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El Salvador President Responds After Man Mistakenly Deported

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By Casa Presidencial El Salvador - https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotospresidencia_sv/54351745159/, CC0,

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele told President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday that he has no plans to return a Maryland man wrongfully deported to a prison in his country.

Bukele’s Oval Office meeting with President Trump was the first since the Supreme Court ruled last week that the U.S. must “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

However, both Trump and Bukele suggested they don’t have the power to return the Maryland man and Salvadoran national to the U.S.

“How could I return him to the United States? I smuggle him to the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous,” Bukele said, going on to refer to Abrego Garcia as a terrorist.

“I don’t have the power to return him to the United States. I’m not releasing — I mean, we’re not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country,” he added, saying El Salvador is no longer the murder capital of the world.

Before Bukele spoke, Trump and a number of his aides suggested the decision would rest with El Salvador.

“That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Supreme Court ruled last week that the government must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return. (RELATED: Supreme Court Rules Wrongfully Deported Man Must Return To US)

“The order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” the Supreme Court ruled, referencing a lower court decision. 

“The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps,” the order reads. 

White House aide Stephen Miller said seeking Abrego Garcia’s return would equate to kidnapping him.

“A district court judge tried to tell the administration that they had to kidnap a citizen of El Salvador and fly him back here. That issue was raised at the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court said the district court order was unlawful and its main components reversed, 9-0, unanimously stating clearly that neither the secretary of state nor the President could be compelled by anybody to forcibly retrieve a citizen of El Salvador from El Salvador, who again, is a member of MS-13,” Miller said during the meeting.

Supreme Court Rules Trump May Rescind Biden-era Immigration Policy

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Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a significant immigration win on Friday…

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a lower court order that blocked the Trump administration from deporting roughly 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. 

Fox News reports:

The Supreme Court decision stays, for now, a lower court ruling that halted Trump’s plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for some migrants living in the U.S., which allows individuals to live and work in the U.S. legally if they cannot work safely in their home country due to a disaster, armed conflict or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions.” 

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer asked justices earlier this month to allow the administration to proceed with its decision to revoke the status for the migrants, accusing U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of improperly intruding on the executive branch’s authority over immigration policy.

“The district court’s reasoning is untenable,” Sauer told the high court, adding that the program “implicates particularly discretionary, sensitive, and foreign-policy-laden judgments of the Executive Branch regarding immigration policy.”

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Trump Mulls Arresting Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary: Watch

President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Friday, June 27, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

President Trump said he is open to considering investigating and possibly arresting Biden-era Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

During a Tuesday press conference in Florida after a tour of a migrant detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” Trump held a press conference alongside Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and current Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The President was asked about people calling for the arrest of Mayorkas due to his handling of the southern border under former President Joe Biden.

NEW YORK CITY (September 11, 2022) Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas lays flowers for USSS Master Special Officer Craig Miller and participates in the September 11th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony at Ground Zero in New York City, NY. (DHS photo by Sydney Phoenix)

“I ran into former DHS Secretary Mayorkas and I asked him a couple of questions about his disastrous handling of the border. He didn’t like my questions, but the number one question that I heard from people responding to my video was, ‘Why hasn’t he been arrested yet?’” The Blaze’s Julio Rosas asked the president at Tuesday’s presser.

Trump blasted Biden for the last-minute pardons he handed out before leaving office. However, the President was unaware of whether Mayorkas received a Biden pardon. He did not.

“Was he given a pardon, Mayokas? Was he not?” Trump asked.

“I don’t believe so,” Rosas said.

“Well, I’d take a look at that one because what he did is it’s beyond incompetence. Something had to be done. Now, with that being said, he took orders from other people, and he was really doing the orders. And you could say he was very loyal to them because it must have been very hard for him to stand up and sit up and, you know, talk about what he allowed to happen to this country and be serious about it. So he was given orders. If he wasn’t given a pardon, I could see looking at that,” Trump said.

