Appeals Court Halts Boasberg’s Contempt Proceedings Over Deportations

The Justice Department accused U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of pursuing a fishing expedition.

District Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the District Court for the District of Columbia, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington on March 16, 2023. Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via AP

A federal appeals court has halted U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s attempt to probe the Trump administration’s purported refusal to comply with blocks he placed on its deportations of suspected Venezuelan gang members earlier this year.

The decision on Dec. 12 is the latest development in an interbranch battle over such deportations by the administration. In a per curiam, or unsigned opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit placed a temporary stay on Boasberg’s order requesting testimony about the administration’s decision-making.