United States of America - March 2025

The Trump administration has turned to controversial legal grounds for expediting deportations, undercutting due process for hundreds of undocumented migrants. On 15 March, Trump signed a proclamation designating the Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization, invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to summarily apprehend, detain and deport Venezuelans 14 years or older. That day, three planes carrying over 200 Venezuelans landed in El Salvador; the migrants have since been detained in a mega-prison, despite a judge’s order to stop and return the planes. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed Trump to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, but ruled that migrants must still be given notice and time to challenge their deportation.

Also on a 15 March flight was Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran man with a court protection from removal to El Salvador. Officials concede he was deported in error. In April the Supreme Court upheld a judge’s order to ‘facilitate’ Abrego’s return , but officials claim his return is not possible as he is now outside U.S. jurisdiction.

 Sources: The White House, Politico, CNN, AP, SCOTUS  

On 25 March, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) on electoral integrity. Among its provisions is a requirement to produce proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Further, it includes restrictions on mail-in ballots so that only those arriving by election day are counted, the exclusion of QR code or barcode technology for vote counting, and enabling DOGE and Department of Homeland Security access to voter registration information. The EO further directs the Election Assistance Commission, an independent and congressionally established entity, to take action to implement the EO’s provisions. The potential disenfranchisement of millions of people resulting from ID requirements, privacy concerns, and the threat to withhold federal funding from non-compliant states has further fuelled concerns. Legislation on some of these issues has passed in the House but is still to be considered by the Senate. The EO and the instructions for its implementation both appear to exceed the powers of the executive branch. 

 Sources: The White House, Brookings, NY Times, Washington Post, International IDEA

Several foreign activists and university students who have expressed support for Palestine are having their visas or permanent residency revoked, facing arrests by immigration officials and deportation proceedings, which the government has justified on foreign policy grounds. According to officials, the students have shown support for and alignment with Hamas and have undermined the Trump administration’s foreign policy. Officials have not charged the affected students with crimes, nor have they publicized evidence of the allegations against them. Government officials have further requested universities to turn over lists of students involved in pro-Palestinian protests. The use of the immigration system against legal residents and visa-holders for their political views is a startling violation of constitutional protections of freedom of expression. The students’ court cases before immigration and federal judges are ongoing. 

 Sources: AP, CBS News, CNN, Washington Post, PBS

The Trump administration has issued executive orders and memos directing federal agencies to terminate contracts with businesses that are clients of some law firms, and ending the security clearances of the lawyers they employ. The law firms in question, which include Perkins Coie, Covington & Burling and Wilmerhale, have represented or employed people considered by the Trump administration to be political adversaries. Others have been targeted for implementing DEI policies in their hiring procedures. A memo to the Attorney General has further called for ethics investigations into individual lawyers who represent plaintiffs in cases against the government. These measures have led to several firms refusing to represent the targeted law firms, Trump critics, or former officials under the Biden administration. Others have made deals with the government to provide pro bono counsel for causes the President supports. Experts consider the executive orders to severely undermine freedom of expression, due process and the right to legal counsel. 

Sources: The White House (1), The White House (2), The White House (3), The White House (4), The White House (5), NY Times

About one million federal workers may no longer be represented in collective bargaining after a 27 March executive order excluded civil servants whose work is related to national security. The White House has asserted the decision has the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act (that sought to improve the merit system in the civil service and federal employee-manager relations by affirming both legal protections to civil servants and managers’ authority) as its legal basis. The list of agencies and subdivisions that the executive order considers having ‘national security missions’ include those whose main work is foreign policy, health, veterans’ affairs and immigration, among others. Notably, the executive order does not exclude police officers and firefighters from collective bargaining. Union leaders have characterized the decision as retaliation for the lawsuits filed against the Trump administration’s efforts to overhaul the U.S. civil service, such as widespread cuts to the federal workforce and the dismantling of agencies and programs. Some unions have filed lawsuits against the decision.

Sources: The White House (1), The White House (2), NPR, AP

On 19 March, a North Dakota jury found Greenpeace liable for defamation and responsible for damages of over USD 660 million, which according to the environmental organization could bankrupt its U.S. presence. Energy Transfer (a pipeline company) sued Greenpeace, arguing that three Greenpeace entities (Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace Fund Inc.) had (in 2016 and 2017) organized criminal acts such as trespassing and deprivation of property access, and incited protests against the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock. Greenpeace and legal experts have characterized the lawsuit as SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) litigation, aimed at silencing critics. Members of the Standing Rock Tribe have expressed their opposition to the company’s actions and share the view it had the purpose to silence their protests. Greenpeace will appeal before the North Dakota Supreme Court. It has raised concerns about jury biases on its ability to have a fair trial. Experts consider that the jury’s decision, along with the staggering amount of damages awarded, could have a chilling effect on the right to protest. 

 Sources: TIME, The Guardian, AlJazeera, Euro News

On 20 March, President Trump issued an executive order instructing the Secretary of Education to facilitate the Department’s closure, with the aim of leaving the issue of education to state and local authorities. While officials have stated that crucial services related to student loans and funding for low-income students and high-poverty schools will remain, cuts to staff and data collection have raised questions about if and how money can be allocated and distributed. Relatedly, the Department’s workforce has been significantly reduced, including staff in charge of allotting funding for rural and low-income schools, and USD 600 million in grants (most related to diversity and inclusion programs) have been ended. Republican lawmakers in Congress have put forward initiatives to close the Department, but their party’s slim majority in the House and Senate mean their approval is at this point unlikely. Since the Department of Education was established by Congress, the EO cannot by itself abolish it; it can only facilitate cuts and changes.

Sources: The White House, NBC News, NY Times, NPR