update - Abrego Garcia re files habeas corpus to block DHS deportation to Uganda

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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has put a stop to further expansion of the immigration detention center built in the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz, ordering that its operations wind down within two months.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami wrote in her 82-page order late Thursday that Florida officials never sufficiently explained why an immigration detention center needed to be located in the middle of sensitive wetlands cherished by environmentalists and outdoors people.




She also said that state and federal authorities never undertook an environmental review as required by federal law before Florida officials hastily built the detention camp which they championed as a model for President Donald Trump's immigration policies. That failure adversely affected the “recreational, conservational, and aesthetic interests” of the environmental groups and Miccosukee Tribe which brought the lawsuit, she said.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday reacted to the ruling, saying he would not be deterred by “an activist judge.”

“We knew this would be something that would likely happen,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Panama City. "We will respond accordingly. You either have a country or you don’t.”

Here’s what to know about the situation and what might come next:

What did the judge say?

Williams said she expected the population at the facility to drop within 60 days by transferring detainees to other facilities. Once that happens, fencing, lighting, gas, waste, generators and other equipment should be removed from the site. No additional detainees can be sent to the facility, and no more additional lighting, fencing, paving, buildings or tents can be added to the camp. The only repairs that can be made to the existing facility are for safety purposes. However, the judge allowed for the existing dormitories and housing to stay in place as long as they are maintained to prevent deterioration or damage.




Here's where detainees might end up

During court hearings, lawyers said at one point there were fewer than 1,000 detainees at the facility, which state officials had planned to hold up to 3,000 people. Although the detainees could be sent to other facilities out of state, Florida has other immigration detention centers including the Krome North Processing Center in Miami, the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach and the Baker County Detention Center managed by the local sheriff's office. Earlier this month, DeSantis announced plans for a second state-initiated immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot” at a state prison about 43 miles (69 kilometers) west of downtown Jacksonville. State officials say it is expected to hold 1,300 immigration detention beds, though that capacity could be expanded to 2,000 beds.

How does this decision impact the other “Alligator Alcatraz” lawsuit?


Civil rights lawyers had filed a second lawsuit over practices at “Alligator Alcatraz,” claiming that detainees weren't able to meet with their attorneys privately and were denied access to immigration courts. Another federal judge in Miami dismissed part of the lawsuit earlier this week after the Trump administration designated the Krome North Processing Center as the court for their cases to be heard. The judge moved the remaining counts of the case from Florida's southern district to the middle district. Eunice Cho, the lead attorney for the detainees, said Friday that the decision in the environmental lawsuit won't have an impact on the civil rights case since there could be detainees at the facility for the next two months.

FILE - President Donald Trump tours "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, on July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)© The Associated Press
“Our case addresses the lack of access to counsel for people detained at Alligator Alcatraz, and there are still people detained there,” Cho said.

Status of the hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts

No one has said publicly what will happen to the hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts involved in the facility. DeSantis' administration in July signed contracts with private vendors to pay at least $245 million to set up and run the center, according to a public database. That amount — to be fronted by Florida taxpayers — was in line with the $450 million a year officials have estimated the facility was going to cost. The governor's office and the Florida Division of Emergency Management on Friday didn't respond to questions about whether Florida taxpayers would still be on the hook for the contracts if the facility is shuttered



Is this a final decision?

No. This case will continue to be litigated. The state of Florida filed a notice of appeal Thursday night, shortly after the ruling was issued. As its name suggests, a preliminary injunction is only an initial action taken by a judge to prevent harm while a lawsuit makes its way through the court process and when it appears that one side has a good chance of succeeding based on the merits of the case.


A judge has ordered 'Alligator Alcatraz' in Florida to wind down operations. What happens now?

 

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Hours after a judge ruled against acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and deemed her unlawfully in her position, she appeared on Fox News to lambast “rogue” members of the judiciary, and warned they should be “respecting the president.”

Habba, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, has been embroiled in a chaotic power struggle at the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Jersey, after the president unsuccessfully attempted to nominate her to serve as the state’s top prosecutor .





In July, New Jersey’s federal trial judges attempted to replace Habba with their own nominee as her 120-day term as acting U.S. Attorney came to an end. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi intervened to keep Habba in the acting role for an additional 210 days.

But on Thursday, New Jersey federal Judge Matthew Brann ruled that Habba could not preside over criminal cases, declaring her to be acting “without lawful authority.”

Hours later, Habba joined Fox News host Sean Hannity to complain about “rogue” judges who have ruled against the Trump administration. Without naming names, she declared that judges who do not allow the president to do what he wants are being defiant.

“We will not fall to rogue judges, we will not fall to people trying to be political when they should just be doing their job, respecting the president,” Habba declared. The Independent has asked Habba’s office for comment.




Judges are not obligated to follow the president’s demands, and operate independently of the executive branch.

However the Trump administration has misrepresented the role of judges, and the president has put immense pressure on the judiciary by pushing the bounds of his authority.

More than 200 lawsuits have been filed across the U.S. in response to Trump’s executive orders with at least 119 facing partial or total blocks. That includes Trump’s efforts to get rid of birthright citizenship, make dramatic cuts to the federal workforce, and restrict access to voting.

Trump has called out judges by name on his social media accounts when he disagrees with their rulings.

In March, Trump called District Judge James Boasberg a “radical left lunatic” and called for his impeachment after he questioned the government for not complying with his previous order halting deportation flights. Soon after, Boasberg’s family, including his daughter, became the target of attacks online.

Habba represented the president in several court cases, including a defamation trial with E. Jean Carroll and a fraud trial with the state of New York – both of which she lost (Getty Images)
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized the importance of an independent judiciary earlier this year. The justice later denounced Trump and his allies for calling for Boasberg’s impeachment, saying it was “not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”





Judge John C. Coughenour, the first judge to block the administration’s attempts to unilaterally end birthright citizenship, was the victim of “SWATing” – when an anonymous tipster calls in a fake threat of violence, sending a swarm of law enforcement to someone’s home.

