The case of Carlos Daniel Terán — a Mexican citizen accused of being part of Tren de Aragua, a foreign terrorist organization
His son, 18-year-old Carlos Daniel Terán from Venezuela, had been in immigration detention centers in Texas after being arrested on Jan. 26, and accused by the U.S. government of being part of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang recently designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization.
Carlos Daniel’s case is caught up in a broader brewing battle between executive and judicial authority. Judge James Boasberg has repeatedly pressed the Justice Department for details on those flights to El Salvador over concerns the administration may have defied his orders.
NPR talked to the families of four men believed to be in El Salvador. None of them had a history of criminal activity in the US. Three of the four are believed to have signed their voluntary departure orders, a move that would in theory allow them to come to the U.S. at a later time if approved.
In a court filing earlier this week related to a challenge to the flights to El Salvador, Justice Department lawyers provided a sworn declaration from an ICE official who said that many of the people on these flights the administration claimed were members of Tren de Aragua, didn’t have criminal records in the U.S. “The lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose,” the declaration stated.
This week, the White House Press Secretary was asked about it. The White House wouldn’t give operational details about a counterterrorism operation.
Families of Deported Venezuelans Discriminate Against Gang Claims After Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act [NPR]
Leavitt said that immigration enforcement agents who investigated the migrants sent to El Salvador “have great evidence and indication, they have the highest degree of professionalism and they were 100% confident in the individuals that were sent home on these flights.”
The Secretary of State told Hugh Heftie in an interview on Wednesday that he had confidence in the prison system in El Salvadoran. That’s why we engaged them on this process.”
When she saw the video, she was surprised to see her son’s face. “I can’t express all the suffering I saw in my son’s eyes.”
Yamarte said that the life of a young man who has never been in prison, has never been a criminal must not be ruined. He’s always worked hard, I taught him that.
“Trump’s government was going after the worst criminals and we thought it was going after someone who had killed people in the U.S.,” she said, adding her son did not have a criminal record. She gave NPR an official document from Venezuela that stated Garca does not have a criminal record.
However the family was a bit relieved because they were sure he would be sent to Venezuela. But a month later, on Saturday, he called his mom to tell her he was about to leave the detention facility in Laredo, Texas.
Planes never arrived in Venezuela. She learned the flights to El Salvador had landed there. Her other kids have identified their brother in social media videos.
Source: Families of deported Venezuelans dispute gang claims after deportations under Alien Enemies Act
The Trump administration is going to war with the judges over immigration laws and the impeachment of the U.S. Attorney General John G. Roberts
“He followed the rules… I feel we were very naive,” she said. We believed that the U.S. would respect his rights.
On the same day that the Trump administration announced that it was ending a program that allowed hundreds of thousands of people from countries including Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the United States legally and work for up to two years, it was announced that the deportation flights to Venezuela would resume
Saturday’s agreement could help Mr. Trump accelerate his plans for mass deportations, one of the central promises of his campaign. He has already enlisted military planes, sent people to third countries far from their homes and invoked the wartime law to achieve that goal. Arrests in the country are up, but not as much as Mr. Trump and his immigration advisers would like.
The president and allies, including Elon Musk, went to war with the judge over his order restricting deportations, calling for the judge’s impeachment. John G. Roberts, Jr., the Supreme Court Chief Justice, made a rare statement admonishing the calls for the judge’s impeachment. This spurred concerns of a constitutional crisis.
Mr. Trump seemed enamored with the ability to send people to the prison complexes in El Salvadoran, threatening thoseFkaFka who vandalize cars with 20 years in jail.