Bullies eventually get their own way, but they generally encounter pushback at every opportunity making life far more difficult than it needs to be.
US President Donald Trump fired 17 independent watchdogs at multiple government agencies on Friday, a person with knowledge of the matter said, eliminating a critical oversight component and clearing the way to replace them with loyalists.
The inspectors general at agencies including the departments of state, defence and transportation were notified by emails from the White House personnel director that they had been terminated immediately, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The dismissals appeared to violate federal law, which requires the president to give both houses of Congress reasons for the dismissals 30 days in advance.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An inspector general is an independent position that conducts audits and investigations into allegations of waste, fraud and abuse of power.
Agencies are pressing ahead with orders from Trump, who returned to the presidency on Monday, to reshape the federal bureaucracy by scrapping diversity programmes, rescinding job offers and sidelining more than 150 national security and foreign policy officials.
Friday’s dismissals spared the Department of Justice inspector general, Michael Horowitz, according to the New York Times. The Washington Post, which was first to report the dismissals, said most were appointees from Trump’s 2017-2021 first term.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, called Trump’s action a “purge of independent watchdogs in the middle of the night,” posting on X: “President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.”
Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, an ally of the president, defended the decision on X, saying “existing IGs are virtually worthless.”
“They may bring a few minor things to light but accomplish next to nothing,” she wrote. “The whole system needs to be revamped! They are toothless and protect the institution instead of the citizens.”
Many politically appointed leaders of agencies and departments come and go with each administration, but an inspector general can serve under multiple presidents.
During his first term, Trump fired five inspectors general in less than two months in 2020. This included the State Department, whose inspector general had played a role in the president’s impeachment proceedings.
Last year, Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden fired the inspector general of the US Railroad Retirement Board, after an investigation found the official had created a hostile work environment.
In 2022, Congress strengthened protections for inspectors general, making it harder to replace them with hand-picked officials and requiring additional explanations from a president for their removal.
(Reuters)
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Colombian president says he’ll block deportation flights
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said that he will deny entry to American planes carrying deported migrants. The US has been rounding up criminal migrants and deporting them ever since President Donald Trump took office.
“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” Petro wrote on X on Sunday. “I will deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory,” he continued, adding that “The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”
It is unclear how many Colombians are currently in US custody and awaiting deportation.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been carrying out daily raids across the US since Trump took office on Monday, with 421 people detained for removal on Saturday alone, according to the agency. Cities targeted included Boston, New York, Newark, and San Francisco, and agents focused on arresting immigrants who had committed subsequent crimes after entering the US illegally, ICE said.
In a statement on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “deportation flights have begun.” Two military aircraft carried 160 people to Guatemala that day, while another three flights to Guatemala and four flights to Mexico took off on Friday.
Media reports initially suggested that Mexico refused to accept these flights, but the White House said that this was due to an “administrative issue” that was quickly resolved.
There are thought to be anywhere between 11 million and 35 million illegal immigrants living in the US. Trump promised on the campaign trail that, if elected, he would thin out this number by leading “the largest deportation operation in American history.”
While all illegal immigrants commit a crime the moment they enter the US by unlawful means, both Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan, have said that this operation will focus initially on those who have racked up criminal records inside after entering the country.
“We’re getting the bad, hard criminals out,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina on Friday. “These are murderers. These are people that have been as bad as you get, as bad as anybody you’ve seen. We’re taking them out first.”
Brazil’s government expressed outrage on Saturday after dozens of immigrants deported from the United States arrived by plane in handcuffs, calling it a “flagrant disregard” for their rights.
The foreign ministry said it would demand an explanation from Washington over the “degrading treatment of passengers on the flight”.
The spat comes as Latin America grapples with US President Donald Trump’s return to power bringing a hardline anti-immigration agenda, promising crackdowns on irregular migration and mass deportations.
When the plane landed in the northern city of Manaus, Brazilian authorities ordered US officials to “immediately remove the handcuffs", the justice ministry said in a statement.
Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski told President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of “the flagrant disregard for the fundamental rights of Brazilian citizens", the statement said.
Brazil will request “explanations from the US government about the degrading treatment of passengers” on the Friday night flight, the foreign ministry said on X.
The government said 88 Brazilians were aboard the aircraft.
‘Some people fainted’
Edgar Da Silva Moura, a 31-year-old computer technician, was on the flight, after seven months in detention in the United States.
“On the plane they didn’t give us water, we were tied hands and feet, they wouldn’t even let us go to the bathroom,” he told AFP.
“It was very hot, some people fainted.”
Luis Antonio Rodrigues Santos, a 21-year-old freelancer, recounted the “nightmare” of people with “respiratory problems” during “four hours without air conditioning” due to technical issues on the plane.
“Things have already changed (with Trump), immigrants are treated as criminals,” he said.
Crackdown
The flight was originally destined for the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte, but encountered a technical issue forcing it to land in Manaus.
A government source told AFP the deportation flight was not directly linked to any immigration orders issued by Trump upon taking office Monday, but rather stemmed from a 2017 bilateral agreement.
Brazil’s Minister of Human Rights, Macae Evaristo, told journalists that “children with autism ... who went through very serious experiences” were also on the flight.
Footage on Brazilian television showed some passengers descending from the civilian aircraft, with their hands handcuffed and their ankles shackled.
“Upon learning of the situation, President Lula ordered that a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) aircraft be mobilised to transport the Brazilians to their final destination, in order to ensure that they could complete their journey with dignity and safety,” the justice ministry said.
Military aircraft now also used to deport
Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States.
On his first day in office he signed orders declaring a “national emergency” at the southern US border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport “criminal aliens".
Several deportation flights since Monday have garnered public and media attention, though such actions were also common under previous US presidents.
In a break with prior practice, however, the Trump administration has begun using military aircraft for repatriation flights, with at least one landing in Guatemala this week.
The plane which landed in Manaus was not a military aircraft, AFP journalists in the city confirmed.
Must have been a Boeing!
A Brazilian government source said that the deportees who arrived in Manaus traveled “with their documents”, which shows that they agreed to return home.
We have to assume that some of the migrants had a criminal background and the normal way to transport criminals is in handcuffs. No-one on the plane would be safe otherwise.
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