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.
To what end? To scold them and give them a firm wag of the finger? They're going to lie in any venue. The law can't save us from these monsters because the law created them and this system they are using for state sponsored terrorism. (And don't even try to spin a yarn about perjury)
Yeah why bother doing anything 🤷 better to just resign ourselves to our fate and wait for the ride to the camp to come pick us up.
Definitely was my point, thanks!
If you don't want to get criticized for sounding like a defeatist, maybe try not sounding like a defeatist.
Ok
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.
Dump them there and make it the Guatemalan government’s problem if they aren’t reunited or have been sent into danger. I’m also concerned that ORR will simply lock these poor political pawns up in conference rooms with little access to food/water/bathrooms or anything else.
Where are their parents? Were they deported separately? If so, to what country? So many questions!
Exactly
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...
Right?! FML. Thank god for @annabower.bsky.social I could marry you
Damn shame to make the MAGAts work on a holiday weekend, innit?
You can be damn sure the judge is pissed about this very thing.
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
These poor kids are going to be (even more) traumatized than they were before. Absolutely inhumane
I’m thinks the same. They must be so scared.
And now we're on recess while Ensign calls his clients.
6 USC 279, which calls for ORR to help reunite children with a parent abroad in appropriate cases was enacted as part of Homeland Security Act of 2002. 8 USC 1232 is the TVPRA- a later-enacted statute.
TVPRA requires that UCs from noncontiguous countries “shall” be placed in removal proceedings. If children want voluntary departure there are special protections. Govt essentially claiming a 3rd category of return: “reunification” But no sign of that in law.
If 6 USC 279 authorizes reunification as DOJ claims that means ORR - which is NOT an immigration enforcement agency but an HHS agency - decides deportations. That’s just a weird read of the two statutory provisions. ORR is not in charge of deporting kids. That’s up to DHS and Immigration Judges.
Your honor, I spoke with Emil Bove who is still in charge for some reason and he says "fuck you."
Im surprised Ensign has not been fired yet.
I need just one court reporter to list him as Punxsuphoney Drew in the record.
Oh, that brutal cruel son of a bitch.
We're back. The judge asks if Ensign has an update for her. Ensign: I have confirmed that the plan is to deplane the children and to return them to the custody of Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Sooknanan asks him to file status report when that's complete
Does this mean that these children had active asylum cases before this action?
Sooknanan then says that she had an opportunity during the break to read some of the declarations filed by the named plaintiffs. She wants to read from them because they underscore the conflicting information she's received from the government about the children they want to remove.
Conflicting information
So his health is still in question,
The government has argued that the children are simply being reunited with their parents. But Sooknanan reads from a series of declarations that seem inconsistent with that claim.
This is a classic example of what happens when conservative bad faith bullshit hits the buzzsaw of real life courts and law. Put your kitchen sink away and pick an actual claim of what you say happened and tell it to the judge and prove it
In one, the child says that her parents [in Guatemala] recently received a strange call from someone with the US government, telling them that he or she would be deported with a larger group of people. "Since my parents told me this news, I feel terrible," the declarant says.
Is the U.S. a human trafficking facilitator? Is that what's going on? This will stain us all Not just Trumpers.
People will genuinely wonder why we didn't drop everything we're doing to stop this. They will correctly wonder if we secretly support it, and ask whether distinguishing between support and tolerance matters in the end. Insane.
Sooknanan: Every one of these 10 children who are named plaintiffs speak about being afraid of going back to Guatemala. She reads a series of quotes in which the children express being afraid of return because they experienced neglect or abuse from one or both of their parents.
Is this not them? bsky.app/profile/jjin...
wow, the government is just straight up lying to the judge.
To be clear: we have no way of knowing who is on these jets right now. I’m just reporting that these are the 3 planes that I see under ICE Air contract flying to Central America today. There’s also a 767 that has been sitting on the tarmac in South Texas for a couple days now, watching that one 👀
Oh FFS - seriously?
Holy moley, I hope not!
bsky.app/profile/jjin...
there’s probably other uncontested deportation flights to guatemala going on now, safest assumption is probably that’s what these are
Why is the US government permitted to commit perjury over and over again without consequences?
Weasl words . . .
Anna, thank you for covering this.
Will the Gov claim they were coached to say this? Thanks, Anna.
When she's done reading select quotes from the plaintiff's declarations, Judge Sooknanan sums it up as follows: "And so this doesn't quite line up with what I'm hearing from the government.
Would DOJ stretch truth?
My God! We live in such a world that ten year olds are having to seek counsel and go to law in order to have what are essentially child protection matters fairly processed. What manner of creature in the government wants to conduct a fast clandestine deportation of children at risk?
Proving yet again that this Administration's immigration roundup was never about combating crime, but about abject cruelty and committing crimes against humanity.
Jesus…
Judge Sooknanan is a Real American Shero!💚🔥💚
Judge Sooknanan to Ensign: "This is why we have process. This is why we have courts." Then she says that she also took the opportunity to look at the provision that Ensign cited. "I'm pretty skeptical that it gives the government the authority to do what you are claiming it does," she says.
