Tag: gangs

Judge rules Trump use of Alien Enemies Act for gangs is ‘unlawful’ 

A federal district judge ruled Thursday that the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) does not permit President Trump to swiftly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador, extending a block on the law being used against migrants detained in South Texas. 

U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, said the rarely used law can only be invoked when an “organized, armed force” is entering the United States, rejecting the president’s claims that he can use it against alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).

The ruling from Rodriguez offered a historical deep dive into the rarely used statute — used just three times prior in U.S. history, and all during times of war — while parsing terms central to igniting the power. 

Rodriguez determined Trump’s efforts to use the law to deport alleged gang members strayed from the strict war powers, writing that Trump’s invocation “exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful.”

“The Proclamation makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation. Thus, the Proclamation’s language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of ‘invasion’ for purposes of the AEA,” he wrote. 

“While the Proclamation references that TdA members have harmed lives in the United States and engage in crime, the Proclamation does not suggest that they have done so through an organized armed attack, or that Venezuela has threatened or attempted such an attack through TdA members. As a result, the Proclamation also falls short of describing a ‘predatory incursion.’” 

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia bragged he could kill his wife and get away with it, she claimed in newly unearthed protective order request

Alleged MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia once boasted he could kill his wife and “no one could do anything to him,” according to a request for a motion for a protective order she filed in 2020.

“I also have a [recording] that [he] told my ex-mother-in-law that even if he kills me no one can do anything to him,” Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wrote in the document she filed with the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County on Aug. 3, 2020.

The newly surfaced document preceded a 2021 protective order request she filed against her husband. In that document she alleged he had punched, scratched and grabbed her — with some of the alleged abuse so severe, she was left with bruises and bleeding.

The 2020 request for a protective order details a fight the couple allegedly had, with Sura alleging that Abrego Garcia took her phone and demanded her car keys before flying into a rage when she refused. She said she went upstairs to cook breakfast for the kids but Abrego Garcia shut off the stove before locking the children in their bedroom, according to the document.

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Stunner: DEA Raid Busted Several Active Duty Military Working as Armed Security for Illegal Alien Gang Underground Nightclub in Colorado

Several active duty military members working as armed security for an illegal alien gang underground nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado were busted during a DEA raid early Sunday morning; several other active duty military members patronizing the club were also detained according to a statement to reporters by DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge John Pullen. All told, over a dozen active duty service members were reportedly detained at the club. Pullen said that some of the military working security were involved in criminal activity at the club.

Pullen said “significant drug trafficking, prostitution” and “crimes of violence” took place at the club and that guns and drugs were seized during the raid. Out of over 200 hundred people at the club, over 100 illegal aliens were arrested and are being held by ICE.

Pullen said the raid was the result of a months long undercover investigation and that Tren de Aragua, MS-13 and Hells Angels gang members had been observed at the club during the investigation. Pullen could not immediately confirm if any gang members were detained in the raid.

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FBI Arrests Democrat New Mexico Judge and Wife for Harboring Illegal Tren de Aragua Gang Member in Their Home

The FBI has arrested former New Mexico Magistrate Judge Juan Cano and his wife Nancy Cano for allegedly harboring an illegal alien with suspected ties to Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan gang known for trafficking, extortion, and violence.

The arrest comes just weeks after Cano resigned from his judicial post following a dramatic federal raid at his Doña Ana County residence, where agents apprehended Cristhian Ortega Lopez, an illegal immigrant now charged with unlawful firearm possession and gang affiliation.

The Gateway Pundit was one of the first outlets to report that longtime Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano — a Democrat and former police officer — abruptly resigned after federal agents arrested an alleged member of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang at a residence he owns.

The bombshell resignation letter, dated March 3, came just days after federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations raided a property tied to Cano and his wife, Nancy, arresting 23-year-old Cristhian Ortega-Lopez on federal gun charges, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

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FBI bombshell: Venezuelan officials are using gangbangers as ‘soldiers’ inside US…

Somehow, in today’s upside-down world, the radicalized left has decided that violent gang members are the new underdogs they need to defend. Instead of standing up for law-abiding American citizens, they’ve gone all-in on protecting the worst of the worst—drug traffickers, sex offenders, murderers, and now, even foreign-backed gangbangers. And while they’re busy shedding tears for MS-13 and waving in cartel thugs at the border, everyday Americans are being thrown to the wolves.

But now we’ve reached a whole new level of disturbing. A new report from Fox News has dropped—and every single American should be talking about it. This isn’t a border security issue anymore. This is now a national security issue that involves deeply dangerous and deadly foreign interference. And at the center of it is Venezuela’s evil dictator Nicolás Maduro and the violent criminal gang known as Tren de Aragua.

According to Fox’s exclusive report, the FBI has uncovered a plot that includes Venezuelan officials helping gang members sneak into the US—and not just to commit random crimes, but to carry out Maduro’s sinister agenda. According to the report, these gangbangers are being used like pawns in a proxy war and were sent here to intimidate and possibly kill critics of the regime right here on US soil.

And what did the Biden regime do about it while they were in power? Nothing. Or maybe worse than nothing. They opened the floodgates at the southern border and rolled out the red carpet for these violent thugs. No vetting, no questions—just a welcome mat and a pat on the back as these gangbangers illegally flooded in.

Whether they were complicit or just blindly obsessed with social justice, the result is the same: Biden and the Dems helped Maduro destabilize the United States—and now President Trump is left to clean up the mess.

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FBI Says Venezuelan Officials ‘Likely Using’ Tren de Aragua Gang

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says Venezuelan government officials may be using Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members, according to a Fox News report.

