Amy P.
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amyephillips.bsky.social
Amy P.
@amyephillips.bsky.social
1.7K followers 2.2K following 1.4K posts
Appellate public defender. Broadway superfan. #FOIA nerd. #DCStatehood #PDTwitter #AppellateTwitter 🏳️‍🌈 🇵🇸 😷
She/her. Personal account.
(@amyeph from Twitter)
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amyephillips.bsky.social
Amy P. @amyephillips.bsky.social · Jul 3
What’s going to happen is that these Medicaid cuts are going to go into effect, and hospitals and clinics are going to close, and treatment won’t be available.

And then we’re going to get mainstream news stories with headlines like “Trump Gives Speech Blaming Obamacare for Mass Hospital Closures.”
Reposted by Amy P.
andreapitzer.bsky.social
When I got the contract to write a history of concentration camps in 2014, I hoped to keep the US from ending up here. That didn't work out! But now it's critical to understand how much is already in process and the enormity of what's coming. The sooner we act to stop it, the more people we'll save.
Building the camps
The warehouseification of detention and initial thoughts on stopping it.
degenerateart.beehiiv.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:24 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social
Team USA Curler Rich Ruohonen:
"We'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention what's going on in Minnesota...I am a lawyer, as you know, and we have a constitution... and what's happening in Minnesota is wrong. There's no shades of gray. It's clear."
February 10, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social
During a congressional visit, Congressman Joaquin Castro discovered that babies as young as two months old are being held at the Dilley, Texas Family Concentration Camp. (February 10, 2026)
February 11, 2026 at 4:18 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
melodyschreiber.com
NEW: The FDA just shot down Moderna's new flu shot. From me:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
FDA declines to review Moderna application for new flu vaccine
Moderna requests meeting to discuss refusal as decision could have implications for all new and updated vaccines
www.theguardian.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
schmutzie.com
in other words, yes it is. Quit TikTok.
February 11, 2026 at 3:11 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
anthonymoser.com
This is because a statistical model of word frequency is not a useful tool for modeling the complex interactions of the human body
rocher.lc Luc Rocher @rocher.lc · 1d
⚠️ Despite all the hype, chatbots still make terrible doctors. Out today is the largest user study of language models for medical self-diagnosis. We found that chatbots provide inaccurate and inconsistent answers, and that people are better off using online searches or their own judgment.
Banner image with screenshot of scientific article from nature Medicine, as well as two panels from the study method and results
February 10, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
tusk81.bsky.social
"The Trump administration’s rush to declare Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti at fault for instigating violence was quickly undercut by a barrage of viral videos. But a New York Times review of the other shootings found that similar claims by officials fell apart more quietly when the cases went to court."
austinkocher.com Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 20h
ICE shot at 16 people in the past year. In four cases, courts later found DHS claims unsupported, dismissing charges or dropping cases. The pattern mirrors what followed the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Trump Administration Claims About Shootings by Federal Agents Unravel in Court
Before the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, allegations against four others shot at by federal immigration agents failed to withstand scrutiny.
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
walkerbragman.bsky.social
SCOOP: The Department of Health and Human Services has been using the term “sex-rejecting procedures” to describe gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary individuals.

The term is not clinical or medical. It comes from a Christian Right group.

www.importantcontext.news/p/hhs-is-usi...
HHS Has Been Using Anti-Trans Language From a Christian Right Think Tank
The department refers to gender-affirming care as “sex-denying procedures,” a term coined by the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
www.importantcontext.news
February 9, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
propublica.org
8/ For more on what kids are experiencing inside the Dilley detention center, read the full story by reporter @micarosenberg.bsky.social:
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
propublica.org
7/ Read the rest of the letters:
“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility
Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...
propub.li
February 9, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
propublica.org
6/ “When I arrived every night I cried and now I don’t sleep well, I felt that being here was my fault and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.”

