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Pema Levy

@pemalevy

Reporter at @MotherJones.bsky.social Send me secure tips: pemalevy[at]proton.me pemalevy.33 (Signal)

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13.11.2024
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Latest posts by Pema Levy @pemalevy

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SCOOP: In a January letter to Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL), DHS says 270 DACA recipients have been arrested from January to September 2025. In addition, 174 DACA applicants have been deported, according to ICE records.

Those numbers differ from what was shared with Sen. Dick Durbin in February.

05.03.2026 17:33 πŸ‘ 566 πŸ” 264 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 9

I’m sorry what? The admin has someone consulting on one of its cases whom it will not disclose to the public?

05.03.2026 13:49 πŸ‘ 54 πŸ” 26 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
In the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
J.G.G. et al.,
Case No. 1:25-cv-00766-JEB
Plaintiffs;
LIYANARA SANCHEZ, as next friend on behalf of FRENGEL REYES MOTA, et al.,
Petitioners-Plaintiffs,
V.
DONALD J. TRUMP, in his officia sapacity as President of the Unite
Respondents-Defendants.
NOTICE OF APPEAL
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that all Respondents-Defendants appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from the following judgments of this Court and all orders merging therewith:
β€’ Memorandum Opinion and Order of February 12, 2026 (ECF 247).
Respectfully submitted,
Brett A. Shumate
Assistant Attorney General
Yaakov M. Roth
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Drew C. Ensigr
Deputy Assistant Attorney Genera
August Flentje
Special Counsel for Immigration
Case 1:25-cv-00766-JEB Document 254 Filed 03/04/26
Page 2 of 3
s/Tiberius T. Davis
Tiberius T. Davis
Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General
Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice

In the United States District Court for the District of Columbia J.G.G. et al., Case No. 1:25-cv-00766-JEB Plaintiffs; LIYANARA SANCHEZ, as next friend on behalf of FRENGEL REYES MOTA, et al., Petitioners-Plaintiffs, V. DONALD J. TRUMP, in his officia sapacity as President of the Unite Respondents-Defendants. NOTICE OF APPEAL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that all Respondents-Defendants appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from the following judgments of this Court and all orders merging therewith: β€’ Memorandum Opinion and Order of February 12, 2026 (ECF 247). Respectfully submitted, Brett A. Shumate Assistant Attorney General Yaakov M. Roth Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew C. Ensigr Deputy Assistant Attorney Genera August Flentje Special Counsel for Immigration Case 1:25-cv-00766-JEB Document 254 Filed 03/04/26 Page 2 of 3 s/Tiberius T. Davis Tiberius T. Davis Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice

NEWS: DOJ is appealing Judge Boasberg’s February order that the people deported to CECOT under the claimed authority of the Alien Enemies Act receive the due process they have been illegally denied since March 15, 2025. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

04.03.2026 20:50 πŸ‘ 153 πŸ” 67 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 2
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'UNIMAGINABLE CRUELTY': Judge Gary Brown, a Trump appointeee from NY, thrashes DHS' treatment of a man who came to the US at 9 as an abuse/neglect victim, has no criminal record and became a college grad.

"The laws of decency condemn such villainy." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

03.03.2026 14:46 πŸ‘ 6452 πŸ” 2404 πŸ’¬ 85 πŸ“Œ 132
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Justice Alito’s latest opinion is a very, very bad sign for voting rights A decision upholding a New York GOP congressional district could be a prelude to killing the Voting Rights Act.

Even by his standards Alito’s opinion in NY redistricting case last night was totally unhinged. If he’s writing majority opinion in Voting Rights Act case that’s very very bad news www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

03.03.2026 15:42 πŸ‘ 378 πŸ” 173 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 15
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24,403 lawsuits and counting: How habeas corpus became the front line of immigration defense "We have to kick the door down."

Immigrants are successfully challenging the Trump administration's mass detention policy and winning release from ICE custodyβ€”thanks to a centuries-old legal principle and constitutional right. My latest for @motherjones.com:

03.03.2026 15:04 πŸ‘ 164 πŸ” 55 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2

NEW: A judge has restored lawmakers' unfettered access to ICE detention facilities, her third ruling to block Secretary Noem's policy attempting to limit unannounced visits from members of Congress.

www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

02.03.2026 20:00 πŸ‘ 1468 πŸ” 499 πŸ’¬ 28 πŸ“Œ 9
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Exclusive | Trump Administration to Drop Defense of Law Firm Sanctions The Justice Dept. plans to abandon its defense of the president’s executive orders that targeted Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, Perkins Coie, and Susman Godfrey.

(Gift link) Admin is wise to drop what would've been a big loss on appeal. But given the limited scope of the trial ct rulings (only reaching the firms attacked), it keeps the possibility of more threats above other firms' heads. The threat remains acute, as does the damage of BigLaw's response. 🧡

02.03.2026 19:56 πŸ‘ 27 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

This actually explains a lot of the court's rulings

02.03.2026 15:39 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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NEW: Four federal judges have formed a firewall against ICE in West Virginia β€” and say they’ll punish state and federal officials of they continue detaining people in ways they have ruled illegal and unconstitutional.

www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

01.03.2026 12:44 πŸ‘ 8758 πŸ” 2597 πŸ’¬ 122 πŸ“Œ 121
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JUST IN: A federal judge says the Trump administration has been β€œterrorizing” refugees β€” violating the promise America made to them when they fled persecution at home β€” by locking them up illegally. He blocked the policy for those in MN storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

27.02.2026 22:35 πŸ‘ 5729 πŸ” 1870 πŸ’¬ 47 πŸ“Œ 49
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How Trump will fill his immigrant gulags DHS is rewriting its detention rules to ignore the lawβ€”and entrap millions.