A “senior” Trump administration official shared with Fox News, “unclassified portions” of an FBI assessment, which found that officials within Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro’s regime, were using TdA gang members “as proxies for the Maduro regime in an effort to destabilize” countries such as the U.S., Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia, according to the outlet:

Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI assesses that some Venezuelan government officials are likely using Tren de Aragua members as proxies for the Maduro regime in an effort to destabilize Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and the United States. The official said the FBI assesses that this demonstrates Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s willingness to violate the territorial sovereignty of Venezuela’s neighbors to advance his regime’s policies.

FBI officials have reportedly assessed that within “six to 18 months,” Venezuelan government officials will try to “leverage” TdA gang members in the U.S. to act as “proxy actors to threaten, abduct and kill members of the Venezuelan diaspora” who have been “vocal critics of Maduro,” according to the outlet.

The report comes as President Donald Trump and his administration have faced legal challenges from several judges in response to the deportations of Venezuelan migrants who are suspected of being TdA members under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

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25 Facts About Kilmar Abrego Garcia

I wasn’t planning to write again (yet) about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the migrant deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador despite an order protecting him from being sent there, but I continue to be frustrated by politicians from both parties (and their associated media outlets) telling only half the story and skewing the facts in one direction or the other.

Several readers have also reached out to me with questions in the past few days about Abrego Garcia, which gives me the sense that there’s a lot of ambient confusion about what to believe in this story. In fairness, there’s a lot that’s confusing about it: Was he a member of MS-13? Did he have legal status in the U.S.? Did the Supreme Court say he has to be returned? As it happens, none of these questions have easy “yes” or “no” answers.

Many liberals would have you believe that Abrego Garcia was a “Maryland man” who was living in the U.S. legally. Many conservatives would have you believe that he was a convicted member of MS-13. And both sides would tell you that the Supreme Court sided unanimously with them. All of those statements are exaggerations: they stem from some true fact, but don’t tell you the full story.

So today, I’d like to lay out the truth — as messy as it may be. There will be some facts here that may bolster the liberal side of the case. There will be some facts that bolster the conservative side. But they are all facts, plain and simple. At certain points, I will footnote places where public figures have made statements that contradict the truth. At the end, you can decide for yourself how to feel about Abrego Garcia and his case. If you know people who have been similarly confused by the dispute, feel free to send this primer their way.

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Is This Why the Supreme Court Halted the Tren de Aragua Deportation Flights?

Over the weekend, the Supreme Court halted the deportation flights of Tren de Aragua members. It was a 7-2 decision. Only Justices Alito and Thomas dissented. The liberal media will once again overplay their hand here, as they’ve done on the Abrego Garcia case, the MS-13 gang member who got deported back to El Salvador. The Supreme Court never ordered Trump to bring him back.

On this issue, the initial ruling was that the president has the authority to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport these illegal alien terrorists—members of Tren de Aragua. Still, they had to give ample notice of their deportation and the ability to challenge it in court. For this group in Texas that was about to be shipped out, they claim no options to challenge was afforded to them. The American Civil Liberties Union raced to block these deportations. Ed Whelan at National Review claims one reason the court issued this temporary pause is because they don’t trust the Trump administration.

It’s ridiculous that no due process shenanigans were brought up when Joe Biden was importing criminal illegal aliens, but now they’re being deported and Democrats are crying, we must go through them on a case-by-base basis.

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Rap sheets, photos of suspected Tren de Aragua gang members Trump admin tried to deport before SCOTUS ruling

The Trump administration on Saturday released the rap sheets and photos of alleged Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members detained in Texas who the administration is trying to deport.

The suspects of the violent Venezuelan gang were going to be deported using the recently reinstated Alien Enemies Act of 1798 before the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled Saturday morning against deportations under the 18th century law.

In a decision in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, the administration was barred from removing Venezuelans held in Texas’ Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.”

Following the ruling, Trump administration lawyers filed an opposition to the request to block the deportations, noting the government provided advance notice to detainees prior to removals, and they had adequate time to file habeas claims.

At a minimum, attorneys argued the court should limit the administrative stay to removals.

SCOTUS previously ruled the president could conduct deportations under the Alien Enemies Act as long as suspected illegal aliens were afforded due process to challenge their removal from the US.

“These are some of the TdA gang members detained in Texas that we are trying to deport,” a senior Trump administration official told Fox News.

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Chris Van Hollen’s El Salvador Visit May Violate the Logan Act — and Trigger Criminal Charges

Senator Chris Van Hollen’s sudden trip to El Salvador to try to free deportee Kilmar Abrego Garcia may have been illegal.

Van Hollen traveled to the Central American nation on Thursday to meet with Abrego Garcia and lobby for his return to the United Statesm despite the fact that he is not a citizen.

Legal experts and conservative commentators are increasingly arguing Maryland Democrat may have violated The Logan Act, which prohibits unauthorized diplomacy with foreign nations.

The 1799 statute, named after Pennsylvania Senator George Logan, bans communication with foreign officials “with intent to influence the[ir] measures … in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States.”

The Logan Act was previously weaponized by Democrats to harass President Trump’s former National Security advisor Michael Flynn.

While punishment involves a fine or imprisonement of up to three years, nobody has ever been convicted under the act, which is largely seen as symbolic.

The American Accountability Foundation sent a letter to Senate leadership on Thursday highlighting the Trump administration’s evidence that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has connections to the violent transnational gang MS-13, which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

“Mr. Abrego-Garcia is essentially an enemy combatant in the ongoing invasion of the United States by transnational gangs,” AAF President Thomas Jones wrote to the heads of the Senate Ethics Committee and Majority Leader John Thune, in a letter obtained by The New York Post.

“Despite the overwhelming evidence, Senator Van Hollen decided that he would use Senate funds to fly to El Salvador and advocate for an enemy of the United States,” the letter said.

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