Gillian Brockell
@gbrockell.bsky.social
I track ICE flights and third-country removals. Recent words in Mother Jones, Zeteo, Rolling Stone, American Prospect. Former WaPo (sigh), former flight attendant.
Subscribe to my newsletter: https://gillianbrockell.ghost.io/
Signal: gbrockell.44
Subscribe to my newsletter: https://gillianbrockell.ghost.io/
Signal: gbrockell.44
Pinned
ICE Deportation Flights Are Getting Longer and Crueler
A private equity-owned airline profits off Trump’s migrant crackdown.
www.motherjones.com
NEW: Meet the private-equity firm -- and its billionaire immigrant CEO -- making millions off some of ICE's cruelest deportation flights.
After a five-month investigation, my story for @motherjones.com:
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
After a five-month investigation, my story for @motherjones.com:
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
‘He’s not the same’: Father of Liam Conejo Ramos says 5-year-old continues to suffer
Some people thought they say the 5-year-old during the Super Bowl halftime show. But Liam is still in hiding with his family, after he and his father were detained and then released from a Texas deten...
www.mprnews.org
February 10, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
Amongst other things, this again highlights the core point about due process. It’s bad enough to be in a “show me your papers” situation, but your precious citizen/non-citizen, “legal”/“illegal” distinctions are meaningless when you can’t prove anything to authorities because they don’t give a shit.
And here is my story: ‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record
www.irishtimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Amongst other things, this again highlights the core point about due process. It’s bad enough to be in a “show me your papers” situation, but your precious citizen/non-citizen, “legal”/“illegal” distinctions are meaningless when you can’t prove anything to authorities because they don’t give a shit.
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
I didn’t know any of this. NJ public school education much?
Some years ago, I was chatting with a Retropolis reader, a young history student, and I mentioned there were several dozen people enslaved in New Jersey up until the day the 13th Amendment kicked in in December 1865.
Y’all. He identified every one of them.
njs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/nj...
Y’all. He identified every one of them.
njs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/nj...
February 9, 2026 at 11:01 PM
I didn’t know any of this. NJ public school education much?
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
“I’m mad I can’t understand Bad Bunny’s lyrics because they’re not in English”
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
February 9, 2026 at 5:46 AM
“I’m mad I can’t understand Bad Bunny’s lyrics because they’re not in English”
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
And five 737s from Avelo.
In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in:
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
February 9, 2026 at 7:02 PM
And five 737s from Avelo.
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
🧊✈️ OMNI GLOBAL RENDITIONS ⛓️🌏
👉 An Omni 767 (tail: N351AX) on an ICE transport mission out of Texas crosses the Atlantic with a load of chained humans 👀
👉 An Omni 767 (tail: N351AX) on an ICE transport mission out of Texas crosses the Atlantic with a load of chained humans 👀
February 9, 2026 at 2:31 PM
🧊✈️ OMNI GLOBAL RENDITIONS ⛓️🌏
👉 An Omni 767 (tail: N351AX) on an ICE transport mission out of Texas crosses the Atlantic with a load of chained humans 👀
👉 An Omni 767 (tail: N351AX) on an ICE transport mission out of Texas crosses the Atlantic with a load of chained humans 👀
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/
“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...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
My research colleague Gabriel Sandoval obtained 911 logs from Dilley that had calls about toddlers having trouble breathing, a pregnant woman passing out and a girl with seizures. Three calls were about alleged sexual assault between detainees. 8/
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
My research colleague Gabriel Sandoval obtained 911 logs from Dilley that had calls about toddlers having trouble breathing, a pregnant woman passing out and a girl with seizures. Three calls were about alleged sexual assault between detainees. 8/
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
Moms told me there were children in Dilley who were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide. Kids lost their appetites after finding worms in their food and were constantly sick. Recently, there were also measles cases at the center. 7/
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Moms told me there were children in Dilley who were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide. Kids lost their appetites after finding worms in their food and were constantly sick. Recently, there were also measles cases at the center. 7/
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
9-year-old Maria Antonia Guerra from Colombia was detained on her way to Disney World. She told me when I met her that what was supposed to be a 10-day dream vacation to the park’s Halloween celebration turned into a 100+ day nightmare at Dilley. 6/
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
9-year-old Maria Antonia Guerra from Colombia was detained on her way to Disney World. She told me when I met her that what was supposed to be a 10-day dream vacation to the park’s Halloween celebration turned into a 100+ day nightmare at Dilley. 6/
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
I met 14-year-old Ariana from Honduras, who was released into the U.S. with her mom during the first Trump administration when she was 7. She was a freshman in high school when she was detained in December and separated from her two siblings, who are U.S. citizens 3/
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
I met 14-year-old Ariana from Honduras, who was released into the U.S. with her mom during the first Trump administration when she was 7. She was a freshman in high school when she was detained in December and separated from her two siblings, who are U.S. citizens 3/
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
Trump restarted family detention, but it’s different now. Before, the family facility in Dilley, Texas, primarily housed recent border crossers. Now, parents and children who have been living for years in the United States are being detained there. 2/
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Trump restarted family detention, but it’s different now. Before, the family facility in Dilley, Texas, primarily housed recent border crossers. Now, parents and children who have been living for years in the United States are being detained there. 2/
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
This is 18-mo-old Amalia waving to me when she was detained.
