President Donald Trump and his Department of Justice are in a myriad of legal battles, particularly with a district court judge out of Washington, DC — Judge James Boasberg, who infamously put a temporary restraining order on the deportation flights of Venezuelan gang members that were headed to prisons in El Salvador. Boasberg was just the latest in a string of lower-court judges exceeding their judicial power to thwart the executive branch’s authority — in this case to protect national security.

On Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant AG Drew Ensign, along with Judge Boasberg, argued the issue in front of an appellate panel of three judges. Ensign asserted that the president had the right to invoke the Alien Enemies Act and that Boasberg was interfering with that power while trying to pry state secrets out of the federal government regarding the details of the deportation flight. Boasberg contends that the flights should have turned back when he passed the injunction, while the DOJ points out that the flights were already in international airspace.

However, Ensign also admitted that the illegal aliens had a right to due process, which essentially undercuts Trump’s argument about using the Alien Enemies Act. Meanwhile, Boasberg said that the Venezuelan illegals had a right to judicial review and to contest their gang member affiliation. The judge’s other major concern was that deporting the Venezuelan gang members to a Salvadoran prison would be a human rights catastrophe.

As of now, Boasberg’s 14-day restraining order stands, which allows illegal immigrant advocacy groups to further slow down the deportation process. Furthermore, from here on out, all Venezuelan illegals who have been slated for deportation are to be allowed a judicial review before removal from the country. This could change with the official ruling from the appeals panel, which is attempting to sort through the pressing questions at hand. Those questions include:

• What exactly are the due process rights of illegal migrants?
• Do illegal aliens who are part of a designated terrorist organization have different due process expectations?
• Is the district court judge overstepping his authority in attempting to stop executive actions?

While no official verdict has been given, the judges on the panel gave diverse commentary on the situation. Obama-appointed Judge Patricia Millett disingenuously lamented, “Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than what has happened here. And they had hearing boards before they were removed.”

While this fight continues to rage in the courts, Representative Jim Jordan is in the legislative process of trying to place boundaries on lower-court judges’ authority. House Speaker Mike Johnson is hoping to put the legislation to a vote next week.

There is also significant concern that Judge Boasberg is yet another partisan actor à la Judge Juan Merchan, whose own daughter was deeply entangled with 2024 Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Boasberg was also on the FISA court during the “Russiagate” debacle and was overtly political in his actions. He is further accused of attending a private conference with indisputable anti-Trump leanings. This is a conflict of interest and a major indiscretion, as such affiliations undermine Boasberg’s position of impartiality.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court should settle where the line is in terms of lower courts’ judicial authority. In the meantime, another Democrat-appointed judge has managed to throw a wrench in the gears of justice.