Trump administration deported migrant with protection status to El Salvador

When Trump deported the more than 300 alleged gang members to El Salvador, I supported the move, but I also cautioned that they had better make sure everyone on that plane was, in fact, an illegal immigrant who had gang affiliations with MS-13 or TdA.

Well, at least one of them had protected status, and a judge has just ordered Trump to return the man to the United States.

Trump Deports Gang Members

About three weeks ago, Trump blew up the news cycle by announcing that more than 300 alleged gang members had been sent to El Salvador in a deal made by Trump and the country’s president.

Trump was writing a check worth millions, which he said was “pennies on the dollar” for what it would cost to keep those men here in the United States.

The administration stated that all of those deported were affiliated with two of the most notorious gangs in the world, MS-13 and TdA, and they were all illegals.

A judge tried to block the deportations, and they have been in litigation ever since.

Alien Enemies Act

To push back against the judge’s order, the Trump administration stated that it was going to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, which is a wartime piece of legislation expanding presidential powers.

The law has only been enacted on three occasions: The War of 1812, WWI, and WWII.

The law specifically states that the country must be at war or have been invaded. The spirit of the law clearly meant an armed military invasion.

Even so, the Trump administration is claiming the border issues were an invasion, claiming the Venezuelan government was releasing its worst to come to this country, possibly with them even receiving military training (even though the administration has provided no proof of this). To that point, I think it is very unlikely the Supreme Court would have five members that see this from the same perspective as Trump.

Bring Him Back

While all this has played out, my concern is that someone who was not a gang member would be caught up in this, and something along those lines has happened, actually much worse from a PR perspective. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was among those deported and according to reports, he is a Maryland resident and was illegally deported. To that point, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that he must be returned to the country before the end of the day on Monday.

The DOJ said it would appeal the ruling, adding, "This individual is an illegal criminal who broke our nation’s immigration laws. He is a leader in the brutal MS-13 gang, and he is involved in human trafficking,"

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin added, "The American people should know who this individual is. He's not some American father as the mainstream media will make you believe, he's actually a member of MS-13, and was involved in trafficking. It's unbelievable the framing of this. Whether this man is in El Salvador or in a U.S. detention center, he should be locked up."

Garcia entered this country illegally in 2011, but an immigration judge had ruled that he could not be deported for fear of becoming a victim to gangs in El Salvador. He lost his asylum case, but he was offered deportation protection, a ruling that ICE did not appeal. Forget the facts because this is all about how the media will sell this story, and if you notice, they are not even discussing the fact this man entered the country illegally. This is Trump’s worst nightmare in terms of these deportations, but, hopefully, the DOJ will find something that will support its case and they can keep Garcia where he belongs, in El Salvador.