The Federal Judges Association, a voluntary group of more than 1,000 judges across the nation, said the judiciary plays a "critical role in preserving democracy and a law-abiding society,” in a statement to NPR. “Judges must be able to do their jobs without fear of violence or undue influence,” they added.

In his ruling against Habba on Thursday, District Court Judge Matthew Brann said she was “not currently qualified” to carry out the duties of the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey and therefore should be “disqualified” from participating in cases.

Brann’s ruling came after a criminal defendant in New Jersey questioned whether his case could move forward with Habba as acting U.S. Attorney. Habba’s unclear status as the lead prosecutor in New Jersey has thrown the office into chaos, with some state prosecutors admitting in court that upcoming trials may have been adjourned.


For Habba to become U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, she would need to be confirmed by the Senate, but that is unlikely to occur. Both of New Jersey’s senators, who are Democrats, have strongly opposed her nomination.

While Brann said he found Habba’s authority to be unlawful, he did not enforce any immediate action, to allow the government to appeal his order.

“We will win, we always do, it just takes time,” Habba, who has lost several cases while representing Trump, told Hannity.


Fresh off another court loss, Alina Habba says judges should be ‘respecting the president’

 

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A 2019 U.S. Supreme Court ruling is facing renewed criticism as a redistricting battle unfolds in Texas. With Democrats fleeing the state to block a Republican-led vote, critics argue the Court’s hands-off approach to partisan gerrymandering has opened the door to political manipulation — especially for minority communities.

Supreme Court ruling


The court ruled they have no authority to decide cases involving gerrymandering. (Adam Michael Szuscik Zu/Unsplash)© Knewz (CA)
In Rucho v. Common Cause, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5–4 decision that federal courts have no authority to decide cases involving partisan gerrymandering. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts called such disputes “political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts.” In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan warned that the decision would leave democracy vulnerable, noting, “Of all times to abandon the Court’s duty to declare the law, this was not the one.”

Supreme Court steps back


Redistricting is now left to the states. (MEGA)© Knewz (CA)
Since the Rucho ruling, federal courts have stepped aside on redistricting cases, placing more power in the hands of state lawmakers. In partisan states, this has paved the way for one-party control over election maps, with little federal oversight. While the Court recognized that gerrymandering contradicts democratic ideals, the decision shifted responsibility to the political process. That shift is now playing out in real time in Texas, where redistricting is shaping the political landscape.

The consequences


Dozens of Texas Democrats fled to Illinois to block a GOP redistricting vote. (MEGA)© Knewz (CA)
In protest of a GOP redistricting plan, dozens of Texas Democrats, led by Representative Gene Wu, left the state for Illinois to block a vote in the Texas House. Their goal is to stop a vote on a congressional map they argue would strengthen Republican control in Washington. Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded by petitioning the state Supreme Court to remove Rep. Wu from office. “There must be consequences,” Abbott said in a statement alongside the petition.

Texas Governor’s warning


Abbott warned those who fled to return. (MEGA)© Knewz (CA)
Abbott escalated his criticism of the lawmakers who fled, warning of formal action if they failed to return. “I made clear in a formal statement on Sunday, August 3, that if the Texas House Democrats were not in attendance when the House reconvened at 3 p.m. on Monday, August 4, then action would be taken to seek their removal. They have not returned and have not met the quorum requirements. … Representative Wu and the other Texas House Democrats have shown a willful refusal to return, and their absence for an indefinite period of time deprives the House of the quorum needed to meet and conduct business on behalf of Texans.”

The Supreme Court's hands are tied on gerrymandering

 

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https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article311564254.html

Alligator Alcatraz contractors have links to allegations of fraud, price-gouging By Shirsho Dasgupta August 22, 2025

Five of the contractors Florida has employed to build and operate Alligator Alcatraz ⁠— the controversial immigration detention site in the Everglades ⁠— have links to allegations of improper business practices and misuse of public funds, a Miami Herald review of legal records found. One of the firms allegedly allowed armed Mexican nationals with no legal immigration status to be brought into the United States by a subcontractor to provide security for its work in building a border wall as part of a federal contract. Another recently agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement addressing allegations that it had sold to the U.S. federal government products made in prohibited countries like China. A third shares top executives with two businesses that were accused by ex-employees of filing inflated hurricane insurance claims in federally-declared disaster areas.

The findings raise questions about the DeSantis administration’s vetting of the companies that received Alligator Alcatraz contracts, all of which were granted under the terms of an emergency order Gov. Ron DeSantis first issued in 2023, declaring an illegal immigration emergency. The order grants the state executive sweeping powers to suspend any regulation or rule that may slow down response to an emergency, including the process of awarding contracts. The DeSantis administration described the process for soliciting contractors in general but did not answer when asked whether these same contractors would be tasked with operating “Deportation Depot” ⁠— a newly announced detention facility in a currently-shuttered prison in north Florida.

The Herald’s reporting is based on court and corporate documents, campaign finance and lobbying data and the nearly three-dozen contracting records and purchase orders downloaded before the state replaced them with documents with significantly less detail. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office and the Florida Division of Emergency Management did not answer the Herald’s detailed questions about the allegations surrounding the contractors and what kind of background checks or audits were performed before awarding the contracts. The Division of Emergency Management only said that the initial contract records were replaced on the public-facing portal because they “included proprietary information that shouldn’t have been uploaded.”

SLSCO and Garner Environmental Services SLSCO, a Galveston, Texas-based business the DeSantis administration tasked with constructing and maintaining Alligator Alcatraz, had previously been awarded $1.4 billion in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracts to build President Trump’s border wall in 2019. A former FBI Special Agent and an ex-San Diego County Sheriff’s deputy hired to oversee security at the border wall construction site sued SLSCO in a Southern California federal court the following year. The suit, filed anonymously, accused the firm of “knowingly permitting and actively facilitating the crossing of the U.S.-Mexico border by armed Mexican nationals into the United States” during the construction project.

