DOJ argues deportations to El Salvador didn’t violate court order against 3rd country removals
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(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for the Department of Justice argued at a hearing Monday that the deportation last month of four alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador did not violate a court order.
Justice Department lawyers argued that the removal of the four alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua did not violate a court order barring the removal of noncitizens to countries other than their place of origin without an opportunity to raise concerns about their safety, because the deportation was carried out by the Department of Defense and not the Department of Homeland Security.
“DHS was not on the flight,” DOJ attorney Jonathan Guynn told U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy.
Murphy issued a court order on March 28 requiring that anyone with a final order of removal must have an opportunity to raise concerns about their safety before they are deported to a country that is not on their order of removal or is not their country of origin.
Three days after Judge Murphy’s order, four Venezuelan men were flown from the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to El Salvador, according to a sworn declaration from an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
At Monday’s hearing, Trina Realmuto, an attorney for the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, pushed back on the DOJ’s argument, saying that in previous memos, DHS has said it has legal and physical custody of migrants placed in Guantanamo Bay, and that DHS officials have said DOD provides “logistical support” for migrant detainees on the military base.
Realmuto requested that Judge Murphy modify his preliminary injunction to clarify that the temporary restraining order applies to people sent to Guantanamo, and also asked the judge to order the return of the four men who were sent to El Salvador.
Judge Murphy said he was not prepared to rule from the bench, and said there is a need for “factual development” on what type of notice the four Venezuelan men received before being sent to El Salvador.
He also said that he needs more information on the relationship between DHS and DOD.
The judge said he would make a decision by Wednesday on whether to modify the preliminary injunction requiring the Trump administration to give noncitizens the chance to raise concerns about their safety before they are removed to third countries.
The Trump administration has invoked the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process — to deport alleged migrant gang members by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
(CHATHAM COUNTY, N.C.) — Crews in North Carolina are “overwhelmed” with water rescues and search efforts on Monday after Chantal, then a tropical storm, made landfall a day earlier, causing record-breaking flooding in the central part of the state and at least one death, officials said.
While the storm has dissipated as of Monday morning, Chantal — the third named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season — brought up to 6 inches of rain in some areas, causing many to be displaced from their homes.
A woman in Chatham County, North Carolina, died on Sunday after she drove into the floodwaters and was swept approximately 100 feet off the roadway, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
More than 120 roads have closed due to flooding and a portion of Highway 902 collapsed and was washed away, officials said.
“Just because the water may have subsided in some areas it is still dangerous to travel in some places,” Chatham County Sheriff Mike Roberson said on Monday.
In Orange County, North Carolina, the storm brought 5 to 9 inches of rain, causing flooded roads along with fallen trees and power lines. The counties of Alamance, Moore and Orange have declared states of emergency, according North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein.
“I urge all North Carolinians to listen to any guidance from local weather and local emergency management officials and be aware of any road warnings and closures before they leave the house,” Stein said in a statement.
The Eno River near Huckleberry Springs — just outside of Durham, North Carolina — rose more than 20 feet in less than six hours as of Monday morning, and the Haw River near Burlington grew from 2 feet to 32.5 feet in just 13 hours.
More than 33,000 customers were still without power in North Carolina as of noon on Monday and the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina, issued a notice asking residents to boil their water as flooding from the Eno River impacted the local water treatment plant.
The town will have a “limited supply of water until the river recedes and the drinking water can be processed to refill the water tanks,” officials said.
Chantal will continue to move northeast on Monday, with flood watches in effect for northeast Virginia through central New Jersey. About 2 to 3 inches of rain is possible in these areas, with the storm hitting Baltimore and Philadelphia on Monday afternoon and New York City seeing light rain on Monday evening into Tuesday morning.
ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, spoke exclusively on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Friday morning in her first interview since Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with her husband in El Salvador Thursday.
Van Hollen late Thursday released a photo of himself with Abrego Garcia, which was the first time Vasquez Sura had seen him since spotting him in a photo among several other migrants being brought into El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison last month.
“It was very overwhelming,” Vasquez Sura said of seeing the image Thursday night.