The contours of a dual state are coming into view, one in which anyone targeted by Trump’s deportation and detention program has no rights that can save them.

Read @pemalevy.bsky.social on how DHS is rewriting its detention rules to ignore the lawβ€”and entrap millions.

27.02.2026 15:00 πŸ‘ 173 πŸ” 117 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 10

Fair enough! But seems like a Utah decision, not a federal requirement

24.02.2026 16:54 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Actually, no. Buying alcohol has an age requirement, not an ID requirement. No one thinks a 70-year old has to produce ID to buy a beer.

24.02.2026 15:49 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Special Saturday Triad: What I Saw at the Battle of Minneapolis The national media has moved on. Minnesota is still under siege.

β€œYou now live in a country where volunteers deliver babies at home, in secret, off the books, because mothers fear that if they go to the hospital, they will be abducted by masked, armed agents of the state while giving birth.”

21.02.2026 18:54 πŸ‘ 537 πŸ” 317 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 14
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4 journalists detained in Cameroon reporting on Trump’s deportations Lawyers say Trump is sending migrants to Cameroon who originated elsewhere. AP freelancers, among others, were detained while reporting on the deportees.

Four journalists, including AP freelancers, were detained in Cameroon on Tuesday while reporting on migrants deported there by the Trump administration.

They were released, but their devices were confiscated.
w/ @maeganvaz.bsky.social + @liamjscott.bsky.social

19.02.2026 23:21 πŸ‘ 208 πŸ” 141 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
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On tariffs, the Supreme Court must choose between the president and their plutocratic patrons This case is all about power and loyalty.

reupping this because of its prescience www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

20.02.2026 17:23 πŸ‘ 82 πŸ” 23 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 1
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My profile of Congressman Cory Mills is based on interviews with 18 people who have known the Florida Republican from his youth to the present day.

There's stolen valor, a restraining order, a failed grenade company, sex workers, a Trump endorsement, and much much more.

Here's what I found.

20.02.2026 19:44 πŸ‘ 420 πŸ” 161 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 11

And Gorsuch so thoroughly refutes Thomas' take here that it's just embarrassing that Thomas decided to publish it anyway. Like, no facts will get in the way of making Trump king.

20.02.2026 19:57 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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On tariffs, the Supreme Court's GOP justices appear ready to save Trump from himself The administration's economic recklessness threatens Republicans' grip on power.

Context behind the ruling, as @pemalevy.bsky.social wrote in November during oral arguments:

"A loss for Trump will, in fact, be doing him a favor. And the GOP-appointed justicesβ€”who have spent the past 10 months giving Trump virtually everything he wantsβ€”surely know this."

20.02.2026 16:00 πŸ‘ 105 πŸ” 25 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 6
Preview
Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariff regime The justices hand a rare rebuke to a president they've enabled.

I cannot get over how Justice Thomas wants to just hand Trump a bunch of powers delegated to Congress by the Constitution. Originalism at its finest.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

20.02.2026 18:02 πŸ‘ 127 πŸ” 21 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 2
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Tennessee said yes to ICEβ€”and turned into a deportation state How the feds worked with state troopers to terrorize Nashville’s immigrants.

There's video of ICE doing a massive operation with Tennessee state troopersβ€”and making horrible comments as they go along.

I'm talking awful racial profiling and bad jokes like "The guacamole is never going to taste the same."

So much to dig into here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

19.02.2026 19:13 πŸ‘ 266 πŸ” 154 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 7

This week's stories about secret deportations to "third countries" are chilling

"they did not know they were being sent to Cameroon until they were handcuffed and chained on a [DHS] flight" -NYT

The stories failed to explain that this illegal shit is happening b/c SCOTUS okay'd it on shadow docket

19.02.2026 16:49 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Report: Staff at Dilley raiding cells to confiscate kids' letters and drawings detailing conditions inside

Report: Staff at Dilley raiding cells to confiscate kids' letters and drawings detailing conditions inside

ProPublica published children's letters and drawings documenting their sadness and suffering at Dilley. And Dilley staff are now retaliating by confiscating kids' letters and drawings.

www.sacurrent.com/news/san-ant...

18.02.2026 13:14 πŸ‘ 4580 πŸ” 2568 πŸ’¬ 140 πŸ“Œ 310

Another nail in the coffin of the presumption of regularity

18.02.2026 16:35 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Testing Kristi Noem's transparency claim We're suing CBP and ICE for their footage.

Testing Kristi Noem's transparency claim

09.02.2026 14:30 πŸ‘ 123 πŸ” 28 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.

Hundreds of kids are still detained.

We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧡

09.02.2026 12:25 πŸ‘ 11565 πŸ” 7422 πŸ’¬ 197 πŸ“Œ 827
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Toddler hospitalized with respiratory failure was returned to ICE detention without prescribed medication, lawsuit says The 18-month-old was sent back to a South Texas facility after days in intensive care with severe respiratory distress, according to a federal lawsuit.

NEW: A baby held in immigration detention became so sick, she had to be rushed to a hospital in severe respiratory distress.

β€œShe was at the brink of dying,” a lawyer told me.

But the girl didn’t go home after her 10-day hospital stay; instead, ICE put her and her mother back in lock up at Dilley.

07.02.2026 20:25 πŸ‘ 2626 πŸ” 1850 πŸ’¬ 101 πŸ“Œ 223

A chilling episode. After the government’s case against Espinoza Martinez fell apart, they just decided to detain him anyway… apparently illegally

07.02.2026 00:04 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Unitary executive theory coming for civil service protections, making the partisan spoils system great again

05.02.2026 21:10 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0