Opinion : Trump Report 05/18/2025

Dear Editor,

Last week, I examined the immigration issues concerning the Alien Enemies Act, Tren de Aragua Venezuelan violent gang, and the way that these two have intersected creating a legal battle in the courts. This article will examine a brief explanation of the current court cases followed up with a case study of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

I apologize for the length of this article. These are complicated subjects that takes a bit to explain.

The Courts-Alien Enemies Act-Deportations

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg was the first judge to try to stop the deportations of the alleged members of Tren de Aragua and MS 13 gangs to El Salvador using the Alien Enemies Act as the legal basis for the operation. Boasberg placed an emergency block to halt any additional flights and a directive to return the planes with the migrants back to the U.S. on March 15. The administration refused that directive and continued on to El Salvador. The Supreme Court lifted that block to allow other judicial districts the opportunity to file temporary blocks for the return and ceasing of additional flights to CECOT in El Salvador. Federal Judges in Colorado and Manhattan granted those temporary blocks.

The Supreme Court stepped in again in April when it was reported that the Trump Administration was planning another hasty removal of migrants to El Salvador. The late-night order stated that the administration was prohibited from deporting any others to El Salvador using the Alien Enemies Act as the basis until further notified.

U.S. District Court Fernando Rodriques Jr, a Trump appointee researched the validity of the Alien Enemies Act for legal cover for the administration. He stated that the Act "only when the country is facing an armed, organized attack…Trump's claim about Tren de Aragua activities in the Unites States fall short of that bar" (Politico) Eventually, the Supreme Court will get the case and hopefully decide this for a permanent solution.

The reasoning to use of the Alien Enemies Act to declare some sort of a war against Venezuela has been severely challenged by the release of Trump's own of DOJ report that undermines the basis for the act is with inaccurate information

"A Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled that the president had unlawfully invoked the law, finding that the president "cannot summarily declare that a foreign nation or government has threatened or perpetrated an invasion or predatory incursion of the United States," and blocking the administration from quickly deporting some alleged members of the Venezuelan gang…

The intelligence assessment acknowledged that the Maduro regime likely "sometimes tolerates" Tren de Aragua's presence within its borders, with some individual government officials cooperating with the group for financial gain…

But the broader intelligence community views it as "highly unlikely" that there is any "strategic or consistent" cooperation between the Maduro government and Tren de Aragua.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-intelligence-finds-venezuela-not-directing-gang-undercutting-trump-s-use-of-alien-enemies-act/ar-AA1EgQrS?ocid=BingNewsV

"The evidence is clear that the intelligence community hasn't found that the Venezuelan Government directing Tren de Aargua to invade Unites States and to attack the United States and so the basis for President Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act is completely undermined," Rep. Joaquin Castro told The Hill.

He's not even allowing them due process at all," Castro said of the Venezuelan men not being given a chance to contest their alleged gang ties.

So, it's clear he should not be sending these folks to a gulag in El Salvador. … There's simply no basis for it."The document at various turns casts doubts on any coordination between the Venezuelan government and the gang, which now operates in multiple countries."Venezuelan intelligence, military, and police services view TDA as a security threat and operate it in ways that make it highly unlikely the two sides would cooperate or coordinate in a strategic or consistent way,"

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5285879-trump-administration-contradicts-venezuela-gang/

After the report was made public Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Judge Fernando Rodriques Jr, for failure to submit a report that agreed with the Trump administration rather than the true result.

In the weeks since the original court filings, numerous court appearances have been occurred with a variety of outcomes. The bottom line is that Judge Boasberg has requested and affirmed by the Supreme Court that those migrants who are detained at CECOT be returned to the U.S. to be given due process for the government to have hearings to determine if the detainees are indeed Tren de Aragua or MS-13 or if they were in the U.S. illegally will be deported to their home country but not to the CECOT prison.

On May 16, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the U.S. cannot send any other migrants deemed to be gang affiliated to Venezuela using the Alien Enemies Act. The migrants will have a hearing in immigration court to determine gang affiliation and immigration status. That determination will provide whether the migrant is deported to their home country or be charged for crimes committed in the U.S.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/supreme-court-rules-against-trump-administration-in-alien-enemies-act-case/ar-AA1EVGdN?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=9b6cbb

The Case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia
NOTE: I do not enough information on whether Abrego Garcia is indeed a Tren de Aragua or MS 13 member. The controversy surrounding Abrego Garcia is based in an agreement with the U.S. government in 2019 during Trump's 1st term for him to be able to stay in our country and not ever be sent back to El Salvador for fear for his life. If at any time circumstances change that would require deportation, he would not be sent to El Salvador but another country.

