Abrego Garcia cecot
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4 25 belated
SEE RULE OF LAW CONCEPT he is sorta poster boy?
FAM DOXXED BY ADMIN
CNN asked q in WH
CI said in gang but judge ruled he cd not be sent to el salv bc of threat?
trump admin laugh when cool dic said he could not smuggle him back
see press suppress carr FCC
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bondi says he engaged in hu traffic terror?
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an 12 25
A judge has released documents naming Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's office as responsible for telling Tennessee U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire that targeting Kilmar Ábrego García was a "top priority."
An order from Dec. 3 was unsealed late Tuesday showing Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. reviewed about 3,000 government documents in his chambers and allowed "a few dozen" to be turned over to Ábrego's defense team.
In 2019, under the first Trump administration, Ábrego was given a work permit in the U.S. and a federal judge ruled that he could not be deported to El Salvador. Under President Donald Trump's new administration, however, Ábrego was taken into custody while driving his 5-year-old son home. Despite a judge's attempts to stop it, Ábrego wad deported to a brutal prison in El Salvador.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to bring Ábrego back to the U.S. It took more than two months for the administration to comply with the demand. Upon returning him, the Justice Department then charged Ábrego with human smuggling in the middle district of Tennessee stemming from a 2022 traffic stop. It has been an ongoing battle to deport him ever since, emblematic of the battle between the administration and the federal court system.
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg has initiated contempt proceedings because the Trump administration defied his orders.
The newly-released documents not only confirm the orders were intentionally ignored, but it also proved the Justice Department only pressed to prosecute Ábrego after it mistakenly deported him. Ábrego's legal team is now alleging "vindictive prosecution."
McGuire previously swore he alone was behind the indictment of Ábrego, but the new documents show Blanche telling McGuire that an indictment was a “top priority." He said that the DOJ wanted it “sooner rather than later” and they even oversaw its content, noted Lawfare's Roger Parloff.
Legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance said that releasing the documents to Ábrego's lawyers "is bad news for the Trump administration, which is going to have to defend itself against Ábrego Garcia’s claim he’s being vindictively prosecuted. But that claim is supported by some of the government’s own emails."
The vindictiveness case "hinges on timing," Parloff explained in a BlueSky thread. "For 3 years the government took no steps to charge him for his 11/30/22 traffic stop. It sent him to CECOT on 3/15/25 and on 4/1/25, closed his arrest file."
"Only after Ábrego won his Maryland civil case, with the Supreme Court on 4/10/25 ordering the government to facilitate Ábrego's return, did the government reopen Ábrego's criminal case," Parloff added.
Blanche confessed to Fox News in an interview that the reason they went after Ábrego was "a judge in Maryland" accused the government of doing something wrong.
"That sounds vindictive," said Parloff.
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COURT WIN 12 25?
AN 11? 25
Kilmar Armando Ábrego García's ongoing case was back in court on Thursday as Judge Paula Xinis questioned U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
It was revealed that top immigration official John Cantú didn't draft the sworn statements submitted to the court for the case. The statement was previously sealed, Lawfare's Roger Parloff wrote in a BlueSky thread.
Ábrego was sent to an El Salvador prison, despite a judge's order not to send him to the country. Initially, the administration sought to deport him to various African countries such as Uganda, Eswatini and now, Liberia.
Ábrego sought to go to Costa Rica, but Cantú wrote, and the government has alleged, that the country would not accept him.
Legal analyst Adam Klasfeld, of "All Rise News," reported on X, "A senior ICE official just admitted in an evidentiary hearing in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case that someone else drafted his declaration in the case and he didn’t know what certain words meant."
Parloff, who was live-posting about the court hearing, cited Judge Xinis saying that the witness had zero information about the content of his declaration.
"No shade on you Mr. Cantú," Xinis said, according to Parloff. "You've been very candid with the court."
Ábrego's attorney, Sascha Rand, asked who might have more information "about the sum and substance of your declaration that we could go talk to?"
Cantú responded, saying, "No, sir. As far as I know, I'm the only one he talked to," Parloff relayed.
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whitehouse ltr
Re: Protected Whistleblower Disclosure of Erez Reuveni Regarding Violation of Laws,
Rules & Regulations, Abuse of Authority, and Substantial and Specific Danger to
Health and Safety at the Department of Justice
Dear All:
We, the Government Accountability Project and Gilbert Employment Law, P.C., represent
Mr. Erez Reuveni, formerly the Acting Deputy Director for the Office of Immigration Litigation
(OIL) of the Department of Justice (DOJ), and a whistleblower. Mr. Reuveni presents the
following disclosures to your attention for your respective offices to take appropriate oversight
action.
Between March 14, 2025, and April 5, 2025, Mr. Reuveni, almost immediately after
receiving notice of his promotion to serve as Acting Deputy Director of OIL, became aware of the
plans of DOJ leadership to resist court orders that would impede potentially illegal efforts to deport
noncitizens, and further became aware of the details to execute those plans.
On April 4, 2025, after raising concerns internally to his chain of command for nearly three
weeks regarding the government’s compliance with court orders and candor to the courts, Mr.
Reuveni appeared before Judge Paula Xinis, United States District Court Judge in the District of
Maryland, on behalf of the government in the case of Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia. During that
appearance, Mr. Reuveni candidly and truthfully informed the court, based on the evidentiary
record, that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s removal from the United States was a mistake. Later that evening,
Mr. Reuveni refused directions from his superiors to file a brief misrepresenting those facts to the...
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AN 10 25
In the case Abrego Garcia v. Noem, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under Attorney General Pam Bondi is requesting a pause in Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Ábrego García's deportation battle. But on Monday, October 6, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis denied that request and ruled against delaying the case because of the "important fundamental questions" involved.
"I'm just duty-bound to continue it," Xinis told attorneys.
Bloomberg News' Zoe Tillman reports, "The Salvadoran migrant's situation and complicated legal proceedings have emerged as a symbol of the Trump Administration's hardline — and hotly contested — immigration policies. He rose to prominence after he filed a high-profile lawsuit in March challenging his wrongful deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador…. The (Trump) Administration's attorneys have secured extensions in a number of cases with little fanfare, but in some, such as Ábrego García's case, they've faced pushback from judges and opposing counsel who contend that some matters are too time-sensitive to delay."
García and his attorneys are fighting his deportation from the U.S. and efforts by the Trump DOJ to send him to Eswatini, a country in Southern Africa. Formerly Swaziland, Eswatini shares borders with South Africa and Mozambique.
"Xinis is weighing whether to order Abrego Garcia released again," Tillman notes.
Judge Xinis' decision is generating some discussion on X, formerly Twitter.
Nurse Diana Prince wrote, "The entire apparatus of the American government is still targeting this one man — because of their inability to admit to their own mistake. That seems like totally normal behavior."
Fox News' Jake Gibson wrote, "Judge Xinis answered, 'We don't know when the funding will be reinstated. If I order the case to proceed, then you become bound to that order… and it is of such importance, not only to Mr. Abrego-Garcia… but also to some fundamental questions…I am duty bound to continue it."
X user @blanche1977 posted, "This guy is being made an example by the fascist element of the Trump DOJ. He should not be deported."
Another X user, Sam, Your Uncle, tweeted, "So the lawyers aren't getting paid either" — to which computer engineer Jake Halloran responded, "No, only constitutional jobs are paid. Congress, president, [VP] and article 3 judges."
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia surrenders to ICE in Baltimore, faces possible deportation to Uganda - WTOP News
WTOP News
3 days ago
BALTIMORE (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia surrenders to ICE in Baltimore, faces possible deportation to Uganda.](https://wtop.com/national/2025/08/kilmar-abrego-garcia-surrenders-to-ice-in-baltimore-faces-possible-deportation-to-uganda/)
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mma
August 26, 2025, edition of Premiere Radio Networks'The Sean Hannity Show
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Did you say to my call screener that sending Kilmar to Uganda is terrible?
CALLER: No, I said that was criminal.
HANNITY: Criminal? Now, you do know that Kilmar's wife, Mr. Abrego's wife, accused him of being a wife beater? You do know that?
CALLER: Hey, hey.
HANNITY: Do you or do you not know that fact?
CALLER: Hey, that has nothing to do with it. So, don't --
HANNITY: I'm asking a question. Do you or do you not know that fact?
CALLER: Yeah. I know the story, and I also know that she --
HANNITY: Okay, now, I have another question. Do you know for a fact that Kilmar Abrego Garcia entered this country illegally? He did not respect the country's laws, our borders, and our sovereignty.
...
HANNITY: So the symbols that are tattooed into his hands that every expert that I have read says it's MS-13 tattooed all over him. Now, do you want an MS-13 illegal immigrant in your town, in your city? You want them to move in next door to you?
CALLER: No. Wait. Wait. Now, you're lying about those tattoos.
HANNITY: Oh, I'm not lying about the tattoos. I'm telling you, I've read it everywhere.
CALLER: You are.
HANNITY: And it's been confirmed by our own government unless you think the government's lying and law enforcement's lying.
CALLER: They were going to kick him out of the country and was lying about it. Yeah, okay.
HANNITY: Why are you so angry? Why are you so defensive of somebody that really had no business being in the country?
CALLER: Why are you so vindictive?
HANNITY: I'm not. I'm just a believer in the rule of law.
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JOE KENT KKK COOK BOOKS TULSI COS
UP FOR MORE IMP CTR TERROR JOB, COS PLACEHOLDER; COOKED BOOKS ON TREN DE A. 5 25 MSNBC CHRIS H
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MMA
Right-wing media champion migrant detention camps amid reports of horrific conditions
Pro-Trump podcaster: “You got to break a couple eggs in order to make an omelet”
Written by Chloe Simon & Gideon Taaffe
Published 08/13/25
Since taking office, President Donald Trump’s administration has held thousands of undocumented immigrants — including many without a criminal record — in a network of domestic and international detention centers. Two of these, El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) and the newly opened “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida, have already been criticized for appalling conditions and human rights abuses.
