A federal appeals court ruled that President Donald Trump illegally invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan illegal immigrants believed to be involved in the Tren de Aragua gang.
Federal law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are intensifying efforts to dismantle the MS-13 gang following President Donald Trump’s January executive order designating transnational criminal gangs as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). MS-13, an ultra-violent international gang, was one of eight groups officially labeled an FTO in February.
A multi-agency task force arrested 16 members of the Venezuelan “Anti-Tren” gang in Houston, Texas, marking the largest FBI takedown yet of the offshoot criminal faction. The suspects, linked to the notorious Tren de Aragua terrorist group, face federal charges for drug trafficking, weapons offenses, and violent crimes, including a mass shooting.
The Trump administration sharply rebuked Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) this week for prioritizing a deported MS-13 gang member over the safety of American citizens like Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman murdered by an illegal Salvadoran national in 2023. Van Hollen has traveled to El Salvador in an attempt to return 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, despite his gang affiliations.
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) has pledged to travel to El Salvador in an attempt to secure the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 gang member who was deported under the Trump administration and is currently imprisoned in the Central American country. Van Hollen claims the man, a resident of Maryland and father of three, was “illegally abducted” from the United States.
Two federal judges have blocked the removal of gang members despite the Supreme Court's decision to vacate orders prohibiting the Trump administration from deporting migrants under the Alien Enemies Act.
