Justice Kagan denies emergency appeal to halt deportation of Mexican nationals claiming asylum from cartel
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Wednesday denied an emergency appeal by four Mexican nationals facing deportation. The request asked the court to temporarily block their removal so they could file a formal petition for review. Kagan denied the application without comment and did not refer the matter to her colleagues on the court. The petitioners, Fabian Lagunas Espinoza, Maria Angelica Flores Ulloa and their two sons, were ordered to report to immigration officials on April 17. Their legal team argued they face cartel violence if returned to Mexico. According to their court filing, the family fled Guerrero, Mexico, in 2021 after being threatened by the Los Rojos cartel. The petition stated that cartel members demanded the family vacate their home within 24 hours or be killed. PHOTOS: GOP DELEGATION PROVIDES INSIDE LOOK AT CONTROVERSIAL EL SALVADOR PRISON HOUSING U.S. DEPORTEES It also included details of past violence against extended family members, including beatings and threats following refusals to cooperate with the cartel. The family entered the U.S. unlawfully and sought asylum and an immigration judge denied their claims. That ruling was upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals in November 2023, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision in February 2025. A temporary stay of removal was lifted on April 7. The emergency appeal to Justice Kagan argued that the lower courts and immigration authorities failed to consider credible evidence and due process claims. SUPREME COURT TO HEAR ORAL ARGUMENTS IN BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CASE Under Supreme Court procedures, each justice handles emergency appeals from a specific circuit. As the justice assigned to the Ninth Circuit, Kagan had the authority to act alone or refer the case to the full court. She denied the application without referring it further. In their filing, the petitioners’ attorney, LeRoy George Siddell, wrote: “Petitioners face imminent removal and have been directed to report to immigration office on 4/17/2025, despite credible and detailed testimony and documentary evidence showing they are targets of cartel violence due to their family ties and refusal to comply with extortion demands.” There was no response from the Department of Justice to the application before Kagan issued her decision. As of Thursday morning, the petitioners were required to report to U.S. immigration authorities. Their disposition remains to be determined. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump admin imposes sanctions against Bank of Yemen for supporting Houthis
The Trump administration announced sanctions against the International Bank of Yemen Y.S.C. (IBY) on Thursday for its financial support of Houthi terrorists. Along with the bank, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning key leaders of IBY, like its Chairman of the Board of Directors Kamal Hussain Al Jebry; Executive General Manager Ahmed Thabit Noman Al-Absi and Deputy General Manager Abdulkader Ali Bazara. By sanctioning IBY, the U.S. hopes to stop Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. “Financial institutions like IBY are critical to the Houthis’ efforts to access the international financial system and threaten both the region and international commerce,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender said. “Treasury remains committed to working with the internationally recognized government of Yemen to disrupt the Houthis’ ability to secure funds and procure key components for their destabilizing attacks.” Based in Sana’a, Yemen, the IBY is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis and provides the group with access to the bank’s Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) network to make international financial transactions, the Treasury said. TRUMP TAKES SWIPE AT BIDEN, SAYS US WILL SUPPORT SOMALIA AGAINST HOUTHIS The IBY, for instance, has allegedly aided Houthi businesses and officials to pursue oil on the SWIFT network, while also facilitating attempts by the terrorist group to evade sanctions oversight. Under Thursday’s sanctions, all property and interests in property of the leaders named, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Additionally, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. TRUMP TOUTS AIRSTRIKE ON HOUTHIS, SHOWING VIDEO: WILL ‘NEVER SINK OUR SHIPS AGAIN’ OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within, or transiting, the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce spoke about the sanctions during a press briefing Thursday, sending a message to anyone who supports foreign terrorist organizations like the Houthis. US FORCES CARRY OUT AIRSTRIKE IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA, KILLING 3 AL-SHABAAB TERRORISTS “The United States is committed to disrupting the Houthi financial networks and banking access as part of our whole-of-government approach to eliminating Iran’s threat network,” she said. “Moreover, we can confirm the reporting that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company Limited (CGSTL) is directly supporting Iran-backed Houthi terrorist attacks on U.S. Interests. Their actions and Beijing’s support of the company, even after our private engagements with them, is yet another example of China’s empty claims to support peace. She continued, urging partners of the U.S. to judge the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese companies on their actions, and not just their words. “Restoring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea is a priority to President Trump,” Bruce said. “Beijing should take this priority seriously when considering any future support of CGSTL. The United States will not tolerate anyone providing support to foreign terrorist organizations such as the Houthis.”