It alleged that SLSCO and its subcontractor used these “unvetted workers” as guards in “sensitive and lightly-secured areas” at the construction site. The two former law enforcement officials alleged that one of SLSCO’s subcontractors had even cleared a dirt road to allow easy access from Mexico into the United States. They also alleged that senior managers were aware of these violations of the contract agreements as well as federal immigration and firearm laws and “attempted to hide this misconduct” by pressuring the former FBI agent to not disclose the issues to the Army Corps of Engineers. Things escalated in July 2019 when there was a shootout on the American side of the border between the Mexicans employed as guards and other Mexican nationals who had crossed over to steal property, the lawsuit states. The two officials’ lost their jobs later that year, in what they viewed as retaliation from the company for resisting internal pressure and filing reports to the Army Corps anyway.

The suit alleges that a few months before suing SLSCO in early 2020, the two had also shared details with the FBI. The court docket shows the former FBI agent and sheriff’s deputy moved in January 2021 to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning they can bring the suit again at a later date.

In 2024, a New York City audit found SLSCO repeatedly charged the city high rates for operating its shelters for asylum seekers. It noted that in one instance the company charged hourly rates that were 237% more than a similar contract for another firm. In another instance, SLSCO billed the city almost double what other contractors charged.

That audit also cites Garner Environmental Services, another firm tasked with constructing Alligator Alcatraz, for charging more than other businesses contracting with New York or even the salary rates of city employees. “[H]iring new full-time civil service staff would always be more cost effective than paying Garner and SLSCO for their contracted-out staff,” the report concluded.

SLSCO said in a statement that the allegations in the New York City audit and those surrounding the border wall were “thoroughly investigated and found to be without merit, and SLS was cleared of any wrongdoing.” When asked, the firm did not provide any evidence of the investigations and their conclusions mentioned in its statement.

Garner Environmental Services did not respond to the Herald’s requests for comment.

IRG Global Emergency Management IRG Global Emergency Management, a company based out of Conroe ⁠— a city 40-miles north of Houston, Texas ⁠— inked a $2.9 million deal on June 23 with Florida to provide transportation vehicles for Alligator Alcatraz. It contributed $10,000 to the Florida GOP the next day. On June 26, it signed another contract worth $2.2 million to provide “onsite emergency services” and “armory systems and materials” for the site.

IRG Global was registered to do business in Florida in February 2025. Among its executives at the time of registration were Domenico and Guiseppe Gagliano. Two other companies that counted the Gaglianos among their executives and share the same office address as IRG Global were at the center of a late 2023 federal lawsuit in Houston. The companies, Global Estimating Services and Access Restoration Services, were sued by more than a dozen former employees who alleged they had not been paid bonuses worth thousands of dollars. The employees also alleged that the two companies — which go by GES and ARS — had used them as pawns in a plan with a Texas law firm to file inflated insurance claims in federally-declared disaster areas.

The employees stated that while working as field inspectors in Florida, Texas and Louisiana, they would travel to sites of property loss to document the damage but the inspection was limited to just what they observed without trying to determine whether it was disaster-related or not. GES, they said, also instructed them to “document non-covered, unrelated property damage,” and keep the scope descriptions uncharacteristically vague. Contrary to popular practice, they said they were prohibited from communicating with the insurance carriers. The employees alleged that at times they would be paid by ARS despite being officially employed by GES and while in Florida, they were “required to fill out ARS timesheets bearing the ARS logo.” Data recorded by the former employees would be used, the lawsuit states, by “GES and ARS to formulate estimates for substantial hurricane and storm damage.” The Texas law firm, the ex-employees’ complaint stated, would then use those “inflated estimates” to “prosecute claims against national insurers.”

GES and IRS denied any wrongdoing. The case ended in a settlement in April this year. ARS had previously sued the Texas law firm in 2023. But the incident has led to a flurry of lawsuits leaving hundreds of homeowners waiting on claims to finish their repairs while the courts sort out the legal mess.

IRG Global Emergency Management, the contractor that is working on Alligator Alcatraz, said that it has “no involvement or connection” in the legal matter of GES and that IRG and ARS are “separate legal entities.” ARS also said it had “no involvement whatsoever” in formulating the estimates used in the insurance claims. “Any reporting that suggests ARS is connected to these matters would be categorically false,” ARS said in a statement to the Herald.

IRG Global did not respond after the Herald shared corporation documents showing the company listed the same offices and common executives as GES and ARS. ARS and IRG Global removed the Gaglianos from company paperwork in Florida and Texas roughly two weeks later. IRG Global and ARS were contracted by Florida even before Alligator Alcatraz was in the works.

In mid-June this year, Florida awarded a contract worth roughly $19 million to IRG Global to fly Americans out of Israel amid the country’s conflict with Iran. ARS contributed at least $99,000 to Gov. DeSantis’ reelection campaign in 2022 and the same amount separately to the state Republican Party the next year, campaign finance records show.

That year, ARS was also involved in the DeSantis administration’s efforts to fly migrants to Democrat-leaning cities and states. When the DeSantis administration looked to book more flights, it turned to ARS and GardaWorld. Miami GardaWorld and CDW. Also part of this effort to fly migrants to more liberal cities was another company that is providing administrative support services to Alligator Alcatraz ⁠— Canadian multinational defense and security conglomerate, GardaWorld.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article311564254.html#storylink=cpy

 

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A judge ruled late Friday the Trump administration cannot deny funding to Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and 30 other cities and counties because of policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration efforts.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco extended a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from cutting off or conditioning the use of federal funds for so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions. His earlier order protected more than a dozen other cities and counties, including San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.



An email to the White House late Friday was not immediately returned. In his ruling, Orrick said the administration had offered no opposition to an extended injunction except to say the first injunction was wrong. It has appealed the first order.

Orrick also blocked the administration from imposing immigration-related conditions on two particular grant programs.

The Trump administration has ratcheted up pressure on sanctuary communities as it seeks to make good on President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to remove millions of people in the country illegally.

One executive order issued by Trump directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to withhold federal money from sanctuary jurisdictions. Another order directs every federal agency to ensure that payments to state and local governments do not “abet so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.”




The cities and counties that sued said billions of dollars were at risk.

