White House set for legal showdowns over Trump’s controversial deportation orders
The Trump administration is facing a number of legal battles after controversial deportations led to court orders and accusations of defying the judiciary.
In Massachusetts this morning, judge Leo Sorokin will demand answers regarding the deportation of Dr Rasha Alawieh, a 34-year-old Rhode Island-based kidney specialist.
Alawieh, who was reportedly holding a valid US visa, was sent back to Lebanon on Friday, despite a court order requiring 48 hours’ notice before any deportation. Her legal team claims Customs and Border Protection wilfully ignored the judge’s directive, Politico reported.
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Judge Sorokin, who issued the temporary order on Thursday, has asked for an explanation in today’s hearing, calling the allegations of contempt “serious”. Alawieh’s attorneys have provided a detailed timeline supporting their claims, which could lead to further legal repercussions.
Meanwhile, in Washington DC, a federal judge has accused the White House of disregarding his order to halt the deportation of two planeloads of Venezuelans to an El Salvador prison.
The deportations are part of Trump’s wider crackdown on foreign nationals, which included invoking the rarely used Alien Enemies Act, a move last implemented as part of wartime measures.
Despite the court order, the White House insisted that the flights had already left US airspace by the time it was issued, a position that legal experts are querying. Both cases now appear headed for the supreme court.
Key events
Trump attacks Biden’s pardon of January 6 committee members
Donald Trump, once again posting on social media in the early morning hours, said Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons of lawmakers on the January 6 committee are invalid because the outgoing president did not sign them personally.
Trump said Biden signed the order by Autopen, as presidents often do, but in this case, it’s invalid. From his Truth Social account:
The “Pardons” that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen. In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime. Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level. The fact is, they were probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the Worst President in the History of our Country, Crooked Joe Biden!
The pardons of the House lawmakers who investigated the attack on the Capitol were one of Biden’s final actions in office, and came after months of threats from Trump to investigate them:
Donald Trump may be all in on tariffs, but the Guardian’s Lauren Aratani reports that many Americans are not, including a sizable number of Republicans:
Americans are increasingly concerned about Donald Trump’s bid to overhaul the US economy with sweeping tariffs on foreign goods, according to an exclusive poll for the Guardian, despite the US president’s efforts to downplay the risks of his strategy.
“Have no fear, we will WIN everything!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday, claiming that tariffs were already “pouring money” into the country.
But fears are growing. When given a list of issues including inflation, healthcare and immigration, 72% of Americans said they are concerned about tariffs.
The survey was conducted by the Harris Poll in early March. When it conducted the same survey in mid-January, 61% of those polled said tariffs were a concern.
A lot has changed since then. Since returning to the White House, Trump has pushed for tariffs against many of the US’s key trading partners. He tacked on an extra 20% tariff on Chinese imports and hiked tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports.
White House set for legal showdowns over Trump’s controversial deportation orders
The Trump administration is facing a number of legal battles after controversial deportations led to court orders and accusations of defying the judiciary.
In Massachusetts this morning, judge Leo Sorokin will demand answers regarding the deportation of Dr Rasha Alawieh, a 34-year-old Rhode Island-based kidney specialist.
Alawieh, who was reportedly holding a valid US visa, was sent back to Lebanon on Friday, despite a court order requiring 48 hours’ notice before any deportation. Her legal team claims Customs and Border Protection wilfully ignored the judge’s directive, Politico reported.
Judge Sorokin, who issued the temporary order on Thursday, has asked for an explanation in today’s hearing, calling the allegations of contempt “serious”. Alawieh’s attorneys have provided a detailed timeline supporting their claims, which could lead to further legal repercussions.
Meanwhile, in Washington DC, a federal judge has accused the White House of disregarding his order to halt the deportation of two planeloads of Venezuelans to an El Salvador prison.
The deportations are part of Trump’s wider crackdown on foreign nationals, which included invoking the rarely used Alien Enemies Act, a move last implemented as part of wartime measures.
Despite the court order, the White House insisted that the flights had already left US airspace by the time it was issued, a position that legal experts are querying. Both cases now appear headed for the supreme court.
Maya Yang
The US defense department webpage celebrating an army general who served in the Vietnam war and was awarded the country’s highest military decoration has been removed and the letters “DEI” added to the site’s address.
On Saturday, US army Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers’s Medal of Honor webpage led to a “404” error message. The URL was also changed, with the word “medal” changed to “deimedal”.
Rogers, who was awarded the Medal of Honor by then president Richard Nixon in 1970, served in the Vietnam war, where he was wounded three times while leading the defense of a base.
According to the West Virginia military hall of fame, Rogers was the highest-ranking African American to receive the medal. After his death in 1990, Rogers’s remains were buried at the Arlington national cemetery in Washington DC, and in 1999 a bridge in Fayette county, where Rogers was born, was renamed the Charles C Rogers Bridge.
