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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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.

March 21, 2025 — 0

Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: March 21, 2025

Invocation of Alien Enemies Act raises due process, democracy, and foreign relations concerns; U.S. military presence at the border continues to expand; Travel ban appears imminent; Border wall construction resuming; Notes on Congress

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.

Note: next week’s Border Update may be delayed by possible (still unconfirmed) staff congressional testimony.

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:

  • Invocation of Alien Enemies Act raises due process, democracy, and foreign relations concerns: The Trump administration has employed a 227-year-old law to expel hundreds of Venezuelan men to El Salvador’s feared prison system without due process and in likely defiance of a judicial order to divert the aircraft carrying them. As officials resist supplying a federal court with basic information about the incident, legal analysts warn of a constitutional crisis.
  • U.S. military presence at the border continues to expand: The administration may be planning to declare a 60-foot buffer zone along much of the border to be a “military installation,” allowing soldiers to “hold” migrants there. A Navy destroyer is to carry out a mission where the border meets the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Travel ban appears imminent: In a much larger version of a “travel ban” implemented during Donald Trump’s first term, his administration may soon ban the arrival of 43 countries’ citizens to the United States, dividing them into three tiers of prohibition.
  • Border wall construction resuming: The administration is using funds appropriated in 2021 to build seven miles of border wall in south Texas, potentially including a segment running through a private butterfly reserve. “Gap-filling” projects are getting underway near Nogales, Arizona, and San Diego, California.
  • Notes on Congress: Congressional Democrats issued letters protesting the administration’s renewed use of family detention and termination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans. ICE is warning Congress of a $2 billion budget shortfall for fiscal 2025.

THE FULL UPDATE:

Read More
March 20, 2025 — 2

Who Did the Trump Administration Just Send to El Salvador’s Dungeons?

Brief profiles of 15 of the Venezuelan men sent to El Salvador's mega-prison. They really do not seem to be gang members at all.

The list below is an excerpt from tomorrow’s Border Update, which I’m still drafting. But it deserves to be shared separately.

On March 20 CBS News obtained and published a full list of all 238 Venezuelan men whom the Trump administration sent to El Salvador on March 15, despite a judge’s orders. It appears that 137 had no due process at all—they were sent under the fourth-ever invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The other 101 apparently had orders of removal.

But even though none committed any crimes in El Salvador, the government of Nayib Bukele sent them directly to the “Center for Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT),” a mega-jail built about two years ago to hold gang members, from which no prisoner is known to have been released.

For many of their loved ones, the CBS list was the first confirmation of their whereabouts. “Family members of the men say they’ve had no way to communicate with their loved ones,” noted Jonathan Lemire and Nick Miroff at the Atlantic, “So they study the [Salvadoran government’s] propaganda videos for glimpses of sons and spouses among the deportees.”

Here are profiles that I’ve seen of 15 of them, with links to sources. They really do not seem to be gang members at all.

