We're back and Sooknanan asks if any planes have taken off. Ensign says all of the planes are on the ground -- one of them might have taken off and turned around. He's not sure. His understanding is that if that's the case, plane has returned.
Replies
One lesson was learned I guess 🤨
aug 31, 2025, 5:23 pm • 1 0 • view
CYA
aug 31, 2025, 5:27 pm • 0 0 • view
Drew Ensign has lied to the court before about the whereabouts of planes.
aug 31, 2025, 5:11 pm • 11 1 • view
Scary, tbh
aug 31, 2025, 5:07 pm • 6 1 • view
Sooknanan explains the circumstances of how/when she got the case. First got a call around 2 am last night, entered TRO and set hearing. Moved up hearing after receiving call from plaintiffs to notify her that children were in process of being removed. Then entered new TRO for putative class.
aug 31, 2025, 5:08 pm • 900 105 • view
Federal judges just love those 2 am phone calls . . .
aug 31, 2025, 5:42 pm • 3 0 • view
My god … what if she hadn’t gotten the call (phone on silent)? The plaintiffs attorneys are heroes. What kind of monsters are these people? (The worst, I know).
aug 31, 2025, 5:26 pm • 6 0 • view
When Sooknanan wraps up, counsel for plaintiffs tell her that their understanding is that the planes with the children have been grounded but that the children have not been deplaned. Sooknanan asks Ensign for an explanation, he says it might be that they're waiting for resolution of this hearing
aug 31, 2025, 5:09 pm • 844 106 • view
"Hey Ensign, Maybe get them off the fucking planes then?"
aug 31, 2025, 5:29 pm • 9 0 • view
"The planes that you were already ordered not to put them on, those planes, get them off now."
aug 31, 2025, 5:43 pm • 7 1 • view
Damn
aug 31, 2025, 5:13 pm • 5 0 • view
The resolution they should be waiting for is a head, heart & gut telling them what they're doing is beyond immoral and has entered the realm of what we call monstrosity.
aug 31, 2025, 5:12 pm • 10 1 • view
That only works on people who have a functioning moral compass, empathy, and basic humanity. All of which are disqualifying traits under the current regime.
aug 31, 2025, 5:37 pm • 5 0 • view
Sooknanan asks Ensign about legal authority for the removals. He discusses a statutory provision that authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to unite children with parents from whom they've been separated...
aug 31, 2025, 5:14 pm • 639 46 • view
Ensign: "The Government of Guatemala has requested the return of these children, and all of these children have their parents or guardians in Guatemala who are requesting their return..."
aug 31, 2025, 5:14 pm • 644 58 • view
Republicans see kids as roadkill on the highway to hell they are driving down.
sep 1, 2025, 4:16 am • 0 1 • view
aug 31, 2025, 5:15 pm • 18 0 • view
I'm sure each child's situation is different, but I have been wondering for a while, in general, is it most common for unaccompanied immigrant minors to be living with relatives here in the US? If not, where are they usually placed?
aug 31, 2025, 5:26 pm • 6 0 • view
Most of them would have been with a blood relation or a guardian. A double-handful might have been in foster care because their parents/family were previously deported or they were otherwise separated by the system.
aug 31, 2025, 11:05 pm • 1 0 • view
Yes
aug 31, 2025, 6:51 pm • 3 0 • view
Judge Sooknanan isn't buying it... The plaintiffs are telling me, she says, that the children do not want to go back to Guatemala, that no request has been made, and that they fear returning to Guatemala, and may be subject to harm
aug 31, 2025, 5:16 pm • 1,047 156 • view
Sooknanan: So to be clear, you are representing that all of the children who were put on the planes are children whose parents have requested their return? Ensign: That's what I've been told...Through the government of Guatemala, it's been a month long process to ID children who meet criteria
aug 31, 2025, 5:18 pm • 720 58 • view
"what I've been told" Lie and he knows it
aug 31, 2025, 5:19 pm • 32 1 • view
I have no doubt that he was told that. Swear in the liars that gave him that lie to tell.
aug 31, 2025, 5:21 pm • 9 0 • view
A month. One? Seems short, to put it mildly.
aug 31, 2025, 5:19 pm • 5 0 • view
“That’s what I’ve been told” will be the DOJ’s “I vas just followink orders” when this is all over. Ensign knows it’s bullshit. The judge knows he knows it’s bullshit.
