Appeals Court Tosses Judge’s Contempt Finding Against Trump Administration in Prison Deportations

SAN VICENTE, EL SALVADOR – APRIL 04: A prison officer guarding gang members in a cell at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, in San Vicente, El Salvador on April 04, 2025. The Cecot prison was presented to Salvadorans by President Nayib Bukele on national radio and television as the largest prison in the Americas, built for members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS 13) gang and the two Barrio 18 groups (Sureña and Revolucionaria). Following the deportation of hundreds of migrants from the United States to El Salvador, it became a resource for the Donald Trump administration in implementing its immigration policy. (Photo by Alex Pena/Anadolu via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A split appeals court panel is tossing out a judge’s contempt finding against President Donald Trump’s administration in a case over deportations to an El Salvador prison. The Friday decision comes after planes carrying Venezuelan migrants landed at the prison even after U.S District Judge James E. Boasberg said in court they must return to the United States. Boasberg had found probable cause to believe Trump administration officials rushed deportees out of the country before they could challenge their removal in court and then willfully disregarded his order. The Republican administration has denied any violation, saying the judge did not specify the return of the planes in his written order.