A United States, US, Federal judge, James Boasberg, has threatened to hold President Donald Trump’s administration in contempt of court.
Boasberg accused Trump’s administration of “willful disregard” of an order to halt the departure of deportation flights carrying more than 200 people to El Salvador last month, BBC reports.
Trump’s administration had invoked a 227-year-old law meant to protect the US during wartime to carry out the mass deportation.
However, the judge held that “The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses has been satisfactory.”
The decision to begin contempt proceedings escalates a clash between the White House and the judiciary over the president’s powers.