MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow referred to President Donald Trump’s administration being found liable for contempt of court to the metaphorical phrase “the thing right on the edge of the abyss,” saying the camp’s failure to adhere to a judge’s deportation order is pushing the country closer to the brink of peril.
“If you want to know where contempt of court is on the map of the death of the republic, it’s that thing right on the edge of the abyss,” the host said after reading U.S, District Judge James E. Boasberg’s ruling on Wednesday night’s episode of “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
On Wednesday, Boasberg stated he had found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court, warning that he could prosecute officials for not following the orders he issued back in March that directed the camp to turn planes around that were transporting deportees to a prison in El Salvador, per AP News.
“You’re approaching the cliff, there’s the signs telling you you’re getting close to the edge and then you go past the signs and you get right up to the edge, it’s contempt of court. It’s right there,” Maddow said. “They are on the edge of contempt, which is on the edge of the end.”
The judge has since given the Trump administration until April 23. “to either fix this mess by having the U.S. government retake custody of all those people that were shipped to El Salvador, or start handing over the names of Trump officials for the judge to hold in criminal contempt,” Maddow explained.
Later on in the segment, ACLU’s Deputy Director of Immigrants’ Rights Project Lee Gelernt, who is also the lead attorney in the case against the Trump administration, explained how Trump’s use of the 18th century wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows U.S. presidents to apprehend and remove immigrants from the country, violates constitutional rights. The Trump administration invoked the law claiming that a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua had invaded the country.
“[Boasberg] has given the government time and time again the opportunity to explain themselves and they’ve simply refused,” Gelernt said, adding that Trump’s camp could still redeem themselves by bringing the deportees back.
“The judge has gone out of his way to make clear that he is not ordering these men to be released on U.S. streets. If they’ve committed crimes, they can be prosecuted, they can detained under immigration laws and they can be removed under immigration laws. But they can not be sent to a foreign prison potentially for the rest of their lives without due process,” Gelernt explained. “What he’s saying is, bring them back to the U.S., give them due process, and if ultimately they’re deported under the immigration laws, then they’re deported under the immigration laws. But he is not by any means saying they should be free to be out of detention. Until they have due process and can prove that they’re not gang members … He’s simply saying you can not use a wartime authority without due process, and he’s been 100% clear about it. The government knows that.”
You can watch the full “Rachel Maddow Show” segment in the clip above.