sep 1, 2025, 12:58 pm • 0 0 • view
Well, if Ensign says that’s what he’s been told, then we’re all done here. Please commence with Labor Day festivities!
aug 31, 2025, 5:21 pm • 2 0 • view
Sooknanan: And from the plaintiff's perspective, you do not think that that's true? Plaintiff's counsel: We know that is not true for all the children in the class...and even if it were, the provisions the government cites as legal basis does not override other protections in the statute
aug 31, 2025, 5:20 pm • 877 83 • view
Next question for Ensign: Will you provide me a sworn declaration, under penalty of perjury, from an person with actual knowledge, that every child fits in the category you describe?
aug 31, 2025, 5:26 pm • 19 1 • view
“Class” 👍
aug 31, 2025, 5:32 pm • 0 0 • view
Sooknanan asks Ensign for his thoughts on that. He argues that the provision he cited is its own form of protection for the children -- it protects children by permitting the reunification with their parents/families.
aug 31, 2025, 5:22 pm • 564 33 • view
Sooknanan: I have counsel telling me that there are children whose parents did not request their return to Guatemala. I have declaration representations contrary to what you're telling me. How does that [factual discrepancy] get resolved?
aug 31, 2025, 5:26 pm • 841 84 • view
Here’s an idea: Send a plane to Guatemala, pick up the parents, and have them pair up with the children, with the proper paperwork, and then deport them back.
aug 31, 2025, 6:54 pm • 2 0 • view
Ensign: That will be resolved through briefing...we can submit our position on that declaration. The judge asks when he plans to file response brief. He asks to have until Friday.
aug 31, 2025, 5:26 pm • 530 29 • view
@thatcattc.bsky.social !!
aug 31, 2025, 6:44 pm • 0 1 • view
Sooknanan: "How does that factual discrepancy get resolved?" Ensign: "We just repeat the same lie over and over until you give up."
aug 31, 2025, 5:32 pm • 18 0 • view
There was a time when Republicans were opposed to reuniting families internationally. bsky.app/profile/coul...
aug 31, 2025, 10:51 pm • 0 0 • view
Reunification is a helluva euphemism
aug 31, 2025, 5:24 pm • 14 1 • view
Especially when it’s conducted in secret without the subjects, their guardians, their lawyers, knowing anything about the manoeuvres to effectuate it.
aug 31, 2025, 5:27 pm • 9 0 • view
omgggggg these evil shits are seriously now using "FAMILY REUNIFICATION" as a rallying cry pretext to DEPORT KIDS. how do they sleep at night how do they even love their own families???
aug 31, 2025, 9:55 pm • 0 1 • view
Additional would-be child traffickers associated with Trump? Release the Epstein files!
aug 31, 2025, 5:35 pm • 2 0 • view
If the government is so concerned about the welfare of children and reunification with their parents perhaps they should stop physically ripping them apart.
aug 31, 2025, 5:27 pm • 9 0 • view
Creating precedent for “reunification” by kidnapping parents is fucking wild
aug 31, 2025, 5:32 pm • 3 0 • view
Most of these children don’t have reliable guardians to be reunited with.
aug 31, 2025, 6:38 pm • 1 0 • view
Your Honor, I move that Ensign be excommunicated from the human race
aug 31, 2025, 8:18 pm • 1 0 • view
Doesn't really make sense either. If you id'd one plane worth of children with their parents, why would you wait for more planes-worth before sending them back?
aug 31, 2025, 5:22 pm • 10 0 • view
“Through the government of Guatemala, it's been a month long process to ID children who meet criteria” Yet the children and their legal guardians and legal representatives know NOTHING cause the DHS want it to be a surprise and adventure for them 🙄
aug 31, 2025, 5:22 pm • 5 0 • view
Indirectly the govt of Guatemala told someone who told Ensign…
aug 31, 2025, 5:21 pm • 1 0 • view
I'm sure it was the sister of a friend of my cousin's babysitter....
aug 31, 2025, 5:24 pm • 1 0 • view
"You wouldn't know her. I met her in Niagara Falls. She's from Canada."
