Already, and this is the Daily This is the Daily ohs oh, now it makes sense.

Already, and this is the Daily This is the Daily ohs oh, now it makes sense.

Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Tuesday, the eighteenth of March.

Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Tuesday, the eighteenth of March.

I'm Sam, I'm Billy.

I'm Sam, I'm Billy.

US President Donald Trump has taken a dramatic step in his immigration crackdown by invoking a century's old wartime law to support Venezuelan national's he claims are members of a notorious gang. Despite a federal judge ordering a pause on these deportations, a plane carrying two hundred and thirty eight people still left four L Salvador on Sunday. Today, we're going to break down how we got here, what this all means, and why it's setting the stage for what could be a major legal battle.

US President Donald Trump has taken a dramatic step in his immigration crackdown by invoking a century's old wartime law to support Venezuelan national's he claims are members of a notorious gang. Despite a federal judge ordering a pause on these deportations, a plane carrying two hundred and thirty eight people still left four L Salvador on Sunday. Today, we're going to break down how we got here, what this all means, and why it's setting the stage for what could be a major legal battle.

So, Sam, this is a pretty extraordinary development. I saw lots of footage of these deportations across all different media yesterday, and I actually intentionally didn't look at it, knowing that you were going to explain it today. But it's not entirely unexpected because Trump promised major deportations during his campaign for presidency. Sure, do you want to just walk us through what has happened in these last few days?

So, Sam, this is a pretty extraordinary development. I saw lots of footage of these deportations across all different media yesterday, and I actually intentionally didn't look at it, knowing that you were going to explain it today. But it's not entirely unexpected because Trump promised major deportations during his campaign for presidency. Sure, do you want to just walk us through what has happened in these last few days?

Yeah, And I think that is a theme of this Trump presidency is that he's doing exactly what he said he would, and this was foreshadowed during the campaign, and sure enough, over the weekend, President Trump announced he was using something called the Alien Enemies Act of seventeen ninety eight. And I'm going to come back to that law in a minute to deport Venezuelan nationals who he alleges members of the Trend der Arragua or unfortunately TDA, a violent prison gang from Venezuela.

Yeah, And I think that is a theme of this Trump presidency is that he's doing exactly what he said he would, and this was foreshadowed during the campaign, and sure enough, over the weekend, President Trump announced he was using something called the Alien Enemies Act of seventeen ninety eight. And I'm going to come back to that law in a minute to deport Venezuelan nationals who he alleges members of the Trend der Arragua or unfortunately TDA, a violent prison gang from Venezuela.

Can I just pause you quickly? You say the Alien Enemies Act of seventeen ninety eight. So is that an existing law that dates back two hundred years?

Can I just pause you quickly? You say the Alien Enemies Act of seventeen ninety eight. So is that an existing law that dates back two hundred years?

It's an existing law of US Congress that I imagine they would have to go into the bottom draw and literally blow some dust off this thing to try and read what it says. That's how rarely this law is used.

It's an existing law of US Congress that I imagine they would have to go into the bottom draw and literally blow some dust off this thing to try and read what it says. That's how rarely this law is used.

That's so interesting because throughout Trump's campaign he used that word alien to describe illegal immigrants or even just to describe immigrants, and I didn't expect that that was a word that was actually part of US law.

That's so interesting because throughout Trump's campaign he used that word alien to describe illegal immigrants or even just to describe immigrants, and I didn't expect that that was a word that was actually part of US law.

Yeah, it's got a legal definition. So an alien is somebody who doesn't have US citizenship, and isn't a US national. So if you and I went to live in New York for a year to do some work in America, we could go in as an immigrant, or go in as a documented migrant, you know, doing a working holiday. We would be classified legally as a type of alien. So there's lots of different types of aliens, everything from an asylum seeker all the way through to a resident.

Yeah, it's got a legal definition. So an alien is somebody who doesn't have US citizenship, and isn't a US national. So if you and I went to live in New York for a year to do some work in America, we could go in as an immigrant, or go in as a documented migrant, you know, doing a working holiday. We would be classified legally as a type of alien. So there's lots of different types of aliens, everything from an asylum seeker all the way through to a resident.

