Abrego Garcia, now imprisoned in El Salvador, was legally in the U.S. despite a deportation order, because he had obtained a “stay of removal” order granted by an immigration court judge concerned about his safety should he return to his country of origin, El Salvador. There are very many such and similar cases in which deportation is held up. For DHS to expedite deportation of these case requires the removal of a temporary court order. This imposes a severe limitation of the speed at which DHS can deport people like Abrego Garcia.

How many persons in the U.S. today have removal (i.e. deportation) orders?

The Migration Policy Institute in February 2025 estimated that 1.5 million persons have deportation orders.  There are some 3.6 million pending cases in the immigration court system. Very roughly these 3.6 million cases include two million asylum cases and 1.5 appeals or other suspensions of removal orders.

Why did they receive removal orders?

Illegal entry, visa overstay, law violations by green card holders, for the most part.

Why aren’t these persons deported?

First, they can self deport and many do every year. Otherwise, some are evading arrest – called absconders. Most have some kind of temporary protected status such as Abrego Garcia and are part of the cases pending before immigration courts.

What kinds of temporary protections are available?

Stays of removal, which may be called protective court orders, which Abrego Garcia has, are granted immigration judges, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and federal courts. Many have filed appeals or motions to reopen their cases, for instance for changed circumstances. Some are held up by administrative, not court order, due to administrative discretion, for instance due to health issues or humanitarian issues.

What removals can be done by ICE of persons not having legal access to the court system?

Noncitizens who entered the U.S. without authorization and have been in the country for less than two years.​ Individuals apprehended within 100 miles of the U.S. border and within 14 days of entry.​ Noncitizens who arrive at ports of entry without valid documents or who commit fraud or misrepresentation.

 

 

The Trump administration’s narrative that ICE activity is focused on removing criminals has in the past few days been shredded by disparate actions, attempting to remove persons who can in no way be considered criminals and in one case even an immigrant. As these types of cases proliferate, as they must for ICE to triple its number of cases, public opinion will swing hard against the administration.

April 8: Zhuoer Chen, a graduate student at UC Berkeley, learned that ICE  revoked her F-1.  A Chinese national in the U.S. since 2017, she has maintained full academic and immigration compliance. According to SFGate, the revocation was reportedly due to an arrest that resulted in no charges, and the record was expunged. She, along with three other international students, filed a lawsuit alleging that the visa terminations were arbitrary and violated due process rights. The case highlighted concerns over ICE’s reliance on entries in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, which included minor infractions or expunged records.

Roughly 1,000 of the 1.2 million international students have had their student visas revoked. In response to very many legal challenges, the Trump administration announced on April 25 that it would reinstate the legal status of affected students and halt the policy of revoking visas based solely on crime database entries.

April 22: ICE detained a mother who is unauthorized and two U.S. born children, one two years old, and put them into detention in the Alexandria, LA area. Federal district judge Terry Doughty received a petition for a temporary restraining order on April 24.  By the time the judge made inquiries, the mother and her two children had been flown to Honduras. This confirms the importance of instant filing of a TRO petition. A hearing in district court is scheduled for May 16.  There are five million persons under the age of 18 with at least one unauthorized parent. (Go here and here.)

April 24: The spouse of an active duty of the Coast Guardsman with an expired visa was arrested in the family residential section at U.S. Naval Air Station at Key West, Florida. According to the AP, The official said that when the woman and her Coast Guard husband were preparing to move into their on-base housing on Wednesday, they went to the visitor control center to get a pass so she could access the Key West installation. During the routine security screening required for base access, the woman’s name was flagged as a problem. Base personnel contacted the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which looked into the matter, said the official. NCIS and Coast Guard security personnel got permission from the base commander to enter the installation and then went to the Coast Guardsman’s home on Thursday, the official said. They were joined by personnel from Homeland Security Investigations, a unit ICE. There are over one million “mixed status couples” in the U.S (go here).

 

Following up on my time line on the Abrego Garcia case through April 6:

On April 10 the Supreme Court unanimously rules that District Court Judge Xinis can order the government to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. The order requires the Government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.  The court ruled that the scope of the term “effectuate” used by Xinis is unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority. The District Court should clarify its directive. The Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.