As firsthand accounts of these detention centers began to be widely reported, right-wing media have justified the conditions by claiming that people being sent there are “the worst of the worst”; arguing that Alligator Alcatraz is meant as “a deterrent more than punishment"; and suggesting that “you got to break a couple eggs in order to make an omelet.”
The Trump administration has ramped up arrests, targeting many who reportedly have no criminal record
- The number of migrants detained during Trump’s second term has risen sharply from 2024.According to The Guardian, “The average number of people held in Ice detention jumped from 40,000 right before Trump’s inauguration, to about 55,000 in late June.” The Marshall Project published data showing that “from late May to late June, ICE had used 432 facilities to hold immigrants, up from 315 over the month leading up to Trump’s second inauguration.” The administration has also detained hundreds of migrants in foreign camps. The Guardian, [7/23/25; The Marshall Project, 8/1/25; Council on Foreign Relations, 7/1/25]
- CECOT in El Salvador and Alligator Alcatraz in Florida are two of the most notorious detention centers — and reporting shows that hundreds of detainees sent there have no criminal record.CBS News’ 60 Minutes reported that “we could not find criminal records for 75% of the Venezuelans — 179 men — now sitting in prison” in El Salvador. The Miami Herald found “more than 250 people who are listed as having only immigration violations but no criminal convictions or pending charges in the United States” out of at least 700 people reportedly held in the Florida facility. ProPublica, [8/6/25; Human Rights Watch, 7/21/25; CBS News, 4/6/25; The Miami Herald, 7/13/25]
- After Trump toured Alligator Alcatraz, right-wing media claimed that the detention center is for the “worst of the worst.”Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed the detainees “are drug traffickers and child rapists,” while guest host Charlie Hurt said the facility would be used to house the “baddest of the bad hombres.” Media Matters, [7/15/25]
- ## Firsthand accounts and other reporting have detailed the ghastly conditions at CECOT and Alligator Alcatraz
- :{:{Three men deported to CECOT and then released to Venezuela spoke to ProPublica about the abuse they endured, including “physical torture.”The men were sent to CECOT with no record of criminal activity and detailed their experience to ProPublica. The former detainees reported that many inmates attempted suicide rather than live at the facility, and one claimed he was beaten by guards until he could not see out of one eye. ProPublica, [8/6/25; YouTube,}:
]}:
- CECOT deportees told NBC News they were “being beaten, sexually assaulted and told to ‘commit suicide.’”The men detailed physical punishment they received, with one saying that guards “made us get on our knees, they would step on our toes with their boots. They hit us with batons, they hit us on the head.” NBC News also reported that “guards denied them food and access to bathrooms or showers as punishment.” NBC News, [7/28/25]
- Andry Hernandez Romero, a gay asylum-seeker from Venezuela, reported being sexually assaulted by CECOT guards. Romero told NBC News the guards “made me kneel, perform oral sex on one person, while the others groped me and touched my private parts” and “stroked me with their batons.” NBC News, [7/28/25]
- :{:{Detainees at the Florida detention center have reported “feeling a state of torture,” suffering “physical assaults,” and being shackled in “a four-by-four-foot square” guards called “the box.” One contracted guard claimed that “the mosquitoes are filling the bathrooms, the showers” while detainee Anderson Miranda said “most of us have skin irritations from mosquitoes; they don’t give us spray. All of us worry that we’ll get a disease because of the mosquitoes.”}:
A Nicaraguan migrant alleged that guards “chained me to the ground,” called him racial slurs, and put him “in a four-by-four-foot square in the recreation yard” that “was directly in the Everglades sun and heat, for several hours, with no water.” NBC News reported one detainee got foot fungus seemingly due to “limited access to showers and poor sanitation.” Another detainee “reported that people held in Alligator Alcatraz ‘are only allowed one meal a day (and given only minutes to eat), are not permitted daily showers, and are otherwise kept around the clock in a cage inside a tent,’” citing “instances of physical assaults and excessive use of force by guards, along with a lack of medical care and attention.” The Washington Post, [7/17/25; WLRN, 7/22/25; NBC News, 7/22/25, 8/6/25]}:
- After a visit to the Florida facility, members of Congress and state representatives expressed horror, with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) saying migrants were “essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans, 32 detainees per cage.”CNN reported they heard migrant “detainees shouting for help and crying out ‘libertad’— Spanish for ‘freedom’ — amid sweltering heat, bug infestations and meager meals.” CNN, [7/13/25]
- ## Right-wing personalities justified Trump’s detention policies because migrants “acted like animals” and “sometimes you got to break a couple eggs in order to make an omelet”
- CECOT detainees “came into this country and acted like animals,” said Fox host Lawrence Jones, adding, “If you wanted to have a better life, you could have done it the legal way.” Jones continued, “But even, let’s say you didn’t do it the legal way, act like a model citizen. Go out there, find a job, and do all that. But they chose not to. They harassed Americans, assaulted Americans, murdered Americans, raped children, and this is the consequence.” Co-host Brian Kilmeade suggested that he would “rather [face] the death penalty” than be sent to CECOT, adding, “I love it.” Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [3/27/25]
- PBD Podcastco-host Adam Sosnick dismissed people being detained in “Alligator Alcatraz,” claiming that “sometimes you got to get shit done and you got to break a couple eggs in order to make an omelet.”Sosnick said: “They said, you know, ‘We can't separate kids from their family.’ Well, that's exactly what you do when your father is a drug dealer and he has to go to jail. ‘We can't separate the mother from the children.’ It's exactly what happens when your mother committed a crime. She has to go to jail. It sucks. Nobody likes to see people being rounded up, gathered, and thrown in jail. Nobody likes that. It's not pretty, but none of this is meant to be pretty. Something called G.S.D. — getting shit done. Sometimes you got to get shit done and you got to break a couple eggs in order to make an omelet.” YouTube, *The PBD Podcast*, [7/17/25]
- Fox & Friendsco-host Ainsley Earhardt dismissed concerns about detainees sent to CECOT: “These are criminals, so why do you care?”After Jones claimed that innocent people “are not being deported right now, it’s only the criminals,” Earhardt added, “Isn't it better for them to be in another country that’s paying for them? We paid them $6 million. We would have paid so much more, probably $6 million per person if they stayed in America. But they are criminals and then Donald Trump is shipping them off to another country.” Fox News,*Fox & Friends*, [3/19/25]
- Fox News host Greg Gutfeld mocked concerns about conditions at the Florida detention center, saying, “Oh, not mosquitos! That’s just like my lakehouse.”Co-host Jesse Watters added, “So if someone was charged with rape and they are in Alligator Alcatraz, you are worried about mosquitoes?” Fox News,*The Five*, [7/17/25]
- Trump ally Laura Loomer called migrants “animals” and said, “I think it's actually a really good thing that we're putting illegal aliens in cages and we're letting them know, ‘Hey, you're going to be eaten by alligators.’”Loomer continued, “I apologize to the innocent animals who I’m comparing to these savage, subhuman illegal aliens.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [7/1/25]
- ## Other right-wing media figures argued that the prison conditions are a “deterrent”
- Fox’s Jesse Watters suggested stories coming out of Alligator Alcatraz are meant to “deter bad behavior.” Watters: “Trump is not feeding migrants to alligators but sometimes you have to make up scary stories in a way to deter bad behaviour.” Watters also compared the conditions to when he tells his child that if she continues crying, “we’re going to drop her off at Dr. Duncan’s house and he’s really mean and has an angry dog that bites.” Fox News,*Jesse Watters Primetime*, [8/5/25]
- Watters claimed the prisons are “making our communities safer” by getting migrants to self-deport, calling it the “El Salvador special.” Watters: “All it took was a new president. Donald Trump's hard-line approach to the border, let's call it the El Salvador special, is getting the illegals to do Tom Homan's job. Thousands of self-deporting illegals are going back to their home countries, thanks to the handy app Trump reverse engineered from Joe. It is already making our communities safer.” Fox News, *The Five*, [4/10/25]
- Fox contributor and former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway claimed Alligator Alcatraz is meant to be “a deterrent more than punishment and is meant to be a holding place until we can put you where you belong.” Conway: “They are layering the disincentives, Greg. If you hear for the second or third month in a row there are zero, zero border crossings, to the point where Trump said yesterday he didn't even believe the numbers. He said how is it zero? You’re saying, ‘Am I going to be the one who actually slips through? Probably not. And if I am, look what happens. I go there temporarily.’ Or they may be hearing Democrats won't tell you: 150,000-plus square feet, 24/7 air conditioning, 24/7 health facility, 24/7 pharmacy, three hot squares, all the things the Democrats won't tell you, that this is meant to be temporary until you can move people where they belong which is not in the interior of this country.” Fox News, *The Five*, [7/17/25]
- Fox News host Brian Kilmeade claimed that the poor conditions of the Florida detention center “hits the exact criteria necessary.”Kilmeade: “He [Ron DeSantis] is getting push back because I guess there is some mosquitoes on the inside and it is not the greatest accommodations, but I think it hits the exact criteria necessary.” Fox News,*The Will Cain Show*, [7/25/25]
//
08/08/25 10:11 AM EDT
08/07/25 9:09 AM EDT
08/05/25
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mma 7 25
Fox News scoffed that Andry Hernandez was “just a gay barber” when Trump sent him to a torture prison. Now, Fox ignores reporting that he was sexually assaulted there.
