A federal immigration judge on Wednesday ordered the deportation of Mohsen Mahdawi, an anti-Israel activist and Columbia University graduate who has become a target of the Trump administration&#8217;s crackdown on foreign students accused of supporting terrorist organizations. 
Mahdawi, a Vermont resident originally from the Judea and Samaria area, was ordered removed to Jordan after abandoning his asylum claim, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/10/mohsen-mahdawi-columbia-deportation-00957506?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">according to Politico.</a> He has appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. 
The activist first drew national attention in March 2025 when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him during a citizenship interview.
Two weeks later, a district court judge released Mahdawi. In February 2026, his deportation case was dismissed, but the federal government appealed the decision.
In April, the Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated removal proceedings against Mahdawi, according to a letter from his attorneys <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca2.9122336d-3eb3-4022-aba2-4f11ea8a7dfd/gov.uscourts.ca2.9122336d-3eb3-4022-aba2-4f11ea8a7dfd.232.0.pdf">obtained by Politico.</a> After Mahdawi abandoned his asylum claim, an immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Trump administration argued that Mahdawi&#8217;s activism was “<a href="https://www.mynbc5.com/article/mohsen-mahdawi-appeals-deportation/71550841">harmful to U.S. foreign policy.”</a>
Mahdawi attended Columbia University, where he co-founded the Palestinian Student Union with Mahmoud Khalil, another anti-Israel activist detained and facing deportation, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/10/mohsen-mahdawi-columbia-deportation-00957506?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter">according to Politico. </a>
&#8220;I come from a refugee camp in Palestine, where my family still resides. I know what it means to live without rights, without voice, without safety. America was the first place I ever felt true freedom and dignity,” Mahdawi <a href="https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/mohsen-mahdawi-appeals-retaliatory-ruling-from-board-of-immigration-appeals-to-federal-appeals-court">said in a statement.</a> 
“For over a decade, I have built my life here, loved this community, and chosen this country&#8217;s ideals as my own. When a government weaponizes immigration to punish speech, millions of immigrants and citizens feel that blow,” he added. 
Mahdawi&#8217;s detention was part of a broader Trump administration effort targeting foreign college students accused of expressing support for designated terrorist organizations. The State Department has also revoked thousands of student visas.
The administration is separately pursuing the deportation of Khalil.
“Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” then-DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anti-israel-activist-detained-by-ice-led-activities-aligned-to-hamas-trumps-dhs-says">announced</a> last year.
“It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study,&#8221; she added. &#8220;And if you are pushing propaganda that relishes the killings of Americans or promotes terrorists, the door’s that way.”
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Pro-Palestinian Protests Continue At Columbia University

Columbia Anti-Israel Activist Ordered Deported

Activists

anti-Israel

Columbia University

deport

deportation

News

A federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama on Friday dismissed human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the suspected MS-13 gang member at the center of a deportation battle, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw sided with Abrego Garcia, granting his motion to dismiss the charges and ruling that the prosecution&#8217;s motivation was &#8220;vindictive.&#8221; Crenshaw said the Trump administration&#8217;s case was politically motivated and only came about after Abrego Garcia fought his deportation.
&#8220;The Court does not reach its conclusion lightly,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;The objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego’s successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution.&#8221;
The Trump administration had previously deported Abrego Garcia to his native country of El Salvador in March, later acknowledging the removal was carried out in an &#8220;administrative error.&#8221;
Federal authorities brought him back to the United States in June on human smuggling charges tied to a December 2022 Tennessee traffic stop, during which state troopers pulled him over while he was transporting eight others from Texas to Maryland.
Officers said they became suspicious after noticing the group had no luggage in the car despite being on the road for days. Law enforcement said the situation looked like “a human trafficking incident.”
Abrego Garcia was ultimately released at the time with only a warning citation for driving with an expired license.
Judge Crenshaw said federal investigators had effectively closed the case before reopening it only after Abrego Garcia challenged his deportation.
&#8220;Only after Abrego succeeded in vindicating his rights did the Executive Branch reopen that investigation,&#8221; he wrote.
The suspected gangbanger became the darling of many Democratic lawmakers fighting President Donald Trump&#8217;s mass deportation effort.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) traveled to El Salvador, where he met with Abrego Garcia before he was returned to the United States.
Another federal judge ordered Abrego Garcia&#8217;s release from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Pennsylvania in December.
Abrego Garcia entered the United States illegally in 2011 and was later identified by the administration as an MS-13 member.
His wife, who has been advocating for his innocence, accused him of beating her in two separate court filings.
The Salvadoran national previously pleaded not guilty to the now-dismissed charges, <a href="https://abcnews.com/US/federal-judge-dismisses-tennessee-criminal-case-kilmar-abrego/story?id=133232491" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to ABC News.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia Checks In At Baltimore ICE Office After Release From Jail

