Tag Archives: Justice Department

Axios: Trump ramps up deportation spectacle with new stunts and ICE funding

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The MAGA movement is reveling in the creativity, severity and accelerating force of President Trump’s historic immigration crackdown.

Once-fringe tactics — an alligator-moated detention camp, deportations to war zones, denaturalization of immigrant citizens — are now being proudly embraced at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

  • It’s an extraordinary shift from Trump’s first term, when nationwide backlash and the appearance of cruelty forced the administration to abandon its family separation policy for unauthorized immigrants.
  • Six months into his second term — and with tens of billions of dollars in new funding soon flowing to ICE — Trump is only just beginning to scale up his mass deportation machine.

Trump on Tuesday toured a temporary ICE facility in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” where thousands of migrants will be detained in a remote, marshland environment teeming with predators.

  • MAGA influencers invited on the trip gleefully posted photos of the prison’s cages and souvenir-style “merchandise,” thrilling their followers and horrifying critics.
  • Pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer drew outrage after tweeting that “alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we get started now” — widely interpreted as a reference to the Hispanic population of the United States.

Citing the millions of unauthorized immigrants who crossed the border under President Biden, Trump and his MAGA allies have framed the second-term crackdown as a long-overdue purge.

  • The result is an increasingly draconian set of enforcement measures designed to deter, expel and make examples out of unauthorized immigrants.
  • Some newer members of the MAGA coalition, such as podcaster Joe Rogan, have expressed deep discomfort with the targeting of non-criminal undocumented immigrants.

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Denaturalization of U.S. citizens — once a legal backwater — is gaining traction as Trump and his MAGA allies push the envelope on nativist rhetoric.

  • The Justice Department has begun prioritizing stripping naturalized Americans of their citizenship when they’re charged with crimes and “illegally procured or misrepresented facts in the naturalization process.”
  • But some MAGA influencers are pushing to weaponize denaturalization more broadly — not just as a legal remedy for fraud, but as a tool to punish ideological opponents.

…

Trump ramps up deportation spectacle with new stunts and ICE funding
Once-fringe tactics — an alligator-moated detention camp, denaturalization of citizens — are now being embraced.

https://www.axios.com/2025/07/05/trump-migrants-alligator-alcatraz-denaturalize

Straight Arrow News: ICE raids surge, but few employers face charges

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According to The Washington Post, a spokesperson with the Justice Department said in a statement: “Under President Trump and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, the Department of Justice will enforce federal immigration laws and hold bad actors accountable when they employ illegal aliens in violation of federal law.”

However, almost no business owners or managers are being held legally accountable for hiring unauthorized workers. The Post conducted in-depth investigative work, reviewing legal documents and business ownership records to confirm whether any company owners or managers were charged. The Post found that despite numerous raids, just one employer was charged with a crime.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not disclosed how many raids have resulted in employer charges. In April, ICE reported more than 1,000 arrests of migrants residing in the U.S. illegally and proposed over $1 million in fines against businesses during Trump’s first 100 days in the White House, The Post reports.

Only one employer charged, so far:

John Washburn, a company manager of San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings in El Cajon, California, was charged with knowingly employing migrant workers who reside in the country illegally. Washburn pleaded guilty, and the DOJ stated that he received one year of probation and was required to complete 50 hours of community service. He did not receive jail time.

Chad Hartmann, the manager of Glenn Valley Foods in Nebraska, will not face charges after federal immigration agents arrested 76 of his workers. According to ICE, an investigation found that about 70 migrant workers who live in the U.S. illegally at the facility were using stolen identities and Social Security numbers to get jobs and benefits. Hartmann said he believed he was hiring people authorized to work in the U.S.

As a result, over 100 real people had their identities misused, causing them serious financial, emotional and legal harm, according to an ICE press release.

It’s unusual for business owners to be prosecuted for hiring migrant workers who reside in the country illegally. To charge someone, prosecutors must prove the employer knowingly hired someone without legal work authorization. Proving what an employer knew in court can be difficult and time-consuming.

ICE raids surge, but few employers face charges
ICE workplace raids have surged under Trump, but employers hiring undocumented workers are rarely prosecuted.

https://san.com/cc/ice-raids-surge-but-few-employers-face-charges

MSNBC: The Trump admin is going after Maryland courts for doing exactly what courts are supposed to do

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The suit challenges a May 28 order issued by the district’s chief judge concerning the handling of habeas corpus petitions.

In a move more characteristic of a 17th-century English king than a 21st-century American president, the Trump administration last week filed a lawsuit against every sitting federal judge in the state of Maryland.

The charge? That one judge’s attempt to preserve due process for individuals challenging their deportations is disrupting the president’s immigration policies. This unprecedented lawsuit is a dangerous attack on an independent judiciary and escalates the ongoing struggle between the executive and judicial branches. And it brings America one step closer to a constitutional crisis.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. government and the Department of Homeland Security in U.S. District Court in Maryland against all 15 active and senior-status judges in that district, as well as the district’s clerk of court. The suit challenges a May 28 order issued by the district’s chief judge concerning the handling of habeas corpus petitions — legal actions that contest the government’s detention of individuals as unlawful.