Letitia James reaps what she sows after leveling ‘laughable’ case at Trump: expert
The Trump administration’s criminal referral targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James for reported mortgage fraud likely never would have unfolded if not for the Democrat’s years of targeting the president in court, a New York City real estate attorney and expert told Fox News Digital. “To be perfectly frank, this is a retaliatory case brought by the president for what the attorney general did to him over the last several years,” New York City attorney Pierre Debbas, partner and founding member of real estate law firm Romer Debbas, told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview Thursday morning. “Both cases, quite honestly, are very weak cases. “The attorney general’s case that was brought against Donald Trump was honestly a pure manipulation of the legal system, and it was laughable,” he continued, referring to the civil fraud case she brought against Trump. “Something that’s never taken place in the history of New York that was isolated at one particular person for a politically driven purpose. “Now, on the flip side, this serves the same purpose, right? This is the president’s way of seeking retaliation against the attorney general for something that, in reality, is, while it’s considered mortgage fraud, it’s not criminal,” he continued. “And it’s not something that would have been brought upon had the attorney general not pursued a similar case with low merit against the president a few years back.” TRUMP ADMINISTRATION REFERS NY AG LETITIA JAMES FOR POSSIBLE PROSECUTION OVER ALLEGATIONS OF MORTGAGE FRAUD The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), an independent federal agency that oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank System, sent a criminal referral to the Department of Justice Monday arguing the attorney general appeared to have falsified mortgage records to obtain more favorable loans. At the heart of the case is a Norfolk, Virginia, home James purchased in 2023, which she identified on mortgage documents and a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac form as a property that would serve as her primary residence, according to the FHFA letter dated Monday. James is legally required to live in New York as a statewide elected official in the Empire State, the letter adds. Identifying a home as a primary residence versus a secondary home or vacation home comes with financial incentives, Debbas explained, because banks will offer lower interest rates to primary residences, with homeowners less likely to default on such loans compared to a second home. “As a real estate attorney, we represent every major lending institution in the country,” he said. “And a common underwriting requirement for banks is to solidify what the use of the property is going to be, meaning, is it a primary residence, second home or investment property. “And the reason banks do that is that clearly there’s a higher rate of default when it comes to investment properties and second homes as opposed to primary residences.” “The reason being is people, you know, don’t want to leave their homes,” he said. “Now, a second home investment property, you may be a little more inclined to throw the keys to the bank.” COURT NAMES NEW JUDGE IN TRUMP CIVIL FRAUD CASE BEFORE REASSIGNING PREVIOUS JUDGE HOURS LATER The bank then requires the borrower to sign an affidavit confirming that the home being acquired will be used as a primary residence, he explained. “Now, if that is not the intent or that is in fact inaccurate, and you sign that agreement, you are in fact committing mortgage fraud,” he said. “And the bank relies on that agreement in giving you the loan. Now, would they have given you a loan if it were a second home? Potentially, but the difference is the interest rate would be significantly higher.” The bank’s recourse when discovering such mortgage fraud related to misidentifying a property as a primary residence to obtain more favorable loan terms is “simply to call the loan,” he said. “They would call the loan, force you to pay it off by a certain date,” he said. “If you’re unable to sell the property or take other liquidity that you have to pay off the loan, they have the right to pursue a foreclosure action. They’d be legally granted this right. It would be very difficult to contest under those circumstances because, technically speaking, this is a default and this is fraud.” The New York City real estate attorney added that this type of fraud is common. LONGTIME TRUMP FOE LETITIA JAMES REVIEWING POSSIBLE INSIDER TRADING OVER PRESIDENT’S TARIFF PAUSE “What extent is it fraud? To be quite honest with you, this is a very common thing that does take place in the real estate market,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not saying Letitia James … the full extent of the law shouldn’t be applied to her. But it is something that takes place. Because if the loan is current, the bank hasn’t really suffered any detriment, but it’s still mortgage fraud. So that doesn’t take away the fraud component to this.” Debbas argued this type of fraud does not rise to the level of criminal activity because the bank can call the loan, take back the property or force it to be liquidated. James’ office told The New York Times that a separate loan application for the 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home purchase reportedly indicated she would not live at the property full time, and that her mortgage agreement did not require her to occupy the property as her primary residence. James is a longtime political foe of Trump’s who campaigned for the attorney general job in 2018 by vowing to aggressively pursue legal charges against Trump if elected, adding she’d expose the “con man” after her win that year. Her office leveled nearly 100 legal challenges against the first Trump administration and added after his second presidential win in 2024 that she would continue challenging him in the courts to “defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law.” NY AG
