Adam Isacson

Defense, security, borders, migration, and human rights in Latin America and the United States. May not reflect my employer’s consensus view.

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April 25, 2025 — 0

Keep an Eye on Next Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday the 29th and Wednesday the 30th are going to be two very intense days for border and migration human rights work here in Washington. Within those 48 hours, we expect six public events to happen.

Tuesday the 29th and Wednesday the 30th are going to be two very intense days for border and migration-related human rights work here in Washington. Within those 48 hours, we expect six public events to happen:

  • Tuesday 29 at 10:00 am – The House Homeland Security Committee will meet in Room 310 of the Cannon House Office Building to mark up (consider, amend, and approve) the $90 billion-or-more DHS section of congressional Republicans’ “Reconciliation” package, a funding bill that could make Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s most fevered “mass deportation” dreams come true. Watch the Committee’s announcement for the text of their part of the bill, which must be shared 48 hours in advance (that’s Sunday).
  • Tuesday 29th at 2:00 – Parties will meet in Courtroom 8 of the Washington DC federal district courthouse (333 Constitution Ave NW) for a “hearing on the cross-motions for summary judgment” in the RAICES v. Noem litigation, which is challenging the Trump administration’s January 20 executive order shutting the border to undocumented entry, and stopping border asylum claims, by claiming that an “invasion” is underway.
  • Tuesday 29th, probably; time and place not confirmed – Politico and others are reporting that the House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee will meet to mark up its part of the big “Reconciliation” funding bill, which may throw up to $150 billion at, among other priorities, “the Trump administration’s expanded military mission at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
  • Wednesday 30th at 10:00 – The Senate Finance Committee will meet in Room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to consider the nomination of Rodney Scott, a former Border Patrol chief and a hardliner who is no stranger to controversy, to be the next commissioner of the Patrol’s parent agency, Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
  • Wednesday 30th at 2:00 – This one is virtual: WOLA and the National Security Archive, deeply concerned by what can only be described as “enforced disappearances” of migrants by the Trump administration, are hosting a discussion with some Latin American human rights defenders who are widely known for their brave opposition to enforced disappearance in the region. The event description is here and the RSVP link is here.
  • Wednesday 30th, probably; time and place not confirmed – Politico is reporting that the House Judiciary Committee will meet to mark up its part of the big “Reconciliation” funding bill, “which is set to include $110 billion in spending on immigration enforcement.”

Meanwhile, Tuesday is also the 100th day of Donald Trump’s second administration, so expect a lot of “taking stock” discussion in media and social media that cannot ignore the impact on the human rights of migrants and border communities.

April 25, 2025 — 0

Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: April 25, 2025

Controversies continue over renditions to El Salvador; Notes on “mass deportation”; The U.S. military role; Notes from the migration route

With this series of weekly updates, WOLA seeks to cover the most important developments at the U.S.-Mexico border. See past weekly updates here.

Your donation to WOLA is crucial to keeping these paywall-free and ad-free Updates going. Please contribute now and support our work.

THIS WEEK IN BRIEF:

  • Controversies continue over renditions to El Salvador: Courts, including the Supreme Court, continue to block the Trump administration’s invocations of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expel Venezuelan migrants to a mega-prison in El Salvador. The amount of advance notification individuals must receive has been an area of sharp contention. A Maryland federal court continues to pursue “intense discovery” in the case of erroneously expelled Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia. A senator who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador provided new details about his confinement.
  • Notes on “mass deportation”: Congress is about to consider a historically massive spending package to fund border hardening and the Trump administration’s planned mass deportation campaign. A U.S. citizen whom Border Patrol arrested in Arizona ended up in immigration detention for 10 days. Unaccompanied children as young as four years old are now defending themselves in immigration court asylum cases as the Trump administration has canceled legal aid funding. Family detention centers are now confining not just people detained at the border, but families who have been in the United States for years.
  • The U.S. military role: The Trump administration appears not to be invoking, for now, the Insurrection Act of 1807 to expand the active-duty military’s role at the border. The Defense Department announced new authorities for soldiers operating along New Mexico’s border, a fringe of territory now considered a “military installation.” In a most unusual expansion of domestic military roles, soldiers in this zone will now be able to detain and search migrants and conduct crowd control measures.
  • Notes from the migration route: As migration levels remain very low amid the impossibility of obtaining U.S. asylum, shelters on Mexico’s side of the border are empty and reeling from U.S. aid cuts; they may fill again once the Trump administration’s mass deportations get truly underway. Migration through the Darién Gap remains very low as well. Costa Rica and Panama have offered short-term migratory status to asylum seekers from other continents whom the Trump administration expelled to those countries in February. A new report from Human Rights Watch found fault with the U.S., Panamanian, and UN responses.

THE FULL UPDATE:

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April 22, 2025 — 0

288 People Rendered to El Salvador’s Mega-Prison. We Only Know 258 of Their Names.

Here is what we know about the people disappeared from the United States and were apparently rendered to incommunicado prison in El Salvador.

This is enforced disappearance.

The Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had 288 Venezuelan and Salvadoran migrants in its custody. A vast majority, we now know, were not accused of committing crimes, and only a handful faced allegations of committing violent crimes (see CBS News, Bloomberg, the New York Times, and Cristosal).

