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‘Immediately Reassign’: Trump Admin Wants Obama Judge Blocking Deportations Booted From Case

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The Trump administration on Monday requested a federal judge blocking deportations of alleged gang members under a wartime authority be taken off the court case.

James Boasberg, the top federal judge in Washington, D.C., and appointee of former President Barack Obama, immediately blocked President Donald Trump’s efforts Saturday to deport alleged Tren de Aragua members and other criminal illegal migrants. In a Monday filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the Department of Justice (DOJ) appealed that order and requested Boasberg be reassigned.

“The district court’s hasty public inquiry into these sensitive national security matters — with no contemplated protections against disclosure of operational details —underscores the urgency of immediate relief from this Court, including an immediate administrative stay that would allow further briefing to unfold in an orderly and appropriate manner and prevents the district court from further efforts to interfere with President Trump’s core Article II authorities, including the conduct of foreign policy,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign wrote in an appeal.

“This Court should also immediately reassign this case to another district court judge given the highly unusual and improper procedures — e.g. certification of a class action involving members of a designated foreign terrorist organization in less than 18 hours with no discovery and no briefing from the Government — that have been employed in the district court proceedings to date,” Ensign continued.

Trump Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a years-old wartime authority that has not been used since World War II, enabling him with greater authority to expedite the removal of confirmed and suspected members of Tren de Aragua. A transnational criminal organization that originated from a Venezuelan prison, Tren de Aragua has since gained a foothold in the United States and is allegedly behind a number of gruesome crimes across the country.

The White House’s action was immediately met with a lawsuit by Democracy Forward and the American Civil Liberties Union — two organizations that have been behind numerous challenges against the Trump administration. Boasberg temporarily blocked the president’s use of the Alien Enemies Act and demanded any migrants to be deported on aircraft be returned to the U.S.

However, this order was ostensibly not received in time for several planes already carrying deportees. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt announced Sunday that nearly 300 Tren de Aragua gang members were arrested and removed to El Salvador, where the Trump administration has secured an agreement allowing illegal migrant deportees to be housed in the country’s mega-prison.

“TDA [Tren de Aragua] is one of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet earth,” Leavitt said. “They rape, maim and murder for sport. TDA is responsible for some of the most heinous crimes that have occurred on US soil in recent years, including the murders of Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray.”

In a social media post Sunday, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele confirmed the arrival of 238 Tren de Aragua gangbangers and 23 MS-13 gang members. These individuals have been taken to the Terrorism Confinement Center, El Salvador’s mega-prison that houses thousands of criminals and other suspected gang members from around the world.

Boasberg’s order immediately halting Trump’s efforts to deport Tren de Aragua illegal migrants under the wartime authority has been met with derision from the administration. In a motion for a stay, the DOJ called Boasberg’s order “unprecedented” and argued that the federal judge lacked jurisdiction.

“This Court should halt this massive, unauthorized imposition on the Executive’s authority to remove people that Defendants had determined to be members of TdA, a group the President and the Secretary of State have found to be a threat to national security,” the administration stated. “This Court should halt this unprecedented intrusion upon the Executive’s authority to remove dangerous aliens who pose grave threats to the American people.”

Texas GOP Rep. Brandon Gill on Saturday announced he would be filing articles of impeachment against Boasberg, referring to him as an “activist” judge.