U.S. District Judge James Boasberg justified his continued freeze against immigration agents using a wartime measure to hastily ship Venezuelans to a foreign prison, writing a sweeping order on Monday that previews the momentous battle to come between the Trump administration and the courts.
Boasberg refused to drop a temporary restraining order that limits the White House’s latest deportation strategy, citing “a strong public interest in preventing the mistaken deportation of people.”
While the order is merely a stopgap measure for now, it challenged what the judge called President Donald Trump’s “unprecedented use” of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to fast-track the removal of Venezuelans without due process to a Salvadoran prison known for its alleged mistreatment of inmates.