DHS beats Boasberg with appeals court ending his contempt proceedings against Trump administration

A federal appeals court delivered an embarrassing reproach to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Tuesday, ordering him to shut down his “intrusive” criminal contempt of court investigation against the Trump administration.

The circuit court of appeals said not only is Judge Boasberg’s continued investigation “improper,” but his reasoning for why Trump officials could be prosecuted for contempt of court is a “dead end” because the judge is misreading his own orders.

Circuit Judge Neomi Rao said Judge Boasberg has crossed too many lines, risking damage to the separation of powers between the president and the courts, and must end his pursuit of the president and his team.

“As these shifting and expanding proceedings demonstrate, the district court has assumed an improper jurisdiction antagonistic to the Executive Branch,” Judge Rao, a Trump appointee, wrote in the majority opinion for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

She was joined by Judge Justin Walker, another Trump appointee.

The case is the latest fallout from last year’s effort by President Trump to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang suspects.

Three planeloads of migrants flew out on March 15, 2025, headed for El Salvador, where they were to be put in that country’s terrorist prison. The passengers on the flights were split between Venezuelans, deported under the 1798 enemies law, and Salvadorans being sent back home.

Among those was Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Judge Boasberg held a snap hearing, issued a temporary restraining order to halt future deportations, and discussed trying to recall the flights. He then wrote an order halting the deportation of anyone still in the U.S.

He said he thought that his orders were clear, but Judge Rao on Tuesday said they were not clear enough and the written order conflicted with the previous oral order during the hearing. That, she said, left enough room for the government to carry out the flights that had already left.

Judge Walker pointed out that Judge Boasberg even told the lawyers not to bother writing down his oral instructions because he would issue a written order. And that written order lacked the instruction to recall the flights already in the air, applying only to those still on U.S. soil.

Judge Walker said the government has faithfully followed that written order, undercutting Judge Boasberg’s complaints.

The Supreme Court would eventually come in and vacate Judge Boasberg’s initial ruling.

But Judge Boasberg insisted that, even if his decision was legally wrong, it should still have been followed at the time. He initiated a criminal contempt of court investigation, demanding to know who made the decisions to continue the flights.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she was the decision-maker, but Judge Boasberg said that wasn’t enough. He has prodded for more information with the goal of turning everything over to prosecutors to pursue a criminal case for violating his orders.

The circuit court on Tuesday told him to give it a rest.

“The district court’s widening and unnecessary inquiry into Executive Branch decisionmaking, conducted on the erroneous premise that the TRO is sufficiently clear and specific, is at least a clear abuse of discretion,” Judge Rao wrote.

Judge Boasberg, the chief judge in the federal trial court in Washington, had emerged as one of the chief legal obstacles to Mr. Trump.

Just four days before his orders in the deportation case, Judge Boasberg was part of a session of federal judges where he reportedly raised the idea that the president would “disregard rulings of federal courts” and create “a constitutional crisis.”

The Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint against Judge Boasberg, an Obama appointee, but an appeals court judge from a different circuit dismissed the matter in February. Judge Jeffrey Sutton, a George W. Bush appointee who has also announced his retirement to take senior status, said Judge Boasberg’s comments were within his duties as a chief judge.

Yet Tuesday’s ruling is the second time the circuit court in Washington has pushed back against Judge Boasberg’s contempt of court efforts in the deportation case.

Mr. Trump is the chief named defendant in the case.

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, cast Judge Boasberg as a “far-left judicial activist trying to undermine the president’s lawful authority.”

“No matter how many unelected, radical left-wing judges attempt to impede the American people’s agenda, President Trump will not be deterred and justice will ultimately prevail,” she said.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the migrants deported on the planes, slammed Tuesday’s ruling as a “blow to the rule of law.”

“In this case, there is no longer any question that the Trump administration willfully violated the court’s order,” said Lee Gelernt, the ACLU’s lead lawyer on the case.

Judge Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, dissented from the decision, calling contempt a “sacred mystery” of judges and saying she would have Judge Boasberg plow ahead with his inquiries.

She said the chaos as the deportations unfolded on March 15 last year should have earned Judge Boasberg some leeway in his orders, particularly given the administration’s inability to provide information at the time about the status of those targeted for deportation.

“There is no question that there could be much to fear in a factual inquiry about the actions of potential contemnors who may have defied a court order,” she wrote. “However, that does not mean that this court must intervene to end a criminal case before it begins, even for the Executive Branch.”

Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, said the competing interpretations of Judge Boasberg’s ruling are proof that the Trump administration wasn’t intentionally violating the initial order.

“This entire contempt process has been something of a crusade by Judge Boasberg, who obviously feels like he was personally wronged,” Mr. Blackman said.