Trump administration pushes to have deportation case reassigned to another judge

The Trump administration is pushing to change the judge overseeing a challenge to the president’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to carry out swift deportations.

The Justice Department made the request in a new filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where the administration is appealing U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s Saturday order blocking the administration’s plan nationwide.

“This Court should also immediately reassign this case to another district court judge given the highly unusual and improper procedures — e.g. certification of a class action involving members of a designated foreign terrorist organization in less than 18 hours with no discovery and no briefing from the Government — that have been employed in the district court proceedings to date,” wrote Drew Ensign, deputy assistant attorney general for immigration litigation.

The request came ahead of a 5 p.m. EDT hearing in the case, where Boasberg is set to consider whether the administration violated his court order by sending planes to El Salvador on Saturday evening. Boasberg is an appointee of former President Obama.

Boasberg on Monday denied the government’s motion to cancel the hearing.

“The district court’s hasty public inquiry into these sensitive national security matters — with no contemplated protections against disclosure of operational details — underscores the urgency of immediate relief from this Court, including an immediate administrative stay that would allow further briefing to unfold in an orderly and appropriate manner and prevents the district court from further efforts to interfere with President Trump’s core Article II authorities, including the conduct of foreign policy,” Ensign wrote in the new filing.

The Trump administration says the planes were carrying suspected members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, and argues officials did not violate the judge’s order because the planes were already out of U.S. territory by that time.

Like other judges who have ruled against the Trump administration, Boasberg has faced intense online criticism since his Saturday rulings.

Earlier on Monday, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) said he was launching an effort to impeach the judge.

Tags Alien Enemies Act James Boasberg Obama Trump deportation plan