U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has ordered the Trump administration to submit plans to return or otherwise provide hearings for over 100 migrants who were deported to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison in March.
Boasberg has certified a class representing all migrants sent to the prison and says the government must submit its plans to allow them to contest their designation under the Alien Enemies Act by Jan. 5.
The Trump administration in March invoked the AEA — an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process — to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to the El Salvador prison by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order and ordered that the planes be turned around, but Justice Department attorneys said his oral instructions directing the flight to be returned were defective, and the deportations proceeded as planned.
Guards escort the inmates at CECOT, March 16, 2025 in Tecoluca, El Salvador.
Salvadoran Government via Getty Images
Boasberg subsequently sought contempt proceedings against the government for deliberately defying his order, but earlier this month a federal appeals court granted the Justice Department an emergency stay of those proceedings.
The more than 200 migrants who were sent to CECOT were returned to Venezuela in July in a prisoner swap.