Latest news with #Venezuelans
Mint
an hour ago
- Politics
- Mint
Amid Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants, US deports five 'barbaric' criminals to small African nation
The Donald Trump administration deported five men convicted of violent crimes to Eswatini, a tiny African kingdom, on Tuesday. The deportees – from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, and Yemen – included murderers and child rapists whose home countries refused to take them back. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin called them 'uniquely barbaric' criminals now 'off American soil'. The flight followed a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing deportations to countries where migrants have no ties. New immigration rules let officials deport people with just 6 hours' notice in emergencies. Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) – a nation smaller than New Jersey with 1.2 million people – hasn't explained its agreement to accept the deportees. Ruled by King Mswati III since 1986, it's Africa's last absolute monarchy and bans political parties. Pro-democracy groups protested the secrecy, with SWALIMO spokesperson Ingiphile Dlamini stating: 'There's been no official communication about this deal' . Critics worry the poor country can't safely manage violent criminals and note its history of human rights abuses, including torturing detainees. This marks the second African deportation this month; eight men were sent to war-torn South Sudan earlier. The Trump administration is actively seeking similar deals with Rwanda, Angola, and other African nations. While West African leaders discussed accepting deportees during recent White House visits, Nigeria publicly refused, calling it unacceptable. The U.S. has also sent hundreds of Venezuelans to Central American prisons, but Africa is now a focus for 'third-country' removals. Analysts suggest poor nations may agree in exchange for U.S. aid or trade benefits. UN experts and lawyers argue the policy violates international law by sending people to countries where they risk torture. Justice Sonia Sotomayor previously criticized similar deportations, warning migrants could face torture or death. Under the new rules, U.S. officials aren't required to ask if deportees fear persecution in the third country. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the practice, claiming partner nations will 'take care of them'. However, South Sudan still hasn't revealed the whereabouts of the eight men it received.
The Hill
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Judge Boasberg should appoint a special counsel to investigate Bondi and her DOJ
Two recent revelations — a memorandum from El Salvador to the United Nations about its detention of migrants from the U.S., and a fired Justice Department attorney's whistle-blower report — cry out for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate and prosecute criminal contempt violations against the top three officials in the Department of Justice. There is sufficient evidence that these leaders — Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove — committed criminal contempt. They acted in an apparently concerted effort to stonewall the court in the civil case brought against the government by Venezuelan migrants who, as described by the Supreme Court, were sent to El Salvador in violation of their due process rights. Chief Judge James E. Boasberg, the federal district court judge presiding over that case, has the power to initiate such an investigation and prosecution with the appointment of a private attorney to act as special counsel. Such a judicial appointment is not unprecedented. In 1987, the Supreme Court — in a case called Young v. U.S. ex rel. Vuitton et Fils, now codified in Rule 42 of the federal criminal rules — empowers federal district courts, based on probable cause, to appoint a private attorney as special counsel to investigate and prosecute criminal contempt. The newly revealed evidence overwhelmingly supports Judge Boasberg in appointing a special counsel. Indeed, at the time that Archibald Cox was appointed Watergate Special Prosecutor, there was far less evidence known about the criminal activity of President Richard Nixon's two former attorneys general, John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst. After a thorough investigation, both were later convicted of serious federal crimes. Bondi, Blanche and Bove appear to have directly supervised the Justice Department's defense of this case from the start. On Mar. 19, all three signed the government's motion to stay Boasberg's request to detail 'the movements of aircraft' that transported Venezuelans to El Salvador after the judge had famously ordered planes to be turned around so they could be brought back to the U.S. Normally, documents filed with a court are only signed by the line attorneys and their direct supervisors. On Apr. 16, Bondi responded to the Justice Department's admission that Kilmar Abrego Garcia had been sent to El Salvador as a result of an 'administrative error.' She stated in an interview that the government would only fly him back if Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele wanted to return him. Bondi emphasized that 'President Bukele said he was not sending him back. That's the end of the story.' Bondi's statement was consistent with those of others in the administration, including President Trump, who claimed that the government lacked the authority to return Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national. Justice Department line attorneys also argued Bondi's position to Boasberg, that 'both 'detention' and 'ultimate disposition'' of the Venezuelan migrants 'are matters within the legal authority of El Salvador.' But Bondi's statement is contradicted by a newly released document, dated March 26, provided by El Salvador to the U.N. in response to an inquiry into the deportations. El Salvador admitted that 'the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively with the competent foreign [i.e., American] authorities, by virtue of' their agreements with the Trump administration. The memorandum reflects that the U.S. government received a copy of this document. Bondi's credibility is further undermined by the Justice Department's miraculous return of Abrego Garcia to the U.S. to stand trial on criminal charges based on what a Tennessee magistrate judge found was the unreliable testimony of two cooperating witnesses in his case. The truth of the Salvadoran document is additionally supported by the $6 million the U.S. reportedly paid to El Salvador for imprisoning the Venezuelans. This astonishing document is compounded by the recent whistle-blower revelations by a fired Justice Department attorney named Erez Reuveni, who recounted a meeting of Justice Department attorneys on March 14. Bove presided over the meeting and 'stressed to all in attendance that the plane [with Venezuelan migrants] needed to take off no matter what.' Addressing a 'possibility that a court order would enjoin these removals,' Bove stated that the Justice Department 'would need to consider telling the courts 'f— you' and ignore any such court order.' Reuveni's statements are corroborated by his release of internal Justice Department communications among various lawyers who were at the March 14 meeting