After the Trump administration provided limited information about the decision to deport more than a hundred men under the Alien Enemies Act in March, a federal judge on Monday ordered a top DOJ attorney involved in the deportations to testify later this month.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered Drew Ensign — Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Immigration Litigation of the Civil Division — to testify during a hearing on Dec. 16.
He also ordered testimony on Dec. 15 from Erez Reuveni, a former DOJ attorney who alleged the Trump administration evaded court orders.
The Trump administration in March 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 the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order and ordered that the planes be turned around, but Justice Department attorneys said his oral instructions directing the flight to be returned were defective, and the deportations proceeded as planned.
Boasberg subsequently sought contempt proceedings against the government for deliberately defying his order.
“The Court thus believes that it is necessary to hear witness testimony to better understand the bases of the decision to transfer the deportees out of United States custody in the context of the hearing on March 15, 2025,” Judge Boasberg wrote in his order Monday. “The events surrounding this decision should shed light on this question.”
More than 250 suspected gang members arrive in El Salvador by plane, including 238 members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang and 23 members of the MS-13 gang, who were deported to El Salvador by the US in San Salvador, El Salvador, March 16, 2025.
El Salvador Presidency/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
In his ruling, Judge Boasberg noted that it would be “premature” to refer anyone to be prosecuted for contempt because of the limited information provided by Trump administration officials about the deportations.
He wrote that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s brief sworn declaration recently submitted in the case did “not provide enough information for the Court to determine whether her decision was a willful violation of the Court’s Order.”
Noem said in her sworn filing that she decided to continue the transfer of detainees after getting legal advice from DOJ leadership, including Joseph Mazarra, the acting general counsel of DHS.
“As this declaration does not provide enough information for the Court to determine whether her decision was a willful violation of the Court’s Order, the Court cannot at this juncture find probable cause that her actions constituted criminal contempt,” Boasberg wrote. “A referral for prosecution, consequently, would be premature.”
Mazarra, in his declaration on Friday, said that he analyzed Judge Boasberg’s order that sought to block the deportations and then provided Noem with legal advice.
“DHS had removed these terrorists from the U.S. before this Court issued any order (or oral statement regarding their removal),” Mazarra wrote.
A Justice Department representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. The DOJ has maintained that it doesn’t believe officials deliberately violated Boasberg’s order to return the planes, and has accused him of overstepping his judicial authorities by proceeding with his contempt investigation.
Source: abc news
