The Trump administration won’t be able to restart its rushed deportation flights of Venezuelans deemed “alien enemies” for at least another two weeks, D.C.’s chief federal judge ruled on Friday.
In his order, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said the White House’s plan to immediately resume its forced transportation of people without a trial “only underscores the need” for him to continue stepping in.
“Indeed,” he wrote, government agencies “have thus far not committed to granting putative class members any opportunity to challenge their classification before summary removal.”
Boasberg’s initial two-week temporary restraining order, which was set to expire on Saturday, is now in place until April 12.
This legal fight between human rights lawyers and the White House has morphed into a full-blown power struggle between the nation’s courts and the executive branch, as President Donald Trump continues to invoke wartime powers and a so-called “state secrets privilege” to assert an expansive view of presidential power.
However, the fast-moving situation could change as soon as next week. Although the D.C. federal appellate court supported Boasberg’s temporary restraining order, the Trump administration has now taken the matter to the Supreme Court, which agreed on Friday to hear from both sides.
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Jose Pagliery is a reporter at NOTUS.