Bill Barr Criticizes Judicial Overreach in Trump's Deportation Policy

Former Attorney General Bill Barr has accused district court judges of overstepping their authority by blocking President Donald Trump’s migrant deportation flights.

In a recent appearance on ‘America’s Newsroom,’ former Attorney General Bill Barr expressed strong disapproval of judicial interventions that have halted President Donald Trump’s migrant deportation flights. The controversy centers around flights involving Venezuelan migrants being sent to El Salvador, which have been subject to numerous legal challenges.

Barr specifically criticized U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s decision to stop the deportation of individuals suspected to be gang members, arguing that it infringes on the president’s constitutional authority. “There’s a pattern whereby these district court judges are trying to usurp the responsibility of the president in the national security area,” Barr stated, emphasizing that the president should have the final say on such matters.

The tension escalated when Judge Boasberg demanded more information about a particular deportation flight to El Salvador, a request that the Trump administration resisted by invoking the state secrets privilege. This move allowed the administration to withhold details from the court, further complicating the legal proceedings.

Government attorneys have since appealed to a higher court to overturn Boasberg’s ruling and resume the deportation flights. The appeal has sparked debate among judges, with some drawing historical parallels. Judge Patricia Millett, for instance, compared the current situation to World War II policies, noting that even Nazi detainees received more due process than the migrants in question.

Barr used this case to highlight what he sees as a broader issue: the use of nationwide injunctions by district court judges. He argued that such decisions by lower-level judges have a disproportionate impact on national policy. “Even where it’s appropriate for the court to play its traditional role of safeguarding the liberties of American citizens, we have this phenomena of nation-wide injunctions where the lowest level judge, district judges, try to bind the entire nation and bind the president in their initial decision,” Barr explained.

Echoing Barr’s sentiments, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has previously criticized the power of single district judges to halt nationwide policies. Barr called on the Supreme Court to intervene, expressing confidence that a definitive ruling from the highest court could resolve the ongoing disputes. “If they [the U.S. Supreme Court] finally stand up and decide a case instead of hanging back from these decisions, I think it’ll come out the right way,” he concluded.