The president was then reminded that the House of Representatives voted to impeach Mayorkas, though the effort never made it anywhere in the Senate. The vote in the House to impeach Mayorkas was over “willful and systemic refusal to comply with” immigration laws.

“He was impeached, but yeah, it was just a fake impeachment. It was a fake impeachment. But why don’t you take a look at it? I think he was so bad. They were all so bad, look, it was the worst president in the history of our country,” Trump said.

Trump’s remarks against Mayorkas come hours after the President floated potentially deporting billionaire Elon Musk back to South Africa.

“We’ll have to take a look,” Trump said. “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon! Wouldn’t that be terrible?”

Watch:

After a brief ceasefire between the president and his former DOGE lieutenant, the war of words has ratcheted up again over the past 24 hours — with Musk revving up his criticism of the Trump-backed “Big, Beautiful” budget bill. Musk, in a Monday post on X, denounced the legislation and floated the idea of forming a new political party.

4 FEMA Employees Fired After Approving ‘Egregious’ Payments For Illegal Migrants

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Image via Pixabay free images

The buck stops here…

The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that “four employees are being fired today for circumventing leadership and unilaterally making the egregious payment for hotels for migrants in New York City.”

The firings come after Elon Musk wrote on X Monday that “The DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.” 

“Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,” Musk added. “That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!”  

“A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds,” he added. 

A New York City Hall spokesperson confirmed to Fox News that the city had received funds “through the past week” that were allocated by the Biden administration for the purpose of housing and supporting illegal immigrants. 

Of the $59.3 million, $19 million was for direct hotel costs, while the balance funded other services such as food and security. According to NY City Hall, the funds were not part of a disaster relief grant. 

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday that the firings were ‘long overdue.”

“These funds have been misappropriated going back to the Biden administration and New York City – a sanctuary city – has been wasting billions of dollars of taxpayer money to provide free housing, clothing, food, education and healthcare to illegal immigrants, including criminal aliens that are here illegally,” he added.

“And so I applaud DHS for taking action to stop these payments under President Trump’s leadership because we have incentivized cities like New York and states like New York – a sanctuary state – to allow this to continue and it has to stop,” Lawler also said.

The Department of Homeland Security previously told Fox News Digital that those who made the payment will be “held accountable.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that she supported getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “the way it exists today.” 

In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Noem’s stance appeared in line with that of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who have both suggested shutting down FEMA could be an option, as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has reportedly gained access to FEMA’s sensitive disaster relief data to review its programs. 

“Can and should Donald Trump shut it down?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Noem. 

“He can. And I believe that he will do that evaluation with his team,” Noem said. “And he’s talking about it, which I’m grateful for. He’ll work with Congress, though, to make sure that it’s done correctly and that we’re still there to help folks who have a terrible disaster or a crisis in their life. He’s been very clear that he still believes there’s a role for the federal government to come in and help people get back up on their feet. But there’s a lot of fraud and waste and abuse out there. And since President Trump has taken over and come back into this administration, we’ve seen incredible change.” 

Noem, who visited Asheville, North Carolina, on Saturday to meet with Hurricane Helene victims and survey the damage, told CNN that she oversaw 12 different natural disasters that prompted a FEMA response when she was governor of South Dakota.

During former President Biden’s term, FEMA faced backlash after it was reported that while they lacked the necessary funds needed to help Hurricane Helene victims, they were dishing out money that ended up being used to aid illegal immigrants.  

Speaker Mike Johnson clarified that emergency relief funding is separate from FEMA funds allocated to immigration, but said that the agency should not have any part in funding the border crisis. 

FEMA partners with Customs and Border Control (CBP) and administers money to the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), a government-funded program that provides assistance and housing for illegal immigrants released into the U.S. 

“FEMA spent tens of millions of dollars in Democrat areas, disobeying orders, but left the people of North Carolina high and dry. It is now under review and investigation,” Trump posted, adding:

THE BIDEN RUN FEMA HAS BEEN A DISASTER. FEMA SHOULD BE TERMINATED! IT HAS BEEN SLOW AND TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE. INDIVIDUAL STATES SHOULD HANDLE STORMS, ETC., AS THEY COME. BIG SAVINGS, FAR MORE EFFICIENT!!!

Latino District Flips To Trump As Democrats Confess ‘Massive Shift’ On Border Policy

Some Democrats are finally acknowledging they need to course correct on their immigration stance.

A new report from The New York Times revealed some leading Democrat lawmakers have admitted that open borders and immigration are costing the party and

“When you have the most Latino district in the country outside of Puerto Rico vote for Trump, that should be a wake-up call for the Democratic Party,” said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas).

The report highlighted that Gonzalez witnessed President Donald Trump “win every county in his district along the border with Mexico.” Gonzalez’s 34th district in Texas has swung dramatically from voting heavily Democratic in recent presidential elections to going in favor of Trump in 2024.

“This is a Democratic district that’s been blue for over a century,” Gonzalez told the Times.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said the Democrat Party “got led astray by the 2016 and the 2020 elections, and we just never moved back.” 

“We looked feckless, we weren’t decisive, we weren’t listening to voters, and the voters decided that we weren’t in the right when it comes to what was happening with the border,” Gallego told the Times. 

In May, Gallego released a border security plan that would speed up asylum seekers’ claims and make other countries do their “fair share” in receiving asylum seekers, as well as take action against cartel violence.

The New York Times reported that various Democrats “are pushing for a course correction they see as overdue,” noting a new proposal from the Democratic policy shop and left-wing think tank Center for American Progress. The organization is calling for expanding legal immigration but also for ramping up border security and clamping down on abuse of the nation’s asylum system, the latter two of which are longtime Republican priorities.

Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, admitted to the Times that Democrats will have to adopt some level of border security policy.

“I’m happy to argue with Stephen Miller or anyone else about why they are wrong,” Tanden told the New York Times. “But the way we’re going to be able to do that is to also honestly assess that the border has been too insecure, that it allowed too many people to come through and that we need to fix that.”

The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to deport illegal immigrants as well as increase security at the U.S. border. The administration’s efforts have been criticized by progressives and violent anti-ICE protests recently prompted Trump to deploy the National Guard to California.

Trump Border Czar Defends Hefty Immigration Plan Pricetag

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

Incoming Trump administration border czar Tom Homan told NewsNation’s Ali Bradley there is no “price tag” for the mass deportations planned by the incoming administration

“What price do you put on national security? I don’t think it has a price tag,” Homan said. “What price do you put on the thousands of American moms and dads who buried their children? You want to talk about family separation; they buried their children because their children were murdered by illegal aliens that weren’t supposed to be here. I don’t put a price on that. I don’t put a price on national security. I don’t put a price on American lives.”

Homan further defended the mass deportations’ $86 billion price tag, saying it would save American taxpayers money in the future.

“This operation would be expensive,” he acknowledged. “However, it’s going to save taxpayers a lot of money in the long run. Right now, we’re spending billions of dollars on free airline tickets, free hotel rooms, free medical care, free meals, the education system.”

Homan, however, said they will also need help from Congress.

“We need more resources; we need funding. We obviously need to buy more detention beds because everybody we arrest, we have to detain to work on those removal efforts and get travel documents, get flight arrangements. So we need more detention beds,” said Homan.

Homan said the Trump administration doesn’t plan on separating families but rather deporting them together. He said the administration is looking into using halfway houses to hold U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.

“As far as U.S. children, that’s going to be a difficult situation because we’re not going to change your U.S. citizenship,” he said. “Which means they’re going to be put in a halfway house or they can stay at home and wait for the officers to get the travel arrangements and come back and get the family. You know the best thing to do for a family is to self-deport themselves.”

