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Headline Roundup March 17th, 2025

Were Trump's Tren De Aragua Deportations Illegal?

Summary from the AllSides News Team

On Saturday evening, federal Judge James Boasberg issued two orders to temporarily halt President Donald Trump's deportation of Tren de Aragua members under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Questions remain over whether the Trump administration intentionally defied the order. 

The Details: When Boasberg issued his orders, lawyers told him the planes with the Venezuelans were in the air already. Boasberg ordered that “those people need to be returned to the United States.” But he also acknowledged that he can't order the individuals to return once they land and deplane.

From the Left: A writer for Vox (Left bias) argued, “The plaintiffs’ attorneys cite publicly available flight data as well as news reports, which suggest that the Trump administration allowed these planes to land and discharge their passengers after Boasberg issued his order. If that is true, then the Trump administration defied the order and can potentially be held in contempt of court.” They added that if Trump defied the order, there isn't much recourse other than impeachment, which is unlikely with a Republican majority, throwing the nation into a constitutional crisis.

From the Right: A writer in Townhall (Right) argued Trump did the right thing for national security. The New York Post Editorial Board (Right) disagreed, saying, “Trump stopped the bleeding at the border in his first weeks in office; undoing all the Biden-era damage will take a lot longer. And doing it with full regard for the rule of law truly is necessary.”

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Featured Coverage of this Story

From the Center
Trump’s Deportation Machine Takes Shape
Trump’s Deportation Machine Takes Shape

Jorge Salvador Cabrera/Getty Images

Opinion

Luis Alberto Castillo tried to do it the right way. According to an affidavit filed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Castillo, a 29-year-old Venezuelan citizen who had been living in Colombia, arrived at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 19. He had made an appointment to apply for asylum on CBP One, an official U.S. government app, Castillo’s own affidavit said.

Open on Foreign Policy
Possible Paywall
From the Right
Sorry, Elon: Even deporting illegal gangbangers must heed the rule of law
Opinion

Elon Musk is way out of his lane in cheering a bid to impeach federal Judge James Boasberg, who’s put a temporary hold on deportation flights of illegal migrant gangbangers.

We like the idea of the flights: The brutes of Tren de Aragua and MS-13 have had it too easy for far too long, and current efforts to get tough are a necessary correction to Biden-era denial.

Open on New York Post (Opinion)
From the Left
What can be done if Trump is openly defying the courts?
Analysis

The question of what happens if the Trump administration openly defies a federal court order has hung over the United States since President Donald Trump’s second term began. If that happens, it will trigger a constitutional crisis. Now, that long-awaited crisis may be upon us.

On Saturday, Trump issued a proclamation claiming the authority to deport Venezuelan nationals that, he claims, are members of a criminal gang known as Tren de Aragua. Trump alleges that these foreign nationals may be swiftly removed under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a law that has only been invoked three...

Open on Vox

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