WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge must end an “intrusive” contempt investigation into the Trump administration’s failure to comply with orders on flights carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador last year, a divided appeals court panel ruled Tuesday.
Chief Judge James Bosberg abused his discretion in moving forward with criminal contempt proceedings stemming from the March 2025 deportation flights, according to a majority opinion of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The decision is the latest twist in a year-long legal saga that has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. The White House has portrayed Bosberg as a biased judge who overstepped his authority.
The Trump administration has a “clear and undisputed” right to end contempt proceedings, Circuit Judge Naomi Rao wrote in the court’s majority opinion.
“The legal error at the heart of these criminal contempt proceedings demonstrates why the district court’s further investigation was an abuse of discretion,” Rao wrote. “Criminal contempt is available only for violations of orders that are clear and specific. (Boseberg’s March 2025 order) did not expressly and specifically bar the government from transferring plaintiffs to Salvadoran custody.”
Rao was nominated by Trump, a Republican. Bosberg, Chief Judge of the District Court in Washington, DC, was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama.
On March 15, 2025, Bossberg issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the administration from relocating groups of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador under an 18th-century law. After the order was entered, two planeloads of immigrants protected by the order left the U.S. en route to El Salvador, where they were held in one of the world’s most violent prisons. The administration said then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem was responsible for the transfer decision.
Bosberg said the Trump administration may have acted in bad faith by trying to force Venezuelan immigrants out of the country in defiance of his order. He said he gave the administration “ample opportunity to correct or explain their actions” but concluded that “none of their responses has been satisfactory.”
Last year, the Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint against Bosberg accusing him of making inappropriate public comments about Trump and his administration. Trump has called for the impeachment of Bosberg. In a rare rebuke, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts publicly rejected calls for Bossberg’s impeachment.
The case is assigned to Rao and Circuit Judges Justin Walker and J. Michelle Childs. Walker, also a Trump nominee, wrote a separate opinion agreeing with Rao. Children, nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, disagreed with the majority.
Childs said the court’s majority trampled on Bosberg’s rights “in a way that not only affects these contempt proceedings but will reverberate in all future antitrust proceedings.”
“Now, any plaintiff may argue, based on their preferred interpretation of the court’s order, that they were not in contempt prior to the contempt findings,” Childs wrote in his 80-page dissent.
Lawyers for deported immigrants can ask the Full Circuit Court or the U.S. Supreme Court to review the panel’s decision.
Lee Gallerant, a lawyer for the plaintiffs of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the majority opinion was “a blow to the rule of law.”
“Our system is built on the executive branch, including the president, respecting court orders. In this case, there is no question that the Trump administration willfully violated the court order,” Gelernt said in a statement.
