Gillian Brockell

@gillianbrockell.com

26607 Followers 1400 Following

I track ICE flights and third-country removals. Bylines in Mother Jones, Zeteo, Rolling Stone, American Prospect. Former WaPo (sigh), former flight attendant. Newsletter: gillianbrockell.com Signal: gbrockell.44

Left: a homemade recipe booklet titled “Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking” with illustrations of Mennonite looking folks on the cover. Right: A bowl of chicken and corn strew with a boiled egg and rivels (dumplings).
A professional portrait of a bald white guy “Bruce Taylor, BS/BA 78, a third-generation lettuce producer in Salinas, California, founded Taylor Farms in 1995 to become North America's leading producer of salads and healthy fresh foods. As Chairman and CEO, he's…”
Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.... • 6h The worst of the worst..... Gillian Brockell• @gillianbro... • 14h So that's TWO ex-wives, two daughters and an immediately family member that he physically abused and/ or threatened. Just an insane story
An FR24 map showing N62FF landing in Honolulu.
An ADSBx map showing aircraft N62FF flying WSW over the Pacific Ocean.
When George Henry Thomas was a teenager in southern Virginia, he and his family were forced to run for their lives and hide in the woods from Nat Turner's rebellion of enslaved people in 1831. Though many Southern enslavers responded to the rebellion by clamping down even harder on the enslaved, at least one of Thomas's biographers thinks he had an almost opposite reaction, permanently turning against the myth of the "happy slave." Decades later, Thomas was a former US Military Academy instructor and close friend of Lee's when the war broke out. Many assumed he would join the Confederacy, but he didn't. In fact, Thomas and the Union men he commanded ended up saving the day in a number of key battles. He even defeated a former student, the Confederate general John Bell Hood. Thomas paid a personal price for his loyalty: His Virginia family, including his sisters, reportedly never spoke to him again.
a screenshot of a zoom screen showing a giant timer and tiny little view of the council meeting in the upper righthand corner.
…when he has commented on his father. He told Rolling Stone in 2017 that his father had done "almost every evil thing you could possibly think of" In the profile, Musk said he had gone to live with his father at age 10 while his younger siblings, Kimbal and Tosca, stayed with their mother. "I felt sorry for my father, because my mother had all three kids. He seemed very sad and lonely by himself. So I thought, 'I can be company'" he said. He continued: "I didn't really understand at the time what kind of person he was ... It was not a good idea." Without going into specifics, he told the publication: "My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He will plan evil."
Gillian Brockell, an independent journalist who tracks ICE flight operations, noted that it is highly unusual for a federal detention charter to lay over in a non-base city, reinforcing indications that the airport is functioning as a base for the agency. Brockell added that ICE also appears to have shifted some regional enforcement roundups from Baltimore-Washington International Airport to Harrisburg — a relatively new pattern that may reflect a broader consolidation of aviation logistics toward central Pennsylvania.
An ADSBx map showing N804TJ leaving Alexandria and then turning around and going back. Then it does a flight to Eastern's base in Ohio.
The post outlines an operation capable of flying around the clock - even on short notice - with domestic and overseas missions supported through what DHS describes as a hub-and-spoke network. Contractors would provide pilots, co-pilots and flight attendants and, **when needed, flight nurses and security personnel.** The request is part of the government's market research before a formal competition would go out for the contract.
Politics | US DHS Wants to Create Its Own Round-The-Clock Deportation Airline Buses transporting migrants to board a plane headed to Central America in Harlingen, Texas. Photographer: Veronica G. Cardenas/AFP/Getty Images By Alicia A. Caldwell and Siddharth Philip July 10, 2026 at 3:27 PM UTC
Retropolis Analysis Note to Florida and DeSantis: Enslaved Africans were already skilled July 24, 2023 • 5 min African masterpieces like the Benin Bronzes were stolen and ended up in British and American museums. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post) By Gillian Brockell
Retropolis Analysis Ron DeSantis's context-free history book vanished online. We got a copy. May 21, 2023 • 10 min An illo of Ron DeSantis’s head transposed onto the cartoon body of a silly-looking revolutionary era militiaman, with a tricked hat. (Illustration by Emily Sabens/The Washington Post; Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post; iStock) By Gillian Brockell
An Instagram video from uncle_kaayyy
I believe these removals are legally and morally wrong, and I hope the information gathered here will someday be useful in bringing justice to the people who committed them and the people subjected to them.