Written by Matt Gertz
Published 08/04/25
Fox News regularly downplayed concerns that the Trump administration’s denial of due process had resulted in immigrants sent in error to a notorious foreign prison, with one host mocking interest in the plight of a man he described as “just a gay barber.” That man, Andry Hernández Romero, said last week that he was beaten by guards, one of whom forced him to perform oral sex, during his 125 days in captivity.
Fox personalities were elated in March when the Trump administration dubiously invoked a rarely utilized wartime authority to deport over 250 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a megaprison known for its brutal conditions. The network had spent 2024 concocting a bogus narrative about a “migrant crime wave,” and they quickly and uncritically adopted the administration’s justification that it had targeted violent Tren de Aragua gang members for this treatment.
While Fox’s stable of propagandists bleated that the deportees were “the worst of the worst,” CBS News reviewed the names and found that three-quarters had no criminal record in the United States. Indeed, the group included people like Hernández, a gay 32-year-old makeup artist who entered the U.S. legally and passed a preliminary asylum screening. He had no criminal record or removal order but was detained and ultimately shipped to El Salvador over concerns about his wrist tattoos — crowns with the words “Mom” and “Dad” next to them.
Rather than express concerns over the U.S. government using such slight evidence to send people to a foreign prison known for its brutal conditions, Fox hosts ran cover for the administration. They accused critics of sympathizing with “illegal alien gangbangers,” accused them of pushing “false sob stories,” denounced news outlets that “only focused on” the innocent people sent to the torture prison rather than the supposedly guilty ones, and denied the importance of providing due process to determine which group is which.
Fox’s Jesse Watters on Andry Hernández: “It’s just a gay barber”
Perhaps the most disturbing discussion came during the March 31 edition of The Five, when Jessica Tarlov, the panel show’s lone Democrat, drew derision from right-wing co-hosts Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld for repeatedly directing the show’s attention to Hernández’s plight.
Video
Citation
From the March 31, 2025, edition of Fox News' The Five
“Time magazine was there when the gay barber from Venezuela who had a crown tattoo that said ‘mom’ was being processed coming into the El Salvadoran — oh, am I boring you again?” Tarlov said at one point. “I'm sorry.”
“No,” Watters replied. “But you've been talking about this gay barber from El Salvador with some stupid tattoo for weeks. Weeks, Jessica.”
“It's just a gay barber,” Watters added.
“He’s not into you,” Gutfeld interjected.
“He's an innocent guy who got swept up in a deportation, and hopefully we get it figured out and straightened out,” Watters continued. “But a lot of people in this country, Jessica, get arrested for things that they didn't do, get falsely accused, falsely convicted.”
“That doesn't mean you stop arresting criminals because one guy was arrested who was innocent,” Watters concluded. “It just means you just try to do it better the next time.”
What we did to Andry Hernández
Four months after that segment, the Trump administration managed to have Hernández returned to Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange. Unfortunately, the administration didn’t “get it figured out and straightened out” before he was brutalized by guards, one of whom forced his penis into Hernández’s mouth and made him perform oral sex, Hernández subsequently told interviewers.
“Hernandez says the prison was hot and quiet. Guards would drag inmates out of their cells and beat them if they made too much noise,” NPR’s Manuel Rueda reported on July 27. “He slept on a metal plank without a mattress and shared his cell with up to 19 people. There was a toilet in each cell but no walls to separate it from the rest of the room.”
Rueda further reported that, according to Hernández, he was punished with confinement in a smaller cell “after guards caught him bathing outside regulatory hours. He says he was beaten with batons by three wardens in the small room and forced to perform oral sex on one of the guards.”
“In that prison, human rights don't exist, and the guards take pleasure out of seeing others suffer.” Rueda translated Hernández saying.
NBC News likewise reported on July 28 that Hernández said that “one day during his imprisonment he was taken to solitary confinement, where prison staff ‘made me kneel, perform oral sex on one person, while the others groped me and touched my private parts’ and ‘stroked me with their batons.’”
Fox has not reported on Hernández’s account, according to a Media Matters review.
And while Watters had expressed his vague hope for Hernández that “we get it figured out,” The Five is instead focused on issues he apparently finds more important.
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an 5 25 states SN
The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United States before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data that has not been previously reported.
*By Mica Rosenberg, ProPublica, Perla Trevizo, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, Melissa Sanchez and Gabriel Sandoval, ProPublica, Ronna Rísquez, Alianza Rebelde Investiga, and Adrián González, Cazadores de Fake News
President Donald Trump and his aides have branded the Venezuelans as “rapists,” “savages,” “monsters” and “the worst of the worst.” When multiple news organizations disputed those assertions with
many of the deportees did not have criminal records, the administration doubled down. It said that its assessment of the deportees was based on a thorough vetting process that included looking at crimes committed both inside and outside the United States. But the government’s own data, which was obtained by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and a team of journalists from Venezuela, showed that officials knew that only 32 of the deportees had been convicted of U.S. crimes and that most were nonviolent offenses, such as retail theft or traffic violations.
The data indicates that the government knew that only six of the immigrants were convicted of violent crimes: four for assault, one for kidnapping and one for a weapons offense. And it shows that officials were aware that more than half, or 130, of the deportees were not labeled as having any criminal convictions or pending charges; they were labeled as only having violated immigration laws.
As for foreign offenses, our own review of court and police records from around the United States and in Latin American countries where the deportees had lived found evidence of arrests or convictions for 20 of the 238 men. Of those, 11 involved violent crimes such as armed robbery, assault or murder, including one man who the Chilean government had asked the U.S. to extradite to face kidnapping and drug charges there. Another four had been accused of illegal gun possession.
We conducted a case-by-case review of all the Venezuelan deportees. It’s possible there are crimes and other information in the deportees’ backgrounds that did not show up in our reporting or the internal government data, which includes only minimal details for nine of the men. There’s no single publicly available database for all crimes committed in the U.S., much less abroad. But everything we did find in public records contradicted the Trump administration’s assertions as well.
ProPublica and the Tribune, along with Venezuelan media outlets Cazadores de Fake News (Fake News Hunters) and Alianza Rebelde Investiga (Rebel Alliance Investigates), also obtained lists of alleged gang members that are kept by Venezuelan law enforcement officials and the international law enforcement agency Interpol. Those lists include some 1,400 names. None of the names of the 238 Venezuelan deportees matched those on the lists.
The hasty removal of the Venezuelans and their incarceration in a third country has made this one of the most consequential deportations in recent history. The court battles over whether Trump has the authority to expel immigrants without judicial review have the potential to upend how this country handles all immigrants living in the U.S., whether legally or illegally. Officials have suggested publicly that, to achieve the president’s goals of deporting millions of immigrants, the administration was considering suspending habeas corpus, the longstanding constitutional right allowing people to challenge their detention.
Hours before the immigrants were loaded onto airplanes in Texas for deportation, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, declaring that the Tren de Aragua prison gang had invaded the United States, aided by the Venezuelan government. It branded the gang a foreign terrorist organization and said that declaration gave the president the authority to expel its members and send them indefinitely to a foreign prison, where they have remained for more than two months with no ability to communicate with their families or lawyers.
Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney in the American Civil Liberties Union’s legal fight against the deportations, said the removals amounted to a “blatant violation of the most fundamental due process principles.” He said that under the law, an immigrant who has committed a crime can be prosecuted and removed, but “it does not mean they can be subjected to a potentially lifetime sentence in a foreign gulag.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in response to our findings that “ProPublica should be embarrassed that they are doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens who are a threat,” adding that “the American people strongly support” the president’s immigration agenda.
When asked about the differences between the administration’s public statements about the deportees and the way they are labeled in government data, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin largely repeated previous public statements. She insisted, without providing evidence, that the deportees were dangerous, saying, “These individuals categorized as ‘non-criminals’ are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gang members and more — they just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S.”
As for the administration’s allegations that Tren de Aragua has attempted an invasion, an analysis by U.S. intelligence officials concluded that the gang was not acting at the direction of the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro and that reports suggesting otherwise were “not credible.” Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, fired the report’s authors after it became public. Her office, according to news reports, said Gabbard was trying to “end the weaponization and politicization” of the intelligence community.
Our investigation focused on the 238 Venezuelan men who were deported on March 15 to CECOT, the prison in El Salvador, and whose names were on a list first published by CBS News. The government has also sent several dozen other immigrants there, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who the government admitted was sent there in error. Courts have ruled that the administration should facilitate his return to the U.S.
We interviewed about 100 of the deportees’ relatives and their attorneys. Many of them had heard from their loved ones on the morning of March 15, when the men believed they were being sent back to Venezuela. They were happy because they would be back home with their families, who were eager to prepare their favorite meals and plan parties. Some of the relatives shared video messages with us and on social media that were recorded inside U.S. detention facilities. In those videos, the detainees said they were afraid that they might be sent to Guantanamo, a U.S. facility on Cuban soil where Washington has held and tortured detainees, including a number that it suspected of plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Trump administration had sent planes carrying Venezuelan immigrants there earlier this year.
They had no idea they were being sent to El Salvador.
Among them was 31-year-old Leonardo José Colmenares Solórzano, who left Venezuela and his job as a youth soccer coach last July. His sister, Leidys Trejo Solórzano, said he had a hard time supporting himself and his mother and that Venezuela’s crumbling economy made it hard for him to find a better paying job. Colmenares was detained at an appointment to approach the U.S.-Mexico border in October because of his many tattoos, his sister said. Those tattoos include the names of relatives, a clock, an owl and a crown she said was inspired by the Real Madrid soccer club’s logo.
