U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court, arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse. (AFP via Getty Images )
The Trump administration proceeded with the deportation flights, kicking off a complex legal fight over the status of the migrants, the U.S. ability to facilitate their return – or at least to provide the migrants with due process protections – and an ability to challenge their alleged gang member status.
Trump officials had argued that the people deported to CECOT were members of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, though the evidence they used to justify their designations has been disputed in many cases, and in many cases determined to be lacking.
Since March, Boasberg has attempted to determine the status of the hundreds of CECOT plaintiffs, what ability the U.S. has to facilitate their return, or to provide the class of migrants with due process and habeas protections, including the ability to challenge their alleged gang status.
Last month, Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to submit to the court in writing its plans to provide due process to a class of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador.
He said the Justice Department must submit to the court by Jan. 5 its plan to provide due process protections to the CECOT class – which he said the Trump administration could do by either returning the migrants to the U.S. to have their cases heard in person – or to otherwise facilitate hearings abroad with members of the class that "satisfy the requirements of due process."
"On the merits, the Court concludes that this class was denied their due-process rights and will thus require the Government to facilitate their ability to obtain such a hearing," Boasberg said at the time. "Our law requires no less."
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks in Quito, Ecuador in July 2025. (Getty Images/Alex Brandon)
Boasberg responded in a terse minute order, noting only that the Justice Department's request "fails to comply" with the local rule in question, which requires parties to first confer with opposing counsel. He ordered the DOJ to file the relevant notice to opposing counsel by the end of the day.
The update further stalls an ongoing court inquiry that has been on ice for months as the result of appeals court rulings, efforts to shield certain information from the court for national security purposes, and a separate, but related, contempt inquiry.
The CECOT migrants were again moved in July from the Salvadoran prison to Venezuela, as part of a broader prisoner exchange that involved the return of at least 10 Americans detained in Venezuela.
Their role in the prisoner exchange further complicated efforts to ascertain the status of the CECOT class plaintiffs, including some migrants who had fled Venezuela in the first place due to fears of persecution, including from gangs.
That has made it difficult to contact the migrants from the CECOT class and determine how many of them still wished to proceed with their due process cases, as ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, previously told Boasberg in court.
Some of them remain in hiding, Gelernt said, further complicating efforts to make contact.
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The ACLU lawyers told the court in December that, of the 252 Venezuelan migrants that were deported in March to CECOT, 137 still wish to move forward with their due process cases.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.
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