Then, they disappeared from ICE’s locator system and have apparently ended up in El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) prison. But nothing is certain because neither the U.S. nor the Salvadoran governments has confirmed their names. What we know about these individuals’ identities is entirely from leaks to secondary sources. Even their loved ones have no official information, with the partial exception of Kilmar Abrego Garcia—and that is because a judge ordered it.

Disappearing from custody without any official acknowledgment of one’s identity, then being sent to a prison with no end date and no judicial process at all? That, right there, is the definition of enforced disappearance: a major, serious human rights violation that is tragically familiar in Latin America but rare—until now—in the United States.

Here is what we know about the people disappeared from the United States and apparently rendered to incommunicado prison in El Salvador:

Country Known Names Unknown Names Total
Venezuela 245 7 252
El Salvador 13 23 36
Total 258 30 288

Venezuela, 252 people. 137 rendered under the Alien Enemies Act, the rest with final removal orders:

  • 238 people rendered to El Salvador on March 15. Names leaked to CBS News on March 20.
  • 7 people rendered to El Salvador on March 30. Names leaked to Fox News on March 31.
  • 7 people rendered to El Salvador as part of a group of 10 on April 13. Names are unknown. We only know it was 7 people because El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, tweeted on April 20 that 252 Venezuelans are in Salvadoran custody, and 245 Venezuelans were already in El Salvador.

El Salvador, 31 people, all with final removal orders:

  • 23 people rendered to El Salvador on March 15. From much reporting, we know the identities of 3: Kilmar Abrego Garcia and credibly alleged MS-13 members César Humberto López Larios alias “Greñas” and César Eliseo Sorto Amaya. The other 20 remain unnamed.
  • 10 people rendered to El Salvador on March 30. Names leaked to Fox News on March 31.
  • 3 people rendered to El Salvador as part of a group of 10 on April 13. Names are unknown. We only know it was 3 people because El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, tweeted on April 20 that 252 Venezuelans are in Salvadoran custody. As 245 Venezuelans were already in El Salvador, that would mean that 7 of the 10 were Venezuelan, leaving 3 Salvadorans.

See also:

April 21, 2025 — 0

Latin America-Related Events in Washington and Online This Week

4 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.

Tuesday, April 22

  • 10:00-4:00 at the Inter-American Dialogue: Eighth Annual Latin America Energy Conference – Shifting Currents: Energy and Geopolitical Realignment in the Americas (RSVP required).
  • 2:00 at Zoom: Trump’s Sheriffs: 287(g) and New Frontlines of Immigration Enforcement with author Jessica Pishko (RSVP required).

Thursday, April 24

  • 9:15-11:30 at the Inter-American Dialogue and online: Perspectives on Remittance Flows in 2025 (RSVP required).
  • 11:30 at migrationpolicy.org: Immigration Actions in First 100 Days of Trump Second Term (RSVP required).
April 21, 2025 — 0

At MSNBC: “The frightening popularity of El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele’s authoritarianism”

A link to my April 16 column at MSNBC's website about Nayib Bukele's high-approval-rating authoritarianism in El Salvador

Things were busy—and then I was traveling over the long weekend—so I completely forgot to post a link to my April 16 column at MSNBC’s website about Nayib Bukele’s high-approval-rating authoritarianism in El Salvador.

Imagine where U.S. democracy would be if President Donald Trump had an 80% approval rating, control of more than three-quarters of Congress, and the ability to blow past term limits with the Supreme Court’s blessing. Imagine if the 78-year-old Trump were 35 years younger; that is, not headed toward retirement, but poised to stick around for decades.

That’s El Salvador today. A country the size of New Jersey, with Indiana’s population and an economy smaller than that of any U.S. state, is now under the total political control of President Nayib Bukele.

Read the rest here.

April 18, 2025 — 0

Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: April 18, 2025

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Case and Nayib Bukele’s Washington visit; The Alien Enemies Act; The Roosevelt Reservation and other military developments; March migration data show further declines; Mass deportation and the coming “reconciliation” funding bill

With this series of weekly updates, WOLA seeks to cover the most important developments at the U.S.-Mexico border. See past weekly updates here.

Your donation to WOLA is crucial to keeping these paywall-free and ad-free Updates going. Please contribute now and support our work.

THIS WEEK IN BRIEF:

  • Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Case and Nayib Bukele’s Washington visit: A high-stakes legal battle continues between the federal courts and the Trump administration over the case of a Salvadoran man who was wrongly deported and sent to a notorious mega-prison in his home country. During an Oval Office visit, the country’s authoritarian-trending president struck a defiant tone alongside President Trump, calling into question the administration’s compliance with a Supreme Court requirement that it “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) met Abrego Garcia briefly during a visit to El Salvador.
  • The Alien Enemies Act: Evidence continues to show that most of the 238 Venezuelan men sent to the Salvadoran mega-prison on March 15 faced no allegations of criminal activity or gang ties. A judge who had sought to stop their removal is now considering whether to hold Trump administration officials in contempt of court.
  • The Roosevelt Reservation and other military developments: The White House has declared that a 20-yard fringe of territory along the border in California, Arizona, and New Mexico is now the equivalent of a “military installation.” This raises important questions about the role of the U.S. military on U.S. soil. As is widely expected, these questions will deepen if the administration invokes the Insurrection Act of 1807.
  • March migration data show further declines: With 7,181 Border Patrol apprehensions, March 2025 was one of the quietest months at the U.S.-Mexico border since the 1960s. The main reason is the Trump administration’s shutdown of asylum access at the border. The ratio of uniformed personnel at the border to March migrant apprehensions is now about 4.6 to 1.
  • Mass deportation and the coming “reconciliation” funding bill: Congress is edging closer to considering a massive budget bill that would multiply the U.S. government’s ability to deport undocumented migrants on an enormous scale. The Trump administration’s unstated goal appears to be 1 million deportations during its first year, which seems unlikely. Meanwhile, the administration is rapidly undoing documented statuses granted by the Biden administration.

THE FULL UPDATE:

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April 13, 2025 — 0

Latin America-Related Events in Washington and Online This Week

7 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.

(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)

Monday, April 14

Wednesday, April 16

  • 2:00pm at atlanticcouncil.org: Navigating the US-PRC tech competition in the Global South (RSVP required).
  • 3:00pm at Georgetown University: Data for Humanity: How AI is Transforming Development and Business in Latin America (RSVP required).

Friday, April 18

  • 9:30am at atlanticcouncil.org: Banking on Belém: Mobilizing finance for energy and nature in the Global South (RSVP required).
April 11, 2025 — 0

Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: April 11, 2025

El Salvador renditions reach the Supreme Court; Evidence points to little criminality among those rushed to El Salvador’s mega-prison; A $45 billion bill for migrant detention foreseen as budget bill moves slowly through Congress; New measures to undo legal pathways and punish the undocumented; A woman dies by suicide in Border Patrol custody as internal oversight is decimated; Notes on the impact in Mexico

With this series of weekly updates, WOLA seeks to cover the most important developments at the U.S.-Mexico border. See past weekly updates here.

Your donation to WOLA is crucial to keeping these paywall-free and ad-free Updates going. Please contribute now and support our work.

THIS WEEK IN BRIEF:

  • El Salvador renditions reach the Supreme Court: The Supreme Court made two rulings related to the Trump administration’s practice of sending migrants to a mega-prison in El Salvador. The first requires that people subjected to rapid expulsion under the Alien Enemies Act have a reasonable chance to defend themselves. The second upholds, though softens, a lower-court judge’s requirement that the administration seek the release and return of a wrongfully expelled Salvadoran man. The President of El Salvador is to visit Washington on April 14.
  • Evidence points to little criminality among those rushed to El Salvador’s mega-prison: As experts cast doubt on tattoos as a sign of Venezuelan gang membership, three studies indicate that a substantial majority of those rendered to El Salvador had no known criminal records.
  • A $45 billion bill for migrant detention foreseen as budget bill moves slowly through Congress: A request for proposals issued to contractors foresees ramping up migrant detention spending sixfold, to $45 billion over two years. That would be paid for by a giant one-time appropriation slowly working through the Republican-majority Congress, which cleared an important initial hurdle this week.
  • New measures to undo legal pathways and punish the undocumented: This week saw CBP One app recipients receive an order to self-deport, a proposal to fine migrants up to $998 per day if they stay after receiving removal orders, movement toward a registry of undocumented migrants, and a continued legal fight over Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans.
  • A woman dies by suicide in Border Patrol custody as internal oversight is decimated: A female citizen of China died by suicide in a California Border Patrol station. This and other recent incidents raise questions about oversight at a time when the Trump administration has effectively closed down the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) internal investigative agencies.
  • Notes on the impact in Mexico: Media reports covered the situation of migrants stranded in Mexico by the Trump administration’s revocation of asylum access at the border, including Venezuelans requesting repatriation flights and Haitians who are especially vulnerable to harm.

THE FULL UPDATE:

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April 6, 2025 — 0

Latin America-Related Events in Washington and Online This Week

4 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.

(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)

Tuesday, April 8

Wednesday, April 9

April 5, 2025 — 0

Improbable, but no longer impossible

Maybe President Bukele will build a new wing at his mega-prison to hold all the Trump administration critics who get sent there as “no-takebacks mistakes,” as happened with supposedly non-deportable Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Ábrego García.

Maybe President Bukele will build a new wing at his mega-prison to hold all the Trump administration critics who get sent there as “no-takebacks mistakes,” as happened with supposedly non-deportable Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Ábrego García.

From this week’s WOLA Border Update:

“Although the Alien Enemies Act does not apply to American citizens, without due process, a citizen could be mistakenly deported to El Salvador, held indefinitely, and reliant on the same administration that deported them to realize the error and decide to retrieve them,” wrote Adam Serwer at the Atlantic. Greg Sargent echoed that at the New Republic, quoting Ábrego García’s attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg: “if the government can remove people in ‘error’ without recourse, then that logic could ‘apply with equal force to U.S. citizens.’”