That's so interesting. I had no idea. Yeah, I'm not alone in being the only one who didn't know that.

That's so interesting. I had no idea. Yeah, I'm not alone in being the only one who didn't know that.

It's a funny word, but it does date back all the way through to the seventeen hundreds. The US isn't known for simple immigration law, so there's a very, very complicated area of law with hundreds of years of history. But the reason we're talking about it today is this mass deportation of members of the TDA gang. It's obviously a funny one for me because the daily OS is shortened to TDA. I don't want it to be distracting in this story, so I'm going to refer to it as trend just because of the unique position we're in. The name translates to the train of Arugua, and it's thought to be in reference to a union of rail workers that was working on tracks between the cities of Caracas and.

It's a funny word, but it does date back all the way through to the seventeen hundreds. The US isn't known for simple immigration law, so there's a very, very complicated area of law with hundreds of years of history. But the reason we're talking about it today is this mass deportation of members of the TDA gang. It's obviously a funny one for me because the daily OS is shortened to TDA. I don't want it to be distracting in this story, so I'm going to refer to it as trend just because of the unique position we're in. The name translates to the train of Arugua, and it's thought to be in reference to a union of rail workers that was working on tracks between the cities of Caracas and.

Argua in Venezuela.

Argua in Venezuela.

Yeah, and it formed in Venezuela in twenty fourteen in Argua, and it quickly took control of where it was formed, which was inside a prison. Now, on the surface, this looked like a really cool overtaking of a prison. There was the introduction of a swimming pool, restaurants, and even a zoo. Some members of the prison had their families come and join them in the prison. But it also meant that the group, once they took control of the prison, they ordered robberies, kidnappings, and murders from behind bars.

Yeah, and it formed in Venezuela in twenty fourteen in Argua, and it quickly took control of where it was formed, which was inside a prison. Now, on the surface, this looked like a really cool overtaking of a prison. There was the introduction of a swimming pool, restaurants, and even a zoo. Some members of the prison had their families come and join them in the prison. But it also meant that the group, once they took control of the prison, they ordered robberies, kidnappings, and murders from behind bars.

Sorry, are you saying that they took over this prison and introduced or built swimming pools in the prison exactly?

Sorry, are you saying that they took over this prison and introduced or built swimming pools in the prison exactly?

They kind of turned it into like a mini city. It was quite a famous story at the time, but it had this really sinister dark side as well. So I think if we look beyond the swimming pools and zoos, they really did run a criminal organization from the prison itself, and as economic conditions in Venezuela began to break down, their organized crime syndicate expanded. More people turned to organized crime to find money, and within a few years this organization had branches not just across the country of Venezuela, but also in neighboring South American countries, and it became a really major player in drug and sex trafficking, and eventually it expanded to the US, which has about seven hundred thousand Venezuelan migrants, the overwhelming majority of whom obviously are not criminals.

They kind of turned it into like a mini city. It was quite a famous story at the time, but it had this really sinister dark side as well. So I think if we look beyond the swimming pools and zoos, they really did run a criminal organization from the prison itself, and as economic conditions in Venezuela began to break down, their organized crime syndicate expanded. More people turned to organized crime to find money, and within a few years this organization had branches not just across the country of Venezuela, but also in neighboring South American countries, and it became a really major player in drug and sex trafficking, and eventually it expanded to the US, which has about seven hundred thousand Venezuelan migrants, the overwhelming majority of whom obviously are not criminals.

Okay, so this game grows really quickly in Venezuela, and the gang's influence is very quick, he felt. In the US, how do US law enforcement officials deal with that?

Okay, so this game grows really quickly in Venezuela, and the gang's influence is very quick, he felt. In the US, how do US law enforcement officials deal with that?

Well, this group quickly became a target of US law enforcement because they were found to have carried out a wave of robberies and heists. But also they were connected to the shooting of two NYPD officers last year and a police officer in Florida. So three police officers killed by this gang in one year in the US. Fast forward to today, there have been arrests of gang members in five US states, and last year, the US officially recognized TREND as a transnational criminal organization. And do you remember the day that Trump was inaugurated, he signed a whole bunch of executive orders that day. Well, one of those orders was changing the classification of TREND from a transnational criminal organization, which is what the Biden administration had designated them as, to a foreign terrorist organization.

