PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Far-left U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, a new but frequent foe of President Donald J. Trump, has ruled that illegal immigrants—alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua—who were deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison must be granted habeas relief by the U.S. government to challenge their removals.
👥 Who’s Involved: Judge James Boasberg, illegal immigrant members of Tren de Aragua, President Donald J. Trump, the U.S government, the government of El Salvador, and El Salvador’s CECOT prison.
📍 Where & When: The ruling was made late Wednesday, June 5, 2025.
💬 Key Quote: “Fortunately for the American people, Judge Boasberg does not have the last word,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in a statement on Thursday responding to the ruling.
⚠️ Impact: Boasberg’s ruling could lay the groundwork for activist judges to extend deportation appeals rights to other individuals who have already been removed from the United States. According to the ruling, the Trump White House has one week to formulate a plan for allowing several hundred illegal immigrants held at CECOT to seek habeas relief.
IN FULL:
In a ruling late Wednesday evening, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg once again intervened in President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to remove criminal illegal immigrants from the United States. The far-left judge found in favor of a group believed to be several hundred illegal immigrant members of the violent Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, who were deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison in March and are now demanding habeas relief to challenge their removal.
The ruling applies only to illegal immigrants deported to El Salvador and held at the country’s CECOT facility who were removed under President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act targeting Tren de Aragua members. “Defendants plainly deprived these individuals of their right to seek habeas relief before their summary removal from the United States—a right that need not itself be vindicated through a habeas petition,” Judge Boasberg wrote. He continued: “Perhaps the President lawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act. Perhaps, moreover, Defendants are correct that Plaintiffs are gang members. But—and this is the critical point—there is simply no way to know for sure, as the CECOT Plaintiffs never had any opportunity to challenge the Government’s say-so.”
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that blocks the Trump administration from deporting illegal immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act pending further proceedings by an appeals court. Boasberg explicitly cites the Supreme Court order in his ruling, noting that the high court agreed “that those subject to removal under the Act must be allowed to challenge their removability in federal court before being deported.”
The Trump administration will have one week to formulate a way for several hundred illegal immigrants in CECOT, and under the jurisdiction of the Salvadoran government, to seek habeas relief appealing their deportation per the ruling. Notably, Kilmar Abrego Garcia—an illegal immigrant and member of MS-13—who has drawn significant attention from Democrats and the media for his deportation to CECOT—is unaffected by the ruling.