If that plays out, by late 2025, two shaven-headed U.S. citizens in El Salvador’s Center for Confinement of Terrorism prison could have a conversation like this:

“What are you in for?”

“I complained about the tariffs on social media. You?”

“Tesla protest. But ICE said I was a Venezuelan gang member.”

See also:

April 4, 2025 — 0

Imagine Needing a Judge to Tell You to Undo a Mistake Like This

How twisted do you have to be to need a court to tell you to do this basic thing? Ábrego García was here legally, convicted of nothing, and sent to El Salvador's terror jail. ICE recognized the error. They should've asked Nayib Bukele to return him weeks ago.
Based on the record before the Court, I find that this Court retains subject matter jurisdiction. I further find that: (1) Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits because Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, specifically,&,U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A), and without any legal process; (2) his continued presence TRUOS FISalyador for obvious reasons, constitutes irreparable harm; (3) the balance of equities and the public interest weigh in favor of returning him to the United States; and (4) issuance of a preliminary injunction without further delay is necessary to restore him to the status quo and to avoid ongoing irreparable harm resulting from Abrego Garcia's unlawful removal. For the reasons stated above, the Court hereby DIRECTS Defendants to return Abrego Garcia to the United States no later than 11:59 PM on April 7th, 2025. A memorandum opinion further setting forth the basis for this ruling will be issued in due course.

From the preliminary injunction granted today by Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland, requiring the Department of Homeland Security to bring back Kilmar Ábrego García from El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) prison, where the Trump administration put him on March 15.

How twisted do you have to be to need a court to tell you to do this basic thing? Ábrego García was here legally, convicted of nothing, and sent to El Salvador’s terror jail. ICE recognized the error. They should’ve asked Nayib Bukele to return him weeks ago.

See also:

April 4, 2025 — 0

Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: April 4, 2025

The Alien Enemies Act invocation and El Salvador renditions have days in court, Notes about deportation flights, Budget resolution to move in Senate, Notes on the U.S. military’s border and migration role, Low border numbers in March, Noem’s travel to Latin America

With this series of weekly updates, WOLA seeks to cover the most important developments at the U.S.-Mexico border. See past weekly updates here.

Your donation to WOLA is crucial to keeping these paywall-free and ad-free Updates going. Please contribute now and support our work.

THIS WEEK IN BRIEF:

  • The Alien Enemies Act invocation and El Salvador renditions have days in court: The Trump administration sent 17 more detained people—10 Salvadorans and 7 Venezuelans—from Guantánamo to El Salvador’s Center for Containment of Terrorism (CECOT) prison. Federal courts are probing violations of a restraining order against the use of the Alien Enemies Act, as we continue to learn about people removed to the Salvadoran prison despite a lack of criminal background. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recognized that at least one man, Kilmar Ábrego García, was removed in error, but the administration is not asking El Salvador to release him.
  • Notes about deportation flights: A Boston federal judge barred the Trump administration from deporting migrants to third countries without allowing them to argue that they might be harmed. Deportation flights to Venezuela have resumed. Reports highlight unsafe conditions and abuse aboard ICE’s deportation flights with little accountability or transparency.
  • Budget resolution to move in Senate: The Senate is preparing to vote on a budget resolution that sets the stage for a larger spending bill advancing President Trump’s “mass deportation” and border-hardening agenda. The forthcoming “reconciliation” bill could allocate $90–175 billion over 10 years for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Passed by a simple majority, it would bypass the filibuster and exclude Democrats.
  • Notes on the U.S. military’s border and migration role: The U.S. military presence at the border has grown to over 6,700 active-duty troops, expected to grow to 10,000. Roles and equipment are expanding, and the price tag since January 20 is now $376 million since January 20. The Guantánamo base now holds about 85 migrants at a very high cost. Senators visiting the base criticized it as a wasteful, likely illegal attempt to bypass due process.
  • Low border numbers in March: Border Patrol recorded 7,180 migrant apprehensions in March, the lowest monthly total in decades, amid a near-total shutdown of asylum access. Shelters are empty, aid groups are scaling back, and migrant injuries from wall falls have declined. In Panama, migration through the Darién Gap plummeted to less than 200 in March.
  • Noem’s travel to Latin America: Homeland Security Secretary Kristie Noem visited El Salvador, Colombia, and Mexico. Her appearance at El Salvador’s CECOT, shooting a video using jailed people as a backdrop,  drew criticism. In Colombia, Noem signed a biometric data-sharing agreement. In Mexico, she claimed some progress toward a similar deal.

THE FULL UPDATE:

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April 3, 2025 — 0

WOLA Podcast: “Global Drug Policy: ‘Countries are being freed up to actually speak their minds’”

Podcast: A belligerent U.S. delegation got isolated at a UN drug policy meeting in March, where there were important breakthroughs for reform.

A belligerent U.S. delegation got isolated at a UN drug policy meeting in March, where there were important breakthroughs for reform. I got a great rundown from three people who were there in the latest WOLA Podcast. Here’s the text of the landing page at WOLA’s website.

For the second year in a row, what had been an uneventful, consensus-driven United Nations meeting on drug policy saw unexpected drama and signs of real change.

