Customs and Border Patrol officials at Dulles International Airport continue to disregard a judge's order and refuse to allow both attorneys and members of Congress access to the people they've detained there under Trump's Muslim ban order.
It was a court order from a federal judge, which meant it was enforceable by federal law enforcement. But immigration lawyers at Dulles said it didn’t get adequately enforced. Instead, CBP kept the Dulles detainees—and it still isn’t public how many lawful American residents were held there, and for how long—from having face-to-face conversations with attorneys.
Instead, probably as a gesture toward compliance, immigration attorneys told The Daily Beast that they had learned detainees were provided with a copy of Judge Brinkema's order and a paper listing contact information for pro bono immigration attorneys based in Northern Virginia.
Slate reports that two of the detainees were coerced into signing away their green cards and deported. They were not allowed to meet with attorneys, nor were several Democratic members of Congress—Reps. Gerry Connolly and Don Beyer of Virginia and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey—allowed to speak with those detained or even meet with CBP officials.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security—the home agency of CBP—put out a bullshit statement saying that after "issuance of the court orders yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) immediately began taking steps to comply with the orders. […] We are committed to ensuring that all individuals affected by the executive orders, including those affected by the court orders, are being provided all rights afforded under the law." They clearly are not, and immigration lawyers in Virginia are considering going back to the judge to declare the government in contempt of court.
House and Senate Democrats are demanding accountability from DHS.
Illinois Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin have requested an investigation by the inspector general at DHS. "The United States Constitution means little if law enforcement agents disregard it, or if Americans are unwilling to defend its principles and respect foundational constitutional rights, from due process to equal protection under the law," the two wrote. In the House, Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers of Michigan, Homeland Security ranking member Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Eliot Engel of New York, and California Rep. Zoe Lofgren are demanding an emergency' meeting with DHS Secretary John Kelly about the confusion surrounding enforcement of the order. "Given the widespread chaos and confusion caused by the order—and the issuance of stays last evening concerning the Order by federal courts in New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts," they wrote, "it is vital that we meet as soon as possible so that we may provide needed guidance and information to our committees and our constituents."
The Trump regime is now blowing off both the courts and the Congress. That is the definition of a constitutional crisis.