Fox News Politics Newsletter: DNC official sparks Dem civil war
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… –Supreme Court sets May date to hear oral arguments in birthright citizenship case -Conservatives sound alarm over Trump admin’s REAL ID rollout –Veteran suicide crisis targeted in VA bill by bipartisan House coalition A move by a top Democratic Party official to spend millions of dollars through his outside political group to primary-challenge some older Democrats in blue districts is further igniting intra-party tensions that have rocked the party since President Donald Trump’s convincing election last November. The reverberations started instantly after Leaders We Deserve, a political organization led by recently elected Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice chair David Hogg, announced on Wednesday that it will spend $20 million to help elect younger Democrats. The effort includes supporting primary challengers to House Democrats in safe seats that Hogg argues “are asleep at the wheel.” The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the horrific shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in south Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats is seen as an unprecedented action by a DNC official…Read more DECLASSIFIED: Gabbard declassifies Biden domestic counterterrorism plan CUTTING AMERICORPS: Trump admin guts AmeriCorps, Clinton-era volunteer agency that failed 8 consecutive audits OUT OF ORDER: Trump admin seeks emergency relief of Boasberg contempt threat ‘RUMORS ARE TRUE’: CAIR panelist accuses Trump admin of using AI and antisemitism against free speech LOCKED DOWN: Trump says ‘100 percent’ chance US will strike trade deal with Europe as Italy PM visits Washington ‘ARM UKRAINE TO THE MAX’: Republican uses George Washington, American Revolution to reject notion Ukraine should surrender to Russia BIGGEST US THREAT EVER?: CIA director says China is #1 priority, poses biggest challenge from adversary in US history DEPORTATION DOMINOES: More Dems work to join Sen. Van Hollen in El Salvador to push for alleged gang member’s return to US RACE TO WATCH: Fierce Israel critic launches Senate bid in Michigan high-stakes 2026 midterm race ‘CHAMPAGNE SOCIALISTS’: ‘Champagne socialists’ Sanders and AOC flying private on ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour TROLLING TRUMP: Pence urges Republicans to hold the line on tax hikes for the rich as Trump weighs options WHAT IS A WOMAN?: LGBTQ Christians invoke ‘righteous rage’ at Capitol during Holy Week ‘UNDERREPORTED’: Texas measles cases are underreported, response hurt by funding cuts, CDC scientist says Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Appeals court denies DOJ bid to block return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador prison
A federal appeals court on Thursday denied the Trump administration‘s emergency request to block a judge’s order requiring the U.S. government to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador with a violent criminal history and alleged gang ties, who was deported to the El Salvadoran mega prison “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) last month. The ruling allows the lower court’s order to move forward for now. The case involves Garcia, a “Maryland man” who was deported but whose return was ordered by a district judge after a recent Supreme Court decision. The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to lift a judge’s order to “facilitate” Garcia’s return from CECOT, but the court on Thursday rejected the request. The three-judge panel included Judge Harvie Wilkinson, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, along with Judges Robert King and Stephanie Thacker, appointed by Presidents Clinton and Obama, respectively. ‘MARYLAND MAN’ KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA EXPOSED IN POLICE RECORDS AS ‘VIOLENT’ REPEAT WIFE BEATER In the court’s opinion, Wilkinson repeatedly referred to Garcia as a “resident,” even though Garcia is not a lawful U.S. resident. “The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order,” Wilkinson wrote. “This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.” KRISTI NOEM CRITICIZES ‘LIBERAL LEFT’ FOR TURNING ACCUSED GANG MEMBER INTO ‘MEDIA DARLING’ Court documents and police records show Garcia has a history of domestic violence, including repeated physical abuse against his wife. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also identified him as a member of the MS-13 gang, using the street name “Chele.” The court said the DOJ’s request was “extraordinary and premature” and that it would not interfere with the district judge’s efforts to carry out the Supreme Court’s decision. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Garcia would not be allowed back into the U.S. unless El Salvador were to decide otherwise. “He is not coming back to our country.” The DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump: Jimmy Carter died a happy man because Biden holds title for ‘worst’ president in history
