Lawfare

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A Massachusetts federal judge stopped the Trump administration late Monday from yanking legal status from more than 530,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals who were brought into the US under a controversial Biden administration parole program. Boston US District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, ruled that the migrants are entitled to a case-by-case review and declined to put her decision on hold while the Trump administration appeals it.

Biden’s  parole program was granted by executive order, so the program can be terminated by executive order. If the Democrats wanted it to be permanent, they needed to go through Congress and get it signed into law.

Furthermore, the  Supreme court just ruled that a district judge cannot issue a nationwide injunction.

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President Donald Trump has issued an avalanche of executive actions since returning to the White House, but not all of them have held up to initial judicial scrutiny.

While Trump has been successful with several of his actions, others have been struck down by federal courts. The Trump administration still has avenues to appeal all of the negative rulings, but these are the orders currently paused by the courts.

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A federal judge in Virginia has granted the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) request to dismiss a gun charge against a Salvadoran national whom Trump administration officials have called a senior leader of the notorious MS-13 transnational gang—clearing the way for his possible swift deportation.

In a minute order issued on April 15, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick approved the DOJ’s motion to dismiss the criminal complaint against 24-year-old Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos but delayed entry of the order until 10 a.m. on April 18 to give his defense attorney time to explore potential legal avenues to prevent his transfer into immigration custody.

The dismissal comes just weeks after Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a press conference that Santos is “one of the top three” MS-13 leaders in the United States and that he would not be “living in our country much longer.” President Donald Trump also weighed in, calling the arrest a major victory in his administration’s campaign to crack down on foreign gangs that pose a threat to American communities.

Federal prosecutors filed only a single charge against Santos—possession of a firearm by an illegal immigrant—after an FBI SWAT team raided his family home in Woodbridge, Virginia, on March 27. According to the affidavit, investigators found multiple firearms and “indicia of MS-13 association” in his bedroom, but no gang-related charges were ever filed.

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Letitia James falsified records to meet lending requirements going so far as to claim on her application that she was married to her father.

Mortgage fraud is a crime and Letitia James is facing 30 years in prison and up to a million dollars in fines

“No one is above the law. Even when you think the rules don’t apply to you.” – Letitia James

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GW Law Prof Jonathan Turley on shocking Letitia James allegations: ‘The irony is crushing. James prosecuted Trump for misleading financial statements, yet now faces similar questions about residency claims and loan applications. DOJ has prosecuted others for falsely claiming properties as principal residences. Rules apparently don’t apply to those enforcing them.’”

Bombshell criminal referral on NY AG and Trump prosecutor Letitia James from Federal Housing Authority. Document contains serious claims of mortgage fraud and includes several pages of documentary evidence.

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First Adam Schiff. Now Letitia James.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating possible insider trading linked to President Trump’s 90-day tariff pause.

As reported by CNN:

New York Attorney General Letitia James is looking into potential insider trading by Trump administration officials and associates around last week’s 90-day tariff pause, James’ office confirmed to CNN on Monday.

The review is in its earliest stages and is not yet a full investigation. It’s unclear if it will ultimately uncover evidence of wrongdoing.

Some lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential for insider trading around Trump’s tariff announcement. However, no smoking gun has been revealed signaling wrongdoing.

Last Wednesday, President Trump took to Truth Social to calm fears amid his tariff blitz and the market drop.

“BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!” Trump wrote last Wednesday morning.

A few minutes later, President Trump said it was a good time to buy since the markets were down.

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George Washington law professor and Fox News legal expert Jonathan Turley was floored by a Trump Administration official’s letter referring New York Attorney General Letitia James to the Department of Justice for potential criminal charges, calling the allegations “damning” and “pretty straightforward.”

The criminal referral came from Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte, who outlined the allegations in a letter addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. The letter, which was reviewed by Fox News and the New York Post, alleged that James had “falsified records” to get home loans for a property in Virginia. James had listed the property as her “principal residence” in 2023 despite serving as the attorney general of New York.

The letter further revealed that James previously purchased a Brooklyn home in 2001, but has “consistently misrepresented the same property as only having four units in both building permit applications and numerous mortgage documents and applications,” the letter noted. This could have allowed James to receive a lower mortgage rate and led to lower payments under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

“Ms. James, for both properties listed above, appears to have falsified records in order to meet certain lending requirements and receive favorable loan terms,” Pulte wrote.

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“Based on media reports, Ms. Letitia James has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms.”

The Trump administration hit New York Attorney General Letitia James with a criminal referral for alleged mortgage fraud on Tuesday, according to a report from the New York Post.

The outlet reported that Federal Housing FHFA Director William Pulte sent the referral to Attorney General Pam Bondi as well as the Department of Justice, and accused James of having “falsified records” to get a home loan in Virginia while she was still serving as the New York state AG. The alleged false documents said that James’ home in Virginia was her “principal residence.” When a home is labeled as ones “principal residence,” loans will sometimes have more favorable terms.

