WASHINGTON: A US 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 justice system.
The White House said it planned an “immediate” appeal to the decision by District Judge James Boasberg, who had ordered the government to halt flights of more than 200 alleged gang Venezuelan members to El Salvador.
Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order on March 15 to halt the deportations, which were carried out under an obscure wartime law, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which strips away the usual legal due process.
In a written opinion, the judge cited evidence that the government had engaged in “deliberate or reckless disregard” of his order when it proceeded with the flights.
“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.
“We plan to seek immediate appellate relief,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement after the judge’s ruling.
“The President is 100 percent committed to ensuring that terrorists and criminal illegal migrants are no longer a threat to Americans and their communities across the country.”
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.
Trump has routinely criticized rulings that curb his policies and power, and attacked the judges who issued them, including Boasberg.
The Republican president said Wednesday that US courts are “totally out of control,” writing on his Truth Social platform: “They seem to hate ‘TRUMP’ so much, that anything goes!“
His 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 man has never been charged with any crimes.
US judge says ‘probable cause’ to hold Trump admin in contempt
https://arab.news/gm43x
US judge says ‘probable cause’ to hold Trump admin in contempt
- 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
Bangladeshi politicians hold rallies as campaigning begins for first post-Hasina election
- Feb. 12 polls will decide on proposed political reforms, bring in new leadership
- Nearly 128m of Bangladesh’s 170m population are eligible to vote
DHAKA: Bangladeshi politicians held election rallies across the country on Friday, as campaigning began for the hugely anticipated polls in February, the first since the 2024 uprising that ousted longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Bangladesh will hold general elections on Feb. 12, and the two main parties contesting it, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, kicked off campaigning with tens of thousands of supporters on Thursday in the northern city of Sylhet and the capital Dhaka, respectively.
Nearly 128 million of Bangladesh’s 170 million population are eligible to vote in polls that will decide on proposed political reforms and bring in new leadership after prolonged political turmoil that followed Hasina’s ouster, reshaping domestic and regional dynamics.
“We want to build a Bangladesh that is free from corruption, terrorism and extortion. Our dream is to build a Bangladesh where the grassroot-level working class people also can live with their rights, the women can move freely, (and) the youths will get enough employment opportunities,” Jamaat’s spokesperson Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair told Arab News on Friday.
“We are expecting a beautiful and safe Bangladesh following the election next month. We want a free and fair election environment where people would be able to exercise their voting rights without any fear.”
After it was crushed during Hasina’s 15 years in power, Jamaat-e-Islami is leading a 10-party alliance that includes the National Citizen Party, formed by student leaders who spearheaded the uprising.
NCP’s Nahid Islam launched their campaign urging voters to “carry forward the progress of reform.”
Tarique Rahman, BNP chairman and son of the late former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is widely seen as a leading contender for prime minister. He has vowed to create jobs for “millions of unemployed youth” and support women’s economic independence.
More than 1,800 candidates are contesting for around 300 seats in the Bangladeshi parliament in the upcoming polls, which the country’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus said will be a benchmark for future votes.
“It will be a festive election. It will set the standard for good elections in the future. Let’s keep our fingers crossed,” Yunus said during a meeting with US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent Christensen, his office said on Friday.
Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has led Bangladesh’s caretaker government since August 2024, will step down after the polls.
The 2024 mass uprising that forced Hasina to resign from office and flee to India began in early July as peaceful student demonstrations, triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of civil service positions.
Two weeks later, they were met with a communications blackout and a violent crackdown by security forces.
A special tribunal in Dhaka found Hasina guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against the protesters, at least 1,400 people of whom died, according to estimates from the UN’s Human Rights Office.
After a months-long trial, she was sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity.
The Yunus-led administration has banned all activities of Hasina’s Awami League, meaning the former ruling party is prohibited from joining the race.
Bangladesh last held elections in January 2024, which saw Hasina return to office for a fourth consecutive term. That vote was boycotted by the country’s main opposition parties, which accused her administration of rigging the polls.
This time around, the start of election campaigns has brought an air of festivity across Bangladesh, as people find themselves brimming with hope for the future.
“Voters couldn’t exercise their voting rights for the last 17 years,” said Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, a seasoned BNP politician who is running to represent Sirajganj district.
“Naturally, people are very excited about voting in the next election. As the times have changed, people want to see change.”
Omor Fayaz Tamim, an anthropology student in Dhaka, is hoping to see a “sustainable and citizen-friendly” development in Bangladesh after the upcoming election.
“From witnessing systematic alienation from politics to being propelled into the fight for our rights in July, a (new) hope brews within (us) to be a part of a better Bangladesh,” he told Arab News.
This year marks a first for festivities surrounding the election for many Bangladeshis, especially the youth.
“I have never seen the festivities of the Bangladeshi election before because of the dummy elections arranged before. So, it’s definitely something new to our generation … I am optimistic about voting this year,” 24-year-old Ashraful Alam Khan told Arab News.
Malaika Nur, another student in the Bangladeshi capital, is hoping to see the festive energy continue until voting day.
“I hope the next government will restore peace and security for the people,” she said.
“It will ensure democracy and integrity in all sectors. It will make plans that benefit the nation. It will not oppress people who are just demanding rights.”
