U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled Wednesday that the Trump Administration in criminal contempt of court violated the 1798 Alien Enemies Act

Boasberg imposed a temporary restraining order barring deportations that evening — but the planes still arrived in El Salvador. The Justice Department argued that Boasberg had overstepped his authority by inserting himself into questions of foreign policy.

The flights happened just a day after the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration over the Alien Enemies Act. They said the administration removed people without due process.

The government sent several planeloads of alleged gang members to El Salvador immediately after invoking the act, including 137 people under the statute, the White House said at the time.

The 1798 Alien Enemies Act was invoked by President Donald Trump to target members of the Tren de Aragua prison gang in Venezuela.

Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday that there is “probable cause” to find the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court for violating his order last month to immediately pause any deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

Boasberg gave the federal government until April 23 to respond to try to “purge their contempt” and prove they did not violate his temporary restraining order.

Just a day after the government appealed a lower court order, the Fourth Circuit ruled against the Trump administration. Abrego Garcia’s case has become a test of how far the White House wants to push the boundaries of law through immigration policy.

The temporary restraining order was found to be in fact a legal defect, however, the Supreme Court’s opinion did not excuse the government’s violation. “If a party chooses to disobey the order — rather than wait for it to be reversed through the judicial process — such disobedience is punishable as contempt, notwithstanding any later-revealed deficiencies in the order.”

The Constitution do not tolerate disobedience of judicial orders by officials of a coordinate branch, who have sworn an oath to uphold it.

“Today’s decision affirms what we have long known: the government’s conduct in this case is unlawful and a threat to people and our constitution,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement.

A federal court on Thursday denied the Trump administration’s effort to appeal an order mandating that government officials be deposed about the accidental deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.

It is hard in certain cases to get to the very heart of the matter. The judges of the Fourth Circuit wrote that it was not hard in this case. “The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.”

The Justice Department and the Foreign Terrorism of the U.S.: Attorney General Pam Bondi’s response to a comment on “Abrego Gomez is not coming back to our country”

The Justice Department shared prior coverage of Attorney General Pam Bondi in response to a request for comment. Bondi on Wednesday told reporters that it’s up to El Salvador to bring Abrego Garcia back, and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said he does not have the power to return him. “He is not coming back to our country,” Bondi said.

The US Supreme Court upheld an order from a Maryland judge that directed the government to facilitate Abrego’s release and return.

The U.S. government has accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 gang, which the Trump administration has since designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers dispute that he is a member of the gang, and say he doesn’t have a criminal record.

At a hearing earlier this week, Judge Xinis said that the Justice Department lawyers, which are representing the government, have provided little information of value about their efforts to bring him back.

She instructed the government to go through expedited discovery, during which Abrego Gomez’s lawyers can question officials and ask about what they are doing to bring him back.

The administration appealed the order of expedited discovery. In the appeal, the DOJ argued that the Maryland court is inserting “itself into the foreign policy of the United States and has tried to dictate it from the bench,” and said the depositions of government officials are “untenable.”