Border Czar Tom Homan has noted that the administration plans to deport Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant with alleged gang affiliations. Homan labeled Garcia a “significant public safety threat” due to his connections with MS-13 and past human trafficking charges. The action has been proposed despite a court ruling that temporarily blocked Abrego Garcia’s deportation to allow for a hearing.
Homan said, “I’m giving you my word. He will be deported from this country. I got my teeth in this thing. I’m not letting it go.” He added, “Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador wasn’t a mistake.”
Homan stated, “I don’t accept the term ‘error’ in Abrego Garcia.” He added, “There was an oversight, there was a withholding order.”
Homan added, “But the facts surrounding the withholding order had changed. He is now a terrorist, and the gang he was fearing, from being removed from El Salvador, no longer exists.”
Homan expressed confidence in proceeding with the deportation despite legal challenges. Judge Xinis ruled that the process should be paused pending an evidentiary hearing.
Department of Justice (DOJ) documents linked Abrego Garcia to MS-13 and highlighted domestic abuse allegations from his estranged wife. The Trump administration has questioned the validity of Abrego Garcia’s asylum claims, arguing that he has not provided sufficient evidence of persecution.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “I will tell you what the president of El Salvador told you in the Oval Office: El Salvador does not intend to smuggle a designated foreign terrorist back into the United States.”
Leavitt added, “He is an El Salvadoran national. That is his home country. That is where he belongs.”
The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War after President Donald Trump first floated the idea on Monday, according to a Fox News report. A White House official confirmed the plan to The Mirror US on Thursday.
The decision marks a stark U-turn from the president’s campaign promises in 2024 to pursue peace, and from his frequent criticisms of former President Joe Biden for driving the U.S. “closer to World War III than anybody can imagine.”
“As President Trump said, our military should be focused on offense – not just defense – which is why he has prioritized warfighters at the Pentagon instead of DEI and woke ideology. Stay tuned!” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Reuters this week, referring to programs aimed at increasing diversity, equity and inclusion. The Trump administration has not revealed the reasons it believes the department’s name constitutes “woke ideology.” It comes after a lip reader revealed the chilling 3-word promise that Donald Trump whispered into Vladimir Putin’s ear at their Alaska summit.
The move follows a string of similar name-changing decisions by the Trump administration as a measure of projecting the president’s stance on specific policy issues. In January, Trump issued an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”. He also referred to his controversial July domestic spending bill as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which in recent days his administration has attempted to rebrand as the “working families tax cut.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also ordered the renaming of certain military vessels that previously bore the names of civil rights leaders, such as the USNS Harvey Milk. Last month, he renamed his conference room the “W.A.R. Room.” Hegseth has often proven to be concerned with the outward appearance of elements of his department, having even ordered a makeup studio to be installed inside the Pentagon and dictated which colors of nail polish are acceptable to be worn by Army soldiers.
Though restoring the name would require congressional action, the White House is reportedly exploring alternative methods to enact the change, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The decision to rename the Pentagon comes amid a broader push by Trump, Hegseth and their coalition to restore a “warrior ethos” to the federal government and America as a whole. It has included a purge of top military leaders whose views do not align with the president’s agenda.
“As Department of War, we won everything. We won everything,” Trump said last month, referring to the War Department established by Congress in 1789 to oversee the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. “I think we’re going to have to go back to that.”
The administration has also sought to ban transgender individuals from voluntarily joining the military and remove those who are currently serving on the basis of a claim that they are medically unfit. The claim has been described by civil rights groups as false and a representation of illegal discrimination, according to Reuters.
“This is so stupid and it’s going to make us a laughing stock in front of both our allies and our enemies,” one user wrote on X on Thursday.
Posturing the top defense department in the nation in a more aggressive and offensive direction is at odds with promises and statements made by Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump lobbed frequent criticisms at Biden for the fact that, during his presidency, Russia invaded Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas was ignited. “(Biden) will drive us into World War III, and we’re closer to World War III than anybody can imagine,” Trump said, according to CNN.
Last August, while endorsing anti-war former Democratic Rep. Tusli Gabbard at a National Guard conference in Detroit, Trump claimed both Democrats and Independents would vote for him because of his plan to end wars. “We’re uniting forces to end the endless foreign wars,” he said of Gabbard’s endorsement. “When I’m back in the White House, we will expel the warmongers, the profiteers … and we will restore world peace.”
“I am confident that his first task will be to do the work to walk us back from the brink of war,” Gabbard said. “We cannot be prosperous unless we are at peace.”
His decision in June to launch a missile attack on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities threw several of his most ardent, right-wing supporters into opposition, urging the president and his allies not to engage in foreign conflicts.