Orrick, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, said the executive orders and the “executive actions that have parroted them” were an unconstitutional “coercive threat.”

In May, the Department of Homeland Security published a list of more than 500 “sanctuary jurisdictions,” saying each one would receive formal notification that the government had deemed them noncompliant. It also said it would inform them if they were believed to be in violation of any federal criminal statutes.

The list was later removed from the department’s website after critics noted it included localities that have actively supported the administration’s tough immigration policies.

The Justice Department has also sued New York, Los Angeles and other cities over their sanctuary policies.

There is no strict definition for sanctuary cities, but the terms generally describe places that limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE enforces immigration laws nationwide but seeks help from state and local authorities to identify immigrants wanted for deportation and hold them for federal officers.

Sudhin Thanawala, The Associated Press

Judge blocks Trump from cutting funding from 34 cities and counties over ‘sanctuary’ policies

 

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Pentagon fires heads of Navy Reserve, Naval Special Warfare Command

Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore and Rear Adm. Milton “Jamie” Sands were relieved of command, in the latest firing of senior military officials.

taskandpurpose.com

Pentagon fires heads of Navy Reserve, Naval Special Warfare Command

Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore and Rear Adm. Milton “Jamie” Sands were removed from leadership positions after just a year on the job.


Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth fired two more senior military officials, relieving the heads of the Navy Reserve and Naval Special Warfare Command of their positions.


A Navy official confirmed the firings to Task & Purpose. Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, and Rear Adm. Milton “Jamie ” Sands III, head of Naval Special Warfare Command, had each been in their leadership roles for a year. USNI News first reported on their removals.

No reason for the firings was given by the Navy official. They were the latest in a string of high-profile firings in the Department of Defense on Aug. 22.

Their firing comes the same day that Hegseth fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Kruse was dismissed for a “loss of confidence,” the Washington Post first reported, the usual term used by the military to cover a variety of reasons for a relief of command. The Department of Defense’s official comment was a terse statement that Kruse “will no longer serve as DIA Director.” Kruse was the second senior Air Force general to be fired or announce they were leaving their post this week; Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin announced he would retire, although several outlets reported he was being forced out.


Along with Allvin and the firings this week, several top military officers were removed from their positions once the Trump administration began. In February, Trump and Hegseth fired several of the top military leaders, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr., Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and the Air Force’s second in command, Gen. James Slife. Additional firings since have included the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and the head of U.S. Cyber Command.


The chief of naval operations position sat vacant for almost half a year until Adm. Daryl Caudle was confirmed by the Senate at the end of July. It is not immediately clear who will take over for Lacore or Sands.

 

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For many workers or organizations reliant on the federal government, President Donald Trump’s return to office has meant jobs, funding and entire agencies slashed, as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claims to have cut $202 billion.

But one industry has seen exponential growth — and expects even more to come: immigration detention.




“Private prison companies have been so giddy since last November, about the prospect of making billions of dollars at the expense of every American,” Stacy Suh, director at Detention Watch Network, told The Independent.

And the companies made sure to help Trump get elected.

America’s two leading detention companies, Geo Group and CoreCivic, were among the Trump campaign’s most notable donors last year, with executives and subsidiaries donating a total of $2.7 million to the president’s campaign and associated political action committees.

CoreCivic even bestowed over $500,000 towards Trump’s inauguration this year, while Geo Group contributed to his 2016 inauguration fund.

Trump’s Big, Beautiful, Bill set aside an unprecedented $45 billion for ICE to boost immigration detention. As the two largest detention powerhouses in the U.S., both Geo Group and CoreCivic stand to win big.





As soon as Trump won the election last November, CoreCivic’s share price saw a huge spike, nearly doubling from $13.63 per share to $22.13 per share in just one week.

GeoGroup’s share price jumped from $15.13 to $25.05 in the same post-election period.

This is likely because the privately-run facilities house 86 percent of the detained immigrant population, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

Yet just 6 percent of Americans believe that ICE detention centers should be run privately, an exclusive poll for The Independent can reveal, with the majority saying facilities should be run by federal or state governments, according to Prolific.

Over 60,000 people are currently held in immigration detention across the U.S., according to ICE records seen by The New York Times.

That number has already jumped by 54 percent since Trump’s return, with average detention populations under the Biden administration around 39,000, according to TRAC.



Immigrant Detention Leavenworth (AP)
But though the government may determine their future, the 20 largest ICE detention centers are all operated by private companies, according to TRAC’s data in January.

GeoGroup and CoreCivic are the leading operators, both in terms of facilities operated and their capacity. Other private firms, like Lasalle Corrections and Management & Training Corporation (MTC), also have contracts to run ICE facilities.




CoreCivic runs the biggest detention centre in the country — Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez, Missouri, with over 2,100 detainees on average each day. The new federal facility at Fort Bliss may soon take the cake, however, with a capacity of 5,000 people.

Both CoreCivic and GeoGroup provide both traditional prison incarceration services, and immigration detention services, to federal and state governments.

But with a slowdown in incarceration and greater focus on rehabilitation in recent years, prison contracts have been drying up — and increased immigration detention contracts has become more foundational to their business models.

One of Trump’s first actions in office was also to end the Biden-era ban on private prison providers, allowing companies like GeoGroup and CoreCivic to once again contract with the Department of Justice.


When asked for comment about its reliance on punitive policies by the new administration to build its business, CoreCivic noted that it does not enforce immigration laws, or arrest anyone, or have any say over an individual’s deportation — but it acknowledged that Trump’s policies does provide it with growth opportunities.

“As the current administration is exploring all options available to them to address the increasing demand for detention services and capacity, we expect that those options will include the high-quality solutions CoreCivic provides,” Ryan Gustin, director of Public Affairs at CoreCivic, told The Independent.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for GeoGroup told The Independent that “simply put, our facilities are never overcrowded.”

But Freedom of Information Act requests by TRAC last month revealed that several facilities run by GeoGroup were significantly overcapacity on at least one day this year.

