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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Roger Parloff @rparloff.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Four days before yesterday’s ICE shooting in the Bronx, Judge Gary Brown of EDNY (Trump apptee) listed 7 outrages in an ICE case before him, including evasive & apparently perjurious testimony, post-hoc sworn arrest warrant containing false info, woeful lack of training … 1/2

The evidence points to numerous failings on the part of both ICE and the officers
who testified, including:
1. evasive and apparently perjurious testimony by the ICE agents, including the
testimony concerning supposed observations of the petitioner engaging in drug
transactions, which bear all the hallmarks of coordinated fabrication,12 the absence of any recovered drugs, paraphernalia or cash from the petitioner,
the failure of the agents to follow up upon these supposed observations or refer
the matter to another law enforcement agency, and the notable absence of any
reference to these observations in the voluminous documentary records, further undermining the agents' testimony;
2. the seemingly reflexive, though false, claims that the petitioner was
"misidentified" as the target of the operation;
3. fundamental misconceptions about ICE agents authorities and duties;
4. illegality of the arrest and detention of petitioner and Concepcion;
5. the post-arrest documents, which not only were procedurally and legally
suspect, but contain false statements;

Notably, in its filings, Government counsel has not referenced this testimony, seemingly abandoning any argument predicated upon these sworn assertions by the agents.

6. the database search process used to justify the administrative warrant, as
described by the ranking supervisory officer, which appears designed to generate misleading information in official records; and
7. the inexperience of the agents involved, their woeful lack of proper training, understanding of law, policies and procedures, and their ready recourse to false testimony to conceal these failings.

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 19h

And, yes, this, too. D.V.D. has other issues involved as well, as to the class and scope of relief.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 19h

This is law as vibes, not rules. There are multiple possible reasons why SCOTUS acted as it did. In D.V.D., the Supreme Court may have favored the govt's position as to the availability of a class action. But this case is NOT A CLASS ACTION. A humanitarian and legal mess.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

What a grave and dark day in America’s descent

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I thought I might become an enemy of the state for doing work with immigrants. Turns out, there is an easier way.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Turns out becoming an enemy of the state takes very little work

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

The missing pages of the Das Kapital have been found

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Ken Schwencke @schwanksta.com · 06/10/2026

A year ago, @propublica.org told you immigration agents had detained more than 170 U.S. citizens. We’ve updated our count, and we’ve got all the receipts. The tally: At least 506 citizens detained. Sometimes held at gunpoint, handcuffed, or even deported. projects.propublica.org/american-cit...

projects.propublica.org

More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublica

The government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more than 500 Americans who were held against their will during this Trump administrati...

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Jay Kuo @nycjayjay.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This is a community note for the ages.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

A special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate why there are so few public polls of the Nevada governor's race

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

On Tuesday! Register here: linktr.ee/unlvsce?utm_...

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Elliott Young @elliottyoung.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The answer to failed executions is not successful ones.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

On the one hand, my vote matters. On the other hand, I live in Nevada.

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Here's why the DOJ argued that the Supreme Court should also take up the constitutional question. I personally would prefer they do not take up the constitutional question, so this might be one small good sign.

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Yes, but interestingly the Supreme Court has chosen NOT to take up (for now) a 6th Circuit case which raised that constitutional question. The DOJ wanted them to, but they took up the 2nd Circuit's statutory-only case instead. At this moment, don't read too much into it. But it could matter.

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This will be one of the most important immigration cases in a generation. The Trump admin claims that a 1996 law mandates the detention of millions of people without any right to a bond hearing; every person who entered illegally, no matter how long in the past. If they win, it's a nightmare.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

@chrisgeidner.bsky.social This thought is kind why - while knowing the court is political - I don’t see it as obvious which way the winds blow it.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Also important: This is the same group of people they just removed from the Detainee Locator. Making filing a rapid habeas even more difficult.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Yes. Again sorry for my lack of clarity. No disagreement there. I just don’t immediately see an obvious way in which, say, a blue wave would sway the court in this particular case.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Oh for sure. It’s extremely difficult. Tis is a dangerous decision that may lead to disastrous results. But we have managed to stop a number of third country removals this way (and secured release from detention). Just part of the nuance about what a bad decision does and doesn’t mean.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Why would the elections change third country removal issues?

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Important: Relief from third country removal may still be sought in individual habeas petitions.

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

BREAKING: SCOTUS allows the Trump admin to restart third-country removals under a policy found by lower courts to violate federal law. The Democratic appointees dissent. The deportations will be OK'ed at least through the next several months, with SCOTUS agreeing to hear the case in December.

CERTIORARI GRANTED
DEPT. OF HOMELAND SEC., ET AL. V. D.V.D., ET AL.
The application for stay presented to Justice Jackson and
by her referred to the Court is granted. The February 25, 2026
order and judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, case No. 1:25-cv-10676, are stayed.
The application is also treated as a petition for a writ of
certiorari, and the petition is granted. The parties are directed to brief and argue the following questions: (1) Whether
the district court had jurisdiction over Respondents' claims.
(2) Whether the district court had authority to enter classwide declaratory relief and APA vacatur under 8 U. S. C. §1252(f) (1).
(3) Whether the Government's Guidance on third-country removals
is unlawful under 8 U.S. C. §1231(b), the Due Process Clause, or FARRA/CAT and its implementing regulations. (4) Such other
questions that the Government determines are appropriate for the
proper disposition of the case. The Clerk is directed to
establish a briefing schedule that will allow the case to be argued in the December 2026 argument session. The stay shall
terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court.
Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan, and Justice Jackson would deny the application for stay.