President Donald Trump said the late President Jimmy Carter could die peacefully knowing he wasn’t the worst U.S. president because that title belongs to former President Joe Biden. Trump issued the remarks to reporters during a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who visited the White House on behalf of European nations to assist in brokering a trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union. “Worst administration in the history of our country,” Trump said on Thursday. “Worse than Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter died a happy man. You know why? Because he wasn‘t the worst. President Joe Biden was.” CRITICS PILE ON BIDEN FOLLOWING ABC INTERVIEW, BLAST HIS REFUSAL TO COMMIT TO COGNITIVE TEST: ‘DISQUALIFYING’ Trump has routinely railed against Biden and the former president’s mental fitness, and the remarks coincide with multiple books detailing Biden’s cognitive function while in office. One White House aide said that staff isolated Biden and allowed his faculties to “atrophy” in the book, “Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History.” It was released on April 8. A spokesperson for Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Trump’s comments come days after Biden slammed the Trump administration for creating so much “damage” during the early days of the administration. EX-BIDEN AIDE SAYS FORMER PRESIDENT WAS ‘FATIGUED, BEFUDDLED, AND DISENGAGED’ PRIOR TO JUNE DEBATE: BOOK “Fewer than 100 days, this administration has done so much damage and so much destruction. It’s kind of breathtaking it could happen that soon,” Biden said in his first public speech post-presidency on Tuesday. Biden delivered the speech during a disability advocacy conference in Chicago. On Thursday, Trump and Meloni said they were confident the U.S. and Europe could hash out a trade deal. Trump unveiled 20% tariffs on European Union goods coming into the U.S. on April 2, but he announced on April 9 the tariffs would remain at 10% for 90 days to allow the U.S. and the EU to strike a deal. “There will be a trade deal, 100%,” Trump told reporters. “Of course there will be a trade deal, they want to make one very much, and we’re going to make a trade deal. I fully expect it, but it’ll be a fair deal.”
PHOTOS: GOP delegation provides inside look at controversial El Salvador prison housing U.S. deportees
After visiting the controversial Salvadoran mega-prison known as the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT), freshman Congressman Riley Moore, R-W.Va., says he is “even more determined” to support the president’s efforts to secure the U.S. from criminal illegal aliens. This comes as the Trump administration’s scheme of sending the “worst of the worst” migrant gang members to CECOT has caused national controversy, with some outraged Democrats accusing President Donald Trump of “kidnapping” people for deportation. Moore said that while at CECOT he came face to face with some of the country’s “most brutal criminals, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and terrorists,” and “extremely violent criminals recently deported from the U.S.” After his visit to El Salvador, he said: “I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland.” ‘MARYLAND MAN’ KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA EXPOSED IN POLICE RECORDS AS ‘VIOLENT’ REPEAT WIFE BEATER Moore told Fox News Digital he visited the prison with a congressional delegation led by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo. The delegation toured the prison this week and spoke with several inmates. “These are dangerous individuals,” he said. “We had several of them tell us, and they were not afraid to share it, [that] they are killers and committed homicides.” “It’s not something that it seems that they regret one way or the other, from what I could glean from it,” he explained. While touring the prison, Moore said he spoke with two deportees from the U.S., both of whom were originally from El Salvador and had been deported from Virginia and California. He said one had been in the U.S. for 20 years and was a high-ranking member of the brutal gang MS-13. According to Moore, both deportees “were not afraid to admit” that they had killed people. TOM HOMAN ‘DISGUSTED’ BY DEM SENATOR’S TRIP TO BRING HOME ALLEGED MS-13 GANG MEMBER He said there is a lot of misinformation about the prison, leading the American public to believe that it is a kind of “death camp” for deportees. “That is not true,” he said, pointing out that of approximately 14,000 inmates in CECOT, only a few hundred were deported from the United States. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “They are in austere conditions in that prison, there’s no doubt about that,” he explained, adding, “to be clear, they don’t have the death penalty in El Salvador.” That being said, Moore said the impact of CECOT and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang crime has been “miraculous” for the people of El Salvador. BUKELE SAYS TRUMP HAS 350 MILLION AMERICANS TO ‘LIBERATE’ BY ENDING CRIME, TERRORISM He said he spoke with ordinary people on the streets of El Salvador’s capital city, San Salvador, who told him that “they were living in a terror state, being terrorized by these gangs and controlling their lives and taking their lives many times.” Now, he said, “they have their lives back.” That is why Moore’s resolve to support the Trump administration’s crackdown on gang terrorism is stronger than ever. “It is very tragic that all of these young people have just thrown their lives away because they decided to basically not only destroy themselves, to destroy their own country and community and people’s lives… It’s hard to really wrap your mind around,” he said. “[But] the fundamental building block of any nation state is security. If you don’t have security, you can’t have economic opportunities, civil society, justice, any of those things. The bedrock of it is security. That has to be provided.”
Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in birthright citizenship case
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next month in the case challenging President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, in what is likely to be one of the most highly anticipated cases to be reviewed by the high court since Trump took office. The justices said Thursday that they would hear arguments on the consolidated cases on May 15, roughly four weeks from now. The Trump administration in March asked the Supreme Court to intervene and allow a narrow version of the president’s executive order ending birthright citizenship to proceed. Trump signed the order on his first day in office and was immediately met with a flurry of lawsuits across the country. The administration’s appeal concerns three nationwide injunctions brought in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state. TRUMP ADMIN APPEALS RULING BLOCKING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP All three states had issued nationwide injunctions blocking the birthright citizenship ban from taking force – a move that lawyers for the Trump administration argued in their Supreme Court filing was overly broad. Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris asked the justices to limit the scope of the rulings to cover only individuals directly impacted by the relevant courts. “These cases – which involve challenges to the President’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order concerning birthright citizenship – raise important constitutional questions with major ramifications for securing the border,” Harris wrote in their appeal. To date, no court has sided with the Trump administration’s executive order seeking to ban birthright citizenship, though multiple district courts have blocked it from taking effect. NINTH CIRCUIT REJECTS TRUMP’S BID TO REINSTATE BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER Implementation of Trump’s executive order was initially set for Feb. 19. The policy would have affected hundreds of thousands of children born in the U.S. each year. The order sought to reinterpret the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Under the Trump administration’s proposed interpretation – later blocked by federal courts – children born to illegal immigrants or to those who were here legally but on temporary non-immigrant visas, are not citizens by birthright. More than 22 U.S. states and immigrants’ rights groups quickly sued the Trump administration to block the change to birthright citizenship, arguing in court filings that the executive order is both unconstitutional and “unprecedented.” The states have also argued that the 14th Amendment does, in fact, guarantee citizenship to persons born on U.S. soil and naturalized in the U.S. The U.S. is one of roughly 30 countries where birthright citizenship applies.
Gabbard declassifies Biden counterterrorism strategy, confirms push for information-sharing with Big Tech
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a Biden-era plan to counter domestic terrorism that called for greater information-sharing with tech companies and a legislative push to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Developed in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the plan outlined a government-wide effort to track how foreign actors use disinformation to radicalize Americans and urged coordination with private industry on domestic threats. It also called for measures to curb in-prison radicalization and study extremism within the military. Among its proposals was a plan to “develop awareness training for active service military members, DOD employees and contractors, and those service members separating or retiring from the military on the threat posed by domestic terrorism, the potential targeting of those with military training by violent extremist actors, and relevant reporting mechanisms.” TRUMP THREATENS IRAN OVER NUKES AS DNI GABBARD CLAIMS TEHRAN IS NOT BUILDING BOMBS The strategy had a four-part goal: “Understand and Share Domestic Terrorism-Related Information,” “Prevent Domestic Terrorism Recruitment and Mobilization to Violence,” “Disrupt and Deter Domestic Terrorism Activity” and “Confront Long-Term Contributors to Domestic Terrorism.” The Biden administration plan encouraged “teaching and learning of civics education that provides students with the skill to fully participate in civic life,” and promoted “literacy education for both children and adult learners and existing proven interventions to foster resiliency to disinformation.” It also called for advancing “inclusion” in the Covid-19 response and addressing “hate crime reporting barriers faced by disadvantaged communities by promoting law enforcement training and resources to prevent and address bias-motivated crimes; improve federal hate crimes data and analysis to eliminate hate crimes underreporting; mitigate xenophobia and bias.” DEMS WHO HAVE SPOKEN PASSIONATELY AGAINST DOMESTIC TERRORISM GO SILENT AS TESLA TORCHERS ARE CHARGED Former President Joe Biden’s administration launched the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism in 2021, identifying domestic terrorism as a major national security threat in the wake of the Capitol riot. Gabbard declassified the strategy after prompting from conservative groups like America First Legal. The group wrote to Gabbard earlier this month, asking her to declassify the strategy amid concerns of “weaponization” of power by “censoring disfavored speech on the Internet by labeling such speech ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ ‘hate speech,’ ‘domestic terrorism.’” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Biden’s summer 2021 counterterrorism strategy garnered criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union, which said it “reflects the government’s ever-expanding authority to surveil and monitor American communities; law enforcement guidance that permits profiling on the basis of race, religion, or national origin; and the use of abusive tools such as the watchlisting system against people for constitutionally protected speech and association.”