Trump says no exemptions on US steel and aluminum tariffs
President Donald Trump said he has no intention of creating exemptions on steel and aluminum tariffs and said reciprocal and sectoral tariffs will be imposed on 2 April.
Last month, Trump raised tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to a flat 25%, without exemptions or exceptions, in a move that was designed to help US industry while contributing to an escalating trade war, Reuters reported.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said reciprocal duties on US trading partners would come alongside auto duties.
“In certain cases, both,” Trump said when asked if he would be imposing sectoral and reciprocal tariffs on 2 April. “They charge us, and we charge them. Then, in addition to that, on autos, on steel, on aluminum, we’re going to have some additional,” he said.
Trump has said previously that he would impose reciprocal tariffs on US friends and foes alike at the beginning of April.
US deports 250 alleged gang members to El Salvador despite court ruling to halt flights
Edward Helmore
The US deported more than 250 mainly Venezuelan alleged gang members to El Salvador despite a US judge’s ruling to halt the flights on Saturday after Donald Trump controversially invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law meant only to be used in wartime.
El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, said 238 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and 23 members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 had arrived and were in custody as part of a deal under which the US will pay the Central American country to hold them in its 40,000-person capacity “terrorism confinement centre”.
The confirmation came hours after a US federal judge expanded his ruling temporarily blocking the Trump administration from invoking the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime authority that allows the president broad leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations.
The White House said the judge had no authority to block the deportation.
“A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft … full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from US soil,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
She said the court had “no lawful basis”.
The US district judge James Boasberg had attempted to halt the deportations for all individuals deemed eligible for removal under Trump’s proclamation, which was issued on Friday. Boasberg also ordered deportation flights already in the air to return to the US.
“Oopsie … Too late,” Bukele posted online, followed by a laughing emoji.
Soon after Bukele’s statement, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, thanked El Salvador’s leader.
Trump to attend Kennedy Center for board meeting after Vance booed by audience
Good morning and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news over the next few hours.
We start with news that president Donald Trump will visit the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Monday after ousting its leadership, taking over as chair, and seeking to put his stamp on the renowned arts institution.
Trump will preside over a Kennedy Center board meeting in his new role on Monday afternoon, Reuters reported.
“We have to straighten it out,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One after spending the weekend in Florida, referring to an arts organization that has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades.
Last month Trump became chair of the Kennedy Center and fired its longtime president, Deborah Rutter. He installed his former ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, as interim president.
Vice-president JD Vance and his wife, Usha, who is now a member of the board, attended a recent performance at the Kennedy Center. After they entered the theater, the crowd booed.
In other news:
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President Donald Trump has said he has no intention of creating exemptions on steel and aluminum tariffs and said reciprocal and sectoral tariffs will be imposed on 2 April. Last month, Trump raised tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to a flat 25%, without exemptions or exceptions, in a move that was designed to help US industry while contributing to an escalating trade war, Reuters reported. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said reciprocal duties on US trading partners would come alongside auto duties.
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As Trump and Putin prepare to speak, there have been concerns that the settlement being pushed for by the Trump administration would look a lot like an outright Russian victory, at the expense of Ukraine and its allies in Europe. Trump and Putin last week set off further alarm bells in Kyiv by exchanging friendly words, as the new US administration cosies up to Moscow while attacking Ukraine with threatening language and the withdrawal of some military support.
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For weeks, Donald Trump and Republicans have insisted that social security, Medicaid or Medicare would not “be touched”. Now Musk has suggested the programs would be a primary target.
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The US defense department webpage celebrating an army general who served in the Vietnam war and was awarded the country’s highest military decoration has been removed and the letters “DEI” added to the site’s address. On Saturday, US army Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers’s Medal of Honor webpage led to a “404” error message. The URL was also changed, with the word “medal” changed to “deimedal”.
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Federal employees in a little-known office dedicated to tech and consulting services were at work on the afternoon of 3 February when Elon Musk tweeted about their agency for the first time. “That group has been deleted,” Musk wrote.
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Trump’s administration is being accused by activists of a quid pro quo as it attempts to fast-track a controversial fossil fuel pipeline proposal in Michigan that would in part be built by a donor with deep financial ties to the president.
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Trump’s second term is more direct, determined and intentional, and includes the cultural equivalent of precision airstrikes against the mostly liberal residents of Washington DC, the Guardian’s David Smith writes.
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Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since the second world war, granting himself sweeping powers under a centuries-old law to deport people associated with a Venezuelan gang. Hours later, a federal judge halted deportations under the US president’s order. What is the Alien Enemies Act and can Trump use it to deport gang members?