  • Gustavo Adolfo Aguilera Agüero, 27, had been living in Dallas with his wife since December 2023, when they entered the United States with a CBP One appointment. In early February 2025, Aguilera was arrested while taking out the trash outside their home, his wife told the Miami Herald. He has a nine-month-old U.S. citizen son. His tattoos include his older, Venezuelan-born son’s name, his name and his mother’s name, and a reggaeton lyric. His mother says he has no criminal record.
  • ”JABV,” a 24-year-old who was abducted and beaten for carrying out campaign work on behalf of opposition leader María Corina Machado in 2024. His attorney stated that he has no criminal record in either the United States or Venezuela, no removal order, and “his tattoos are a Rose, a Clock and a Crown with his son’s name on it.”
  • Franco Caraballo, a 26-year-old barber detained in Dallas on February 3 when he reported to a regular check-in with ICE. His wife, Johanny Sánchez, insists he has no gang ties. “She struggles even to find logic in the accusation,” the Associated Press reported. Caraballo has several tattoos, including an image of a clock commemorating his daughter’s birthday. He had called Ms. Sánchez on the evening of March 14, Reuters reported, to tell her that he was probably being deported to Venezuela even though he had a pending asylum claim.
  • ”L.G.,” who has no removal order and a pending asylum claim. His attorney stated, “L.G. has three tattoos: one is a rosary, the other is his partner’s name, and the third is a rose and a clock.”
  • Edwuar Hernández, a 23-year-old man from Maracaibo, was arrested along with three friends at the Dallas townhouse they shared on March 13. Relatives tell the Washington Post that he had no gang ties and no criminal record in Venezuela. (See the narrative for Mervyn Yamarte below.)
  • Francisco Javier García Casique, a 24-year-old barber from Maracay, Venezuela, had a clean criminal record. He tried to make a living in Peru for four years before migrating to the United States. “He doesn’t belong to any criminal gang, either in the US or in Venezuela… he’s not a criminal,” his mother told the BBC. “My brother doesn’t belong to any criminal group, has no criminal history or record in any country and they have unjustly sent him to El Salvador simply because of his tattoos,” the Guardian reported that his brother wrote on Instagram.
  • Ali David Navas Vizcaya, who was detained in early 2024 when appearing for an appointment with ICE. His mother told AP “he has no criminal record and suspects he may have been mistakenly identified as a Tren de Aragua member because of several tattoos.”
  • Andy Javier Perozo, a 30-year-old father of five from Maracaibo who was doing food delivery gig work, was arrested along with three friends at the Dallas townhouse they shared on March 13. Relatives tell the Washington Post that he had no gang ties and no criminal record in Venezuela. (See the narrative for Mervyn Yamarte below.)
  • Jerce Reyes Barrios, a 36-year-old former professional soccer player who was imprisoned and tortured after marching in two early-2024 demonstrations against the Maduro regime. Reyes has a tattoo of the Real Madrid soccer team’s logo and had a picture of himself in his social media feed making a rock-and-roll hand gesture that DHS officials decided was a gang sign. He had already submitted a document showing he had no criminal record and a declaration from the tattoo artist, to no avail. He has two daughters, aged two and six.
  • Ringo Rincón, a 39-year-old man from Maracaibo, was arrested along with three friends at the Dallas townhouse they shared on March 13. Relatives tell the Washington Post that he had no gang ties and no criminal record in Venezuela. (See the narrative for Mervyn Yamarte below.)
  • Anyelo Jose Sarabia, age 19, is an asylum seeker detained during a scheduled January 31, 2025 check-in with ICE in Dallas. His brother’s statement reads, “The tattoo on his left hand is of a rose with money as petals. A picture of the tattoo is below. He had that tattoo done in August 2024 in Arlington, Texas, because he thought it looked cool.” (His sister said something similar to Reuters.) Another tattoo is the words “strength and courage,” and another is a bible verse; both were applied by Anyelo’s brother, who has no criminal record in the United States or Venezuela.
  • ”E.V.,” who fled Venezuela after being imprisoned and tortured for participating in a 2022 protest. His attorney said he “has only one arrest in the U.S., which resolved with a non-criminal disposition under New York state law and for which he received a sentence of a one-year conditional discharge.” He has “tattoos of anime, flowers, and animals.”
  • Henry Javier Vargas Lugo, a 32-year-old, had been living and working odd jobs in Aurora, Colorado after trying to make a living as a mechanic in Colombia for seven years. He entered the United States with his mother and daughter. “He has several tattoos, including crowns with his niece and mother’s name, a clock on his arm and a rosary,” the Miami Herald reported.
  • Mervyn Yamarte, a 29-year-old who entered the United States in 2023 after passing through the Darién Gap and lived in Dallas, is “‘a good, hardworking boy’ who had never been involved in crime,” his mother told the Guardian and the BBC. His wife said the same to the Washington Post, which reported that armed ICE officers showed up on March 13 at the townhouse where he and three friends from Maracaibo had been living, and hauled them away. Yamarte’s younger brother witnessed the arrest; he said that the agents asked whether he had tattoos. One of Mervyn Yamarte’s tattoos is his daughter’s name. Another reads, “strong like Mom.” Yamarte appears—shaved, wincing, but recognizable—in the video shared by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on March 16.
  • An unnamed client of Lindsay Toczylowski, an attorney at the Los Angeles-based Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), is an LGBTQ+ artist and asylum seeker whose tattoos included a verse from the Book of Isaiah. “They’re fairly benign. Clearly not gang tattoos,” Toczylowski told Mother Jones. “In my 15 years of representing people in removal proceedings in the United States, this is the most shocking thing that I’ve ever seen happen to one of our clients,” she told the Guardian.

See also:

March 20, 2025 — 0

Out of Commission for a Bit

Over a space of 30 hours on Thursday and Friday, I’m producing a podcast and a Border Update, speaking on a panel, and have 6 other meetings. Plus, my daughter is home from college for spring break, and I’d like to see her.

So don’t expect much posting here or on social media for the rest of the week, and please understand that I will probably be unable to return messages for a little while. Back soon!

Durante un espacio de 30 horas el jueves y el viernes, estoy produciendo un podcast y un Border Update, hablando en un panel y tengo otras 6 reuniones. Además, mi hija está de visita por las vacaciones de primavera de su universidad, y me gustaría verla.

Así que no espere muchas publicaciones aquí o en las redes sociales durante el resto de la semana, y por favor, comprenda que probablemente no podré responder mensajes durante este rato. ¡Volveré pronto!

March 19, 2025 — 0

Panel Tomorrow: U.S. Immigration Shifts and Their Impact on Latin America

US IMMIGRATION SHIFTS & ITS IMPACT ON LATIN AMERICA Adam Isaacson Director for Defense Oversight at WOLA Michelle Brane Former DHS Immigration Detention Ombudsman & Executive Director of the Family Reunification Task Force Kristie de Peña Senior Vice President for Policy at the Niskanen Center Katharine Donato Moderator Donald G. Herzberg Professor at Georgetown THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 4:00 P.M. MCCOURT SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY - MCC 290 125 E STREET NW THIS EVENT WILL BE OFFERED HYBRID

This is one of those panels where everyone else is smarter than me, and I should just go sit down in the audience and listen.

Tomorrow at 4:00 pm eastern, at Georgetown’s campus a few blocks from the Senate—and on Zoom.

RSVP, or get the Zoom address, here.

