Latest news with #18th-centuryAlienEnemiesAct
Sky News AU
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Accused Tren de Aragua gang members at Texas ICE facility barricade themselves, threaten to take hostages after spelling out SOS in prison yard
Nearly two dozen Tren de Aragua gangbangers in an ICE detention center in Texas have barricaded themselves and threatened to take hostages in a major uprising — days after migrants spelled out 'SOS' in the prison yard. Members of the Venezuelan gang threatened to hold ICE officers captive and injure them on April 26 as they barricaded the doors of their unit with their cots, covered surveillance cameras, blocked windows, and flooded the unit by clogging the toilets, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The takeover attempt lasted 'several hours,' with the detainees ignoring the orders of ICE agents. Alleged Tren de Aragua gangbangers were seen begging to be sent home by flashing a banner reading 'Help, we want to be deported. We are not terrorists. SOS' to a drone overhead this week at the same facility. And just weeks before, another group of migrants were seen by a Reuters drone forming the letters 'SOS' at the Texas detention center. In response to the uprising, DHS is asking the Supreme Court to allow deportations to resume under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, which was blocked after the Trump administration deported dozens of alleged gangbangers to El Salvador without giving them a hearing. 'Keeping these foreign terrorists in ICE facilities poses a serious threat to ICE officers, staff, and other detainees,' said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. 'The media repeated these TdA gang members' false sob stories, but the truth is these are members of a foreign terrorist organization that rape, maim, and murder for sport,' she added. The group was set to be deported to El Salvador's hellhole CECOT prison, but the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration's effort to use the Alien Enemies Act to kick them out of the country. In the earlier drone footage, alleged Tren de Aragua members Diover Millan, 24, and Jeferson Daniel Escalona Hernandez, 19, were seen in the detention facility yard. Escalona Hernandez was nabbed in January after he was arrested in Texas for evading arrest in a vehicle and ended up at Guantanamo Bay, where the Trump administration opened a migrant detention center, before being moved to the facility in the Lone Star State. Escalona Hernandez had 'self admitted' to being a Tren de Aragua member, according to DHS. He denied having any gang affiliation and said he volunteered to get deported home, but was denied permission to do so, in a phone interview with Reuters from the detention center. The alleged gangbanger said he believed the feds linked him to the gang after viewing photos on his phone of him making hand signals that are popular in Venezuela. 'They're making false accusations about me,' he said. 'I don't belong to any gang.' 'I fear for my life here,' he said. 'I want to go to Venezuela.' The feds also tagged Millan as a member of Tren de Aragua after he was let go by the Biden administration at the border and later collared by ICE, according to DHS. Originally published as Accused Tren de Aragua gang members at Texas ICE facility barricade themselves, threaten to take hostages after spelling out SOS in prison yard
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Watch live: Noem testifies before House on DHS budget
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem is set to testify before a House panel on Wednesday morning on the fiscal 2026 budget for the department. Noem has vowed to significantly limit the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is becoming a significant force behind President Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown. On Tuesday, she also advocated for Democrats who attended a protest in New Jersey outside a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility to be censured. The Trump administration has also threatened possible legal action against the lawmakers and Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka. The House Homeland Security Committee hearing comes a day after the first federal judge gave the administration a green light to continue deportation flights to El Salvador under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act for immigrants with alleged links to gangs. Trump's budget proposal, unveiled earlier this month, would provide the DHS with $43.8 billion in additional anticipated reconciliation funds. The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EDT. Watch the live video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump repeatedly insults CNN's Kaitlan Collins in Oval Office over deportation of El Salvadoran national: ‘Why can't you just say that?'
President Trump took several shots at CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins as she peppered him with questions in the Oval Office Monday over the wrongful deportation of an El Salvadoran national who the US Supreme Court ruled should be returned to the United States for now. Trump repeatedly needled Collins, who is also the network's White House correspondent, including calling her a 'low-rated anchor' and slamming CNN's credibility as he took questions alongside El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. Collins wanted answers about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was removed to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), the Central American country's hellhole mega-prison, last month under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act. The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of the violent MS-13 gang, but the US Supreme Court directed the White House to 'facilitate' his release from the prison on April 10. When Collins first prodded Trump about the issue, he pointed to CNN's less-than-stellar ratings before passing the baton to Attorney General Pam Bondi to defend the deportation and subsequent actions. Then Trump tapped homeland security adviser Stephen Miller to speak up while taking another shot at Collins' employer. 'Can you just also respond to that question because you know it's asked by CNN and they always ask it with a slant because they're totally slanted because they don't know what's happening,' Trump told Miller. 'That's why nobody's watching them.' Miller, also deputy chief of staff for policy, argued that Abrego Garcia is an El Salvador native, a suspected member of the notorious gang — which his family has denied — and was in the US illegally. He called it 'arrogant' for media members to expect the US would tell El Salvador how to handle its own citizens. An undeterred Collins continued to query Trump about Abrego Garcia, including referencing that Trump said a day earlier he would abide by the Supreme Court's decision. But Trump was having none of it. 'How long do we have to answer this question? Why don't you just say, 'Isn't it wonderful that we're keeping criminals out of our country'? Why can't you just say that? Why do you go over and over — and that's why nobody watches you anymore. You have no credibility.' While a Trump administration lawyer stated in a March 31 filing that Abrego Garcia's removal was due to an 'administrative error,' Miller denied that assertion and said the Justice Department attorney who submitted the paperwork made a mistake and has since been removed. In 2019, an immigration judge stopped the feds from removing Abrego Garcia while his asylum application was under review. The married father claimed he could face persecution from gangs in his native country if he were to be shipped back there. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court's opinion about arranging Abrego Garcia's return to the States, but did not impose a deadline on when he should be back by passing the case back to the lower court judge. The administration in a Sunday filing argued that the US does not need to press El Salvador for the release of Abrego Garcia.
