What mattered this week
Deportation flights to El Salvador put rule of law to the test
This week saw Tesla stock plummet, more phone calls with Putin and more unhinged truth social posts but here’s what mattered.
School’s out -- forever? Trump targets Education Department in latest attack on the federal government
In line with Project 2025, the conservative nightmare plan that no one wanted to own but everyone is happy to follow now, Trump signed an Executive Order entitled “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities” which aims to shutter the department as it has been in place since 1979. The Dept. was formed to, among many goals, “strengthen the Federal commitment to ensuring access to equal education opportunity for every individual…”, “supplement and complement the efforts of States…”, and “to encourage the increased involvement of the public, parents, and students in Federal education programs…”. Prior to its establishment, states often implemented discriminatory education policies, marginalized students with disabilities, and various educational standards that worsened outcomes for vulnerable students particularly those in rural and low-income areas. Students with disabilities, in particular, will suffer without the department as about $15 billion is set aside to help states hire trained staff, create resources and adapt institutions to ensure that students with disabilities are able to learn alongside their classmates. Millions of Americans, myself included, who have had the pleasure of dealing with FAFSA and other student loan-related headaches will know that the Dept. is also responsible for distributing loans to students to the tune of about $114.9 billion in the 2023-2024 school year. Trump has thus far indicated the student loans will be handled by the Small Business Administration, headed by Trump donor Kelly Loeffler who’s said in recent weeks that she plans to radically scale back headcount at the SBA.
Dismantling the department may be good red meat for the base and fans of education like Rep. Lauren Boebert and former WWE head and current Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, but most Americans (60%) oppose the dismantling of the Department. The states set to suffer most without the Dept. include deep red states Mississippi, South Dakota, Montana and Alaska which receive the largest share of their revenue from the federal government. Formally dismantling the department will take an act of Congress but, if Trump is looking to circumvent the law and gut the administration from the inside out, this would be a good way to start.
Deportations without due process are the new norm
Trump and co. continued their assault on the rule of law this week ignoring District Court Judge Boasberg’s order not to deport hundreds of supposed Venezuelan gang members to a CECOT, a prison set up by tech overlord populist President Nayib Bukele to crack down on gang-related crime. Since its establishment, CECOT has been investigated for grave human rights abuses by Human Rights Watch and other rights-based NGOs. In order to expedite these deportations, Trump cited the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 which his justice department has argued allows him to bypass due process for those accused of being members of Tren de Aragua (TdA). The gang was declared a terrorist organisation by the Administration in early January and measures taken to combat designated terrorist organisations often have wider discretion under the law.
Despite the Administration’s public statements that all deported people had been investigated for or designated to be members of TdA or immigrants that had illegally entered the United States, several chilling stories have since emerged regarding serious due diligence failures by the Dept. of Homeland Security. Some of the men were deported on the basis of tattoos or online social media posts and were deported without appearing before an immigration judge. For example, former Venezuelan soccer player Jerce Reyes Barrios who sought asylum in the US in September of 2024 to escape the Maduro regime was among those deported last week. Mistakes in the tech world or real estate business can be uncomfortable but mistakes when lives are at risk are unacceptable and in this regard, Trump, Homan and Bondi are way out of their league.
Netanyahu ramps up bombing again as Witkoff deflects blame
Earlier this week Israel broke the fragile ceasefire with Hamas, dropping bombs in the Gaza Strip killing hundreds of Palestinians including dozens of women and children. The move comes as Prime Minister Netanyahu has backed away from the terms his right-wing coalition government agreed to in January to secure hostage releases. The latest bombing has brought the death toll in Gaza to a staggering 50,000 according to the health ministry. Trump’s foreign policy ‘expert’ and golf buddy Steve Witkoff has dismissed claims that Netanyahu is deliberately disregarding the ceasefire and acting with impunity given the US Administration’s staunchly pro-Israeli stance. In a recent interview, Witkoff blamed Hamas for Israel’s latest attacks and reiterated the US’ support for the Netanyahu government. UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories Francesca Albanese was in London on Tuesday to speak on the current state of affairs at Univesity College London just a week after a UN Commission report found that the Israeli military had engaged in the systematic use of sexual violence to terrorize Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. The report can be found here.
What else?
Germany and the UK have both issued travel warnings for the US after the recent crackdown on green card and visa holders. Rebecca Burke, a 28-year-old Scottish woman, was recently handcuffed and detained over a visa mix-up after crossing the border from Canada into the US prompting her family to urge Brits to rethink travel plans. The move may impact the busy summer travel season as Canadians are already rethinking vacations in their neighbour to the South.
Newly minted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap election to be held on April 28th with the Liberals currently edging out the Conservative party in polls. With Trump threatening Canada with annexation and tariffs set to kick in on the 1st of April, Canadians will head to the polls elbows up!
Trump has rescinded temporary legal status from more than 530,000 people from some of the most war-torn countries in the world who had been granted protected status in the US. This includes thousands of Haitians, Venezuelans, and Cubans who have applied for status in the US but may be set for deportation as early as April 24th.
Until next time.