Obama-Appointed Judge Hands Kilmar Abrego Garcia A Major Victory

El Salvador

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

MS-13

An illegal immigrant released into the country under the Biden administration was accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in Missouri, resulting in her pregnancy, The Daily Wire has learned.
Investigators said Colombian national Brayanne Escobar-Guarnizo even admitted to a detective that &#8220;we only had sex one time&#8221; and acknowledged possessing nude images of the young victim on his phone, <a href="https://sgfcitizen.org/government/crime/springfield-man-charged-rape/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Springfield Daily Citizen.
Authorities arrested Escobar-Guarnizo in Greene County, Missouri, in 2024 after the child&#8217;s mother contacted law enforcement upon discovering her daughter was pregnant, the local news outlet reported.
The illegal immigrant was convicted on charges related to the sexual exploitation of a minor, which led to his <a href="https://www.aol.com/news/springfield-man-sentenced-child-sex-170440352.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentence</a> of 25 years in federal prison. He was also hit with a charge of first-degree statutory rape, according to the report.
Detectives collected DNA from the unborn child, the victim, and Escobar-Guarnizo as part of the investigation. Test results later found that “Brayanne Escobar-Guarnizo cannot be excluded as the biological father of the child,&#8221; adding &#8220;The probability of paternity is 99.999%.” The victim reportedly later terminated the pregnancy.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assisted local authorities in the investigation that led to Escobar-Guarnizo&#8217;s conviction and sentencing.
“This dirtbag was charged with production of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a minor after he raped and impregnated a 12-year-old girl,” Acting Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire Thursday.
“Thanks to the investigative work of ICE law enforcement officers and our state and local partners, this child predator has now been sentenced to 25 years behind bars,&#8221; she added.
Bis also emphasized that the Trump administration has zero tolerance for criminal illegal immigrants.
&#8220;This illegal alien NEVER should have been allowed into our country by the Biden Administration. Under Secretary Mullin, we will continue to target criminal illegal aliens and get them OUT of our communities,&#8221; she said.
Escobar-Guarnizo entered the United States illegally under the Biden administration in 2023, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
After serving his time behind bars, Escobar-Guarnizo is required to be placed on supervised release for an additional 10 years, according to a <a href="https://www.aol.com/news/springfield-man-sentenced-child-sex-170440352.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>. He was also referred to a sex offender treatment program. In such a case, the illegal immigrant will serve time for charges in the United States before facing potential deportation.

Untitled design – 2026-05-21T135302.794

Exclusive: Illegal Immigrant Rapist Who Got 12-Year-Old Pregnant Was Released Under Biden

