The China Mail - US judge says 'probable cause' to hold govt in contempt over deportations

USD -
AED 3.67301
AFN 71.021929
ALL 86.757891
AMD 388.845938
ANG 1.80229
AOA 916.000148
ARS 1165.000022
AUD 1.559315
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70406
BAM 1.718274
BBD 2.002838
BDT 121.45998
BGN 1.72222
BHD 0.376957
BIF 2973.111879
BMD 1
BND 1.309923
BOB 6.907155
BRL 5.619799
BSD 0.999627
BTN 85.145488
BWP 13.647565
BYN 3.271381
BYR 19600
BZD 2.008021
CAD 1.382775
CDF 2877.999765
CHF 0.824198
CLF 0.024644
CLP 945.690142
CNY 7.269496
CNH 7.2656
COP 4197
CRC 505.357119
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 96.873243
CZK 21.90485
DJF 178.012449
DKK 6.56135
DOP 58.908545
DZD 132.288977
EGP 50.801298
ERN 15
ETB 133.81045
EUR 0.87892
FJD 2.256403
FKP 0.746656
GBP 0.74686
GEL 2.745039
GGP 0.746656
GHS 14.294876
GIP 0.746656
GMD 71.492633
GNF 8658.065706
GTQ 7.698728
GYD 209.76244
HKD 7.75695
HNL 25.941268
HRK 6.620396
HTG 130.799
HUF 355.319478
IDR 16646.9
ILS 3.62904
IMP 0.746656
INR 85.090398
IQD 1309.571398
IRR 42100.000211
ISK 128.410025
JEP 0.746656
JMD 158.35182
JOD 0.7092
JPY 142.663004
KES 129.349896
KGS 87.450261
KHR 4001.774662
KMF 432.250121
KPW 900.101764
KRW 1422.724972
KWD 0.30632
KYD 0.833044
KZT 511.344318
LAK 21622.072771
LBP 89567.707899
LKR 299.446072
LRD 199.931473
LSL 18.549157
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.468994
MAD 9.272737
MDL 17.203829
MGA 4511.41031
MKD 54.061297
MMK 2099.785163
MNT 3572.381038
MOP 7.98763
MRU 39.575655
MUR 45.229907
MVR 15.400483
MWK 1733.40069
MXN 19.553103
MYR 4.310956
MZN 64.01011
NAD 18.549157
NGN 1601.519845
NIO 36.785022
NOK 10.359235
NPR 136.237321
NZD 1.68312
OMR 0.384995
PAB 0.999613
PEN 3.664973
PGK 4.141482
PHP 55.858498
PKR 280.826287
PLN 3.75155
PYG 8005.376746
QAR 3.644223
RON 4.374502
RSD 102.966435
RUB 82.000422
RWF 1428.979332
SAR 3.751033
SBD 8.361298
SCR 14.651979
SDG 600.501985
SEK 9.643735
SGD 1.305825
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.75021
SLL 20969.483762
SOS 571.328164
SRD 36.849418
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.746876
SYP 13001.961096
SZL 18.542907
THB 33.321501
TJS 10.555936
TMT 3.51
TND 2.990231
TOP 2.342102
TRY 38.501202
TTD 6.782431
TWD 31.975997
TZS 2685.000535
UAH 41.530014
UGX 3663.550745
UYU 42.090559
UZS 12943.724275
VES 86.54811
VND 26005
VUV 121.306988
WST 2.770092
XAF 576.298184
XAG 0.030422
XAU 0.000302
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.71673
XOF 576.29312
XPF 104.776254
YER 245.050187
ZAR 18.54398
ZMK 9001.200989
ZMW 27.965227
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    0.1500

    10.01

    +1.5%

  • RBGPF

    -0.4500

    63

    -0.71%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1300

    10.12

    -1.28%

  • NGG

    0.1900

    73.04

    +0.26%

  • RIO

    0.0100

    60.88

    +0.02%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.58

    +0.1%

  • CMSC

    -0.0800

    22.24

    -0.36%

  • GSK

    0.9100

    38.97

    +2.34%

  • RELX

    0.4300

    53.79

    +0.8%

  • JRI

    0.1300

    12.93

    +1.01%

  • AZN

    1.7800

    71.71

    +2.48%

  • BCE

    0.1100

    21.92

    +0.5%

  • BCC

    -0.8300

    94.5

    -0.88%

  • BTI

    0.4700

    42.86

    +1.1%

  • CMSD

    -0.1300

    22.35

    -0.58%

  • BP

    -1.0600

    28.07

    -3.78%

US judge says 'probable cause' to hold govt in contempt over deportations
US judge says 'probable cause' to hold govt in contempt over deportations / Photo: © AFP

US judge says 'probable cause' to hold govt in contempt over deportations

A US federal judge said Wednesday he had found "probable cause" to hold President Donald Trump's administration in contempt in a deportation case, raising the stakes in the White House's confrontation with the US justice system.

Text size:

The ruling refers to District Judge James Boasberg's temporary restraining order of March 15 to halt deportations carried out under an obscure wartime law, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

That order was issued as the government was flying more than 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, where those expelled were incarcerated in a maximum security prison.

In a written opinion, District Judge Boasberg cited evidence that the government had engaged in "deliberate or reckless disregard" of his order.

"Defendants provide no convincing reason to avoid the conclusion that appears obvious... that they deliberately flouted this Court's written Order and, separately, its oral command that explicitly delineated what compliance entailed," he wrote.

The administration's actions were "sufficient for the court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the government in criminal contempt," Boasberg wrote.

The judge said the government would be offered a final chance to "purge such contempt" or face further court action.

Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has flirted with open defiance of the judiciary following setbacks to his right-wing agenda, with deportation cases taking center stage.

In invoking the Alien Enemies Act -- which had only been used previously during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II -- Trump said he was targeting transnational gangs he had declared foreign terrorist organizations.

That included the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua, but lawyers for several of the deported Venezuelans have said that their clients were not gang members, had committed no crimes and were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.

The administration is also under fire over its admission that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was living in the eastern state of Maryland and married to a US citizen, was deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador due to an "administrative error."

A judge has ordered Trump to "facilitate" his return, an order upheld by the Supreme Court, but his government has said the court did not have the authority to order it to have him returned.

Trump has alleged that Abrego Garcia is "an MS-13 Gang Member and Foreign Terrorist from El Salvador," while Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that he was "engaged in human trafficking."

The Republican president has criticized rulings that curb his policies and power, and attacked the judges who issued them, including Boasberg.

Trump has also moved to settle scores with law firms that represented his political foes in the past or helped bring him to court on civil or criminal charges.

B.Chan--ThChM