Isabela Dias

2 weeks ago | motherjones.com | Isabela Dias

A federal district court judge in Boston ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration’s attempt to send several immigrants from other countries to South Sudan violated a court order blocking the government from deporting people to third countries without allowing them to object to their removal. Judge Brian E.

3 weeks ago | motherjones.com | Isabela Dias

In a 7-2 ruling on Friday afternoon, the Supreme Court once again barred the Trump administration from removing Venezuelans held at Texas immigration detention centers under the Alien Enemies Act, which gives the government extraordinary powers to summarily deport noncitizens during a “declared war” or “invasion.” The justices found that the federal government violated the due process rights of detainees at Bluebonnet Detention Facility by failing to give them enough notice to contest their...

3 weeks ago | motherjones.com | Isabela Dias

In December 2023, Eduardo Bolsonaro, one of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s sons and a congressman from Rio de Janeiro, led a delegation of federal deputies to El Salvador on a fact-finding mission focused on public safety. As part of the trip, Eduardo and his entourage visited the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, the notorious mega-prison where the Trump administration recently sent more than 230 Venezuelans accused of gang membership.

4 weeks ago | motherjones.com | Isabela Dias

On April 3, a Justice Department contracting officer sent the Acacia Center for Justice a “notice of termination for convenience.” The email instructed the nonprofit to discontinue several federally funded programs described as “no longer needed.” Among them was the little-known National Qualified Representative Program (NQRP), which appoints government-paid counsel to detained immigrants deemed unfit to represent themselves in court due to serious mental health needs or cognitive disabilities.

1 month ago | motherjones.com | Isabela Dias

On April 28, lawyer Paul O’Dwyer opened his email inbox to find some good news. A New York City immigration judge had approved the asylum application for one of his clients. But the immigration court email also contained an attachment O’Dwyer hadn’t seen before: a Justice Department notice encouraging immigrants to self-deport. O’Dwyer was confused. If an immigration judge had just granted his client protection from deportation, why would they send out such a flyer?