Immigration

Joe Biden

The Trump administration is revamping the immigration court system to speed up deportations.
In its latest move, the Department of Justice hired 82 immigration judges, the most in any single year, the agency <a href="https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1441841/dl?inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Thursday. Now, the United States has nearly 700 immigration judges.
“The Trump administration is committed to reestablishing an immigration judge corps that is dedicated to restoring the rule [of] law in our nation’s immigration system,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Today, we are onboarding the largest immigration judge class in agency history.&#8221;
&#8220;This could only happen thanks to President Trump’s decisive leadership and commitment to securing our borders. I also applaud EOIR’s [Executive Office of Immigration Review] leadership team for helping facilitate these hiring efforts and recruiting highly qualified and talented personnel in record time.”
The new class includes 77 permanent judges and 5 temporary ones.
When President Donald Trump returned to the White House and commenced his mass deportation effort, administration officials began a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-transformed-the-immigration-courts-to-speed-up-deportations">mass firing</a> of immigration judges who had largely granted asylum at higher rates.
Since then, administration officials have dismissed more than 100 immigration judges who granted asylum in 46% of cases, according to The New York Times.
Immigration judges have completed more than one million cases since Trump&#8217;s second inauguration, reducing the pending caseload by more than 447,000 cases, according to the Justice Department. There are currently roughly 3.53 million pending cases sitting in the immigration courts, down from roughly four million.
The Justice Department said it&#8217;s the sharpest decrease in the court&#8217;s history.
The latest hiring blitz is part of a broader effort to undo the damage the Biden administration&#8217;s border surge inflicted on the immigration court system in creating years-long backlogs.
Sirce Owen, then the acting director of EOIR, the Justice Department branch that oversees the immigration courts, issued a memo in April 2025 encouraging immigration judges to toss out asylum claims more rapidly and without a hearing.
In June 2025, Owen issued a separate memo threatening “disciplinary action” for immigration judges who exhibit “bias” towards illegal immigrants.
“Judges who would prefer to be policy advocates favoring either aliens or DHS should consider transitioning to alternate career paths,” Owen wrote in the memo.
In a recent <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/4575734/tom-homan-insists-ice-not-narrowing-deportation-agenda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with the Washington Examiner, White House border czar Tom Homan touted the Trump administration&#8217;s record of 800,000 deportations.
“Total of 800,000 [have been removed] out of the country,” Homan said. “If you take 60% of that, criminals, hundreds of thousands of public safety threats, have been removed from this country. Name another president who’s done that.”
Homan admitted that the effort has slowed down recently, but indicated that the delay is only temporary.
“There’s a lot of argument within the world that, ‘Are we keeping our promise?’” Homan said. “Numbers are slightly down, but there’s a plan. Get them back up and even higher.”

ICE Deports Guatemalan Families Under New Expedited Process

Trump Takes Massive Step To Keep Americans Safe

Department of Justice

Donald Trump

The Minnesota Board of Pardons — which includes Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison — voted unanimously to pardon an illegal immigrant from Laos with three assault convictions, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
At Xayasounethone Chandee was convicted of assault in 1992, and an immigration judge ordered his deportation in 1995, DHS said. Chandee also had a conviction from 2008 for two felony counts of aggravated assault with a weapon, according to the agency.
Chandee entered the country as a Green Card holder when he was a minor. He was later stripped of his immigration status due to his criminal convictions, DHS said.
The board called an emergency meeting Monday after learning that the Trump administration could deport Chandee this week, <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/05/04/minnesota-grants-pardon-to-at-ricky-chandee-who-was-facing-deportation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Minnesota Public Radio.
DHS called the board&#8217;s decision &#8220;absolute insanity,&#8221; adding that it could foil its plans to deport him.
“Minnesota&#8217;s sanctuary politicians&#8217; pardon took away this violent thug’s qualifying convictions that made him removable from the U.S.,&#8221; Acting Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement on Thursday.
Chandee applied for a pardon shortly before federal immigration agents arrested him in January, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
The Clemency Review Commission, which recommends clemency decisions to the pardon board, voted 6-0 in favor of Chandee&#8217;s pardon, the outlet reported. The board wasn&#8217;t scheduled to meet until June, but moved up the meeting after learning that Chandee could be deported within days.
“There is nothing in this application, or nothing in the facts before us that would suggest that Mr. Chandee is a danger to the public in any way, shape or form,” Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, who sits on the board, said of the pardon. “He has a lot of family support, which is obviously very important, and he&#8217;s had that support over the last 29 years.”
A federal appeals court in Louisiana paused Chandee&#8217;s deportation for 14 days after his attorney filed a request last week, according to Minnesota Public Radio. The federal government is likely to challenge Chandee&#8217;s pardon, his attorney, Linus Chan, said.
Chan also argued that the 2008 conviction never happened, the outlet reported. There was also no mention of it in his clemency application.
“There is no such conviction, and I am reaching out to DHS about where this information is coming from,&#8221; Chan said.
The commission recommended clemency for all applicants, except one, who were at risk of deportation, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

