A federal appeals court on Friday paused U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s contempt proceedings against the Trump administration, which stemmed from last month’s deportation flights to El Salvador.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said the temporary hold is intended to allow time to fully consider the government’s appeal and emphasized that the move “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits.”
For now, the ruling stops Boasberg from advancing his effort to hold officials in contempt. On Wednesday, the judge said there was probable cause for contempt, accusing the administration of showing “a willful disregard” for his order by going forward with the March 15 deportations.
The three-judge panel was divided. Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, both appointed by Trump, voted in favor of the administration. Judge Cornelia Pillard, appointed by President Obama, dissented. In her brief opinion, Pillard wrote there was “no ground for an administrative stay,” citing the lack of an appealable order or a clear right to mandamus relief.
Just a week earlier, the Supreme Court had lifted Boasberg’s original order, concluding that the migrants must be given judicial review—but in courts located where they are currently detained. Boasberg, however, continued pursuing contempt proceedings based on the fact that his original order was in place prior to the Supreme Court’s intervention.
Friday’s D.C. Circuit decision came down moments after Boasberg concluded an emergency hearing on a new request from the ACLU to block what it described as a fresh round of deportation flights to El Salvador, where the judge explained that he lacked authority to intervene.