More Dems work to join Sen. Van Hollen in El Salvador to push for alleged gang member’s return to US
Several more congressional Democrats have made statements or issued requests to leadership to travel to El Salvador in hopes of bringing imprisoned deportee and accused MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to Maryland. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., remained in the Central American country as of Thursday morning, after Salvadoran Vice President Felix Ulloa rejected his entreaties to contact or free the alleged gang member on Wednesday. A representative for Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday that the freshman lawmaker would be taking a trip to El Salvador to essentially aid Van Hollen’s efforts. “Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be home in Maryland right now,” Ansari said in a separate statement. “His illegal abduction and the subsequent complete dismissal of the Supreme Court ruling is deeply disturbing. Our rights shouldn’t be revoked to propagate Trump’s authoritarian agenda. This is a constitutional crisis.” DOJ INDICATES TRUMP ADMIN NOT OBLIGATED TO RETURN MAN DEPORTED TO EL SALVADOR, PUSHING BACK ON JUDICIARY “He’s already said that he’s ready and willing to illegally deport ‘home-growns’ and American citizens. If this can happen to Mr. Garcia, it can happen to any of us. My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran where people ‘disappeared’ – I refuse to sit back and watch it happen here, too. That’s why I plan to join my colleagues in traveling to El Salvador to visit Mr. Garcia and make sure Trump’s war on our Constitution and due process stops here.” Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., also wrote to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., requesting a former CODEL (congressional delegation) authorization to visit Tecoluca, El Salvador, where the infamous El Salvadoran mega prison “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) is located. “Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national legally living and working in Maryland, was subject to a 2019 withholding order from an immigration judge prohibiting his removal to El Salvador,” Frost and Garcia wrote. “A Congressional delegation would allow Committee Members to conduct a welfare check on Mr. Abrego Garcia, as well as others held at CECOT.” Additionally, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is reportedly planning to travel to CECOT, according to reports from Politico and Axios. His office did not respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry. NOT A MARYLAND MAN: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING FOR RETURN OF SALVADORAN NATIONAL Fox News Digital reached out to Comer’s office for comment, and whether other lawmakers had contacted him seeking CODEL authorization. “Squad” member Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., also wrote to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., demanding her own CODEL to El Salvador, “given that the Administration’s use of CECOT for illegal and unconstitutional deportations is rife with ‘administrative errors.’” While not party to the letter to Comer, Ansari tweeted Monday that “we need answers now” from either government. She said she is ready to join Van Hollen – and Frost and Garcia if they go – to “demand” the man’s release. BONDI DEFIANT, SAYS ABREGO GARCIA WILL STAY IN EL SALVADOR: ‘END OF THE STORY’ Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., also suggested to Axios that travel to El Salvador may be necessary. “We have to do similar kinds of things for the others who are victims of this dystopian attack on our Constitutional rights. This president is dangerous and we can’t let this go,” she said. Meanwhile, at least two Republicans have also traveled to CECOT, albeit for different reasons. Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., tweeted a photo from the prison, saying he just finished a tour and that many inmates were “extremely violent” recent U.S.-deportees. “I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland,” Moore said. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., appeared to comment on Van Hollen’s trip in his own post from the prison, writing: “It is unconscionable that Democrats in Congress are urging the release of more foreign criminals back into our country.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Homeland Security released new documents this week that it says definitively prove Abrego Garcia, who is imprisoned at CECOT after his deportation from the U.S., is a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, which his lawyers deny. Abrego Garcia also allegedly has a record of being a “violent” repeat wife beater, according to records filed in a Prince George’s County, Maryland, district court by his wife. Fox News Digital reached out to Booker, Frost, Balint, Ramirez and Garcia for further comment.