At the 68th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna in March 2025, governments approved the formation of an independent expert commission to recommend changes to the architecture of global drug policy, which has changed little since the early 1960s.

Colombia again played a catalytic role, as it did in 2024. But this time, the United States—under the new Trump administration—tried to block nearly everything, isolating itself diplomatically in the process.

In this episode of the WOLA Podcast, Adam Isacson speaks with three experts who were in Vienna:

  • Ann Fordham, Executive Director of the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), a network of 195 organizations working to reform global drug policy.
  • Isabel Pereira, Senior Coordinator for drug policy at DeJusticia, a Bogotá-based think tank and advocacy group.
  • John Walsh, WOLA’s Director for Drug Policy, who has tracked the UN’s drug control system since the 1980s.

The conversation traces the slow evolution of the UN drug control system—from decades of punitive consensus to today’s shifting coalitions, unprecedented votes, and long-overdue reviews.

Much of the episode centers on a breakthrough: a new resolution establishing an “independent external review” of the UN’s own drug control institutions. For years, countries like Colombia have called for an honest assessment of the system’s failings. Now, thanks to a resolution spearheaded by Colombia and passed over U.S. opposition, that review is happening. The details still matter: how independent the expert panel will truly be, who funds it, and whether the review can influence the hard architecture of the drug control treaties.

“Vienna was very much a space where delegates would just pat each other on the back on how well we’re doing the war on drugs,” Pereira said. “The spirit of Vienna created a sort of lockdown situation on debate, true debate,” added Walsh. “Civil society enlivened the Vienna atmosphere” in recent years, he noted, “with new debates, new arguments.” Now, this international space has become more dynamic.

The guests also discuss coca leaf: its decades-old listing as a Schedule I narcotic, Bolivia’s and Colombia’s ongoing push for a scientific review, and the possibility of a pivotal vote in 2026. They stress how traditional knowledge—especially from Indigenous communities—must be recognized as legitimate scientific input during that review.

Underlying it all is a major diplomatic shift. Colombia is using the UN system to demand drug policy grounded in health, human rights, and development—not militarized prohibition. But with Petro’s term ending in 2026, it’s unclear who will pick up the baton.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is signaling a return to zero-tolerance drug war policies—and burning bridges with potential allies in the process. “They behaved so terribly. I mean, they broke with all diplomatic niceties,” said Fordham. “The U.S. just went for it in their opening statement… It was frankly an embarrassing, but also pretty shocking statement.”

Despite the uncertainty, all three guests agree: civil society is no longer on the sidelines. NGOs and experts are shaping debates, challenging rigid thinking in Vienna, and holding governments to account.

Read more:

Download this podcast episode’s .mp3 file here. Listen to WOLA’s Latin America Today podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you subscribe to podcasts. The main feed is here.

April 2, 2025 — 1

0.007

On an average day at the U.S.-Mexico border in March, each armed, uniformed soldier or agent encountered 0.007 migrants.

On an average day at the U.S.-Mexico border in March, each armed, uniformed soldier or agent encountered 0.007 migrants.

Uniformed Personnel to Migrants at the Border: A 4.6-to 1 Ratio About 32,800 total personnel 4,500 Texas State National Guard Personnel 2,200 Federal National Guard Personnel 16,500 Border Patrol Agents 9,600 Active-Duty Military Personnel 7,180 Migrants Apprehended by Border Patrol in March 2025 Does not include CBP officers at ports of entry, or Texas Department of Public Safety personnel on border missions. Sources: DHS OIG https://bit.ly/dhsoig-2324; Stars and Stripes https://bit.ly/43Hnstd; CNN https://cnn.it/3DDFh10; CBP https://bit.ly/cbp-2503

Sources: Border Patrol and CBP Officers: DHS OIG https://bit.ly/dhsoig-2324; Active-duty military: Stars and Stripes https://bit.ly/43Hnstd; Texas and federal National Guard: CNN https://cnn.it/3DDFh10; March apprehensions: CBP https://bit.ly/cbp-2503.

April 2, 2025 — 0

March Migrant Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Very Low, But Not a Record

Border Patrol migrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border were low in March 2025 -- but not "the lowest in history" as CBP oddly claims.

“The month of March recorded the lowest southwest border crossings in history,” reads a release put out by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) yesterday, adding, “In March, the Border Patrol data shows that around 7,180 southwest border crossings were recorded.”

7,180 Border Patrol apprehensions is very few. It is the fewest since Border Patrol (part of CBP) started reporting monthly data. But Border Patrol only started doing that in 2000.

If you look back further, to Border Patrol’s founding in 1925, you have to get monthly numbers by taking annual totals and dividing them by 12. Those averages show that March 2025 was not, in fact, the “lowest in history.”

There were fewer migrants in the 1950s-1960s and before World War II. And those low numbers were sustained over 12 months.

See also:

April 2, 2025 — 0

Back in the Headlines at Age 84

By vindictively revoking his visa, the Trump administration just did Osca Arias a favor, raising his profile again at age 84.

30 years ago, I was in Costa Rica working at the foundation that Oscar Arias founded with his Nobel Peace Prize money. It was my first paid job in this field (if $800 per month, minus my $400 in student loan payments, counts as “paid.”)

