Texas congressman files impeachment articles vs. judge who blocked President Trump's mass deportations
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Flower Mound, filed impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C.
Gill did so following Judge Boasberg's order that temporarily blocked the president's mass deportation under the authority of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The judge's order came as the president deported Venezuelan migrants that the administration identified as members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang.
On social media, the president called for the judge to be impeached. Gill agreed in an interview with CBS News Texas on Thursday.
"Judge James Boasberg, a rogue D.C. judge, has abused his power of the judiciary, weaponized the judiciary, politicized it, to usurp President Trump's clear plenary, Article II powers as commander in chief," said Gill. "Remember, he did this for the purpose of turning a plane mid-air full of some of the most violent, brutal, ruthless terrorists to demand that they come back into our community. That is a usurpation of power, it's unconstitutional, and it's wrong."
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, sharply criticized President Trump's call for impeaching Judge Boasberg and the filing of impeachment articles by Gill.
"The idea that anyone should be given permission to violate a court order, no matter who you are, you don't have that right," said Crockett. "What we have is, we are seeing that the legislative branch has decided they don't want to be co-equal. They want to be subservient, at least if they're Republicans. They want to be subservient to the executive branch. So really what Brandon should have been doing is going back to the basics of government and recognizing that if anybody has failed in this particular court case, it wasn't the judiciary who issued an order. It was Donald Trump and his administration."
Aside from impeachment, Gill said Republicans are also discussing legislative alternatives. When asked if he would force a vote on impeachment, Gill said, "I think impeachment is a proper response here. I hope that we push it forward. I think it would be best done by going through the proper committee process."
He and Crockett sit on the House Judiciary Committee.
Crockett said, "I will do absolutely everything I can to talk about how ridiculous this is and try to give a very elementary education on the basics."
In addition to the judge's concerns over the president's use of an old wartime law to conduct mass deportations, the ACLU remains concerned that the Venezuelan nationals described as violent gang members didn't have an opportunity to prove they are not.
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