Judge James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the Federal District Court in D.C., stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C., on March 16, 2023. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Boasberg is expected to consider plaintiffs’ motions to reopen limited discovery, citing new evidence — including a recent U.N. report stating that, according to Salvadoran officials, the U.S. holds sole legal responsibility and custody over migrants transferred to CECOT. Other submissions include a whistleblower report from former Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni, who worked on the case shortly before his removal.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly excoriated Boasberg as an "activist judge" — a term they have employed for judges who have either paused or blocked Trump's sweeping policy priorities enacted via executive order. Trump himself floated the idea that Boasberg could be impeached earlier this year— prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare public warning.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW EL SALVADOR DEPORTATION FLIGHT CASE
President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi arrive to speak at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty)
Tensions between Boasberg and the Trump administration soared to a fever pitch earlier this year after Boasberg in April said he had found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for failing to return the planes to U.S. soil, in accordance with his emergency order, and said the court had determined that the Trump administration demonstrated a "willful disregard" for his order.
The Trump administration appealed the findings to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In June, Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to provide all noncitizens deported from the U.S. to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador to be afforded the opportunity to seek habeas relief in court, and challenge their alleged gang status.
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His 69-page order began by invoking Franz Kafka’s "The Trial," in which the protagonist, Josef K., awakens to find two strange men outside his room, who proceed to arrest him for unspecified crimes.
"Such was the situation into which Frengel Reyes Mota, Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, and scores of other Venezuelan noncitizens say they were plunged on March 15, 2025," Boasberg said.
Thursday's hearing comes amid a flurry of new reports and allegations filed by plaintiffs in the case in an effort to reopen discovery.
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.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-foe-boasberg-grills-doj-over-migrant-flights-heated-hearing