A federal judge in Texas (appointed by Trump) has ruled that Trump's executive order using the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act is unlawful, going beyond any other judge.

The judge ruled that Trump exceeded “the scope of the statute” and was “contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms.”

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/would-remove-all-limitations-to-the-executive-branchs-authority-trump-appointed-judge-is-first-to-rule-presidents-invocation-of-alien-enemies-act-is-unlawful/

50 US Code Sec 21 #Restraint #Regulation & #Removal Whenever there #declared #war between #US & any #foreign #nation or #government, or any #invasion or #predatory #incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against #territory of US by any foreign #nation or #government, President makes public proclamation of event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of hostile nation govt who shall be within US not actually naturalized, shall removed as alien #enemies. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/21

I have been blessed with brilliant enemies. They made me suffer... But I owe them a great debt, because they redoubled my energies and drove me in new directions. We need such people in our creative lives. As John Stuart Mill once put it, both teachers and learners fall asleep at their posts when there is no enemy in the field.
-- Edward O. Wilson

#Wisdom #Quotes #EdwardOWilson #Enemies #Teachers

#Photography #Panorama #MotorMill #Iowa

Is It Happening Here? Other countries have watched their #democracies slip away gradually, w/out #tanks in the streets. That may be where we’re headed—or where we already are. https://archive.is/5cFz9 When #Trump ran again, in #2024, his #autocratic #rhetoric was more pitched. He promised #retribution, a #purge of ideological #enemies, and #mass #deportations on flimsy legal pretexts. WH debuted set of lawn signs 2 highlight undocumented people who have been arrested since Trump’s return 2 power

At some density your friends become your enemies.
-- Aaron Corcoran

#Wisdom #Quotes #AaronCorcoran #Enemies #Friendship #Nature #Population

#Photography #Panorama #Guangxi #China #LiRiver #LiJiang #TowerKarst #Geology

The U.S. State Department is paying El Salvador $6 million
to house hundreds of immigrants deported from the United States in an immense and brutal prison there,
Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, or #CECOT.

But a U.S. law bars the department’s financial support of “units of foreign security forces”
— which can include military and law enforcement staff in prisons
—  facing credible allegations of gross human rights violations.
That has led those who wrote what’s known as the #Leahy #Law and enforced it for years to question the legality of the $6 million payment made as Trump carries out his campaign of mass deportation.
The Trump administration on March 15 sent 261 men to CECOT,
after invoking the #Alien #Enemies Act of 1798 to apply to Venezuelan nationals 14 and older who are suspected members of the gang Tren de Aragua.
On March 30, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said an additional 17 nationals from El Salvador were sent to CECOT, again alleging gang ties.
On Sunday, #Rubio said 10 more men were sent to the prison in El Salvador, and noted how
“the alliance between” the U.S. and El Salvador
“has become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere.”

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2025/04/15/experts-6-million-payment-to-salvadoran-prison-likely-violates-u-s-human-rights-law/

Get your #Enemies of #Democracy #tradingcards! Collect 'em all!

https://boingboing.net/2025/04/09/get-your-enemies-of-democracy-trading-cards-collect-em-all.html
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/toddalcott/enemies-of-democracy-playing-cards/creator