In 2012, the ICE had issued Policy Directive 11061.1, titled “Facilitating the Return to the United States of Certain Lawfully Removed Aliens.”  The directive does not describe the scope of “facilitating.” It does refer to return travel, which is the basis for the government to say that its obligations for facilitating are only to arrange for return travel..

During April 11 – 14  Judge Xinis amends her order, instructing the administration to “take all available steps to facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return and demands daily updates on their efforts. ​The government stalls, submits de minimis reports, some late, and misrepresents the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying that it has no legal power to acquire another government to return a prisoner under its own control.

On April 14 in a meeting between Presidents Trump and Bukele, Bukele told reporters it was “absurd” to ask if he would return Abrego Garcia. Bukele said, “Are you suggesting I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? How can I return him to the United States, like I smuggle him into the United States? Of course, I’m not going to do it.”

On April 15 Judge Xinis describes and severely criticizes the government’s failure to respond to her and the Supreme Court’s rulings and orders “expedited discovery.” By April 21, the government must respond to up to 15 written questions and provide up to 15 relevant documents. Depositions of four named officials must be completed by April 23. Plaintiffs can request to interview up to two more people if needed. Warning the government, she wrote: “Plaintiffs’ request for expedited discovery focuses on securing compliance with this Court’s amended order at ECF No. 51 and other related directives, and in the face of ongoing refusal to comply, to assist the Court in determining whether contempt proceedings are warranted….Should Defendants fail or refuse to engage in the above-described discovery in good faith, Plaintiffs are free to seek separate sanctions on an expedited basis.”

On April 17, ruling on an appeal by the government to Xinis’ discovery order, Appeals Court Judge Harvie Wilkinson blasts the government: “It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”

On April 18 DHS issues a report saying that Abrego Garcia is a suspected trafficker, based on a incident in 2022: “Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a MS-13 gang member, illegal alien from El Salvador, and suspected human trafficker. The facts reveal he was pulled over with eight individuals in a car on an admitted three-day journey from Texas to Maryland with no luggage…The facts speak for themselves, and they reek of human trafficking. The media’s sympathetic narrative about this criminal illegal gang member has completely fallen apart. We hear far too much about the gang members and criminals’ false sob stories and not enough about their victims.”

On April 24 Border Czar Tom Homan spoke to reporters:  “We are not acting in bad faith. We removed a demonstrable public safety threat, a wife beater, a designated terrorist from the United States. He’s home, a citizen of El Salvador, who had two orders of removal by two separate immigration judges in the past. If he actually gets back, he will be detained again…I don’t think any court can order another nation, a sovereign nation, to take a citizen of its country and return him. I think he’s got plenty of due process (some paraphrased).

On April 24 Judge Xinis, after accusing the government on April 23 of “willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations,” orders a stay until April 30 given confidential discussions between the plaintiffs and the government.

 

 

 

This case has grabbed the attention of Vermonters. Green card holder Mohsen Mahdawi was detained by ICE in Vermont on April 14. A TRO was immediately issued. On April 23, according to VTDigger, U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford extended for 90 days the TRO that forces the government to keep Mahdawi in Vermont. A hearing will be held on April 30 to address whether he should be released from detention. The government argues that his presence in the United States “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.” Mahdawi is a Buddhist.

This profile of the Mohsen Mahdawi case is drawn with lengthy quotes from news reports such as VTDigger,  a column by Jim Kenyon of the Valley News, the original petition by Mahdawi’s lawyers to the federal District Court in Vermont, and other sources, which are cited throughout.

Overview

Mohsen Mahdawi, a 34-year-old Palestinian man and lawful U.S. permanent resident since 2015, is a Columbia University student and resident of Vermont. On April 14, he appeared for a naturalization interview in Colchester, Vermont. Instead, he was arrested in an operation that Valley News columnist Jim Kenyon described as a “government-sponsored abduction.”

Mahdawi had anticipated the possibility of arrest. A month earlier, on March 8, ICE agents detained fellow Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil in the lobby of Khalil’s New York apartment building. Both men had co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia. Khalil is now held at LaSalle Detention Center in Louisiana, with his deportation under litigation. ICE has developed a pattern of relocating detainees—often without notice—to detention facilities in Louisiana or Texas.