Well, this group quickly became a target of US law enforcement because they were found to have carried out a wave of robberies and heists. But also they were connected to the shooting of two NYPD officers last year and a police officer in Florida. So three police officers killed by this gang in one year in the US. Fast forward to today, there have been arrests of gang members in five US states, and last year, the US officially recognized TREND as a transnational criminal organization. And do you remember the day that Trump was inaugurated, he signed a whole bunch of executive orders that day. Well, one of those orders was changing the classification of TREND from a transnational criminal organization, which is what the Biden administration had designated them as, to a foreign terrorist organization.

Which is similar to what a group like isis is designated exactly exactly. Okay, So TREND gets classified by Trump as a terrorist organization, and then over the weekend he issued a proclamation invoking what you said before was the Alien Enemies Act of seventeen ninety eight against the Gang. Do you want to talk me through what that actually means.

Which is similar to what a group like isis is designated exactly exactly. Okay, So TREND gets classified by Trump as a terrorist organization, and then over the weekend he issued a proclamation invoking what you said before was the Alien Enemies Act of seventeen ninety eight against the Gang. Do you want to talk me through what that actually means.

Well, what makes this law so unusual is not just the fact that it's from the seventeen hundreds, but the fact that it's only been used three times in American history, once during the War of eighteen twelve between the US and the UK, once during World War One, and once during World War II. So there's a bit of a pattern emerging of when this law is whipped out. At its heart, the law basically gives the President of the United States power to detain, deport, or relocate non citizens, so aliens who come from an enemy country. That's how the law describes it, without normal legal procedures needing to apply.

Well, what makes this law so unusual is not just the fact that it's from the seventeen hundreds, but the fact that it's only been used three times in American history, once during the War of eighteen twelve between the US and the UK, once during World War One, and once during World War II. So there's a bit of a pattern emerging of when this law is whipped out. At its heart, the law basically gives the President of the United States power to detain, deport, or relocate non citizens, so aliens who come from an enemy country. That's how the law describes it, without normal legal procedures needing to apply.

What does that mean without the normal legal procedures.

What does that mean without the normal legal procedures.

So we're talking about things like, you know, the use of a court system, or the burden of proof being placed on prosecutors, and the presumption of innocence. We're talking about the right to legal representation, we're talking about the use of evidence. But under this Alien Enemies Act, all of those rights are essentially bypassed. And it's important to remember that this is an act that is meant to be used in times of war against enemies of the US in order to get those enemies out of the country as quickly as possible. So if you imagine in a wartime you just arrest a spy, the idea behind this law is, let's get them out of the country. We don't have time for a judicial system. Let's just get them out because we're at war now. The catch is is that legally, Congress needs to make a formal declaration of war before the president can access these powers. The only other way is if a foreign government needs to have made an incursion, like literally an invasion or threatens to invade America. The first thing hasn't happened. Congress hasn't made a declaration of war. And that second reason, the incursion or the invasion reason, that can get a little bit more complex.

So we're talking about things like, you know, the use of a court system, or the burden of proof being placed on prosecutors, and the presumption of innocence. We're talking about the right to legal representation, we're talking about the use of evidence. But under this Alien Enemies Act, all of those rights are essentially bypassed. And it's important to remember that this is an act that is meant to be used in times of war against enemies of the US in order to get those enemies out of the country as quickly as possible. So if you imagine in a wartime you just arrest a spy, the idea behind this law is, let's get them out of the country. We don't have time for a judicial system. Let's just get them out because we're at war now. The catch is is that legally, Congress needs to make a formal declaration of war before the president can access these powers. The only other way is if a foreign government needs to have made an incursion, like literally an invasion or threatens to invade America. The first thing hasn't happened. Congress hasn't made a declaration of war. And that second reason, the incursion or the invasion reason, that can get a little bit more complex.

So if neither of those things have happened, how has he been allowed to use this law?

