
Trump standoff with court over deportation order continues
Clip: 3/20/2025 | 5m 24sVideo has Closed Captions
Trump administration's standoff with federal court over deportation order continues
The Trump administration’s standoff with the judiciary continues as some of the president's top allies and advisers are ramping up their criticism of federal judges. The Justice Department again refused to provide a federal judge detailed information about deportation flights carrying hundreds of Venezuelan migrants. White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López reports.
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Trump standoff with court over deportation order continues
Clip: 3/20/2025 | 5m 24sVideo has Closed Captions
The Trump administration’s standoff with the judiciary continues as some of the president's top allies and advisers are ramping up their criticism of federal judges. The Justice Department again refused to provide a federal judge detailed information about deportation flights carrying hundreds of Venezuelan migrants. White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López reports.
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Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipAMNA NAWAZ: The Trump administration's standoff with the judiciary continues, as some of the president's top allies and advisers are ramping up their criticism of federal judges.
The Justice Department today again refused to provide to a federal judge detailed information about deportation flights carrying hundreds of Venezuelan migrants.
Our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, has been covering the latest and joins us now.
So, Laura, we know that this judge gave the Department of Justice until noon today to submit answers, more detailed information that he's demanded about those deportation flights over the weekend to El Salvador.
They responded late.
Where do things stand now?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So the Justice Department again refused to provide answers.
Those are answers about, what times did the flights take off?
What time did they land in a foreign country?
What time were the migrants transferred out of U.S. custody?
They did not provide answers to Justice - - to Judge James Boasberg.
And he called the Justice Department submission -- quote -- "woefully insufficient."
He said -- quote -- "The government again evaded its obligations."
And an ICE official in that sworn declaration said that currently Cabinet secretaries are considering whether or not to invoke the state secrets privilege, meaning that they wouldn't have to necessarily provide this information.
And that's typically only invoked, Amna, for classified information.
Ultimately, Judge Boasberg was not satisfied.
And this comes as, simultaneously, he is considering whether or not the president legally invoked the Alien Enemies Act.
And so tomorrow there is going to be a hearing on the merits of that case and the president's invocation of Alien Enemies.
AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, we know the administration is already deported with some 200 migrants to El Salvador.
They claim that they were all members of a violent gang, Tren de Aragua.
Family members and lawyers have since been coming out and saying these men are not all gang members, they were wrongfully arrested and deported.
What are we learning?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So we have new sworn declarations that were made overnight to the court.
And in one of those, a lawyer representing one of the Venezuelan nationals who was deported to El Salvador provided information about this Venezuelan national.
And so this Venezuelan migrant is Jerce Reyes Barrios.
He's a 26-year-old professional soccer player and coach.
He protested the authoritarian rule of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
And then he fled Venezuela in early 2024 after being tortured with electric shock.
And he legally applied for asylum and entered the U.S. and then was detained, and as his case, his asylum case was playing out.
But his lawyers said that the government accused him of being a member of Tren de Aragua based on two things, first, an arm tattoo -- quote -- "of a crown sitting atop a soccer ball with a rosary and the word dios."
In reality, he chose this tattoo because it is similar to the logo for his favorite soccer team, Real Madrid.
The second thing that DHS points to is a photo of Mr. Reyes Barrios on social media of him making a hand gesture that the DHS alleges is proof of gang membership.
And his lawyer said that -- quote -- "In fact, the gesture is a common one that means I love you in sign language and is commonly used as a rock 'n' roll symbol."
His lawyer also added that his legal counsel as well as his family have lost all contact with him and have no information about his condition.
AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, there's another case that I know that you're following.
There's a Georgetown University academic who was taken into custody by DHS agents outside his home in Arlington, Virginia, told that his student visa had been revoked.
What should we know about him?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, Badar Khan Suri a native of India and he was here on a student visa, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University.
He was teaching at Georgetown Monday night and then was returning to his home when masked Homeland Security agents approached him and started to arrest him.
They wouldn't disclose who they were.
They wouldn't say anything about why they were arresting him.
And this was done under the same rare immigration provision that was invoked to arrest Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist.
And that provision, again, Amna, it allows the secretary of state to revoke legal status of noncitizens if they believe that their presence in the country is a foreign policy threat.
Now, the DHS is alleging that Suri was -- quote -- "actively spreading Hamas propaganda" and -- quote -- "has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist who is a senior adviser to Hamas."
We believe that that is based on a 2018 article in an Indian newspaper that has to do with Suri's father-in-law and his connections to Hamas leadership.
AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, I know you connected with one of his lawyers today.
What did they have to say about the case?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: I spoke to Sophia Gregg of ACLU, who is an attorney representing Mr. Suri, and she says that he has not been charged with the crime, that he is being targeted for his political speech for his pro-Palestinian views, and also for the Palestinian heritage of his American citizen wife.
They say that the last known location of Suri was a facility in Louisiana, and they have been unable to get in touch with him.
And she said that ultimately they believe that this is about chilling speech in the United States.
We also have some news, though, this afternoon, Amna, which is that a judge ruled that Mr. Suri cannot be removed from the United States unless a court approves his deportation.
AMNA NAWAZ: Laura Barron-Lopez with the very latest.
Thank you, Laura.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipMajor corporate funding for the PBS News Hour is provided by BDO, BNSF, Consumer Cellular, American Cruise Lines, and Raymond James. Funding for the PBS NewsHour Weekend is provided by...