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The Trump administration responded Tuesday to a New York Times report that raised troubling questions about the whereabouts of a Venezuelan migrant in U.S. custody.

But even the Department of Homeland Security’s attempt to clear up the confusion surrounding Ricardo Prada Vasquez, who friends say “simply disappeared,” sent alarm bells ringing for American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.

“It should HORRIFY you that it took a major news story for @DHSGov to say publicly that it imprisoned someone in El Salvador five weeks ago,” Reichlin-Melnick told his social media followers. “The man never once got a trial. No judge ever found him to be a public safety threat or a member of a gang. No due process. No nothing.”

The prominent immigration attorney was reacting to a DHS statement that unsurprisingly pegged Vasquez as a “confirmed member of Tren de Aragua,” who the agency said on Tuesday was removed from the country last month.

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“On Jan. 15, Prada was encountered at the Detroit Windsor Tunnel in Detroit, Michigan attempting to enter the U.S. from Canada and was referred to secondary inspection,” the DHS statement said. “Further investigation resulted in Prada being designated a public safety threat as a confirmed member of TdA and in violation of his conditions of admission. Prada was apprehended and transferred to ICE Michigan for detention. On Feb. 27, an immigration judge ordered Prada removed from the U.S. On March 15, Prada was removed to El Salvador.”

That timeline appears to fit the Times’ reporting that stated Prada had not been heard from or seen since March 15, when the Trump administration flew out planes carrying Venezuelan migrants from Texas to El Salvador.

But, Prada’s name did not appear “on the list of 238 people who were deported to El Salvador that day,” nor did he appear “in the photos and videos released by the authorities of shackled men with shaved heads,” the Times reported.

The mass firings of government workers by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has business leaders in the Beltway fearing a localized recession could be on the way.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, restaurants, hotels and other businesses are witnessing in real-time sales plunging as workers lose their jobs or dial back spending due to a possible job loss.

As the Journals' Paul Kiernan and Rachel Louise Ensign wrote, "Economists believe government layoffs and looming budget cuts will push the Washington, D.C., metro area into a recession, challenging its reputation for economic resilience."

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In an interview, Julie Coons, president of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, painted a dark picture of the immediate future, explaining, "We see this as potentially catastrophic for the region," before adding, "This is our Detroit moment.”

The Journal report notes, "In Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood, bookings at the Residence Inn are 10% to 15% below target for the coming months, according to general manager Flavia Sampaio, who said local hotels rely heavily on business from government agencies. Across the Potomac River in D.C., Bluebird Sky Yoga co-owner Kristine Erickson has seen a slowdown in people seeking yearlong memberships," adding, "Sales at Cork Wine Bar & Market, a restaurant on a bustling stretch of 14th Street, fell about 15% to 20% in February compared with the same month last year, said co-owner Diane Gross. March sales were helped by a 'tariff sale' of bottles of wine but still ended down around 10%."

The report continued, "Oxford Economics projects gross domestic product in the Washington, D.C., metro area will fall 0.5% over the course of this year. This is the second-worst projected performance for any of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas after New Orleans, where tariffs are a significant risk, said Barbara Denham, lead economist for cities and regions."

You can read more here.