2 days ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Trouble at U.S. Customs in Orlando
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged in January to clean house at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Six months later she still hasn't explained the mystery of false travel records at CBP Orlando.
As Mary O'Grady explains nearby, the case concerns Filipe Martins, a member of the inner circle of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. A Brazilian court has been using false CBP records to detain Mr. Martins as a flight risk since March 2024 in the investigation of an alleged Bolsonaro coup-d'état against Brazilian President Luiz Inácio 'Lula' da Silva.
Mr. Martins ought to be free while mounting his defense. Yet neither Ms. Noem nor Secretary of State Marco Rubio has weighed in on what might be rotten at Orlando. Lawyers for the U.S. government are stonewalling his legal team. The problem is bigger than Mr. Martins, since the falsification of travel data undermines U.S. national security.
President Trump announced 50% tariffs on Brazil this month despite a U.S. bilateral trade surplus. In his July 9 letter to Lula, Mr. Trump mentions 'Trade Deficits' in the penultimate paragraph. But his lead gripe is the prosecution of Mr. Bolsonaro, who lost an October 2022 bid for re-election.
