Tag Archives: President Donald Trump

Fort-Worth Star Telegram: ‘My Head is Spinning’: Deportation Draws Backlash

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U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has warned the Trump administration about its handling of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case, a Salvadoran national mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Key officials have admitted ignorance about crucial details in court proceedings, raising concerns about compliance with the judge’s order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. Xinis has reportedly set a new compliance deadline and scheduled an in-person hearing.

Xinis said, “Evidently missing from the defendants’ filing is the privilege log that this court ordered to be produced.” She added, “Failure to file the privilege log or otherwise respond will be construed as an intentional refusal to comply with this court’s orders.”

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Xinis said, “You haven’t complied, and you haven’t in bad faith.”

Xinis has identified officials’ ignorance as noncompliance with her order to produce witnesses with direct knowledge of Abrego Garcia’s situation.

…Xinis stated, “The whole reason we’re here is because I’ve said repeatedly you’ve done nothing, and now you tell the world you’re not going to do anything.

‘My Head is Spinning’: Deportation Draws Backlash

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/my-head-is-spinning-deportation-draws-backlash/ss-AA1FwI5y

The Hill: Crockett on [Bimbo #2] Noem trip to Israel: ‘You just had a good photo op’

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) slammed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem for her recent trip to Israel, declaring it just another “photo op.”

Crockett said she didn’t think anything substantive would come from the foreign trip scheduled days after two Israeli Embassy staffers were fatally shot outside of a museum in Washington.

“You just had a good photo op. And I think that that’s probably all Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem is good for, is a photo op,” Crockett said Sunday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Weekends with Alex Witt.”

Crockett on Noem trip to Israel: ‘You just had a good photo op’

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) slammed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem for her recent trip to Israel, declaring it just another “photo op.” Crockett said she didn’t thi…

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5319575-jasmine-crockett-kristi-noem-israel-trip

Alternet: Alarm raised over Trump admin corruption following Trump media move

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Monday reporting from the Financial Times that U.S. President Donald Trump’s family media company “plans to raise $3 billion to buy cryptocurrencies” sparked a fresh wave of alarm over his administration’s policies and potential corruption.

After winning a second term last year, the Republican president transferred his stake in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG)—which is behind the Truth Social platform—to a revocable trust overseen by his son Donald Trump Jr.

Citing six unnamed sources, FT reported that TMTG “aims to raise $2 billion in fresh equity and another $1 billion via a convertible bond,” and “also plans to launch an exchange-traded fund focused on cryptocurrency.”

https://www.alternet.org/trump-media-crypto/

https://www.alternet.org/trump-media-crypto

Independent: Inside Pete Hegseth’s chaotic inner circle as report says defense secretary’s team in ‘cold war’

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Questions raised over long-term viability of embattled head of Pentagon as two senior advisers said to be at loggerheads

The Pentagon is reportedly in the grip of a new Cold War, and it has nothing to do with Russia.

A rift between two senior advisers to Pete Hegseth has led to a wider schism at the department, fueling speculation about the long-term prospects of the embattled defense secretary as a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, according to reporting by The Washington Post.

Numerous people familiar with the matter told the paper that claims of departmental unity are belied by continued dysfunction behind the scenes, stemming from personality conflicts, lack of experience, ongoing vacancies in important roles, and paranoia over what political crisis could erupt next.

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Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retribution, described the most combustible relationship as that between two Hegseth aides, Eric Geressy and Ricky Buria.

They claim that Geressy, a retired soldier whom Hegseth has credited with mentoring him during their service in Iraq, has expressed ongoing concerns that Buria, until recently a military assistant to the defense secretary and now his acting chief of staff, has attempted to marginalize colleagues to enhance his own standing within the Trump administration.

Amidst the fallout from the Signalgate scandal in March, tensions between the two are said to have boiled over when Geressy found out he was excluded from meetings during a trip across the Pacific by Hegseth and blamed Buria.

Geressy also voiced concern about how many administration officials were using Signal and told staffers that the White House had a dim view of Buria, seeing him as self-important.

…

Click on the link below to read the entire article:

Inside Pete Hegseth’s chaotic inner circle as defense secretary’s team in ‘cold war’

Questions raised over long-term viability of embattled head of Pentagon as two senior advisers said to be at loggerheads

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/hegseth-pentagon-chaos-defense-trump-b2758627.html

Christian Post: Evangelical pastor detained by ICE despite stay of removal, no criminal record

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An Evangelical pastor in Florida who entered the United States illegally several years ago but was allowed to stay under certain conditions has been detained by authorities.

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Ambrocio had been living in Florida for 20 years. While he entered the country illegally, he had been allowed to remain via a stay of removal, which required that he meet with ICE officials for the last decade at least once a year, remain employed and not commit any crimes.

However, when Ambrocio met with ICE officials on April 18, he was detained, to the surprise of his local neighborhood, as National Public Radio reported last week.

“For my kids, it’s like the world ended,” Ambrocio’s wife, Marleny, told NPR.

The couple has five children aged between 12 and 19, all U.S. citizens.

Evangelical pastor detained by ICE despite stay of removal, no criminal record

An Evangelical pastor in Florida who entered the United States illegally several years ago but was allowed to stay under certain conditions has been detained by authorities

https://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelical-pastor-detained-by-ice-despite-stay-of-removal.html

Raw Story: Hegseth leak probe in chaos after White House told of ‘illegal wiretap’: report

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The White House has reportedly lost confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leak investigation after officials were told that an illegal wiretap was used in the probe.

