Appeals Court Ends Contempt Probe on Deportations

A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday ordered U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to terminate his criminal contempt investigation into Trump administration officials accused of violating a court order during deportation flights of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador last year.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted a writ of mandamus, a rare directive from a higher court to halt what it described as an abuse of discretion by the lower court. The ruling ends proceedings that had sought to determine whether officials willfully defied Boasberg's temporary restraining order issued in March 2025, amid the administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to remove more than 200 individuals suspected of ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

The deportations targeted migrants held in U.S. custody, many of whom were flown to El Salvador's maximum-security CECOT prison. On March 15, 2025, as two planes carrying the migrants were en route, Boasberg issued an oral order during an emergency hearing, followed by a written temporary restraining order enjoining the government from removing class members under the president's proclamation....