‘Will not be transferred’: Trump admin wins double-edged victory as judge drops charges against alleged ‘major leader’ of MS-13 while giving him time to contest deportation

The Trump administration connected Tuesday won dismissal of transgression charges against a antheral antecedently accused of being a apical MS-13 person — with a catch. The justice successful the lawsuit stayed his ain bid until Friday greeting and forbid national authorities from transferring him to the “jurisdiction” of the Department of Homeland Security until then.

That astir 3-day intermission volition springiness counsel for Henrry Villatoro Santos, 24, the accidental to either entreaty the ruling oregon initiate a abstracted ineligible proceeding keyed toward blocking, oregon stalling, the government’s each but telegraphed plans for his speedy “removal and deportation.”

On March 27, Villatoro Santos was charged with 1 number of possession of a firearm by an undocumented immigrant.

While the charging document and affidavit filed successful his lawsuit were threadbare and conclusory, respectively, arsenic to his alleged connections to MS-13, a property league helmed by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi connected the time of his apprehension — and attended by FBI Director Kash Patel, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert — repeatedly contained accusations that Villatoro Santos was among the highest ranks of the infamous transnational transgression gang.

In nationalist comments, Trump medication officials — including comments from President Donald Trump himself — repeatedly made hay of the defendant’s alleged MS-13 stature, with the president calling him a “major leader” of the transnational gang.

In tribunal filings, the authorities offered a lone condemnation making specified claims.

“FBI agents and TFOs besides observed indicia of MS-13 relation successful the store bedroom,” national authorities alleged successful the affidavit.

Earlier this month, the authorities moved to driblet the weapon charges — the time aft the national nationalist defender’s bureau withdrew from the lawsuit and Villatoro Santos obtained backstage counsel.

On April 10, defence lawyer Muhammad Elsayed excoriated the improvement successful a motion to hold introduction of dismissal which argued the DOJ was dropping the firearm possession lawsuit successful lieu of summary removal nether migration instrumentality — wherever less law rights are afforded to defendants.

Since then, some sides person noted the “unusual” quality of the case.

“The undersigned is keenly alert of the antithetic quality of this motion,” the defence question reads. “But these are antithetic times.”

The government’s effect successful opposition rubbishes the defence question for allegedly being airy connected ineligible argumentation.

“Villatoro marshals nary meaningful authorization successful enactment of his concededly ‘unusual’ request,” the DOJ question reads. “That is unsurprising, for nary ineligible ground backs his bid for delay.”

On Monday, motions signifier continued.

In a defense reply, Villatoro Santos’ lawyer reprised arguments that his lawsuit was apt to endure a destiny akin to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old begetter with protected presumption who was, successful defiance of 2 tribunal orders, illegally shipped disconnected to a notorious situation successful El Salvador, the Centro de Confinamiento de Terrorismo (CECOT).

“Here, the Government has made wide done nationalist pronouncements its intent to manus implicit Mr. Villatoro Santos to the Salvadoran authorities truthful that helium tin beryllium imprisoned determination done a process successful which determination are nary owed process requirements to observe, nary law rights to protect, and nary judicial oversight,” the question reads. “This is precisely the benignant of evil against which the ‘leave of court’ clause successful Rule 48(a) seeks to protect.”

In the contiguous case, the authorities utilized a alleged “Rule 48 Motion” to unit dismissal. Under this national Rule of Criminal Procedure, which governs lawsuit dismissals, a tribunal has constricted discretion whether oregon not to assistance a dismissal initiated by the government.

There is, however, immoderate discretion; the authorities indispensable person “leave of court” which, under long-standing precedent, provides the justice with “a discretion wide capable to support the nationalist involvement successful the just medication of transgression justice.”

In the Villatoro Santos case, the defence argued the authorities was being cagey astir what, exactly, its deportation plans were.

From the latest defence filing, astatine length:

One [sic] the 1 hand, if the Government intends to travel the instrumentality successful its pursuit of Mr. Villatoro Santos’s removal — that is to service him with a Notice to Appear (which it has not done to date), supply him with a Section 240 hearing, guarantee his close to counsel is not infringed, and let him the quality to contention his removability successful migration proceedings — past the Government’s question to disregard is not made successful atrocious religion and is not intelligibly contrary to manifest nationalist interest. On the different hand, if, arsenic its nationalist statements and its behaviour to day powerfully suggest, the Government intends to summarily deport Mr. Villatoro Santos by whisking him onto a level to El Salvador without announcement and a close to beryllium heard successful migration proceedings, past the dismissal of the instant lawsuit astatine this clip would intelligibly beryllium done successful atrocious religion and would beryllium manifestly contrary to nationalist interest. It does not service the nationalist interest, nor is it an enactment of bully faith, for the Government to unreserved to deprive this Court of jurisdiction implicit Mr. Villatoro Santos if its purpose is to thereafter deprive him of his well-established law close to owed process of law.

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In nary uncertain terms, the defence went connected to accidental the Trump medication “has disregarded” Fifth Amendment Due Process protections for galore immigrants “in the discourse of removal proceedings.”

“The Government has disregarded this well-established rule and defied tribunal orders successful the process successful different cases, efficaciously carrying retired forcible disappearances to the achromatic spread that is CECOT,” the filing went on. “Its nationalist statements successful this lawsuit powerfully bespeak it whitethorn mean to bash truthful again with Mr. Villatoro Santos. And the Government’s effect memorandum does thing to mitigate the precise existent interest that it plans to erstwhile again disregard the instrumentality successful pursuit of favorable headlines. If the undersigned is simply incorrect astir each of this, past the Government should person nary qualms astir providing the indispensable accusation to this Court regarding the steps it intends to instrumentality successful pursuit of removal upon the dismissal of this case.”

The government, for their part, seemingly conceded that their plans for Villatoro Santos do, successful fact, see deportation.

“It is good wrong the prerogative of the United States to question the removal of aliens who are illegally oregon unlawfully successful this state successful lieu of prosecuting them, careless of whether charges person been filed,” 1 footnote reads successful the government’s question filed past week.

Another footnote hammered location the point:

While defendants are not entitled to tread h2o connected the transgression docket portion they research imaginable avenues to thwart removal proceedings successful migration court, it is worthy noting that Villatoro has already obtained astir fractional the 14-day intermission helium seeks insofar arsenic the question to disregard volition stay unresolved pending the proceeding scheduled for April 15.

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During that hearing, the authorities intelligibly convinced the justice to assistance the “leave of court” required for a voluntary dismissal, a infinitesimal introduction connected the docket for Villatoro Santos suggests.

But, the defence was fixed a salve arsenic good and present has immoderate 72 hours to astatine slightest statesman the process of convincing different justice — oregon judges — that summary removal to El Salvador is improper.

“Gov’t Motion to Dismiss – Argued & GRANTED,” the terse bid reads. “Ordered that the introduction of the Order is STAYED until 4/18/2025 @ 10:00am. Deft volition not beryllium transferred to the jurisdiction of DHS earlier 4/18/2025 @ 10:00am. Order to follow.”