aug 31, 2025, 5:39 pm • 2 0 • view
Well, shouldn’t they have some sort of government documentation from Guatemala requesting the return of these children if that’s the case
aug 31, 2025, 5:22 pm • 9 0 • view
"that's what I've been told" does not cut it, Mr Ensign. What to YOU have in writing, on official letterhead? (that's me asking the question)
aug 31, 2025, 6:56 pm • 0 0 • view
🐂💩
aug 31, 2025, 5:19 pm • 3 0 • view
"that's what I've been told" is the new "I was just following orders"
aug 31, 2025, 10:25 pm • 1 0 • view
This administration is covering for Donald Trump and Jeff Epstein trafficking children for sex. They’re coddling Putin, who’s kidnapped nearly a million Ukrainian kids during his illegal invasion and occupation. And we’re now watching them kidnap kids and deport them with zero proof as to where 🥵
aug 31, 2025, 5:59 pm • 0 0 • view
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_a... #notinourname #GOPedos
aug 31, 2025, 5:59 pm • 1 0 • view
How did they get separated to start with? Their track record with losing children isn’t good
aug 31, 2025, 10:45 pm • 0 0 • view
“….what I’ve been told.” Not likely. A government (here, Guatemala’s) would not initiate an operation of this size based on verbal communications. There would be something written down — and communicating that to a US government attorney would be a simple matter.
aug 31, 2025, 5:22 pm • 18 0 • view
Liar
aug 31, 2025, 5:36 pm • 0 0 • view
And somehow, plaintiffs' attorneys are unaware of this month long process. This doesn't pass the smell test.
aug 31, 2025, 5:21 pm • 5 1 • view
“That’s what I have been told” is not an answer.
aug 31, 2025, 6:13 pm • 2 0 • view
Based on everything, safer to go with presumption of irregularity.
aug 31, 2025, 5:19 pm • 3 0 • view
If it takes a month just to ID kids for return, something’s broken. Families deserve clarity, not red tape and vague answers. Children aren’t paperwork- they’re lives in limbo. #HumanRights #Immigration #Accountability
aug 31, 2025, 5:48 pm • 2 0 • view
We can just assume that this regime will lie and cheat and act in bad faith every day of its existence! They want their meddling to extend into every facet of our lives and exert control over society like the most authoritarian regimes do! Cruelty is what they do The Trump regime cannot be trusted!
aug 31, 2025, 5:39 pm • 2 0 • view
Without actual consequences for the lawyers making these BS claims in court this will not stop.
aug 31, 2025, 5:26 pm • 9 0 • view
omg never thought I'd have to read court case stuff on a Sunday
aug 31, 2025, 9:52 pm • 0 0 • view
Sounds more believable than all of their parents are there and the government wants them returned. That's my understanding sounds like plausible deniability. So who's lying?
aug 31, 2025, 10:27 pm • 0 0 • view
👍🏼 Judge Sooknanan!
aug 31, 2025, 6:34 pm • 5 0 • view
For how much and how did they determine it’s their parents or guardians?
aug 31, 2025, 5:15 pm • 11 0 • view
Guatamalian-selected guardians?
aug 31, 2025, 5:20 pm • 2 0 • view
Just stop teaching Evidence in law school because it has become irrelevant. (And because the hearsay rule is very confusing.)
aug 31, 2025, 5:17 pm • 14 1 • view
Same for Con Law.😳
aug 31, 2025, 5:23 pm • 2 0 • view
Same for Legal Ethics
aug 31, 2025, 6:22 pm • 0 0 • view
Swear him in.
aug 31, 2025, 5:15 pm • 20 0 • view
I do believe that
aug 31, 2025, 5:33 pm • 0 0 • view
Ensign is lying to the Court.
aug 31, 2025, 6:34 pm • 10 0 • view
Proof
aug 31, 2025, 5:15 pm • 21 0 • view
When the DoJ lies like this, the court should prove that it is a lie, and consider EVERY statement made by them going forward as a lie afterwards
aug 31, 2025, 5:28 pm • 26 2 • view
Ensign and every DOJ Rep is just undistilled evil.
aug 31, 2025, 9:52 pm • 3 0 • view
"We're going to tell a blatant lie and we demand five days so you can get less angry at us for lying." Seems to me if they had legal cause for these flights, they wouldn't need five days to figure out what that is.
aug 31, 2025, 10:12 pm • 1 0 • view
aug 31, 2025, 5:17 pm • 2 0 • view
He should be forced to call and confirm right now!
aug 31, 2025, 5:11 pm • 6 0 • view
“Might be”…!?!
aug 31, 2025, 5:14 pm • 4 0 • view
Sooknanan needs ask why the children are being human-trafficked to foreign rent-a-death camps or if these children are fooder for Felon47's new Epstein-Maxwell style child rape ring.
