Judge Boasberg Holds Hearing on Class Certification and Preliminary Injunction for JGG v. Trump

May 7, 2025 - Judge Boasberg held a hearing regarding motions to issue a preliminary injunction and certify a class of all noncitizens who are subject to the Alien Enemies Action (AEA) proclamation of March 15, 2025 and who are or will be moved outside of the US jurisdiction.

As per the Supreme Court's ruling on April 7th, subjects of the AEA declaration had to file habeaus petitions within the jurisdictions of their confinement. Several of those habeaus petitions have been filed. In at least two of those cases, judges have found that the proclamation did not meet the requirements of the AEA statute and issued preliminary injunctions enjoining the government from removing people under the AEA.

Judge Boasberg is considering a preliminary injunction that would apply to any persons who were, are, or will be subject to the proclamation, would therefore possibly end up in El Salvador, and therefore might be subject to his District of Columbia jurisdiction of those persons were held in constructive custody by the US government. Judge Boasberg spent a lot of time discussing whether the government has constructive custody of the alleged members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA). The lawyer for the government indicated that there was no formal agreement between the US and El Salvador but that there is a letter between the two countries that specifies some of the details of the arrangement.

Judge Boasberg indicated that he believes the plaintiff's may have made their case for constructive custody, but that additional facts would be helpful. He indicated he would issue an order giving the government until Friday to file additional declarations that speak to whether or not the government has constructive custody of the alleged members of TdA who in currently detained in Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) in El Salvador.