberg Blocks The Proclamation

One day later, in a stunning legal twist, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg—an Obama-era appointee—issued a 14-day injunction blocking the order from taking effect. His ruling temporarily halted the mass deportation effort and required the Trump administration to immediately cease any active removal efforts under the proclamation.

Judge Boasberg issued this ruling at around 7 PM EST. (This is important).

Most notably, Judge Boasberg ordered planes already in the air carrying noncitizens under the proclamation to be turned around—a rare and forceful intervention in immigration enforcement. However, he clarified that his authority does not extend to individuals who have already landed in other countries, meaning some deportations may have already taken place before the ruling.

The Trump Administration Violated Boasberg’s Order

Despite Judge Boasberg’s order, the Trump Administration went ahead with deporting over two hundred undocumented migrants. The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced that the United States transferred 238 members of Tren de Aragua to the country. This transfer was done yesterday under the Alien Enemies Act of 1978:

Along with his tweet, Bukele tweeted out a video of the plane the Venezuelan migrants arrived on, along with a video of the migrants being forced off of the plane and into an El Salvadorian prison facility. Notably, the video was taken in the evening.

El Salvador is in a time zone that is two hours behind the United States. When Judge Boasberg issued his order it was approximately 5 PM local time in El Salvador. Sunset in the country was at 6:07 PM, about one hour after Judge Boasberg issued his order:

It is clear that the video posted by President Bukele was taken after Judge Boasberg issued his order.

Three questions remain.

First, was the plane on the ground before 7 PM EST? Likely not. From a common sense perspective it would not make sense for the President of El Salvador to leave an airplane full of migrants on the tarmac for 2+ hours waiting for an night time photo.

Second, why didn’t the Trump Administration turn the plane around after Judge Boasberg’s order? This answer is more complicated. Judge Boasberg, in his oral order during court ordered the Administration to turn any planes in flight around. But, in his written order he did not make this same mention. Presumably, the Administration should have listened to what he ordered them to do in court.

Third, did the plane in question take off after Judge Boasberg’s order? If it did, then that would be a blatant violation of the order. But, there is no evidence at least right now that this is what happened.

Conclusion

Here’s what we know: We know that the Trump Administration did not turn around this plane heading to El Salvador after Judge Boasberg’s oral order. That is a clear violation of what Boasberg stated in the courtroom. But, that is not technically a violation of his written order. In any event, the Trump Administration is playing fast and loose with the law, and is testing the boundaries of how far it can go before a federal judge claps back.