Plenty of Oversight, But Will There Be Consequences?
Many non-governmental agencies have kept the horrors of Trump’s immigration policies at the forefront, but will there be a price to pay?
The United States has watched the Trump administration not just flout the law, but also the courts that are trying to rein it in. During the 2024 campaign, the president told us time and again that he would do precisely what he’s doing, and much of society (including me), who called out the Project 2025 agenda (now renamed, the America First agenda), warned the nation as well.
Yet, here we are in a world of chaos and destruction.
A recent review of the 240 Venezuelans sent to El Salvador by David Bier of the Cato Institute highlighted how more than 50 who have been disappeared came legally and never broke any immigration laws. At least four dozen were legal noncitizens and had advanced permission to be in the United States. In other words, they did it the so-called “right way.”
Bier identified two dozen parolees who entered through points of entry and 21 who came legally with an appointment via the CBP One app but were detained. Additionally, four of the migrants sent to the CECOT prison in El Salvador were refugees who the U.S. government determined faced persecution in their home country. One was in the country on a visa.
Bier’s report emphasizes that the number of innocent migrants detained in El Salvador is most likely about 100 because only 174 of the 240 migrants had information that can be found online. He says this is likely because many families are afraid or don’t know their loved one has been detained. Out of all the migrants whose method of entry was mentioned, 50 came legally, 40 “illegally,” according to Bier.
“An approximate 50-50 ratio actually makes sense b/c half of the Venezuelans who came in the last 2 years came legally,” Bier said on X. “It also matches a survey of 50 families done by Reuters a few months ago. So it’s possible that in fact, over a HUNDRED came legally.”
The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) has also done much to document the Trump administration’s actions while uncovering many problematic practices. A recent analysis by the group highlighted how the Trump administration is undermining the courts to consolidate power, and the lawless deportations are the latest barrage in that effort.
POGO recently released a report that details just how rare it is for migrants to be caught smuggling drugs. When compared to data that shows more than 80% of smugglers are U.S. citizens, it exposes how the Trump administration, conservative influencers, lawmakers, and pundits lie when it comes to who is responsible for the drug problem in the U.S.
“Of the over 5.8 million migrants stopped by Border Patrol between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, drugs were seized from only 249 people, CBP migrant encounter data showed,” reads the POGO report.
Despite most of the U.S. knowing the facts, the Trump administration still pushes false narratives to criminalize Latinos and their immigrant families. It does so largely because it's betting on its base’s willful ignorance. We’ve seen the reports from the intelligence community clearly outline that the Venezuelan government isn’t connected to Tren de Aragua, but the administration is publicly trying to manipulate the reports to imply otherwise.
Instead, the White House is leaning on a report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released under Trump appointee, FBI Director Kash Patel. This raises many questions after a Trump official sought to have a senior intelligence analyst generate a new assessment of the relationship between the Venezuelan government and Tren de Aragua. The analysis that contradicted Trump led to the firings of two officials at the National Intelligence Council.
"The FBI agrees that not only is Tren de Aragua exported by the Venezuelan regime, but in fact, if you go back and see a Tren de Aragua member, all the evidence is there, and it's growing every day, was actually contracted to murder an opposition member, I believe, in Chile a few months ago," Rubio said during an interview on Meet the Press Sunday.
However, despite the oversight and evidence demanding accountability from non-governmental organizations, government agencies, and this newsletter, the question now becomes, will we ever see anyone held responsible for the myriad crimes and inhumanity we’re witnessing? As it stands now, the Trump administration is defying a handful of court orders, including one from the Supreme Court regarding “facilitating” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador.
Even so, no one is held accountable for failing to adhere to court orders.
The Supreme Court also ruled that the Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) isn’t necessarily illegal, but the process by which it is being implemented is. This means that the administration had to stop deporting Venezuelan migrants while it addresses a separate challenge to noncitizen removals under the wartime powers in the AEA. The court is reportedly poised to uphold Birthright Citizenship while reining in nationwide injunctions.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to rescind Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 350,000 Venezuelan migrants while the policy is challenged in court. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is the only noted dissenter. Essentially, every Venezuelan that was granted protection from deportation after the July 2023 designation by the Biden administration is now considered an undocumented, or “illegal” immigrant, as bigots like to say.
Should Venezuelans lose their protected immigration status, they will also lose their ability to work in the U.S., creating a labor shortage across several industries in what Senior Fellow of the American Immigration Council, Aaron Rechlin-Melnick, called “the single largest mass-illegalization event in US history”.
The Supreme Court decision does not affect the 250,000 Venezuelans granted protection in 2021, or the 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans under TPS protections whose status expires in August. The latter group is part of a separate case. In April, the administration terminated the protected status of more than 14,000 Afghans and nearly 8,000 Cameroonians.
Last week, DHS filed a Federal Register notice to end TPS for an additional 9,000 Afghan refugees by not extending their protection past May 20, 2025, the day their status is set to expire. While this is a legal move that is being challenged, it speaks to the level of weaponized inhumanity to achieve the administration’s racist, white Christian nationalist motivations.
Accountability seems distant at best. Nonexistent at worst.
Arturo is an independent journalist whose work can be found at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
It is hard to know how to respond to this. It all seems so cruel and senseless with no accountability to the courts. I hope there are some wiser people than I working on this.