Trump-appointed judge shuts down Trump in court - Brian Tyler Cohen

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Transcript:

you're watching the legal breakdown
Glenn we've got some really shocking
breaking news here I'm going to put a
headline right here on the screen Judge
says 2-year-old US citizen appears to
have been deported with no meaningful
process So Glenn we obviously have a few
really significant issues here First and
foremost we were talking about a
2-year-old virtually a baby here Second
this is a US citizen And third it was
done with no meaningful process meaning
no due process This has been a recurring
theme with this administration So first
and foremost can I have your reaction to
the legality of this move Yeah Brian a
couple of things First of all this is
horrific that the Trump administration
would stoop so low as to deport a
2-year-old in violation of the
2-year-old's constitutional rights But
you know the next thing that impresses
me about this is it's a Trump appointed
judge Terry Dowy who said and you've
already said it but this was a quote
from this Trump appointed judge He has a
quote strong suspicion that the
government just deported a US citizen a
two-year-old US citizen with no
meaningful process And this is a judge
Brian who has been pretty reliably in
the Trump administration's corner since
being appointed in 2018 He's a judge
down in Louisiana And you know the
judicial worm is turning in case after
case you know from coast to coast
against Donald Trump But you know I
don't know how low the Trump
administration is willing to stoop if
they're taking children virtual infants
putting them on planes and shipping them
to foreign countries In this instance it
was Honduras Glenn what do you make of
the fact that this whole process uh
where Donald Trump promised to do these
mass deportations was predicated on this
idea that he was going to focus only on
these hardened criminals So either he's
completely abandoned that or we're
talking about a hardened 2-year-old
criminal Uh and you know I I don't think
uh it's going to take much time for
everybody to guess which one uh is at
play here So again what do you make of
the fact that all of this was focused on
hardened criminals and now we're talking
about deporting babies Brian it is the
cruelty and the fear and intimidation
that this cruelty can instill in all
people immigrants US citizens children
adults That is the point It is the point
of what Donald Trump is having his ICE
agents do But let's talk a little bit
about how we got here in this case Trump
you know deporting a 2-year-old in
violation of her constitutional rights
The 2-year-old's mother has been here
for quite some time now She was here
without status but as so many immigrants
without status experience she was
required to check in with ICE every 6
months to make sure whatever status she
might have been pursuing like if she had
an asylum claim that was in the long
sometimes drawn out process of being
litigated by the courts that you know
ICE just keeps tabs on immigrants like
that This woman showed up to her
six-month checkup expecting I'm sure to
be released because it sounds like based
on the reporting she'd been complying
with whatever it is she was supposed to
be doing during the course of these
checkups and the periods in between So
she showed up with two daughters her
two-year-old an American citizen who was
born here and for whom there was a birth
certificate and her 11-year-old daughter
the 2-year-old's sister Now it gets a
little complicated because what happened
was ICE took them all into custody and
ICE then claimed "Oh not to worry The
mother whom we're going to deport back
to Honduras um says she wants to take
her daughter uh with her." And there's a
handwritten note to that effect in the
reporting The judge takes that note and
says "Well that's all well and good I'm
going to need to look into this myself
get some evidence to support these
claims And the judge Brian was in the
process of doing that In the meantime
the father who apparently also had no
legal status here had uh hired a lawyer
had sent a representative into court to
say "No um we're going we're going to
keep the child here The child's a US
citizen Um we're going to assume
custody." And ICE wouldn't let the
2-year-old go So there is a little bit
of a dispute as to which parent sort of
was in a position to actually take
custody But the thing is Brian the judge
essentially wanted to slow all this down
And when he made a call to try to look
into the validity of the note ICE
claimed the mother had written saying "I
want to take my 2-year-old with me," the
judge was told "Sorry plane's already
either in the air or it's already landed
in Honduras." Begin to sound familiar to
other deportation unlawful
unconstitutional deportation incidents
we've been contending with in recent
weeks So now the judge sounds like he
this is my word he is pissed and he said
a hearing for May 16th and I'm sure he's
going to call the DOJ to the carpet and
say I was in the process of making sure
this was on the up and up had adequate
evidence to resolve this issue as to
whether the 2-year-old an American
citizen should remain with her father or
with a lawful guardian as opposed to
being taken by the mother back to
Honduras when she was being deported Um
and you basically just pulled the
judicial rug out from under me Again
this is my characterization and we will
see what the judge says at this May 16th
hearing about what it seems like he has
already concluded um the deportation
unlawfully
unconstitutionally of a 2-year-old by
the Trump administration
So where do we stand right now Because
we've seen that this is now it's a
recurring theme right This is what the
Trump administration has shown its hand
is going to continue doing It's going to
allow the courts to play some some
initial process but at the end of the
day they're going to deport before the
before the the case has actually reached
