Jennifer Lee Koh

This is a concentration camp

Purple Heart veteran self-deports to South Korea after ICE threatened detention After 48 years in the U.S. and having taken two bullets for the country, Sae Joon Park left for South Korea

Purple Heart veteran shot in action self-deports after old drug charge resurfaces: ‘Can’t believe this is happening in America’

Reading this bombshell story, it's important to keep in mind who Reuveni is. He ain't no Resistance deepstater. He's the career DOJ guy with a measure of professional reputation who signed his name on numerous filings that I'd call deeply concerning and maybe worse, until he finally said no mas.

This is a shocking account of intentional and unprecedented defiance of the federal courts by a top DOJ lawyer. And: it was always going to be through immigration law. For earlier traces of executive branch failure to comply with the judiciary in immigration: www.yalelawjournal.org/feature/exec...

All without a word of reasoning.

Sotomayor: "Given its conduct in these proceedings, the Government’s posture resembles that of the arsonist who calls 911 to report firefighters for violating a local noise ordinance."

SCOTUS' intervention "expos[es] thousands to the risk of torture or death." www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

If you do not believe people are real human beings, you can commit the most depraved acts against them. The regime always uses dehumanizing language to describe people it doesn't like. In this case, they're using that language to treat people like trash they can dump all over the world. It's sick.

The Bible Warns About Rulers Who Put Themselves Above the Law - Christianity Today A case of a wrongfully deported man puts the Trump administration's approach to due process in the spotlight.

I appreciate that @jenniferleekoh.bsky.social is commenting on immigration law through a lens that applies a combination of Christian theology, legal principles, and concern for the marginalized. www.christianitytoday.com/2025/04/kilm...

Despite knowing the people on the search warrant weren't there, the ICE arrest team STILL took this family's phones, laptops, and life savings — and refused to leave a BUSINESS CARD so they could ask to get it back!

This stuff is sadly not unique to ICE; it happens with regular police raids too.

Barry Blitt’s cover for this week’s issue, “The First Hundred Days.” #NewYorkerCovers nyer.cm/ysrCZ47

Thank you Sameer! Great quotes, chilling context.

Last night, a federal judge in El Paso became the first to review ICE’s claim that someone was an “alien enemy.”

It went SO BAD for ICE that not only did the judge order release for the people suing, without prompting he restricted the use of the Alien Enemies Act in west Texas.

What an example of the critical importance of due process and the flouting of basic principles of law & evidence in the Alien Enemies Act cases.

Bondi declares war on the courts: "What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me ... they are deranged ... we are sending a very strong message today ... we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you."

In light of last night's SCOTUS decision, reupping our report showing ICE's failure to provide required language access in detention center law libraries in Louisiana, Texas, and other places. (1/2)
cardozo.yu.edu/sites/defaul...

60 Minutes found no criminal record for 75% of the Venezuelan migrants the U.S. sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador. https://cbsn.ws/4lC4Vp5

It cannot be overstated how insane and dangerous this argument is. They're saying that the government can illegally abduct and imprison people—and even admit that it screwed up!—and then remove the ability of any court to intervene by shipping the victim to a foreign gulag.

This is the text of the email just sent to hundreds of international students telling them that their visas have been revoked due to activism or social media posts.

Declaration of S.Z.F.R. 1. I am a woman from Venezuela and I am in detention at Webb County Detention Center in Laredo Texas. My initials are S.Z.F.R. 2. On March 9 at 7 a.m. I was in my dorm in El Paso and was told to get my things together and I was being transferred to another facility. There was one other woman and 14 men who were also transferred with me. 3. I was supposed to have a merits hearing for my asylum claims on March 10th. 4. They took me to the airport in El Paso and I was put on a plane. Already on the plane were many Venezuelan men and three other Venezuelan women. We flew to Laredo. 5. When we got to Laredo we met up with another group of Venezuelan men. 6. There were at least 10 Venezuelan women on the plane. We arrived March 9 in Laredo and were taken to Webb County Detention Center. 7. Thursday of last week, March13th, we were told to gather our belongings and we were driven toward the airport for about an hour. We were told we were being deported to Venezuela. We never made it to the airport. We were sent back to Webb and told it was because of a plane malfunction. 8. On Friday again we were told to gather our belongings and put on the bus at Webb and sat on the bus for about 15 minutes and then were taken back to Webb. 9. Saturday morning we were again told to gather our belongings and get on the bus. We went to the airport and 8 women were put on the plane with me.

When we got on the plane there were already over 50 men on the plane. I could see other migrants walking to the plane but we took off before any additional people boarded. 11. Within a couple of minutes of take off I heard two US government officials talking and they said “there is an order saying we can’t take off but we already have.” 12. I asked where we were going and we were told that we were going to Venezuela. 13. Several other people on the plane told me they were in immigration proceedings and awaiting court hearings in immigration court. 14. We were not allowed to open our window shades. 15. We landed somewhere for refueling. We were there for many hours. We were arm and leg shackled the whole time. 16. We took off again and landed fairly quickly. I was then told we were in El Salvador. 17. While on the plane the government officials were asking the men to sign a document and they didn’t want to. The government officials were pushing them to sign the documents and threatening them. I heard them discussing the documents and they were about the men admitting they were members of TdA. 18. After we landed but were still on the plane a woman opened the shade. An officer rushed to shut the shade and pushed her down by her shoulders to try and stop her from looking out. The person that pushed her down had HOU-02 on his sleeve. 19. I saw out the window for a minute and I saw men in military uniforms and another plane. I saw men being led off the plane. Since I’ve been back in the U.S. I have seen news coverage and the plane I saw looks like the one I’ve seen on TV with migrants from the U.S. being delivered to El Salvador.

