Bondi not backing down on deported Maryland man

I have to hand it to Attorney General Pam Bondi because that woman has some salt.

Bondi is doubling down that the administration was right to deport the Maryland migrant with deportation protections, and she even took action against the attorney who lost the case.

We were right

Attorney General Pam Bondi is confident that ICE made the right decision in deporting an alleged MS-13 gang member, even though the administration has lost multiple rulings in court on the matter.

The man in question is Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who entered this country illegally more than a decade ago but was given deportation protections by the court.

After describing how Garcia was allegedly initiated into the gang and his alleged crimes, she added, "We have to rely on what ICE says.

"We have to rely on what Homeland Security says. They're our clients, and I firmly believe in the work they are doing, and we're going to make America safe again. That was President Trump's directive to all of us."

Suspended

Bondi was just as tough on the DOJ prosecutor who lost the case on appeal, noting that he has been suspended.

Bondi announced that Erez Reuveni had been suspended for losing the case, stating, "At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States. Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences."

Bondi later added, “He was put on administrative leave by Todd Blanche on Saturday. And I firmly said on Day 1, I issued a memo that you are to vigorously advocate on behalf of the United States."

“Our client in this matter was Homeland Security — is Homeland Security. He did not argue. He shouldn’t have taken the case. He shouldn’t have argued it, if that’s what he was going to do. He’s on administrative leave now.”

Before the Supreme Court

The administration made an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to stay the ruling while this is litigated, and Chief Justice Roberts delivered some good news on that front.

Roberts paused the lower court order to return the man by Monday night.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued, “The district court’s injunction—which requires Abrego Garcia’s release from the custody of a foreign sovereign and return to the United States by midnight on Monday—is patently unlawful.”

Based on the text of the Alien Enemies Act, I don’t see how the Court could allow Trump to use that legislation in this case, but that still does not mean there is no hope here. I don’t think Trump will win that argument, but there could be something else in play at this point, especially if the administration can prove that Garcia was affiliated with MS-13, so don’t give up hope just yet.