Judge Boasberg Gives Trump Admin New Directive in Deportations Case
May 8, 2025
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Sonam Sheth is an Evening Politics Editor at Newsweek who is based in New York. She joined Newsweek in 2024 and previously worked at Business Insider and CNBC. Sonam has extensive experience covering national security, foreign policy, elections, and stories at the intersection of law and politics. Her work has been cited in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, and others. She has also frequently appeared on national television and radio, including MSNBC, NBC News, BBC World News, BBC News radio, and more. You can get in touch with Sonam at s.sheth@newsweek.com. Languages: English, Hindi, and French.
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Gabe Whisnant is a Breaking News Editor at Newsweek based in North Carolina. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2023, he directed daily publications in North and South Carolina. As an executive editor, Gabe led award-winning coverage of Charleston church shooter Dylan Roof’s capture in 2015, along with coverage of the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. You can get in touch with Gabe by emailing g.whisnant@newsweek.com. Find him on Twitter @GabeWhisnant.
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U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration on Wednesday to disclose more details about the conditions in which Venezuelan migrants are being held at a notorious prison in El Salvador.
The Context
Boasberg has been at the center of the Trump administration’s effort to ramp up migrants’ deportations. The Washington, D.C. judge dominated headlines in March when he tried to block the White House from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport more than 200 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador.
The Trump administration’s deportation of the migrants to El Salvador drew intense scrutiny because, according to multiple media reports, the men who were swept up in by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were deported without due process and many of them had not been convicted of a crime.
In one of those cases, regarding a Maryland father named Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has acknowledged several times that it deported Abrego Garcia by mistake.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, March 16, 2023. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, March 16, 2023. Associated Press
What To Know
Boasberg said in Wednesday’s order that the court needs more information from the Trump administration to assess whether the approximately 200 men—deported in March under the Alien Enemies Act, a seldom-used 18th-century wartime law—remain under effective U.S. custody.
The legal question hinges on the extent of control the U.S. government still exerts over the detainees.
What People Are Saying
Boasberg said Wednesday: “Didn’t the president say just last week that he could secure the return of Mr. [Kilmar] Abrego Garcia simply by picking up the phone and asking the president of El Salvador to release him? Was the president telling the truth?”
What Happens Next
Boasberg asked for an “expedited” fact-finding inquiry on Wednesday so he can determine whether the case should move further.
The judge asked administration officials to deliver statements under oath about the U.S.’s arrangement with El Salvador so the court can determine if the U.S. has custody over the migrants it sent to El Salvador.
Reporting by the Associated Press contributed to this story.
Update 5/7/25 9:35 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and context.
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