20. All the men got off the plane. The remaining women asked what happens to us? I was told that the President of El Salvador would not accept women. I was also told that we were going back to detention in the U.S. 21. We left in the middle of the night and landed in the early morning in Laredo. The 8 women who were on the plane were all returned back to the U.S. /s/ S.Z.F.R. S.Z.F.R.

NEW: The ACLU has filed a sworn declaration from a Venezuelan woman who ICE sought to turn over to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, who declares that "I heard two US government officials talking and they said 'there is an order saying we can’t take off but we already have.'"

"Ms. Chung, who majors in English and gender studies, has participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations since last year. Her lawyers say that she did not speak to reporters, negotiate on behalf of student demonstrators, or in any other way take a leadership position.” She posted fliers.

Immigrant women describe 'hell on earth' in ICE detention No shower for days, cameras trained on the toilet, women crammed into cells 'like sardines,' among the allegations.

"There was no access to a toilet, so guards told the women – whose accounts in some cases occurred on different days or different buses – to urinate or defecate on the floor... "

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

Some updates on our client:

@immdef.bsky.social went to his imm court hearing Monday and received confirmation from ICE that he has been “removed” to El Salvador. The Judge asked “how has he been removed if there is no removal order?” And the ICE attorney responded that they did not know.

Le Monde reporting that a French scientist traveling to Houston to attend a conference was denied entry to US after a search of his phone & computer revealed messages critical of Trump's science cuts, "which [says CPB] conveyed hatred of Trump & could be qualified as terrorism". Computer confiscated

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.

The government's argument about these alleged gang members boils down to: "Our precogs say they're going to commit crimes soon so we have to imprison them before they do." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Lindsay Toczylowski @l-toczylowski.bsky.social Posting tonight ti shine a light on what the Alien Enemies Act looks like IRL. Our @immdef.bsky.social client fled Venezuela last year & came to US to seek asylum. He has a strong claim. He was detained upon entry because ICE alleged his tattoos are gang related. They are absolutely not. March 15, 2025 at 11:33 PM Lindsay Toczylowski @l-toczylowski... • 1d Our client worked in the arts in Venezuela. He is LGBTQ. His tattoos are benign. But ICE submitted photos of his tattoos as evidence he is Tren de Aragua. His @ImmDef attorney planned to present evidence he is not. But never got the chance because our client has been disappeared.

Solanyer said an ICE officer told her that her brother was detained because of a tattoo that linked him to Tren de Aragua, a violent gang with Venezuelan prison origins that has spread through the Americas. She said the tattoo depicted a rose and that he had gotten it in a tattoo parlor in Dallas. "He thought it looked cool, looked nice, it didn't have any other significance," she said, stressing that he is not a gang member.

Caraballo had multiple tattoos including ones of roses, a clock with this daughter's birth time, a lion and a shaving razor, said his wife. "I've never seen him without hair, so I haven't recognized him in the photos," she said. "I just suspect he's there because of the tattoos that he has and right now any Venezuelan man with tattoos is assumed to be a gang member", she added, citing also the fact that he has effectively gone missing. Sanchez said her husband has never been a member of Tren de Aragua.

taseenb @taseenb People have started identifying some of the 238 Venezuelan migrants deported to Bukele's torture dungeons by the U.S. fascist regime. The brother of one of them posted that his relative is a barber with no criminal record and no links to any criminal organisations. Anahi انائي @ANAHI1938-1d Sebastián García Casique publicó en Instagram que, es hermano de uno de los 238 venezolanos deportados a El Salvador señalado de pertenecer a la banda Tren de Aragua. "Nunca había estado preso, nunca ha cometido un delito, ni en Venezuela u otro país".

The men sent to do hard labor in a Salvadoran prison:

- A tattoo artist seeking asylum who entered legally.
- A teen who got a tattoo in Dallas because he thought it looked cool.
- A 26-year-old whose tattoos his wife says are unrelated to a gang.
- A barber whose family says he has no gang ties.

Okay, I'm on the public line and going to do another live-skeeting of the hearing for those who can't join (it seems the public line is now full).

Hearing is set to start in moments.

Explainer on First Amendment and Due Process Issues in Deportation of Pro-Palestinian Student Activist(s) "Khalil’s case involves an assertion of government power over lawful permanent residents far beyond what we have seen in decades, if ever."

Excellent and helpful, from Ahilan Arulanantham and Adam Cox. And chilling: "whatever happens next, we can already say that Khalil’s case involves an assertion of government power over lawful permanent residents far beyond what we have seen in decades, if ever."
www.justsecurity.org/109012/legal...

Venezuelan couple are arrested and charged with illegal entry — two years after crossing into the U.S. The couple, who live in Washington, D.C., have temporary deportation protections and pending asylum claims. Advocates say the case could set legal precedent.

This is, in its own way, as aggressive as the Khalil arrest.

This couple have one form of legal protection (TPS). They have an application in for another (asylum). And now they’re being charged for entering the country illegally…two years ago.

Def one to watch.

www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

I finally revived by BlueSky account and so grateful to see this!