# The Trump deportation news thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 25, 2025, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404 "2025-01-25T23:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/621 "2025-04-30T19:56:20Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > means the outcome of the court case under discussion. From the Newsweek article: [My bold in all cases.] > … > Legal experts have said the president’s public acknowledgment that he has the power to return Abrego Garcia **could have significant legal consequences** , especially in light of the court order blocking Abrego Garcia’s deportation. > > They argue that Trump’s refusal to act—despite admitting he could— **may be used as evidence that the administration is willfully defying judicial authority.** > … So what? > … > “The transcript of President Trump’s ABC interview will quickly be raised in the Abrego Garcia case. Trump said that he could get Garcia back, but does not want to do so. The judge can now use that admission as **proof of a violation of the order to facilitate his return** ,” Attorney Jonathan Turley said in a post on X, formerly [Twitter](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/twitter). > … To which I say repeatedly, _so what?_ * * * * * * Trying to read that Newsweek site is _maddening!_ ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/622 "2025-04-30T20:06:19Z")
So, your quotes indicate they’re talking about the consequences in the case, not about anything that would happen to Trump itself. Or, if you’re asking why you should care, that’s up to you. But it doesn’t help us to complain that the article isn’t about what you want it to be about. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/623 "2025-04-30T22:34:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My Trump cultist friend claims that the Immigration Reform Act signed by Bill Clinton removes the right of due process for people who are in the country illegally. Yes, he signed the Act; but I find it hard to believe that the Act contains anything so unconstitutional. _Is_ there anything in there to that effect? > **[Reno v. AADC, 525 U.S. 471 (1999)](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/525/471/)** > > Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Comm. > **[Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_Immigration_Reform_and_Immigrant_Responsibility_Act_of_1996)** > > The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA or IIRIRA), is a law enacted as division C of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997, made major changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). IIRAIRA's changes became effective on April 1, 1997. > Former United States President Bill Clinton asserted that the legislation strengthened "the rule of law by cracking down on illegal immigration at the border, in the workplace, and in the criminal justi... [https://www.boundless.com/blog/clinton/](https://www.boundless.com/blog/clinton/) One might recall that Trump was a friend of the Clintons and seems, by all measures, to have been in the George Wallace camp of Dixiecrat ideology since his youth and never shifted till the South came back to it. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/624 "2025-04-30T22:50:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My Trump cultist friend claims that the Immigration Reform Act signed by Bill Clinton removes the right of due process . . . _Is_ there anything in there to that effect? According to something called the Immigrant Defense Project,yes: [End the Mass Criminalization of Immigrants](https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/fix-96-end-mass-criminalization-immigrants/) > [@](#): > > **The week of April 25 marks the 20th anniversary** of one of these laws, which are directly responsible for expanding incarceration of immigrants, creating a fast track for deportations without due process, setting the foundation for local police and ICE collaborations and making legal immigration much more difficult. There must be a long complex story here that I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/625 "2025-04-30T22:58:57Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Or, if you’re asking why you should care, that’s up to you. Give me a break. “So what?” doesn’t mean “why should I care?” It means (to spell it out) “what will be the net effect on anything?” > [@Pleonast](#): > > But it doesn’t help us to complain that the article isn’t about what you want it to be about. So do me a favor, indeed all of us a favor, since you seem to understand and I don’t. Fight my ignorance. What **IS** the article about? What will be the “legal consequences”? What am I missing? And I admit I must be missing something. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/626 "2025-05-01T15:00:48Z")
the legal consequences could be the lawyers on team trump being in very hot legal water themselves. both glenn kirschner and harry littman have said the lawyers in these cases are on very thin legal ice. they read the judges as being very close to criminal and civil contempt. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/627 "2025-05-01T15:09:53Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > both glenn kirschner and harry littman have said the lawyers in these cases are on very thin legal ice. they read the judges as being **very close to criminal and civil contempt.** Something has to give at some point. “_Close to contempt_” has been invoked for about two months now in various legal battles against the Trump administration. Seems like the sundry judges are so hesitant to find someone in contempt that there’s no real risk of being in contempt by anyone on the Trump administration’s legal team. When’s the ice going to break? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/628 "2025-05-01T15:37:01Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > …someone in contempt that there’s no real risk of being in contempt by anyone on the Trump administration’s legal team. I keep asking in different places, what would be the actual, physical, scary, legal consequences of **anyone** – trump, his lawyers, a given agency-- being found in contempt of court? Does anyone know? I know that if an ordinary citizen like me is found in contempt of court, I will get a fine and possibly time in jail. Maybe other Bad Stuff, too. But in the lofty realms where these threats of contempt are being bandied about, what is truly the big deal? AIUI courts really have no power to enforce much of anything if departments of justice (i.e., police who are part of the executive branch) don’t carry out their directives. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/629 "2025-05-01T16:15:48Z")
