Appeals court delays order on due process for El Salvador deportees
In a legal win for the Trump administration, a federal appeals court has temporarily delayed a court order that required the federal government to give the men it deported to El Salvador in March a way to challenge their detentions.
A panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an administrative stay of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's court order to give the hundreds of migrants deported to El Salvador's notorious CECOT mega-prison the right to challenge their detentions as unlawful.
The decision comes one day ahead of a deadline the Trump administration faced to outline a plan for the men to challenge their removals and detentions.
The ruling is temporary as the appeals process plays out and did not consider the legal merits of the arguments at issue. The court set a briefing schedule through June 18.
Earlier Tuesday, the Trump administration had filed an emergency motion to stay the order, arguing that because Boasberg previously found that the U.S. "lacks constructive custody" over the deportees held at CECOT, the court lacks jurisdiction over their habeas claims.
"Court correctly ruled that the United States lacks constructive custody over the aliens held at CECOT and therefore that this Court lacks jurisdiction over their habeas claims," Justice Department attorneys argued. "That should have been the end of this case."
Last week, Judge Boasberg gave the Trump administration until June 11 to come up with a plan to allow the men currently detained at CECOT to practice their due process rights.
In its motion to stay Boasberg's order pending appeal, the government said that the "ability to file a petition that no court would have jurisdiction over is no remedy at all," arguing that the due process violation the court found is not "redressable in equity."
"Plaintiffs are not in United States custody," the filing said. "And the separation of powers prevents this Court from ordering the Executive to retake custody from El Salvador -- that would be akin to ordering an invasion of a foreign country or a directive to negotiate a diplomatic deal, neither of which falls within the scope of the Judicial power."
The government of El Salvador, the DOJ said, has "chosen to detain plaintiffs on its own and maintains control over their detention, outside access, and even transfers, without American input."
The Trump administration touched off a legal battle in March when it invoked the Alien Enemies Act -- an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little to no due process -- to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a "hybrid criminal state" that is invading the United States.
An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged that "many" of the men deported on March 15 lack criminal records in the United States -- but said that "the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose" and "demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile."
White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson slammed Boasberg's decision last week, saying in a statement that the judge lacks the authority to intervene in the deportations.
"Judge Boasberg has no authority to intervene with immigration or national security -- authority that rests squarely with President Trump and the Executive Branch. His current and previous attempts to prevent President Trump from deporting criminal illegal aliens poses a direct threat to the safety of the American people," Jackson said, referring to other recent rulings by the judge.
"Fortunately for the American people, Judge Boasberg does not have the last word," Jackson said.
Boasberg, in last week's ruling, said that the detainees -- regardless of their alleged criminal status -- deserve the right to challenge the government's claims against them.