So if neither of those things have happened, how has he been allowed to use this law?

Well, Donald Trump says the second thing has happened. So he says that this gang was conducting irregular warfare within the US. And he went on to say that the Venezuelan government had given up control back in Venezuela to this criminal gang, and so therefore there's this hybrid criminal state, that's what he describes them as, that's perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States.

Well, Donald Trump says the second thing has happened. So he says that this gang was conducting irregular warfare within the US. And he went on to say that the Venezuelan government had given up control back in Venezuela to this criminal gang, and so therefore there's this hybrid criminal state, that's what he describes them as, that's perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States.

Can I just stop you to be really clear, He's basically saying that the Venezuelan government is invading the US.

Can I just stop you to be really clear, He's basically saying that the Venezuelan government is invading the US.

Essentially that this gang has so much power over the Venezuelan government. The Venezuelan government, in his opinion, are puppets to this gang. And so if the gang is organizing and carrying out criminal activities in the US, that's as good as the country of Venezuela carrying out an incursion and an invasion in America. And that's the way that he's justifying the use of this law.

Essentially that this gang has so much power over the Venezuelan government. The Venezuelan government, in his opinion, are puppets to this gang. And so if the gang is organizing and carrying out criminal activities in the US, that's as good as the country of Venezuela carrying out an incursion and an invasion in America. And that's the way that he's justifying the use of this law.

Okay, so Trump has basically declared war on this gang by invoking this act.

Okay, so Trump has basically declared war on this gang by invoking this act.

What happens now, So he announced the alleged gang members who were in custody in the US were going to be deported and they were going to be deported to El Salvador, not Venezuela. Interestingly, the US is reportedly paying El Salvador around six million US dollars to accept these unauthorized immigrants. And the ACLU, whose job it is is to protect civil liberties in the US, they rely really heavily on the US Constitution, which guarantees all these different protections to anyone in America. They filed a really quick legal challenge, and their key argument was that basically, any Venezuelan citizens in the US could be removed from the country on the allegation that they belonged to this gang, and they wouldn't have the chance to defend themselves at all. Their argument is that that's basically a contravention of the way that the US justice system should work, and so they took that to court. There was this urgent court hearing and a federal judge sided with them and ordered an immediate fourteen day pause on all deportations authorized under this Act, just to give the court enough time to actually listen to the evidence properly. And the men weren't going to be released from custody, so the judge didn't say anybody arrested can now walk free, but they had to stay on US soil. But despite this court order, a plane carrying two hundred and thirty eight Venezuelans did land in Ol Salvador on Sunday morning local time.

What happens now, So he announced the alleged gang members who were in custody in the US were going to be deported and they were going to be deported to El Salvador, not Venezuela. Interestingly, the US is reportedly paying El Salvador around six million US dollars to accept these unauthorized immigrants. And the ACLU, whose job it is is to protect civil liberties in the US, they rely really heavily on the US Constitution, which guarantees all these different protections to anyone in America. They filed a really quick legal challenge, and their key argument was that basically, any Venezuelan citizens in the US could be removed from the country on the allegation that they belonged to this gang, and they wouldn't have the chance to defend themselves at all. Their argument is that that's basically a contravention of the way that the US justice system should work, and so they took that to court. There was this urgent court hearing and a federal judge sided with them and ordered an immediate fourteen day pause on all deportations authorized under this Act, just to give the court enough time to actually listen to the evidence properly. And the men weren't going to be released from custody, so the judge didn't say anybody arrested can now walk free, but they had to stay on US soil. But despite this court order, a plane carrying two hundred and thirty eight Venezuelans did land in Ol Salvador on Sunday morning local time.

I was going to say, that's confusing. I mentioned the videos of what I saw was to be what looked like prisoners being deported from the US. So despite the fact that this legal challenge was temporarily upheld, they were still ordered to leave the US.

I was going to say, that's confusing. I mentioned the videos of what I saw was to be what looked like prisoners being deported from the US. So despite the fact that this legal challenge was temporarily upheld, they were still ordered to leave the US.

