Guards at the Terrorism Confinement Center moved suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, on Sunday. EPA
The White House is accusing a federal judge of being a “Democrat activist” after he challenged the Trump administration’s deportation of Venezuelan migrants. The administration claims it followed legal procedures, while the judge demands proof that no flights defied his court order.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt directly called out federal judge James Boasberg during a press briefing. She criticized him for questioning the administration’s power to deport suspected Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act. The act gives the president authority to deport individuals deemed a threat during wartime.
Leavitt claimed the judge was overstepping. “The judge is trying to say the president doesn’t have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists. That’s an egregious abuse of power,” she said. She labeled Boasberg a “Democrat activist” and accused him of trying to undermine Trump’s legal authority.
Boasberg had recently ordered the government to stop deportation flights of these migrants without a hearing. He demanded a detailed itinerary of the planes’ travel plans to check whether the government obeyed his order. The administration argued that all flights took off before the judge’s ruling. However, Boasberg questioned the claim and warned of consequences if the government defied his order. He gave the administration more time to submit evidence.
Boasberg, appointed by Republican President George W. Bush to the D.C. Superior Court, was later promoted to the federal bench by Democratic President Barack Obama. He is viewed as a moderate Democrat. Interestingly, he was once a college roommate of Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump-appointed Supreme Court justice, during their time at Yale University.
Trump, meanwhile, continues to criticize the judiciary. On Tuesday, he told Fox News that he would never defy a court ruling but still lashed out at Boasberg, though he did not name him. “I never did defy and I wouldn’t in the future, no. You can’t do that,” Trump said. However, he added, “We have very bad judges. At some point, you have to ask, what do you do with a rogue judge?”
Trump doubled down on his criticism in a post on Truth Social. He claimed that if a president cannot remove criminals because of a “radical left lunatic judge,” the country is “in big trouble” and could collapse.
The situation has drawn backlash from the legal community. Former federal judge Michael Luttig warned that Trump’s actions are threatening the rule of law. He told NBC, “The president has declared war on the federal judiciary and the American justice system. America is in a constitutional crisis.”
Tensions between Trump’s administration and the courts are expected to rise, especially after recent rulings against his policies. On Tuesday, a judge blocked Trump’s Pentagon ban on transgender service members, ruling it was discriminatory. Another decision forced the government to rehire over 7,000 IRS workers who were wrongly fired.
Trump’s ongoing defiance of the judiciary is alarming legal experts, who fear it could weaken the separation of powers.