ESWATINI Date(s): July 15-16, 2025; Oct. 4-6, 2025; March 11-12, 2026; July 7-8, 2026 Who: In July, five men from Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen, plus Jamaican national Orville Etoria, who had all completed prison sentences in the US. At least three had been released into the community without incident before being detained by ICE and sent to Eswatini. DHS claimed their countries had refused to take them back, but attorneys for the men, and at least one of the countries, deny this. In October, a second group of 10 migrants from Cambodia, Chad, Congo, Cuba, Ethiopia, Haiti, the Philippines and Vietnam. In March, four people - one each from Tanzania and Sudan, plus two from Somalia. In July, 11 people of unknown national origins, according to attorney Alma David speaking to Reuters.
Omni's Third-Country Deportations • June 12, 2025 - Russian dissidents forced back to Russia via Omni flight to Egypt • August 26, 2025 - Russian dissidents via Omni flight to Egypt; Artyem Vovchenko disappeared by Russian authorities • Sept. 10, 2025 - 14 people to Ghana • Sept. 30, 2025 - Mass chain refoulement of Russians and Iranians • Oct. 12, 2025 - 14 people to Ghana • Nov. 6, 2025 - 19 people to Ghana • Nov. 17. 2025 - Dozens of Ukrainians forced back to a warzone via Omni flight to Poland • Dec. 7, 2025 - Russians and Iranians • Jan. 6, 2026 - Iranians via Kuwait • Jan. 14, 2026 - Nine asylum seekers to Cameroon • Jan. 21, 2026 - 20 asylum-seekers to Equatorial Guinea • Jan. 25, 2026 - Russians and Iranians • Feb. 15, 2026 - Eight asylum-seekers to Cameroon • March 9, 2026 - Six Russians to Moldova • April 16, 2026 - 25 asylum-seekers to Democratic Republic of Congo • April 28, 2026 - Three asylum-seekers to Equatorial Guinea • April 30, 2026 - Russians and Ukrainians to Moldova and Poland • May 19, 2026 - Nine asylum-seekers to Sierra Leone • June 12, 2026 - Two dozen Afghan, Syrian and Iranian asylum seekers to Central African Republic • June 16, 2026 - 12 asylum-seekers to Sierra Leone and eight to Equatorial Guinea
An FR24 map showing N588AT landing in Eswatini
Omni’s N819AX going from Harlingen to Mexico City to Alexandria and headed back toward Mexico City.
Senegal delegation members still awaiting flight home five days after World Cup elimination - sources
WHAT DOES ICE HAVE TO DO WITH CHICAGO'S PARKING METERS? VIRTUAL WEDNESDAY, JULY 8TH | 12-1PM Join our conversation with Gillian Brockell, a multimedia journalist and essayist. She has researched flights operated by Omni Air International as an ICE contractor. Omni is owned by Stonepeak Partners, the group that wants to buy and operate Chicago Parking Meters. SCAN TO REGISTER OR FOLLOW THIS LINK bit.ly/iceparkingmeters
WHAT DOES ICE HAVE TO DO WITH CHICAGO'S PARKING METERS? VIRTUAL WEDNESDAY, JULY 8TH | 12-1PM Join our conversation with Gillian Brockell, a multimedia journalist and essayist. She has researched flights operated by Omni Air International as an ICE contractor. Omni is owned by Stonepeak Partners, the group that wants to buy and operate Chicago Parking Meters. SCAN TO REGISTER OR FOLLOW THIS LINK bit.ly/iceparkingmeters
Marisa Kabas • @marisakabas.bsk... • what better way to celebrate america 250 than US vs. england: the remix Reply: Nick Rochford @nickrochford.bsk... • 39m ZERO chance of the Yanks getting to the final Zero.
