Judge to hear DOJ’s deportation plan for Abrego Garcia if he’s released from custody
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — A court hearing over the next steps for accused MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia resumes Thursday in Maryland.
Abrego Garcia, who was brought back to the U.S. from detention in El Salvador to face charges of human smuggling in Tennessee, is expected to be released on bond as he awaits trial.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis heard arguments from Abrego Garcia’s legal team, which is seeking to have their client transferred from Tennessee to Maryland.
Government attorneys say the administration’s plan, should Abrego Garcia be released on bond, is to deport him to a third country.
Judge Xinis on Monday ordered the government to produce witnesses with personal knowledge of what Abrego Garcia’s deportation plan would look like.
During Thursday’s hearing, government officials are expected to “address, among other topics, the asserted lawful bases for detention, the nature and timing of any notice to be provided to Abrego Garcia, the location of any proposed custody or transfer, and the procedural steps Defendants intend to pursue,” the judge wrote in her order.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who had been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which he denies.
He was brought back to the U.S. last month to face charges in Tennessee of allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. while he was living in Maryland. He has pleaded not guilty.
Late Wednesday, Justice Department attorneys said in a court filing that they had sought to have the case dismissed by agreeing to not deport Abrego Garcia to El Salvador without first winning court approval and pledging to follow procedures before sending him to a third country — but that Abrego Garcia’s attorneys had rejected those terms.
(ALLEGANY COUNTY, MD) — A flash flood emergency has been issued for parts of northwestern Maryland on Tuesday, where severe flooding led to the evacuation of two elementary schools.
A flash flood emergency was issued for Westernport, Luke and Barton in Allegany County, where up to 5 inches of rain had fallen as of Tuesday afternoon. Rainfall rates were up to 1 to 2 inches an hour.
Numerous water rescues have occurred, including at two elementary schools in Allegany County, officials said.
About 200 students and teachers were evacuated from Westernport Elementary School in Westernport by motorized boats to a nearby church, Allegany County officials confirmed to ABC News.
All students and staff were safely evacuated, according to the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services. The Allegany County Sheriff’s Office led the evacuation efforts and the Maryland State Police were assisting with the reunification of students.
Students at Georges Creek Elementary in Lonaconing were also being evacuated to a nearby high school, the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services said Tuesday afternoon.
Students at Westmar Middle School in Lonaconing were sheltering in place, the department said. Family reunifications have been delayed due to ongoing road closures caused by flooding, a government source told ABC News. No injuries at been reported at this time.
State police were helping with additional road closures due to high water.
County officials urged drivers to avoid all flooded roadways and not attempt to drive through standing water.
“Severe flooding is currently impacting Georges Creek and surrounding areas in Allegany County due to rising water levels,” the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services said in a social media post Tuesday afternoon. “Multiple areas have already been evacuated.”
More than 15 million Americans across the Mid-Atlantic remain on alert for flooding and heavy rain on Tuesday into Wednesday.
A flood watch remains in effect for portions of east-central North Carolina, east-central Virginia, eastern West Virginia, west-central Maryland and central Pennsylvania until Wednesday morning. That includes the cities of Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Hagerstown, Maryland.
Pockets of heavy rain and showers are expected to continue from North Carolina up to Pennsylvania on Tuesday into Wednesday. Some of these heavier pockets could feature strong to severe storms capable of producing some hail, isolated damaging wind gusts, and an isolated tornado, especially for east-central North Carolina and east-central Virginia.
The heavier pockets of rain will be focused more over Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, with lighter rain in the surrounding areas.
(NEW YORK) — The Army is reviewing how pro-President Donald Trump merchandise wound up being sold on one of its bases this week at a service-sponsored event orchestrated by the White House and the president’s supporters.
Earlier this week, Trump spoke at Fort Bragg in North Carolina in celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday. At the event, a truck was spotted selling Trump merchandise — including “Make America Great Again” hats and other “America First” swag. The practice is likely at odds with long-standing Defense Department policy, which prohibits troops from wearing political garb such as hats or flags or expressing their political opinion while in uniform.
The policy is intended to preserve America’s tradition of apolitical military forces, serving at the behest of a democratically elected president regardless of party.
When asked about pictures of troops in uniform buying Trump merch on a military base, a spokesperson for the base said the matter was under review.
“The Army remains committed to its core values and apolitical service to the nation,” said Col. Mary Ricks, a spokesperson for the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg.
“The Army does not endorse political merchandise or the views it represents,” Ricks added. “The vendor’s presence is under review to determine how it was permitted and to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”
The public event at Fort Bragg, which is home to the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and serves as the headquarters of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, was orchestrated much like a Trump campaign rally.