New York Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Alleged Tren de Aragua gangbangers in ICE detention hold up sign beg to be deported
Dozens of desperate alleged Tren de Aragua gangbangers begged to be sent home, flashing a banner reading 'Help, we want to be deported. We are not terrorists. SOS' to a drone flying over a prison yard in Texas this week. The jumpsuit-clad migrants were seen standing in a formation spelling out 'SOS' — Morse code for 'help' — while holding a sign in the colors of the Venezuelan flag at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bluebonnet detention center in Anson, Texas. 3 Migrant detainees hold up a sign reading 'help we want to be deported' to a drone flying over an ICE detention center in Texas. Getty Images Just weeks earlier, a group of Venezuelan detainees were spotted by a Reuters drone getting into the 'SOS' formation at the same detention center. Prior to the request for help, they were seen waving, socializing and playing soccer. The Trump administration said all the men involved are suspected Tren de Aragua members. 3 Drone footage taken earlier this month showed a group of migrants forming the letters 'SOS' in a cry for help. Reuters They were previously due to be deported to El Salvador's hellhole CECOT prison, but that was halted when the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration's effort use the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to kick them out of the country without a hearing. In the earlier drone footage, Venezuelan migrants Diover Millan, 24, and Jeferson Daniel Escalona Hernandez, 19, both of whom the feds said are Tren de Aragua members were seen in the detention facility yard. ICE agents nabbed Escalona Hernandez in January after he was arrested in Texas for evading arrest in a vehicle, according to Reuters. He ended up at the Bluebonnet facility after he was moved from Guantanamo Bay, where the Trump administration opened a detention center for migrants. 3 The Texas ICE detention center is holding dozens of alleged Tren de Aragua gangbangers. REUTERS Escalona Hernandez had 'self admitted' to being a Tren de Aragua member, according to DHS. The Venezuelan migrant denied having any ties to gangs, including Tren de Aragua, in a phone interview with Reuters from detention. He also claimed that he volunteered to get deported to his home country, but wasn't allowed to do so. He said it was likely the feds tied him to the gang because of photos showing him making hand signals commonly seen in Venezuela that they likely saw after searching his phone. 'They're making false accusations about me,' he said. 'I don't belong to any gang.' 'I fear for my life here,' he said. 'I want to go to Venezuela.' Millan was also tagged as a Tren de Aragua member, after he was released into the US by the Biden administration and later collared by ICE, according to DHS.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump news at a glance: Rubio now holds four titles after Waltz out as national security chief
Secretary of state Marco Rubio – ridiculed as 'Little Marco' by Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries – has become one of the most powerful players in the president's cabinet. Trump appointed Rubio interim national security adviser on Thursday after Mike Waltz was forced to leave the post, alongside his deputy, Alex Wong, as sources said officials had lost confidence in their leadership. Waltz has been under intense pressure since the Signal scandal, in which he inadvertently added a journalist to a chat that included real-time operational details on US strikes in Yemen. It's an enormous rise for Rubio, the son of undocumented Cuban migrants, who now holds four titles in the Trump administration. Rubio is also the acting administrator for USAID and acting archivist for the National Archives and Records Administration. Waltz may be out of the picture for now, but he is on course to reemerge in the world of international diplomacy – Trump said he will nominate Waltz as the country's ambassador to the UN. Trump briefly considered firing Waltz over the Signal episode, but decided he did not want the media to claim the ouster of a cabinet official weeks into his second term. Trump was also mollified by an internal review that found Waltz mistakenly saved the Atlantic editor's number. Read the full story The Trump administration will approve its first sale of military equipment to Ukraine since Donald Trump took office, in an indication that the minerals deal signed by the two countries this week may open a path to renewed weapons shipments. Read the full story The 18th-century Alien Enemies Act does not authorize Donald Trump to deport Venezuelan immigrants alleged to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang, a federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday. The decision is significant because it is the first sweeping and permanent injunction directly addressing whether the government can use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua. It applies only to migrants detained in Rodriguez's judicial district, the southern district of Texas, which includes Brownsville, McAllen and Houston. Trump appointed Rodriguez to the federal bench in 2018. Read the full story More than 250 attorneys in the justice department's civil rights division have either left, been reassigned, or accepted a deferred resignation offer since January, according to an estimate provided to the Guardian by people familiar with the matter. The significant decrease in personnel underscores how Donald Trump is gutting the arm of the federal government responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws. Read the full story The legal team behind Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland man unlawfully deported to El Salvador, is demanding that the Trump administration 'bring him back and give him a full and fair trial' as the administration releases new domestic abuse allegations. Read the full story The British government's attempts to curry favor with Donald Trump by nudging golf executives to host one of the world's most prestigious golf tournaments at a Scottish venue owned by the US president could ultimately lead to a violation of the US constitution, ethics experts have warned. Read the full story The Trump administration has unveiled a news-style website that publishes exclusively positive coverage of the president on official White House servers, and is styled like the rightwing website the Drudge Report. Read the full story Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and his department have made a series of misleading statements that alarmed vaccine experts and advocates in recent days – including that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine includes 'aborted fetus debris'. Read the full story Trump has launched an unprecedented environmental assault, pushing 145 rollbacks of clean air, water, and climate protections in his first 100 days, more than in his entire first term. The US approached China for talks on Trump's tariffs, according to a state-linked Chinese account, suggesting Beijing may be open to negotiations. Trump officials have asked the supreme court to help strip temporary protected status from more than 300,000 Venezuelans, a move that would clear the way for their deportation. Catching up? Here's what happened on .
