Chief Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday that there is “probable cause” to hold the government in contempt for defying his earlier order to halt the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants.

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on March 15, citing the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, stating that Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang was targeting the US and its citizens, and that noncitizens suspected of being part of the gang were subject to removal. The proclamation authorized the government to “apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove” each of these individuals.

That same day, Boasberg issued a two-week temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the government from removing these individuals from the US, and ordering the government to turn around the plane carrying deportees. However, the government continued deporting individuals to a high-security prison in El Salvador, despite the court’s explicit prohibition.

Boasberg’s opinion this week stated that the administration violated the court’s order, emphasizing that the US constitution requires compliance with judicial orders. Boasberg’s foundational argument lies with the dangerous precedent that could be set by the administration’s behavior. He wrote:

If a party chooses to disobey the order — rather than wait for it to be reversed through the judicial process — such disobedience is punishable as contempt, notwithstanding any later-revealed deficiencies in the order… That foundational “rule of law” answers not just how this compliance inquiry can proceed, but why it must… The rule “reflects a belief that in the fair administration of justice no man can be judge in his own case,” no matter how “exalted his station” or “righteous his motives.”

The opinion concludes by warning the government to purge its contempt, stating that failure to do so would lead to prosecution.