and other lawyers at the Department of Homeland Security. Blanche denied Reuveni's account, as reported by The New York Times, 'asserting he was at the same meeting and never heard Mr. Bove suggest the department disregard court orders.' Reuveni countered that Blanche only 'briefly entered the conference room' during the meeting 'to speak privately to Bove.' Blanche 'did not participate in the meeting,' he claimed, and it was immediately after Blanche left that Bove spoke to the other Justice lawyers about ignoring court orders. In contravention of Boasberg's order, on the next day, March 15, the planes did take off and did not return the Venezuelan migrants to the U.S. Before these two startling revelations, Judge Boasberg fo u nd on June 4 that 'while it is a close question, the current record does not support Plaintiffs' [the Venezuelans'] assertion that they are in the constructive custody' of the U.S., meaning that the government had the authority to order them returned to America. Boasberg held that the Venezuelans 'failed to overcome a sworn declaration from a knowledgeable government official attesting' that the 'ongoing detention' of the Venezuelans 'is a question of Salvadoran law.' But El Salvador's document to the U.N. puts the lie to that official's claims. Based on the Salvadoran government's document and the whistle-blower's revelations, there is more than adequate probable cause for Judge Boasberg to appoint a special counsel to investigate the top leadership of Trump's Justice Department for criminal contempt. A grand jury investigation could clarify who knew what and when and identify those at the Justice Department who knowingly were part of an effort to obstruct the court's orders. Nick Akerman, a former assistant special Watergate prosecutor and a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, is an attorney in New York City.
New Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
US sends third-country deportees to the small African kingdom of Eswatini
CAPE TOWN: The United States has sent five men to the small African nation of Eswatini in an expansion of the Trump administration's third-country deportation program, the US Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. The US has already deported eight men to another African nation, South Sudan, after the Supreme Court lifted restrictions on sending people to countries where they have no ties. In a late-night post on X, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the men, who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos, had arrived in Eswatini on a plane. She said they were all convicted criminals and 'individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back.' There was no immediate comment from Eswatini authorities over any deal to accept third-country deportees or what would happen to them in that country. The Trump administration has said it is seeking more deals with African nations to take deportees from the US Some have pushed back, with Nigeria saying it is rejecting pressure from the US to take deportees who are citizens of other countries. The US has also sent hundreds of Venezuelans and others to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama. Eswatini is a country of about 1.2 million people that sits between South Africa and Mozambique. It is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies — and the last in Africa — and King Mswati III has ruled by decree since 1986. The country was previously called Swaziland. Political parties are effectively banned and pro-democracy groups have said for years that Mswati III has crushed any political dissent, sometimes violently.
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump administration sends third-country deportees to small African kingdom of Eswatini
The United States has sent five men to the small African nation of Eswatini in an expansion of the Trump administration's third-country deportation programme, the US Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday. The US has already deported eight men to another African nation, South Sudan, after the Supreme Court lifted restrictions on sending people to countries where they have no ties. In a late-night post on X, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the men, who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos, had arrived in Eswatini on a plane. She said they were all convicted criminals and "individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back". by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Only 2% Traders Know this Powerful Intraday Strategy thefutureuniversity Learn More Undo There was no immediate comment from Eswatini authorities over any deal to accept third-country deportees or what would happen to them in that country. The Trump administration has said it is seeking more deals with African nations to take deportees from the US. Some have pushed back, with Nigeria saying it is rejecting pressure from the US to take deportees who are citizens of other countries. Live Events The US has also sent hundreds of Venezuelans and others to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama. Eswatini is a country of about 1.2 million people that sits between South Africa and Mozambique. It is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies - and the last in Africa - and King Mswati III has ruled by decree since 1986. The country was previously called Swaziland. Political parties are effectively banned, and pro-democracy groups have said for years that Mswati III has crushed any political dissent, sometimes violently.
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Business Standard
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
US sends third-country deportees to small African kingdom of Eswatini
The United States has sent five men to the small African nation of Eswatini in an expansion of the Trump administration's third-country deportation programme, the US Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday. The US has already deported eight men to another African nation, South Sudan, after the Supreme Court lifted restrictions on sending people to countries where they have no ties. In a late-night post on X, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the men, who are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos, had arrived in Eswatini on a plane. She said they were all convicted criminals and individuals so uniquely barbaric that their home countries refused to take them back. The Trump administration has said it is seeking more deals with African nations to take deportees from the US. Some have pushed back, with Nigeria saying it is rejecting pressure from the US to take deportees who are citizens of other countries. The US has also sent hundreds of Venezuelans and others to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama. Eswatini is a country of about 1.2 million people that sits between South Africa and Mozambique. It is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies and the last in Africa and King Mswati III has ruled by decree since 1986. The country was previously called Swaziland. Political parties are effectively banned, and pro-democracy groups have said for years that Mswati III has crushed any political dissent, sometimes violently. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