Untitled design – 2026-05-07T083536.407

Blue State Pardons Illegal Immigrant With Rap Sheet To Block Deportation Efforts

Keith Ellison

Minnesota

Tim Walz

An illegal immigrant who was allowed into the country by the Biden administration went on to land a job at a Wisconsin nursing home, where he allegedly sexually assaulted elderly residents, including one who has severe dementia, The Daily Wire has learned.
The Fitchburg Police Department <a href="https://www.fitchburgwi.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/2585" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last month that it received a report that an employee of Dimensions Living &#8220;may have assaulted vulnerable residents.&#8221; Following an investigation, authorities charged 23-year-old Julio Morales-Jarquin, of Nicaragua, with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of an elderly victim on April 29.
In one instance, a worker at the facility said they found Morales-Jarquin one night with a dementia patient who was completely naked, <a href="https://www.wmtv15news.com/2026/05/06/complaint-fitchburg-caretaker-accused-sexually-assaulting-patients-including-woman-with-dementia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to WMTV. The report said the patient is also in hospice care.
A staffer reported encountering the illegal immigrant exiting the bathroom with his pants down, and Morales-Jarquin seemed to be &#8220;caught off guard,&#8221; according to WMTV. When the colleague asked what he was doing, he claimed that he was helping the patient get dressed.
Morales-Jarquin admitted that he touched the patient inappropriately and that he engaged in sex acts with her around February or March, according to the report. He also allegedly took pictures and videos of another patient&#8217;s intimate area, and later deleted those images from his phone.
A patient who was over 60 years old told a detective that she had sex with Morales-Jarquin, and that she didn&#8217;t really give consent but gave in after he kept asking, WMTV reported. Morales-Jarquin later claimed that the patient consented to his actions. Another resident said that Morales-Jarquin had tried kissing and touching her inappropriately before she told him to stop and leave, according to WMTV.
Since Morales-Jarquin&#8217;s arrest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged a detainer requesting that he be transferred into federal custody. The Department of Homeland Security has criticized Dane County policies in the past regarding cooperation with federal immigration authorities, arguing that such policies can complicate efforts to take custody of inmates who are illegal immigrants.
In some cases, the county gives ICE officers just 30 minutes&#8217; notice before releasing an illegal immigrant inmate, according to DHS. In a previous email to ICE, Dane County stated that &#8220;if you want the subject held, you must provide a court document signed by a judge,&#8221; adding that if federal authorities didn&#8217;t show up within 30 minutes of a phone call, &#8220;the subject will be released without delay.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1090451" style="width: 946px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1090451" class="wp-image-1090451 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-06T132830.967.jpg" alt="" width="936" height="139" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-06T132830.967.jpg 936w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-06T132830.967-300x45.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-06T132830.967-768x114.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px" />(DHS)</div>
The Biden administration released Morales-Jarquin into the country in 2023 through its signature humanitarian parole program. The Trump administration ended the parole scheme in April 2025.
The program allowed more than 500,000 &#8220;poorly vetted aliens&#8221; from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to fly into the country and stay and work for a two-year period, <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/06/12/dhs-issues-notices-termination-chnv-parole-program-encourages-parolees-self-deport" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to DHS.
In Morales-Jarquin&#8217;s case, he overstayed his welcome.
“This dirtbag was released into the country by the Biden Administration,&#8221; Acting Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire. &#8220;DHS is calling on sanctuary politicians in Dane County, Wisconsin to NOT release this criminal from jail back onto the streets to commit more crimes.&#8221;
&#8220;We need Wisconsin sanctuary politicians to cooperate with us to remove criminals from our country,&#8221; Bis added.