By vindictively revoking his visa, the Trump administration just did “don Óscar” a favor, raising his profile again at age 84. He held a news conference about it yesterday, covered by the New York Times and other outlets.

“I don’t know why they have revoked my visa,” Mr. Arias said at the news conference. “I don’t know if the revoking of my visa is some sort of punishment, because I say what I think.”

Mr. Arias has been critical of the Trump administration on social media. In February, he wrote on Facebook that Mr. Trump behaved like “a Roman emperor, telling the rest of the world what to do.”

“If someone wants to punish me in the hopes of silencing me, that isn’t going to work,” Mr. Arias said on Tuesday. He said that he did not have plans to travel to the United States, and did not provide information about what kind of visa he had and when it was set to expire.

April 1, 2025 — 0

To the West This Evening (in the Northern Hemisphere)

A new moon, next to the Pleiades (a cluster of young stars in the constellation Taurus, just below the moon here), along with Jupiter (the bright object at top) and, just above the tree to the right of the airplane, the red giant star Aldebaran, also in Taurus, 65 light years away.

I took this with my phone while taking out the garbage here in DC.

April 1, 2025 — 0

“I’m not trying to hit cleanup. I’m bringing orange slices.”

Legal expert Elie Mystal of The Nation, with Anand Giridharadas at The Ink, discuss generational change in today's urgently needed political activism:

I enjoyed and recommend this conversation with legal expert Elie Mystal of The Nation, with Anand Giridharadas at The Ink.

But as a Gen X-er, I especially liked this part, about generational change in today’s urgently needed political activism:

One of the things that I have said in those rooms to generally older geriatric people is to get the hell out of the way of the young folks. Like, there is a sense amongst older people, I have found, that they don’t want to be a part of it if they’re not out front of it, if they’re not the leader of the whatever thing. And that they have earned that right by their age and experience.

And some of it comes from a good place. Like, they have something to give and something to teach and been there, done that. And I respect all of that.

But by the same token, your time’s up. You had your chance.

I’m Gen X. We had our shot. We blew it. Sorry.

But it’s time for the next guys to step up.

And as a Gen Xer—and don’t even get me started on boomers—as a Gen Xer, my job is to help.

Like, I’m a dad. I bring orange slices to the game. I’m not trying to get out there and go—I’m not trying to hit cleanup. I’m bringing orange slices. I’m taking the kids out for pizza afterwards.

Because I now, I have a mortgage now. I live in a house. I’ve got things. I can take people out for pizza.

But I need the person who doesn’t have a house, who doesn’t have a mortgage, who’s out there on the streets. That’s the person that’s going to be the leader, that’s going to be out there with the time and effort and whatever to do it.

April 1, 2025 — 0

Day 17 for the 238 Venezuelans Sent to El Salvador

His head shaved, unable to contact anyone, with no end date to his captivity, Andry Hernández Romero, a gay makeup artist from Venezuela whose tattoos commemorate his town’s Epiphany festival, is starting his 17th day deep inside El Salvador’s “Confinement of Terrorism” prison. And the Trump administration put him there.

His head shaved, unable to contact anyone, with no end date to his captivity, Andry Hernández Romero, a gay makeup artist from Venezuela whose tattoos commemorate his town’s Epiphany festival, is starting his 17th day deep inside El Salvador’s “Confinement of Terrorism” prison.

And the Trump administration put him there.

Jonathan Blitzer, at the New Yorker, just published a 5,000-word overview of what we know so far.

As part of the White House’s effort to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, ICE officers received a document called the “Alien Enemy Validation Guide,” which provided a point system based on different categories of incriminating behavior or associations. If an immigrant in custody scored six points or higher, according to the rubric, he “may be validated” as a gang member. Tattoos, which fall under the “Symbolism” category, constitute four points; social-media posts “displaying” gang symbols are two points. Using “open source material,” agents at the investigative arm of ICE compiled photos of tattoos considered suspicious: crowns, stars, the Michael Jordan Jumpman logo.

It is shaping up to be an “Abu Ghraib” or “family separation” level of stain on the United States, and there’s no resolution yet. On Thursday afternoon, the judge overseeing litigation about this use of the “Alien Enemies Act” will hold a hearing requiring the Trump administration “to show cause why they did not violate the Court’s Temporary Restraining Orders.”

See also:

March 28, 2025 — 0

Links to Litigation I’m Watching

There's a lot of border, migration, and other Latin America human rights-related litigation going on. I'm keeping a running list of links to the Courtlistener pages hosting court documents from those cases.

There’s a lot of border, migration, and other Latin America human rights-related litigation going on in U.S. federal courts. I’m keeping a running list of links to the Courtlistener pages hosting court documents from those cases.

Here’s what’s on that page right now, but I’ll keep updating it. Add links in the comments if I’m missing any big ones.

March 28, 2025 — 0

On Monday: National Immigrant Solidarity Rally and Screening

Join me virtually this coming Monday evening for the National Immigrant Solidarity Rally and screening of the excellent documentary Borderland: the Line Within, which is viewable online today and through the weekend.

