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We get an update on the extraordinary case of Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland father who first made headlines in March when he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and held in the notorious CECOT mega-prison. Ábrego García was returned to the United States after months of public outrage, but his ordeal continued as the Trump administration has threatened to deport him to Uganda, Eswatini and Liberia, despite having no ties to those African countries. Last week, a federal judge ordered him released from an ICE jail in Pennsylvania and blocked further arrests as a denial of due process.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Ábrego García's attorneys, says the administration's actions are primarily meant "to punish him" for standing up for his rights. "It's also about the government using him, more or less at random, to stand for the principle that they get to do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want — and, specifically, courts can't stop them."
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Former immigration judge Tania Nemer, who was fired in February, is now suing the Trump administration, alleging that she was discriminated against despite strong performance reviews. Nemer is one of about 100 immigration judges who have been fired or reassigned since Trump took office. The system is notoriously backlogged, with more than 3 million cases pending. "I was pulled away in the middle of the hearing," she says.
Nemer filed a discrimination complaint with the Department of Justice, which officials dismissed, citing Article II of the Constitution on presidential powers. "I've been practicing employment law and representing federal employees for almost 30 years, and I have never seen a federal agency dismiss a complaint for this reason," says Nemer's attorney, James Eisenmann.
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