It's pretty remarkable the way this all played out in the court room. So the judge says, I'm putting a fourteen day pause on. We need to review this evidence more carefully. House gets up and says, unfortunately, they're already in the air, and they're already on the way, and the plane is outside US airspace, and so there's nothing actually the court can do. And this is now a really big point of contention is did the Trump administration actively ignore this court order. And did they ensure that the plane took off as soon as it possibly could because they knew that they were probably going to lose in court and then the court wouldn't have any power, or was the plane still in US airspace, in which case they just ignored the court ruling altogether. It's a really interesting discussion that's now turning into an argument about what powers the president has over the court system.

It's pretty remarkable the way this all played out in the court room. So the judge says, I'm putting a fourteen day pause on. We need to review this evidence more carefully. House gets up and says, unfortunately, they're already in the air, and they're already on the way, and the plane is outside US airspace, and so there's nothing actually the court can do. And this is now a really big point of contention is did the Trump administration actively ignore this court order. And did they ensure that the plane took off as soon as it possibly could because they knew that they were probably going to lose in court and then the court wouldn't have any power, or was the plane still in US airspace, in which case they just ignored the court ruling altogether. It's a really interesting discussion that's now turning into an argument about what powers the president has over the court system.

Yeah. When Donald Trump signed all of those executive orders, there was a lot of commentary about is this kind of just unfettered power, And the answer to that was no, because there are still the courts. But in this case, if the courts can't stop an executive order, that does lend itself to a really interesting conversation about what kind of power a president in the US.

Yeah. When Donald Trump signed all of those executive orders, there was a lot of commentary about is this kind of just unfettered power, And the answer to that was no, because there are still the courts. But in this case, if the courts can't stop an executive order, that does lend itself to a really interesting conversation about what kind of power a president in the US.

Yeah, and it's getting really technical. People are looking into, you know, takeoff times and where the plane was in the air at the particular minute that the you know, the order was handed down, and is an order handed down at the start or beginning of a judgment. I mean, it's getting to the minute in detail. But the bottom line is that they're in El Salvador now, and will they stay there they will Well, there's a lot of secrecy around exactly where they are and what the plan is, but they're likely being held at a facility called Seacott and that's the world's largest prison. It's got capacity for forty thousand inmates. So think of, you know, a major football stadium as a prism and it was commissioned only a couple of years ago in twenty twenty two during a controversial crackdown on crime in Ol Salvador. And it's known as one of the most intense prisons on the planet. And of course this raises a whole other set of issues around the human rights concerns with the treatment of those men now at the prison. You know, they haven't yet been properly vetted to confirm gaining affiliations of a sudden, they're in one of the toughest prisons on the planet. El Salvador's president even posted on x replying to the story that this judgment had been passed down, attempting to stop the plane, saying upsie too late. And then he posted a video on social media of the men being led off the plant. I think this is the video you were talking about being led off the plane in handcuffs, taken to the prison, and officials shaving the prisoner's heads. Secretary of State Marco Ruby actually shared this post.

Yeah, and it's getting really technical. People are looking into, you know, takeoff times and where the plane was in the air at the particular minute that the you know, the order was handed down, and is an order handed down at the start or beginning of a judgment. I mean, it's getting to the minute in detail. But the bottom line is that they're in El Salvador now, and will they stay there they will Well, there's a lot of secrecy around exactly where they are and what the plan is, but they're likely being held at a facility called Seacott and that's the world's largest prison. It's got capacity for forty thousand inmates. So think of, you know, a major football stadium as a prism and it was commissioned only a couple of years ago in twenty twenty two during a controversial crackdown on crime in Ol Salvador. And it's known as one of the most intense prisons on the planet. And of course this raises a whole other set of issues around the human rights concerns with the treatment of those men now at the prison. You know, they haven't yet been properly vetted to confirm gaining affiliations of a sudden, they're in one of the toughest prisons on the planet. El Salvador's president even posted on x replying to the story that this judgment had been passed down, attempting to stop the plane, saying upsie too late. And then he posted a video on social media of the men being led off the plant. I think this is the video you were talking about being led off the plane in handcuffs, taken to the prison, and officials shaving the prisoner's heads. Secretary of State Marco Ruby actually shared this post.

