In a recent post on X, the President of El Salvador remarked “Oopsie, too late,” which Secretary of State Marco Rubio retweeted accompanied by a laugh-crying emoji. This response was directed at a headline regarding a judge’s order preventing the Trump Administration from deporting Venezuelans to El Salvador.
The situation unfolded after a physician from Brown University, on an H1-B visa from Lebanon, was deported despite a federal judge’s directive for the physician to attend an in-person hearing on Monday. According to a court filing, government lawyers stated that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers were not made aware of the judge’s order until after the deportation had already occurred.
The Trump Administration maintains that it is not disregarding court orders, and President Trump has not explicitly disobeyed any court rulings openly. However, questions remain about whether he might be undermining the judiciary by appearing to challenge its authority.
This coverage was part of an episode of “Consider This,” produced by Connor Donevan and edited by Courtney Dorning, with Sami Yenigun as the executive producer. For additional sponsor-free episodes of “Consider This,” listeners can subscribe to “Consider This+” on Apple Podcasts or visit plus.npr.org. For correspondence, the team can be contacted via email at considerthis@npr.org.