Colmenares was not flagged as having a criminal history in the DHS data we obtained. Nor did we find any U.S. or foreign convictions or charges in our review. Trejo said her brother stayed out of trouble and has no criminal record in Venezuela either. She described his expulsion as a U.S.-government-sponsored kidnapping.
“It’s been so difficult. Even talking about what happened is hard for me,” said Trejo, who has scoured the internet for videos and photos of her brother in the Salvadoran prison. “Many nights I can’t sleep because I’m so anxious.”
The internal government data shows that officials had labeled all but a handful of the men as members of Tren de Aragua but offered little information about how they came to that conclusion. Court filings and documents we obtained show the government has relied in part on social media posts, affiliations with known gang members and tattoos, including crowns, clocks, guns, grenades and Michael Jordan’s “Jumpman” logo. We found that at least 158 of the Venezuelans imprisoned in El Salvador have tattoos. But law enforcement sources in the U.S., Colombia, Chile and Venezuela with expertise in the Tren de Aragua told us that tattoos are not an indicator of gang membership.
McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, said the agency is confident in its assessments of gang affiliation but would not provide additional information to support them.
John Sandweg, a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said, “for political reasons, I think the administration wants to characterize this as a grand effort that’s promoting public safety of the United States.” But “even some of the government’s own data demonstrates there is a gap between the rhetoric and the reality,” he said, referring to the internal data we obtained.
The government data shows 67 men who were deported had been flagged as having pending charges, though it provides no details about their alleged crimes. We found police, court and other records for about 38 of those deportees. We found several people whose criminal history differed from what was tagged in the government data. In some cases that the government listed as pending criminal charges, the men had been convicted and in one case the charge had been dropped before the man was deported.
Our reporting found that, like the criminal convictions, the majority of the pending charges involved nonviolent crimes, including retail theft, drug possession and traffic offenses.
Six of the men had pending charges for attempted murder, assault, armed robbery, gun possession or domestic battery. Immigrant advocates have said removing people to a prison in El Salvador before the cases against them were resolved means that Trump, asserting his executive authority, short-circuited the criminal justice system.
Take the case of Wilker Miguel Gutiérrez Sierra, 23, who was arrested in February 2024 in Chicago on charges of attempted murder, robbery and aggravated battery after he and three other Venezuelan men allegedly assaulted a stranger on a train and stole his phone and $400. He pleaded not guilty. Gutiérrez was on electronic monitoring as he awaited trial when he was arrested by ICE agents who’d pulled up to him on the street in five black trucks, court records show. Three days later he was shipped to El Salvador.
But the majority of men labeled as having pending cases were facing less serious charges, according to the records we found. Maikol Gabriel López Lizano, 23, was arrested in Chicago in August 2023 on misdemeanor charges for riding his bike on the sidewalk while drinking a can of Budweiser. His partner, Cherry Flores, described his deportation as a gross injustice. “They shouldn’t have sent him there,” she said. “Why did they have to take him over a beer?”
*Jeff Ernsthausen of ProPublica contributed data analysis. Adriana Núñez and Carlos Centeno contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/30/trump-el-salvador-deportees-criminal-convictions-cecot-venezuela/.
:{The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
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05/20/2025 RWW
by
- Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Kristi Noem flunks an important test on the basic meaning of habeas corpus
The homeland security secretary was asked to define habeas corpus. Her outrageously wrong answer was humiliating — but it was also important.
- Alex Marquardt, Kristen Holmes and Natasha Bertrand @ CNN: Sources contradict Trump narrative about Qatar offering plane as ‘gift’
The Trump administration first approached Qatar to inquire about acquiring a Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One by President Donald Trump, four sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. That’s contrary to the narrative from the president that Qatar reached out and offered the jet as a “gift” to him.
- Angry White Men: Andrew Isker Blames Signalgate Scandal On Israel
In March, news broke that then-National Security Adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly added a journalist to a clandestine Signal chat where attack plans were being discussed. Although Waltz eventually resigned, white Christian nationalist Andrew Isker claimed that something more sinister was afoot, and that Israel was likely involved.
- Charisma Madarang @ Rolling Stone: Trump Admin Charges House Democrat After ICE Scrum
Rep. LaMonica McIver called the charges against her “purely political” and said the administration will not stop her from “standing up for what is right”
- John Fea @ Christianity Today: From the Manhattan Elite to MAGA Populism
Today’s overtly political and unapologetically pro-Trump Eric Metaxas was once a winsome voice in New York City’s evangelical intellectual renaissance.
- David J. Bier @ Cato At Liberty: 50+ Venezuelans Imprisoned in El Salvador Came to US Legally, Never Violated Immigration Law
Shortly after the US government illegally and unconstitutionally transported about 240 Venezuelans to be imprisoned in El Salvador’s horrific “terrorism” prison on March 15, CBS News published their names. A subsequent CBS News investigation found that 75 percent of the men on that list had no criminal record in the United States or abroad. Less attention has been paid to the fact that dozens of these men never violated immigration laws either.
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MMA
05/19/25
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no lnx
At least one Trump attack dog just killed their career
:{Sabrina Haake, Raw Story May 18, 2025
The Attorney General of the United States is considered the nation's top lawyer. As head of the Department of Justice, Pam Bondi leads the nation's largest law office. No federal precedent, and nothing in her oath of office, exempts her from the code of ethics, federal pleading rules, or the rule of law all attorneys swear to uphold.
Lawyers who work for the government have a duty to seek justice, whether facts lead to acquittal or conviction. For that reason, they are expected to avoid public statements displaying partiality because such statements undermine public trust in the legal system. The American Bar Association directs in Rule 3.6 that:
“A lawyer who is participating… in the investigation or litigation of a matter shall not make an extrajudicial (outside the court) statement that … will be disseminated (publicly) and have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing (a case.)”
In other words, try your case in court, not on TV. Only supported facts of evidence are allowed in a court room; demagoguery, and assertions of opinion unsupported by admissible evidence, are not allowed. That is why judges have frequently admonished Trump attorneys that statements to the press are not evidence.
Despite the clarity of the ABA rule, Bondi has consistently argued pending cases in the media, particularly Fox News, where she falsely asserts that it is up to Trump to decide what the law requires. Every first-year law student is taught that the judicial branch, not the executive, decides what the law is.
Intentionally misconstrued orders
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court directed the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador without constitutionally required process. Under Bondi’s direction, DOJ lawyers argued that they don’t understand plain English, spinning the term “facilitate” to mean “removing any domestic obstacles that would otherwise impede the alien’s ability to return here.”
The word “domestic” does not appear anywhere in SCOTUS’ order to the government “to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador.”
Rather than respect the plain language of the order, Bondi’s strategy is to play games to either render the ruling null due to delay or worse, to challenge the court’s authority. As an example of the latter, the Justice Department filed an emergency motion to stay the Abrego Garcia order from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, aggressively challenging federal courts’ authority even after the Supreme Court ruled, pleading that, “The federal courts do not have the authority to press-gang the President or his agents into taking any particular act of diplomacy.”
The appellate court was appropriately triggered. Without waiting for plaintiffs’ response, the Fourth Circuit court of appeals issued a sharp rebuke, written by a Reagan appointee, describing the US strategy as “shocking:”
“The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done.
This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”
Abuse of pleading rules
Federal pleading rules require attorneys to certify that what they assert is warranted by existing law or a reasonable argument for modifying the law, and that their factual contentions have evidentiary support. Rule 11 states that a court may impose sanctions on any attorney responsible for violating the pleading rule, including supervising attorneys.
As far as I can discern from public record, none of the facts in the El Salvador deportations have been pled with evidentiary support; Donald Trump’s opinion that someone is a violent gang member is not evidence. This means Bondi has either allowed — or directed — attorneys under her supervision to file unsupported pleadings. That a conservative judge called the latest motion “shocking” also sets it outside the rule.
Not only is Bondi authorizing her attorneys to file unsupported pleadings, she has punished staff for making accurate statements to the court. In April, she directed the dismissal of Erez Reuveni, a career lawyer, for acknowledging to the court that Abrego Garcia had been deported to El Salvador in error. Shortly thereafter, a 10-year veteran of the same unit resigned, saying he could not “with clean conscience” defend the department’s actions under Bondi, claiming they ran counter to the law, the Constitution and “basic principles of fairness and humanity.”
Trump’s personal law firm
Bondi’s latest transgression has not yet made it to court, but it likely will. Last week, Bondi declared that, under the Foreign Emoluments Clause, Trump can legally accept a “flying palace 747 jumbo jet” as a gift from Qatar, a country that has directly funded Hamas terrorism.
Qatar's financial and political ties to Hamas have long been known. In a memorandum, Bondi concluded that the gift was “legally permissible,” apparently reasoning that because the gift is not officially conditioned on any official act, it does not constitute bribery.
No such limiting language appears in the Constitution — Bondi just put it there. Her analysis also concluded that the gift complies with the law because the plane is not being given to an individual, but rather to the United States Air Force and, eventually, to the presidential library foundation, where Trump will then make personal use of it. Pity the DOJ lawyer flunky Bondi will force to sign that bad faith legal jujitsu when it gets before a judge.
The facts are that when Trump leaves office, the 747 would be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library. This is plainly a $400 million gift from a foreign government to Trump himself, perhaps meant as a “tip” following Trump’s private $5.5 billion golf course deal with Dar Global and Qatari Diar, a company created from Qatar's sovereign wealth fund in 2005. It's painfully obvious to anyone outside the Fox News bubble that Trump, who has not divested from his private ventures, is using the Oval Office to enrich himself, aided by unethical counsel.
