Democrats publish leaked Justice Department messages on US deportation push

Democrats in the United States Senate have released a string of text messages and email correspondences that they say raises questions about the executive branch’s commitment to complying with court orders.

On Thursday, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, released what he described as “whistleblower” evidence about government lawyer Emil Bove.

In his role as acting deputy attorney general for the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bove directed his colleagues to ignore or mislead courts about President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts, according to Durbin.

“Text messages, email exchanges, and documents show that the Department of Justice misled a federal court and disregarded a court order,” Durbin wrote on social media.

“Mr Bove spearheaded this effort, which demanded attorneys violate their ethical duty of candor to the court.”

Bove – formerly a personal lawyer to President Trump during his criminal trials – was recently nominated to serve in a lifetime position as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. But the Senate must first vote to confirm him to the role.

“Emil Bove belongs nowhere near the federal bench,” Durbin wrote. “This vote will be a litmus test for Senate Judiciary Republicans.”

Durbin indicated the emails and texts he released come from a Justice Department source: Most of the names in the correspondences have been redacted.

But they appear to corroborate allegations made in a complaint in June by Erez Reuveni, a Justice Department lawyer who worked under Bove until his dismissal in April.

In his complaint, Reuveni alleged that Bove told Justice Department lawyers that they “would need to consider telling the courts ‘f*** you’” if they interfered with President Trump’s deportation plans.

The expletive came up in the context of Trump’s controversial use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a law that, until recently, had only been used in the context of war.

Trump, however, has argued that undocumented immigration constituted an “invasion” and has attempted to deport people under the law’s authority, without allowing them to appeal their removal.

According to Reuveni, Bove explained to the Justice Department that Trump planned to start the deportation flights immediately after invoking the Alien Enemies Act. He “stressed to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what”.

Reuveni understood that interaction as an attempt to circumvent the power of the courts.

In another instance, Reuveni said he was discouraged from asking questions about the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an immigrant wrongfully deported to El Salvador despite a court protection order.

When Reuveni admitted before a Maryland court that he did not have “satisfactory” answers about Abrego Garcia’s return, he said Trump officials pressured him to make assertions against Abrego Garcia that “were not supported by law or the record”. He was fired shortly afterwards.

The documents gathered by Senate Democrats appear to offer a look inside those incidents.

In one series of emails, dated March 15, Reuveni responded to a notification that planes bearing deportees under the Alien Enemies Act were still in the air.

“The judge specifically ordered us not to remove anyone in the class, and to return anyone in the air,” he wrote back.

The emails reflected an injunction from District Judge James Boasberg barring deportations and ordering the planes to turn around.

Nevertheless, the planes landed in El Salvador and delivered their human cargo to a maximum security prison, where many remain to this day.

In another instance, a member of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) replied to an email thread by saying: “My take on these emails is that DOJ leadership and DOJ litigators don’t agree on the strategy. Please keep DHS out of it.”

Text messages also show Reuveni and an unnamed colleague discussing Bove’s request to tell the courts “f*** you”.

“Guess we are going to say f*** you to the court,” one text message reads.

In another, the colleague appears to react to Trump officials lying before the court. “Oh sh**,” they write. “That was just not true.”

In an interview published with The New York Times on Thursday, Reuveni underscored the grave dangers posed by an executive branch that he sees as refusing to comply with judicial authority.

“The Department of Justice is thumbing its nose at the courts, and putting Justice Department attorneys in an impossible position where they have to choose between loyalty to the agenda of the president and their duty to the court,” he told the Times.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has responded with defiance, repeating its claim that Reuveni is simply a “disgruntled employee” lashing out at the employer who fired him.

“He’s a leaker asserting false claims seeking five minutes of fame, conveniently timed just before a confirmation hearing and a committee vote,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

“No one was ever asked to defy a court order. This is another instance of misinformation being spread to serve a narrative that does not align with the facts.”

Bove himself denied ever advising his colleagues to defy a court order. The Senate is set to decide on his confirmation to the circuit court in the coming weeks.

US widens public benefit restrictions for undocumented immigrants

United States officials are cutting down further on undocumented immigrants’ access to healthcare programmes and benefits as part of President Donald Trump’s widening immigration crackdown.

On Thursday, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it was broadening its interpretation of a 1996 law that prohibits most immigrants from receiving federal public benefits.

The decision means that undocumented immigrants will no longer be eligible for an additional 13 programmes.

They include Head Start, a pre-school educational programme, and projects that address family planning, mental health, substance abuse and efforts to reduce homelessness.

“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivise illegal immigration,” HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said on Thursday.

“Today’s action changes that – it restores integrity to federal social programmes, enforces the rule of law and protects vital resources for the American people.”