Untitled design – 2026-05-06T131959.242

EXCLUSIVE: Biden-Freed Illegal Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Elderly Women At Nursing Home

Crime

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Nearly a decade ago, he led an attempted coup d&#8217;etat in the West African nation of Burkina Faso.
Zakaria Songotoua, 40, fled his country and eventually ended up in New York, and has since become a target of President Donald Trump&#8217;s mass deportation effort, The Daily Wire has learned. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sent him back to Burkina Faso on April 22.
The one-way flight came after Songotoua was ordered deported by an immigration judge after he was found &#8220;ineligible&#8221; for immigration status.
Songotoua participated in the coup attempt which began on September 16, 2015, while he was a member of the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP). At the time, a rogue group of his force stormed the presidential palace and took the interim president, Michel Kafando, along with the country&#8217;s prime minister, Lt. Col. Isaac Zida, and several cabinet members hostage, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/world/africa/burkina-faso.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
They also fired upon protesters, resulting in an estimated 11 fatalities, while more than 100 people were injured. The overthrow attempt ultimately failed after 13 days of violence and chaos, according to The New York Times.
Songotoua fled his home country before his trial, where he was convicted in absentia of murder, assault and battery, and an attack on state security. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo said that &#8220;individuals&#8221; like Songotoua &#8220;who engage in such bloodshed anywhere in the world have no place in the United States.&#8221;
ICE did not disclose when or where he entered the United States.
“Songotoua’s role in the violent 2015 effort to overthrow Burkina Faso’s government, which included holding a national leader hostage and killing and injuring protesters, reflects a grave disregard for human life and the rule of law,&#8221; Genalo said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents investigated the case as part of the Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, which focuses on targeting individuals who have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers, ICE said.
HSI has more than 190 active investigations into suspected human rights violators. The agency has also received more than 1,985 leads and removal cases involving alleged human rights violators who hail from 95 countries.
&#8220;ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] New York, with essential support from Homeland Security Investigations New York and the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, will continue to identify and remove human rights violators who attempt to seek refuge in our communities,&#8221; Genalo said.

Untitled design – 2026-05-05T090655.272

EXCLUSIVE: Foreign Rebel Who Led Coup Attempt Booted From U.S.

New York

Trump Administration

President Donald Trump indicated his willingness to change the name of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to &#8220;NICE.&#8221;
Trump shared a screenshot of an X Post that read: &#8220;I want Trump to change ICE to NICE (National Immigration and Customs Enforcement) so the media has to say NICE agents all day everyday.&#8221; He responded on Truth Social, saying &#8220;GREAT IDEA!!! DO IT. President DJT.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I want Trump to change ICE to NICE (National Immigration and Customs Enforcement) so the media has to say NICE agents all day everyday
— alyssa (@alyssamariiee11) <a href="https://twitter.com/alyssamariiee11/status/2036655163025526989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The latest proposed change for ICE wouldn&#8217;t be the first time the president ran with outside advice.
His &#8220;no tax on tips&#8221; policy came from a waitress, former Trump economic advisor <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wN-piGOkhI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Fox Business last week.
&#8220;I asked Trump about this &#8230; he said a waitress,&#8221; Moore said. &#8220;He asked a waitress in a restaurant about how can I help you and she said &#8216;don&#8217;t tax my tips.&#8217; And that was the start of a great policy that is very popular with the American people.&#8221;
Sources within ICE told The Daily Wire they wouldn&#8217;t put it past Trump to change their agency&#8217;s name.
&#8220;I could easily see him doing it,&#8221; one agency source said.
Another ICE source said it &#8220;would be hilarious,&#8221; adding &#8220;we so should.&#8221;
Some sources criticized the move, saying it would be a waste of taxpayer funding.
&#8220;Imagine the wasted spending for all the stuff we got recently,&#8221; one source said.
&#8220;We&#8217;d probably be made fun of and have to change all our letterhead, agency logos, credentials, badges, business cards. Seems more like a headache than anything good,&#8221; said another.
ICE has also gone unfunded for more than two months amid the partial government shutdown. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also expected to run out of emergency funds to pay personnel come May, Secretary Markwayne Mullin recently warned.
DHS is spending more than $1.6 billion every two weeks to pay its workforce, Mullin said, adding, “So the money is going extremely fast.”
&#8220;So the president can’t do another executive order for us to use money because there’s no more money there,&#8221; Mullin said.
Some of that funding is going to ICE agents tasked with carrying out Trump&#8217;s mass deportation effort.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers continue to push for major ICE reforms, such as unmasking federal immigration agents and requiring them to have judicial warrants to make arrests, in exchange for a funding package.
Congressional Republicans have refused to agree to the changes to ICE, arguing that Democrats&#8217; demands would further expose federal immigration agents to attacks while making it impossible for them to arrest illegal immigrants.