This includes GeoGroup’s Pine Prairie processing centre in Louisiana, which has a contractual maximum of 500 people but held 1,311 detainees at some point in 2025.

(Google)
Immigration operations make up over a third of revenue for both Geo Group and Core Civic, latest financial reports show, making ICE their largest governmental partner.

“We are proud of the role our company has played for 40 years to support [ICE’s] law enforcement mission, over seven different Presidential Administrations,” a GEO Group spokesperson told The Independent.


Geo Group has been awarded nearly $8 billion in federal contracts over successive governments, according to the federal database, in addition to state contracts.

Over half of this ($4.4 billion) was awarded by ICE for immigration detention services.

Meanwhile CoreCivic has been awarded over $8.3 billion in federal contracts over time, with a quarter ($2 billion) of those being ICE contracts to run detention facilities.

“ICE's budget now is larger than many militaries around the world, while our hospitals and schools remain underfunded, and people are losing their access to health care and food benefits,” said Suh.

The Independent contacted ICE for comment for this article but did not get a response.

Federal contracts from ICE have been steadily increasing since Trump’s first term (with for a brief time during the peak of the pandemic), according to the federal spending database, rising from $137.5 million awarded in 2016 to $463.4 million in 2025 so far.


ICE contracts awarded since January alone include $353.5 million to GeoGroup, $148 million to CoreCivic, and $313 million to CSI Aviation — ICE’s deportation flight contractor.

“There is more and more incentivization to cage people in immigration detention. The more people that they detain, the more their business grows,” Suh said. “Financial Incentives are really the bedrock of incarceration.”

And now, documents seen by The Washington Post reveal that ICE is planning to more than double detention capacity, from around 50,000 to more than 107,000 by January 2026.

These plans include opening or expanding 125 facilities before the end of the year – with over $1 billion in contracts each year between CoreCivic and GeoGroup, according to the Post’s analysis of ICE documents.

Already, both detention giants have seen a flood of new or amended contracts and have opened up new facilities to expand their capacity.


What’s more, ICE has issued nine of these contracts without allowing competitive bids, citing a national emergency at the Mexico border — meaning that CoreCivic secured the deal to reopen its contentious Leavenworth facility without competition, according to PBS.

“We stay in regular contact with ICE and all our government partners to understand their changing needs, and we work within their established procurement processes. It is our policy to respect these processes,” Gustin told The Independent of CoreCivic’s contracts.



(AFP/Getty)
Since January alone, several facilities have been opened up to hold more immigrants in detention as ICE ramps up its raids.

In the Michigan town of Baldwin, former prison North Lake Correctional Facility has now reopened as an immigration center operated by Geo Group, to the tune of $70 million in annual revenue. The 1,800-bed facility opened in June despite facing significant pushback from residents and local protests.


And just last week, a tense dispute broke out at a local board meeting in Mason, Tennessee, over the reopening of a CoreCivic facility as an immigration detention center. Residents crowded the meeting and chanted outside in protest of the contract, which was ultimately approved, according to reports in the Tennessee Lookout.



Nebraska Detention Center (AP)
“If ICE expansion plans are fully realized, that's a massive shift in resources. It’s also a massive transformation in the very fabric of American society and how it operates,” Suh told The Independent.

“Communities across the country are rightly outraged about detention expansion happening on their doorstep. People are saying, ‘No, we don't want detention in our community. We don't want our neighbors to be torn apart away from their loved ones’.”

They donated millions to Trump — now, ICE detention providers are reaping the rewards

 

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Donald Trump threatened to investigate Chris Christie, reviving a 2013 political scandal after the former New Jersey Governor criticized him during a Sunday interview on ABC News.

Hours after Christie appeared on This Week on Sunday, Trump fired back with a veiled threat against his former ally-turned-2024 GOP presidential rival, dredging up “Bridgegate.”



In 2013, Christie’s aides ordered the abrupt lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, causing massive traffic jams to allegedly punish a local Democratic mayor who refused to endorse him.

Christie was never charged and denies any knowledge of the incident. While two top aides were convicted of fraud and conspiracy, the Supreme Court overturned those convictions in 2020.

“I just watched Sloppy Chris Christie be interviewed on a ratings challenged ‘News’ Show, ‘This Week With George Slopadopolus,’ on ABC Fake News,” Trump wrote Sunday evening on Truth Social, before taking a jab at co-anchor Jonathan Karl’s hair.

“Do you remember the way he lied about the dangerous and deadly closure of the George Washington Bridge in order to stay out of prison, at the same time sacrificing people who worked for him, including a young mother, who spent years trying to fight off the vicious charges against her,” Trump continued.




“Chris refused to take responsibility for these criminal acts. For the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”

During Sunday’s interview, Christie expressed concern about the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and the FBI’s raid on the home of former national security adviser John Bolton.

He shared skepticism about Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s questioning of Ghislaine Maxwell after the Justice Department released the transcript on Friday.



Christie expressed concern over the FBI's raid on the Maryland home and office of former national security adviser John Bolton (ABC News/This Week)
Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker and Epstein’s former confidant, said that she did not hear from Epstein that Trump did anything inappropriate and offered a glowing review of Trump.

“She might as well have taken out Donald Trump, or President Trump, and said, ‘The man who can pardon me has never done anything wrong. The man who can pardon me has always been wonderful,’” Christie said.




In the wake of the recent FBI searches of Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington office, Christie also claimed that the president has been following through on his 2024 campaign promises to seek retribution against his political rivals.

“He told you he was going to do this, that he was going to have a Justice Department that acted as his personal legal representation, and that is what they’re doing,” Christie said.

It was not immediately clear what aspect of Christie’s appearance on This Week had led Trump to threaten him.

The clash comes as the president deepened his feud with Maryland’s Democratic Governor Wes Moore, threatening to cancel funding for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, destroyed by a ship strike last year.

Trump indicated in another Truth Social post that disaster relief funding would be wielded as a political weapon against any state or local leaders who dared challenge him.


“I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge,” Trump said on Sunday, which isn’t true. Trump wasn’t president in 2024, when full federal funding for the project was allocated during government funding negotiations.