Critics fear the added restrictions will further marginalise a vulnerable group of immigrants who often have scarce resources, exacerbating public health crises in the US.

The new restrictions relate to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996.

That law — passed under Democratic President Bill Clinton — barred those living in the country without valid immigration documents and those on temporary visas, like students or foreign workers, from receiving major benefits from the federal government.

However, the scope of the restrictions was not spelled out, as the law did not define what counted as “federal public benefits”.

To make things clearer, the HHS issued a legal interpretation in 1998, which prevented access to 31 programmes. Medicaid — an insurance programme for low-income households — and Social Security were among them, as was the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

In a statement released on Thursday, the HHS claimed “the 1998 policy improperly narrowed the scope of PRWORA”, allowing undocumented immigrants to access programmes which “Congress intended only for the American people”.

With Thursday’s additions, the total number of restricted programmes rises to 44.

The HHS’s new policy, which is subject to a 30-day public comment period, will take effect when it is published in the Federal Register.

Since starting his second presidential term in January, Donald Trump has made it a priority to tackle undocumented immigration.

Critics have accused his administration of violating human rights and the US Constitution, as well as exceeding his presidential authority.

Mahmoud Khalil files $20m claim against Trump for wrongful detention

Mahmoud Khalil, a former student activist imprisoned for more than three months, has filed a wrongful detention claim against the administration of President Donald Trump, seeking $20m in damages.

Thursday’s court filings allege that the Trump administration smeared his reputation, maliciously prosecuted Khalil and unlawfully imprisoned him.

The claim names the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of State as defendants.

In an interview with The Associated Press (AP), Khalil said he hopes his claim will show that the Trump administration cannot bully activists into silence.

“They are abusing their power because they think they are untouchable,” Khalil said. “Unless they feel there is some sort of accountability, it will continue to go unchecked.”

Thursday’s claim is likely to be the precursor to a full-fledged lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Khalil, who served as a spokesperson for the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, said he plans to use any money he receives from his claim to help other activists whose speech Trump has attempted to suppress.

He also told the AP he would accept an apology and a revision of the Trump administration’s deportation policies. Khalil himself continues to face deportation proceedings as a result of his activism.

What happened?

Born to Palestinian parents in Damascus, Syria, Khalil was a face for the Palestinian solidarity movement in the US after the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.

United Nations experts and human rights groups have warned that Israel’s tactics in Gaza are “consistent with genocide”, and Columbia University became the epicentre for global, student-led protests.

“I’m one of the lucky ones who are able to advocate for the rights of Palestinians, the folks who are getting killed back in Palestine,” Khalil told Al Jazeera in May 2024.

But Trump campaigned for a second term on pledges to crack down on immigration to the US and stamp out the antiwar protests, which he described as anti-Semitic.

Upon taking office in January, Trump issued executive orders setting the stage for the removal of foreign nationals deemed to have “hostile attitudes” towards the US or who were accused of supporting “threats to our national security”.

One of the orders instructed federal authorities to take “actions to remove such aliens” from the US.

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump wrote at the time. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”

Khalil was the first major arrest in Trump’s crackdown on the student protesters. Video shot by his pregnant wife, Noor Abdalla, on March 8 shows plain-clothed immigration officers handcuffing Khalil and leading him out of his university apartment complex in New York City.

He was swiftly moved from New York to New Jersey and then to Louisiana, where he was held at the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena ahead of his planned deportation.

Lawyers for Khalil, however, swiftly filed two challenges: one against his deportation and one against his detention, in what is called a habeas corpus petition.

Because of the swift and clandestine nature of his departure to Louisiana, Khalil’s lawyers have said they did not know where their client was in the initial days after his arrest. Khalil is a permanent US resident, and his wife a citizen.

To justify his deportation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a rarely used provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. That provision allows the secretary of state to remove any foreign nationals he believes to have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”.

Khalil has not been charged with any crime. The US, however, is a close ally of Israel and has provided military support to its campaign in Gaza, which has killed at least 57,762 people.

On March 9, shortly after Khalil’s arrest, the Department of Homeland Security also issued a statement accusing Khalil of anti-Semitism, citing Trump’s executive orders.

“Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” the statement said. “ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting US national security.”

Trump himself called Khalil a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student” and a “terrorist sympathizer”.

“This is the first arrest of many to come,” the president wrote on social media. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”

But Khalil and his legal team have accused the Trump administration of violating his constitutional rights to free speech.

Since Khalil’s arrest, other foreign students have been arrested too, including Mohsen Mahdawi and Rumeysa Ozturk, who was reportedly imprisoned for writing an opinion article in her student newspaper against Israel’s war.

Is suspending asylum requests the right way to curb immigration?

