Trump Admin Unveils New Legal Standard: ‘We Have No Proof, Which Actually Proves Our Case’
Many deportees lacked any evidence of criminality, but the government argues that really makes them MORE criminals. The post Trump Admin Unveils New Legal Standard: ‘We Have No Proof, Which Actually Proves Our Case’ appeared first on Above the Law.
The federal government took a couple hundred alleged gang members that they haven’t been able to actually convict of anything and sold them to a slave labor camp in El Salvador. The move violated a court order based, in no small part, on the fact that the Enemy Aliens Act actually requires a war with or invasion by a “foreign nation or government.” Which, minor detail for the textualists out there, is not happening here. The Trump administration responded with a crackpot theory about laws not applying in international waters followed by the even more batshit claim that court orders don’t apply unless they’re in writing.
Yet this wasn’t even the craziest legal argument they uncorked.
The term “alleged” is doing even more heavy lifting than the inmates toiling in El Salvador. The administration didn’t choose to move convicted migrant gang members to Central American Azkaban, but rather a bunch of suspects that the government apparently didn’t feel like actually charging or convicting of anything. For rule of law fans, when the White House call this “a plane full of rapists, murderers, and gangsters” what they mean is “a plane full of people that we can’t prove are criminals at all.”
But don’t take my word for it… that’s actually the administration’s argument!
While it is true that many of the TdA members removed under the AEA do not have criminal records in the United States, that is because they have only been in the United States for a short period of time. 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. It demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.
That’s from the declaration of ICE Field Officer Robert Cerna claiming that their complete lack of any evidence is actually a PLUS because “the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose.”
Esteemed members of the jury, we have no motive or opportunity or physical evidence tying the defendant to the crime. But — in a sense — doesn’t it prove how good he was at covering it up?
We already know that several of these deported individuals had no apparent gang ties beyond “having tattoos,” which should concern everyone but especially America’s goth girls.
It should go without saying that the government shouldn’t imprison people — here or abroad — without any evidence of criminality. If the government thinks a non-criminal migrant presents a threat then they can kick them out of the country but they cannot unilaterally decide that their untested suspicions justify prison time in another country.
Look, if you think the government has a good case for shipping convicted foreign nationals to serve their U.S. sentences in foreign prisons that lack basic human rights protections — well, you’re still wrong but at least you have an argument.
Honestly, if you’re a right-leaning, “law and order” type who firmly believes that the government should send the “worst of the worst” to a foreign prison, then… WHY NOT SEND CONVICTS?
There are plenty of immigrant gang members in American prisons now. Why is the first step removing random suspects? Does that not give you any pause that the government isn’t really interested in getting rid of dangerous criminals so much as eroding the legal barriers and setting a precedent to imprison migrants without due process?
But the important thing is that the government is willing to tell a court, with a straight face, that the lack of evidence is not only not a barrier to prison but a justification. That’s crazy.
And very bad.
(Full declaration can be found below.)
Earlier: Trump White House Tests Supreme Court Loyalty With Increasingly Crackpot Legal Arguments
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
The post Trump Admin Unveils New Legal Standard: ‘We Have No Proof, Which Actually Proves Our Case’ appeared first on Above the Law.