9-year-old Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya, detained on her way to Disney World, spent 113+ days at Dilley.
Page 1 of a child’s handwritten letter, written in pencil in Spanish. Colorful doodles of a rainbow and hearts are found throughout the page. Translation: “I am Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya and I have been 113 days in detention I miss my friends and I feel they are going to forget me. I am bored here. I already miss my country and my house, I came on vacation for 10 Days and they took me into an ice office an officer interrogated me 2 hours without my mom, I was traveling with flight attendant because my mom lives in new york, they only wanted to arrest my mom, because my mom didn’t have documents to live in U.S.A., I always traveled with my tourist visa but ice used me to catch my mom and now I am in a jail and I am sad and I have fainted 2 times here inside. When I arrived every night I cried and now I don’t sleep well, I felt that being here was my fault and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.” Page 2 of a child’s handwritten letter, written in pencil in Spanish. Translation: “They don’t give me my diet I am vegetarian, I don’t eat well, there is no good education and I miss my best friend julieta and my grandmother and my school I already want to get to my house. Me in dilei [Dilley] am not happy please get me out of here to colombia.” Below the text is a drawing of the girl and her mother in the government-issued gray sweatsuits of the detention center.
February 9, 2026 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
propublica.org
3/ “I have never been separated from my siblings and its honestly sad because they are little and they need their mom and sister.”

From 14-year-old Ariana V.V, whose U.S.-citizen siblings are 2 and 5 years old. Detained for 45+ days
Page 1 of handwritten letter. Transcript: "Hello, my name is Ariana V.V. im 14 years old and im from Honduras, ive been detained for 45 days and I have never felt so much fear to go to a place as I feel here everytime I remind myself that once I go back to Honduras a lot of dangerous things could happen to my mom and my younger siblings haven’t been able to see their mom in more than a month. They are very young and you need both of your parents when you are growing up. Since I got to this Center all you will feel is sadness and mostly depression. When people have their courts the longest they will last is 15 minutes, our rights are not being provided, arrest are happening when people don’t even have any type of order, arrests are happening illegally. Its sad to hear that peoples case are being denied and are getting send back to their country places where they are escaping from and are looking for protection and want to feel safe. Not a lot of people know what is happening in the Centers where immigrants are placed at. I haven’t been getting any school time. Every single person in here had their jobs they had their lifes, they aren’t any danger for this Country." Page 2 of a child’s handwritten letter. Transcript: "Ive been in this country for almost 7 years and in those 7 years my mom and I found a home and made a bigger family. I have never been separated from my siblings and its honestly sad because they are little and they need their mom and sister, yeah they are with their dad but its still different for them and my mom and I. Since the day my mom and I get detained in Manhattan NY, my life was instanly paused, from my knowledge you can’t be under custody for more than 15 or 20 days, well here in Dilley Immigration Processing Center people have been in this place for 7 months, 5 months, 4-2 months, its not fair that the ICE officers are not following the laws. All kids are being damage mentally, they witness how the’ve been treated. They don’t have schools, doctor, all they have are nurses, if you need medical attention the longest you have to wait is 3 hours, but to get any medicine, pill, anything it takes a while, there are various viruses people are always sick. Serious situations happen and the officers can’t take them serious enough there are no consecuenses, they don’t care."
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
propublica.org
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. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
motherjones.com
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of a war sparked by the quartering of soldiers in US cities, Trump is prolonging the military occupation of Washington, DC.
Trump's war on history
As America's 250th anniversary approaches, the president wants to control the country's future by bulldozing its past.
www.motherjones.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
propublica.org
Tear gas is banned in international warfare, yet classified as a “riot control agent” that law enforcement can use for crowd control.

“It just doesn’t work well, and it hits the weakest people the most, and causes the most complications in them,” an anesthesiology professor at Duke University said.
Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On
In the middle of a respiratory pandemic, law enforcement agencies have used tear gas in especially dangerous ways. The chemical agent also seeps into homes, contaminates food, furniture, skin and surf...
www.propublica.org
February 3, 2026 at 2:40 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
DOJ is a joke. And dangerous. Part 294841. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
By Charlie Savage Charlie Savage writes about national security and legal policy. Feb. 2, 2026 The Justice Department failed to tell a magistrate judge about a 1980 law protecting journalists in its application materials for a warrant to search a Washington Post reporter’s home last month as part of a leak investigation, an unsealed court filing shows. Gabe Rottman, the vice president for policy at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which had asked the judge to unseal the materials, called that omission significant. “By not alerting the judge to the existence of a federal law that is supposed to limit searches for reporting materials, it may have greased the skids for the judge agreeing to the warrant when otherwise the judge might have scrutinized it more carefully,” Mr. Rottman said.
February 3, 2026 at 5:24 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
thebulwark.com
"Two clients Lawyer Eric Lee visited last week, a boy and a girl who are twins, turned 5 in the detention center....The twin 5-year-olds, and their family members who are 9, 16, and 18, have been there for an appalling eight months."
Why a Scared 5-Year-Old Boy Shook Our National Conscience
What the image of Liam Ramos, grabbed in Minnesota and thrown in detention in Texas, means for our democracy.
lnk.thebulwark.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
marisakabas.bsky.social
“It’s just weird to see a toddler in a pink onesie getting their eyes washed out from tear gas, you know?”
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 8d
New — I spoke to eight people who were present at the ICE protest on Saturday in Portland, Oregon when federal agents deployed tear gas and rubber bullets into a crowd of families, children, elderly and disabled people, and their pets.