US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-ENFORCEMENT

ICE Agents Could Soon Get A ‘Nice’ New Name

Sources within ICE told The Daily Wire they wouldn't put it past Trump to change their agency's name

President Donald Trump has turned immigration courts into a major tool for his deportation agenda.
Under the Biden administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prosecutors were instructed to allow immigration judges to dismiss cases for migrants who weren&#8217;t seen as national security threats. They also allowed millions of illegal immigrants to pour over American borders, creating a massive backlog in the immigration courts that bought migrants time in the United States.
All of that incentivized more illegal immigrants to come to the United States, while allowing them to remain without status during their years-long adjudication.
Word got out and the world came.
&#8220;Biden was granting dismissals of cases even when there was no relief available. He was basically giving out &#8216;get out of deportation free&#8217; cards,&#8221; Matthew Kolken, a New York-based immigration attorney, told The Daily Wire.
Now, immigration judges are granting asylum in just 7% of cases, compared to 50% under the Biden administration, the White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/04/era-of-amnesty-is-over-president-trump-restores-rule-of-law-to-immigration-courts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last week.
It&#8217;s become so much of a losing battle that Texas-based immigration lawyer Dan Gividen has stopped taking cases in the immigration courts altogether.
&#8220;I reached a point where I started telling potential clients, &#8216;hey, look, I can have my best day &#8230; you could have your best day, we could have all the facts that we need in the world, the law on your side, I&#8217;m still betting against you winning your case,'&#8221; Gividen told The Daily Wire.
One major reason for that is the mass firing of immigration judges who have largely granted asylum at higher rates. More than 100 immigration judges out of roughly 750 have been dismissed under Trump, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/us/politics/trump-miller-immigration-judges-purge.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The New York Times.
The fired judges granted asylum in 46% of cases, according to the news outlet. The Trump administration has replaced them with judges who are granting asylum in roughly 6% of cases.
In April 2025, Sirce Owen, the acting director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), the Justice Department branch that oversees the immigration courts, produced a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1396411/dl?inline=&amp;utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> encouraging immigration judges to toss out asylum claims at a quicker pace and without holding a hearing.
Owen issued another <a href="https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1396411/dl?inline=&amp;utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> in June 2025, threatening &#8220;disciplinary action&#8221; for immigration judges who exhibit &#8220;bias&#8221; towards illegal immigrants.
&#8220;Judges who would prefer to be policy advocates favoring either aliens or DHS should consider transitioning to alternate career paths,&#8221; Owen wrote in the memo.
The slew of actions has reduced the massive immigration court backlog by more than 380,000 cases since Inauguration Day, <a href="https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/2040512497094988087" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Department of Justice. As a result, the years-long wait times for illegal immigrants as their cases go through the immigration court system have been reduced.

