“The length of the due process is not the same under the alien enemy law,” he says.
White House border border emperor Tom Homan said Sunday that the administration followed the law when the government deported illegal immigrants it calls a member of the MS-13 gang and is the subject of democratic criticism of the Trump administration’s policies.
Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “promote” the return of Kilmer Armando Abrego Garcia from a Salvador prison to the United States. The White House said Abrego Garcia could not be retrieved after expelling him to his home country, despite the 2019 order preventing him from being deported. The Trump administration initially said he committed “administrative errors” in deporting him.
He added that the 1798 law that President Donald Trump called earlier this year to target MS-13 and other criminal organizations designated as terrorist groups was created for those reasons, and Trump has the authority to call it.
“I’m not arguing that no one should get a legitimate procedure here,” Homan said. “I’m just saying there’s another process under the alien enemy law.”
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The Trump administration deported him to El Salvador last month, claiming he was on MS-13.
According to his immigration case, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that Abrego Garcia is a member of the county’s police information gang. This information was sufficient to keep Abrego Garcia in prison as an immigration judge continued his case in April 2019, records show. The judge said the informant was proven and reliable, and confirmed his gang membership.
Abrego Garcia appealed the judge’s decision to keep him in prison, but it was later denied, records show. Abrego Garcia denied he is an MS-13 member and his lawyers say he was not charged with the crime.
“In addition, all passengers gave the same address of the home as the subject’s home. During the interview, Abrego Garcia pretended to speak English rather than trying to chase after the officers he met by answering the questions,” DHS said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