The Guardian reported on Tuesday that officials had notified Vice President JD Vance after the Defense Department officials claimed they employed an “illegal warrantless National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap” to out senior Hegseth adviser Dan Caldwell, who was fired last month with two other aides.

Of course the White House absolved their boy Hegseth:

White House officials found the wiretap claim to be untrue “and complained that they were being fed dubious information by Hegseth’s personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, who had been tasked with overseeing the investigation,” the report noted.

But now:

“Trump advisers tracking the investigation have privately suggested they no longer have any idea about who or what to believe,” the report said.

Hegseth leak probe in chaos after White House told of ‘illegal wiretap’: report

https://www.rawstory.com/pete-hegseth-leak-investigation

AsAmNews: Green card holders face extra scrutiny and detention at airports

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U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is warning travelers this summer holding green cards that they could face detention when traveling through airports.

There’s been much concern following reports that ICE agents have detained individuals returning to the U.S. from the Philippines.

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“As part of CBP’s national security mission, officers routinely determine the admissibility of foreign nationals using longstanding U.S. immigration law,” CBP said in a statement to the Inquirer. “Lawful permanent residents convicted of offenses considered to be crimes involving moral turpitude, including aggravated felonies, can legally lose their status and be removed. Crimes involving moral turpitude include offenses such as grand theft and the use or distribution of controlled substances.”

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A Homeland Security commercial running on both radio and TV features Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem proclaiming that under President Trump, the United States has been made safer as murderers and rapists are being deported.

However, its apparent nonviolent offenders are also being caught into this dragnet despite their legal immigration status. Protesters deemed acting against the interest of the Trump administration’s U.S. policy are also being deported.

Green card holders face extra scrutiny and detention at airports – AsAmNews

Filipino green card holders returning from Philippines are being apprehended by immigration agents at the airport for non-violent past criminal offenses.
Green card holders face extra scrutiny and detention at airports

New York Times: Trump Pardoned Tax Cheat After Mother Attended $1 Million Dinner

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Paul Walczak’s pardon application cited his mother’s support for the president, including raising millions of dollars and a connection to a plot to publicize a Biden family diary.

As Paul Walczak awaited sentencing early this year, his best hope for avoiding prison time rested with the newly inaugurated president.

Mr. Walczak, a former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the 2024 election, submitted a pardon application to President Trump around Inauguration Day. The application focused not solely on Mr. Walczak’s offenses but also on the political activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago.

Ms. Fago had raised millions of dollars for Mr. Trump’s campaigns and those of other Republicans, the application said. It also highlighted her connections to an effort to sabotage Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s 2020 campaign by publicizing the addiction diary of his daughter Ashley Biden — an episode that drew law enforcement scrutiny.

Mr. Walczak’s pardon application argued that his criminal prosecution was motivated more by his mother’s efforts for Mr. Trump than by his admitted use of money earmarked for employees’ taxes to fund an extravagant lifestyle.

Still, weeks went by and no pardon was forthcoming, even as Mr. Trump issued clemency grants to hundreds of other allies.

Then, Ms. Fago was invited to a $1-million-per-person fund-raising dinner last month that promised face-to-face access to Mr. Trump at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla.

…

trump-pardon-paul-walczak-tax-crimes.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/us/politics/trump-pardon-paul-walczak-tax-crimes.html

Talking Points Memo: The ‘Invasion’ Invention: The Far Right’s Long Legal Battle to Make Immigrants the Enemy

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The Trump administration is using the claim that immigrants have “invaded” the country to justify possibly suspending habeas corpus, part of the constitutional right to due process. A faction of the far right has been building this case for years.

When top Trump adviser Stephen Miller threatened on May 9 that the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus in response to an “invasion” from undocumented immigrants, he was operating on a fringe legal theory that a right-wing faction has been working to legitimize for more than a decade.

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Hard-liners have referred to immigrants as “invaders” as long as the U.S. has had immigration. By 2022, invasion rhetoric, which had previously been relegated to white nationalist circles, had become such a staple of Republican campaign ads that most of the public agreed an invasion of the U.S. via the southern border was underway.

Now, however, the claim that the U.S. is under invasion has become the legal linchpin of President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-immigrant campaign.

The claim is Trump’s central justification for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport roughly 140 Venezuelans to CECOT, the Salvadoran megaprison, without due process. (The administration cited different legal authority for the remaining deportees.) The Trump administration contends they are members of a gang, Tren de Aragua, that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is directing to infiltrate and operate in the United States. Lawyers and families of many of the deportees have presented evidence the prisoners are not even members of Tren de Aragua.

The contention is also the throughline of Trump’s day one executive order “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” That document calls for the expansion of immigration removal proceedings without court hearings and for legal attacks against sanctuary jurisdictions, places that refuse to commit local resources to immigration enforcement.

So far, no court has bought the idea that the U.S. is truly under invasion….

And therein lies the problem: The Trump regime is off pursuing an unconstitutional tangent to solve a problem that is improperly framed as an “invasion”.

It’s a long well-researched article. Please click on the link below and read the entire article.

The ‘Invasion’ Invention: The Far Right’s Long Legal Battle to Make Immigrants the Enemy

This article first appeared at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign…

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/the-invasion-invention-the-far-rights-long-legal-battle-to-make-immigrants-the-enemy