Trump, who claimed that he would solve the Russia-Ukraine war before taking office on Jan. 20,” had made little headway by early September in brokering peace between the two nations. He has also dubiously claimed that he has personally ended a handful of global wars during his second term.
“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into,” Trump said during his inaugural address. “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier.”
It comes after Ukraine warned that Putin has a hit list of FIVE countries that he wants to invade next.
https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/trump-warned-pentagon-name-change-1372151
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that would let the U.S. designate nations as state sponsors of wrongful detention, using the threat of associated sanctions to deter Americans from being detained abroad or taken hostage.
…. two senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the order being signed cited China, Afghanistan, Iran and Russia as nations that could potentially face penalties under the new designation.
Fox’s News Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin made an ominous observation Friday about the deployment of several fighter jets and U.S. Navy vessels to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Sea.
Griffin posted the news on Friday midday, writing, “The Pentagon is deploying 10 F-35 stealth fighter jets to Puerto Rico for counter-narcotics tasking in the Caribbean, a source familiar confirms to Fox News per Lucas Tomlinson.”
Griffin, one of the most respected national security reporters in the country, then added, “Why would you need F35 stealth fighter jets for a counternarcotics mission?”
“The F35s being sent to Puerto Rico are usually used for large bombing missions like the targeting of Iran’s nuclear facilities- a 5th generation supersonic fighter jet known for its lethality. It looks to me like the US military is going to war. 8 US Navy destroyers in the Caribbean near Venezuela is a first,” Griffin warned, suggesting the U.S. may be on a war footing.
Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump announced they bombed a vessel in the Caribbean that was allegedly carrying drugs and operated by the Tren de Aragua gang.
“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America,” Trump announced on Truth Social.
The announcement raised questions surrounding the scope of the U.S. military’s mission in the Caribbean and under what legal authority the Trump administration is operating. Vice President JD Vance was asked on Wednesday, “On the Venezuela vessel strike, what legal authority were you guys working under? And will there be an after-action report on the strike?”
“Well, I’m sure there’s going to be an after-action report. I mean, the legal authority, and I want to talk about these kids, is that there are people who are bringing literal terrorists, who are bringing deadly drugs into our country, and the President of the United States ran on a promise of stopping this poison from coming into our country,” Vance replied, dodging the question. “Another question?”
A strike carried out by US forces on a boat in the Caribbean Sea – which the White House says killed 11 drug traffickers – may have violated international human rights and maritime law, legal experts have told BBC Verify.
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that US forces destroyed a vessel which he said had departed from Venezuela. He said the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua cartel and was carrying drugs bound for the US.
US defence officials have so far declined to offer details on the strike, footage of which Trump shared on Truth Social, including what legal authority they relied upon to justify it.
BBC Verify reached out to a range of experts in international and maritime law, with several saying that US may have acted illegally in attacking the vessel.
The US is not a signatory to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but the US military’s legal advisors have previously said that the US should “act in a manner consistent with its provisions”.
Under the convention, countries agree not to interfere with vessels operating in international waters. There are limited exceptions to this which allow a state to seize a ship, such as a “hot pursuit” where a vessel is chased from a country’s waters into the high seas.
“Force can be used to stop a boat but generally this should be non-lethal measures,” Prof Luke Moffett of Queens University Belfast said.
But he added that the use of aggressive tactics must be “reasonable and necessary in self-defence where there is immediate threat of serious injury or loss of life to enforcement officials”, noting that the US moves were likely “unlawful under the law of the sea”.
Are US strikes on alleged cartel members legal?
Experts have also questioned whether the killing of the alleged members of the Tren de Aragua cartel could contravene international law on the use of force.
Under Article 2(4) of the UN charter, countries can resort to force when under attack and deploying their military in self-defence. Trump has previously accused the Tren de Aragua cartel of conducting irregular warfare against the US, and the state department has designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.
But Prof Michael Becker of Trinity College Dublin told BBC Verify that the US actions “stretches the meaning of the term beyond its breaking point”.
“The fact that US officials describe the individuals killed by the US strike as narco-terrorists does not transform them into lawful military targets,” he said. “The US is not engaged in an armed conflict with Venezuela or the Tren de Aragua criminal organization.”
“Not only does the strike appear to have violated the prohibition on the use of force, it also runs afoul of the right to life under international human rights law.”
Prof Moffett said that the use of force in this case could amount to an “extrajudicial arbitrary killing” and “a fundamental violation of human rights”.
“Labelling everyone a terrorist does not make them a lawful target and enables states to side-step international law,” he said.
Notre Dame Law School Professor Mary Ellen O’Connell told BBC Verify that the strike “violated fundamental principles of international law”, adding: “Intentional killing outside armed conflict hostilities is unlawful unless it is to save a life immediately.”
“Sometimes armed groups waging war against governments deal in drugs to pay for their participation in conflict. There is no evidence the gang President Trump targeted is such a group.”