The May 28 order expressly addresses the “recent influx” of habeas petitions concerning people subject to deportation, an influx triggered by the administration’s aggressive immigration policies. DHS is trying to move quickly to deport people whom it has identified as illegal aliens; in response, many detainees are filing lawsuits to block those deportations. DHS is proceeding with deportation before courts can hear the cases, and judges are scrambling to manage what the May 28 order describes as “hurried and frustrated hearings” in which “clear and concrete information about the location and status of the [detainees] is elusive.” To ensure that detainees are afforded due process — the U.S. Constitution guarantees due process to all “persons” in the United States, not just “citizens” — the May 28 order prohibits the government from deporting a prisoner for two days after a habeas petition is filed, giving the presiding judge time to review the case.

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Several appellate courts have similar standing orders.

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But here, the administration has taken the extraordinary step, apparently for the first time in our nation’s history, of pre-emptively suing all the judges responsible for implementing a ruling it claims is unlawful.

This lawsuit is not about immigration policy. It is a frontal assault on judicial authority, raising separation of powers principles that predate the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

…

This attempted power grab should alarm anyone who values our constitutional framework.

Opinion | DOJ’s suit against Maryland judges sends an ominous message
The suit challenges a May 28 order issued by the district’s chief judge concerning the handling of habeas corpus petitions.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-doj-suing-marylands-federal-judges-rcna215771

DNYUZ: Pam Bondi Axes Jan. 6 Prosecutors in ‘Horrifying’ Purge

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Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired at least three career Justice Department prosecutors who worked on cases related to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The attorneys were informed in letters signed by Bondi that they were “removed from federal service effective immediately” with no further explanation, NBC News reported.

One federal law enforcement official told NBC that the firings were “horrifying,” calling it “a slap in the face not only to them, but to all career DOJ prosecutors.”

“No one is safe from this administration’s whims and impulses,” the insider added. “And the public certainly is not served by the continued brain drain of DOJ—we are losing the best among us every day.”

The move is an escalation of the Trump administration’s targeted retaliation against federal officials who worked on cases against President Donald Trump and his supporters.

Pam Bondi Axes Jan. 6 Prosecutors in ‘Horrifying’ Purge
Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired at least three career Justice Department prosecutors who worked on cases related to the

https://dnyuz.com/2025/06/28/pam-bondi-axes-jan-6-prosecutors-in-horrifying-purge

Raleigh News & Observer: Judge Invokes ‘King George’ in Blow to Trump

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A federal judge has questioned President Donald Trump’s legal grounds for deploying 4,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles amid Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lawsuit. California won the lawsuit, but an appeals court blocked the removal of troops. The judge expressed skepticism of Trump’s claim that unrest in the city justified the federalization. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer noted key legal issues surrounding the deployment.

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Prior to the appeals court temporary block, Breyer said, “That’s the difference between a Constitutional government and King George. It’s not that a leader can simply say something and it becomes it.”

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Newsom wrote, “The court just confirmed what we all know — the military belongs on the battlefield, not on our city streets.”

Judge Invokes ‘King George’ in Blow to Trump
More for You

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/judge-invokes-king-george-in-blow-to-trump/ss-AA1H2YIV

Raw Story: Trump admin unleashes IRS on LA protests over right-wing conspiracy theory

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President Donald Trump’s administration is following conspiracy theories that the protesters in Los Angeles are being paid.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem revealed in a news conference Thursday that agents of the IRS have been deployed on the ground in Los Angeles to investigate who is “paying them” to protest.

The claim is a familiar one. As CNN pointed out, Trump has spent years claiming that anyone protesting him was being paid to do so.

*yawn* Maybe they’ll catch a leprechaun, too? Or a tooth fairy?

Meanwhile our joke of a National Security Director is hard at work:

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Fox on Wednesday that it was something the Justice Department and the FBI were looking into, but there hasn’t been any specific information.

Gabbard cited Craigslist ads that request protesters, promising to pay thousands of dollars. However, anyone can create a Craigslist ad for anything without requirements for verification that it’s authentic. As an example, there is currently a Craigslist ad in Washington, D.C. offering $1,000 for “seat fillers” at Trump’s birthday parade on Saturday.

Gabbard said that protesters are “obviously” being “orchestrated.”

Trump admin unleashes IRS on LA protests over right-wing conspiracy theory

https://www.rawstory.com/paid-protesters

New York Times: She Relishes Being Trump’s Nemesis. Now He Is Out for Revenge.

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Letitia James, the New York attorney general, won a fraud judgment against President Trump’s business and has challenged his policies in court. Now she is a target of his Justice Department.

