General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If the Trump Administration actually defies the orders [View all]Liberty Belle
(9,555 posts)which could be civil or criminal contempt of court charges. The judge could order people jailed. Whether that could include the president I'm not sure, he may have immunity. But certainly his cabinet, advisors, and any law enforcement officers who are complicit could likely be held in contempt.
Any legal experts here?
That said, as I understand it, the judges orders (and they varied state by state) blocked deporting people for a week, pending a hearing. It did not require that they be released. However the judges did require that detainees be granted access to counsel.
If Trump or his minions deport people after the court order, or refuse them access to counsel, then they should be held in contempt and detained themselves. Criminal sanctions in my view would be in order if they sent someone back to a country where they face harm in defiance of an order to protect them, but I haven't heard of a case yet where anyone was deported after the court order (though some were deported before)