Free Republic

Donald Trump’s administration must facilitate the return of a second man wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador, a federal judge has ruled, deepening a standoff between the courts and White House over the president’s radical immigration policies. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher said Wednesday the 20-year-old Venezuelan, along with multiple other migrants, was protected by a 2024 class action settlement prohibiting the deportation of migrants who arrived as unaccompanied minors until their asylum claims are fully adjudicated. His case comes amid a mounting political row over the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran returned to his native...

Here we go again—another judge sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong, derailing President Donald Trump’s efforts to make our elections secure. A federal judge in Washington, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly — a Bill Clinton appointee — just slammed the brakes on Trump’s executive order that would’ve required proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. Trump signed the order in March, pointing out that the U.S. “fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections” compared to countries like India or Brazil, which tie voter ID to biometric databases. He’s not wrong. There's no denying that our elections are a mess, with...

On Wednesday, Judge Beryl Howell excoriated DOJ lawyers and signaled that she may permanently block President Trump from taking action against Perkins Coie. Last month, President Trump stripped security clearances of the employees at DNC law firm Perkins Coie. Recall that Hillary Clinton and the DNC paid law firm Perkins Coie more than $1 million to hire oppo research firm Fusion GPS to peddle the bogus ‘Trump-Russia’ dossier during the 2016 election. Former British spy Christopher Steele compiled over a dozen memos alleging the Russians had blackmail on Trump and that his associates were conspiring with the Kremlin to win...

A federal judge Wednesday found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for willfully disobeying his order to immediately halt deportations under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act and turn around any airborne planes. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s order gives the administration a final opportunity to come into compliance but says he otherwise will take steps to identify the specific people who flouted his March 15 ruling, which was later lifted by the Supreme Court, and refer them for prosecution.

A federal judge ruled against the Trump administration in the case that alleged fraud in a Biden-era clean energy program, unfreezing roughly $20 billion in funding meant to support projects like new solar energy arrays and efficiency upgrades for small businesses. Judge Tanya Chutkan on Tuesday ruled in favor of the eight nonprofits that sued Citibank and the Trump administration, finding that the Environmental Protection Agency unlawfully terminated the program. Chutkan ordered the congressionally appropriated funds to be unfrozen at 2 p.m. Thursday and distributed to the nonprofits they were originally intended for. The Trump administration said it will appeal....

GREENBELT, Maryland — A federal judge ordered an “intense” two-week inquiry into the Trump administration’s refusal to seek the return of a man who was wrongly deported from Maryland to a notorious prison in El Salvador. “To date, what the record shows is that nothing has been done. Nothing,” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said at a court hearing Tuesday. Xinis’ order sets up a high-stakes sprint that may force senior Trump administration officials to testify under oath about their response to court orders requiring them to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States. Each day...

It’s the latest setback to the president’s efforts to wield government power to punish the legal industry. A federal judge called it “a shocking abuse of power.”A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Trump from punishing the law firm Susman Godfrey, calling the retribution campaign he has waged from the White House against the nation’s top firms “a shocking abuse of power.”Ruling from the bench, Judge Loren L. AliKhan of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia said that the executive order Mr. Trump signed last week targeting the firm stemmed from a “personal vendetta.” Susman Godfrey represented...

A federal judge on Monday blocked President Trump’s mass cancelation of the Biden-era parole program that ushered in hundreds of thousands of migrants. US District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee in Boston, said Trump’s decision to cancel the parole program was premised on legal error. Last week Judge Talwani blocked the Trump Administration from revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants flown in on Joe Biden’s parole program. Judge Talwani said the DHS did not interpret the law properly and asserted the migrants have a right to be in the US.

GREENBELT, Maryland — An exasperated federal judge commanded the Trump administration Friday to begin providing “daily updates” on whether it is doing anything to comply with her order to return a Maryland man — illegally deported to El Salvador last month — back to the United States. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis scolded the administration for refusing to provide even “basic” details about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s location, despite her demand for an update by Friday morning.

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday lambasted a government lawyer who couldn’t explain what, if anything, the Trump administration has done to arrange for the return of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported last month to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The U.S. government attorney also struggled to provide any information about the whereabouts of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite Thursday’s ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that the Trump administration must bring him back. “Where is he and under whose authority?” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis asked in a Maryland courtroom. “I’m not asking for...

