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
"what I've been told" Lie and he knows it
I have no doubt that he was told that. Swear in the liars that gave him that lie to tell.
A month. One? Seems short, to put it mildly.
“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.
Well, if Ensign says that’s what he’s been told, then we’re all done here. Please commence with Labor Day festivities!
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
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?
“Class” 👍
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.
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?
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.
Stop being g a fucking bigot.
Or, a better idea, ask the kids if their parents abused or negelcted them. Why do you want kids to be abused? Seems kinda weird.
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.
hmmm, he just said it has been a month long process identifying the children that they are sending to Guatemala and now he needs another week to brief? what clowns!
And what will they have to say on Friday? OOPS?
So they were going to deport the kids without evidence of the claims they just made in court. DOJ lawyers need to start having their freedom taken away by judges and the State Barr needs to start taking law licenses away.
Sooknanan: I was thinking earlier than Friday, but if you need to get your ducks in a row and make sure you can figure out what's going on with all of these children, I'll allow it. But my order will stay in place. They're not going to be able to remove these children until you file a brief...
The government claims they spent a month carefully identifying children that “met the criteria” but now it’ll take another week to prove it.🤔
Sooknanan continues: They're not going to be able to remove these children until you file a brief and we have a hearing and I rule... Ensign: We understand that. We certainly object to the TRO, but we understand that would be process at this point...
Sooknanan talks about crafting her TRO to ensure that the children aren't removed until briefing is complete and she can rule. I do not want there to be any ambiguity about what I am ordering or what the government is to do down the road, she says.
This is a hostage negotiation and the government are the kidnappers.
And the negotiators refuse to recognize we're dealing with kidnappers.
🎯
Presumption of regularity has been shrunk again.
Did the judge get to keep the children here with their parents or did they the kidnappers get away with them?
She will need to throw a few of Trump's lawyers in jail for contempt to make them produce those kids before the court...
Sooknanan then announces that she wants to take a 10 minute recess so that Ensign can go talk to DHS. She wants to know whether they are going to be deplaning the children and returning them to custody and what they expect to happen. Mr. Ensign, can you do that? Ensign: I'm certainly happy to try
If he doesn’t know anything, can we maybe talk to his manager?
I’d love to see Noem and Miller testify under oath in every one of these cases. They can lie on Fox News, but a federal judge would be less forgiving.
If this operation were legit the government would announce it advance. Cameras would be encouraged to film happy children being sent to reunify with their parents. It would not be done by weekend secret sneak flights. Anybody want to bet those kids are not shackled on those planes?
They are playing games with the lives of those children. And lying in the process. Red flags everywhere.
I’m very concerned about what their plan was for these children.
Where are their parents? Were they deported separately? If so, to what country? So many questions!
Sooknanan: And if you don't know or can't find out [whether the children have been deplaned], a time estimate on when the agencies can confirm would be helpful. Because then I can ask you to file a status report.
Refreshing @annabower.bsky.social every minute on a holiday weekend...
Damn shame to make the MAGAts work on a holiday weekend, innit?
Ensign: In terms of the immediate question of whether flights are leaving, they will not be leaving. Sooknanan: Okay, great. I think the main thing is a representation that the plan is to deplane and then return those kids to where they were prior
Judge is attempting making sure that the DHS and DOJ are pinned down as much as possible. Let’s hope it has the desired effect.
I am a big fan of Judge Sparkle here. Basically saying "I'm aware of the bullshit you're going to try to pull and I am going to prevent it"
It’s like pulling teeth to get these jerks to answer questions and act.
She's not giving them any room to keep pretending and it's glorious. And thank you so much for posting.
Its sad that this needs to be said repeatedly for the government to actually understand and abide by the ruling and even then we don't know if they will actually do it.
“Try”!?!?
Try? OR Lie?
where are these planes? which airport?
Always the fucking weasel words... These are the most disingenuous assholes on the planet.
define "happy", sir.
DO OR DO NOT. THERE IS NO TRY.
Happy to try. Fucking clown.
JFK, the depth of depravity of this ghoulish regime.