The New York attorney general was an hour into a Westchester County town hall, expounding on her view of her mission during President Trump’s second term — on democracy and the need to defend it, on courage and the need to display it — when a middle-age man stood up and told her she was going to prison for mortgage fraud.

The attorney general, Letitia James, did not visibly react. As members of her staff escorted the man from the room, she thanked him with a small smile, said the allegations were baseless and turned her attention to a less fired-up attendee who was taking the microphone.

The episode in Westchester last month neatly encapsulated the role Ms. James has staked out in recent years as one of Mr. Trump’s chief antagonists, and the risks of having done so. The audience member was referring to allegations that have become the subject of a criminal investigation by Mr. Trump’s Justice Department, whose leaders have rewarded the president’s allies and targeted his foes.

She Relishes Being Trump’s Nemesis. Now He Is Out for Revenge.
Letitia James, the New York attorney general, won a fraud judgment against President Trump’s business and has challenged his policies in court. Now she is a target of his Justice Department.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/nyregion/trump-james-ny-attorney-general-investigation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.OE8.L-eD.tBVWyUMhH40K&smid=url-share

Daily Beast: Musk Crawls Back to Trump by Saying He Regrets His Scathing Attacks: ‘Went Too Far’

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The world’s richest man is suddenly having second thoughts about linking the president to Jeffrey Epstein.

Elon Musk has issued a groveling retraction over the attacks he launched against Donald Trump during their explosive public spat last week.

“I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far,” Musk wrote on X Thursday morning.

The walk-back is the clearest sign yet that Musk may be trying to smooth things over and revive their fractured alliance. Musk offered an olive branch by resharing Trump’s Truth Social posts in a bid to show solidarity with the president amid the ongoing riots in Los Angeles.

Will they kiss and make up?

https://archive.is/G9t0w#selection-509.0-544.0

Mirror: Thousands gather in SF for ‘epic battle’ against ICE amid Calif. raids

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In true Bay Area fashion, Monday night’s protest had its own rhythm.

An estimated 9,000 protesters gathered for a rally and march that started at San Francisco’s 24th & Mission BART Plaza around 6 p.m. to protest the recent raids carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement across California. Tracks like YG’s “FDT” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” rang out on Mission Street, along with chants like “Move ICE, get out the way!” echoing through the crowd in a nod to Ludacris. Protesters rolled through on scooters and skates, some draped in keffiyehs, others wearing face masks and clothing scrawled with anti-fascist messages. Many were waving upside down American flags and cardboard posters bearing anti-ICE slogans, lambasting the agency’s actions as unlawful and illegal.

Galvanized by mounting unrest across California and large-scale demonstrations in Los Angeles — where, after three days of protest, President Donald Trump authorized the deployment of 700 Marines and over 4,000 National Guard troops, bypassing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s authority — Bay Area residents took to the streets in a show of solidarity, advocating for immigrants of all nationalities, ethnicities and creeds.

…

“And by epic battle, I mean a battle that is going to have consequences for many years, for a long time to come,” Baker said. “And you know that the Trump regime has a strategy to wear us down, to shock and awe, coming at us from so many different directions. That’s their idea, that we will give up and go home.“

“The people rising up is the only thing that’s going to stop them now,” he concluded.

Thousands gather in SF for ‘epic battle’ against ICE amid Calif. raids

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/thousands-march-sf-protest-california-ice-raids-20369532.php

Daily Beast: Pam [Bimbo #3] Bondi Likens L.A. to ‘Third World Country’ Amid Protests

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Attorney General Pam [Bimbo #3] Bondi said Los Angeles “looks like a Third World country” amid protests in the city over Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

[Bimbo #3] Bondi appeared on Fox News Monday to discuss the federal response, which state officials said had dramatically escalated tensions in the city. Trump has deployed 4,000 National Guard troops to L.A. over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said that in doing so, Trump has created the very conditions he claimed to be solving. Trump ignored pleas to dial down his rhetoric and has instead blasted what he calls a “migrant invasion” and “insurrectionist” protesters.

[Bimbo #3] Bondi faithfully echoed Trump’s hardline messaging on Hannity.

“What we’re going to do is we are going to enforce the law, regardless of what they do,” she said. “Look at it out there, it looks like a Third World country, and it’s not. It’s the United States of America. We are not standing for it.”

If Bimbo #3 were smart (little chance of that) she’d show some leadership and quit being such a suck-up to a king who is soon to be dethroned.

Pam Bondi Likens L.A. to ‘Third World Country’ Amid Protests
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Los Angeles “looks like a Third World country” amid protests in the city over Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Bondi appeared on Fox News Monday to discuss the federal response, which state officials said had dramatically escalated tensions in the city. Trump has deployed 4,000 National Guard troops to L.A. over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said that in doing so, Trump has created the…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pam-bondi-likens-l-a-to-third-world-country-amid-protests/ar-AA1GpU2v