US IMMIGRATION SHIFTS & ITS IMPACT ON LATIN AMERICA Adam Isaacson Director for Defense Oversight at WOLA Michelle Brane Former DHS Immigration Detention Ombudsman & Executive Director of the Family Reunification Task Force Kristie de Peña Senior Vice President for Policy at the Niskanen Center Katharine Donato Moderator Donald G. Herzberg Professor at Georgetown THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 4:00 P.M. MCCOURT SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY - MCC 290 125 E STREET NW THIS EVENT WILL BE OFFERED HYBRID
March 19, 2025 — 0

Plainclothes Border Patrol… in Southeast Washington

You can't tell the arresting officer is a Border Patrol agent because he's wearing a sweatshirt featuring a gothic font popular with Salvadoran gangs. You'll also be surprised that he's a Border Patrol agent because the arrest happened in southeast Washington DC, far from an international border.

This video obtained by the Washington Post shows a Border Patrol agent arresting a Venezuelan father whose only crime was improperly crossing the border in October 2022 when he, his wife, and kids turned themselves in to ask for asylum.

You can’t tell the arresting officer is a Border Patrol agent because he’s wearing a sweatshirt featuring a gothic font popular with Salvadoran gangs. You’ll also be surprised that he’s a Border Patrol agent because the arrest happened in southeast Washington DC, far from an international border. (Because Washington is within 100 miles of a U.S. coastline, it is still an area where Border Patrol is allowed to operate.)

It’s also nearly unprecedented to see a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holder arrested for “improper entry” more than two years ago. We’re in a new and scary era.

The arrested father and mother are currently free, thanks to the quick and aggressive action of attorneys and mutual aid networks.

March 19, 2025 — 0

That’s Not How This Works, Chief

The notion that "the less we know about you, the scarier you must be, so you have no rights" is as dangerous as it is unhinged.

You’ve probably seen it, but we should keep raising up what an ICE official actually wrote to a federal court on Monday:

Regarding all of the Venezuelan men shipped off to Nayib Bukele’s mega-prison without proof of criminal behavior: “The lack of a criminal record does not indicate they pose a limited threat. In fact, based upon their association with TdA, the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose.”

“TdA” is the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan organized crime group whose true strength and influence are a matter of debate. In his sworn statement to a federal court, the acting director of ICE’s Harlingen, Texas field office, Robert L. Cerna, is imputing individuals’ associations with Tren de Aragua without even bothering to prove them.

And the notion that “the less we know about you, the scarier you must be, so you have no rights” is as dangerous as it is unhinged.

See also:

March 18, 2025 — 0

Saving Private… Who Exactly?

With the USS Gravely, a destroyer, parked near the border in the Gulf of Mexico, migrants can forget about landing their tank battalions, Normandy-style, on Texas beaches.
Image from Northern Command

U.S. Northern Command announced that the Navy has sent an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer—which “can carry 96 missiles, including Tomahawk Land Attack cruise missiles”—to the point where the US-Mexico border hits the Gulf of Mexico.

At Stars and Stripes (which shamefully called the body of water the “Gulf of America”), Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, very diplomatically said that it’s not really clear what the U.S.S. Gravely—a ship that until recently was shooting down Houthi missiles and drones in Yemen—might end up doing along the border.

“It is a bit unique to deploy a capability of this level for this mission set, but I think it goes to the commitment the Navy has to the president and the secretary of defense to support the southern border operations,” Caudle said.

One thing is for sure. For now at least, migrants can forget about landing their tank battalions, Normandy-style, on Texas beaches.

See also:

March 18, 2025 — 0

Just a Monumental, Tragic, Stupid Screwup

Here are photos of some of the young Venezuelan men whom the Trump administration sent to El Salvador's terror prison on Saturday. With no chance to defend their good name. On the merest suspicion of membership in a criminal group.
Click on the photo to enlarge in a new window.

Here are photos of some of the young Venezuelan men whom the Trump administration sent to El Salvador’s terror prison on Saturday. With no chance to defend their good name. On the merest suspicion of membership in a criminal group.

Their relatives say it’s all false. It’s looking like a monumental, tragic screwup. Get them out and at least give them a hearing.

The captions and sources, clockwise from top left:

  • Mervin Jose Yamarte Fernandez, 29, is one of 238 Venezuelans accused by the Trump administration of gang affiliation and sent over the weekend to El Salvador’s Terrorist Confinement Center. His sister recognized him in a video shared on social media, where masked guards shaved the detainees’ heads and escorted them into cells at the maximum-security facility. As the camera panned across the scene, Yamarte slowly turned his gaze toward it. (Yamarte’s family / Miami Herald)
  • Gustavo Adolfo Aguilera Agüero, 26, from the Venezuelan Andes in Táchira, had been living in Dallas with his wife since December 2023. In early February, Aguilera Agüero was detained by authorities while taking out the trash, according to his wife. Authorities were actually searching for someone else, but Aguilera Agüero spent several weeks in detention, awaiting deportation to Venezuela. Now, his mother, Miriam Aguilera, fears her son may be among the Venezuelans deported to El Salvador. (Aguilera’s family / Miami Herald)
  • Franco Caraballo, 26, a Venezuelan migrant whose family believes he was sent from the United States to a prison in El Salvador, takes a selfie with his wife Johanny Sanchez, in this undated handout picture provided by his family. (Franco Caraballo’s Family/Handout via REUTERS)
  • Henry Javier Vargas, 32, originally from Vargas state on Venezuela’s coast, had been living in Aurora, Colorado, for nearly a year when he was detained on January 29. Prior to migrating to the U.S., Vargas spent seven years in Colombia, working as a mechanic in Bogotá. Vargas’s family was able to identify him in a video posted by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, showing the detainees arriving in El Salvador. In the footage, his hands are shackled, and his head is bowed in a moment of despair (Vargas’s family / Miami Herald)
  • Ringo Rincón was living in Dallas when he was arrested. His girlfriend says she believes he has been taken to a prison in El Salvador with his roommates. (Roslyany Caamaño / The Washington Post)
  • Francisco García, a barber, with one of his customers. (Photo courtesy of Sebastián García / El Estímulo).
  • Andy Javier Perozo with his mom, Erkia Palencia, and a note wishing her happy birthday. (Courtesy of Erkia Palencia / The Washington Post)

See also:

March 18, 2025 — 0

Arrested at Home in Dallas on Thursday. In a Salvadoran Gulag by Saturday.

