Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday that there is "probable cause" to find the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court after he said it violated his order last month to immediately pause any deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. The federal government on March 15 invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to target members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang that Trump says is invading the U.S. The government sent several planeloads of alleged gang members to El Salvador immediately after invoking the act, including 137 people under the act, the white house said at the time. The flights happened just after the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward sued the Trump administration over its use of the Alien Enemies Act. They said the administration removed people without due process.

A federal judge Wednesday found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for willfully disobeying his order to immediately halt deportations under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act and turn around any airborne planes. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s order gives the administration a final opportunity to come into compliance but says he will otherwise take steps to identify the specific people who flouted his March 15 ruling, which was later lifted by the Supreme Court, and refer them for prosecution. “The Court ultimately determines that the Government’s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt,” Boasberg wrote.

A judge on Wednesday found probable cause to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt, saying they violated his verbal order last month by not returning planes of Venezuelan migrants whom the administration rushed to deport on March 15. “The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions. None of their responses has been satisfactory,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote in an order. Boasberg said the Department of Justice could attempt to “purge,” or take corrective action to erase, the contempt finding by April 23. Otherwise, the judge would need the names of the specific people in the administration who made the decision to violate his order.