She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.
She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/
She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.
She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
This is 18-mo-old Amalia waving to me when she was detained.
She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.
She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/
She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.
She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/
"In a phone interview from the facility, he said conditions there are 'like a concentration camp, absolute hell.'
"He has been locked in the same large, cold, damp room for 4½ months with 70+ men...constantly hungry...toilets are filthy...allowed outside <12 times"
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
"He has been locked in the same large, cold, damp room for 4½ months with 70+ men...constantly hungry...toilets are filthy...allowed outside <12 times"
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record
www.irishtimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:58 PM
"In a phone interview from the facility, he said conditions there are 'like a concentration camp, absolute hell.'
"He has been locked in the same large, cold, damp room for 4½ months with 70+ men...constantly hungry...toilets are filthy...allowed outside <12 times"
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
"He has been locked in the same large, cold, damp room for 4½ months with 70+ men...constantly hungry...toilets are filthy...allowed outside <12 times"
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
"Both sides" journalism not even both-sidesing anymore
February 9, 2026 at 12:48 PM
"Both sides" journalism not even both-sidesing anymore
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
Irish Times: US aircraft carrying out secretive deportations to Africa and the Middle East have landed in Shannon Airport on 10 occasions in the last year. Deportees are kept in chains on the aircraft.
Our Govt does not want to know.
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026... @gbrockell.bsky.social
Our Govt does not want to know.
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026... @gbrockell.bsky.social
Shannon Airport used for refuelling Ice deportation flights 10 times in past year
The controversial agency chartered small private aircraft for the removal operations
www.irishtimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:16 AM
Irish Times: US aircraft carrying out secretive deportations to Africa and the Middle East have landed in Shannon Airport on 10 occasions in the last year. Deportees are kept in chains on the aircraft.
Our Govt does not want to know.
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026... @gbrockell.bsky.social
Our Govt does not want to know.
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026... @gbrockell.bsky.social
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
That Ring “search party” ad was unsubtle enough that even my 10yo watched it and was like “are they gonna use this for ICE?”
February 9, 2026 at 3:46 AM
That Ring “search party” ad was unsubtle enough that even my 10yo watched it and was like “are they gonna use this for ICE?”
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
I cannot emphasize enough that what he's singing here, obscured by beeps, is "If your boyfriend doesn't eat your ass, he'd better fuck off"
February 9, 2026 at 3:05 AM
I cannot emphasize enough that what he's singing here, obscured by beeps, is "If your boyfriend doesn't eat your ass, he'd better fuck off"
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
This kind of smart, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in most American cities.
February 9, 2026 at 3:50 AM
This kind of smart, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in most American cities.
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
I'm hardly the first person to note this, but it's enormously instructive that our President and his followers saw the message "THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE" and understood it, correctly, as an attack on them
February 9, 2026 at 2:11 AM
I'm hardly the first person to note this, but it's enormously instructive that our President and his followers saw the message "THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE" and understood it, correctly, as an attack on them
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
404 Media just had an ad during the #SuperBowl! We Googled "smallest TV markets in the United States" and bought an ad for $2,550 that only ran in Ottumwa, Iowa, population 25,000. That still counts
www.404media.co/watch-404-me...
www.404media.co/watch-404-me...
Watch 404 Media’s Super Bowl Ad
WE BOUGHT A SUPER BOWL AD.
www.404media.co
February 9, 2026 at 2:48 AM
404 Media just had an ad during the #SuperBowl! We Googled "smallest TV markets in the United States" and bought an ad for $2,550 that only ran in Ottumwa, Iowa, population 25,000. That still counts
www.404media.co/watch-404-me...
www.404media.co/watch-404-me...
Reposted by Gillian Brockell
A Reddit user identifies the boy who took a Grammy from Bad Bunny in the halftime show as five-year-old model Lincoln Fox and says that he was meant to represent Bad Bunny as a child www.instagram.com/the_lincfox/... www.reddit.com/user/BabySea...
February 9, 2026 at 2:46 AM
A Reddit user identifies the boy who took a Grammy from Bad Bunny in the halftime show as five-year-old model Lincoln Fox and says that he was meant to represent Bad Bunny as a child www.instagram.com/the_lincfox/... www.reddit.com/user/BabySea...
Give MVP to the short king
February 9, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Give MVP to the short king