At Columbia, Mahdawi was a visible figure in early protests over the Gaza war. He withdrew from active participation in March 2024, prior to the April 17–30 campus occupation. His photograph appeared in The New York Times, and he was interviewed on 60 Minutes in December 2024.

Ahead of the naturalization interview appointment, Mahdawi notified his attorneys, who prepared for an immediate legal response to prevent ICE from sending him promptly out of state, likely to Louisiana. According to VTDigger, when he arrived at the immigration office, masked plainclothes officers arrested him in full view of witnesses, including Vermont State Senator Becca White. In handcuffs and flashing peace signs, he was taken away in an unmarked vehicle with Vermont plates. The individuals involved refused to identify themselves or state the grounds for the arrest.

Mahdawi’s attorneys quickly filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court alleging unlawful detention. U.S. District Judge William Sessions III issued a temporary restraining order preventing Mahdawi’s removal from Vermont or the country. He is currently held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans.

Senator White remarked, “If he can be taken, anyone can be taken.”  Vermont’s congressional delegation and Governor Phil Scott also voiced concern. On April 19, more than 500 people gathered at the Hartland Unitarian Universalist Church—where Mahdawi is a longtime member—to show support.

Habeas Corpus petition

The habeas corpus petition filed on April 14 names multiple parties, including President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and officials within the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. The attorneys allege that Mahdawi’s detention is unconstitutional and politically motivated, undertaken in retaliation for his constitutionally protected speech and activism for Palestinian human rights.

The petition cites violations of the First Amendment (free speech), Fifth Amendment (due process), the Administrative Procedure Act, the Accardi doctrine (requiring agencies to follow their own rules), and the non-delegation doctrine. It seeks Mahdawi’s immediate release on bail.

The filing also presents a personal portrait of Mahdawi. Born in a refugee camp in the West Bank, he lived through instability and occupation. He immigrated to the United States in 2014 and became a permanent resident in 2015. He studied computer science at Lehigh University before transferring to Columbia in 2021 to pursue philosophy. He is set to graduate in May 2025 and has been accepted to a master’s program at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

A practicing Buddhist and proponent of nonviolence, Mahdawi led the Columbia University Buddhist Association and co-founded the Palestinian Student Union.

The petition challenges a policy that allows the Secretary of State to designate individuals for removal if their presence is deemed to pose foreign policy complications, based solely on their political speech. The attorneys assert this violates statutory and constitutional protections. Mahdawi’s family in the West Bank has reportedly faced harassment due to his activism, heightening his fear of deportation.

In summary, the petition characterizes Mahdawi as a principled and empathetic individual—devoted to peace, education, and human rights—whose detention represents a threat to civil liberties and constitutional protections.

Vermont community support

As reported by Vermont Public and other sources, Mahdawi is known in Vermont for his warmth, curiosity, and commitment to peacebuilding. He has formed deep bonds across religious and cultural lines, working in local cafés and stores and hosting gatherings at his self-built cabin in West Fairlee. He envisions it as a future retreat center where Palestinian and Israeli youth can connect.

He credits Buddhism with helping him heal from past trauma, and those who know him—rabbis, ministers, neighbors, and friends—describe him as profoundly nonviolent and reflective. “If you speak with him for 20 minutes, you fall in love with him,” said Rabbi Dov Taylor of Woodstock. Taylor’s wife Judith added, “Mohsen is funny and a man of appetites. He loves good food, good wine, good bourbon, and working hard with his hands.”

The Taylors met Mahdawi nearly a decade ago at a film screening about an interfaith trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. In one 2023 campus incident, Mahdawi publicly condemned an antisemitic remark made during a protest. “There isn’t an angry bone in his body,” said Dov Taylor. “There isn’t an ounce of antisemitism in him. He’s completely opposed to violence, and that comes across when he speaks.”

In 2018, Mahdawi visited a synagogue in Highland Park, Illinois, with the Taylors. “Everyone loved him,” said Dov Taylor. “He was so welcome because of his calm, measured way of speaking.”