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Yep. The commentators who overinterpreted the meaning of 2024 still haven't admitted how wrong they were, let alone acknowledged any of the disastrous consequences of that error.

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Joaquin Castro @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Update on Pedro Mendoza Chávez: While he was in the hospital, ICE refused to let his wife see or speak to him, and an officer told her he had fallen. Pedro, 63, says agents kicked him to the ground. Instead of being in a hospital, he's at an ICE detention facility in Taylor, Texas.

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Joaquin Castro @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Pedro Mendoza Chavez was caught up in ICE’s dragnet in San Antonio, leaving him hospitalized with a head injury that required stitches. His wife has no idea where he is and has not been able to speak with him. My office is in contact with his family, and we will continue monitoring his case.

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

We don’t throw anybody under the bus. 💜 👊 🔥 🌈

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

You can’t have an election without a caravan panic

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Who says lawyers have to be boring and serious?

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

On September 15, ICE suddenly removed approximately 16,000 people from the system. They’re now just, well, disappeared. behindtheborder.substack.com/p/disappeare...

behindtheborder.substack.com

Disappeared in America

16,000 people, gone

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

We are taught that fascists look like Adolf Hitler, concentration camps look like Auschwitz, and genocide looks like gas chambers and 6 million Jews dead. Which is how we fail to live up to our promise: Never again. behindtheborder.substack.com/p/the-mental...

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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

This post is a response to Kim Foster's excellent essay about concentration camps in America. I'll post a link to her essay in the thread below. behindtheborder.substack.com/p/the-mental...

behindtheborder.substack.com

The Mental Prison of 1942 Germany

I love Kim Foster’s essay “Do We Have Concentration Camps in the U.S.?” for many reasons (some of it just the writing).

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Reposted by Michael Kagan

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Mahmoud Khalil filed a motion to reopen his case in front of the Board of Immigrations Appeals on the grounds that the process was preordained (true) and thus denied him the neutral magistrates required by due process (true) and they responded with basically “how DARE you cite the FAKE NEWS at us.”

As the primary new evidence in support of the motion, the respondent presents a May 8, 2026, New York Times article ("Article"), a May 13, 2026, affidavit from Andrea Sáenz ("Sáenz Affidavit"), a May 13, 2026, affidavit from Dana Leigh Marks ("Marks Affidavit"), and a May 14, 2026, affidavit from Ryan R. Wood. In general, a domestic media article consisting primarily of opinions with minimal (and anonymously-sourced) facts will almost never be sufficient evidence to warrant reopening. Nearly every well-known domestic media outlet operates with a particular ideological valence which must be accounted for in assessing the persuasiveness of its reporting and its evidentiary weight. See, e.g., AllSides Media Bias Chart, AllSides, https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-chart (last visited Sept. 25, 2026); cf. Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 316 (1974) ("The partiality of a witness... is always relevant as discrediting the witness and affecting the weight of his testimony.") (citation modified); see also, e.g., John K. Maciver Inst. for Pub. Policy,
Inc. v. Evers, 994 F.3d 602, 611 (7th Cir. 2021)

(recognizing that some media outlets are traditionally viewed as conservative leaning, such as the Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and Washington Examiner, whereas others are viewed as liberal leaning, such as the Capitol Times, New York Times, and Huttington Post). Media coverage of judicial decisions warrants particular skepticism because it is often focused on perceived nonlegal issues rather than the applicable law and legal reasoning actually at issue before the court. See, e.g., Barry Sullivan and Christina Camody Tilley, Supreme Court Journalism: From Law to Spectacle?, 77 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 343, 343-344, 437-442 (2020) (concluding that contemporary media coverage of the Supreme Court by newspapers including the New York Times focuses primarily on the justices' presumed political and policy preferences rather than the legal issues they confront in the case before them, which can undermine public confidence in the Court as an institution). To be sure, "[a] publication can be accurate but still biased." AllSides Media Bias Chart, supra. But a publication that is (1)

based on anonymous factual sourcing* supplemented by opinions of only individuals whose biases are aligned with that of the narrative of the story and who lack any firsthand knowledge of the facts at issue, (2) contains disputed facts, and (3) is clearly biased against the agency and in favor of the subject of the case warrants minimal, if any, weight, and is unlikely to be persuasive enough to warrant reopening. Further, taking action based on such an article would likely violate an Appellate Immigration Judge's ethical and professional duty to act in a neutral and detached manner. See Ethics and Professionalism Guide for Members of the Board of Immigration
Appeals,
SeC.
VIII
(May
4,
2011);
https://www.justice.gov/d9/pages/attachments/2017/08/24/bia_ethics and professionalism guide for board members.pdf ("A Board Member should not be swayed by partisan interests or public clamor.") (emphasis added).

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Aaron Hall @immlawachall.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Board of Immigration Appeals: Our “there was no funny business in this case” published decision has people asking a lot of questions already answered by our decision www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...

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