Four men from Maracaibo, Venezuela “were eking out a new life in Dallas, where they worked long hours and shared a townhouse. Then, on Thursday, armed officers showed up at their home, arrested them and took them to a Texas detention center,” reads a startling report from Silvia Foster-Frau in today’s Washington Post.

Mervin’s younger brother, Jonferson Yamarte, had arrived in Texas. He witnessed the arrests but was not detained and described them to The Post.

He said armed immigration officers were in his living room when he woke up. They asked him to sit down, requested his name and then inquired whether he had tattoos. Scholars and journalists who have studied Tren de Aragua say tattoos are not a reliable indicator of membership in the gang. Relatives of several Venezuelan men whom the Trump administration described as Tren de Aragua members sent to Guantánamo in February also said immigration agents had focused on tattoos. Their relatives denied that their loved ones had ties to the gang.

“For four Venezuelan friends, Alien Enemies Act cuts short an American dream“

March 18, 2025 — 0

Forced Disappearances in New Mexico

From an ACLU of New Mexico complaint, covered in Source NM:

ICE has not identified any of the 48 individuals apprehended in the “enhanced enforcement operation” centered on Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Roswell. ICE has not indicated where any of them are being detained, whether they have access to counsel, in what conditions they are being held, or even which agency is holding them. These individuals have been effectively forcibly disappeared from our communities.

March 18, 2025 — 0

Email Update Is Out

This one links to the Border Update, a timeline of the Alien Enemies Act judicial order-ignoring fiasco, some links to recent coverage of organized crime-tied corruption in the Americas, some recommended readings, and links to upcoming events.

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

This one links to the Border Update, a timeline of the Alien Enemies Act judicial order-ignoring fiasco, some links to recent coverage of organized crime-tied corruption in the Americas, some recommended readings, and links to upcoming events.

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 18, 2025 — 0

Organized Crime-Tied Corruption in the Americas: Links from the Past Month

Links to 4 stories documenting examples of official government collusion with organized crime.

“For drug-related crime, state capture is an essential element of doing business. It guarantees that all stages of the logistics chain run with limited risk of seizure or arrest.” Meanwhile, “Mexico is now Latin America’s emblematic case of corruption and co-option by organised crime.”

The winner of a special gubernatorial election in Colombia’s southern department of Putumayo, a major coca-producing zone, faces “allegations of alleged support for his campaign from questionable politicians and of alleged support from the Comandos de la Frontera, a FARC dissident group that controls a large part of Putumayo.”

Argues that Latin America’s criminal organizations now seek relationships at the local level—states/provinces or municipalities/counties—rather than seek to corrupt the topmost levels of government.

Laura Sanchez Ley, Agente Fronterizo de Eu Hacia Tours para ‘Coyotes’ (Milenio (Mexico), Tuesday, February 18, 2025).

Héctor Hernández, a Border Patrol agent in San Diego, allegedly gave Tijuana migrant smugglers “tours” of the border showing them the best sites for crossing migrants, charging them “$5,000 per tour and entry.” That ended in 2023 when Hernández gave a “tour” to an undercover Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent.

March 18, 2025 — 0

Latin America-Related Events in Washington and Online This Week

3 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 17

Wednesday, March 19

  • 12:30-2:00 at George Washington University: Authoritarian Regimes, Gender Based Violence: How Right Wing Governments use the ‘Protective Discourse’ to Justify Their Harms Against Women and Girls (RSVP required).

Thursday, March 20

  • 4:00 at Georgetown University Law School Campus and at Zoom: U.S. Immigration Shifts and Their Impact on Latin America **I’m on this panel** (RSVP required).

Friday, March 21

  • 4:00-7:30 at American University: 3rd Annual Changing Aid Conference (RSVP required).
March 16, 2025 — 4

Timeline of What Appears to be Defiance of a Judicial Order: Applying the Alien Enemies Act to Venezuelans Sent to El Salvador’s Prisons Without Due Process

On social media this morning I underwent a messy process of trying to piece together the timeline of what happened yesterday, as the Trump administration raced to get 238 Venezuelan citizens on planes headed straight for El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s prison system before a federal judge could stop them from using the Alien Enemies Act for that purpose.

The timeline does show that the planes landed well after Washington DC Federal District Judge James E. Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order to stop that from happening. Social media is not a great place to explain that as new information emerges, because one can’t edit earlier posts.

Here is a timeline, last edited at 1:30PM Eastern on Tuesday, March 18. (I’ll change that time if I make further updates.)