Mother Of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s Nephew Nabbed By ICE

Federal immigration authorities have detained the mother of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, a woman who officials say overstayed a decades-old tourist visa. Bruna Caroline Ferreira was taken into custody in Revere, Massachusetts, after allegedly remaining in the United States illegally since her B2 visa expired in June 1999, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson quoted by NBC News.

Ferreira, originally from Brazil, shares an 11-year-old son with Leavitt’s older brother, Michael Leavitt. In a statement to New Hampshire outlet WMUR, Michael emphasized his son’s welfare amid the situation. “The only concern has always been the safety, well-being, and privacy of my son,” he said.

Karoline Leavitt, 28, the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history, declined to comment on the arrest. However, a source told WMUR that Ferreira and Leavitt have not been in contact “for many years,” adding that the child “has lived full-time in New Hampshire with his father since he was born. He has never resided with his mother.”

According to DHS, Ferreira entered the United States legally in 1998 but failed to depart when required. “She entered the US on a B2 tourist visa that required her to depart the US by June 6, 1999,” the agency said. “She is currently at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and is in removal proceedings. Under President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation.”

NBC News reported that Ferreira had previously been arrested on suspicion of battery, though the outcome of that case is unclear. No charges appear in Massachusetts’ online court records.

Ferreira’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, strongly disputes DHS’s characterization of his client, arguing she should not be facing deportation. He said she has “maintained her legal status” through the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and was actively working toward obtaining a green card before her arrest.

“She’s in the process of actually getting her green card and she was abruptly arrested and taken from her young child right before Thanksgiving,” Pomerleau told WCVB. “Bruna has no criminal record whatsoever. I don’t know where that is coming from. Show us the proof. There’s no charges out there. She’s not a criminal illegal alien.”

Pomerleau said the family has been struggling with the distance, noting that Ferreira’s son has not spoken to her since she was taken into custody. “I’m just trying to fight to get her out of jail,” he said. “She should not be sitting in a jail hours away from her family and from her child’s life. She’s a great mom, and from what I heard, I think he’s been a pretty good dad.”

He added, “His mother is locked up in Louisiana, where she should have never been in the first place.”

The case comes as the Trump administration carries out what it describes as a broad “mass deportation campaign,” emphasizing stricter enforcement of existing immigration laws. The initiative includes encouraging voluntary return for those in the country illegally and increasing operations by ICE, the Border Patrol, and state National Guard units.

A relative of Ferreira has launched a GoFundMe campaign, stating she was brought to the U.S. as a child and “followed all protocols.” The fundraiser says, “Since then, she has done everything in her power to build a stable, honest life here. She has maintained her legal status through DACA, followed every requirement, and has always strived to do the right thing.”

Ferreira remains in federal custody as her removal proceedings continue.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia Taken Into Custody By ICE

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Arrest image via Pixabay

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the immigrant deported to El Salvador who became a political flashpoint for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, was detained again on Monday

Speaking to reporters outside the ICE Field Office in Baltimore after Abrego Garcia was detained, his lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said ICE officials had declined to tell them where they were detaining Abrego Garcia prior to his removal, or tell them why they were arresting him. 

“As of the last five minutes, Mr. Abrego Garcia has filed a new lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Maryland challenging his confinement and challenging his deportation to Uganda, or to any other country unless and until he’s had a fair trial— as in, an immigration court, as well as his full appeal rights,,” Sandoval-Moshenberg sad.

The habeas petition, filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, was assigned to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who has presided since March over his civil case.

Abrego Garcia, who fled El Salvador as a teenager and lived in Maryland, addressed supporters before entering his appointment.

“My name is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and I want you to remember this, remember that I am free and I was able to be reunited with my family,” he said. “This was a miracle. Thank you to God and thank you to the community. I want to thank each and every one of you who marched, lift your voices, never stop praying, and continue to fight in my name.”

