Judge Says If Trump Admin Doesn't Remedy Contempt For Ignoring Order On Deportation Flights, He'll Appoint a Prosecutor Who Will

A judge said on Wednesday he has found probable cause to find the Trump administration in contempt of court over the defiance of his order to turn two planes around carrying Venezuelan deportees to El Salvador.

Concretely, judge James Boasberg said evidence shows willful defiance amounting to criminal contempt. "The court does not reach this conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses have been satisfactory," Boasberg said.

The judge went on to cite gloating from the Trump administration about their defiance, noting they had "defied the Court's Order deliberately and gleefully." He recalled that Secretary of State Marco reposted a publication from Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in which he wrote "Oopsie... Too late," in reference to the matter.

In this context, Boasberg said that if the administration won't purge its contempt, "the Court will proceed to identify the individual(s) responsible for the contumacious conduct by determining whose "specific act or omission" caused the noncompliance." Moreover, the judge said he will appoint a prosecutor who will put an end to the behavior.

The people in the planes Boasberg ordered to turn around were over 200 Venezuelan migrants accused of being members of Tren de Aragua gang. The Trump administration invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act to do so, but has faced numerous legal challenges in the way.

CBS News recently obtained internal government documents listing the names of the prisoners and any known criminal information, revealing that the vast majority of them did not commit any serious criminal, violent offense.

According to the report, at least 22% of the men on the list have criminal records in the U.S. or abroad. Most are for non-violent offenses like theft, shoplifting and trespassing. About a dozen have been accused of murder, rape, assault and kidnapping. Bloomberg detailed in a report of its own that the proportion who don't have a criminal record in the U.S. stands at 90%.

Domestically, lawyers are filing lawsuits preventing deportations using the Alien Enemies Act. Earlier this week ACLU attorneys did so with Colorado detainees. They are backing their request in the Supreme Court ruling from last week, which did not ban the administration from enforcing the deportations under the wartime Alien Enemies Act, but did establish that people targeted must be given time to challenge the decision and undergo judicial review.

The lawyers have recent precedent to back their request as they claim the men are "in imminent danger" of being deported and "transferred outside of the district of Colorado." Last week, a Texas judge blocked three deportations under the Alien Enemies Act citing the Supreme Court ruling.