Follow the dirty money
Former federal prosecutor Paul Rosenzweig observed that Bondi’s actions have radically transformed and politicized the DOJ, transmuting it “into Trump’s personal law firm,” which is “a rejection of the founding principle of the rule of law.”
Although four years feels interminable, Trump is not a permanent fixture, and he will be out of office while Bondi still needs her law license. Bondi seems not to care, suggesting she has no intention of practicing law after Trump’s departure. Perhaps she will return to lobbying, where she earned over $100,000 a month lobbying for Qatar. (Conflict of interest, anyone?)
As I see it, Bondi has already met the threshold of bad faith for disbarment. An attorney who trashes the rule of law must know that eventually she will be barred from practicing it.
Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25 year litigator specializing in 1st and 14th Amendment defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.
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an 4 25
President Donald Trump washed his hands of one of his most controversial policies and blamed it on lower-ranking officials.
The president sat down for an extended interview with The Atlantic's Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, who wrote that he seemed to acknowledge that his executive powers have limits, even as he continually seeks to expand them, and they added that Trump seemed to understand the Constitution would not allow him to disregard a judicial order.
“I think the judge is horrible,” Trump said, referring to U.S. District judge James Boasberg.
That federal judge has tried to stop the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants to an El Salvador prison under the Alien Enemies Act, but Trump cited a controversial Supreme Court granting him immunity from criminal prosecution for anything he does as part of his “official” duties as president.
"I’ve had a lot of horrible judges, and I won on appeal, right?" Trump said. "I got immunity on appeal."
The reporters questioned him on the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran national who had been living legally in the U.S. before he was mistakenly deported, but the government's own admission, to the notorious CECOT prison, and Trump denied any responsibility for his case or others like it.
Also read:'This is our shot': Dems believe MTG's new job gives 'golden opportunity' to destroy GOP
“You know, I’m not involved in that," Trump said. "I have many people, many layers of people that do that. I would say they are all extremely tough, dangerous people. I would say that, and, don’t forget, they came in the country illegally.”
The government has argued that Abrego Garcia was a gang member, which his attorneys and family deny, and he was never granted due process for an opportunity to challenge the allegation, but Trump's advisers argue that his approach is working – even if the public doesn't seem to agree.
“Think about everything that’s happened immediately on immigration,” said Cliff Sims, who has served as an aide in both Trump administration. “Oh, we’re just going to ship gang members to a prison in El Salvador? ‘Sure.’ We’re going to send [border czar] Tom Homan to kick down the door of every criminal illegally in the country? ‘Have at it.’ It is the ultimate example of the ruthless efficiency of Trump 2.0.”
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AN 4 25
The Trump administration has not only sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a Salvadoran megaprison due to an "administrative error" and so far refused to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court order to facilitate his return to the United States, but also shared on social media the home address of his family in Maryland, forcing them to relocate.
The news that Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, and her children were "moved to a safe house by supporters" after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted to X a 2021 order of protection petition that Vasquez Sura filed but soon abandoned was reported early Tuesday by The Washington Post.
"I don't feel safe when the government posts my address, the house where my family lives, for everyone to see, especially when this case has gone viral and people have all sorts of opinions," said Vasquez Sura. "So, this is definitely a bit terrifying. I'm scared for my kids."
A DHS spokesperson did not respond Monday to a request for a comment about not redacting the family's address, according to the newspaper's lengthy story about Vasquez Sura—who shares a 5-year-old nonverbal, autistic son with Abrego Garcia and has a 9-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter from a previous relationship that was abusive.
On Wednesday, The New Republicpublished a short article highlighting the safe house detail and noting that "the government has not commented on the decision to leave the family's address in the document it posted online," sparking a fresh wave of outrage over the Trump administration endangering the family.
"The Trump administration doxxed an American citizen, endangering her and her children," MSNBC contributor Rotimi Adeoye wrote on X Wednesday. "This is completely unacceptable and flat-out wrong."
Several others responded on the social media platform Bluesky.
"These fascists didn't stop at abducting Abrego Garcia, they've now doxxed his wife, forcing her into hiding," said Dean Preston, the leader of a renters' rights organization. "The Trump administration is terrorizing this family. Speak up, show up, resist."
Jonathan Cohn, political director for the group Progressive Mass, similarly declared, "The Trump administration is terrorizing this woman."
Katherine Hawkins, senior legal analyst for the Project On Government Oversight's Constitution Project, openly wondered "if publishing Abrego Garcia and his wife's home address violates federal or (particularly) Maryland laws."
"Definitely unconscionable and further demonstration of bad faith/intimidation," Hawkins added.
While Abrego Garcia's family seeks refuge in a U.S. safe house, he remains behind bars in his native El Salvador—despite the Supreme Court order from earlier this month and an immigration judge's 2019 decision that was supposed to prevent his deportation. Multiple congressional Democrats have flown to the country in recent days to support demands for his freedom.
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mma
As Trump ignores order to return Abrego Garcia, right-wing media falsely claim undocumented immigrants have no due process rights
Sean Hannity: “If you're in the country illegally, you don't get due process”
Written by Payton Armstrong & Jack Wheatley
Published 04/23/25
Right-wing media personalities have dismissed the importance of due process rights in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a Maryland resident with protected legal status who the government has admitted was wrongfully deported to El Salvador due to an “administrative error” — claiming that “it would literally take 1,000 years to give 10 million illegal immigrants one hour each of ‘due process,’” and lamenting that “if every MS-13 member goes through their own hearing, we'll never get these guys out of here.” Others have claimed that “if you're in the country illegally, you don't get due process,” and said that noncitizens “do not have due process under the law like U.S. citizens do.”
The Trump administration has removed hundreds of immigrants without due process including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the government admitted was deported due to “administrative error”
- President Donald Trump has flown hundreds of undocumented immigrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act without court hearings and due process. After the administration sent 238 immigrants to CECOT, a Salvadoran megaprison that is notorious for human rights abuses, the White House and right-wing media repeatedly painted the migrants as dangerous “criminals.” A CBS News investigation “found that an overwhelming majority have no apparent criminal convictions or even criminal charges.” ABC News, [3/26/25; CBS News, 4/6/25; Media Matters, 4/1/25]
- The Department of Justice admitted in court filings that Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported and subsequently imprisoned in El Salvador due to an “administrative error,” but the Trump administration has been resisting a court order requiring the government “facilitate” his return.U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has ordered at least four officials to give sworn testimony about the administration’s refusal to comply with her order that it facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. The New York Times, [4/1/25; Politico, 4/15/25]
- Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) met with Abrego Garcia last week after initially being denied, and he has since “accused the Trump administration of ‘outright defying’ court orders” to return him to the United States. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has backtracked from initial government admissions that Abrego Garcia was erroneously deported, asserting on Fox News that “we did not make a mistake.” A report that described him as an MS-13 member — based in part on wearing a “Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie” that police claimed was “indicative of the Hispanic gang culture” — was later revealed to have been authored by a now-fired Maryland officer who was suspended for misconduct “just days after the March 2019 encounter at a Home Depot in Hyattsville where Abrego Garcia was flagged as a potential MS-13 gang member.” The New York Times, [4/20/25; BBC, 4/20/25; Twitter/X, 4/21/25; BBC, 4/17/25; USA Today, 4/17/25]
- Due process is a fundamental right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution for both citizens and noncitizens to ensure people in America are given fair legal proceedings and protected from arbitrary government decisions.Conservative and liberal Supreme Court justices alike have affirmed this right for noncitizens. When asked in 2014 whether undocumented people have rights guaranteed under the Constitution, the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia said, “Anybody who’s present in the United States has protections under the United States Constitution.” CNN, [4/1/25; PBS, 6/25/18]
- Right-wing media figures have previously praised Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for creating CECOT and urged the creation of similar prisons in the United States.American conservative media personalities have showered praise on Bukele’s imprisonment of alleged drug dealers in CECOT. The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles declared, “We need to learn from El Salvador, never thought I would say that sentence, but we in the United States need to follow the lead of the government of El Salvador.” Media Matters, [3/7/23]
- ### Right-wing media have dismissed Abrego Garcia’s right to due process, including by claiming that it would take too long
- Fox News host Jesse Watters said that it’s “common sense” to deny due process to Abrego Garcia and other people being sent to the Salvadoran prison.He claimed that “if every MS-13 member goes through their own hearing, we'll never get these guys out of here.” Fox News, *Jesse Watters Primetime*, [4/16/25]
- Referencing Abrego Garcia, Fox’s Jeanine Pirro dismissed the need for due process.Pirro said that there were “legitimate reasons to get this guy out of here,” adding, “It's not about due process. It's about them being incapable of empathizing for American citizens.” Fox News, *The Five*, [4/16/25]
- Right-wing pundit Kurt Schlichter claimed that Democrats “don’t want due process. They want the criminals here.”Schlichter referred to Garcia as a “criminal scumbag” who “had already been found by a judge to be a member of MS 13, a holding that was up held on appeal.” Twitter/X, [4/16/25]
- In response to a post suggesting that Abrego Garcia “should have been deported, just not in defiance of a judge’s order and not to a prison in El Salvador,” Fox News digital columnist David Marcus posted, “It would literally take 1,000 years to give 10 million illegal immigrants one hour each of ‘due process.’” Twitter/X, [4/16/25]
- Right-wing host Vince Conglianese read a statement about Abrego Garcia’s due process rights being denied and declared, “Is this not infuriating to listen to this garbage — these lectures, from these liars? People are lying directly to your face about what is going on.” Rumble, *Vince*, [4/21/25]
- ### Right-wing media have made broad claims that undocumented immigrants do not have the same due process rights as American citizens
