US President Donald Trump took a jab at the judiciary on Thursday, challenging courts over restrictions and blocking the administration’s orders.
This comes just after a federal judge issued a directive, setting a Tuesday deadline for the Justice Department to clarify its actions concerning flights transporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador prisons, including individuals who claim innocence and allege targeting based on their tattoos.
Trump launched an unprecedented criticism of the judiciary, calling for Supreme Court intervention. “It is our goal to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and such a high aspiration can never be done if Radical and Highly Partisan Judges are allowed to stand in the way of JUSTICE,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “STOP NATIONWIDE INJUNCTIONS NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump declared.
Then taking a shot at chief justice Roberts, Trump added, “If Justice Roberts and the United States Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation IMMEDIATELY, our Country is in very serious trouble!”
Chief Justice Roberts, appointed by Republican George W. Bush, issued an unusual rebuke following Trump’s call to impeach the judge James Boasberg, presiding over the deportation case. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts stated. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Washington, District Judge Boasberg had issued an emergency order on Saturday halting Venezuelan deportations during legal proceedings.
He ordered two airborne flights to return. El Salvador’s President Nayyib Bukele, who offers prisoner accommodation in Latin America’s largest prison, responded: “Oopsie… Too late.”
In Thursday’s order, Boasberg revealed that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office director indicated the Trump administration might justify its actions using “state secrets.” “This is woefully insufficient,” Boasberg wrote, noting “the Government again evaded its obligations.”
He stated that a regional immigration enforcement official lacked authority to present cabinet-level arguments against federal court decisions.
The Trump administration must explain by Tuesday justifying how it did not breach his restraining order.
