Trump Admin's 'Lost' Migrant Planes: A Masterclass in Obfuscation
A federal judge's order to recall planes mid-flight carrying Venezuelan migrants was 'missed' by Trump officials, leading to a renewed contempt probe. The AP notes this is 'extremely rare,' painting it as a surprising clash. What they won't dwell on is the executive branch's consistent pattern of claiming administrative fog whenever judicial oversight threatens its dehumanizing migration tactics,
especially prevalent during the Trump era's 'zero tolerance' policies. This isn't an isolated incident; it's a feature, not a bug, of a system designed to frustrate accountability. One might wonder if the government would be so 'confused' if those planes were carrying, say, high-value assets rather than vulnerable human beings. The speed with which an appeals court initially quashed Judge
Boasberg's finding, only for a larger panel to reinstate it, simply demonstrates the judicial branch itself is divided on how much leeway to give officials who conveniently 'unexecute' inconvenient orders while migrants face unknown fates.