Judge orders plane with deported asylum applicants to turn around

As a federal judge heard arguments Thursday seeking to halt the deportations of several Central American women requesting asylum, he learned that a woman and her daughter at the center of the case had been put on a plane to El Salvador.

The judge ordered the government to bring the two back immediately. The judge, Emmet Sullivan of the District of Columbia, criticized the government for deporting the pair just as they were seeking justice in court.

He threatened to hold government officials, from Attorney General Jeff Sessions on down, in contempt, said a lawyer for the plaintiffs.