These are their stories:
What it's like to see ICE tear gas kids
Attendees at a Portland, OR protest describe a vicious, unprovoked and sudden attack
www.thehandbasket.co
February 3, 2026 at 2:08 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
Judge Reyes’s conclusion: “There is an old adage among lawyers. If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table. … Having neither and bringing the adage into the 21st century, [Noem] pounds X (f/k/a Twitter).”
VIl. CONCLUSION There is an old adage among lawyers. If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table. Secretary Noem, the record to-date shows, does not have the facts on her side or at least has ignored them. Does not have the law on her side or at least has ignored it. Having neither and bringing the adage into the 21st century, she pounds X (f/k/a Twitter). Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants. Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that. By accompanying Order, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705. Ana C. Reyes Date: February 2, 2026 ANA C. REYES United States District Judge
February 3, 2026 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
BREAKING: Judge Ana Reyes, in DC, issues a stay of DHS Sec. Noem’s decision to end Haiti’s temporary protected status (TPS) designation, a decision that was to go into effect on Tuesday and could have ended legal status for up to 350,000 people overnight. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FRITZ EMMANUEL LESLY MIOT, et al., Plaintiffs, Case No. 25-cv-02471 (ACR) V. DONALD J. TRUMP, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: "America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions." More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington's vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take.? eSec Noem I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies. Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom-not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON'T WANT THEM. NOT ONE. 6:52 PM - Dec 1, 2025 - 13.2M Views ' Letter from George Washington to Joshua Holmes (December 2, 1783). 2 Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl.) 1110 n.91. But see supra n.l. So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) "damn" countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti's TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination). Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, "killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies." They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer's disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) 1 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. 1 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. | 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. 9| 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. 9|5. They claim that Secretary Noem's decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law. Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary's decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI. Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959 lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things— in the public interest is not one of them. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.
February 3, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
samanthamichaels.bsky.social
Star Tribune confirms what Mother Jones reported last week—more federal prosecutors are resigning in Minnesota. Here's additional context for why: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
February 2, 2026 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
poteauthe11th.bsky.social
Two men shot in a car, we are told it's because they tried to run over LE. No body cams, no videos, contradictory stories from "law enforcement."

As has been the case even when there are videos, THIS IS A PACK OF LIES.
DHS’s account of two Venezuelans shot by border patrol falls apart in court: ‘A smear campaign’
Immigration officials said agent shot two ‘vicious gang members’ in Portland, but records obtained by the Guardian reveal US prosecutor contradicted claims
www.theguardian.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:41 AM
Reposted by Amy P.
vermontgmg.bsky.social
I testified Friday on the history of CBP and ICE's corruption and training problems. It's so much worse than you think.

The population of CBP officers/agents arrested THEMSELVES since 2005 would be America's 4th largest police dept—larger than the Philly PD. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/accountabi...
Accountability for ICE and CBP
However bad you think the corruption and misconduct at ICE and CBP is — the reality is far far worse.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
February 1, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Take a look at this insane image the Illinois College Republicans posted and then read their statement about how they're not trying to excuse or glorify violence.
ONLY TRAITORS HELP INVADERS Image of a masked federal agent with a gun at the back of a kneeling defenseless man who looks like Alex Pretti In regard to a question about whether the stylized graphic of an officer holding a gun to someone’s head glorifies or valorizes the killings, the RSO wrote that “the image is, in fact, not intended to target nor incentivize violence against a particular party.” They added that “There is no labeling in the graphic, and there are no identifying features. In short, people are going to take away whatever they want, but reasonably this graphic does not glorify nor valorize any incident because it lacks any reasonable connection.” The group stated it does not “endorse violence nor discrimination towards anyone based on their identification with a specific protected group,” and that the groups message is that it supports “the enforcement of the law and those who enforce it.”
February 2, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Reposted by Amy P.
seeschrader.bsky.social
Yeah, what a dump. Zero charm. Never anything special or romantic about it.
Photo I took inside one of the beautiful theaters inside the Kennedy Center. Took the whole family to see a performance of Romeo & Juliet. We loved it.
February 2, 2026 at 6:41 PM