US-VENEZUELA-MIGRATION

That Backlog Trick Migrants Relied On Is Disappearing Under Trump

Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil has lost a bid to have his deportation case thrown out.
An immigration appeals board issued a final order of removal Thursday, according to the Associated Press, citing Khalil&#8217;s legal team.
Khalil called the ruling &#8220;biased and politically motivated,&#8221; adding that he wasn&#8217;t surprised by the decision, the outlet reported. His attorneys said he is still pursuing a separate case in federal court and cannot yet be detained or deported.
“I have committed no crime. I have broken no law,&#8221; Khalil said in a statement. &#8220;The only thing I am guilty of is speaking out against the genocide in Palestine — and this administration has weaponized the immigration system to punish me for it.”
Khalil, a green card holder from Syria who is of Palestinian descent, was nabbed by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dhs-prepares-to-deport-anti-israel-activist-mahmoud-khalil-to-algeria">Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)</a> in March 2025 after helping lead anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anti-israel-activist-detained-by-ice-led-activities-aligned-to-hamas-trumps-dhs-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the time that his activities were “aligned to Hamas.”
<div id="attachment_1075573" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1075573" class="size-medium wp-image-1075573" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2239340345.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />(Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)</div>
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Khalil&#8217;s “presence or activities would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest&#8221; and pledged to strip the immigration status of foreigners deemed to be &#8220;Hamas supporters.&#8221;
“We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” Rubio said on X.
A federal judge in New Jersey ordered Khalil&#8217;s release from ICE detention in June.
Following Thursday&#8217;s ruling, Khalil&#8217;s lead attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, slammed the Trump administration, accusing it of exerting undue influence over immigration courts, which he argued have sided less with noncitizens.
“In all my decades as an immigration lawyer, I have never seen such a baseless and politically motivated decision,&#8221; Van Der Hout said. &#8220;The BIA’s decision has absolutely no support in the record, violates a federal court order, and we’ll be fighting it until the end.”
“Federal courts have already agreed that Mahmoud was targeted for his speech, and there is likely much more evidence of the government’s unlawful retaliation that has yet to come to light. This is a clear continuation of the administration’s retaliation against Mahmoud for exercising his First Amendment rights,&#8221; Khalil&#8217;s lawyer added.
Former ICE Deputy Field Office Director Scott Mechkowski also weighed in, <a href="https://x.com/JennieSTaer/status/2042610875291291792" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writing</a> on X that Khalil&#8217;s case &#8220;is an example of how the Immigration System is &#8216;Broken&#8217;!,&#8221; adding &#8220;This guy should have been removed years ago, but attorneys just keep trying to game the system. Time to deport him already!&#8221;

Featured Session: The Guardian in Conversation with Mahmoud Khalil on the Cost of Dissent

Trump Admin Inches Closer To Deporting Mahmoud Khalil

Mahmoud Khalil

An illegal immigrant was found guilty of groping multiple female peers at a Virginia high school.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-call-out-sanctuary-policies-after-illegal-immigrant-accused-of-groping-multiple-girls">Israel Christopher Flores-Ortiz,</a> 18, of El Salvador, was accused by roughly a dozen girls of putting his hands between their legs, touching their private areas, and groping them in school hallways, <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/illegal-immigrant-student-groping-girls-fairfax-county-high-school-assault-battery-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to 7News.
A Fairfax County judge on Thursday found Flores-Ortiz guilty of nine counts of assault, the outlet reported. He was acquitted on three counts, while one additional charge was dismissed.
One of the victims, a ninth-grade girl, said after the verdict that the assaults have left her fearful it could happen again.
&#8220;Now I have to make sure and look around extra to see who&#8217;s around me and make sure that nobody touches me that way again,&#8221; she told 7News.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨 WATCH: a 9th grade girl tells me she feels she has to look over her shoulder now after being groped TWICE by a soon to be 19-year-old junior at Fairfax High School.
Israel Flores Ortiz was convicted on 9 charges of assault after more than a dozen girls reported he touched… <a href="https://t.co/MJ1ETAAv8n">https://t.co/MJ1ETAAv8n</a> <a href="https://t.co/tm5Bv4rvwq">pic.twitter.com/tm5Bv4rvwq</a>
— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickMinock/status/2042583657718665501?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
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In an earlier interview, one victim&#8217;s mothers said 12 girls ultimately came forward.
“It was all perpetrated by a single individual who is a stranger to the girls,&#8221; she told 7News at the time. &#8220;He just sneakily walked up behind them and put his hand in between their legs. It was not just a butt smack or a butt grab. It was a groping of a private area. It had been occurring for several months.”
Flores-Ortiz, who is a junior at Fairfax High School, unlawfully crossed the border in 2024 and was subsequently released into the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security. At the time, the Biden administration was releasing illegal immigrants en masse.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer requesting that local authorities transfer him for possible deportation. The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office recently told The Daily Wire it does not “obstruct or prevent ICE from acting on their civil detainers,” but didn’t say whether it would honor the request in Flores-Ortiz&#8217;s case.
“While it is still too early in the process to know the outcome of his case, ICE has been notified of Ortiz’s location at the ADC [Adult Detention Center], and they are able to execute their detainer by responding to the ADC and taking Ortiz into custody if and when he is ordered released,” the sheriff’s office said.
The Trump administration has also launched an investigation into the school district, which is accused of failing to respond to the reports of the gropings and even possibly engaging in a cover-up of the crimes, <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/title-ix-investigation-fairfax-county-public-schools-student-groping-arrest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to 7News.
The school did not inform parents until two weeks after the incidents were reported, the outlet said. Some parents also said they were told the school system would allow the illegal immigrant to return to school after his release.
“They have attempted to sweep it under the rug,” one mother previously told 7News.
“They sent out a letter last night,” the mother said, adding, “But it was a completely sanitized letter.”
“The girls have experienced harassment and bullying from peers at school, including people that they once thought were their friends, and the letter that they sent out, referencing it only as buttocks touching, just adds fuel to rumors that they were just attention seeking,” another mother told 7News.
Fairfax County Public Schools declined “to comment on specifics due to federal and state privacy laws,” adding “we prioritize student and staff safety and we fully investigate any time someone shares that an incident has occurred at school, or that they do not feel safe at school,&#8221; according to 7News.
“We are grateful to our law enforcement partners who continue to work swiftly and thoroughly when there are safety concerns in our schools. The safety of all FCPS students and staff remains a top priority,” the school system said.

