Pam Bondi declared a Virginia man a high MS13 gangster. Now the Justice Department needs to drop his case | EUROtoday

The Department of Justice on Wednesday requested a federal courtroom to withdraw its case towards a Virginia man that high officers like Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed was a senior “terrorist” throughout the ranks of the Salvadoran gang MS-13, lower than two weeks after the person’s arrest.

A multi-agency activity pressure arrested Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, 24, on March 27, and he later confronted gun costs. Agents testified that they discovered 4 weapons, ammunition, and a suppressor within the Dale City house the place he was staying, in addition to a picture of “Jesus Malverde,” a Mexican folklore icon related to legal teams.

At a press convention the day of the arrest, Attorney General Bondi celebrated the arrest alongside FBI director Kash Patel, describing Santos because the Salvadoran gang’s East Coast chief and “one of the top domestic terrorists” within the United States.

“We took one of the worst of the worst off the streets today,’’ she later told Fox News.

The Justice Department did not describe its reason for seeking to dismiss the case, though a Bondi spokesperson told CBS News, “As a terrorist, he will now face the removal process.”

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Senior officials told The Washington Post anonymously that the administration is seeking to fast-track Santos for deportation, a break from typical practice, where officials would normally attempt to convict those charged with serious criminal offenses before deportation.

In a court filing on Wednesday, Santos’s lawyer, Muhammad Elsayed, argued removing the case was tantamount to giving Santos a life sentence in his native El Salvador without due process, given the Trump administration’s recent pattern of using emergency powers to summarily send alleged gang members to CECOT, a notorious prison that human rights experts have called a “tropical gulag.”

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“The risk of this turning effectively into a life sentence without any due process is very real,” Elsayed wrote, according to court records.

The attorney also pointed to recent cases tied to the prison, like that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, despite a federal court order barring his removal to that country, and of the hundreds of men sent to CECOT on allegations they were part of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, despite a court order that their deportation flights return to the U.S. amid a legal challenge.

The government has admitted many of those deported to the prison on gang allegations lack a criminal record, and critics say the government used flimsy rationale, including common tattoos, as supposed evidence of their criminality.

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In a January govt order, President Trump declared a nationwide emergency underneath the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a part of an effort to make use of expanded powers towards Tren de Aragua and MS-13. The order stated the Latin American gangs are “extraordinarily violent, vicious, and similarly threaten the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”

As a part of the nationwide emergency, the administration has invoked the centuries outdated wartime Alien Enemies Act, in an effort to summarily deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to CECOT, the place Salvadoran officers have stated inmates have little likelihood of ever being launched.

Todd Lyons, appearing head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, stated Tuesday the administration will invoke the regulation to prosecute MS-13.

The Independent has contacted the Department of Justice for remark.