“I will now have to rethink that decision???,” he continued.

Trump threatens to criminally prosecute ‘sloppy Chris Christie’ over Bridgegate scandal

 

[mandrill]

donald Trump deepened his feud with Maryland’s Democratic governor on Sunday and threatened to cancel funding for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was destroyed by a ship strike last year.

The Republican president made no attempt to offer a reason for his threat other than his own political differences with Wes Moore, Maryland’s governor and the only Black leader of a U.S. state.





Instead, the president made clear in a Truth Social post that disaster relief funding would be wielded as a political weapon against any state or local leaders who dared challenge him.

“I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge,” Trump said on Sunday, which isn’t true. He wasn’t president in 2024, when full federal funding for the project was allocated during government funding negotiations.

He continued: “I will now have to rethink that decision???”

The post came in response to Moore’s invitation to the president to walk the city of Baltimore.

Moore attempted to extend an olive branch to the president with his invitation last week, which came amid Trump’s threats to extend his federal takeover of Washington, D.C. to other cities with Democratic leadership and large Black populations.

“Donald Trump, if you are not willing to walk our communities, keep our name out of your mouth,” Moore said last week.





But Trump wasn’t having it.

In a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday, he claimed the governor’s record on “crime” is “a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other ‘Blue States’ are doing.”

He said he would send in “troops” like he did in Los Angeles to “quickly clean up the Crime.”

“When it is like that in Baltimore, I will proudly ‘walk the streets’ with the failing, because of Crime, Governor of Maryland,” he wrote.

The White House announced earlier in August that it was federalizing Washington, D.C.’s police force and deploying the National Guard and agents from multiple federal law enforcement agencies on the streets of the nation’s capital. The purpose was ostensibly to combat a crime wave, though the administration’s explanation has shifted between fighting crime and beautification measures. After a few days, control of the police was returned to city leaders.




National Guard troops remain across D.C., however, and federal agents continue to patrol city streets. The president said on Friday that he was looking to expand his efforts to other cities led by Democrats, though legal restrictions over the deployment of the Guard will likely hinder that plan.

Moore, like other Democratic governors, has said that he will refuse to authorize the deployment of Maryland’s National Guard troops for crimefighting efforts in Baltimore.

But Sunday’s post from the president is an indication he could attempt to use Department of Transportation and FEMA disaster relief funding as a means of enticing Democratic governors to do his bidding.

“It's interesting the president seems to be more concerned about my future than he is about the future of the American people, and that's why I'm asking him to keep his focus,” Moore told CBS Face the Nation when asked about Trump’s remarks about the governor’s possible presidential ambitions.


“Focus on the things that actually matter right now, which is the fact that his economic policies are driving up prices on everything from electronics, to the clothes that we wear, to the food that we eat,” Moore said. “Talk about the fact that he has immigration policies that are knocking out tens of thousands of jobs in the state of Maryland. Talk about the fact that you are about to kick veterans and seniors off of health care. Don't worry about my future. Worry about theirs.”

After his appearance on the show on Sunday, Moore fired back at Trump’s

“President Bone Spurs will do anything to get out of walking — even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we’re making on public safety in Maryland,” Moore wrote, referencing the president’s medical deferment that exempted him from being drafted into military service during the Vietnam War.

“Hey Donald, we can get you a golf cart if that makes things easier,” Moore wrote. “Just let my team know.”

A cargo ship, now removed, pictured under the remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after causing its destruction in 2024 (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)© (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, named after the poet who penned “The Star-Spangled Banner,” was a Baltimore landmark for decades. Its destruction in 2024, the result of a cargo ship losing power and steering into a support column, also caused the deaths of a work crew who were performing maintenance on the bridge in the late evening hours when the incident took place.


The closure of that stretch of Maryland’s I-695 beltway continues to disrupt transit around Baltimore and had immediate and significant effects on the state economy. The destruction shuttered the Port of Baltimore for 11 weeks, at a staggering economic impact estimated around $15 million per day.

In a separate post on Truth Social the president questioned whether Moore, who served in the Army, lied about being awarded a Bronze Star.

Moore was awarded a Bronze Star last year for meritorious service; Army officials acknowledged that the mixup was a result of paperwork not being properly processed, not deception on Moore’s part.

The governor fired back in a post on X, writing: “Did Donald Trump, the President of the United States, lie about an injury to dodge the Vietnam draft?”


Trump threatens to cut off Key bridge repair money after Maryland governor tells him to keep National Guard out of Baltimore

 

[mandrill]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The federal government over the weekend asked a judge in Miami to put on hold her ruling ordering the winding down of an immigration detention center built by the state of Florida in the Everglades wilderness and nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” pending an appeal of her decision.




Attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security said in their request for a stay that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams' order last week, if carried out, would disrupt the federal government's ability to enforce immigration laws. They asked the judge to rule on their request by Monday evening.

The request came as a third lawsuit challenging practices at the facility was filed Friday by civil rights groups who claimed the state of Florida had no authority to run an immigration detention center.

In a statement supporting the request for a stay, Garrett Ripa, field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's enforcement and removal operations in Miami, said that the Everglades facility's 2,000 beds were badly needed since detention facilities in Florida were overcrowded.

“Its removal would compromise the government’s ability to enforce immigration laws, safeguard public safety, protect national security, and maintain border security,” Ripa said.


The environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, whose lawsuit led to the judge's ruling, opposed the request. They disputed in a court filing Monday that the Everglades facility was needed, especially as Florida plans to open a second immigration detention facility in north Florida which Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has dubbed, “Deportation Depot.” During a tour of the Everglades facility last week, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost was told that only a fraction of the detention center’s capacity was in use, between 300 to 350 detainees, the Democratic congressman from Orlando said in a declaration on behalf of the environmental groups.

“Defendants’ arguments for a stay are hyperbolic, disingenuous, inconsistent, untimely, unsupported by any competent evidence, and contrary to the facts,” the environmental groups' filing said.