Join me virtually this coming Monday evening for the National Immigrant Solidarity Rally and screening of the excellent documentary Borderland: the Line Within, which is viewable online today and through the weekend.

RSVP here.

March 28, 2025 — 0

Let’s Get Back To a Place Where This Is Wrong

A big majority of Americans want images like these to stay on the margins of society because they’re so extreme, harmful, divisive, abusive, violent, disqualifying, and wrong.
Racist White House tweet of an image of a White man in a green uniform handcuffing a crying Latina woman with an American flag in the background.
Kristi Noem shooting a video with prisoners as a backdrop in El Salvador's CECOT jail.

A big majority of Americans want images like these to stay on the margins of society because they’re so extreme, harmful, divisive, abusive, violent, disqualifying, and wrong.

I refuse to believe otherwise, and so should you.

See also:

March 26, 2025 — 0

Whoops, Forgot About the Venezuelan Invasion

The U.S. intelligence community is presenting a 31-page global threats document that makes zero mention of any "predatory incursion" from Venezuela's government, in league with the Tren de Aragua criminal group.

Today in the House Intelligence Committee, top agency chiefs presented their “Annual Worldwide Threats Assessment.”

But something weird happened. Their 31-page document made zero mention of any “predatory incursion” from Venezuela’s government, in league with the Tren de Aragua criminal group.

That incursion, the White House told us just 12 days ago, is so severe that it forced President Trump to invoke the 1798 Wartime Renditions Act, I mean, “Alien Enemies Act.”

In fact, the only mention of Venezuela at all—and there are none about the Tren de Aragua—plays up the reduction in arrivals of Venezuelan migrants.

Imagine, forgetting all about being invaded, even as the White House insists that it’s happening. It’s almost as though the U.S. intelligence community doesn’t see any invasions or incursions happening, either.

(cc: Judge James Boasberg and U.S. Supreme Court justices)

See also:

March 25, 2025 — 0

Testifying Thursday

m looking forward to testifying in Congress again at 11:00 Eastern on Thursday, this time in a hearing of the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere about the State Department's counter-drug and law enforcement programs.

While it’s not quite the title I’d have chosen, I’m looking forward to testifying in Congress again at 11:00 Eastern on Thursday, this time in a hearing of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere about the State Department’s counter-drug and law enforcement programs.

This is not a very polarizing issue—neither side has found a silver bullet solution to drug trafficking and organized crime in the region—so I’m hoping for some constructive exchanges with members from both parties.

My written testimony is here, on the hearing repository page. I finished it at 2:00 this morning—there’s never a lot of advance prep time to write these—but hopefully it doesn’t read like that.

The hearing will be on Youtube here.

March 23, 2025 — 0

Email Update Is Out

Here’s a new “weekly” e-mail about stuff I’ve been working on, for those who’ve signed up to receive them.

This email has a link to the Border Update, a podcast about the Alien Enemies Act, two posts about some of the people who got sent to El Salvador’s terror prison, some links to recent coverage of Colombia’s peace process, a few shorter posts about border security and human rights, some readings from the past week, and links to upcoming events. (That’s quite a bit for five days since the last update.)

If you visit this site a lot, you probably don’t need an e-mail, too. But if you’d like to get more-or-less regular e-mail updates, scroll to the bottom of this page or click here.

March 23, 2025 — 0

Colombia’s Peace Process: Some Links from the Past Month

Links to 12 stories from the past month about Colombia's uneven efforts to achieve and consolidate peace. Presented in 3 focus areas: the effects of the Trump administration’s policies, the politics of the “total peace” effort, and the implementation of the 2016 accord.

Here are links to 12 stories from the past month about Colombia’s uneven efforts to achieve and consolidate peace. They’re presented according to three focus areas: the effects of the Trump administration’s policies, the politics of the “total peace” effort, and the implementation of the 2016 accord.

The effects of the Trump administration’s policies

In recent years, Colombia received as much as $440 million annually in USAID assistance for more than 80 programs

The fragile peace process in Colombia is facing one of its biggest challenges since it was signed in 2016. The freezing of USAID (essential US funding), ordered by Trump and Musk, could paralyse justice as well as peace

Los pedidos de extradición de delegados de los grupos armados y las listas de organizaciones terroristas siembran de incertidumbre las mesas de negociación

The politics of the “total peace” effort

En el marco de la mesa de diálogo entre el Gobierno y las disidencia Estado Mayor de Bloques y Frente se han adelantado acciones en materia de titulación de tierras, creación de Zonas de Reserva Campesina, planes de educación y desarrollo sostenible. Este domingo las comunidades pidieron ampliar el cese al fuego bilateral con ese grupo

En San Vicente del Caguán se llevó a cabo un diálogo social para identificar necesidades y propuestas de paz de los habitantantes

La gestión del comisionado de Paz generó dudas en el gobierno Petro. El funcionario defendió sus resultados. ¿Por qué?