US District Judge Indira Talwani said the DHS did not interpret the law properly and asserted the migrants have a right to be in the US. The DOJ argued that the parole programs were discretionary and it is up to the government to decide when it can cut the program. Last month is was reported that President Trump was set to strip the status of 532,000 migrants living in the United States who were flown in on Joe Biden’s parole program.

A federal judge will temporarily block President Donald Trump’s administration from cutting billions in federal dollars that support COVID-19 initiatives and public health projects throughout the country. U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, appointed by Trump in 2019 but first nominated by former President Barack Obama, in Rhode Island said Thursday that she plans to grant the court order sought by 23 states and the District of Columbia.“They make a case, a strong case, for the fact that they will succeed on the merits, so I’m going to grant the temporary restraining order,” said McElroy, who plans to issue a written...

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Thursday grilled Trump administration lawyers over whether they defied a court order blocking deportations under a wartime immigration law — a potential step toward holding the administration in contempt.At issue is the administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang. Boasberg pressed Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign on why the government appeared to ignore an emergency injunction last month halting those deportations. The administration has appealed the underlying case to the Supreme Court. But for now, Boasberg is weighing...

President Trump’s immigration policy, like most of his foreign policy, is saturated with references to his campaign slogan “America First,” and a federal judge this week said it shows illegal and racist “animus” toward immigrants.Judge Edward Chen blocked the Department of Homeland Security from revoking a special deportation amnesty for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants, at least in part because Secretary Kristi Noem justified the decision by citing Mr. Trump’s “America First” agenda. Judge Chen, an Obama appointee to the court in Northern California, said the term had an “inference of animus given the historical connotation of that phrase.”...

A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump Administration from firing intel agency officials who worked on DEI programs. US District Judge Anthony Trenga, a George W. Bush appointee, said the fired officials are entitled to appeal the firings and seek reassignment for other jobs in the agency. Last month Judge Trenga rejected a bid to block the Trump Admin from firing the 19 intelligence officials. “In effect, they are at-will employees,” Judge Trenga said last month during a hearing, according to Politico. .... Snip.... Reuters reported: A U.S. judge on Monday blocked the firing of 19 intelligence officers who...

Another black-robed tyrant has invoked his unearned ‘authority’ to sabotage President Trump’s America-first agenda. As Reuters reported, a U.S. judge in San Francisco on Monday barred the Trump administration from revoking deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants here in America under temporary protected status. His ruling applies nationwide. TPS status for these migrants was scheduled to end on April 7. They were also set to lose their work permits on April 2. Senior District Judge Edward Chen, a Barack Obama appointee, slammed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in his ruling for supposedly stereotyping Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries while slobbering...

A second federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked President Trump’s ban on transgender troops. In January President Trump signed the “Restoring America’s Fighting Force” executive order and the “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” executive orders, which direct every element of the U.S. military to “operate free from any preference based on race or sex” and root out gender insanity and made up pronoun usage, respectively. US District Judge Benjamin Hale Settle in Washington State, issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on Thursday evening. Judge Settle, a George W. Bush appointee, said the Trump DOJ’s arguments have not been persuasive.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing parts of President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at curbing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts among federal contractors and grant recipients. Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois halted the Labor Department from requiring federal contractors or grant recipients from certifying that they don't operate any programs in violation of Trump's anti-DEI executive orders. [snip] The organization argued that the president’s executive orders on DEI are so broad and vague that the organization had no way to ensure compliance, and...

A federal judge ordered White House officials involved in a group chat on military strikes in Yemen to preserve the messages after a bombshell report revealed that they potentially shared classified information. US District Judge James Boasberg ordered members of President Donald Trump's national security team to keep any messages sent or received over the Signal messaging app between 11 and 15 March.

III. CONCLUSION Congress has found that "it is the policy of the United States to promote the right of freedom of opinion and expression" and that "open communication of information and ideas among the peoples of the world contributes to international peace and stability." International Broadcasting Act of 1973, 87 Stat. at 457. RFE/RL has, for decades, operated as one of the organizations that Congress has statutorily designated to carry out this policy. The leadership of USAGM cannot, with one sentence of reasoning offering virtually no explanation, force RFE/RL to shut down even if the President has told them to...