Trump spoke for nearly an hour, repeating false claims of a “rigged and stolen election” and bashing his political rivals. He referred to Los Angeles as a “trash heap” in the grip of “transnational gangs and criminals” — a reference to the ongoing protests in the city. He said immigration protestors were part of a “foreign invasion,” an assessment at odds with his top military adviser, Gen. Dan Caine, who publicly contradicted that statement in testimony.
Sources say organizers of the event placed soldiers who volunteered to attend directly behind the president as he aired his political grievances. Some of the troops nodded and cheered at Trump’s suggestion of putting people in jail for burning the American flag and some jeered when he mentioned the “fake press.”
Several of the soldiers booed at Trump’s references to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
“In Los Angeles, the governor of California, the mayor of Los Angeles, they’re incompetent and they paid troublemakers, agitators and insurrectionists,” he said of the protests in Los Angeles. “They’re engaged in this willful attempt to nullify federal law and aid the occupation of the city by criminal invaders.”
In hindsight, one Army official said, uniformed officials on the ground probably should have pushed back more on the political nature of the event. Two weeks prior, the president had turned a commencement ceremony at West Point into a politically charged speech in which he also advised cadets to avoid “trophy wives.”
“But what can you do? To you, he’s the president. To us, he’s the commander-in-chief,” the official said, a reference to the president’s democratically appointed role in commanding the nation’s fighting forces.
Sources say civilians from the federal commission America 250 — many of them with close ties to the White House — were given “full creative control” of the Fort Bragg event. America 250 and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to two people familiar with the planning effort, the organizers told Army officials on base ahead of the rally that they wanted a certain number of soldiers eager to stand behind the president. These troops would have to undergo a criminal background check for security reasons. Also required, according to sources, — the troops would need to look fit, not fat, in keeping with the new administration’s focus on fitness standards, warrior ethos and lethality.
The troops would have to agree to behave professionally and respectfully, sources said. No eyerolling, for example, or reacting negatively during Trump’s speech.
Army officials from the base worked diligently with America 250 organizers to find troops that would fit the bill.
“We’re soldiers,” one person said. “We do what we’re told.”
As it turned out, finding troops on base willing to be respectful of Trump wasn’t hard, sources said. Trump tends to be popular at Fort Bragg among many of the rank-and-file there. And because the event was voluntary, the spectacle attracted his most ardent supporters.
In the end, footage of troops booing and cheering a political speech while being offered MAGA merch was regrettable, said the Army official.
“We wish it hadn’t happened,” the official said. “The Army would like to focus on the history and the celebration of its 250th anniversary and its commitment to defend the nation.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — In an obscure courthouse in downtown Manhattan on Tuesday, a group of small businesses will take on one of President Donald Trump’s boldest uses of executive authority.
A panel of judges on the Court of International Trade will hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging Trump’s sweeping tariffs, as the president’s trade war continues to disrupt the international economy and raise the specter of a recession.
The lawsuit was filed last month by a group of small businesses, including a New York liquor distributor, Utah pipe company, Virginia electronics store, Pennsylvania-based tackle shop, and Vermont cycling company. Each company argued they rely on imports from countries like China and Mexico and would be irreparably harmed by what they called Trump’s “unprecedented power grab illegal.”
The small business argue that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not give the president the power to unilaterally impose tariffs like Trump did last month with a blanket tariff rate and higher rates for certain countries. They described the national emergency Trump used to justify the tariffs as a “figment of his own imagination” because the United States has operated with massive trade deficits for years without causing economic harm.
“If actually granted by statute, this power would be an unlawful delegation of legislative power to the executive without any intelligible principle to limit his discretion,” they argued.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice have pushed back on the lawsuit, saying that Congress permits the president to impose some tariffs, and Trump’s invoking of a national emergency makes his power “broader,” justifying the sweeping tariffs. They have also argued that a court order blocking the tariffs would unlawfully encroach on the president’s authority.
“Plaintiffs’ proposed injunction would be an enormous intrusion on the President’s conduct of foreign affairs and efforts to protect national security under IEEPA and the Constitution,” they argued.
At least six separate lawsuits have targeted Trump’s use of tariffs, including a case filed by the state of California and a coalition of twelve state attorneys general. While some of the cases were filed in district courts, the cases have gradually been transferred to the Court of International Trade, making Tuesday’s argument the first time a panel of judges hears a challenge to Trump’s tariffs.
Last month, the court rejected an emergency request for a temporary order to block the tariffs, finding that the businesses failed to prove that an “immediate and irreparable harm” would stem from the tariffs.
Tuesday’s argument will be heard by a panel of three judges – Gary S. Katzmann, Timothy M. Reif, and Jane A. Restani – who were appointed by Presidents Obama, Trump and Reagan respectively.
Tucked away in a corner of New York’s Foley Square, the Court of International Trade has nationwide jurisdiction on trade disputes and has recently focused its energy on more niche issues, like honey customs disputes and mattress imports. Tuesday’s oral argument is set to provide the most high-profile hearing for the court in recent memory.