An FR24 map showing Omni’s N207AX descending toward Praia, Cabo Verde.
An FR24 map showing the B1B doing a gazillion loops around the mid-Atlantic region.
An FR24 map showing the B1B ruining my 6yo’s sleep right now.
An ADSBx map of the Americas showing 28 planes doing dozens of flights branching out from Louisiana and Texas toward northern cities (round-up flights), Central America (removal flights), and going between ICE detention hubs (shuffle flights).
An ADSBx map showing an ICE charter plane landing at Dulles, west of Washington DC
Joyce Carol Oates will Teach Fiction Workshop at Rutgers during Spring Semester
A Patriot Front baby with underpants over his face. His shirt and baseball cap are soaked with sweat.
The bigscreens outside MSG say: JusT&T married!
On Monday, June 29, multiple trucks were spotted outside the famous arena with workers loading equipment, grass and other decorations inside. Boxes labeled "Garden Party" and "Mirror Ball" have been spotted outside the venue. One source told PEOPLE they've "never seen" Madison Square Garden "look so different."
Foreground: Me, my spouse, a pastor, two more women and a black dog stand in front of the Supreme Court building having a small wedding. I’ve blurred everyone’s faces but mine for their privacy. Background left, some anti-abortion protesters, whom I’ve put a red X across bc fuck them
An ADSBx map showing a private jet going from Nashville to the NYC area
General News of Tuesday, 30 June, 2026 Ghana sued at ECOWAS Court over US deportation deal
Gillian Brockell• @gillianbrockell.com • 3d There's so much going on in this post, but I can't past tweeting/retweeting a meme of the nepo baby with a cannibalism fetish (allegedly!) who likes to put his mistresses in the hospital (allegedly!). I mean, these are the people pretending to defend women from predators, right? QT Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsk... • 4d Not great that the richest man in the world agrees with this post. Note the giant gun in the image. 001/ SCREENSHOT FROM X Matt Bracken • @Matt_Bracken48 • 13h No point in bailing the boat while traitors are still busy chopping holes in the bottom. Image of Armie Hammer in a turtleneck with a gun with the text “First the traitors then the invaders” REPLY Elon Musk © @elonmusk - 3h Yes
Diadie Camara told Reuters he was detained at the US-Mexico border in 2024 after escaping hereditary slavery in Mauritania, a common practice in his North African homeland. His asylum application was rejected in March, but a US immigration judge granted him protection from being sent to Mauritania, according to a copy of a decision seen by Reuters. On November 25, the US flew Camara, 27, and eight other migrants from countries including Angola, Eritrea, Georgia, and Ghana to Equatorial Guinea, according to two lawyers and a human rights activist who spoke with some of them. The group was detained at a Malabo hotel while local authorities arranged their repatriation, according to Camara and another migrant interviewed by Reuters who spoke on condition of anonymity. Both asked if they could seek asylum in Equatorial Guinea but said government officials told them this was not possible. On December 25, Camara and another Mauritanian national were flown home via Morocco, he said. "I am now in hiding, and I don't know what to do," Camara said by phone, adding he was terrified he might be found by the family that enslaved him and punished for his escape. The governments of Equatorial Guinea and Mauritania did not respond to requests for comment.
California: California Public Employees' Retirement System, California State Teachers' Retirement System, Regents of the University of California Retirement Plan, Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System, San Diego City Employees' Retirement System, San Francisco Employees' Retirement System, Santa Barbara County Employees Retirement System Connecticut: Connecticut State Employees' Retirement System Illinois: Illinois State Board of Investment, Teachers Retirement System of the State of Illinois Maine: Maine Public Employees Retirement System Maryland: Maryland State Retirement and Pension System
WHAT DOES ICE HAVE TO DO WITH CHICAGO'S PARKING METERS? VIRTUAL WEDNESDAY, JULY 8TH | 12-1PM Join our conversation with Gillian Brockell, a multimedia journalist and essayist. She has researched flights operated by Omni Air International as an ICE contractor. Omni is owned by Stonepeak Partners, the group that wants to buy and operate Chicago Parking Meters. SCAN TO REGISTER OR FOLLOW THIS LINK bit.ly/iceparkingmeters
An FR24 map showing a small jet landing in Monrovia, Liberia.
