Setting aside questions about what plane took off when and what oral orders differed from what written ones, the fact remains that the Trump administration obeyed Federal District Court Judge James Boasberg’s March 15 instruction not to remove five named plaintiffs who challenged their deportation to El Salvador. The plaintiffs will get their day in court, and it is clear they will win.

Sometime early on March 15, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation ordering the “immediate apprehension, detention, and removal” of Venezuelan citizens who are 14 years of age or older, are members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, and are not naturalized citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.