  • Sometime Friday March 14: President Trump issues an executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, for the fourth time in US history, to allow the swift removal of Venezuelan citizens, regardless of migratory status, accused of membership in the Tren de Aragua criminal group. The Alien Enemies Act is meant to be a wartime jurisdiction, to be invoked at times of declared war, foreign invasion, or foreign “predatory incursion.” It includes no due process rights for those detained or deported, and the U.S. government is not required to prove a tie to Tren de Aragua. The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who has imprisoned nearly 3 percent of his country’s male population, offered on February 3 to jail non-Salvadorans whom the Trump administration sent to El Salvador.
  • Saturday, March 15: The American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward seek a temporary restraining order to halt invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The case is docketed as J.G.G. vs. Donald Trump.
  • Saturday, March 15 at 3:10pm and 3:40pm Eastern: Two ICE charter flights flown by contractor GlobalX are to leave Harlingen, Texas for San Salvador. These will be delayed. These weekend ICE flights are unusual.

  • Saturday, March 15 at 3:51pm Eastern: according to the page’s timestamp, the White House posts the executive order to its website.

  • Saturday, March 15 at 4:13pm Eastern: A third ICE charter flight flown by GlobalX is to leave Harlingen, Texas for Comayagua, Honduras. It, too, will be delayed.

  • Saturday, March 15 at 5:00pm Eastern: Judge Boasberg convenes a hearing in the J.G.G. vs. Trump case.
  • Saturday, March 15 at ~5:20pm Eastern: Judge Boasberg adjourns the hearing until 6:00pm to give the Department of Justice time to confirm whether flights carrying people under the Alien Enemies Act are underway or may depart soon.
  • Saturday, March 15 at 5:26pm Eastern: GlobalX flight 6143 departs Harlingen, Texas but its destination has changed to Comayagua, Honduras.

  • Saturday, March 15 at 5:45pm Eastern: GlobalX flight 6145 departs Harlingen, Texas; while the FlightAware app said it was heading for San Salvador, there is an alternate flight plan for Comayagua, Honduras. Subsequent reporting shows that this and the two other planes went to Comayagua: none flew directly to San Salvador. It is not clear why they made this stop en route.

  • Saturday, March 15 at ~6:05 Eastern: In a private aside, the Department of Justice apparently fails to confirm anything about flights to Judge Boasberg.
  • Saturday, March 15 at ~6:47pm Eastern: Judge Boasberg issues a temporary restraining order blocking application of the Alien Enemies Act. The New York Times reported: “Judge Boasberg said he was ordering the government to turn flights around given ‘information, unrebutted by the government, that flights are actively departing.’”
  • Saturday, March 15 at 7:26pm Eastern: A March 16 Justice Department notice refers to a “7:26 PM minute order” from Judge Boasberg.

At this point, all flights should have stopped or turned around.

  • Saturday, March 15 at 7:36pm Eastern: GlobalX Flight 6143 did not turn around: it lands in Comayagua, Honduras.
  • Saturday, March 15 at 7:37pm Eastern: GlobalX Flight 6122 departs Harlingen for Comayagua, Honduras.

  • Saturday, March 15 at 8:07pm Eastern: There are two flight plans filed for GlobalX Flight 6145. The one that turned out to be correct listed the plane landing at this time in Comayagua, Honduras.

  • Saturday, March 15 at 9:46pm Eastern: GlobalX Flight 6122 lands in Comayagua, Honduras.
  • Saturday, March 15 at 11:39pm Eastern: A Washington Post timeline shows a plane departing Comayagua, Honduras at 11:39pm.
  • Saturday, March 15 at 11:41pm Eastern: GlobalX Flight 6144 departs Comayagua, Honduras for San Salvador, El Salvador.

  • Sunday, March 16 at 12:06am Eastern: GlobalX Flight 6144 lands in San Salvador.
  • Sunday, March 16 at 12:10am Eastern: A Washington Post timeline shows a flight from Comayagua landing in San Salvador.
  • Sunday, March 16 at 12:41am Eastern: GlobalX Flight 6123 departs Comayagua, Honduras for San Salvador, El Salvador.

  • Sunday, March 16 at 1:04am Eastern: GlobalX Flight 6123 lands in San Salvador.
  • Sunday, March 16 at 7:46am Eastern: Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele tweets a screenshotted New York Post headline, “Fed judge orders deportation flights carrying alleged Venezuelan gangbangers to return to US” with the comment “Oopsie… Too late 😂.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio retweets this. (This timeline indicates that the judge was not, in fact, “too late.”)
  • Sunday, March 16 at 8:13am Eastern: Bukele posts footage of people arriving and being dragged off of planes by security forces in riot gear, then roughly herded into his government’s giant Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison. “Today,” Bukele writes, “the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable). The United States will pay a very low fee for them, but a high one for us.”
Salvadoran government handout photo reproduced at the Washington Post.

  • Sunday, March 16 at 8:39am Eastern: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio tweets, “Thank you for your assistance and friendship, President Bukele.”
  • Sunday, March 16 at 3:46 PM Eastern: An Axios article by Marc Caputo reports that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem chose not to turn the planes around. Officials claimed to Caputo that they could ignore Judge Boasberg’s order because the planes were already over international waters. A correction added to the story reads, “This story was updated with the White House official’s claim that the administration had ignored the ruling but not defied it, because it came too late.” (This timeline makes clear that the order did not come too late.
  • Monday, March 17 during the 5:00PM hour, Eastern: Appearing before Judge Boasburg, Department of Justice attorneys refuse to answer basic questions about the flights detailed in this timeline.
  • Tuesday, March 18 mid-day: Acting ICE Harlingen Field Office Director Robert L. Cerna submits a statement to the court affirming that two of the flights were carrying all of the Venezuelans removed under the Alien Enemies Act proclamation, and that both were in the air by 7:25 PM on March 16, a minute before Judge Boasberg’s temporary restraining order appeared in writing. The statement seems to assume that the planes could not be called back once in the air, once over international waters, or once on the ground in Honduras—not their final destination—while still carrying out an ICE contract. These assumptions are far from settled.

