Check out this exchange between Senator #JeffMerkley (D-OR) & #FBI Director #KashPatel over whether #DuePocess applies to people targeted by the #AlienEnemiesAct.
#Boasberg: this would be cabined, expedited proceeding. then i'd give govt till wednesday to give their responses on whether they have objections to [discovery] plaintiffs propose. the next day i'll order a timeframe. then i'll ask parties to brief ... then i'll decide if there's constructive custody & , if so, we then go on to remedy.
any questions?
[none]
Okay, thanks everybody. Hearing concluded.
#DOJ: if going to be somewhere else in US, their #habeas has to be heard there. [But DOJ emphasizes that it's speculative what's going to happen to these criminal defendants down the road.]
#Boasberg now asking Gelernt, of ACLU, about irreparable harm.
Gelernt: the problem is, at 8pm tonight, they could move them from criminal custody to #ICE custody & they could be removed from country by 8am tomorrow morning.
#Boasberg: are there still 32 individuals in criminal custody with active detainers against them. [this refers to a proposed class relating to criminally confined aliens in the US.]
#DOJ: not sure.
Boasberg: let's assume for a minute that all these people will be removed after criminal proceedings run their course, & that those 32 could challenge their future rules for #habeas—then can we hear it?
#DOJ: none of the cases plaintiff cited involved asking a foreign sovereign before a decision can be made. That cuts against idea we have constructive custody—especially immediate custody. ...question is can we immediately produce without another country having a say in it?
#Boasberg: cites a case where consultation w/ Saudi Arabia was required.
DOJ: yes, but that was just consultation.
#law #immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #Rendition #DueProcess #Judiciary #AbuseOfPower #Trump
#Boasberg: Secy #KristiNoem said, "One of tools in our toolkit." Is she wrong?
#DOJ: i'm not going to parse out every statement l...
Boasberg: does that means these statements aren't true?
DOJ: not what i'm saying at all...
Boasberg: what you're telling me ... are you willing to provide that in declarations?
DOJ: we don't believe discovery is necessary. can consult with State dept.
DOJ: #KilmarAbregoGarcia was held in Maryland at one point.
#Boasberg: no way to say Abrego Garcia is in constructive custody but these plaintiffs are not?
DOJ ...
Boasberg: is #US paying #ElSalvador
DOJ: here's what i can present ... there is no agreement or arrangement whereby US maintains any agency or control over prisoners. no constructive custody. what exists is a letter ...
#DOJ: influence does not equate to constructive custody.
#Boasberg: my question is, was president telling the truth? you've got #ElSalvador VP saying issue has to be solved in the #US ...
DOJ: goes to whether salvador has a say at all or not. if it has a say, that does negate --
Boasberg: but you wouldn't dispute that in terms of custody, no difference between #KilmarAbregoGarcia & plaintiffs here?
Gorski: what's important is future legal custodians. what matters is future confinement. not current.
#Boasberg: do you think Padilla could have sued in Washington before he was transferred to Charleston.
Gorski: if he had notice in advance, yes.
Boasberg moves on to the next issue.
Gelernt: we are not ... seeking a class for the entire thing anymore
#Boasberg: so let's not talk about subclasses. they're classes. similarly the original named plaintiffs--they're not part of those classes, right?
Gelernt: right.
Judge: why isn't Padilla a problem for you here in sense that shouldn’t venue lie in district where they were held prior to removal?
NEW: After nearly a week of inactivity on the #KilmarAbregoGarcia case, both sides ask Judge #Xinis for a conference to discuss how expedited #discovery is going.
A govt filing indicated that #DHS did not “direct” Dept of #Defense to fly the plane to #ElSalvador. [to evade a #CourtOrder enjoining the DHS from further #deportations to El Salvador]
Reuters report: #US may soon deport migrants to #Libya on #military flight, sources say - https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-may-soon-deport-migrants-libya-military-flight-sources-say-2025-05-07/
The planned use of a #military plane for the flight to #Libya comes after the #Defense Dept has assisted in transporting migrants to locations such as #India, #Guatemala & #Ecuador.
In late March, #DOD ofcls flew a group of #Venezuelan migrants to #ElSalvador without any staff from #DHS on the plane, acc/to court records. The flight took off from #GuantánamoBay, Cuba, to El Salvador & included 4 Venezuelans.
After the #UnitedStates struck a deal w/ #ElSalvador to take #Venezuelan migrants & imprison them, Secretary of #State #MarcoRubio said he was working to secure similar agreements w/additional nations.
“I intend to continue to try & identify other countries willing to accept & jail as many *gang* members as we can send them,” #Rubio told NYT.
Around the same time, #US officials also deported a group of around 200 migrants to #CostaRica from countries in the Eastern Hemisphere, including #Iran. A lawsuit filed against the country argued that the #deportations & subsequent #detention in Costa Rica “could cause irreparable harm” for a group of #children sent to the country.
Earlier this year, the #Trump admin deported several hundred people to #Panama from countries in the Eastern Hemisphere, including #Iran & #China. The migrants, who said they did not know where they were going, were detained in a hotel for several days before being taken to a camp near the jungle. Some of the migrants were later released from Panamanian custody.
#Amnest International branded those sites “horrific” & “a hellscape” in a 2021 report, which found evidence of “#SexualViolence, against men, women & children.” The Global Detention Project says detained migrants in #Libya endure “physical mistreatment & #torture,” forced labor & even #slavery.
The #US has formal relations only w/the #Tripoli government. But Haftar’s son, Saddam, was in Washington last week, & met w/several #Trump admin ofcls. Trump had friendly dealings in his first term w/Haftar, who controls most of #Libya’s lucrative #oil fields.
A major transit point for Europe-bound migrants, Libya operates numerous detention facilities for refugees & migrants.
The planning for the flight to #Libya has been tightly held, & could still be derailed by logistical, legal or diplomatic obstacles.
The potential use of Libya as a destination comes after the #Trump admin set off an earlier furor by deporting a group of #Venezuelans to #ElSalvador, where they are being held in a maximum-security prison designed for terrorists.