Prisoners have fewer rights under Trump than they did in WWII internment camps: report
President Donald Trump's refusal to bring a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador back to the United States — despite a Supreme Court ruling — has raised serious concerns among some analysts, who say that such an unchecked use of the Alien Enemies Act is unprecedented.
In a report published in the New York Times on Tuesday, reporters note that even during World War II, there was "a check" on the government, and individuals who received a hearing under the civilian boards were mostly freed.
"During World War II, the Department of Justice established civilian hearing boards in which 'registered aliens' of German, Italian and Japanese descent arrested by the government could argue they were not a danger to the nation, legal scholars said," the report states.
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"Many scholars have criticized that process as deeply flawed; detainees were not afforded lawyers and could still be held based on hearsay and bias or racial discrimination," the New York Times adds.
The report then quoted Eric L. Muller, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law, who said the process nevertheless provided 'a check' on the government, adding the majority of people who obtained a hearing under the civilian boards were released.
Many observers have echoed this sentiment. Senior journalist Chris Lehmann wrote in The Nation on Monday, "The illegal operation that has sent at least 238 immigrants to El Salvador’s brutal and repressive Cecot megaprison will continue in defiance of the Constitution, human rights protections, and whatever remains of the rule of law."
"So will the Trump administration’s attempts to gaslight the world about the nature of its depradations?" he asked.
On Monday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) requested a meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele during his current visit to the U.S. to discuss the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to an infamous Salvador prison due to an "administrative error" by the Trump administration.
In a letter to the Salvadoran ambassador to the U.S., Milena Mayorga, written Monday, Hollen said the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador.
"I have met with Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife, mother and brother and, as you can imagine, they are extremely worried about his health, safety, and continued illegal confinement, as am I," he wrote in the letter.
During a press conference alongside Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump claimed that the Supreme Court had ruled 9–0 in his favor and that the ruling in the case meant that the U.S. government would have to provide a plane only if the Salvadoran president chose to return Garcia.
“Of course I’m not going to do it,” Bukele said when asked by reporters if he would help return the man, adding that returning him would be akin to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”
According to some political commentators, Trump is openly defying the judiciary. Others have warned that this development poses a risk to the credibility of the 2026 midterm elections.