See also:

March 14, 2025 — 0

Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: March 14, 2025

CBP publishes February border data; “Mass deportation” updates; Active-duty deployment nears 9,600 soldiers; Guantánamo base is currently empty; The impact in Panama and elsewhere; Congressional opponents grow more vocal

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:

  • CBP publishes February border data: As the Trump administration shut down asylum access at the border and canceled the CBP One program, the number of people entering CBP custody at the border has plummeted. There are now at least four uniformed security personnel for every apprehended migrant. Migration is also way down in the Darién Gap. Fentanyl seizures are also very low.
  • “Mass deportation” updates: ICE arrested 32,809 people in the U.S. interior during the first 50 days of the Trump administration. Congress is considering budget measures to make deportations truly “massive.” ICE is increasingly targeting families as it reopens family detention facilities.
  • Active-duty deployment nears 9,600 soldiers: Troops keep arriving at the border, playing supporting roles.
  • Guantánamo base is currently empty: The entire population of 40 detainees at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station has been returned to the United States. The operation’s cost so far has averaged $55,000 per detainee.
  • The impact in Panama and elsewhere: On short-term visas, Panama’s government released 112 Asian, African, and European migrants whom the Trump administration had sent there despite their fears of return. It isn’t clear what their next steps are.
  • Congressional opponents grow more vocal: Letters and statements from congressional Democrats voiced more alarm and outrage about Trump administration anti-immigration measures, even as a CNN poll showed respondents narrowly approving of Trump’s performance on migration policy.

THE FULL UPDATE:

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March 11, 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 one links to the Border Update, a WOLA podcast about the Mexico tariff nonsense, videos of three recent interviews in English, some links to recent coverage of arms transfers in the Americas, some recommended readings, and links to upcoming events.

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 11, 2025 — 0

Arms Transfers and Arms Trafficking in the Americas: Some Links from the Past Month

Links to 14 articles about recent transfers and trafficking of weapons to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Western Hemisphere Regional

The Trump administration has undone a weak Biden-era restriction on arms sales to countries that might use U.S.-provided weapons in violation of international humanitarian law.

Trump revokes Biden-era policy, prompted by Israel’s Gaza war, restricting US arms sales over human rights concerns

Argentina

The Milei government is taking delivery on an order of F-16 aircraft begun during the Biden administration, and refurbishing U.S.-provided P-3 aircraft.

El ministro de Defensa, Luis Petri, encabezó un acto junto a la aeronave Nº 25, la cual servirá para adiestramiento y no tiene capacidad de vuelo. Cómo son los misiles que llegarán de los Estados Unidos

Se encuentra a la espera de su turno para ser enviado a las instalaciones del aeropuerto de Keystone Heights, ubicado en la localidad de Florida, base aérea donde se realizarán tareas de puesta en servicio de la aeronave militar.

Central America Regional, Dominican Republic

Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and the Dominican Republic adopted an OAS “Roadmap to Prevent Trafficking in and the Illicit Proliferation of Arms, Ammunition and Explosives.”

Colombia, Peru

Colombia was to buy Swedish-made Gripen fighter planes, but the U.S. government is vetoing the sale of its U.S.-made engines. Colombia may consider Chinese alternatives.

According to SA Defense the US will block the sale of the GE F414-GE-39E engine, a key component of Sweden’s Saab Gripen E fighter jet, to Colombia’s Air Force

Mexico

Several stories about arms trafficking across the U.S. border, the subject of arguments in Mexico’s lawsuit against U.S. weapons companies, which went before the Supreme Court on March 4.

Guns allegedly linked to Dallas native used in assassination attempt of Mexico City police chief, murder of immigration agent, 2 others

The case concerns a lawsuit the Mexican government filed against gun companies seeking accountability for the gun violence epidemic

The country claims Smith & Wesson and other gunmakers are turning a blind eye to hundreds of thousands of high-powered weapons made in the U.S that are illegally trafficked into in the hands of Mexican cartels

Under pressure from Trump, the Sheinbaum administration is demanding that the United States combat the firepower of the cartels. Using judicial documents and official reports, EL PAÍS reconstructs the long chain of arms trafficking, which begins in the weapons industry and ends in the streets of Mexico

Nicaragua

Russia delivered helicopters, planes, and anti-aircraft artillery to Nicaragua.

Helicópteros Mi-17, aviones AN-26 y artillería antiaérea modernizada Zushka se han entregado a la Fuerza Aérea del Ejército de Nicaragua

Venezuela

“Venezuela is a shell of a state, held up by illicit narcotic and oil money as well as Chinese, Russian, and Iranian support and posing no realistic threat to the United States. No amount of advanced Russian warplanes will change that.”