“The most important thing for me, my children, his mom, his brother, his sibling, was to see him alive, and we saw him alive,” she told GMA’s Michael Strahan.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who has been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT 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.
The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States.
After a federal judge ruled earlier this month that the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, and the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that ruling, the polarizing case has become a test of the power of the executive branch versus the courts.
Vasquez Sura, speaking to GMA, denied that her husband is a member of MS-13 or any other gang.
“I won’t stop fighting until he returns home, until I know that he’s safe,” Vasquez Sura told Strahan.
“It’s been 37 days since March 12, since my husband was abducted,” said Vasquez Sura. “It’s been an emotional, emotional rollercoaster, honestly.”
“We’ve been together over seven years. It’s been amazing. He is very a loving husband, and amazing father. We were just young parents trying to live the American dream,” said Vasquez Sura, who is a U.S. citizen, along with the couple’s children.
“Our faith has grown, and I keep him in my prayers to bring him back home,” she said.
Strahan questioned Vasquez Sura about her filing for an order of protection from her husband in 2021, in which she cited being slapped, hit with an object, and being detained against her will. The case was closed about a month later when she failed to appear for a court hearing.
“You did take out a temporary order of protection against your husband in 2021. Were you in fear of your husband?” Strahan asked.
“My husband is alive,” Vasquez Sura responded. “That’s all I can say.”
Earlier this week, in a statement released to ABC News through her attorney, Vasquez Sura said, “After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a protective order in case things escalated. We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling. Kilmar has always been a loving partner and father, and I will continue to stand by him and demand justice for him.”
Van Hollen, a Democratic senator from Vasquez Sura’s home state of Maryland, flew to El Salvador on Wednesday to try to meet with Abrego Garcia.
“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance,” Van Hollen said in the social media post in which he shared the photo of him with Abrego Garcia. “I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.”
Vasquez Sura was told that the meeting between Van Hollen and Abrego Garcia was set up by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, a source close to the family told ABC News.
The source said Abrego Garcia and Vasquez Sura were not able to speak.
(MILWAUKEE) — The federal government announced two separate arrests Friday of a current judge and a former judge alleged to have assisted undocumented immigrants who authorities claim were violent criminals, moves that have raised red flags among Democrats and others.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested Friday by the FBI over allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest last week. Her arrest took place hours after federal authorities arrested former New Mexico Judge Joel Cano and his wife Nancy Cano for allegedly housing a Venezuelan national with reported gang ties, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
Bondi spoke with ABC News Live’s Kyra Phillips Friday afternoon to discuss the cases and dismissed critics who accused the Trump administration of intimidating judges who oppose their crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
“Nobody is above the law, not even a judge,” Bondi told Philips.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced Judge Dugan’s arrest earlier Friday in a social media post, which was briefly deleted and reposted.
“Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week,” Patel said in the new post. “We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.”
Dugan was charged with two criminal counts of “obstructing and impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States” and “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest,” according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday.
County court records show the undocumented immigrant in the Milwaukee case — Eduardo Flores-Ruiz — was set to appear in court on April 18 before Dugan for a pretrial conference in a case where he has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery/domestic abuse connected to an incident on March 12. The case is ongoing.
Federal prosecutors allege Flores-Ruiz illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico and was issued an Expedited Removal order in January 2013, according to a criminal complaint.
Bondi alleged that Flores-Ruiz beat his roommate and a woman so badly that they needed to be hospitalized and that he continued to be belligerent in the hospital before his arrest.
According to the complaint, Dugan allegedly sought to help Flores-Ruiz evade arrest by federal officers from an ICE task force.
When Judge Dugan learned ICE officers were present in court to arrest Flores-Ruiz, she became “visibly angry” and said the situation was “absurd” before leaving the bench and entering her chambers, according to the complaint, which cited witnesses who spoke to the FBI.
Dugan and another unidentified judge then allegedly approached the arrest team in the public hallway, according to the complaint. She was “visibly upset and had a confrontational, angry demeanor” and asked one of the officers whether they were present for a court appearance, the complaint alleged.
