‘This is sending a message’: DOJ moves to sanction lawyer who took pro bono deportation case
The move comes after Trump directed the department to seek to sanction lawyers “who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation.”
By JOSH GERSTEIN
08/06/2025 08:38 PM EDT
The Trump administration is escalating its efforts to punish lawyers whom it sees as obstacles to the president’s agenda.
The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to impose “substantial monetary sanctions” on a California lawyer who briefly halted but ultimately failed to block the deportation of an immigrant from Laos who pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the 1990s.
The move comes after Trump directed the department to seek to sanction lawyers “who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigat
