Supreme Court Halts "Alien Enemies Act" Deportations (Newsletter)
Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains in El Salvador
THE WEEK’S US BORDER NEWS IN BRIEF:
Legal Drama of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Case Continues:
A high-stakes legal battle continues between the federal courts and the Trump administration over the case of a Salvadoran man who was wrongly deported and sent to a notorious mega-prison in his home country.
Supreme Court Applies Brakes on “Alien Enemies Act” Deportations:
The Supreme Court on Saturday blocked the Trump administration from deporting more migrants under the expansive powers of the rarely invoked 1798 wartime law: “The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court,” read the brief order issued just before 2:00 AM. The order was unsigned, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissenting. Evidence continues to show that most of the 238 Venezuelan men sent to the Salvadoran mega-prison on March 15 faced no allegations of criminal activity or gang ties.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and President Donald Trump’s oval office meeting (White House Photo) Nayib Bukele’s Washington visit:
During an Oval Office visit on Monday, El Salvador’s authoritarian president struck a defiant tone alongside President Trump, calling into question the administration’s compliance with a Supreme Court requirement that it “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) met Abrego Garcia briefly during a visit to El Salvador on Thursday.
Will the Trump Administration be found in contempt of court? :
A judge who had ordered a halt to the removal of the first group of Venezuelans flown to El Salvador and is considering whether to hold Trump administration officials in contempt of court for doing that anyway has been temporarily blocked by a U.S. Court of Appeals. The DC Circuit court says its order is intended to provide “sufficient opportunity” for the court to consider the government’s appeal and “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion.”
The US Military & US Border Patrol are now jointly responsible for security along the US Southern Border (US Army photo) The Militarization of the “Roosevelt Reservation”:
The White House has declared that a 20-yard fringe of territory along the border in California, Arizona, and New Mexico is now the equivalent of a “military installation.” This raises important questions about the role of the U.S. military on U.S. soil. As is widely expected, these questions will deepen if the administration invokes the Insurrection Act of 1807.
March migration data show further declines:
With 7,181 Border Patrol apprehensions, March 2025 was one of the quietest months at the U.S.-Mexico border since the 1960s. The main reason is the Trump administration’s shutdown of asylum access at the border. The ratio of uniformed personnel at the border to March migrant apprehensions is now about 4.6 to 1.
Mass deportation and the coming “reconciliation” funding bill:
Congress is edging closer to considering a massive budget bill that would multiply the U.S. government’s ability to deport undocumented migrants on an enormous scale. The Trump administration’s unstated goal appears to be 1 million deportations during its first year, which seems unlikely. Meanwhile, the administration is rapidly undoing documented statuses granted by the Biden administration.
NOTE: This weekly summary was adapted from a far more comprehensive one by WOLA.org, which you can read in full HERE.
(If you found this summary helpful, I invite you to financially support WOLA’s work).
THE WEEK’S MILITARY ACTIVITIES ALONG THE US BORDER:
Two U.S. Marines assigned to the border mission died, and another was seriously injured, in a vehicle accident in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, west of El Paso. They were in a civilian vehicle at the time.
Off the coast of the border between San Diego and Tijuana, the U.S.S. Stockdale replaced the U.S.S. Spruance as the Trump administration continues to deploy U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers as part of the border security mission.
Washington Post defense reporter Dan Lamothe, who first broke the “Roosevelt Range” story in March, published an overview of the rapidly growing U.S. military presence at the border, focusing primarily on Colorado-based brigades operating Stryker armored combat vehicles in Arizona, New Mexico, and far west Texas.
FINALLY, IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
(Stories US Border News published during the past week):
Texas Border: Large Migrant Groups Cross Remote Areas
Consequences may be deadly.
US Border: China Counterfeiters Busted by Feds
National Security Threats Caught
Gulf Trash Threatens Texas Beaches & Wildlife
Padre Island Perils
Chemical barrels - like these (often with Haz-Mat labels) also regularly wash ashore from the Gulf onto Padre Island, Texas. (Photos by Jace Tunnell / Harte Research Institute)
I remain committed to delivering a US Border Newsletter that is not only educational and insightful but also engaging and easy to digest in five minutes or less.
(How am I doing? Let me know in the comments!)
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
Tell the “justices” NO