When the officer replied they were there to make an arrest, the complaint alleges Judge Dugan asked if they had a judicial warrant, to which the officer responded, “No I have an administrative warrant.”
Multiple witnesses cited in the complaint later allegedly said Judge Dugan returned to her courtroom after directing members of the arrest team to the office of the court’s chief judge.
“The courtroom deputy then saw Judge DUGAN get up and heard Judge DUGAN say something like ‘Wait, come with me,'” the complaint states. “Despite having been advised of the administrative warrant for the arrest of Flores-Ruiz, Judge DUGAN then escorted Flores-Ruiz and his counsel out of the courtroom through the ‘jury door,’ which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse.”
“So she continues, continues with her docket, finishes her docket. Two victims sit in court all morning long waiting and at the end. The prosecutors say ‘What happened? Why didn’t the case get called?'” Bondi said.
A DEA agent saw Flores-Ruiz and his attorney in the public hallway of the courthouse and he appeared to be making efforts to evade arrest, the complaint says. After he was encountered by FBI and DEA agents outside the building, Flores-Ruiz “turned around and sprinted down the street” before he was ultimately apprehended, according to the complaint.
Dugan was arrested Friday morning at the courthouse, a law enforcement official confirmed to ABC News.
She appeared in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin on Friday on the two charges, but did not enter a plea. She was released on her own recognizance.
Dugan retained former United States Attorney Steven Biskupic to represent her and he said in a statement that the judge will “defend herself vigorously and looks forward to being exonerated.”
“Judge Hannah C. Dugan has committed herself to the rule of law and the principles of due process for her entire career as a lawyer and a judge,” Biskupic said in a statement.
If convicted on the charges, Dugan could face up to six years in prison.
Bondi responded to the statement by stating that everyone is entitled to their day in court but reiterated that so are victims of crimes.
“They didn’t get it because she let a criminal defendant walk out a door. She helped them. She obstructed justice,” Bondi told Phillips.
Judge Dugan’s arrest angered Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who accused the federal agents of “showboating” and contended Dugan was not a flight risk.
“They’re just trying to have this show of force and in the process of a courthouse where people need to go for court proceedings, they’re scaring away people from participating in the court process,” the mayor told reporters.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, in a statement on Friday afternoon, criticized President Donald Trump and the White House for what he said were efforts “to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level.”
Evers said he would continue to have faith in the justice system “as this situation plays out in the court of law.” He did not mention Dugan by name.
In an interview Friday, Phillips asked AG Bondi if she thought the government’s actions were intimidating people in the court system, but she dodged the question.
“We’re attempting to protect citizens, make America safe again,” she said.
Bondi brought up the New Mexico case, where former Judge Joel Cano faces a charge of tampering with evidence.
Court documents allege that on Feb. 28, an alleged Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang member was arrested at the Canos’ residence.
On April 24, agents served a search warrant at their residence and conducted an interview with Cano where he admitted to destroying a cell phone that belonged to the alleged gang member by smashing it with a hammer and throwing it in the trash, according to the complaint and Bondi.
“Cano stated that he destroyed the cellphone and further admitted that he believed the cellphone contained photos or videos that would reflect negatively on Ortega,” the complaint states. “Through further questioning, agents ascertained that … Cano destroyed the cellphone believing that it contained photographs of Ortega holding firearms that Ortega had uploaded onto social media platforms which would be additional incriminating evidence against him.”
Cano and his wife have not yet entered pleas in their cases, according to court records, and did not immediately have defense attorneys listed for them.
Bondi reiterated that the immigrants connected to the judges were allegedly violent.
Phillips again pushed Bondi about the arrests, asking if there was concern that the federal government was just going after judges, but the AG maintained that the charges were serious.
“Those are the people that have to be arrested and taken out of our country. Doesn’t matter who you are, no one can harbor them, not even a judge,” she said.
Phillips questioned how far the government was willing to go to arrest undocumented immigrants, and if that meant that mayors and governors could be targeted.
Bondi appeared to dodge the question and reiterated that the administration’s goal is to keep people safe.
“I would hope a mayor, I would hope a governor would never harbor anyone,” she said.
