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Trump denies signing proclamation to deport Venezuelans
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By Francesca Hangeior
The United States President Donald Trump has debunked reports that he signed a proclamation invoking a 200-year-old law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members who were sent to prison in El Salvador.
His downplaying of his role in the affair came just hours after a federal judge called Trump’s use of the law “incredibly troublesome.”
Last weekend Trump invoked the rare wartime Alien Enemies Act to deport 238 men his administration alleged were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and send them to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
In a statement at the time, the White House press secretary wrote that Trump “signed a Proclamation Invoking the Alien Enemies Act” and the document additionally appears in the Federal Register with Trump’s signature on it.
But on Friday, Trump suggested his secretary of state had more to do with the matter, telling reporters: “I don’t know when it was signed because I didn’t sign it. Other people handled it.”
“Marco Rubio has done a great job and he wanted them out and we go along with that,” Trump said.
Earlier in the day a federal judge said that Trump’s use of the little-known law to deport the alleged gang members was “incredibly troublesome.”
At a hearing on Friday, James Boasberg, the chief judge of the US District Court in Washington, questioned the legality of using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to summarily send the Venezuelan migrants to the prison in El Salvador.
“The policy ramifications of this are incredibly troublesome and problematic and concerning,” Boasberg said.
He noted that the only previous uses of the AEA were “in the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, when there was no question there was a declaration of war and who the enemy was.”
Last weekend Boasberg issued an emergency order against deportation of the Venezuelans and said two flights already in the air needed to turn around.
The Justice Department has claimed the planes were in international airspace when the judge issued his written order directing them to return and his jurisdiction no longer applied.
The episode earned Trump’s ire and the Republican president called on Tuesday for Boasberg’s impeachment, branding the judge a “troublemaker and agitator.”
Those remarks by Trump drew a rare public rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts who said “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”
Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit against the deportations along with other rights groups, noted that even during World War II “people got hearings.”
“It was not this summary removal,” Gelernt said.
“You have to be able to contest,” he said. “Otherwise anyone could be taken off the street.”
Attorneys for several of the deported Venezuelans have said their clients were not members of the Tren de Aragua gang, had committed no crimes and were targeted only because of their tattoos.
Boasberg meanwhile said at Friday’s hearing that “the government’s not being terribly cooperative at this point but I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday before denying signing the proclamation, Trump defended the deportations under the AEA, which was last used during World War II to intern Japanese residents.
“I was told that they went through a very strong vetting process,” Trump said. “This was a bad group… killers, murderers and people that were really bad with the worst records you’ve ever seen.”
The New York Times reported meanwhile that nearly the entire civil rights branch of the Department of Homeland Security was fired on Friday.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties was responsible for oversight of the administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Suspected bandits have kidnapped retired Major General Rabe Abubakar, former Director of Defence Information, and his wife on Matazu Road in Katsina State.
Security sources told PRNigeria that the couple was ambushed on Saturday morning, May 30, 2026, while travelling in a red Peugeot 504 saloon car.
The gunmen intercepted the vehicle and whisked the retired officer and his wife to an unknown location.
The driver escaped with gunshot wounds and is receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, a security source said.
The former DDI and his wife were waylaid by armed men on the route. The driver escaped with gunshot injuries and is receiving medical attention,” the source stated.
Security forces have launched search-and-rescue operations and deployed intelligence assets to track the abductors, according to the source. Official confirmation from the military was still pending at press time.
—Rising concern in Katsina—
The abduction comes amid persistent insecurity in parts of Katsina despite ongoing military operations against bandit groups in the North-West.
In recent years, several serving and retired security personnel have been targeted on highways linking Katsina to neighbouring states. PRNigeria reports that criminal groups now see high-profile individuals, including retired military officers, as lucrative targets.
Maj-Gen Abubakar served as Director of Defence Information and was one of the Nigerian military’s most visible spokespersons during the counterinsurgency campaign against Boko Haram.
The incident is expected to renew calls for stronger security along major highways and rural communities in Katsina, where residents continue to face kidnapping and banditry.
Credit :PRNigeria
Abia State Police Command has nabbed two suspects for conspiracy, attempted child theft and possession of hard drugs.
The Command which made this known on Saturday, named the suspects as Nzubechi Chinagorom and Chinonso Chibundu, indigenes of Olokoro, Umuahia South LGA of the Abia State.
In a statement signed by DSP Maureen Chinaka, the Police Public Relations Officer, the Command said its officers apprehended the suspects through actionable intelligence, in collaboration with Olokoro vigilante personnel.
She stated that the suspects went to the residence of one Miss Amarachi Chinyereugo and attempted to forcibly take away her two-week-old baby girl.
DSP Chinaka said that the Nzubechi Chinagorom allegedly stabbed the nursing mother with a kitchen knife during a struggle, causing the baby to fall and hit her head on ground.
The police spokesperson said that the two suspects fled from the scene and ran into a nearby bush on realizing that the nursing mother, Miss Amarachi Chinyereugo cried out for help.
She added that the suspects were later apprehended at a bus stop
where they had reportedly gone to take hard drugs.
“The mother and child were immediately rushed to the hospital, where they received treatment and have since recovered.
“The suspects were apprehended, exhibits were recovered and investigation has been conducted at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID). Suspects will be charged to court on 2/06/2026,” Chinaka said.
Ex-Minister of Labour and Productivity, SellJoel Ikenya, has been declared winner of the governorship primaries conducted by the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Taraba State.
Mr Felix Hyat, the chairman of the election committee, who announced the results in Jalingo on Saturday, said Ikenya scored 34,173, to defeat Mr Dinshiya Usman, who polled 4,853.
Hyat, who described the exercise as free, fair and transparent, commended the state working committee of the party for the peaceful conduct.
Ikenya, in his acceptance speech, pledged to revive Taraba to her days of glory if elected governor in 2027.
“I will transform Taraba; I will change the state from salary base, to an industrialised state.
“My desire is to also revive the state infrastructure and attract more investors to boost the economy,” he said.
The governorship candidate, however, denied the allegations of factional PDP in Taraba.
“There is no factional PDP in Taraba; I don’t know where the other people are coming from.
“PDP in Taraba is one, and we do not have any faction in the state. We are working as one united family to reclaim our mandate from Gov. Agbu Kefas of the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that, the Nyesom Wike led faction of the party had recently declared senator Emmanuel Bwacha as its governorship candidate in Taraba.
NAN
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