What are the realistic odds that Judge Sooknanan will levy a charge of contempt on the DOJ’s counsel for lying to the Court?
OMG this admin is beyond horrible to do this to children. They’re monsters. Evil to the core.
It's not the party of family values. It's the party of family abuse.
"This doesn't quite line up" is a polite way to say "You are lying." As the conflicting depositions were entered under oath, should they turn out to be false*, will those who entered them be charged with perjury or at least held in contempt? (Spoiler:No.) *Should the sun rise in the East.
Orange is the new black www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-HY...
That’s easy to resolve. The government is lying.
Thank you for doing this.
Gov’t engages in child trafficking.
The octogenarian toddler in the Oval Office is playing to his strengths . . . Thiry years of partnership with Epstein and Maxwell is a solid basis for his "expertise."
The human trafficking mob is happy though. Every county in Oklahoma is happy Wake up 26 is coming vote them all out
Am I crazy or does this sound nothing like “parents are requesting to have their children returned”?
It’s terrible how a benign agency such as DHS, should have their actions and motivations so misunderstood, twisted, traduced, and embroidered upon -and that’s just by the DOJ. “It is so unfair - every one treats us as if we shoot puppies”
🤣🤣🤣
This is so fucking gross. 🤬🤬🤬
Many thanks for your reporting. Knowing that this is a gov't one cannot trust to tell the time tells me all I need. They make a mockery of democracy.
Trump is deporting children. Impeach. @aclu.org @acluwa.bsky.social @eliaslawgroup.bsky.social @immigrantjustice.bsky.social @legaldefensefund.bsky.social @democracydocket.com @schiff.senate.gov @raskin.house.gov @nadler.house.gov @aoc.bsky.social @petebuttigieg.bsky.social @sanders.senate.gov
We can't build the gallows fast enough for these people
Has America lost all sense of f'ing decency? We deserve to be a pariah nation if this evilness continues. Just heartsick as I look at the 10 y/o grandchild sitting across the table from me.
@marisakabas.bsky.social there’s a big, big story here. Someone in the government is allegedly coercing people to make false declarations in court to violate laws meant to stop child trafficking.
Oh, I bet.
Receipts time!!!
Conflicting information? The government is a de facto authoritarian state that lies, cheats and steals as a matter of policy. It is not to be trusted with the most simplistic representation. It is to be held accountable from A-to-Z with utmost scrutiny. It must be resoundingly defeated.
Can't they be sanctioned for lying in these statements?
A Judge with some 🏀🏀👍
My refresh button is breaking
Sounds like it is going to be a scorcher.
Does anyone know where these planes are about to take off from? Florida? TX?
Removing children is something a certain someone did back in the 1930's... seems history repeats. And someone has been reading the wrong books, learning history incorrectly. www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...
Conflicts with the lies the DOJ is telling about them.
Just assume the DOJ is committing perjury. It simplifies the judicial process.
Who's going to jail for loading them on the plane ?????????
The importance of Biden's appointment of, and the Senate's confirmation of (albeit by the slimmest of margins), federal judges cannot be overstated.
Thank you for this reporting
Pause and recognize that this implies that the Felon47 Administration is "resettling" Christian children to Guatemala. Where is the Talibangelical outrage on this? Also, "resettling" was to help these kids settle in America and NOT be human-trafficked to foreign death camps.
Thank you for following this for us and at some point we need to celebrate the people who are watching this closely enough that they can call a judge at 2 AM to stop it.
When I said to my son that the government now claims that the plan now is to deplane the children his eyebrows went up as he asked "Where?"
Where? To whom?
“Plans” change.
Countdown until Ensign reports all the children being human-trafficked by the Administration are in the air.
Anyone want to guess who the "client" is when he makes the phone call? My guess is that it's someone on a team of outside lawyers (not DOJ) that have been behind the scenes from the beginning. Deplane the kids, and do not say that you have to ask your clients where the kids will be taken and kept.
It's no doubt Miller and Blondi.
Ensign is such a stooge.
Special place in hell for him one day. Special place in prison for him sooner.
Thanks for all you coverage, Anna. Can you explain why the judge doesn't just have Ensign's client speak directly to the court?
Deniability. They would have to called as a witness and sworn. No one would be willing to do that.
When he says "that's my understanding," that's when you know that the reality is the opposite
And everyone (including the judge) knows that. The atty says that knowing full well that it’s a lie.
“That’s what I’ve been dispatched to tell you I believe, but they do whatever the fuck they want. Especially when it comes to children.”
@tomcartwright.bsky.social where are these planes?
Pardon if none of us believe a word that comes out of any govt attorney’s mouth related to flights
Particularly when that mouth belongs to Drew Ensign.
Thanks for your invaluable reporting work!!!!
Wtf were those kids.. Find these kids now
Didn't think I could get more shocked by the U.S., but large-scale child trafficking has me speechless.
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