As U.S. District Judge James Boasberg continues to thorn on the side of the defiant Trump administration efforts, legal experts have begun to question the handling of the case.
The Obama-appointed judge in March prevented President Donald Trump from using wartime authorities to send the suspicious Tren de Aragua Gangbangers to the El Salvador mega prison, urging an incredible backlash from the president himself. When the challenge to expel the country unfolds in court, some legal experts argue that Boasberg should reject himself entirely from the incident, while others say he is “making policy off the bench.” (Related: “Borders are closed”: Trump administrators claim historic low at the intersection of immigration)
Critics point to the fact that Boasberg’s daughter, Katherine Boasberg, works for the founder’s organization. It was publicly celebrated Her father’s decision to stop his deportation.
“Under Canon 3(c)(1) of the ‘US Code of Conduct for Judges’, judges must disqualify themselves if their fairness could reasonably be questioned,” says Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “The fairness of his judgment is clearly open to rationally questioning, given that his daughter supports illegal aliens and works directly for organisations opposed to alien deportation, as he expresses his support for Boasberg’s actions in this case.”
Tecolca, El Salvador – March 16: A photo of this handout provided by the Salvador government said it was linked to the knee of CECOT in Tecolca, El Salvador on March 16, 2025. (Photo by the Salvadoran government via Getty Images)
“He should have rejected himself given his family’s involvement in defending illegal immigration,” continued Spakovsky.
The debate began on March 15th, when Trump officially called for the alien enemy law of 1798, he was a rarely used wartime authority, swiftly arresting and deporting members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Boasberg immediately issued temporary blocks on the flight, ordering a deported flight in the air and spinning it. However, 238 people suspected and confirmed the Tren de Aragua Gangbangers, allowing 23 MS-13 gang members to land at El Salvador International Airport.
The Trump administration quickly tore Boasberg for a decision.
“Tonight, the DC judge supported Tren de Aragua terrorists on American safety,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi It is listed After Boasberg’s order. “The order ignores President Trump’s established authority on power and puts the public and law enforcement at risk.”
In a court filed the following Monday, the Justice Department appealed the order and called for Boasberg to be reassigned. The administration also tore the judges apart for “very rare and inappropriate procedures” and denounced the court in a “hurried public investigation” on sensitive national security issues involving criminal syndicates.
“If the president doesn’t have the right to throw murderers or other criminals, then the radical left-headed judge wants to take on the role of president, so if he comes out of our country, our country has a very big problem and is destined to fail!” Trump Posted A true society.
After ties with Boasberg’s family with the liberal organization, questions arise about possible conflicts of interest. It has surfaced. His daughter, Katherine, works for Justice Partners, a New York City-based nonprofit group, providing client advocates to public defenders.
According to the New York Post, after Boasberg was assigned to an Alien Enemy ACT incident, the group removed the biographies from its website, archive The page has been saved. Before landing on her partner for justice, Katherine worked at the Justice Innovation Centre, a leftist organisation advocating for “racial justice” in the court system.
Emily Galvin Armanda, founder and executive director of Justice Partner, said Boasberg’s decision was made to block deportation during the war.Correct“And she’s been on social media previously. Rip The Laken Riley Act, a law mandating federal immigration authorities, detains illegal immigrants who commit theft-related crimes.
Ecuadorian immigrants line up to climb the plane during an exiled flight to Ecuador in the framework of exiled flights to Ecuador (pictured through Getty Images) signed at Panama and the United States of Panama City’s International Airport (pictured) via Getty Images)
US Judge Code of Conduct I’ll clarify Judges must reject themselves from cases where “judge’s fairness may be reasonably questioned,” including cases in which the judge’s child is known to be “known to have been found to be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceedings.”
However, there is a debate as to whether Boasberg fits this description.
“In general, the employment of an adult child for a judge does not mandate liability, even if the adult child is employed by a law firm representing the parties involved in the case,” Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, told DCNF. “However, if an adult child is involved in the representation of the parties at all, the judge’s rejection is generally required.”
“Non-profits that do not provide legal representatives do not represent the parties, but I apply the same rules,” continued Painter. “The involvement of adult child employees in the matter is not sufficient basis for rejection, but the involvement of adult child itself is.”
Boasberg, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2011, has since been primarily sided with many well-known court cases over the years, including those involving the Trump administration. In addition to the alien enemy laws, the 62-year-old judge has also ruled on lawsuits that challenge the use of the signal of the top government officials to discuss Yemen’s sensitive military operations.
Boasberg tore the regime on March 15 when he allowed deportation flights to proceed to their destinations in El Salvador, and, ostensibly, against his orders, asked the DOJ to answer many questions about the flight. The administration noted that the judge’s written order was not released until after the flight had already crossed international waters.
While Boasberg is hesitant to declare whether there is a conflict of interest in the deportation case, former immigration judge Matt O’Brien has questioned the immeasurable extent of his ruling.
“The real problem with Judge Boasberg’s decision is not what bias is, rather, in this particular case, he made a decision intended to achieve certain policy outcomes,” said O’Brien, who is now director of investigations at the Institute for Immigration Reform Law.
“But his job is not to create policies. His obligations belong to the administrative department and the legislature,” he said. “Instead, Judge Boasberg was accused of applying the relevant laws to the facts of the case. Instead of doing his job, he engaged in judicial activities (making policies from the bench).”
Like O’Brien, the administration and other Republicans have expressed surprise at the level of authority that a single district court judge can wield the entire administrative division of government.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley introduces President’s top allies law In March, it calls for a federal court order to be restricted to parties just before the court. If passed and signed into law, such a move essentially crushes a universal injunction and suppresses the scope of judicial activity. (Related: Congress has tools to stop fraudulent judges from nullifying Trump’s agenda – without reaching for each ammo)
The desire to see such reforms in the judiciary appears to be very high within the GOP. The recently introduced Grassley bill has already promoted more than 20 co-sponsors in the upper room.
“And by engaging in such actions, Judge Boasberg has infiltrated the authority that was very clearly assigned to the administrative department, with the constitution, immigration and nationality,” O’Brien said. “It overturns our system of checks and balance and throws the entire government machinery out of the quilter.”
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