Gov deports plaintiffs in lawsuit, Judge says no, threatens Sessions w/contempt

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, US District Court, ordered that a plane to El Salvador carrying a mother/daughter who are plaintiffs in an ACLU lawsuit be turned around or else Jeff Sessions could be placed in contempt of court.

The two are party to a lawsuit challenging Sessions' exclusion of domestic violence and gang violence as objects of 'credible fear' in asylum cases. Despite government assurances, the two were put on a plane during a hearing in which attorneys were appealing their removal.

Judge Sullivan described the move as "outrageous," saying: "That someone seeking justice in U.S. court is spirited away while her attorneys are arguing for justice for her? I'm not happy about this at all. This is not acceptable."

After Judge Sullivan ordered the government to bring the plane back, threatening that Sessions and DHS Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen would otherwise "be ORDERED to appear in Court to SHOW CAUSE why they should not be held in CONTEMPT OF COURT,” DOJ agreed to put the mother and daughter on another plane to the U.S. as soon as the outbound flight landed.

I guess Sessions doesn't want a taste of prison life - yet.

Additional coverage.  And here is the order:

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