The Trump administration on Monday repeatedly stonewalled a federal judge seeking answers about whether the government had violated his order barring the deportation of more than 200 noncitizens without due process, escalating a conflict that threatened to become a constitutional crisis.

A judge issued an order Saturday blocking the deportations, but lawyers told him there were already planes in the air.

The federal judge who ruled against Donald Trump’s deportation plans and is now facing White House calls for his impeachment is no stranger to politically fraught cases — including ones involving the