Judge Ho Says Trump Needs ‘Respect’ in Venezuelan Removal Case

Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho took a swipe at the Supreme Court for reversing his court’s ruling against a bid by alleged Venezuelan gang members to block their removal from the US.

Ho was on a US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit panel that on April 18 found they didn’t have jurisdiction to hear an appeal of a district court’s apparent refusal to issue an injunction against the potential deportation. The circuit court panel unanimously said the district court only had 42 minutes to rule on the request, and that the appeal was premature.

The Supreme Court reversed that ruling in a 7-2 decision, saying the district court had more time to rule on the motion for an emergency temporary restraining order because it had been filed at 12:34 a.m.

The Fifth Circuit panel — including Ho, Joe Biden appointee Judge Irma Ramirez, and President Donald Trump appointee Judge Cory Wilson — on Tuesday said they were expediting the case to the next available panel to take up the matter at oral argument.

In a concurring opinion, Ho — a Trump appointee — said the appeals court is bound by the Supreme Court to quickly move the case forward.

But Ho said he has “sincere concerns” about how the district judge, the president and other officials were treated in the case. “I worry that the disrespect they have been shown will not inspire continued respect for the judiciary, without which we cannot long function,” Ho said.

Ho is a vocal judge, whose comments have sparked speculation that he may be considered for the Supreme Court if a seat were to open during Trump’s second term.

Ho said that he believes that it’s not the judiciary’s role “to check the excesses of the other branches,” but rather to “simply to decide those legal disputes over which Congress has given us jurisdiction.”

He said the district court judge, Wes Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas, had told the parties that he would quickly rule on emergency motions, but that he would give the government 24 hours to respond to pleadings.

Attorneys for the Venezuelans had told Hendrix at 12:48 p.m. that day that they would file an appeal if he didn’t rule by 1:30 p.m. Ho said the appellate panel’s decision was “unanimous because it’s obvious: 42 minutes is not remotely enough time to review and analyze all of the relevant legal authorities and prepare a reasoned ruling.”

Ho said the Supreme Court was starting the clock with the late-night filing. “We seem to have forgotten that this is a district court—not a Denny’s,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone suggest that district judges have a duty to check their dockets at all hours of the night, just in case a party decides to file a motion.”

Ho said that, if courts should be expected to check dockets at all times, they should be given the resources to do so. “If this is not to become the norm, then we should admit that this is special treatment being afforded to certain favored litigants like members of Tren de Aragua—and we should stop pretending that Lady Justice is blindfolded,” he said.

Ho acknowledged that he’s been critical of district court judges when he believes they’ve overstepped their authority, but that this one “conducted himself in a reasonable and indeed admirable manner.”

And he said that Hendrix was right to give the government the chance to weigh in on the Venezuelans’ request. “It should go without saying that the President and his fellow Executive Branch officials deserve the same respect that courts regularly afford every other litigant—including other Presidents and officials,” Ho said.

Ho pointed to former President Barack Obama criticizing the Supreme Court potentially overturning his landmark health care law, the Affordable Care Act, as well as the high court suspending former President Bill Clinton’s ability to practice before it. Clinton later resigned from the Supreme Court bar.

“Yet I doubt that any court would deny any of those Presidents the right to express their views in any pending case to which they are a party, before issuing any ruling,” Ho said. “Our current President deserves the same respect.”

The Trump administration is facing potential contempt proceedings in a Washington federal trial court over the removal of other alleged Venezuelan gang members. The D.C. Circuit has temporarily stayed Chief US District Judge James “Jeb” Boasberg’s effort to initiate those proceedings, after he found probable cause to hold Trump officials in contempt for violating his order that blocked deportations.