- Fox’s Liz Peek: “I'm so sick of hearing about due process for people who are in our country illegally. They're not citizens. They do not have the due process afforded American citizens.”Guest Kenny Polcari added, “The whole due process thing goes -- for me -- goes right out the window. You're not an American citizen, so you're not entitled to due process when you've come here illegally and you've broken our laws and you've — as violent as he is.” Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [4/21/25]
- On his radio show, Fox host Sean Hannity claimed, “If you're in the country illegally, you don't get due process.” Premiere Radio Network, *The Sean Hannity Show*, [4/10/25]
- Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty stated that undocumented immigrants “do not have the same rights as U.S. citizens. They do not have due process under the law like U.S. citizens do.”Echoing the white nationalist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, Finnerty then complained to viewers that Democrats “have decided that these people who have nothing to do with America because they are not American are more important than you, to the point that the White House under Joe Biden tried to replace you and your vote with them.” Newsmax, *Finnerty*, [4/10/25; Media Matters, 1/12/24]
- The Manhattan Institute’s Chris Rufo wrote that due process is “used as a legalistic motte for the open borders/pathological empathy bailey.” He added that Abrego Garcia “is a criminal who should not be in America, whatever process is required to get him out.” Twitter/X, [4/16/25]
- Right-wing commentator Mike Crispi claimed that “there’s no ‘due process’ when you’re an ILLEGAL ALIEN.” He added, “Stepping on our land does not afford you constitutional rights. You’re found. You get kicked out. Period.” Twitter/X, [4/15/25]
- Fox & Friendsco-host Brian Kilmeade suggested that due process rights for undocumented immigrants be done away with because “it’s not practical.”Kilmeade said that “it's not practical to think that we can do due process on 8 million people. … There's 22 million people here at minimum, illegal already, just in the last three administrations. And there are some people that got through with Trump's administration.” He added, “If we are going to give ever these guys a day in court and a lawyer, we can't do it, they don't deserve it. Our system doesn't need to be double-burdened.” The Independent, [3/24/25]
- Far-right influencer Jack Posobiec wrote: “Yeah I support due process. Illegals are all due to be processed by ICE.”Twitter/X, [4/15/25]
- Right-wing figure Mike Cernovich: “The due process illegal immigrants are entitled to is to be removed in one piece, uninjured, and that’s historical generosity without precedent in all of humanity.” Twitter/X, [4/20/25]
- Radio host Bill Mitchell: “I've never understood why if you are in this country illegally, you are afforded due process in our system.”He continued, “You're here illegally. You violated our constitution coming here and clearly have no respect for it. So why should that same Constitution protect you?” Twitter/X, [4/19/25]
- Conservative commentator Julie Kelly claimed, “This is not about due process or habeas—this is a coordinated effort to keep illegals in this country and sabotaging the will of the American people who elected the president to solve the illegal immigration crisis.” Twitter/X, [4/18/25]
- On Fox News’Gutfeld!, podcaster Michael Malice said “the issue that they’re trying to talk about due process — are we going to pretend that there aren’t plenty of American citizens who shouldn’t be deported to El Salvador as well?” He added: “If you watch the corporate press, you would think that any of us at any moment are at an option of being deported from the country. But we’re forgetting that everyone was just imprisoned in their own homes for quite some time four years ago, and there was no due process there.” Fox News, *Gutfeld!*, [4/19/25]
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Trump White House mocks Abrego Garcia — and provides 'more evidence of contempt' of court
4 25
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beast 4 25
A top Trump administration official said those demanding due process for a wrongly deported Maryland dad might themselves be accused of “aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists.”
Appearing onRob Schmitt Tonight on Newsmax, Donald Trump’s senior director for counterterrorism, Sebastian Gorka, suggested critics of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s incarceration in a Salvadoran megaprison might even be committing a federal crime.
He said: “It’s not left and right, It’s not even Republican or Democrat. There’s one line that divides us: Do you love America or do you hate America? It’s really quite that simple.”
Bondi Says Deported Dad’s Family Better Off Without HimPLEADING FOR HIS RETURN
Gorka, born in the U.K. to Hungarian parents, suggested in the Tuesday interview that Democrats who argue that Abrego Garcia should be returned to the U.S.—per the Supreme Court’s orders—don’t “love America.”
The former Newsmax host added that those who dissent against the Trump administration’s actions are “on the side of the cartel members, on the side of the illegal aliens on the side of the terrorists.”
He went even further, saying: “And you have to ask yourself, are they technically aiding and abetting them? Because aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists is a crime in federal statute.”
Bolton Slams Trump’s Latest Cabinet Pick as a ‘Con Man’NO CONFIDENCE
Gorka failed to mention that Abrego Garcia’s alleged links to the MS-13 gang—used to justify his deportation—have been disputed and are based upon an allegation made in a field interview report from 2019, and a confidential informant supposedly telling police he was a member of the organization.
Gorka said critics of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation and apparent incarceration in an infamous supermax prison are “aiding and abetting” terrorism.Newsmax.
The cop who penned the field report was suspended in wild circumstances soon after he interviewed Abrego Garcia, yet his allegation is among the scant evidence the government has produced to support its MS-13 claim.
The informant reportedly claimed the father was part of the “Westerns” clique of MS-13. This is despite the fact that group operated out of Long Island and Abrego Garcia had never lived anywhere other than Maryland while in the U.S.
Additionally, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers were unable to interview the cop who supposedly spoke to the informant because of his suspension.
The government has also tried to justify the deportation of Salvadorian migrants based on their tattoos, using a point-scoring system to determine whether their ink relates to gang affiliation.
When he was arrested in 2019, ICE officers also reportedly pointed towards his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie as potential gang involvement indicators.[dollar over ears?]
The El Salvador native had fled his home country in 2011 at age 16 after gang members threatened to kill him. He was arrested while undocumented, found hanging around outside a hardware store looking for day labor work.
He was handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement without being charged with any crimes.
At his deportation hearing in 2019, ICE stated that he was a danger to the community because he had been detained “in connection with a murder investigation,” and local police had “verified” he was a gang member.
The Trump administration has ignored judges’ orders to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who was deported to El Salvador on March 15, to the United States.Abrego Garcia Family/Handout via Reuters
Abrego Garcia applied for asylum and was granted a “withholding of removal” order, a legal form of protection that says the government won’t deport someone to their home country if the person is “more likely than not” to face persecution there.
Since he was picked up by ICE again in March this year, the Department of Justice has not presented any evidence in court showing gang affiliations.
Government lawyers have even “abandon[ed]” their earlier position that Abrego Garcia was “a danger to the community,” a federal appeals court found.
But despite, this, top government officials continue to brand him as a danger and a “terrorist.”
His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told NBC News that these claims “endanger his life.”
A60 Minutes investigation discovered that at least three-quarters of the 250 men shipped to the infamous Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) had no criminal records at all. The facility is notorious for human rights abuses.
The Trump administration has admitted it deported Abrego Garcia after an “administrative error,” but still refuses to bring him home.
In fact, it has doubled down. In a Wednesday X post, the Department of Homeland Security again branded him an “MS-13 gang member,” and revealed a protective order his wife took out against him in 2021.
Sharing the documents, DHS officials echoed comments from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who said on Tuesday that he was “not the father of the year.”
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia had a history of violence and was not the upstanding ‘Maryland Man’ the media has portrayed him as,” the post said.
“According to court filings, Garcia’s wife sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, claiming he punched, scratched, and ripped off her shirt, among other harm. This MS-13 gang member is not a sympathetic figure.”
Abrego Garcia’s wife—Jennifer Vasquez Sura—addressed the restraining order in a statement to Newsweek.
“After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order in case things escalated,” she said. “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process.”
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ars tech
federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr accused Comcast of "news distortion" because its subsidiary NBC isn't parroting the Trump administration narrative on the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
"Comcast knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest. News distortion doesn't cut it," Carr wrote in a post on X yesterday.
Carr's use of the phrase "news distortion" is significant because he has been invoking the FCC's rarely enforced news distortion policy to pressure licensed broadcasters that he perceives as being biased against President Trump. For a detailed look at Carr's fight against media, read our feature: "The speech police: Chairman Brendan Carr and the FCC's news distortion policy."
Carr, who recently wore a pin depicting Trump's head on his lapel, provided no substantive argument that NBC is guilty of news distortion. Historically, the FCC has enforced the policy in only the most extreme cases where there is evidence of misconduct, such as a bribe, or instructions from management to distort the news. As a 1985 ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said, the FCC policy makes "a crucial distinction between deliberate distortion and mere inaccuracy or difference of opinion."
In his post yesterday, Carr alleged that "Comcast outlets spent days misleading the American public—implying that Abrego Garcia was merely a law abiding US citizen, just a regular 'Maryland man.'" Carr wrote that "Abrego Garcia came to America illegally from El Salvador, was validated as a member of the violent MS-13 gang—a transnational criminal organization—and was denied bond by an immigration court for failure to show he would not pose a danger to others."
"Why does Comcast ignore these facts of obvious public interest?" Carr asked.
SCOTUS ruled US must facilitate man’s release
Abrego Garcia's lawyer said in a lawsuit that he has no affiliation with MS-13. During a 2019 immigration court proceeding, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "offered a Gang Field Interview Sheet ('GFIS') generated by PGPD [Prince George County Police Department]," the lawsuit said. "The GFIS explained that the only reason to believe Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was a gang member was that he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie; and that a confidential informant advised that he was an active member of MS-13 with the Westerns clique."
The MS-13 Westerns clique is said to operate in New York, "a state that Plaintiff Abrego Garcia has never lived in," the lawsuit said. The Gang Field Interview Sheet was reportedly filled out by an officer who was later suspended and indicted for providing confidential information to a sex worker.
