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Who is Abhishek Kambli? Lawyer who defends Trump’s deportations
While the Trump administration deports illegal migrants from US, his legal representative defending his actions turns out to be from India.
Abhishek Kambli. / The Federal Society
Abhishek Kambli, an Indian-origin Justice Department lawyer and attorney appointed by President Donald Trump was pressed by a federal judge on Mar.17 over why the administration did not comply with an order to temporarily halt deportations under an 18th-century law. Kambli refused to provide details about the deportation flights, citing national security concerns.
Kambli, who joined the U.S. Department of Justice about a month ago, was defending the administration’s decision to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport hundreds of immigrants, allegedly linked to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, despite a federal judge’s directive to halt the removals.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg confronted Kambli during a tense hearing, questioning why key information about the weekend deportations was being withheld and whether the administration had deliberately disregarded his order, NBC News reported.
“You’re saying that you felt that you could disregard it because it wasn’t a written order,” Boasberg said, calling the Justice Department’s argument “a stretch.”
Kambli, however, maintained that the administration had complied with the judge’s written ruling, which was issued hours after Boasberg's initial oral order during an emergency hearing.
“We believe that we’ve complied with the order,” Kambli said.
The judge pushed for details about the deportation flights—how many there were and how many were in the air at the time of his order. But Kambli refused to disclose specifics.
“I am only authorized to say what we have said in the court filings," he stated.
Kambli’s background
Born in India, Kambli moved to the U.S. as a three-year-old and grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut. He originally pursued a career in the arts, graduating with a fine arts degree from the University of the Arts in 2006, before transitioning into law.
Before his Justice Department appointment, Kambli was Deputy Attorney General at the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, where he led the Special Litigation and Constitutional Issues Division. He was involved in high-profile legal challenges, including cases against Biden administration policies on student loan forgiveness, Title IX, and labor regulations for H-2A workers.
Earlier in his career, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Indiana and as a JAG officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he continues to serve in the Reserves. He holds a law degree from Notre Dame Law School.
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