But US officials have been quick to defend the strike. Republican Senator Lindsay Graham wrote on X that the strike was the “ultimate – and most welcome – sign that we have a new sheriff in town”.
His fellow Republican senator, Bernie Moreno from Ohio, wrote: “Sinking this boat saved American lives. To the narco traffickers and the narco dictators, you’ll eventually get the same treatment.”
A White House official told BBC Verify that Trump had authorised the strike on the boat, which they said was crewed by Tren de Aragua members, after it left Venezuela. The official added that the president was committed to using all means to prevent drugs reaching the US.
The Pentagon has declined to share the legal advice it obtained before carrying out the strike.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News: “we’ve got incredible assets and they are gathering in the region… those 11 drug traffickers are no longer with us, sending a very clear signal that this is an activity the United States is not going to tolerate in our hemisphere.”
Can Trump launch attacks without Congressional approval?
Questions have also been raised as to whether the White House complied with US law in authorising the strike. The US constitution says that only Congress has the power to declare war.
However, Article II – which lays out the president’s powers – says that “the president shall be Commander in Chief of the Army” and some constitutional experts have suggested that this grants the president the power to authorise strikes against military targets. Trump administration sources have previously cited this provision when defending US strikes on Iran.
But it is unclear whether that provision extends to the use of force against non-state actors such as drug cartels.
Rumen Cholakov, an expert in US constiutional law at King’s College London told BBC Verify that since 9/11, US presidents have relied on the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military Force Act (AUMF) when carrying out strikes against groups responsible for the attacks.
“Its scope has been expanded consistently in subsequent administrations,” he added. “It is not immediately obvious that drug cartels such as Tren de Aragua would be within the President’s AUMF powers, but that might be what “narco-terrorists” is hinting at.”
Questions also remain as to whether Trump complied with the War Powers Resolution, which demands that the president “in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities”.
How did the US conduct the strike?
It is unclear what method the US used to launch the attack. Trump did not offer details in his news conference in the Oval Office and the Department of Defense has failed to offer further information.
In Venezuela President Maduro has yet to respond to the US strikes, but his Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez has suggested that the footage released by the White House may have been generated using AI. In a post to X, he suggested that water in the video “looks very stylized and unnatural”.
BBC Verify has run the clip through SynthID – Google’s AI detection software – and found no evidence that the footage is fake.
The strikes come amid reports that the US has deployed several naval warships to the region in support of anti-narcotics operations against Venezuela.
We’ve not been able to track all of these vessels. But using information from publicly-available onboard trackers, and videos on social media, we’ve potentially identified four of them in the region.
A ship identifying itself as the USS Lake Erie – a guided missile cruiser – last transmitted its location in the Caribbean Sea on 30 August, east of the Panama Canal on 30 August.
Two others identifying themselves as the USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham last transmitted their locations in mid-August, at the American base in Guantanamo Bay. A fourth, the USS Fort Lauderdale, transmitted its location north of the Dominican Republic on 28 August.
Trump – who has long sought to oust Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro – has authorised a US$50m reward for any information leading to his arrest. The Venezuelan leader claimed victory in last year’s elections, widely viewed as rigged by international observers.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/trump-appointee-deals-legal-blow-to-the-president/vi-AA1LYtO7
Hundreds of federal officers descended on a small southeast Georgia community and raided the Hyundai Metaplant – arresting 475 people in the largest sweep yet in the current Trump administration’s immigration crackdown at US worksites.
Previously, federal officials estimated 450 people were apprehended Thursday at the enormous site in Ellabell, about 25 miles west of Savannah, Georgia.
The majority are Korean nationals, said Steven Schrank, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge. Schrank said he did not have a breakdown of the arrestees’ nationalities.
All 475 people taken into custody were suspected of living and working illegally in the US, Schrank said. Some crossed into the US illegally; some had visa waivers and were prohibited from working; and some had overstayed their visas, he said.
During the raid, several people tried to flee – including some who “ran into a sewage pond located on the premises,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia said.
“Agents used a boat to fish them out of the water. One of the individuals swam under the boat and tried to flip it over to no avail. These people were captured and identified as illegal workers.”
Schrank noted that some of the workers may have been contractors or subcontractors.
“We continue to work on the investigation of who exactly worked for what companies,” he said.
A Hyundai spokesperson told CNN he does not believe anyone arrested was a direct employee of Hyundai Motor Company.
“We are aware of the recent incident at the HL-GA Battery Company construction site in Bryan County, Georgia. We are closely monitoring the situation and working to understand the specific circumstances,” spokesperson Michael Stewart said Friday.
“As of today, it is our understanding that none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company. We prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone working at the site and comply with all laws and regulations wherever we operate.”