In an April 22 visit by Senator Peter Welch to Mahdawi in prison, he said, “[Secretary of State Rubio] is describing anti-war as anti-Semitic. How could that be possible, when most of my partners at Columbia’s campus and beyond are Jews and Israelis. My work has been centered on peacemaking, and all what I am doing,  My empathy extends beyond the Palestinian people. My empathy extends to the Jews and to the Israelis. And my hope and my dream is to see this conflict, if one might say, to see an end to the war and into the killing to see a peaceful resolution between Palestinians and Israelis. How could this be a threat to anybody except the war machine?”

Kenyon’s column

Jim Kenyon, of the Valley News, who has known Mahdawi for years, noted that Mahdawi met all green card requirements for naturalization. He had completed several rounds of background checks without incident and traveled abroad—including a recent trip to Greece—without issue. “They know for sure that I’m a safe person,” Mahdawi told Kenyon.

He understood the risk of a trap but felt he had to appear; skipping the appointment could have jeopardized his citizenship application. As a precaution, he left his phone with a friend, fearing that authorities might access his personal data. “Is this my ticket to a detention center in Louisiana?” he wondered. In early March, after Khalil’s arrest, Mahdawi did not leave his apartment for 23 days. Friends delivered food, and he paced his small quarters, logging 10,000 steps a day. Before the Colchester trip, he rotated between safe locations. “This was the Underground Railroad for me,” he said.

Peter Rousmaniere

X @peterrousmaniere

Blog:www.workingimmigrants.com

Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/peterrousmaniere

pfr@rousmaniere.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judge Harvie Wilkinson, Abrego Garcia case April 17 2025: It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.

British Cockney “Right then, sometimes it’s a real faff tryin’ to get to the bleedin’ ‘eart of things, innit? But not this time, mate. The gov’ment’s actin’ like it’s got the right to ship folks off—proper residents, mind you—to some dodgy nick overseas, no trial, no nothin’. Due process? Gawn, like yesterday’s curry. And now they’re sayin’ just ’cause they ain’t holdin’ the poor sods no more, they’re off the hook? That’s not just barmy—it’s a slap in the gob to anyone wot still believes in a bit o’ liberty, even if they’ve never set foot near a judge.”

Kindergarten Teacher “Okay, sweethearts, listen close. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what’s really going on. But not this time—this one’s easy to understand. Some grown-ups in charge—people in the government—are saying they can take people who live here and send them far, far away to another country, and put them in a big, scary jail. And they’re not even giving those people a chance to say, ‘Hey! That’s not fair!’ Now remember how we talk about being fair in our classroom? Everyone gets a turn, everyone gets to share, and no one gets left out? Grown-ups are supposed to follow those rules too, especially when they make really big decisions. But these grown-ups are saying, ‘Well, they’re not with us anymore, so it’s not our problem.’ And that’s just not fair. Even if you don’t know all the big rules or go to court, you still know what’s right in your heart. And this? This doesn’t feel right at all.”

American Evangelical preacher“Now brothers and sisters, let me speak plain, as the prophets did of old. There are times when the truth is veiled, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, ‘through a glass, darkly.’ But not today. No, today the truth stands clear as a trumpet on Zion. Our own government, yes, this very land we love, is claimin’ the right to cast aside its people—born of this soil—and toss ’em into foreign dungeons, stripped of the due process that our forefathers fought and bled for. This due process is no man-made trinket—it is the foundation, the rock, as Jesus said in Matthew 7, upon which we must build. And now, having handed these souls over, they wash their hands like Pilate and say, ‘We are no longer responsible.’ Oh Lord! This ain’t just a legal travesty—it’s a moral abomination! It ought to shake the conscience of every judge, every citizen, every God-fearing soul who holds liberty dear!”

Valley Girl “Okay, like, yeah, sometimes it’s totally hard to, like, get to the actual issue or whatever? But not this time, no way. Like, the government is literally saying it’s okay to, like, ship people off—like actual Americans—to some random foreign prison without even a hint of due process. I mean, hello? That is, like, the entire point of the Constitution. And now they’re all, ‘Oh, well we don’t have them anymore, so like, not our problem?’ Umm, excuse me? That is so not okay. Honestly, even someone who’s never set foot in a courtroom can, like, totally tell that’s a major freedom fail. I’m, like, shook.”