WHAT DOES ICE HAVE TO DO WITH CHICAGO'S PARKING METERS? VIRTUAL WEDNESDAY, JULY 8TH | 12-1PM Join our conversation with Gillian Brockell, a multimedia journalist and essayist. She has researched flights operated by Omni Air International as an ICE contractor. Omni is owned by Stonepeak Partners, the group that wants to buy and operate Chicago Parking Meters. SCAN TO REGISTER OR FOLLOW THIS LINK bit.ly/iceparkingmeters
A screenshot from a Venezuelan website showing a pile of cement and red brick rubble
An FR24 map showing a closeup of the coastline north of Caracas. Aeropuerto Internacional Simon Bolivar de Maiquetia is just west of La Guaira.
An ADSBx map showing GlobalX N570TA going from Mesa, AZ, to El Paso, to Miami and Caracas, then returning to Miami via Curacao on June 24, 2026.
An ADSBx map showing N588AT and N588TN going from Mesa to Rzeszów.
An ADSBx map of the Americas showing 23 planes doing dozens of flights branching out from Louisiana and Texas toward northern cities (round-up flights), Central America (removal flights), and going between ICE detention hubs (shuffle flights).
An ADSBx map of the Americas showing 27 planes doing dozens of flights branching out from Louisiana and Texas toward northern cities (round-up flights), Central America (removal flights), and going between ICE detention hubs (shuffle flights).
President Trump in yellow tie leaning over and sleeping at the resolute desk with various lackeys talking behind him
An ADSBx map of the Americas showing 26 planes doing dozens of flights branching out from Louisiana and Texas toward northern cities (round-up flights), Central and South America and Africa (removal flights), and going between ICE detention hubs (shuffle flights).
Lastly, please indulge me with a little personal note. Today, June 25, I am celebrating 19 years of continuous sobriety. When I was only a few days sober, my shrink at the time - the one who suggested I might go talk to some people who had stopped drinking - asked me how I felt. "I feel really young," I said. Which is hilarious now, because I was young, I was only 26! But what I meant was that I felt like a novice, inexperienced in a way I hadn't felt for a long time. "How old do you feel? What age?" she asked me. "Nineteen." "How old were you when you really started drinking?" I gasped. "Nineteen!"
A June 19 social media post from “gdizzle99,” which is Gil Dezer, showing N352BH on a tarmac with the door open. Caption says “Getting gas. Have a great weekend everyone”
An ADSBx map showing N352BH, which is owned by Gil and Michael Dezer, landing in Accra, Ghana, then Lome, Togo, before heading back NW toward Dakar, Senegal. This is a regular route for ICE flights.
An ADSBx map of the Americas showing 27 planes doing dozens of flights branching out from Louisiana and Texas toward northern cities (round-up flights), Central and South America and Africa (removal flights), and going between ICE detention hubs (shuffle flights).
A screenshot of the finance committees agenda AGENDA OF MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2026 11:00 A.M. CITY HALL - SECOND FLOOR - COUNCIL CHAMBER SUBJECT MATTER HEARING 1. An ordinance authorizing the approval of the ownership transfer pursuant to the Chicago Metered Parking System Concession Agreement (O2026-0025407) NO VOTES WILL BE TAKEN
An ADSBx map of the Americas showing 27 planes doing dozens of flights branching out from Louisiana and Texas toward northern cities (round-up flights), Central America and the Caribbean (removal flights), and going between ICE detention hubs (shuffle flights).
✔️Glenn F. Ivey (D) - 13,426 (83.8%) Jakeya Johnson (D) - 1,369 (8.5%)
An ADSBx map showing N50JE going from Mesa AZ to SJU, and then taking off again headed ESE.
An ADSBx map of the Americas showing 22 planes doing dozens of flights branching out from Louisiana and Texas toward northern cities (round-up flights), Central and South America (removal flights), and going between ICE detention hubs (shuffle flights).