Venezuela’s economic conditions have repeatedly undercut the ability of its military to maintain the planes in its fleet

March 10, 2025 — 0

Darién Gap Migration Continues Dropping

408 people migrated northward through the Darién Gap in February, the fewest in a month since November 2020. An expected result of the disappearance of the right to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

408 people migrated northward through the Darién Gap in February, the fewest in a month since November 2020. An expected result of the disappearance of the right to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. (data table / source / chart)

March 10, 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 10

Tuesday, March 11

Wednesday, March 12

  • 12:30-1:30 at Georgetown University: Latin America Research Seminar: Concubines, Lawyers, Cattle and Maps (RSVP required).
  • 2:00 at atlanticcouncil.org: The role of the Panama Canal in global commerce (RSVP required).

Thursday, March 13

March 7, 2025 — 0

Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: March 7, 2025

Citing cross-border fentanyl trafficking, Trump again imposes and then withdraws tariffs on Mexico; Vance brings cabinet members to Eagle Pass; February saw the fewest Border Patrol migrant apprehensions this century, and perhaps since the 1960s; The U.S. military presence grows at the border; “Mass deportation” slows a bit, pending new money from Congress; Notes on the impact in Mexico and further south

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:

  • Citing cross-border fentanyl trafficking, Trump again imposes and then withdraws tariffs on Mexico: President Trump followed up on a threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada. The main reason cited was production and trafficking of fentanyl, which has been declining, though it seems apparent that the President’s disdain for trade agreements is a larger factor. Trump later lifted tariffs on most goods for another month.
  • Vance brings cabinet members to Eagle Pass: Vice President Vance went to the border with the Homeland Security and Defense secretaries. His remarks focused mainly on organized crime in Mexico, not migration.
  • February saw the fewest Border Patrol migrant apprehensions this century, and perhaps since the 1960s: Donald Trump revealed that Border Patrol apprehended 8,326 migrants along the border in February, which would be the fewest since at least 2000, the earliest year for which public data are available. Monthly averages were lower than that from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s and during and before World War II. As occurred during the first months of Trump’s first term, migrants and smugglers are pausing their decisions to try to enter the country.
  • The U.S. military presence grows at the border: With the deployment of a Stryker brigade combat team and general support aviation battalion, the number of active-duty military personnel at the border will soon reach 9,000. The overall number of uniformed personnel could be over four times the number of monthly migrant apprehensions.
  • “Mass deportation” slows a bit, pending new money from Congress: Deportation flights increased modestly in February, and costly military flights have nearly halted since February 21. The Guantánamo Bay naval base is receiving fewer detainees amid cost concerns and interagency coordination issues. The White House is disappointed by its slow start, but a giant spending measure moving haltingly through Congress could remove its funding bottlenecks. Policy changes underway range from easing the firing of immigration judges to expanding expedited removal throughout the country to reopening family detention facilities.
  • Notes on the impact in Mexico and further south: Asylum applications are way up in Mexico even as migrant shelters empty. Numbers of migrants giving up and returning to South America have grown to the point that Costa Rica and Panama are facilitating southbound transportation.

THE FULL UPDATE:

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March 5, 2025 — 0

WOLA Podcast: Tariffs Won’t Stop Fentanyl: Upending U.S.-Mexico relations for a failed drug-war model

By imposing tariffs on Mexico, "Trump seems not to want even a transactional relationship, but rather to blow up the relationship." One of the conclusions of a conversation I recorded today with Stephanie and John from WOLA, in the wake of Trump's imposition of tariffs on Mexico.

By imposing tariffs on Mexico, “Trump seems not to want even a transactional relationship, but rather to blow up the relationship.” One of the conclusions of a conversation I recorded today with Stephanie and John from WOLA, in the wake of Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Mexico.

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

In an expected but still stunning escalation, the Trump administration has imposed 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, citing cross-border flows of fentanyl as justification. The move has sent shockwaves through U.S.-Mexico and North American relations, rattling markets and generating a general outcry.

In this episode, Stephanie Brewer, WOLA’s director for Mexico, and John Walsh, WOLA’s director for drug policy, unpack the political, economic, and security implications of the tariff imposition and an apparent return to failed attempts to stop drug abuse and drug trafficking through brute force.

Brewer breaks down how the tariffs and other new hardline policies, like terrorist designations for Mexican criminal groups and fast-tracked extraditions, are reshaping and severely straining the bilateral relationship.

Walsh explains why Trump’s focus on supply-side crackdowns is doomed to fail, drawing on decades of evidence from past U.S. drug wars. He lays out a harm reduction strategy that would save far more lives.

The conversation concludes with an open question: is Donald Trump really interested in a negotiation with Mexico? Or is the goal a permanent state of coercion, which would explain the lack of stated benchmarks for lifting the tariffs?

Links:

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.

March 4, 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 one links to the latest Border Update, a subject index to this year’s Updates so far, a brand-new analysis of the military’s role in migration control, a podcast with colleagues at the border in Nogales, links to upcoming events, and two sets of recommended readings.

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 4, 2025 — 0

At WOLA: Soldiers Aren’t Border Police: the Perils of Using Troops Against Migrants

The Trump administration is encouraging militaries to act like glorified migration agents at the U.S.-Mexico border, in the U.S. interior and even Guantánamo, and also in Mexico and Guatemala.

Here’s a new analysis at WOLA’s website about one of the many ways in which the Trump administration is playing with fire: sending combat-trained soldiers to act as glorified migration agents, potentially confronting civilians while carrying out a politicized mission. We see it happening at the U.S.-Mexico border, in the U.S. interior and even Guantánamo as so-called “mass deportation” ramps up, and also in Mexico and Guatemala in response to U.S. pressure.