aug 31, 2025, 5:16 pm • 8 3 • view
They are holding scared kids on planes for hours.
aug 31, 2025, 5:31 pm • 9 0 • view
Are they all in shackles, as well?
aug 31, 2025, 5:11 pm • 20 1 • view
I assure you that they are. And the people doing this are wearing mask because that is more scary and they desire to terrorize children.
aug 31, 2025, 5:13 pm • 4 0 • view
Toddlers are pretty dangerous.
aug 31, 2025, 5:15 pm • 1 0 • view
I think the youngest here is 10, though
aug 31, 2025, 5:17 pm • 0 0 • view
Perfect age to sell them into sex slavery.
aug 31, 2025, 5:21 pm • 0 0 • view
Knowing these criminals, probably.
aug 31, 2025, 5:11 pm • 7 0 • view
I think many do not realize they treat children this way.
aug 31, 2025, 5:15 pm • 7 4 • view
Good god, so many Americans willfully complicit in treating CHILDREN like animals.
aug 31, 2025, 5:49 pm • 2 0 • view
🤮
aug 31, 2025, 5:10 pm • 6 0 • view
Is it just me or is the a wide gap between SS: "Is it your REPRESENTATION that …" and DE: "Your Honor, my UNDERSTANDING is that…" ?
aug 31, 2025, 5:13 pm • 20 2 • view
Exactly! DOJ should be providing facts and evidence. They don’t get to hide behind plausible deniability
aug 31, 2025, 5:25 pm • 10 0 • view
Cannot thank you enough for covering this on a weekend, Anna🙏
aug 31, 2025, 5:10 pm • 13 1 • view
How heartless are these people? So intent on meeting deportation goals that judge must take 2am call on a Sunday & issue a TRO to stop them from deporting children to Guatemala. They’re weaker by acting so inhumanely. No mercy? No justice. Thanks to lawyers representing kids. Fighting good fight!
aug 31, 2025, 6:33 pm • 1 0 • view
Ensign is unsure about one plane. That sounds like a familiar story, exactly what they did last time. What are the odds that plane is still on US soil?
aug 31, 2025, 5:19 pm • 13 1 • view
About 0 in 1
aug 31, 2025, 5:28 pm • 6 0 • view
Do we know how many kids were put through this?
sep 1, 2025, 6:44 am • 0 0 • view
They’re lying
aug 31, 2025, 5:09 pm • 5 0 • view
when will Ensign realize DOJ / ICEis does not care about him, or the rules?
aug 31, 2025, 6:52 pm • 2 0 • view
I don’t trust them.
aug 31, 2025, 5:06 pm • 22 0 • view
I don’t think the judge does either.
aug 31, 2025, 5:07 pm • 15 0 • view
Nor should anyone.
aug 31, 2025, 5:07 pm • 2 0 • view
planes with little kids with no parents little kids no parents
aug 31, 2025, 7:29 pm • 2 0 • view
I can't even.....😭 How scared must they be. The cruelty of this regime is beyond the pale. Not one heart in the entire administration.
sep 1, 2025, 2:28 am • 2 0 • view
I wouldn't belive him, personally.
aug 31, 2025, 10:02 pm • 0 0 • view
GET THE CAMERAS THERE!! AT THE AIRPORT!!
aug 31, 2025, 8:26 pm • 0 0 • view
Somewhere I saw that Gov asked for 5 days to reply. Given DOJ sued MD judges for insisting TWO days to file habeus (too slow!), I think judges should say “I would give you two, but now only one as you think reasonable. If not release them all” cc @muellershewrote.com @joycewhitevance.bsky.social
aug 31, 2025, 8:13 pm • 1 0 • view
Here we go again.
aug 31, 2025, 5:09 pm • 3 0 • view
Sure, we totally believe him.
aug 31, 2025, 5:34 pm • 0 0 • view
Jesus
aug 31, 2025, 8:31 pm • 0 0 • view
Maybe. Maybe not. bsky.app/profile/jjin...
aug 31, 2025, 6:12 pm • 5 1 • view
Fool me once… shame on you…… fool me twice………. can’t get fooled again!
aug 31, 2025, 5:07 pm • 1 0 • view
That’s somewhat reassuring.
aug 31, 2025, 5:05 pm • 4 0 • view
Require that lying SOB Ensign to guaran-fucking-te that those children won’t end up in Trump & the GOP’s pedo den. Make him sign away his own life as collateral.
sep 1, 2025, 1:33 am • 1 0 • view