It sure looks like America™ only functioned due to the honor system. Now that bad actors are operating in bad faith, we’re all just left standing looking at each other going “shit, we never expected this to happen…” and there are no adults left in the room. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/630 "2025-05-01T17:07:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I keep asking in different places, what would be the actual, physical, scary, legal consequences of **anyone** – trump, his lawyers, a given agency-- being found in contempt of court? Does anyone know? If you’ll entertain me winging it without citations for the nonce. Just from reading a lot of Jay Kuo, Mark Elias/Democracy Docket and the like: - Trump, personally, is untouchable by the courts. For now. - A federal agency, as an entity, is untouchable as well. - Individual Trump administration lawyers or individual federal employees are thought to be _de facto_ immune from **CRIMINAL** contempt due to a presumed reflexive auto-pardon from Trump. - Individual Trump administration lawyers or individual federal employees are thought to be vulnerable to **CIVIL** contempt that cannot be pardoned by Trump. Penalties would chiefly be fines and disbarment as applicable. Not paying civil contempt fines can lead to various annoyances up to and including a non-pardonable jail sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/631 "2025-05-01T17:16:34Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Trump, personally, is untouchable by the courts. For now. > [@bordelond](#): > > Individual Trump administration lawyers or individual federal employees are thought to be _de facto_ immune from **CRIMINAL** contempt due to a presumed reflexive auto-pardon from Trump. So what distinction is there from this reality and a fully functioning authoritarian regime? As far as I can tell, we’re living in a dictatorship who is simply testing how powerful they really are. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/632 "2025-05-01T17:30:12Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > So what distinction is there from this reality and a fully functioning authoritarian regime? For better or worse, the Trump administration is actually complying with many – but not all – court judgments. They’re not just digging in by default. One recent example: > **['I am not afraid of you,' Columbia student says of Trump after release from ICE](https://abcnews.go.com/US/lawyers-columbia-student-detained-ice-seek-release-case/story?id=121317902)** > > Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, who was arrested by ICE agents following his citizenship interview, has been ordered released while his case proceeds. A _fully-functioning_ authoritarian regime keeps Mahwadi detained. If the preview text is unclear, Mahwadi was, indeed, released – the judge’s order was obeyed. Additionally – and I know people think it simply cannot happen – but Trump is still susceptible to impeachment/conviction by the legislative branch. For the nickel it’s worth … I think it _can_ happen, but not soon. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/633 "2025-05-01T17:43:47Z")
HA-HA. > **[Trump-appointed federal judge rejects use of Alien Enemies Act in Venezuelan...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-appointed-federal-district-judge-rejects-use-alien-enemies-act-v-rcna204150)** > > The ruling was the first time a judge weighed in on the merits of Trump's invocation of the wartime authority granted in 1798. > [@](#): > > A federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelans it alleges are members of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua. > > U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., of the Southern District of Texas, wrote in an opinion that he does not question the executive branch’s authority to direct the detention and removal of aliens who engage in criminal activity, and he noted the administration can continue to rely on the Immigration and Nationality Act for those proceedings. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/634 "2025-05-01T17:50:15Z")
I’m amused that a judge he himself appointed is ruling against him. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/635 "2025-05-01T17:53:03Z")
I presume the (WH Press Secretary) Karoline Leavitt play will lean more toward his ethnicity, then, than the whole “radical left, lunatic, activist judges” trope. [Sure. It could _always_ be both] ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/636 "2025-05-01T17:57:35Z")
‘Look at his gang tattoos!’ (Which we added with ~~Photoshop~~ ~~Paint~~ a Sharpie.) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/637 "2025-05-01T18:07:16Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Not paying civil contempt fines can lead to various annoyances up to and including a non-pardonable jail sentence. And who is responsible for running these jails? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/638 "2025-05-01T18:15:40Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > If you’ll entertain me winging it without citations for the nonce. Just from reading a lot of Jay Kuo, Mark Elias/Democracy Docket and the like: > > - Trump, personally, is untouchable by the courts. For now. > - A federal agency, as an entity, is untouchable as well. > - Individual Trump administration lawyers or individual federal employees are thought to be _de facto_ immune from **CRIMINAL** contempt due to a presumed reflexive auto-pardon from Trump. Please, wing away! So, in short, threatening contempt is toothless in these situations. > [@bordelond](#): > > Individual Trump administration lawyers or individual federal employees are thought to be vulnerable to **CIVIL** contempt that cannot be pardoned by Trump. Penalties would chiefly be fines and disbarment as applicable. Not paying civil contempt fines can lead to various _annoyances_ up to and including a non-pardonable jail sentence. My italics. The only potential “bite” here would be fines, disbarment, or if they’re really bad, a jail sentence. And it’s only flunkies and lackeys who are vulnerable to these “annoyances,” as you aptly characterize them. I’m guessing trump would not visit them in stir. Or bake them a cake with a file in it. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/639 "2025-05-01T18:36:57Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > > [@bordelond](#): > > > > Not paying civil contempt fines can lead to various annoyances up to and including a non-pardonable jail sentence. > > And who is responsible for running these jails ? This is the “_there be dragons_” area that no one really fleshes out [EDIT: But see two posts down!]. The article below at least acknowledges the concern. > **[What happens if a judge charges the Trump administration with ‘contempt’?](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2025/0430/trump-court-contempt-consequence)** > > What do a court’s contempt charges actually mean? If President Donald Trump and his administration are found guilty, consequences may be hard to enforce. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404/640 "2025-05-01T18:43:32Z")
Yes, a Texas judge appointed by Trump, and his language is pretty strong. This gives me some hope. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-deportation-news-thread/1013404.md?page=33)