The U.S. military—which prides itself on being apolitical—is being forced to lend itself to the current administration’s domestic political priorities. This threatens a historic break with more than a century of restraint in the United States’ democratic civil-military relations.

Read the whole thing here.

March 3, 2025 — 0

Five Latin America Security Longreads from the Past Month

Fletcher Reveley, Grave Mistakes: The History and Future of Chile’s ‘Disappeared’ (Undark, Wednesday, February 19, 2025).

~10,300 words: In Chile, the Pinochet dictatorship hid the remains of hundreds of its victims. “Can new forensic science help find them—and regain public trust?”

Steven Dudley, How Organized Crime Set the Agenda for Ecuador’s Presidential Elections (InsightCrime, Wednesday, February 5, 2025).

~3,100 words: Both candidates in Ecuador’s April 13 presidential elections seem determined to satisfy the public’s lust for a “mano dura” approach to crime—whether it will work or not.

La Situacion Actual de Orden Publico en Colombia: Radiografia de un Pais en Guerra (El Espectador (Colombia), Friday, February 21, 2025).

~3,800 words: Violence between armed and criminal groups is worsening in many parts of Colombia right now. This overview documents what is happening in several regions of the country.

Elliott Woods, A Deadly Passage (Texas Monthly, Monday, March 3, 2025).

~8,200 words: Travels to the forgotten parts of Mexico and Guatemala to speak to the relatives of migrants who perished on June 27, 2022, when 53 people from Mexico and Central America died of heat inside the container of a tractor-trailer near San Antonio, Texas.

Christopher Newton, Juliana Manjarres, Marina Cavalari, Insight Crime’s 2024 Homicide Round-Up (InsightCrime, Wednesday, February 26, 2025).

~5,600 words: A country-by-country survey of trends for the most closely documented form of violent crime in the part of the world that accounts for a third of the world’s homicides.

March 2, 2025 — 0

Latin America-Related Events in Washington and Online This Week

11 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 3

  • 9:00-6:00 at Inter-American Human Rights Commission Zoom: 192 Period of Sessions (RSVP required).

Tuesday, March 4

Wednesday, March 5

  • 9:00-5:30 at Inter-American Human Rights Commission Zoom: 192 Period of Sessions (RSVP required).
  • 10:00 in Room SD-419 Dirksen Senate Office Building and online: Hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Advancing American Interests in the Western Hemisphere.
  • 10:00-11:30 at thedialogue.org: The Lancet Series: Early Childhood Development and the Next 1,000 Days (RSVP required).
  • 1:00 at Zoom: Migration Policy Under the Trump Administration: What’s Changing and What’s at Stake? (RSVP required).
  • 6:00 hosted by Human Rights First: The Legacy of Executive Orders: Impact on Black Communities and Immigrant Rights (RSVP required).

Thursday, March 6

  • 9:00-3:30 at Inter-American Human Rights Commission Zoom: 192 Period of Sessions (RSVP required).
  • 2:00 at Zoom: Reconciliation Rundown: Understanding the Basics of Budget Reconciliation (RSVP required).

Friday, March 7

  • 9:00-12:30 at Inter-American Human Rights Commission Zoom: 192 Period of Sessions (RSVP required).

February 28, 2025 — 0

Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: February 28, 2025

Reports of southbound migration as people abandon hope of seeking protection in the United States; Another Guantánamo flight arrives, as released detainees reveal horrific conditions; “Mass deportation” updates; “Bridge deportations” continue; The impact on Mexico; Update on CBP’s border drug seizures

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:

  • Reports of southbound migration as people abandon hope of seeking protection in the United States: As Trump administration measures shut off the possibility of seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, some people who had migrated to Mexico to do that are turning around. Several dozen per day have been boarding boats through dangerous currents to avoid traveling southbound through the Darién Gap.
  • Another Guantánamo flight arrives, as released detainees reveal horrific conditions: The Trump administration sent 17 more undocumented migrants to the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station, just 3 days after removing to Venezuela all who had been at the base for up to 16 days. Those released from the facility told of horrific and abusive conditions.
  • “Mass deportation” updates: The House passed a budget resolution that, like a Senate measure passed a week earlier, could provide a gigantic amount of funding for the administration’s mass deportation plans. These plans appear to include widespread use of military bases and invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
  • “Bridge deportations” continue: The Trump administration sent to Costa Rica a second plane with migrants aboard from Asia, eastern Europe, and Africa. In Panama, 112 of 299 migrants whom the administration flew there are in a jungle camp, cut off from access to attorneys, as they voice fear of return to their countries of origin.
  • The impact on Mexico: President Trump appears determined to levy tariffs on Mexican goods on March 4, citing continued flows of fentanyl. U.S. deportation flights to Mexico are now taking people as far south as possible, near the Guatemala border.
  • Update on CBP’s border drug seizures: Despite Donald Trump’s tariff threats, CBP is finding less fentanyl at the border. Seizures dropped 21 percent from 2023 to 2024, and another 22 percent in the first four months of fiscal 2025, compared to the same period a year earlier. All drugs except marijuana—which continues a sharp decline in seizures—continue to be overwhelmingly encountered at ports of entry.

THE FULL UPDATE:

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