The judge said in her order that she expected the population of the facility to decline within 60 days through the transferring of the detainees to other facilities, and once that happened, fencing, lighting and generators should be removed. She wrote the state and federal defendants can’t bring anyone other than those who are already being detained at the facility onto the property.




Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe had argued that further construction and operations should be stopped until federal and state officials complied with federal environmental laws. Their lawsuit claimed the facility threatened environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars spent over decades on environmental restoration.

The detention center was quickly built two months ago at a lightly used, single-runway training airport in the middle of the Everglades. State officials signed more than $245 million in contracts for building and operating the facility, which officially opened July 1.

President Donald Trump toured the facility last month and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration races to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.




A second lawsuit also was filed by civil rights groups last month against the state and federal governments over practices at the Everglades facility, claiming detainees were denied access to the legal system. Another federal judge in Miami last week dismissed parts of the lawsuit which had been filed in Florida's southern district and then moved the remaining counts against the state of Florida to the neighboring middle district.

Civil rights groups last Friday filed a third lawsuit over practices at the facility in federal court in Fort Myers, asking for a restraining order and a temporary injunction that would bar Florida agencies and their contractors from holding detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz.” They described “severe problems” at the facility which were “previously unheard-of in the immigration system.” Detainees were being held for weeks without any charges, they had disappeared from ICE's online detainee locator and no one at the facility was making initial custody or bond determinations, the civil rights groups said.


“Lawyers often cannot find their clients, and families cannot locate their loved ones inside ICE’s vast detention system,” the civil rights attorneys said. “Detainees have been prevented from accessing attorneys in numerous ways. Detainees without counsel have been cut off from the normal channels of obtaining a lawyer."

Immigration is a federal issue, and Florida agencies and the private contracts hired by the state have no authority to operate the facility, the civil rights groups argued in asking that their lawsuit be certified as a class action.

The civil rights attorneys described harsh conditions at the facility, including flooding, mosquitoes, lack of water and exposure to the elements as punishment. At least 100 people already have been deported from the facility, including several who were pressured to sign voluntary removal forms without being able to consult with attorneys, they said.

Feds fight to keep 'Alligator Alcatraz' open amid legal battle as 3rd challenge is filed

 

[mandrill]

President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order on Monday that will end the cashless bail system in Washington, D.C., as part of his efforts to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital, a White House official confirmed to The Independent.

The planned executive order, first reported by Axios, directs law enforcement to hold arrested individuals in federal custody whenever possible and allows the administration to withhold federal funding if officials continue using the cashless bail system.




Cashless bail aims to create a fairer legal system for low-income defendants and reduce the number of people in jail by removing cash bail as a requirement for pretrial release in some criminal defendant cases. In these instances, a judge can decide to detain a defendant only if there is evidence that a monetary bail amount is needed to ensure their presence in court or protect public safety.

But the administration believes cashless bail allows dangerous individuals to reoffend soon after being arrested, despite there being little evidence to support the claim.

“They kill people, and they get out, cashless bail. They thought it was discriminatory to make people put up money because they just killed three people lying on the street. Any street all over the country, cashless bail, we’re ending it. But we’re starting by ending it in D.C.,” Trump said while signing the executive order on Monday.




In May, D.C.’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council published a report that found fewer than 1 percent of people released ahead of their trial on violent charges were rearrested for a violent or dangerous crime.

Earlier this month, Trump lamented that cashless bail contributes to crime in D.C., which the president has characterized as out of control and rampant despite local and federal statistics showing violent crime is at more than a two-decade low.

While the cashless bail system has existed in D.C. for decades, it has had more restrictions added to it over the last few years, preventing defendants accused of various violent crimes, including sexual abuse or strangulation, from benefiting from it.

Regardless of the evidence, the president has declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital and used the statute to deploy 800 National Guard members to patrol the city and try to put the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control.



The controversial move has sparked protests in the city and outrage from Democratic lawmakers who see Trump’s attempt to control crimefighting in D.C. as an authoritarian move.

The president has pointed to other Democratic-led cities, such as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, as other examples of cities rampant with crime due to their liberal policies. Trump said last week that Chicago would likely be the next city to see an increase in federal law enforcement presence.

The president made the crackdown on crime a pillar of his agenda, consistently promising to take a tough-on-crime approach during his presidential campaign.

"When I'm re-elected, I will crack down on the left-wing jurisdictions that refuse to prosecute dangerous criminals and set loose violent felons on cashless bail,” Trump previously said.

Trump looks to end ‘cashless bail’ in DC as his crime crackdown extends to the court system

 

[mandrill]

President Donald Trump threatened to rename the Department of Defense without obtaining permission from Congress, even if it would run afoul of the law.

At an Oval Office event on Monday, Trump said he would "probably" rename the Pentagon to the Department of War in the coming days.




A reporter later pointed out that changing the name would require congressional approval.


"It requires an act of Congress to rename the Defense Department to the Department of War," the correspondent noted during an afternoon event at the White House.

"We're just going to do it," Trump replied. "I'm sure Congress will go along if we need that. I don't think we even need that. But if we need that, I'm sure Congress will go along."

"You know, that was the name when we were, we won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything," he added. "And just to me seems like just a much more appropriate. The other is defense is too defensive. And we want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too if we have to be. So it just sounded to me, but really like a better name."

Watch the video below from C-SPAN.

Watch the video at this link.

Trump threatens to defy law on renaming Defense Department: 'We're just going to do it'

 

[mandrill]

In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that burning an American flag is protected free speech under the First Amendment, but President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order that he said mandates that flag burners be prosecuted and ordered to spend one year behind bars with no possibility of parole.





Under the Constitution, presidents lack the authority to overrule the Supreme Court or mandate punishments.

The executive order, according to a Trump administration official, directs prosecution in cases that “wouldn’t fall afoul of the First Amendment.”

The order is titled, “Prosecuting Burning of the American Flag.”

“The order would not attempt to criminalize burning the American flag,” Axios reported, “but would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to review cases where the flag has been set ablaze and determine what charges could be brought under existing laws.”