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Democrat minority leader Hakeem Jeffries is threatening the Trump administration to bring back illegal alien gangbangers into the country or face consequences.

Pelosi’s angels.

Democrats have a long history of defending violent, illegal alien gangbangers.

Former Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi defended MS-13 in 2018 saying they were “God’s children…” and, “There’s a spark of divinity in every person.”

MS13’s motto is, “Kill, rape, control.”

That won’t keep Democrats from defending this brutal and evil multi-national gang.

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A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from revoking legal status and work permits for over 530,000 illegal aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, ruled Monday that the Trump administration cannot terminate the legal status of the migrants “without case-by-case review.”

The Biden administration program allowed migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to be flown directly into the interior of the U.S. and granted work authorization. The program was intended to provide “safe and orderly pathways to the United States” for nationals from the four nations under the category of humanitarian parole.

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to “Terminate all categorical parole programs,” including the “Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.”

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Khalil’s lawyers have until April 23 to request ‘relief’ and halt deportation  

President Donald Trump’s administration can deport Mahmoud Khalil, the man who helped lead disruptive pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University over the last year, a U.S. immigration judge ruled Friday.

“The department has met its burden to establish removability by clear and convincing evidence,” Judge Jamee Comans said, according to The New York Times.

Khalil’s case “now moves on to what is known as the ‘relief stage,’ in which his lawyers will be able to argue for his right to stay in the country. If they lose, they can appeal, first to an immigration board and then to a federal court,” the outlet reported.

The judge gave Khalil’s legal team until April 23 to file a request for relief to prevent his deportation, Axios reported.

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El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said he would not return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to America.

“The question is preposterous,” said Bukele. “How can I smuggle a terrorist with the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”

The administration admitted it made a mistake deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia belonged to the El Salvadoran MS-13 gang and entered America illegally. He lost his attempts to stay in America through the immigration and asylum system but received removal protection in 2019.

Abrego Garcia had to be removed…except to El Salvador because he feared for his life.

“We’re not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country,” continued Bukele. “We just turned the murder capital of the world to the safest country of the western hemisphere and he wants to go back into the releasing criminal so we can go back to being the murdered capital of the world. That’s not going to happen.”

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White House Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller on Monday called the Justice Department attorney who was handling the Abrego Garcia deportation case a Democrat “saboteur” and accused him of falsely claiming Garcia was mistakenly removed.

On April 4, DOJ attorney, Erez Reuveni, told U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis that Garcia “should not have been removed,” and that he didn’t know why the alleged MS-13 member was even arrested. “I am also frustrated that I also have no answers for you on a lot of these questions,” he said.

After that court appearance, Reuveni was placed on leave. “At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on April 5. “Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences.”

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Five former prosecutors who worked on the effort to railroad those involved in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol Building have demanded an investigation into President Donald Trump’s pick to become Washington, DC’s new top prosecutor.

Ed Martin has won his share of controversy over some of the moves he made while serving as interim US attorney for DC, especially related to the J6 prosecutions. CNN reported that the former prosecutors are calling on the disciplinary office for DC attorneys to launch an investigation into Martin.

Martin, who has been serving in the post on an interim basis since Trump returned to the White House, is a divisive pick for the job. After stepping into the position, he used his new powers to dismiss January 6 Capitol riot cases, fire prosecutors who were involved in the investigations, go after his and Trump’s political adversaries, and launch internal reviews in an attempt to find misconduct within the office.

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President Donald Trump has reached a deal with five law firms that were accused of illegal hiring practices and political discrimination.

The settlement will allow them to avoid punishing executive orders in exchange for hundreds of millions in free legal services.

The deal represents a massive win for Trump.

The president leveraged White House sanctions, which has sent dozens of massive law firms scrambling to kiss the ring and cut deals with the Trump administration.

Law firms Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling US LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and Latham & Watkins LLP have all agreed to provide $125 million each in free legal work.

The legal services will be used for causes ranging from representing veterans to fighting anti-Semitism.

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A federal judge on Friday ordered President Donald Trump’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to unfreeze federal funding to Maine, as the administration continues to battle the Democrat-run state over transgender athletes.

District Court Judge John Woodcock issued a temporary restraining order in the case brought by Maine against the USDA, although he noted his order does not weigh in on the larger dispute surrounding Maine allowing trans-identifying males on female sports teams and in female spaces.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on April 2 that the agency had begun freezing federal funds to Maine because of Democrat Gov. Janet Mills’ refusal to bar transgender-identifying boys from competing in girls’ sports. The USDA said it paused distribution of funds after sending multiple requests to Mills urging her to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order and Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities receiving federal funding.

“You cannot openly violate federal law against discrimination in education and expect federal funding to continue unabated,” Rollins said in the letter. “Your defiance of federal law has cost your state, which is bound by Title IX in educational programming. Today, I am freezing Maine’s federal funds for certain administrative and technological functions in schools.”

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The Trump DOJ opposed requests in alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s motion for additional relief.