The Supreme Court last week upheld a key portion of a District Court order on the deportation, saying that the lower court's "order properly requires the Government to 'facilitate' Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador."
Carr made his statement on X yesterday while sharing a post by White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, who said it's "SHAMEFUL that CNN and MSNBC refuses to take Angel Mom Patty Morin as she recounts the terrible tragedy of how an illegal killed her sweet daughter, Rachel."
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was convicted of killing Rachel Morin earlier this week. The White House has attempted to link this murder to Abrego Garcia's deportation, but they are entirely separate cases.
Carr’s fight against media
Carr's post yesterday, combined with his recent actions to enforce the news distortion policy, suggest that he is likely to open a proceeding if a formal complaint is lodged against any NBC stations. Carr showed he is willing to investigate news distortion complaints into ordinary editorial decisions when he revived complaints against CBS and ABC that were thrown out under the previous administration.
Carr has focused in particular on the CBS complaint, which concerns the editing of a CBS *60 Minutes* interview with Kamala Harris. The conservative Center for American Rights alleged that CBS distorted the news by airing "two completely different answers" to the same question.
CBS published unedited video and a transcript that shows it simply aired two different sentences from the same response in different segments, but Carr has kept the proceeding open and seems to be using it as a bargaining chip in the FCC review of CBS-owner Paramount's transfer of TV broadcast station licenses to Skydance.
Carr's handling of the CBS complaint has been condemned by both liberal and conservative advocacy groups—and former Democratic and Republican FCC commissioners and chairs—who say the FCC's approach is a threat to the constitutional right to free speech.
Carr has also sent letters to companies—including Comcast—alleging that their diversity policies are "invidious forms of discrimination in violation of FCC regulations and civil rights laws." Carr last month threatened to block mergers pursued by companies that enforce diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
We contacted Comcast and NBC today and will update this article if they provide any response to Carr's news distortion allegation.
Jon Brodkin Senior IT Reporter
Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry.
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04/16/2025
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- Adam Gabbatt @ The Guardian: Trump has put Christian nationalists in key roles – say a prayer for free speech
The Trump administration’s promotion of white Christian nationalists and prosperity gospel preachers to key government roles will lead to the “further dismantling of government institutions” and the chilling of free speech, experts have warned.
- Alan Feuer @ The New York Times: Judge Threatens Contempt Proceedings Over Deportation Flights to El Salvador
The move was a remarkable attempt by a jurist to hold the White House accountable for its apparent willingness to flout court orders.
- Harry Litman @ The New Republic: On Abrego Garcia, Trump Is Lying on the Facts and Wrong on the Law
Let’s start by calling Monday’s contrived White House meeting between El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and Donald Trump what it was: a set piece to deceive the American people and the world—and make a sucker of the courts and the rule of law.
- Brad Reed @ Raw Story: 'The Trump administration is lying': Dem senator left furious by trip to El Salvador
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) accused the Trump administration of blatantly lying about the whereabouts of wrongfully deported immigrant Kilmar Ábrego García on Wednesday.
- Dana Mattioli @ The Wall Street Journal: The Tactics Elon Musk Uses to Manage His ‘Legion’ of Babies—and Their Mothers
The world’s richest man juggles more than a dozen children and ‘harem drama’ along with running his companies and advising Trump. He recently took a paternity test in a battle with one woman over money and privacy.
- Molly Olmstead @ Slate: It Happened on Liberation Day
How the stabbing of Austin Metcalf became a right-wing cause célèbre.
- Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Trump-appointed prosecutor’s appearances on Russia-backed outlets draw scrutiny
Ed Martin not only made controversial comments on RT and Sputnik, he also initially failed to disclose the appearances to the Senate.
- Nikki McCann Ramirez @ Rolling Stone: Marjorie Taylor Greene Town Hall Turns Chaotic as Protesters Get Tased
The Georgia congresswoman was confronted by demonstrators, as well as constituents who aren't happy with the Trump administration.
- Ian Millhiser @ Vox: A Supreme Court case would take a wrecking ball to separation of church and state in schools
The Oklahoma charter school case is one of two April cases seeking to remake schools in the religious right’s image.
an 4 25}:
Political commentators and journalists challenged Vice President JD Vance over his claim on the social platform X that there were 20 million undocumented immigrants in the Biden administration.
Lawyer and Democratic researcher Will Stancil called the Vice President's statement "an insane fabrication that overstates the real number by a factor of 20 or more."
Vance, while responding to another post on X, said, "[Former President] Biden overwhelmed the system with illegal migration. Is your proposed solution to give a jury trial to all 20 million illegal aliens (more if you count those already here)?"
ALSO READ:'Absurd and unlawful': JD Vance slams Denmark to promote Trump’s Greenland takeover bid
"You are hiding behind 'due process' while ignoring that your actual solution means the ratification of a Biden border crisis that was rejected at the ballot box," he added.
"Vance is a treasonous fool who is openly demeaning the Constitution, but don’t overlook that his claim of 20 million undocumented immigrants in the Biden administration is an insane fabrication that overstates the real number by a factor of 20 or more," Stancil wrote in response to Vance's post.
"Part of why due process is important is that without it, fascist fools like Vance can make claims like 'we need to suspend the rule of law and deport 20 million people under emergency conditions' and there’s no way to challenge the fact it’s an extraordinary and malicious lie," he continued.
"If you’re thrown in a foreign gulag, you become a terrorist, child predator, drug smuggler by default, because if you weren’t Trump and Vance wouldn’t have put you there. It’s completely authoritarian," he added.
Sportswriter Pablo Torre also weighed in, calling Vance's argument "tragically desperate."
"The tragically desperate argument that the VP of this country is making in the replies here is that America does not have the resources to listen to the Supreme Court anymore," Torre wrote on X.
Vance often gets into arguments on X, defending the administration's policies.
On Tuesday, he had a similar exchange with renowned musician Mikel Jollett, over the Supreme Court ruling that ordered the administration to bring back a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to a prison in El Salvador.
ALSO READ:'Pretending not to know': Musician corners 'Yale-educated' Vance for 'playing dumb' on SCOTUS ruling
"The entire American media and left wing industrial complex has decided the most important issue today is that the Trump admin deported an MS-13 gang member (and illegal alien)," Vance wrote on X on Tuesday, sharing a video from the Oval Office that showed the Trump team aggressively responding to CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins' question about the deported man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
In response to the vice president's post, Jollett wrote, "No, the most important issue is that the Supreme Court ruled by a 9-0 decision that you must return him."
Some political commentators on X agreed with Jollett's view that the vice president is simply pretending not to know what the Court ruling says.
"Intentionally obtuse. JD Vance thinks you’re too stupid to understand the facts. — he’s not a gang member — they’ve been ordered to facilitate his return — [El Salvador President Nayib] Bukele has already returned a dozen migrants — all they have to do is ask for him to be released and put him on a plane," wroteDemocratic strategist Sawyer Hackett.
ALSO READ:'Quite a metaphor': JD Vance brutally mocked after dropping national championship trophy
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an 4 25
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr is threatening to revoke the licenses of broadcasters who don’t toe the current administration's line on the wrongful deportation of a legal U.S. resident.
“Comcast outlets spent days misleading the American public—implying that [Maryland father Kilmar] Abrego Garcia was merely a law-abiding U.S. citizen, just a regular ‘Maryland man.’ When the truth comes out, they ignore it,” Carr posted on X Wednesday. “Comcast knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest. News distortion doesn’t cut it.”
Carr then repeated false claims that Garcia “was validated as a member of the violent MS13 gang — a transnational criminal organization,” despite the administration's evidence resting its entire argument of Garcia's gang affiliation upon him "wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie” and the claim of a confidential informant who has not stepped forward.
READ MORE: 'Cannot and will not support': 12 Republicans just dealt a blow to Johnson’s budget bill
Carr’s statement comes on the heels of the Trump administration purging officials and independent agencies in an effort to remake government in his image.
Reaction to Carr’s post on X was quick.
“Chair of the FCC threatens broadcasters that don't peddle the administration's lies about a man who they sent to a hellish prison in another country probably for life,” wrote Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor Adam Gaffney. “Nothing to see here, all is well.”
Former NH Magazine reporter Jesse Singal said it was “insane,” for the “chair of the FCC, a longtime close Trump ally, threatening broadcasters for not serving as megaphones for this administration's endless b------t.”
READ MORE:'Not going to flinch': Expert predicts Supreme Court will hand Trump another 9-0 loss
“The FCC chair should not be implicitly threatening broadcasters on the basis of news channels’ editorial decisions,” posted University of Massachusetts at Amherst Ethics Associate Professor Itai Sher. “This is outrageous and horrible from the standpoint of free speech.”
Other critics lamented the FCC falling under the heel of the White House.
“The FCC is not the Ministry of Truth,” wrote Nico Perrino, executive vice president of free speech group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. “It cannot ignore the First Amendment and weaponize its authority to target news outlets for critical coverage of the administration.
See Carr’s original post here.
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mma sorta random
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an 4 25
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has requested a meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele during his current visit to the United States to discuss the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to an infamous Salvador prison due to an "administrative error" by the Trump administration.
In a letter to the Salvadoran ambassador to the U.S. Milena Mayorga written Monday, Hollen said U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador.
"I have met with Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife, mother and brother and, as you can imagine, they are extremely worried about his health, safety, and continued illegal confinement, as am I," he wrote in the letter.
ALSO READ:'Dystopian': Miller makes 'outrageous' claim as El Salvador refuses to return US resident
"I look forward to your response," the Maryland Democrat told the envoy.
During a press conference alongside Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump claimed that the Supreme Court had ruled 9–0 in his favor and that the ruling in the case meant that the U.S. government would have to provide a plane only if the Salvadoran president chose to return Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongfully deported to an infamous Salvadoran prison.