It also orders the Attorney General to “prosecute people who ‘desecrate’ the American flag and to detain and remove immigrants who have been accused of such behavior,” according to The Washington Post. And it orders the Attorney General to find a case to challenge the 36-year-old 5-4 Supreme Court precedent.


Related video: Trump signs executive order targeting bail, flag burning (CBC)

Well, last hour, President Donald Trump signed two more executive



Last year, a video appeared to show Trump signing an American flag.

“This is very important,” President Trump declared in an Oval Office event surrounded by top advisors and Cabinet officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“Flag burning, all over the country, they’re burning flags,” Trump claimed. “All over the world, they burn the American flag, and as you know, through a very sad court, I guess there was a five to four decision. They called it freedom of speech, but there’s another reason, which is perhaps much more important.”

“It’s called death, ’cause what happens when you burn a flag is the area goes — it’s crazy. If you have hundreds of people, they go crazy. You can do other things, you can burn this piece of paper, you can. And it’s. But when you burn the American flag, it incites riots,” Trump claimed. “At levels that we’ve never seen before, people go crazy. In a way, both ways, there are some that are going crazy for doing it. There are others that are angry, angry about them doing it.”


'Unconstitutional': Trump under fire for pushing jail time for flag burning

The President told reporters, “the penalty is going to be, if you burn a flag, you get one year in jail, no early exits, no nothing. You get one year in jail. If you burn a flag, you get. And what it does is incite to riot.”



“You get one year in jail, and it goes on your record,” the President claimed. “And you will see flag burning stopping immediately, just like when I signed the Statue and Monument Act. Ten years in jail, have you hurt any of our beautiful monuments? Everybody left town. They were gone. Never had a problem after that. It’s pretty amazing. We stopped it.”

The President, without offering evidence, also claimed that some flag burners are simply “paid agitators, they’re paid by the radical left to do it. You talk to these people, they don’t even know half of them, don’t even know what they’re doing.”



Critics blasted the President.

“The Supreme Court ruled decades ago that burning an American flag is protected free speech,” wrote attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. “Any prosecution that is the result of this executive order is by definition unconstitutional.”

The Bulwark’s Sonny Bunch pointed to this 2015 quote form the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia:

“If it were up to me, I would put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag,” Scalia said. “But I am not king.”

“This flag burning executive order has it all,” wrote Nico Perrino, executive vice president of The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). “Symbolic expression is ‘violence’ against the nation. Heckler’s veto justifications for censorship. Misinterpretation/narrowing of the Brandenburg incitement standard. A revitalization of the ‘fighting words’ doctrine.”


In a statement, FIRE wrote: “President Trump may believe he has the power to revise the First Amendment with the stroke of a pen, but he doesn’t. Flag burning as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment. That’s nothing new.”

Constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis wrote: “Patently unconstitutional. 18 USC §700 has been void since Tex. v. Johnson (1989) and U.S. v. Eichman (1990) under the 1A. Second, there is no federal authority for an anti-flag-burning statute. The national government does not have a general police power.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

'Unconstitutional': Trump under fire for pushing jail time for flag burning

 

[mandrill]

Trump fires Fed Governor Lisa Cook, opening new front in fight for control over central bank


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook late Monday, a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.

Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is firing Cook because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the accusations last week.

FILE - Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, right, talks with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell before an open meeting of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve, June 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)© The Associated Press
Pulte alleged that Cook had claimed two primary residences -- in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Atlanta -- in 2021 to get better mortgage terms. Mortgage rates are often higher on second homes or those purchased to rent.

The announcement came days after Cook said she wouldn’t leave her post despite Trump previously calling for her to resign. The Fed's board has seven members, meaning Trump's move could have deep economic and political ramifications.




Trump said in announcing the move that he had the constitutional authority to remove Cook, but doing so will raise questions about control of the Fed as an independent entity.

The firing is likely to touch off a legal battle and Cook could be allowed to remain in her seat while the case plays out. Cook would have to fight the legal battle herself, as the injured party, rather than the Fed.

It is the latest effort by the administration to take control over one of the few remaining independent agencies in Washington. Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, for not cutting its short-term interest rate, and even threatened to fire him.

Forcing Cook off the Fed’s governing board would provide Trump an opportunity to appoint a loyalist. Trump has said he would only appoint officials who would support cutting rates.

 

[mandrill]

An appeals court panel has thrown out a criminal contempt finding against President Donald Trump’s administration. The case centered on its handling of deportations to a prison in El Salvador.
Clash over deportations


The judge found cause for contempt. (MEGA)© Knewz (CA)
The case stems from a legal standoff between the Trump administration and U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg. Despite Boasberg’s directive to return deported Venezuelan migrants to the United States, flights went ahead. They were subsequently sent to a high-security prison in El Salvador. The judge found probable cause to hold the administration in contempt. Boasberg cited what he viewed as a defiance of court authority.
Appeal court ruling


The decision wasn’t unanimous. (Wesley Tinger/Unsplash)© Knewz (CA)
In a 2-1 decision, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled that Judge Boasberg had overstepped his judicial powers. The ruling found that he had infringed on the executive branch’s authority over foreign affairs. Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, both appointed by Trump, backed the unsigned majority opinion, concluding the judge lacked the authority to intervene.
Opinions split on ruling


Judge Pillard, an Obama appointee, dissented. (Umanoide/Unsplash)© Knewz (CA)
“The district court’s order attempts to control the Executive Branch’s conduct of foreign affairs, an area in which a court’s power is at its lowest ebb,” Rao wrote. Judge Cornelia Pillard, appointed by former President Barack Obama, dissented: “The majority does an exemplary judge a grave disservice by overstepping its bounds to upend his effort to vindicate the judicial authority that is our shared trust,” she wrote.
The outcome


The 250 Venezuelan migrants were later released. (MEGA)© Knewz (CA)
The 250 Venezuelan migrants in question were eventually released from El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center as part of a prisoner swap with the U.S. The Trump administration has continued to deny any wrongdoing, arguing that Boasberg’s directive to return the planes was issued verbally in court, but not in a formal written order.



Trump admin wins in court