Judge orders Trump admin to let those sent to CECOT challenge Alien Enemies Act removal
Chief Judge James Boasberg issued the ruling in ongoing litigation over Trump's effort to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport people.
A federal judge has found that the Trump administration’s removal of people from the United States on March 15 under the purported authority of President Donald Trump’s invocation of a wartime power, sending them to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, violated their due process rights because they were not given the chance to challenge the action.
Chief Judge James Boasberg of the D.C. District Court — who has been hearing a case relating to Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act since March 15 — issued the ruling granting class certification on Wednesday, along with an order that the government tell the court by June 11 how they plan to “facilitate the ability of the CECOT Class to seek habeas relief.”
Notably, Boasberg did not find — at this point — that the challengers, represented by the ACLU and Democracy Forward, had shown that the Trump administration maintains “constructive custody” of those sent to CECOT. “While it is a close question, the current record does not support Plaintiffs’ assertion that they are in the constructive custody of the United States,” Boasberg wrote.
Relying largely on a government declaration submitted in the case, Boasberg concluded, “As matters currently stand, however, the Court takes the Government at its word that El Salvador is the legally responsible sovereign for the CECOT Plaintiffs’ ongoing detention.” At the same time, Boasberg made clear that could change if later evidence suggested otherwise. He also warned of the possibility of perjury prosecution if a government official “knowingly” made “false statements in a sworn declaration.”
Outside of that, however, Boasberg found that the due process rights of the people removed under the AEA proclamation on March 15 were violated because they were sent to El Salvador “before [they] had any meaningful opportunity ‘to actually seek habeas relief,’” quoting from the U.S. Supreme Court’s April order in the case.
Those people, Boasberg found, could bring this challenge as a class.
Although Boasberg accordingly ordered that the class members — those sent to CECOT under Trump’s AEA proclamation — have a right to due process, he did not, “at least yet,” specify the steps the Trump administration is to take.
The Trump administration, under Boasberg’s order, has a week to provide their proposed solution.
We all know the administration will stonewall and delay. All these cases are heading for criminal contempt hearings which will decide the fate of the nation. Will the courts hold? Can the courts enforce their orders, and in the end will SCOTUS hand over their robes?
Presumably the U.S. government is paying the Salvadoran government to keep these prisoners. Could Boasberg order the government to stop paying, or invoke a clause in the contract with CECOT, or whatever? Or would that be considered meddling in foreign policy?