Athens warns it will now arrest people entering Greece without authorisation from North Africa.

Greece has suspended asylum applications for people arriving by sea for three months.

That has come about after a large rise in the number of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to the Greek island of Crete.

Athens wants to stop their boats from even entering Greek waters.

Human rights groups said denying them asylum is against international law.

So can a change in policy really stop people heading to Europe? Are North African countries able to help in reducing the number of boats? And what are the likely outcomes of this suspension?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Eleni Spathana – lawyer with Refugee Support Aegean and author of Legal Assistance for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Greece

Amine Snoussi – political analyst and journalist

England-India: Root’s 99 keeps tourists at bay on day one of third Test

One of India’s greatest adversaries has shown up at Lord’s and given England the edge on the first day of the third Test.

As England’s best batter, Joe Root has had a middling impact on the tied Test series so far. But grafting for more than five hours on a roasting pitch on Thursday earned him an unbeaten 99 that was easily beaconed in a total of 251-4 at stumps.

Root fought for almost the entire first day to vindicate captain Ben Stokes’s decision to bat first. Stokes was with him at stumps, on 39, but struggling with a groin or adductor issue that may affect whether he bowls. He had a chance in the last over to run a second single to give Root his century but declined.

Root’s grit typified an approach by England that was more caution than aggression, unconventional in the team’s three years under coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes, the “Bazball” era.

“Slightly different to the way we usually put together an innings but we’ll take it,” batter Ollie Pope told the BBC radio broadcast. “We want to be a team that is positive and entertaining, but we want to play to the situation. Our order is pretty fast scoring on our good days. We all know we can score hundreds off 120 balls, but we need to dig in off this sort of surface.”

Joe Root of England, far left and Mohammed Siraj of India, centre, exchange words during day one of the third Test [Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Bazball takes a break at Lord’s

Despite hardly a cloud in the sky over Lord’s, usually a template for a great batting day, England displayed its slowest scoring in the first session of a Test and reached 100 at its second slowest pace under Bazball. The run rate dropped to 2.75 in the afternoon.

India’s fearsome pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj squeezed the scoring. India’s fielding was tight, and the green-tinged pitch became sluggish enough for spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar to bowl 20 of the day’s 83 overs and take one wicket.

Root was slow but steadfast without offering India a single chance.

In the process, he became the first batter to hit 3,000 Test runs against India. He reached his 23rd half-century in 33 Tests against India – he’s averaging 58 – and was one run away from his 11th Test hundred against India, which would tie Steve Smith’s record.

His only previous half-century in the series held together the successful last day run chase in the Leeds opener when England was four down and still 118 runs behind.

This time, he fought for almost the entire day to glue England’s first innings in two big partnerships of 109 with Pope and an unbeaten 79 with Stokes. Root has set the platform for England to rack a big total on Friday while India will be pleased it has not been “Bazballed”.

“Joe Root has inspired everyone in the changing room and in this country,” Pope said. “Fingers crossed he can make it a massive one tomorrow.”

England was more “Bazbore” for a long time in the afternoon as Root and Pope grinded out a sleepy wicketless session, including 28 straight dot balls.

There also was a lengthy delay to treat India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s index finger, which was damaged while half-stopping leg byes. He didn’t return for the last half of the day.

Pant’s replacement, Dhruv Jurel, excelled, however.

After Root and Pope scored only 70 runs in 24 overs in the middle session, the tea interval broke Pope’s focus. In the first ball after tea, Pope went after Jadeja, and Jurel produced a brilliant reflex catch at the stumps. Pope left for 44 off 104 balls.

Harry Brook was then castled on 11 by Bumrah, who grabbed his first wicket in 35 overs stretching back to the Leeds Test. He was rested at Edgbaston.

 Ben Stokes of England receives treatment for an injury as Joe Root of England takes a drink
Ben Stokes of England receives treatment for an injury as Joe Root of England takes a drink [Clive Mason/Getty Images]

England captain hit by leg injury

Stokes joined Root and was playing fluidly until he called for the England medic. He has 39 off 102 balls. Root has 99 off 191, including nine boundaries.

Root came into the game just after the first drinks break in the morning.

Opening batters Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley wobbled during the first hour when the pitch was at its most wicked. But they survived even Bumrah, who found more movement off the pitch than anyone else in the series so far and got a breather at the drinks break. And then they were gone.

The unassuming Nitish Kumar Reddy came into the series only in the second Test for his batting and bowled six expensive overs at Edgbaston. On Thursday, he changed in for Bumrah, and his medium pace lulled Duckett, Crawley and Pope into errors in the same over.

Duckett pulled, Crawley drove and both edged behind. Pope edged to gully, but India captain Shubman Gill couldn’t pull off a stunning one-handed catch.