Tag Archives: Virginia

Daily Beast: Trump Frees Felon to Keep Deported Maryland Dad Locked Up

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The White House is so hellbent on keeping Kilmar Abrego Garcia behind bars, it has released a convicted human smuggler.

The Trump administration has freed a convicted human smuggler in its desperate bid to convict Kilmar Abrego Garcia of the same charge.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported Abrego Garcia in March—a move the Department of Justice (DOJ) admitted was an error—before a federal judge forced the administration to return him. Abrego Garcia was placed in federal custody on a human smuggling charge as soon as he set foot on U.S. soil again.

Despite President Donald Trump’s pledge to focus mass deportation efforts on criminals—the “worst of the worst”—the DOJ has now released three-time felon Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes from federal prison and transferred him to a halfway house in exchange for his testimony against Abrego Garcia, an undocumented father from Maryland.

Which likely will make him an unreliable witness because he has been paid / rewarded for his testimony. When it’s all over, Kilmar Abrego Garcia will walk free.

“It’s wild to me,” Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director at the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, told the Washington Post. “It’s just further evidence of how the government is using Kilmar’s case to further their propaganda and prove their political point.”

Trump Frees Felon to Keep Deported Maryland Dad Locked Up
The White House is so hellbent on keeping Kilmar Abrego Garcia behind bars, it has released a convicted human smuggler.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-frees-felon-to-keep-deported-maryland-dad-locked-up

DC News Now: Virginia lawmakers react to ICE arrests at the Chesterfield County Courthouse

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However, Delegate Mike Jones (D-Richmond), who represents parts of Chesterfield County, said ICE hasn’t provided any evidence to show that those who were arrested were actually violent criminals. 

“They’re just dressed in basic clothes, but then they’re snatching people,” Jones said. “What type of message is that to send in America?”

Jones added that ICE is striking fear into the community, something that may lead to immigrants not reporting criminal activity or refusing to show up to courts for any reason. 

“They will remain silent, and that just means they are opening themselves up to be targeted even more,” Jones said. 

Virginia lawmakers react to ICE arrests at the Chesterfield County Courthouse

https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/virginia/virginia-lawmakers-react-to-ice-arrests-at-the-chesterfield-county-courthouse

Newsweek: Trump admin ordered to return man deported to El Salvador

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President Donald Trump‘s administration has been ordered to return a Salvadoran man who was deported minutes after a federal appeals court blocked his removal.

Jordin Melgar-Salmeron was deported to El Salvador on May 7 despite an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, New York, blocking it.

On Tuesday, the appeals court ordered the administration to “facilitate the return” of Melgar-Salmeron as soon as possible to “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”

It also directed the government to return to court within one week to provide details on the current location of Melgar-Salmeron and how it planned to return him to the United States.

Trump admin ordered to return man deported to El Salvador
The Trump administration was ordered to return a Salvadoran man deported minutes after a federal appeals court blocked his removal.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-ordered-return-man-deported-el-salvador-2090058

The Hill: Democrats hammer Hegseth over restoring Confederate names of military bases

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Democratic senators on Wednesday repeatedly slammed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his decision to restore the names of nine military bases originally named after Confederate leaders, with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) criticizing the Pentagon chief for not calling the families whose relatives’ names will now be stripped from the installations. 

The former titles, which the Pentagon earlier this month said would be restored albeit with new namesakes, means seven bases named for notable individuals will soon revert back roughly two years after conversion. Hegseth earlier this year ordered the names of two other bases, Fort Liberty and Fort Moore, changed back to Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, respectively. 

Kaine, whose state holds three of the nine military bases that were originally named for Confederate generals, said Hegseth’s decision strips away “the names of four amazing people that the Pentagon and local communities had chosen to honor.”

The Virginia bases are currently known as Fort Barfoot, named after Col. Van Barfoot who earned a Medal of Honor for his actions during World War II; Fort Walker, honoring American abolitionist and Civil War surgeon Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to ever receive a Medal of Honor; and Fort Gregg-Adams, named after Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg, the first Black man in the Army to reach the rank of lieutenant general, and Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley, the first Black woman to become an officer in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in WWII.

Democrats hammer Hegseth over restoring Confederate names of military bases
Democratic senators on Wednesday repeatedly slammed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his decision to restore the names of nine military bases originally named after Confederate leaders, with Sen…

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5357795-democrats-hammer-hegseth-over-restoring-confederate-names-of-military-bases

Daily Beast: Trump Turns Presidency Into His Cash Cow With $600M Haul

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President Donald Trump has already made a small fortune off his second go-around as commander in chief.

An annual financial disclosure shows the Republican president’s crypto ventures, golf clubs, and resorts, as well as the large fees he collects from garish MAGA-branded merch, have helped him rake in more than $600 million in income last year, Reuters reported.

Overall, Reuters calculated that Trump’s combined assets totaled $1.6 billion, with his income feeding into the Trump Organization trust operated by his three eldest children—which some said allows him to skate the Constitution’s Emoluments clause, which bars the president from benefitting financially from the office.

Trump Turns Presidency Into His Cash Cow With $600M Haul
Financial disclosures reveal the MAGA president is raking in the dough from crypto, golf clubs, and licensing fees.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-turns-presidency-into-his-cash-cow-with-600m-haul

Washington Post: Trump plans broader use of National Guard in immigration enforcement

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The White House wants the national guard to play a bigger role in immigration enforcement, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said in an interview Thursday.