Untitled design – 2026-04-10T083347.927

Illegal Alien Teen Convicted Of Groping Girls As School Response Triggers Trump Admin Probe

abigail spanberger

illegal immigrant

Virginia

The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday blasted anti-ICE activists while flanked by families whose loved ones were killed by illegal immigrants.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons emphasized his agency&#8217;s role in cracking down on crime during a press conference about the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office, which provides resources to the victims and families of crimes committed by illegal immigrant offenders. The office was previously shut down under the Biden administration.
&#8220;I just want to say on a personal note that the families you see up here I&#8217;ve become really close with. They’re part of the ICE family, but when ICE officers and special agents are demonized, called Nazis, hated &#8230;&#8221; Lyons said. &#8220;We do it for these individuals, these families who are no longer with their loved ones because they didn’t get the justice they deserve. And that’s the main reason why ICE and our law enforcement partners are out there, so these Angel Families will finally get justice.&#8221;
The families standing behind Lyons praised ICE and the Trump administration&#8217;s mass deportation campaign.
At one point, Angel Mom Agnes Gibboney, who legally immigrated to the United States from Hungary, told reporters: &#8220;I love ICE,&#8221; adding: &#8220;I love ice in my water. I love ice in my drink. I love ICE on the streets to protect us all.&#8221;
Gibboney&#8217;s son, Ronald Da Silva, was shot and killed by a previously-deported illegal immigrant gangbanger in California in 2002.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/ICEDirector?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ICEDirector</a> Todd Lyons standing in front of angel families:
&#8220;When ICE officers and special agents are demonized, called nazis &#8230; We do it for these families, who are no longer with their loved ones because they didn’t get the justice they deserve and that’s the main reason… <a href="https://t.co/BPk7quy17u">pic.twitter.com/BPk7quy17u</a>
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) <a href="https://twitter.com/JennieSTaer/status/2042262067940389264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
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After dismantling the VOICE office, the Biden administration replaced it with the Victims Engagement and Services Line, a service that allowed illegal immigrant detainees to report abuse in ICE detention centers while also providing updates on immigration cases to their lawyers, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-administration-dismantles-trump-era-office-victims-immigrant-crime/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time.
Illegal immigrants could also use the service to obtain visas if they were victims of human trafficking or other crimes in the United States.
Trump established the VOICE office in his first term and reopened it in his second term.
Since then, more than 500 victims have reached out to the office for help, according to its website. Roughly 55% of the reported crimes committed by illegal immigrants involved assault, rape and sexual assault, and homicide or manslaughter.

ICE Director Lyons Holds News Conference On 1st Anniversary Of Dept.’s Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement Office

ICE Director Honors Angel Families, Slams ‘Nazi’ Smears

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