By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and BEN FINLEY Associated Press
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has come to encapsulate much of President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration agenda, say he wants to seek asylum in the United States. His lawyers told that to a federal judge Wednesday. The 30-year-old Salvadoran national was detained Monday in Baltimore by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after leaving a Tennessee jail on Friday. Administration officials have said he's part of the dangerous MS-13 gang, an allegation Abrego Garcia denies. His lawyers are fighting the deportation efforts in court, arguing he has the right to express fear of persecution and torture in Uganda.
By TRAVIS LOLLER, JONATHAN MATTISE and BEN FINLEY Associated Press
Kilmar Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling charges in federal court in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia is a citizen of El Salvador who had been living in Maryland before he was wrongfully deported in March. Abrego Garcia's case has become a rallying point for opposition to President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda. Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. last week but immediately taken into custody on criminal charges. At Friday's hearing, a Department of Homeland Security agent said witnesses saw Abrego Garcia trafficking people, guns or drugs, but his lawyers raised questions about possible conflicts of interest.
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press
A federal appeals court says it is "shocking" that The Trump administration claims it can't do anything to free Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison and return him to the U.S. A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday unanimously refused to suspend a judge's decision to order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials to determine if they complied with her instruction to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who was nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, wrote that he and his two colleagues "cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos."
By SEUNG MIN KIM and MARCOS ALEMÁN Associated Press
Updated
President Donald Trump's top advisers and El Salvador president Nayib Bukele say that they have no basis for the small Central American nation to return a Maryland man who was wrongly deported there last month. Trump administration officials are emphasizing that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to a notorious gang prison in El Salvador, was a citizen of that country and that U.S. has no say in his future. And Bukele, who has been a vital partner for the Trump administration in its deportation efforts, said "of course" he won't release him back to U.S. soil. The Supreme Court has called for the Trump administration to "facilitate" the return of Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press
Updated
The Trump administration is touting a Supreme Court ruling allowing it to resume deportations under the Alien Enemies Act as a major victory, but the immigration fight is far from over. The divided court found that President Donald Trump can use the 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador, a finding Trump called a "GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA!" in a social media post. But the justices also decided people accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang have to get a chance to challenge their removals — a finding their lawyers called an "important victory."
Chief Justice John Roberts agreed Monday to pause a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The administration appealed to the Supreme Court after a judge ordered the administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States by midnight. The administration has previously acknowledged he should not have been deported, but argued the government has no way to get him back from El Salvador.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the alleged leader of the MS-13 street gang on the East Coast has been arrested in Virginia. The 24-year-old man from El Salvador was described as one of MS-13's top three leaders in the United States. Bondi said Thursday that it's a major victory in the Trump administration's effort to crack down on a gang that's known for brutal violence and extortion. Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos was taken into custody on an outstanding administrative immigration warrant, and charged with illegal gun possession after agents found several firearms during the search of his home, according to court papers.
By JESSE BEDAYN and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press
Donald Trump is spending time in a Colorado suburb away from battleground states. He's aiming to tie the arrivals of migrants to a perception of chaos in the heartland. He continues to double down on his pledge to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. Trump's rally on Friday in Aurora, Colorado, marks the first time either presidential campaign has visited this state that votes reliably Democratic in statewide races. Trump has been consistently loud in his statements on immigration. And over the last few months, he has pinpointed specific smaller communities that have seen large arrivals of migrants, where tensions are flaring over resources.
