By Molly Goddard
11:33am PDT, Mar 17, 2025
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Secretary of State
Marco Rubio seems to be playing by his own rules when it comes to deporting illegal immigrants.
On Sunday, March 16, the prominent member of President
Donald Trump's administration announced that hundreds of people involved in the Tren de Aragua gang were deported from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. U.S. District Judge
James Boasberg attempted to halt the move when a lawsuit was filed by Democracy Forward and the American Civil Liberties Union, but Rubio decided to ignore the order.
Join us to read about how the right-wing politician bypassed the courts…
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"Under the President's direction, his administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act to initiate the removal of hundreds of dangerous members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a vicious and violent Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), which has been threatening our nation, conducting irregular warfare and terrorizing Americans," Marco Rubio said in a statement on Sunday, March 16, according to
The Hill.
The former Senator from Florida justified their bold move, adding, "Hundreds of violent criminals were sent out of our country. This crucial step would have never happened under any other U.S. president.
President Trump is following through on the promises he made to the American people."
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On Saturday, March 15, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg instructed the Trump administration to temporarily stop
deportations for 14 days after the motion was challenged in court.
According to the
Associated Press, during a virtual hearing on the same day, Boasberg revealed there were two aircrafts packed with illegal immigrants on their way to El Salvador and Honduras. The judge immediately ordered the planes to turn around and return to America.
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"Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States," District Judge James Boasberg instructed officials.
By Sunday, March 16, the flights had already
landed in their intended destinations. "Federal Defendants further report, based on information from the Department of Homeland Security, that some gang members subject to removal under the Proclamation had already been removed from United States territory under the Proclamation before the issuance of this Court's second order," the Justice Department said in a statement.
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Marcio Rubio reportedly struck a deal with President of El Salvador
Nayib Bukele in which the Salvadoran politician agreed to put the
deported immigrants in prison in his country if the United States returned the two top leaders of MS-13 and 21 of its most wanted alleged criminals.
According to Rubio, once the immigrants were returned, they would "face justice in their homeland."
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Marco Rubio thanked Nayib Bukele for helping the Trump administration meet its goal.
"President Bukele has shown he is not only the strongest security leader in our region, he's also a great friend of the
United States," he said, adding that the world leader played "a pivotal role in this transfer."
