White House defends Venezuelans’ deportation amid scrutiny

The White House has defended the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador despite a US court order barring the removals.
Rights advocates have demanded answers from President Donald Trump’s administration, which says – without evidence – that those deported were members of the Tren de Aragua gang.Macron says Trump ‘committed’ to get Russia to agree to ceasefire conditions
French President Emmanuel Macron says the ball is in Russia’s court “to prove it wants peace” after Ukraine agreed to the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.

“The guns must be silenced. The abuses and sabotage must stop. Deported Ukrainian children must be allowed to return to their families. These are the conditions that Russia must fulfill. And I know Trump is committed to that,” Macron wrote in French on X.

The French leader added that all the parties must also work to advance a plan that would lead to a lasting peace in Ukraine – and prevent Russia from launching another attack.

Why is the US attacking Houthis in Yemen?
Washington has warned Iran about its support for the Yemeni rebels as US-Houthi tensions soar.

Why is the US attacking the Houthis? What are the risks, and what will be the effects on the Yemeni people?How Trump’s US aid freeze stymied Colombia’s immigration systemFraymi Loaiza and her family are among the 2.8 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees who have fled to Colombia in recent years, and their immigration papers have yet to be processed.

Without those documents, Loaiza and her children are not yet enrolled in Colombia’s public health insurance programme. She worries they could be turned away at the hospital or charged a fortune for care.

Adding to the uncertainty is a broader geopolitical upheaval: the election of Donald Trump and the US president’s freeze on the disbursement of foreign aid.

Colombia’s government migration agency has been forced to stop processing documents for migrants and refugees, due to the staffing cuts resulting from a lack of funding.

That left families like Loaiza’s in desperate straits, and immigration workers frustrated.US pays $6m to El Salvador to take in deportees: White House
Leavitt also says American authorities are “sure” that the individuals deported from the US to El Salvador are members of gangs.

But as we reported earlier, lawyers and rights advocates have questioned that.

In a widely shared social media post, immigration lawyer Lindsay Toczylowski said one of her clients is believed to have been forcibly transferred to El Salvador despite not being a gang member.

The client fled Venezuela last year and sought asylum in the US. “He has a strong claim. He was detained at entry because ICE [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] alleged his tattoos are gang related. They are absolutely not,” she wrote on X.

“The Alien Enemies Act would allow the Trump administration to remove people from the US based on an accusation alone. The accusation could be, as it is for our client, completely baseless. But they would remove them anyway, despite the dangers, despite the lack of due process.”