Border czar Tom Homan gave no quarter to a reporter who pressed him on Monday over President Donald Trump’s decision to designate members of a violent Venezuelan prison gang — Tren de Aragua — as terrorists under the Alien Enemies Act.
The reporter suggested that the administration was attempting to get around due process for illegal aliens associated with Tren de Aragua by enforcing “a 200-year-old law’ — with the obvious implication being that the law was somehow invalidated by the date on which it had first been enacted.
“What do you say to those who claim you’re using a 200-year-old law to circumvent due process?” the reporter asked.
“An ‘old’ law?” Homan pushed back immediately. “It’s not as old as the Constitution, and we still pay attention to that don’t we?”
Reporters continued to shout questions at Homan, but he simply shook his head and walked away.
The Trump administration deported more than 250 illegal alien gang members to El Salvador over the weekend in accordance with an agreement between President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. The prisoners — more than 230 Tren de Aragua members and another 21 associated with MS-13 — were taken to a mega-prison.
Trump shared video on Sunday of the planes landing in El Salvador and the prisoners disembarking, and he thanked President Bukele for his cooperation. “We will not forget!”
Bukele also touted the deal, calling it a win for both El Salvador and the United States. “On this occasion, the U.S. has also sent us 23 MS-13 members wanted by Salvadoran justice, including two ringleaders. One of them is a member of the criminal organization’s highest structure. This will help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors. As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime. But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action. May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States.”
The deportation flights went ahead as planned despite a Saturday order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg demanding that they return to the United States and that future flights be held pending a hearing. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the flights had gone ahead as scheduled because the ruling was not lawful.
“The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict,” Leavitt posted.
“Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion. A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” she concluded.