The Trump administration wants to use the National Guard more broadly to enact the president’s immigration agenda, according to border czar Tom Homan, documents and people familiar with plans.

“They can’t make immigration arrests, but they can certainly augment for security, transportation, infrastructure, intelligence,” Homan said in an interview with The Washington Post.

A month before President Donald Trump federalized the California National Guard and sent them to Los Angeles as part of the government’s response to protests over immigration enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security requested more than 20,000 National Guard to aid U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The National Guard would be tasked with helping ICE catch fugitives as well as guard detention centers, process and transport migrants and other tasks, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post. Pentagon officials say they are looking into the request but have not yet decided on the number of troops it will send.

Homan said he is also open to using the National Guard to respond to protests in other places, if the situation on the ground resembles Los Angeles. The protests there have been limited to a few locations, with local leaders saying they did not think a federal response was necessary, but the Trump administration has painted a different picture.

It sounds as though Trump & Homan are intent on using the National Guard against Americans. This will not turn out well.

There’s a lot more in the article:

Trump plans broader use of National Guard in immigration enforcement
The White House wants the national guard to play a bigger role in immigration enforcement, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said in an interview Thursday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/12/trump-miller-national-guard-ice

Also here:

Trump plans broader use of National Guard in immigration enforcement
The White House wants the national guard to play a bigger role in immigration enforcement, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said in an interview Thursday.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-plans-broader-use-of-national-guard-in-immigration-enforcement/ar-AA1GBVYk

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 Mail: ICE prepares full assault on five Democrat cities as LA goes into lockdown amid immigration riots

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Donald Trump is set to deploy ICE tactical units to five Democrat-run cities amid the riots in Los Angeles as Gavin Newsom nearly broke into tears while blaming his administration for inciting the California chaos.

The military-style units are set to storm New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and northern Virginia, MSNBC reported. Four of those five are heavily blue cities, while northern Virginia contains the Democrat enclave of Alexandria. 

…

‘Look, this isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles, when Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard. He made that order apply to every state in this nation,’ Newsom said, as he teared up. 

‘This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived.’

Newsom accused Trump of ‘taking a wrecking ball to our founding fathers’ historic project’ of three co-equal branches of government. 

ICE prepares full assault on five Democrat cities as LA goes into lockdown amid immigration riots

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14800391/ICE-prepares-assault-five-Democrat-cities-LA-goes-lockdown.html

NBC News: Gavin Newsom locks horns with Trump in a politically defining moment

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Newsom’s 2028 presidential aspirations hang in the balance as the eyes of the nation are on California’s clash with immigration authorities.

The battle between the president and the governor of the country’s largest state instantly turned Newsom into the face of resistance to President Donald Trump’s expansive interpretation of the authorities of his office and mass-deportation campaign. Newsom, who is a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, has been taking heavy criticism from within his own party over his efforts — in part through his new podcast — to cast himself in the role of conciliator.

Newsom delivered an address Tuesday night that aimed squarely at Trump and was clearly intended for a national audience.

“This isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles,” he said. “When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commander the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation. This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived.”

…

Newsom has also been mounting his own messaging offensive, including on X, where he posted what appeared to be photos of troops crowded on a floor, apparently attempting to rest.

“You sent your troops here without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep. Here they are — being forced to sleep on the floor, piled on top of one another. If anyone is treating our troops disrespectfully, it is you @realDonaldTrump,” Newsom said on X.

On Sunday, Newsom chided Trump “border czar” Tom Homan, saying in an MSNBC interview: “Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.”

Late Monday, Newsom sat for a “Pod Save America” podcast recording in which he cast Trump’s actions as unconstitutional and said some of those assigned to Los Angeles — in his view, unnecessarily — were pried away from fentanyl investigations, and potentially from border operations, for “this theatrical display of toughness by a president of the United States who is unhinged.”

By Tuesday morning, Newsom accused Trump and his top White House deportation architect Stephen Miller of sheltering insurrectionists.

“The only people defending insurrectionists are you and @realDonaldTrump. Or, are we pretending like you didn’t pardon 1500 of them?”

Gavin Newsom locks horns with Trump in a politically defining moment
Newsom’s 2028 presidential aspirations hang in the balance as the eyes of the nation are on California’s clash with immigration authorities.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna211813

Atlanta Black Star News: ‘This Is So Targeted and Intentional’: New U.S. Military Grooming Policy Is ‘Racist,’ Singles Out Black Servicemembers, Critics Say

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Several branches of the United States military have changed their policies governing pseudofolliculitis barbae, or PFB, a painful skin condition more commonly known as razor bumps or ingrown hairs, which affects more Black men than any other group.

Now critics accuse the military of targeting Black men with the condition, even as past studies have shown those with medical waivers allowing them to have short beards were already lagging behind in promotions compared to their non-waivered counterparts.

In March, the U.S. Marine Corps issued new guidance on its shaving waivers that could result in the expulsion of service members with a recurring condition of PFB. The Air Force and Space Force also updated their guidance on grooming waivers in January.

Pete Hegseth’s military: Women and minorities need no apply. Screw ya!

‘This Is So Targeted and Intentional’: New U.S. Military Grooming Policy Is ‘Racist,’ Singles Out Black Servicemembers, Critics Say
Several branches of the United States military have changed their policies governing pseudofolliculitis barbae, or PFB, a painful skin condition more
‘This Is So Targeted and Intentional’: New U.S. Military Grooming Policy Is ‘Racist,’ Singles Out Black Servicemembers, Critics Say