A recently promoted Justice Department prosecutor has been suspended after he was deemed too demure in the fierce, ongoing deportation battle between President Donald Trump and various judges.
One of Trump’s key campaign promises ahead of his presidential win in November was that he would crack down on illegal immigration, particularly illegal aliens with criminal ties.
In short, Trump’s 2025 efforts to curtail illegal immigration have been successful.
But it hasn’t been without hiccups or resistance, particularly from a handful of judges who ideologically oppose Trump’s fierce crackdown.
Some judges, like District Court Judge James Boasberg, seem deeply entrenched against this. Boasberg has gained some notoriety within conservative circles for demanding Trump send back various deported gang members, under the auspices that Trump illegally deported them.
It’s been a protracted legal battle, and one that got extra national attention when the establishment media jumped on the story, accusing the Trump administration of deporting “an innocent father from Maryland,” Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to El Salvador.
(You can read a fact check of that claim here.)
Part of the reason this even came to light, according to The Hill, is because Erez Reuveni, the aforementioned prosecutor, had in the words of the outlet “admitted” that this specific deportation was a mistake.
That admittance clearly drew the ire of the Trump administration, which Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed to Fox News on Sunday.
Do you approve of Pam Bondi’s performance as attorney general so far?
“He was put on administrative leave by [Deputy Attorney General] Todd Blanche on Saturday,” Bondi said. “And I firmly said on Day 1, I issued a memo that you are to vigorously advocate on behalf of the United States.
“Our client in this matter was Homeland Security — is Homeland Security. He did not argue. He shouldn’t have taken the case. He shouldn’t have argued it, if that’s what he was going to do,” Bondi added.
“He’s on administrative leave now,” she revealed.
“You have to vigorously argue on behalf of your client.”
Reuveni had been with the DOJ for 15 years as a prosecutor, and was recently promoted to acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation, per The Hill.
According to Reuters, Reuveni’s supervisor, August Flentje, was also placed on leave.
The Justice Department is appealing a court order demanding the return of Garcia.
The judge who made that ruling has given the DOJ until 11:59 p.m. on Monday to comply.
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