U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg on Thursday is considering whether there is "probable cause" to hold members of President Donald Trump's administration in contempt, after they appeared to defy his court order to halt deportation flights.

Boasberg first issued a block on the flights last month, which prohibits the Trump administration from using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal migrants who were allegedly members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. 

The judge admitted that he is looking into whether there is "probable cause" to hold the administration in contempt, which is an escalation in the already tense relationship between Boasberg and the administration, according to CNN.

Part of the ongoing conflict centers on Boasberg's verbal command to turn planes back around that were in the air, carrying migrants, which he did not include in a written order. 

He questioned Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign on who he told about his court order, to which Ensign responded that he gave the information to Department of Homeland Security contacts and State Department officials, among others, per Fox News. 

The Trump administration and Ensign have maintained that they were in "full compliance" with the judge's order on March 15.

"It seems to me the government acted in bad faith that day," Boasberg said. "If you really believed everything you did that day was legal and would survive a court challenge, you would not have operated the way that you did."

Boasberg in the hearing indicated that he was likely to move forward in the contempt proceeding, and that it was likely the administration had defied his orders. However, he said he was open to his mind being changed.

The judge also said that he would not issue a decision on moving forward with the contempt orders until next week at the earliest.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.