The judge refrained from issuing a ruling on whether the administration had defied his order stopping deportations of alleged foreign criminal gang members.
WASHINGTONâU.S. District Judge James Boasberg has ordered President Donald Trumpâs administration to provide additional information on its implementation of the presidentâs decision to speed up deportations of purported Venezuelan gang members by applying a centuries-old law known as the Alien Enemies Act.
Boasberg requested that the administration provide, by noon on March 18, sworn declarations of the governmentâs estimate of how many individuals subject to Trumpâs proclamation were still in the country, clarifying when the proclamation was signed and went into effect, and stating that no individuals were removed pursuant to the declaration after Boasberg issued a written order at 7:25 p.m. E.T. on March 15.
Boasberg denied the motion and suggested during the hearing that the DOJ was underestimating his authority over deportations that had extended beyond U.S. airspace. He also refrained from issuing a ruling on whether the government had defied his order.
The administration has filed appeals of both orders in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Their filing stated that two flights appeared to take off during the hearing on March 15 but landed after the courtâs written order, âmeaning the defendants could have turned the plane around without handing over individuals subject to the proclamation and this courtâs [temporary restraining order].â
They pointed to how, during the March 15 hearing, Boasberg said that any plane that was in the air needed to be returned. âThat oral order of course carries no less weight than the courtâs written order,â their brief read.
In its motion to vacate the March 17 hearing, DOJ responded to the plaintiffs by arguing that they were wrongly focused on the judgeâs oral order rather than the narrower written order, which was issued less than an hour later. It added that an oral directive was not enforceable as an injunction.
DOJ added that for âany flights that were already outside U.S. territory and airspace, anyone aboard had already been âremovedâ within the meaning of the Alien Enemies Act and the courtâs order, and therefore were not covered by the order.â
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
Running For Office? Conservative Campaign Consulting – Election Day Strategies!