Fully expect they want to just imprison these kids on the planes
Ole Drew is super chuffed to play 3-card Monte with SIX HUNDRED UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN
Narrator: In fact, he was not happy, and wasn't going to try very hard.
We need a full-fledged Nuremberg style truth and reconciliation process post Trump. And Ensign should be held to account.
Nah, we just need a long brick wall and a shitload of blindfolds.
imprison these motherfuckers
oops all gone
No punishment will be too severe for these mfers when this is over.
Arrest everyone involved
Who will care for children when they’re deplaned? There’s no caring adults for hundreds of terrified kids who have yanked around by U.S government? MAGA ICE only cares for white kids…
Not trying to have Ensign pull more nonsense like they did in Abrego Garcia.
She needs to make it equally clear that anyone involved in the removal all the way up the chain of command will be found in contempt of court and jailed until the children are returned.
Starting with the asshole in front of her.
.... and thank you @annabower.bsky.social for your dedication at reporting and documenting so many of these very significant court proceedings even over a holiday weekend.
Amen.
!!! 💙
"we" ?? define "we" ... DOJ/DHS doesn't consider you --a DOJ lawyer as nothing more than a doormat
"We certainly object to the TRO..." Translation: We wish the law did not have any meaning for limiting our cruelty and arbitrariness.
Where are their guardians in the meantime? Or are they in detention centers? This is all so fucking awful.
Judge needs to be clearer: None of the putative class of children to be removed unless I order it is allowed.
So trump thugs can have 600 kids loaded on planes within hours but to provide evidence that the kids should be will take them a week. That doesn’t make sense.
It only makes sense in the light that, as a private citizen, Felon47 invested money into the Epstein-Maxwell child rape human-trafficking ring and that avenue for having access to prey has dried up for the predator in the Oval Office.
Does Ensign know if the Big Beautiful Bill has funds for a convoy of armored Good Humor trucks.
They need a few days to retroactively create some “evidence” and threaten parents.
Thank you, Anna. 🪴 Thanks to @sarahburris.bsky.social, your readers can hear & see what Drew Ensign sounds like when he gaslights judges and follows Emil Bove’s order: “Tell Courts ‘F*** You’ And Ignore Orders.” bsky.app/profile/plai...
I think it's fair to say by this point, Drew Ensign isn't getting into Heaven.
I think we’re all in hell
lmao "can I have enought time to traffic these kids to Guatemala to the people we sold them to?"
@thatcattc.bsky.social !!
Sooknanan: "How does that factual discrepancy get resolved?" Ensign: "We just repeat the same lie over and over until you give up."
Proof by repeated assertion has been a favorite of the federal government this year.
There was a time when Republicans were opposed to reuniting families internationally. bsky.app/profile/coul...
Reunification is a helluva euphemism
Especially when it’s conducted in secret without the subjects, their guardians, their lawyers, knowing anything about the manoeuvres to effectuate it.
Safety first 🤡
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???
Additional would-be child traffickers associated with Trump? Release the Epstein files!
If the government is so concerned about the welfare of children and reunification with their parents perhaps they should stop physically ripping them apart.
Creating precedent for “reunification” by kidnapping parents is fucking wild
Most of these children don’t have reliable guardians to be reunited with.
Exactly.
Your Honor, I move that Ensign be excommunicated from the human race
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?
“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 🙄
Indirectly the govt of Guatemala told someone who told Ensign…
I'm sure it was the sister of a friend of my cousin's babysitter....
"You wouldn't know her. I met her in Niagara Falls. She's from Canada."
Well, shouldn’t they have some sort of government documentation from Guatemala requesting the return of these children if that’s the case
"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)
🐂💩
"that's what I've been told" is the new "I was just following orders"
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 🥵
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_a... #notinourname #GOPedos
How did they get separated to start with? Their track record with losing children isn’t good
“….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.
Liar
And somehow, plaintiffs' attorneys are unaware of this month long process. This doesn't pass the smell test.
“That’s what I have been told” is not an answer.
Based on everything, safer to go with presumption of irregularity.
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
