Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

A Judge Just Ordered the Trump Administration to Turn a Plane Carrying Deported Immigrants Around and Threatened Jeff Sessions With Contempt

A Judge Just Ordered the Trump Administration to Turn a Plane Carrying Deported Immigrants Around and Threatened Jeff Sessions With Contempt
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 30: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (L) and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (R) attend the Religious Liberty Summit at the Department of Justice July 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. Rosenstein has recently been cited by the House Freedom caucus as a potential impeachment target for allegedly not releasing documents requested by members of Congress. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Whoa.

A federal judge in Washington D.C. threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt of court on Thursday after he learned the Department of Justice tried to deport a mother and daughter who were awaiting a court date for an appeal of a prior deportation order.


U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan scolded Sessions, saying the decision to subvert due process was "outrageous."

The ACLU announced Sullivan's ruling on Twitter.

Sessions and the Justice Department are the defendants in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union earlier this week, which alleges the federal government's new policy of rejecting asylum claims based on domestic and gang violence is "blocking thousands of migrants from seeking asylum in the United States," according to the Washington Post.

"Without an injunction, Plaintiffs and thousands of other immigrants like them desperately seeking safety will be unlawfully deported to places where they fear they will be raped, kidnapped, beaten, and killed," the complaint says.

The woman in question, "Carmen," had her case delayed until 11:59 P.M. Thursday night, but was escorted onto a plane along with her daughter Thursday morning in San Antonio, Texas to be thrown out of the country.

"This is pretty outrageous," Sullivan said. "That someone seeking justice in U.S. court is spirited away while her attorneys are arguing for justice for her?"

The judge added:

I’m not happy about this at all... this is not acceptable.

Sullivan then ordered Sessions to "turn the plane around" as part of his decision to stay Carmen's removal. Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni told the court he didn't know where Carmen and her daughter were or whether they had yet left the United States.

Lawyers for the federal government later confirmed the pair were on their way to El Salvador and that the plane had been instructed to return, per the court's order.

The ACLU said the "disregard for commitments made to the court and the life or death circumstances that these immigrant women and children are facing is beyond unacceptable."

The ACLU responded to the court's decision and blasted the Justice Department for its treatment of asylum-seekers.

"In its rush to deport as many immigrants as possible, the Trump administration is putting these women and children in grave danger of being raped, beaten, or killed," said Jennifer Chang Newell, the ACLU attorney handling the case. "We are thrilled the stay of removal was issued but sickened that the government deported two of our clients — a mom and her little girl — in the early morning hours. We will not rest until our clients are returned to safety."

Co-counsel Eunice Lee of the University of California-Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies also commented on the case.

"It must have been absolutely terrifying for them to think they would be returning to a country where they raised very credible claims of persecution and death," Lee said. "It’s outrageous to me that while we were working around-the-clock filing briefings for this case’s early morning hearing that people in the government were actively arranging for Carmen’s deportation."

Social media rallied in support of the ACLU, Carmen, and her daughter.

Looks like the judge isn't the only person who holds Sessions in contempt.

The rule of law and the Constitution live to see another day.

More from News

Rebel Wilson
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Rebel Wilson Reveals She Was Nearly Left 'Permanently Disfigured' By Accident On Film Set

After first becoming friends more than 14 years ago on the set of the first Pitch Perfect movie, Anna Camp and Rebel Wilson are back together in Bride Hard, now with Camp as the bride and Wilson as her best friend, and also a secret agent.

There is some chance of injury in almost any job, but with stunts in an action film, there are bound to be incidents, even if it's just a few stubbed toes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joe Biden; Alan Ritchson
Bruce Glikas/WireImage; Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Joe Biden And His Family Accidentally Crashed The 'Reacher' Set And Met Star Alan Ritchson

What do you do when you're the former President and you stumble upon a real-live Hollywood film set? Why, fan boy just like the rest of us, of course!

President Joe Biden and his family were heading to dinner on a recent night in Philadelphia when they happened upon the set of the Amazon Prime show Reacher. In fact, he drove right up to the set itself, seemingly without even realizing it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mike Lee
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

GOP Senator Faces MAGA Backlash Over Plan To Sell Millions Of Acres Of Public Land

Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee is facing harsh criticism—including from Team MAGA—over his proposal to sell off millions of acres of public land in the American West owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to supposedly create more affordable housing.

Lee claimed in his proposal that there is an "extensive process for interested parties like States and local governments to nominate land for disposal to meet housing and community needs," noting that it specifically exempts national parks, monuments, and federally designated wilderness areas from potential land sales.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Ripped For Complaining That Americans Get 'Too Many' Federal Holidays Off Work

While it was ultimately former President Joe Biden who established Juneteenth as a federal holiday, President Donald Trump—who once campaigned on that promise—took to Truth Social on Juneteenth to whine about the number of "non-working holidays" Americans get, claiming that it costs businesses "billions of dollars."

Juneteenth is derived from June 19, 1865, when Union troops led by General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and declared that all enslaved African Americans in the state were free.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman sitting up in bed as a man sleeps next to her.
Florida State University Researchers Find Predictors for Infidelity in New Study
(Wodicka/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The Biggest 'They're Definitely Cheating On Me!' Signs People Ignored

When our partner commits suspicious behavior, it's easy for us to jump to conclusions.

Most of the time, the conclusions we jump to are 100% wrong and are just our imaginations playing tricks with us.

Keep ReadingShow less