So El Salvado is very much in support of what the Trump government has.

So El Salvado is very much in support of what the Trump government has.

Done exactly, They're right on board and they're currently housing these Venezuelan prisoners.

Done exactly, They're right on board and they're currently housing these Venezuelan prisoners.

Has the Venezuelan government responded.

Has the Venezuelan government responded.

Well, unsurprisingly, they denounced the entire process and they said it was a direct contravention of US and international law. They said it was a crime against humanity and that it was directly comparable with what they described as the darkest episodes of human history, such as the slavery era and the Holocaust. It also said that some detainees were as young as fourteen, but that hasn't been confirmed yet by the US Justice Department. It is worth noting, though, that the Trump administration said it would have deported the men back to Venezuela, not El Salvador, but Venezuela have had a long standing position to not accept deportation flights from the US.

Well, unsurprisingly, they denounced the entire process and they said it was a direct contravention of US and international law. They said it was a crime against humanity and that it was directly comparable with what they described as the darkest episodes of human history, such as the slavery era and the Holocaust. It also said that some detainees were as young as fourteen, but that hasn't been confirmed yet by the US Justice Department. It is worth noting, though, that the Trump administration said it would have deported the men back to Venezuela, not El Salvador, but Venezuela have had a long standing position to not accept deportation flights from the US.

And how has the White House responded to all of this, Well, I.

And how has the White House responded to all of this, Well, I.

Don't think they were really expecting it to become this major legal issue about the executive power in the US government and constitutional protections. So they're really directly addressing the speculation about whether the administration was deliberately defying a court order. Whitehouse Press Secretary Caroline Levett told Fox News the administration did not refuse to comply with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist aliens had already been removed from US territory. So she's arguing that kind of like where were they in the sky point?

Don't think they were really expecting it to become this major legal issue about the executive power in the US government and constitutional protections. So they're really directly addressing the speculation about whether the administration was deliberately defying a court order. Whitehouse Press Secretary Caroline Levett told Fox News the administration did not refuse to comply with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist aliens had already been removed from US territory. So she's arguing that kind of like where were they in the sky point?

Yeah, so they're doubling down. They're saying they have done nothing wrong. This is such a fascinating legal battle. I hate to use the word on precedented, but it does sound like there's now this legal battle that has never been had before in the US.

Yeah, so they're doubling down. They're saying they have done nothing wrong. This is such a fascinating legal battle. I hate to use the word on precedented, but it does sound like there's now this legal battle that has never been had before in the US.

Yeah, and you have to remember the message that the Trump administration is giving to the American people is we're keeping you safe. And crime on the streets is a major issue, and it's something that President Trump was elected on and he's saying he's now delivering on the mandate, this idea of making all criminals essentially go back to where they came from, you know, to put it in a weird context.

Yeah, and you have to remember the message that the Trump administration is giving to the American people is we're keeping you safe. And crime on the streets is a major issue, and it's something that President Trump was elected on and he's saying he's now delivering on the mandate, this idea of making all criminals essentially go back to where they came from, you know, to put it in a weird context.

I think worth mentioning that we are literally only at the beginning of Trump's four year second presidency, so this is really only the beginning of this battle.

I think worth mentioning that we are literally only at the beginning of Trump's four year second presidency, so this is really only the beginning of this battle.

He entered office in January. We're here in March.

He entered office in January. We're here in March.

Yeah, so we'll make sure to keep everyone updated. Sam, you'll be our official correspondent on this.

Yeah, so we'll make sure to keep everyone updated. Sam, you'll be our official correspondent on this.

I love me some constitutional.

I love me some constitutional.

Us and thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Daily os. We'll be back again this afternoon with your evening headlines. Until then, have a great day. My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda Bunjelung Calkatin woman from Gadighl Country. The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and torrest Rate island and nations. We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.

Us and thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Daily os. We'll be back again this afternoon with your evening headlines. Until then, have a great day. My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda Bunjelung Calkatin woman from Gadighl Country. The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and torrest Rate island and nations. We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.