On Friday, US District Judge of the US District Court for the District of Maryland, Paula Xinis set a new hearing in the case of alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia after the Supreme Court ruled the US must facilitate his return from El Salvador.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, photo via Murray Osorio PLLC immigration law firm.

The US Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the US to facilitate the return of alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

The ruling was unanimous. There was no dissent.

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A federal judge has upheld a Trump Administration policy that allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to carry out enforcement operations at churches and other places of worship, representing another major court victory for the administration as it seeks to accelerate its mass deportation operations.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was appointed by Trump during his first term in the White House, denied a request from more than two dozen Jewish and Christian organizations to block the policy. In a lawsuit brought forward by the groups, they argued that the policy infringes on religious freedom and was causing a drop in attendance at religious services, especially among illegal aliens who fear potential deportation.

“That evidence suggests that congregants are staying home to avoid encountering ICE in their own neighborhoods, not because churches or synagogues are locations of elevated risk,” Friedrich wrote in her ruling.

The Washington-based judge found that the plaintiffs lack standing after finding little evidence that the administration was singling out places of worship. She also rejected the claim that the policy could be blamed for drops in attendance, noting that only a handful of immigration enforcement operations have taken place in and around churches or other places of worship.

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President Donald Trump continues fighting multiple legal battles to fulfill his promises to the American people.

These battles are mostly against activist federal judges who are working overtime to stop the president from exercising his executive authority.

According to Breitbart, that was evidenced once again this week as an Obama-appointed federal judge “blocked the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants with temporary protected status (TPS) after it was revoked.”

The ruling is the latest in efforts to wage “lawfare” against Trump and his administration on the deportation front and his broader immigration policies.

It came in the wake of the Trump administration’s removal of TPS from nearly 500,000 immigrants.

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… Right now, the deportation of Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien with reported MS-13 ties who was deported to El Salvador is the latest duel between Trump and the lefty legal community. They want Trump to return this man. The liberal media reported that the Supreme Court ordered Trump to do so, but that’s not what the ruling said. It was nuanced, with key passages dedicated to how district courts overreached in this matter:

The intended scope of the term “effectuate” in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority. The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.

So, on that matter, Trump’s team took a blowtorch to this case. The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland broke down the new filings, responding to a motion for additional relief from Garcia’s wife [emphasis mine]:

Trump Administration begins noting that Court invited the Motion Garcia filed for “additional relief,” and that the relief sought seeks to micromanage diplomatic relations…It does.

Trump Administration argues the relief would violate SCOTUS directive to respect Article II authority.

Trump Administration then walks Judge through what SCOTUS actually ordered which was NOT an affirmance as she and Garcia continue to inaccurately claim. Here, Trump Administration stressed points I made earlier concerning what SCOTUS said

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The Supreme Court has interceded six times in less than three months to rein in federal judges who improperly exceeded their Article III authority and infringed on the Article II authority of President Donald Trump. Yet the high court continues to issue mealy-mouthed opinions which serve only to exacerbate the ongoing battle between the Executive and Judicial branches of government. And now there is a constitutional crisis primed to explode this week in a federal court in Maryland over the removal of an El Salvadoran — courtesy of the justices’ latest baby-splitting foray on Thursday.

On Thursday last, in Noem v. Garcia, the Supreme Court issued a short two-page order on President Trump’s application asking the justices to vacate an injunction issued by Maryland federal judge Paula Xinis. That injunction, issued on April 4, 2025, ordered the Trump Administration “to facilitate and effectuate the return of Plaintiff Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States by no later than 11:59 PM on Monday, April 7, 2025.” The lower court further held that the “preliminary relief is issued to restore the status quo and to preserve Abrego Garcia’s access to due process in accordance with the Constitution and governing immigration statutes.”

After the Fourth Circuit refused to stay Judge Xinis’ order, the Trump Administration filed an application with the Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay followed by vacatur of the injunction. In its application, the Trump Administration acknowledged that Garcia had been wrongly removed to El Salvador, agreeing that there was an order barring Garcia’s return to his native homeland. However, the Trump Administration stressed that the order also concluded Garcia, as an alien illegally present in the United States, was subject to removal under federal law — just not to El Salvador. The immigration judge also rejected Garcia’s petition for asylum and for withholding of removal under CAT, or the Convention Against Torture. The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld those decisions.

Further, while Garcia had been wrongly removed to El Salvador, the Trump Administration argued that Judge Xinis lacked the authority to order him to “facilitate and effectuate” Garcia’s return. First, it was not for a federal judge to tell the Executive branch how to engage in diplomatic relations. And second, the president lacks the ability to control a foreign sovereign, making it impossible for him to “effectuate” Garcia’s return to the United States. Finally, Judge Xinis’ order improperly directs the Trump Administration to admit Garcia even though he is a member of MS-13, which has been designated a terrorist organization.

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How was she not required to recuse herself? Clearly it is naked conflict of interest.

Federal Judge Orders Trump Admin To Resume Funding Left-Wing Immigration Groups—Including Her Former Employer

Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin’s work for Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto could fuel calls for her recusal