This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Probably no situation could make more clear the dramatic upheaval that has happened under President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal aliens in America than the case where prosecutors are dropping gun charges against a suspect and the defense counsel may want them reinstated.
It is the case against Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel now have successfully asked a judge to dismiss.
He was accused of having an illegal firearm, according to a report from Fox News.
Magistrate William E. Fitzpatrick granted the motion for dismissal but stayed it until Friday to allow Santos' lawyer to decide whether he would appeal, to have the charge reinstated.
It's because Santos is accused of being a top MS-13 gang leader along the East Coast, and without the protection of a pending court case, he could be deported.
The DOJ has been asking that the case be dropped since early in April, shortly after his arrest.
Santos' lawyer, Muhammad Elsayed, said during a court hearing the government hasn't told him what would happen to his client once the charges are dismissed, "suggesting Villatoro Santos would like to be 'summarily deported' without any due process," the report said.
Elsayed also charged the DOJ's decision on the case "came from high up in the Trump administration."
"They have already determined the outcome, that he'll go to the worst prison in the Western Hemisphere," Elsayed claimed.
The judge said it is up to the prosecutors to determine their deliberative process, and perhaps Santos would need to bring a case with the Department of Homeland Security as a party.
Bondi has been succinct regarding the case, "As a terrorist, he will now face the removal process."
Santos' lawyer earlier told the court, "The United States government, at its highest levels, has been publicly and loudly propagating allegations that Mr. Villatoro Santos 'is one of the top leaders of MS-13′ and 'one of the leaders for the East Coast, one of the top in the entire country,' claims made by Attorney General Pam Bondi at a high-level press conference on March 27, 2025."
In another high-profile deportation case, that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported even though he had a protective order aimed at preventing his deportation to El Salvador, the fight continues as the Supreme Court has ordered the government to facilitate his return, without explaining that requirement.
Further, El Salvado's president said that will not happen, leaving a multitude of questions about how an administration is supposed to enter a foreign country and take back to the United States a prisoner the government there is unwilling to give up.
A report in the Washington Examiner notes that a return trip probably would be ineffectual anyway.
George Washington University Law School professor John Banzhaf said on social media it would be likely a wasted effort since the administration could easily change his immigration status and deport him again.
"Any such return might be nothing more than an exercise in futility," he said. "There might be little purpose in flying him back if, upon his return to the U.S., his 'withholding of removal' status would very likely be immediately revoked."
Reports reveal he entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 and has been described in court documents as a past member of the violent MS-13 gang, a declared terrorist group.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele told Trump this week he has no power to return him to the U.S.
"We're not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country."