From the BBC here is a short timeline leading up to the deportation to El Salvador
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1k4072e3nno

Mr. Abrego Garcia has acknowledged entering the US illegally in 2012, according to court documents.

In March 2019, he was detained along with three other people in Hyattsville, Maryland, in the car park of a Home Depot. Officers at the Prince George's County Police Department said the men were "loitering" and subsequently identified Mr. Abrego Garcia and two of the others as members of MS-13.Officers claimed his clothing was "indicative of the Hispanic gang culture" and that "wearing the Chicago Bulls hat represents they are a member in good standing with the MS-13". But wearing the logo of the hugely popular basketball team, he added, is of course not exclusive to the gang". Any assertions about gang affiliation would need to be corroborated with testimony, criminal history, and other corroborating evidence," Mr. Dudley said.

According to his lawyers, Mr. Abrego Garcia has never been convicted of any criminal offence, including gang membership, in the US or in El Salvador. He lived in the US for 14 years, had three children and worked in construction, according to court records.

But the judge who presided over his 2019 case said that based on the confidential information, there was sufficient evidence to support Mr. Abrego Garcia's gang membership. That finding was later upheld by another judge. As a result, Mr. Abrego Garcia was refused bail and remained in custody. During this time, he applied for asylum to prevent his deportation to El Salvador.

In October 2019, he was granted a "withholding of removal" order, court documents show - a status different from asylum, but one which prevented the US government from sending him back to El Salvador on the grounds that he could face harm.Mr. Abrego Garcia's lawyers say he was granted the status based on his "well-founded" fear of persecution by Barrio-18, the main rival gang of MS-13. Since 2019, when he was released with the protective order, Mr. Abrego Garcia's lawyers say he has had yearly check-ins with immigration officials, which he has attended "without fail and without incident".

Court documents say that on March 12, Abrego Garcia was detained by ICE officers who "informed him that his immigration status had changed" due to the MS-13 allegations, after which he was transferred to a detention center in Texas and then deported to El Salvador. The White House has also alleged that tattoos on Mr. Abrego Garcia's hands - a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross and a skull - are gang symbols.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5286308-trump-alien-enemies-act-deportations-venezuelans-cecot-immigration-crackdown/

In April, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, a federal judge in Maryland, ruled that Abrego Garcia's deportation was illegal and set a short deadline for the federal government to "facilitate" for his return to the United States. The Trump administration appealed the ruling and sought to raise the matter to the Supreme Court, likely seeking a more favorable outcome. However, the nation's highest court ruled 9-0 that Abrego Garcia had been "improperly sent" to El Salvador and upheld Xinis's ruling.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/where-do-things-stand-with-the-abrego-garcia-case/ar-AA1ERdIr?ocid=BingNewsVerp
The administration has done everything they can think of to delay and disobey the Supreme Court's ruling. President Trump stated in a televised interview with Terry Moran of ABC News that despite what his previous statements that President Burkele of El Salvador is the only person who could release Garcia, he (Trump) During that interview Trump could call Burkele and demand Garcia to return but he chooses not to do that and instead put the onerous on Attorney General Pam Bondi. The relevant conversation is below.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He came into our country illegally.

TERRY MORAN: You could get him back. There's a phone on this desk.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I could.

TERRY MORAN: You could pick it up, and with all --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I could

TERRY MORAN: -- the power of the presidency, you could call up the president of El Salvador and say, "Send him back," right now.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that.

TERRY MORAN: But the court has ordered you --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: But he's not.

TERRY MORAN: -- to facilitate that -- his release--

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I'm not the one making this decision. We have lawyers that don't want --

TERRY MORAN: You're the president.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: -- to do this, Terry --

TERRY MORAN: Yeah, but the -- but the buck stops in this office --

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I -- no, no, no, no. I follow the law. You want me to follow the law. If I were the president that just wanted to do anything, I'd probably keep him right where he is --

TERRY MORAN: The Supreme Court says what the law is.

Eventually the Supreme Court will have to enforce their 9-0 ruling that Garcia should return.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/full-transcript-trumps-exclusive-100-days-broadcast-interview/story?id=121291672

Additional resources:

https://reason.com/2025/05/06/an-intelligence-memo-casts-further-doubt-on-trumps-nonsensical-definition-of-alien-enemies/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-intelligence-finds-venezuela-not-directing-gang-undercutting-trump-s-use-of-alien-enemies-act/ar-AA1EgQrS?ocid=BingNewsV

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-s-use-of-alien-enemies-act-for-swift-deportations-is-illegal-trump-appointed-judge-rules/ar-AA1E01K6?ocid=BingN

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/alien-enemies-act-explained

Rosemary Schwartz