This is *beautiful* and we may have another name to add to our list. She absolutely clobbered DHS. Far be it from us to complain. Mmmmhmmm. Apparently, even Trump is unhappy (not that it takes much to make him crabby), and Gnome is probably hating it right now since she answers to him. Couldn’t have happened to a nastier pair. With gratitude to Raw Story:
President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security got a huge blow on Thursday evening, as a judge he appointed found a systematic and illegal effort to deprive Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees in Minnesota of access to legal counsel.
In the 41-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel outlined the damning state of affairs, including how attorneys were not allowed to enter the Whipple Building to speak with detainees.
H0 h0 h0. Busted! (I read part of the PDF that you can see through the above link in the second paragraph, and yikes!) Also, wow. As Denis said in a previous column, which I don’t remember the title of, so I can’t quote it, the judge smacked them around like a tetherball. Gnome is losing more than she’s winning. Well, except for investigating the two shooting deaths in Minneapolis. And as I wrote yesterday, the CBP agent who shot a teacher is being investigated. Why did it take so long?
Administration officials argued that because the Whipple Building is a temporary holding facility with limited space, it is neither practical nor necessary to allow in-person attorney visitation — but Brasel disagreed.
“Putting aside the debate about whether Whipple is, in fact, a holding facility, the Fifth Amendment’s due process protections do not depend on whether the place of detention is called a ‘holding facility’ or a ‘detention center.’ Any conclusion to the contrary belies elementary Fifth Amendment due process jurisprudence,” wrote Brasel, citing a past case that found an ICE detainee in a holding facility likely did have these rights. “Defendants appear to acknowledge the weakness in this argument; they state, repeatedly, that they do provide access to counsel through phone calls.”
My, my, my. Isn’t this a turn of events? It’s a glorious change. Judges these days are not accepting the DHS horsepucky. They are saying so in no uncertain terms, and explaining why in a language that cannot be twisted to support DHS’s needs. They are laying on the smackdown for nonsense court cases that are pinning back the ears of DHS. Glee is the order of the day.
As for the claim that the facility doesn’t have the space for counsel meetings, Brasel cited a court ruling last year that “Defendants may not properly choose a facility that is unfit for a particular purpose and then use the inadequacies of the facility as a justification to deprive detainees of meaningful, confidential access to legal counsel to the extent demanded by the Constitution.”
This ruling comes down as Tom Homan, the White House border adviser currently in charge of enhanced operations in Minneapolis, said that the surge of federal agents to that city will be withdrawn after weeks of crackdowns, protests, and controversy.
Crackdowns, protests, and controversy. That’s an understatement. The whole thing was effed up, unnecessary, and excessive. It’s all because Trump wants immigrants to be thrown out, no thanks to Stephen Miller, whom I really detest. Trump babbled about closing the border throughout his run for president. So, they are taking this and running with it. But now, We the People and strong judges are pushing back. DHS has had to back down. We can be sure that Gnome and company are pretty pissed about it. But you know what? That’s not going to stop us. It’s not going to stop judges who hit them with the *law*. DHS will lose, one way or another.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise that among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