Es urgente un profundo revolcón en el diseño y en la conducción de la política de paz o, de lo contrario, lo más probable es que el balance del gobierno Petro en este terreno termine siendo muy negativo

La captura de ‘Araña’ y las críticas de sus ministras son muestra de que el presidente está cada vez más lejos de esta bandera

La Paz Total del gobierno de Gustavo Petro aún no se refleja en el país y mucho menos en el Bajo Cauca. Mientras tanto, el Clan del Golfo se reestructura bajo el nombre de Ejército Gaitanista de Colombia, buscando reconocimiento político

The implementation of the 2016 accord

Afirma la magistrada de la JEP, de la Sala de Reconocimiento, que esta semana recomendó amnistiar algunos casos de secuestros de las Farc

75 personas que abandonaron la NAR Simón Trinidad piden al Gobierno garantías para su reubicación

Juan Carlos Monge, representante de la ONU Derechos Humanos, habló con Colombia+20 sobre reclutamiento, confinamiento y paz total.

March 23, 2025 — 0

Latin America-Related Events in Washington and Online This Week

7 events about Latin America this week, that I know about, that can be attended in person in Washington or online anywhere.

(Events that I know of, anyway. All times are U.S. Eastern.)

Monday, March 24

  • 2:00 at Zoom: What are the threats unaccompanied kids face? (RSVP required).

Tuesday, March 25

Wednesday, March 26

Thursday, March 27

March 22, 2025 — 0

DHS Shuts Down Its Own Oversight

At WOLA we'd published criticisms of DHS Civil Rights/Civil Liberties for slowness, unresponsiveness, and a lack of "teeth" to improve abusive behavior. But as bad encounters with DHS personnel grow more likely, we're all going to miss DHS CRCL when it is gone.

The New York Times was the first to report yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is firing nearly all staff at, or shuttering, three internal oversight agencies: its Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), its Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, and its Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO).

It shouldn’t be this easy for one of the world’s largest law enforcement agencies, DHS, to obliterate its internal oversight. In fact, it isn’t, at least in the case of CRCL, read a March 13 letter from the ranking Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois):

The DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) Office is fulfilling statutorily- required missions, and the CRCL Officer is a statutorily-required position that the Secretary must fully support with sufficient personnel and resources.

It appears that the Trump DHS is trying to get around this by keeping the position of the CRCL officer, but eliminating that officer’s staff and reassigning duties to less-empowered individuals elsewhere in the Department.

At WOLA we’d published criticisms of DHS Civil Rights/Civil Liberties for slowness, unresponsiveness, and a lack of “teeth” to improve abusive behavior. But as bad encounters with DHS personnel grow more likely, we’re all going to miss DHS CRCL when it is gone.

New York Times and other coverage of the mass firings, meanwhile, includes this chilling quote from Tricia McLaughlin, DHS’s new assistant secretary for public affairs, who is a regular source of chilling quotes.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said the decision was meant to “streamline oversight to remove roadblocks to enforcement.”

“These offices have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining D.H.S.’s mission,” Ms. McLaughlin said. “Rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often function as internal adversaries that slow down operations.”

In Latin America we’ve often seen quotes like this one from autocratic leaders and security forces. Defining basic oversight as adversarial or aligned with enemies.

This was constant In Colombia, where I worked a lot in the 90s and 00s. Álvaro Uribe even called human rights defenders “spokespeople for terrorism” while military-aligned paramilitaries were massacring communities and military “false positive” killings were worsening. Today, Colombians are still counting the dead.

See also:

March 22, 2025 — 0

WOLA Podcast: The Alien Enemies Act

On March 15, 2025, President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 for only the fourth time in U.S. history. The target, this time, is citizens of Venezuela.

Here’s a half-hour podcast with a slightly different format. Because it’s mostly about migration, which I work on at WOLA, I do most of the talking. WOLA, though, also has experts on Venezuela, Laura Dib, and El Salvador, Ana María Méndez Dardón, who answer some of my questions here.

Here is the text of the podcast landing page on WOLA’s website:

On March 15, 2025, President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 for only the fourth time in U.S. history. The target, this time, is citizens of Venezuela. His administration sent hundreds out of the country, and into a Salvadoran prison, on mere suspicion of ties to a criminal organization, the Tren de Aragua.

In this explainer episode recorded on March 21, with help from WOLA’s Venezuela Director Laura Dib and Central America Director Ana María Méndez Dardón, Defense Oversight Director Adam Isacson walks through what has happened over the past six dark days in U.S. history.

  • The Alien Enemies Act did not use any standard of due process, and many of those sent out of the country, it is now very apparent, were documented in the United States and were not guilty of anything. All it took was for U.S. agents to decide that they did not like the way these young men looked.
  • The Trump administration ignored a clear order from a federal judge to turn the planes around and is now resisting that judge’s demands for information. The result is one of the most severe constitutional crises in U.S. history, which is unresolved as of March 21st.
  • Rather than simply deport them, the planes took 238 citizens of Venezuela straight to El Salvador, where authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele took them straight to a notorious mega-prison where those inside are cut off from the outside world and never seem to emerge.

This alarming story is far from over, but this episode lays out some of the most pertinent facts and context in half an hour.

Download this podcast episode’s .mp3 file here. Listen to WOLA’s Latin America Today podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you subscribe to podcasts. The main feed is here.

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