“Of course I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said when asked by reporters if he would help return the man, adding that returning him would be akin to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”
In a statement sharing the letter, the Senator said, “If Kilmar is not home by midweek — I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release."
ALSO READ:'Clear choice': Experts say Trump 'openly defying' Supreme Court may
Democratic strategists and commentators are calling on other Democratic lawmakers to follow in Sen. Van Hollen's footsteps and call for Abrego Garcia's return.
"What’s happening to him is wrong, and we need Dems to draw attention to it," Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote on the social platform X.
Academic Keith Orejel, while sharing the letter on X, said, "Make Chris Van Hollen minority leader. Oust Schumer and all the other spineless collaborationists who have said next to nothing about this issue."
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CI said in gang but judge ruled he cd not be sent to el salv bc of threat?
trump admin laugh when cool dic said he could not smuggle him back
no one in room asked to return him, rubio, jdv, bondi
next US citizens rendered
an 4 25
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has requested a meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele during his current visit to the United States to discuss the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to an infamous Salvador prison due to an "administrative error" by the Trump administration.
In a letter to the Salvadoran ambassador to the U.S. Milena Mayorga written Monday, Hollen said U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador.
"I have met with Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife, mother and brother and, as you can imagine, they are extremely worried about his health, safety, and continued illegal confinement, as am I," he wrote in the letter.
ALSO READ:'Dystopian': Miller makes 'outrageous' claim as El Salvador refuses to return US resident
"I look forward to your response," the Maryland Democrat told the envoy.
During a press conference alongside Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump claimed that the Supreme Court had ruled 9–0 in his favor and that the ruling in the case meant that the U.S. government would have to provide a plane only if the Salvadoran president chose to return Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongfully deported to an infamous Salvadoran prison.
“Of course I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said when asked by reporters if he would help return the man, adding that returning him would be akin to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”
In a statement sharing the letter, the Senator said, “If Kilmar is not home by midweek — I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release."
ALSO READ:'Clear choice': Experts say Trump 'openly defying' Supreme Court may
Democratic strategists and commentators are calling on other Democratic lawmakers to follow in Sen. Van Hollen's footsteps and call for Abrego Garcia's return.
"What’s happening to him is wrong, and we need Dems to draw attention to it," Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote on the social platform X.
Academic Keith Orejel, while sharing the letter on X, said, "Make Chris Van Hollen minority leader. Oust Schumer and all the other spineless collaborationists who have said next to nothing about this issue."
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an 4 25
Vice President JD Vance found himself in yet another argument on the social platform X, this time with renowned musician Mikel Jollett, over the Supreme Court ruling that ordered the administration to bring back a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to a prison in El Salvador.
"The entire American media and left wing industrial complex has decided the most important issue today is that the Trump admin deported an MS-13 gang member (and illegal alien)," Vance wrote on X on Tuesday, sharing a video from the Oval Office that showed the Trump team aggressively responding to CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins' question about the deported man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia.
In response to the vice president's post, Jollett wrote, "No, the most important issue is that the Supreme Court ruled by a 9-0 decision that you must return him."
ALSO READ:'Dystopian': Miller makes 'outrageous' claim as El Salvador refuses to return US resident
"Trump is not a dictator or a king. He's a president and a president must follow the Supreme Court's ruling. If he does not, he must be removed from power. It's that simple," Jollett added.
Replying to Jollett, Vance said, "Are you proposing that we invade El Salvador to retrieve a gang member with no legal right to be in our country? Where in the Supreme Court’s decision does it require us to do that?"
Jollett pressed the vice president further, saying, "The ruling clearly states that you are required to take steps to facilitate his return and update the court on your progress. You have plenty of tools at your disposal to do this without invading El Salvador."
ALSO READ:Ex-Blackwater CEO’s new pitch for Trump 'could be a precursor to deporting US citizens'
"You, of course, KNOW THIS because you are a Yale-educated lawyer. You're pretending NOT TO KNOW IT and playing dumb publicly. Our entire system rests on checks and balances and you just got checked by the Supreme Court in a 9-0 ruling," he added.
"Are you saying Trump is too weak to simply ask Bukele to return him?" the musician asked.
Some political commentators on X agreed with Jollett's view that the vice president is simply pretending not to know what the Court ruling says.
"Intentionally obtuse. JD Vance thinks you’re too stupid to understand the facts. - he’s not a gang member - they’ve been ordered to facilitate his return - Bukele has already returned a dozen migrants - all they have to do is ask for him to be released and put him on a plane," wroteDemocratic strategist Sawyer Hackett.
ALSO READ:'Clear choice': Experts say Trump 'openly defying' Supreme Court may doom future elections
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wh visit an 4 25
Backing up the Trump administration, the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, says he has no intention or ability to return an unlawfully removed Maryland legal resident, Kilmar Abrego García, to the United States. Abrego García was wrongly deported to a notorious maximum security “mega-prison” for terrorists in El Salvador.
“How can I return him to the United States?” President Bukele said to reporters on Monday, during a meeting with President Donald Trump and his top officials in the Oval Office, as reported by The Washington Post. “I smuggle him into the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it.”
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court in an apparent unanimous opinion ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Abrego García to the United States.
Minutes before President Bukele’s remarks, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, on-camera in the Oval Office, delivered what is being called an “outrageous misinterpretation” of the Supreme Court’s opinion, which was quickly condemned.
READ MORE: Trump Rages Against Critics, All But Silent on Alleged Terror Attack on Dem Governor
“I promise you, if he was your neighbor, you would move right away,” Miller, who was the architect of the first Trump administration’s child separation policy, told reporters.
“What was the ruling in the Supreme Court, Steve, was it nine to nothing?” President Trump interjected.
“Yes, it was a 9-0, in our favor,” Miller wrongly claimed. “against the district court ruling, saying that no district court has the power to compel the foreign policy function of the United States.”
“As Pam said,” Miller continued, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi, “the ruling solely stated that if this individual—at El Salvador’s sole discretion—was sent back to our country, that we could deport him a second time.”
“No version of this legally ends up with him ever living here, because he is a citizen of El Salvador,” Miller claimed, before pointing reporters to Bukele.
“That is the president of El Salvador. Your questions about it per the court can only be directed to him,” said Miller.
Attorney Michael Kasdan responded to Miller’s remarks: “We have reached the point where the White House openly lies on television about what a unanimous Supreme Court ruling against them says. The stuff of dystopian novels.”
“This is a blatant lie. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 AGAINST Trump,” wrote the progressive nonprofit People For the American Way.
READ MORE: ‘Apocalyptic’: Trump Plan Would Be ‘Science Demolition Derby’ Experts Warn
“This is deeply Orwellian. The Court ruled against the Trump administration 9-0,” observed the MeidasTouch Network.
Conservative legal activist and political commentator Ed Whelan, who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, weighed in.
“Outrageous misrepresentation of Supreme Court ruling,” Whelan declared, serving up a somewhat technical legal analysis. “The unanimous Court ruled that the district-court order ‘properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.’ Yes, the Court also stated that the “intended scope of the term ‘effectuate’ in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority,” and it told the district court to ‘clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.’ But: (1) ‘due regard’ doesn’t mean that the district court couldn’t give any teeth to ‘effectuate’; (2) in any event, the district court dropped ‘effectuate’ from its revised order, so this is all irrelevant. Duty to ‘facilitate’ continues.”
Commenting on the video, immigration attorney Allen Orr Jr. Esq. wrote: “When you tell yourself the story you want to believe even when it is fiction.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
an 4 25
President Donald Trump's misrepresentation of the Supreme Court ruling on Kilmar Abrego Garcia — falsely claiming that the court ruled 9-0 in the administration's favor — has raised concerns among some analysts, who are calling it a "constitutional crisis."
During a press conference alongside El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump claimed that the Supreme Court had ruled 9–0 in his favor and that the ruling in the case meant that the U.S. government would have to provide a plane only if the Salvadoran president chose to return Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongfully deported to an infamous Salvadoran prison.
“Of course I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said when asked by reporters if he would help return the man, adding that returning him would be akin to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”
ALSO READ:'I’m not asking for state secrets': Judge gives Trump ultimatum on wrongfully deported man
According to some political commentators, the president is openly defying the judiciary and some have warned that this development poses a risk to the credibility of the 2026 midterm elections.
David Frum, a writer at The Atlantic said in a post on the social platform X: "Trump defying a 9-0 Supreme Court decision is the reason I say 'if we still have free and fair elections in the United States' when I talk about 2026 midterms."
Editor in chief MeidasTouch Ron Filpkowski saidthis was "another court order that Trump is now openly defying."
"Republicans in Congress assured us repeatedly that Trump would never defy a court order. It is obvious that he simply doesn’t care though after the Supreme Court gave him immunity," he added.
ALSO READ:Supreme Court unanimously rules against Trump in case of wrongfully deported man
Author Hold Meyerson wrote in an article for the American Prospect that Garcia's case is "the first that presents Trump with the clear choice of obeying a Supreme Court order or flouting it."
"So far he's opting for the latter, bolstered by the administration's most powerful adviser," Meyerson added.
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis said he doesn't use that term lightly, "but Trump outright refusing the Supreme Court’s order to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an *actual* constitutional crisis."
Political activist Don Winslow wrote, BREAKING RIGHT NOW! THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BRING ABREGO GARCIA HOME. This is Donald Trump defying the SupremeCourt."
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mojo
The Real Reason El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele Cozied Up to Trump
US and El Salvador Celebrate Their Refusal to Return Man Wrongly Deported to “Gulag”
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