The sprawling, 2,900-acre Hyundai Metaplant has two parts: a Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing site, and an EV battery plant that’s a joint venture between Hyundai and LG.
The raid halted construction of the EV battery plant, The Associated Press reported.
LG did not respond to CNN’s questions about how many arrested workers may have been employed by the company, and how many may have been contractors or subcontractors for LG.
But the company sent the following statement to CNN:
“We are closely monitoring the situation and gathering all relevant details. Our top priority is always ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and partners. We will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities.”
How the Georgia raid happened
“This was not an immigration operation where agents went into the premises, rounded up folks and put them on buses,” Schrank said.
“This has been a multi-month criminal investigation where we have developed evidence, conducted interviews, gathered documents and presented that evidence to the court in order to obtain judicial search warrants.”
At the Georgia site, masked and armed agents gave orders to construction workers wearing hard hats and safety vests as they lined up while officers raided the facility, video footage obtained by CNN showed.
ICE and Homeland Security Investigations were accompanied by the Georgia State Patrol, the FBI, DEA, ATF and other agencies in executing a search warrant.
“Together, we are sending a clear and unequivocal message: those who exploit our workforce, undermine our economy, and violate federal laws will be held accountable,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
While the raid is part of an ongoing investigation, “No charges have been filed, so that means that no wrongdoing is being accused at this time,” Schrank said.
GOP governor promoted the Metaplant
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has touted the Hyundai Metaplant as a boon for the Georgia economy.
In 2022, Hyundai announced an agreement with the state of Georgia to build Hyundai’s “first dedicated fully electrified vehicle and battery manufacturing facilities in the United States” in Bryan County, the company said.
The Metaplant was expected to create 8,500 jobs.
“With the first 500 employees trained, and more soon to join them, this is another major milestone as we continue our momentum towards the full opening of the Hyundai Metaplant!” Kemp posted on social media last year.
Kemp’s office issued a statement Friday in response to the raid.
“In Georgia, we will always enforce the law, including all state and federal immigration laws,” a Kemp spokesperson said. “The Department of Public Safety coordinated with ICE to provide all necessary support for this operation, the latest in a long line of cooperation and partnership between state law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement.”
South Korea says it’s concerned
In a televised statement Friday, a spokesperson for Korea’s Foreign Ministry said “many of our nationals were detained” in the raid, according to a translation from Reuters.
“The economic activities of our companies investing in the United States and the interests of our citizens must not be unduly violated during the course of US law enforcement,” spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said.
“In Seoul, we also conveyed our concerns and regret through the US Embassy today, urging special attention to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of our citizens are not violated.”
CNN has reached out to the South Korean consulate in Atlanta and the embassy in Washington, DC for comment.
Dozens apprehended in New York, too
On the same day as the Georgia raid, dozens of workers at a family-owned plant that makes nutrition bars were also apprehended during an ICE raid, officials said.
Federal agents arrived at the Nutrition Bar Confectioners plant in Cato and questioned “virtually the entire workforce,” according to Rural & Migrant Ministry, whose staff witnessed the raid.
The group posted a video on its Facebook page showing law enforcement leading people into a van marked “Border Patrol.” During the raid, workers were taken into the kitchen area of the plant and “questioned one by one over the course of many hours,” the group said in the post.
The group estimates that “upwards of 70 employees” were questioned and “nearly all” were then arrested and taken to the nearby Oswego Detention Center. A spokesperson for the group told CNN they’re still waiting to hear from authorities about exactly how many were detained.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the ICE operation in her state.
“I am outraged by this morning’s ICE raids in Cato and Fulton, where more than 40 adults were seized — including parents of at least a dozen children at risk of returning from school to an empty house,” Hochul said in a statement.
Hochul said such operations “will not make New York safer” and will “shatter hard-working families who are simply trying to build a life here.”
ICE confirmed to CNN affiliate WSTM that it carried out a “court-authorized enforcement action” in Cato. Employees told WSTM that around 60 workers were detained. CNN has reached out to the agency for further details.
Mark Schmidt, the owner of Nutrition Bar Confectioners, told the New York Times that all his workers had legal documentation to work in the US. “We’ve done everything we can to vet people we hire,” he said.
Schmidt described the ICE raid as “overkill.” His son Lenny Schmidt, the company’s vice president, told the Times the scene was “almost theatrical,” describing police dogs and all-terrain vehicles involved in the operation.
“It could have been handled so much more humanely and decently,” he said. “This kind of raid, you feel like it’s a drug bust or a human trafficking situation.”
CNN has reached out to the company for further comment.
The New York and Georgia raids come as Chicago leaders are preparing for a possible National Guard deployment in step with an expected immigration enforcement operation in the city.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/05/us/georgia-plant-ice-raid-hundreds-arrested-hnk