Abrego Garcia’s legal fight for months has dominated U.S. headlines, after he was deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order. He faces a possible second deportation, this time to Uganda.

Shortly before his arrival Monday morning, immigration advocates, faith leaders, and other community members massed outside the field office at sunrise for a vigil, organized by two immigration advocacy groups.

The Trump administration returned him to the U.S. months after sending him to El Salvador, under orders from a federal judge and from the Supreme Court.

He was arrested upon return to the U.S. on human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennesee. He remained in federal detention until Friday, when he was released from U.S. custody and ordered to return to Maryland, where a judge said he could remain under electronic surveillance and under ICE supervision while awaiting trial.

ICE officials notified Abrego Garcia’s attorneys shortly after his release on Friday that they planned to deport him to Uganda.

The notice, sent by ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Adviser, said it was intended to “serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends).”

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told Fox News in an interview Sunday night that Abrego Garcia was “absolutely” going to be deported from the U.S, and said Uganda is “on the table” as the third country of removal. 

“We have an agreement with them. It’s on a table, absolutely,” Homan said in an interview on “The Big Weekend Show” Sunday evening.

“He is absolutely going to be deported,” Homan reiterated. 

For now, he said, Abrego Garcia “can enjoy the little time he has with his family. And for the person who says we’re not going to separate family, his family can go with him, because he’s leaving.”

Report: Noem Demanded Hours-long Meeting With Trump After She’s Sidelined

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By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54581054338/, Public Domain,

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requested a two-hour meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office late Monday as the administration faced intensifying backlash over a deadly shooting in Minneapolis involving federal immigration agents.

The meeting came after President Trump announced that longtime border enforcement official Tom Homan would travel to Minneapolis to take charge of Department of Homeland Security efforts following the death of protester Alex Pretti during a confrontation with Border Patrol agents, according to the New York Times.

The closed-door discussion, which included several of the president’s top aides, reflected the administration’s effort to recalibrate its response as tensions mounted across the city and criticism grew over how the incident was initially described.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem receives a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center CECOT with the Minister of Justice and Public Security Gustavo Villatoro in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 26, 2025. (DHS photo by Tia Dufour)

Noem came under fire after she labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” saying he had charged officers while brandishing a gun. However, multiple videos circulating online showed the ICU nurse holding a cellphone and attempting to flee from agents at the time of the encounter.

The administration has since faced pressure to clarify its messaging, particularly as images and video from the scene fueled protests and intensified scrutiny of federal enforcement tactics in Democrat-run cities already resistant to immigration crackdowns.

Earlier Monday, Trump said he was sending Homan — a well-known hardliner on border enforcement — to oversee the situation on the ground. The move sparked questions about whether the president was dissatisfied with Noem’s handling of the fallout.

Despite the speculation, Trump did not indicate that Noem’s job was in jeopardy during the meeting, sources told the outlet.

Separately, Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino and some of his agents were ordered Monday to begin pulling back from Minnesota, according to sources.

Bovino, like Noem, drew criticism for his initial assessment of the incident. He had said Pretti was brandishing a firearm and “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” a claim later challenged by video evidence.

Amid reports suggesting internal consequences, the Trump administration pushed back against claims that Bovino had been demoted.

“Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X. She added that Bovino remains a “key part of the president’s team and a great American.”

Trump To Sign Order To Prepare Guantanamo Bay For 30K Prisoners

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President Donald J. Trump participates in a roundtable discussion on immigration and border security at the U.S. Border Patrol Calexico Station Friday, April 5, 2019, in Calexico, Calif. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would sign an executive order for the Pentagon to prepare Guantanamo Bay to detain 30,000 “criminal illegal aliens.”

David B. Gleason from Chicago, IL, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

“Today I’m also signing an executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000 person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay,” Trump said. “Most people don’t even know about it.”

He said they need 30,000 beds to house the detainees, adding that putting them there will ensure they do not come back.

“It’s a tough place to get out of,” Trump added.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.