A Pungently Dissembling Reply -- By Team Trump -- To The Torture Being Inflicted... On Asylum-Seeking Children.

Well. Even I (ever a pessimist, as to the depths of depravity, of Team Trump). . . did NOT see this coming.

Team Trump must realize their crime spree is drawing to a close, come November, so the bureaucratic acts of subterfuge are growing more. . . desperate. In response to my observations of Sunday night, as to very young children being tortured in COVID-19 solitary confinement conditions more harsh than some hardened drug king-pins, terrorists, murderers and pedophiles endure in Colorado's Florence Super-Max facility. . . the goon-lawyers (think Sarah Fabian here -- yes, THAT dog-walking while children are missing. . . Sarah Fabian!) say, in essence: "Not my monkey; not my circus. . . ."

In sum, in an overnight filing, Fabian's Trump team claims -- preposterously, since CDC/HHS issued guidelines -- but DHS and ICE detained, and still holds in custody, all these children -- that ICE/DHS/ORR cannot be responsible for them. It is claimed they are simply "following orders" of the CDC and HHS -- as to COVID-19 guidelines. In fact, they go on to argue that nothing can be done about it, since CDC and HHS were not parties to the 35 year old original litigation. Disgusting.

I predict that the able jurist that is USDC CD CA Dolly Gee. . .is going to hand them their heads, for this. The government was sued. ICE, DHS and ORR all have custody of these children. As such, all of them are accountable -- for the conditions of incarceration. It is manifestly no excuse to say. . . "you'll need to sue another agency" to end the torture. The treaties and the Eighth Amendment apply, per force, to the entity with "custody" of the children. Oh. And. . . these are children. Geezus Christo, on a set of M-F-in' crutches. . . .

Finally, and more calmly(!), there are LOTS of alternatives to this state of affairs. . . to the torture. That some of them are expensive, because ICE detained so many children for so long, and so wantonly. . . is an unfortunate fact. But I will guarantee that. . .nowhere in the treaties, or our Eighth Amendment, does it say. . . "Torture is permitted, if it saves the government some money -- in continuing lawless detentions." This sort of filing should lead to disciplinary proceedings, against the involved government lawyers -- it is that speciously devoid of merit:

. . . .Because Plaintiffs took it upon themselves to unilaterally report [Ed. Note: on torture!]. . . they have inadequately presented Defendants’ legal position to the Court. As noted above, Defendants believe that no further action should be taken. . . . The CDC, though part of HHS, is not a successor to the INS with respect to the detention addressed in the Agreement or the detention under Title 8 authorities that was the subject of this case. Instead, the custody at issue here is incident to the government’s implementation of public health orders issued by the CDC under its authority in 42 U.S.C. § 265, and is in no way related to Title 8 or to immigration enforcement authorities. . . .

DHS will, where necessary, use repatriation flights to move covered aliens on a space-available basis, as authorized by law. The plan is generally consistent with the language of this order directing that covered aliens spend as little time in congregate settings as practicable under the circumstances. In my view, it is also the only viable alternative for implementing the order; CDC’s other public health tools are not viable mechanisms given CDC resource and personnel constraints, the large numbers of covered aliens involved, and the likelihood that covered aliens do not have homes in the United States. . . .

[These orders make] clear that the individuals subject to these processes are in the legal custody of HHS, and are not held pursuant to any authority vested in DHS. Under the plain terms of the Agreement, it does not apply to the custody at issue here because these minors are not in the “legal custody” of CBP and/or ICE (or any successor to INS). Rather, DHS’s only role in the process is to implement procedures that are only allowed pursuant to the CDC’s authority. . . .

This "just being a good German" argument. . . coupled to officious finger pointing. . . is appalling. Onward, to Friday's hearing now. Red hot.

नमस्ते