a conclusion And so are we just going to
see this process continue to play itself
out where we get half of a half of a
decision by these courts but the Trump
administration just gets bored of
waiting and keep sending these people
out and we just keep running after them
Or is there going to be some some
uh um proactive action taken here where
where the courts can actually put a stop
to to what the administration is doing
Yeah great question because you know
what Half a constitutional loaf when it
comes to one's due process rights is no
loaf at all So what I suspect just as we
are seeing contempt proceedings working
their way through the courts in DC in
the Venezuelan immigrant case being
presided over by Judge Boseberg in
Maryland with the Abbrego Garcia
potential contempt citation of the
government working its way through the
Maryland federal courts You know we are
likely to perhaps see the hat-tick now
of possible contempt proceedings Now
mind you Brian none of these have come
to fruition with courts actually holding
Trump administration officials in
contempt but it seems like Donald Trump
is itching to dare the courts to just go
ahead and start holding my ICE officials
or my Homeland Security officials in
contempt and then let's see you try to
enforce your contempt order So Donald
Trump is forever moving in the direction
of a true constitutional crisis He pulls
us closer and closer and closer to the
cliff But as you say this is frustrating
because how many times will the Trump
administration be allowed to get away
with it before the courts you know
really put their judicial foot down and
put not only some sanctions but some
preventative measures in place
Glenn I have to ask because it it feels
frustrating to hear that sanctions might
be imposed when I'm when I I'm not fully
convinced that that even the prospect of
sanctions is going to be enough of a
deterrent So what does sanctions mean in
this case And do you believe that even
the imposition of strong sanctions are
enough of a deterrent for these lawyers
who continuously come into the
courtrooms whether it's here in this
case that we're talking about right now
whether it's the the previous case that
we were talking about with Kilargo
Garcia and and certainly the cases that
are going to be forthcoming You know
Brian I join you in not being convinced
that sanctions are going to be enough
But at the end of the process sanctions
can mean and I would argue should mean
jailing Trump administration officials
who continue to
unconstitutionally deport human beings
because that I can almost guarantee you
will get the Trump administration to sit
up to take notice Now getting those
contempt orders executed is another
challenge that we've addressed before
and we will probably have the
opportunity to address it again in very
real concrete terms once we are there
We're not there yet But let me tell you
all of these stupid ass games that the
Trump administration officials are
playing and they're getting away with
more and more
unconstitutional deportations like you
leaves me frustrated And the courts at
some point have to reach the ultimate
but lawful remedy of jailing people who
are unconstitutionally supporting human
beings Look Glenn the the difficult part
here is that these cases have to be
taken taken on an individual basis and
that there's no sweeping ruling that can
apply to all of them as as a sort of
precedent But to that exact point is
there some way that some broader
precedent could apply so that we're not
chasing after this stuff in scattershot
rulings in peace meal rulings where the
Trump administration knows that they can
that they can really get an edge on all
of these different district courts Yeah
Here's some bad news Brian We've already
had such a ruling
n from the Supreme Court saying and the
Trump administration didn't even didn't
even bother to listen to that one They
didn't even flinch when the Supreme
Court in a unanimous ruling said
everyone is entitled to due process a
fancy term for simply notice of what the
government intends to do to you before
they do it and a sufficient amount of
time One judge has ruled 21 days for the
person to obtain a lawyer and go into
court and have part two of their due
process rights honored Part two is an
opportunity to be heard to contest what
the government is saying about them and
trying to do to them and get their day
in court before a judge It's actually
not that damn hard to do But the Trump
administration wants to play games wants
to continue to violate the Constitution
So I envision these things going back to
the Supreme Court And you know at some
point it's put up or shut up time for
the Supreme Court They're going to have
to put down some hard and fast
stepbystep rules that the Trump
administration has to follow And here's
the thing Brian I am almost looking
forward to the time that Donald Trump
begins to openly defy direct
unambiguous Supreme Court rulings and
orders because at that point it will be
crystal clear that Donald Trump is
trying to end our constitutional
construct and government That's the
stuff of impeachment and removal Not
that I'm pretending it will inspire
congressional Republicans House or
Senate to actually stand up for their
constituents and for American democracy
But boy I think it becomes so clear that
we have a lawless president indeed we
have a dictator an autocrat that things
are going to break Something's got to
give And I just hope it's not our
democracy Well we will of course stay on
top of this case as it relates to the
raft of other cases along the same lines
where the Trump administration is now
getting more and more emboldened in
terms of who they deport Uh so for those
who are watching right now if you'd like
to follow along please make sure to
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independent media more broadly I'm Brian
Taylor Cohen and I'm Glenn Kersner
You're watching the Legal Breakdown