The Trump administration transported a Venezuelan man to Texas for possible deportation, going against a federal judge’s order to block the man’s removal from Pennsylvania or the United States, Reuters reported.
On April 15, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines issued a temporary order that prevented the administration from moving the man, referred to as “A.S.R.” in court documents, out of the judge’s western Pennsylvania judicial district or the country. Despite this, a plane took off around 30 minutes after the order was issued, according to an exclusive report from Reuters. A.S.R. was placed in the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson.
Haines, who President Donald Trump appointed during his first term, did not accuse the administration of violating the order by taking A.S.R. to Texas, according to Reuters. Still, the federal government’s swift transfer of A.S.R. shows its aggressive attempts to deport Venezuelan migrants it alleges are members of the criminal gang Tren de Aragua, despite legal restrictions.
As experts told our columnist Steven Monacelli, it’s all part of Trump’s ambitious plan to carry out mass deportations. Some of those deportation policies violate the constitution, experts warn, including Trump’s disregard for a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia — a Salvadoran immigrant and Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador.
Permanent residents accused of being transnational gang members have been arrested and had their status revoked. But, as The Barbed Wire previously reported, many of those deported don’t have a criminal history, and, for some, no evidence of gang affiliations.
A.S.R., who worked as a construction worker in Philadelphia, denied gang membership, according to his lawyers in court papers. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents A.S.R., told Reuters that he was thought to be one of the dozens of Venezuelans at the Bluebonnet detention facility whom the Trump administration tried to deport last week.
As Jacqueline Watson, a lawyer in Austin and the second vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told The Barbed Wire about the Garcia case: “This is unprecedented.”
“This is beyond the pale. It’s a complete violation of our international obligations,” Watson said.