The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition’s program regarding ICE enforcement:

Witnessing ICE activity, or think you might be?

Call 1-844-864-8341 and dial 1 to speak with a dispatcher

The dispatcher will ask for more location and situation details from you, then send trained volunteers to the scene

If an ICE raid is occurring, volunteers will record the event, seek to identify the agents participating, and remind those involved of their constitutional rights. After the incident, if possible, volunteers will follow up to connect you with a local member of CIRC’s statewide DocuTeam, who will work with you to document the event and refer you to legal resources if necessary.

Documentation is used to monitor police/ICE collaboration, detect patterns that can guide our legislative efforts, and build a strong statewide network of people resisting deportations in their own communities. The testimonies of directly impacted people helped Colorado repeal our “show me your papers” law that forced local police to act as ICE agents in 2013.

CORRN Hotline and DocuTeam

The Colorado Rapid Response Network (CORRN) runs a 24/7 hotline for anyone witnessing or experiencing ICE activity.  Callers can use the 24/7 hotline either to report ongoing ICE activity or to document a past experience with ICE. If the call is for current activity, trained volunteers will respond at the scene to document the activity and ensure that all those involved know their rights. If not, the caller can leave a message and a member of the CORRN DocuTeam will follow up with them to record the details of their  story. We use documentation to monitor police/ICE collaboration, find patterns that can guide our legislative efforts, and build a strong statewide network of people resisting deportations in their own communities. The testimonies of directly impacted people helped Colorado repeal our “show me your papers” law that forced local police to act as ICE agents in 2013.

CORRN is made up of the following members: American Friends Service Committee, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Colorado People’s Alliance, Mi Familia Vota, Padres y Jóvenes Unidos, Together Colorado, and United for a New Economy. The network is also supported by SEIU Local 105, Colorado Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

 

I expect that as John Roberts considers how to respond to the White House’s display of contempt for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Abrego Garcia matter, he will take into account public opinion on the Supreme Court and Trump’s immigration policies.

When asked whether immigration helps or hurts the country, almost uniformly more people say helps rather than hurts. But this has been a long run softball question that obscures much harder feelings both right and left. At this moment, public opinion about the Supreme Court and challenges to trump is most instructive.

A Marquette Law School of March 13-27, poll released on April 3. shows strong support for the Supreme Court. Persons were asked, “If the Supreme Court rules against the president in a case, does the president have the power to ignore that ruling, or is the president required to do as the ruling says?”  Per the poll results, “A large majority of the public, 83%, say the president must obey a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, while 17% say the president has the power to ignore such a ruling. The percentage saying he must obey a ruling has increased slightly from 79% in December to 83% in March…. Among Republicans, 78% say the president must obey the Court, as do 82% of independents and 90% of Democrats.”

Per a March 22 -25 poll posted on YouGov on March 26 (some 11 days after the El Salvador flights, the public supported the White House in general, was quite mixed on specific issues pertaining to the Abrego Garcia case, and Republicans fiercely supported him throughout. Here are some excerpts from its report:

51% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of how Trump is handling immigration, and 44% disapprove. That’s Trump’s highest approval out of 10 issues asked about in the poll — higher than approval for Trump’s handling of crime (47% approve / 38% disapprove), taxes and government spending (46% / 46%), or jobs and the economy (43% / 47%) Trump’s +7 net approval of his handling of immigration is also higher than at almost any time during his first term.

53% of Americans think the Trump administration is making many or some mistakes in who it is deporting, while 20% think it has made only a few mistakes and 14% think it has made no mistakes. Only 33% of Republicans think the Trump administration has made no mistakes in its deportations.

While only 41% of Americans believe that immigrants facing deportation have the right to challenge their deportation in court, 51% believe immigrants facing deportation should have this right.

64% of Americans believe the Trump administration should obey court orders when deporting immigrants, while 18% believe it should not obey them. 88% of Democrats believe the administration should obey orders and only 6% think it shouldn’t. Republicans are more divided: 40% think the Trump administration should obey immigration orders and 33% think it should not.