A 10-year-old Venezuelan boy, Wilfredo Hoyos-Gomez, recently appeared alone in immigration court in Texas while his mother remains in ICE custody. The boy’s mother, Nexoli Anyis Gomez Bracho, was detained after allegedly resisting arrest upon entry into the U.S. with her son in August 2023. Authorities are reportedly seeking to deport Wilfredo to Ecuador, a country to which he has no ties, despite his pending asylum case alongside his mother. This situation highlights concerns about due process for migrant children and the impact of federal funding cuts to legal aid for unaccompanied minors.
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The US military conducted a lethal strike on a boat in the eastern Pacific, targeting alleged narco-trafficking operations. This incident is part of a broader campaign that has resulted in at least 178 deaths since September, though detailed evidence supporting the drug trafficking claims is lacking. Legal experts and human rights groups contend these attacks violate domestic and international law, with families of victims initiating legal challenges and UN officials condemning the campaign as a human rights violation. The administration asserts the strikes are legal under conflict laws and necessary to combat drug trafficking and prevent overdose deaths in the US.
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A global coalition of 125 organizations is urging states to cease all support for U.S. extrajudicial killings of individuals on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, which have resulted in over 175 deaths since September 2025. These operations, targeting suspected narco-terrorists, are argued by the coalition to violate international law by lacking due process and occurring outside recognized armed conflict. The appeal extends accountability to third-party countries facilitating these attacks through intelligence sharing, military base access, and other forms of assistance, as states permitting these actions risk complicity and legal responsibility. This international outcry highlights growing concern over the normalization of lethal military force against individuals not meeting the legal threshold for an “imminent threat.”
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In El Salvador, nearly 490 alleged members of the MS-13 gang are currently facing collective trials as part of President Nayib Bukele’s extensive anti-gang crackdown. These trials encompass charges for a staggering 47,000 crimes, including thousands of homicides committed over a decade. The proceedings are notable for involving national and street-level leadership, as well as founders of the gang, and aim to address decades of alleged terror and crime inflicted upon the population. This initiative, while credited with drastically reducing crime rates, has drawn criticism from human rights groups concerned about due process and potential wrongful convictions.
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Four protesters have received death sentences in Iran, adding to concerns over due process as the country’s execution rate has reached a multi-decade high. These new sentences are linked to recent unrest, with human rights organizations reporting at least 1,639 executions in 2025, an alarming surge. The combination of these death penalties and the escalated execution numbers indicates increased pressure on detainees, particularly those associated with recent protests. The judiciary’s declaration of a “wartime posture” in handling certain cases further suggests a potential erosion of fair trial standards in politically sensitive matters.
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A 25-year-old Denver-born U.S. citizen, Brian Morales, was reportedly deported to Mexico after a traffic stop in Texas, despite claiming he had proof of citizenship at home. U.S. Border Patrol agents determined Morales was illegally in the U.S. and removed him to Mexico, a claim contested by the Department of Homeland Security. This incident is part of a pattern of alleged deportations of U.S. citizens and children under the current administration’s intensified immigration enforcement. Critics, like Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, argue this highlights a disregard for citizenship claims and potential racial profiling by immigration agents.
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The Supreme Court in Eswatini has ruled that four men deported by the U.S. under a third-country program can finally meet with a lawyer. These men, who have been denied in-person legal counsel for nine months while held in a maximum-security prison, will now have access to a local lawyer representing their U.S.-based legal team. This decision comes after the Eswatini government appealed a lower court’s ruling, arguing the deportees had no right to counsel as they had not been charged with any crime in Eswatini. The ruling highlights concerns about the denial of basic rights for individuals deported under such programs to countries with questionable human rights records.
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The Kentucky Supreme Court has halted impeachment proceedings against Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Muth Goodman, ruling that the General Assembly cannot proceed with the impeachment effort. The court found that the impeachment violated Goodman’s due process rights, that her alleged offenses were not impeachable, and that the legislature was not the proper venue for judicial reprimand. Furthermore, the ruling stated that the impeachment effort infringed upon the separation of powers doctrine, asserting that the Judicial Conduct Commission is the appropriate body to address judicial misconduct.
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After four months of detention, Stephanie Kenny-Velasquez was released from an ICE facility in Houston after a federal judge ruled her due process rights were violated. Kenny-Velasquez, a Venezuelan national who had previously applied for asylum, was detained just two days after marrying U.S. Army Reserve pilot Chris Busby. Her release comes after her legal team successfully argued her detention was unconstitutional, though her pending asylum case continues. The couple now awaits further legal proceedings for her permanent residency.
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U.S. federal agents detained Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their lawful permanent resident status. The State Department stated Afshar supported Iran’s government and its propaganda, and her husband was also barred from entering the United States. This action occurred as the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran entered its sixth week and follows similar revocations of residency status for the daughter of Iranian politician Ali Larijani.
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John Q. Hosedrinker