The daughter of DC District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg, Katharine Boasberg, is employed by a nonprofit organization called Partners in Justice. This nonprofit has received millions in government funding and opposes the Laken Riley Act. The founder of Partners in Justice, Emily Galvin-Almanza, argued that Judge Boasberg was right to block the Trump administration from deporting alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
Katharine Boasberg works for Partners in Justice, where she is involved in capacity-building work in public defender offices across the nation. However, the organization removed Boasberg’s biography page from its website after her father was assigned to the Alien Enemies Act case. Partners in Justice, which received over $3.3 million in government grants in 2023, is known for its pro-immigrant stance as demonstrated through public social media posts made by its founder.
Emily Galvin-Almanza, the founder and executive director of Partners in Justice, has publicly opposed the Laken Riley Act in a video on social media. This law requires the detention of illegal immigrants charged with certain crimes, and Galvin-Almanza criticized it for limiting the power of judges in cases involving criminal migrants. Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk, a close adviser to Trump, expressed concerns about Katharine Boasberg’s ties to the nonprofit, alleging that Partners in Justice provides legal advice and representation to criminal illegal migrants.
Partners in Justice denies that its Client Advocates provide legal representation or advice, stating that they primarily offer non-legal social service support to public defender teams to address urgent needs like housing, employment, and medicine. The organization did not respond to inquiries about whether their Client Advocates work with alleged Tren de Aragua or MS-13 gang members. President Trump criticized Judge Boasberg, who was appointed by Obama, in the Alien Enemies Act case, calling him conflicted, although he did not specifically mention Boasberg’s daughter’s work with Partners in Justice.
It remains uncertain if Judge Boasberg’s daughter’s involvement with Partners in Justice would require him to recuse himself from the Trump administration’s case. The Code of Conduct for United States Judges states that judges must disqualify themselves if their impartiality could reasonably be questioned, especially where a child of the judge has an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of a proceeding. The Trump administration has petitioned the Supreme Court to strike down the judge’s temporary restraining order regarding the Alien Enemies Act, which was extended by Boasberg until April 12.
