"Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass suspects that the government is flouting the TRO. She will conduct an investigation to determine if the government has defied a court order."
We already know the answer. The judge who ordered the TRO should call an emergency court session TODAY, and whatever Trump lackey lawyer shows up, charge him/her with contempt and jail that person.
Thanks as always to Jennifer Rubin for her great Substack columns. I would like to recommend that in any reference to ICE that she call them the American Gestapo.
At the first protest against drumpf on Cape Cod, I carried a sign that said, "ICE=Gestapo." Even some protesters shook their heads, thinking my statement was too extreme. Guess what.
I think it would be more accurate to call them "Gestapo in training "! IMHO, they have not yet reached full Geatapo-hood, but they're close! I'm sure our vicious, wouldbe autocrat is salivating at the opportunity to turn them loose on the entire country.
The problem is some of the appellate courts have made this process, which should be purely fact-based, political in the sense of yielding total discretion to Trump.
"We the People" are obliged to defend and demand fact-based formulations and administration of law, to the best of our ability to empirically determine facts. That is the core of the "Enlightenment" era philosophies that underlie our founding documents.
This is exactly what most Americans voted for. Democracy is too much work for them. They’ll never object strongly enough to put an end to Project 2025.
Seems to me it's more a matter of bait and switch, and Orwellian propaganda. Yeah, there are many fanatics out there, but we in aggregate have also been remiss about the discipline required to be an informed electorate, and let top-down broadcasting rot our brains. Democracy, government, of, by and for the people HAS to be a conversation, not just an audience, and a vote reflecting what is just for society as a whole, fair to every individual as well as common good, not just a matter of personal preference, a least as far is that is possible. Those who are already deprived suffer disproportionately from our careless choices. The ultimate "buck" stops with us.
And resistance is not futile. It does not always succeed, but neither does it necessarily fail.
I have to disagree with your statement that this is what most Americans voted for. Trump got less than 50% of the vote so this is not representative of what most Americans voted for. This is what pretty much all Republicans voted for and they should be ashamed! They should all ask themselves if this is how they'd want to be treated if their circumstances were different. All these so called Christians that go to their churches every Sunday and act all pious will turn a blind eye to the suffering of others that 'aren't like them' or look different or pray to a different God.
Yes. And hundreds of thousands, probably tens of millions, voted for him by just not voting. Same difference. A majority of Americans are directly responsible for Trump being president again.
It seems a fiction that the US Government is a government for all Americans. Just look at the ICE Raids in LA. Think we'll see anything like this in RED States? Especially in RedStates like Texas that are faithfully following all of Trump's desires? Or how about Ohio? Never, ever, has the US been as polarized as we are today. Keep in mind that Trump didn't know how to run any businesses successfully. He was bailed out by being a reality TV star on "The Apprentice". Which goes a very long way to explaining his comfort in being surrounded by other reality TV stars (FOX) in his cabinet.
Their version of reality is so far from it, it shouldn't even be considered so. This is part of the reason for the extreme polarization -- two distinct versions of reality, and neither side wants to give up their version even though one is false, based upon lies.
I feel like Trump is the front man. The thinking behind the throne is done my Miller, Vought, Bondi, Wiles, and Lutnik. I can't believe Trump has spent any meaningful time thinking about his upcoming summit. For example, could he articulate why Putin invaded Ukraine twice?
For a man whose history shows that he considers the daily intel reports not worth reading, or to be reduced to charactered bullet point half-pages tells us how seriously he reads these (if he reads them at all) and how intelligently he arrives at his decisions. It's all from his gut, massive as it is.
I'm sure he can read. I also believe he is at some level of functional illiteracy. That's one of the reasons he needs pictures and charts. He also has a short attention span, so any reports have to mention his name, frequently.
Lying outrageous lying with nary a flicker of shame is his superpower, and Goebbels was, right, it seems to work, or at least fools some nearly all of the time. He is also bone lazy, but has always been wealthy enough to get away with it. Why study for "the test" when he can say whatever pleases him and still have it count? I am confident that we would find private conversations between Trump and Putin profoundly alarming. Putin is patently evil, but is not a fool.
It's not her smarts that I'm concerned about. It's the raw ambition and lack of decency that pervades her every utterance and appearance on FOX. She works for 1 man, not the nation.
Bribable Bondi will think whatever she's paid to think. She has proven that in the past. The short-fingered vulgarian better hope that nobody comes along with a better offer. But Miller? Absolutely!
There are provably shadowy billionaires involved in this, including the utter corruption of the majority of $COTUS. I was never sure how much of "The Reagan Revolution" was Reagan and how much was his script. He always seemed more than a little muddled when asked to think.
Thinking and integrity. Trump projects a certain, sleazy charisma, as many sociopaths do, ans has made a career out of grifting. I suppose there is a certain talent to that; and it has made him quite dangerous.
"Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men (sic), in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors. Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage and you are preparing your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises." -- Lincoln
The problem is that with their reality, things work until suddenly they don't. And that happens when the ultimate laws of the Universe are not followed.
Much agreed. Nature is indifferent to our desires and opinions, but we can hitchhike on her routinized movements if we pay keen enough attention; what science is for, but also as a personal practice. A sailboat can be made ride with the wind; and with finesse, even against it. A refined pile of minerals can be crafted into the device I am typing on.
And yeah nature can crush us like a bug at any time, and eventually and/or capriciously does; but if we know the rules we will likely enjoy a much better ride.
I envision blue Kool Aid being pumped into our drinking water so he can enjoy the rest of his miserable life with only the people he likes surrounding him.
The US was pretty polarized in the Civil War which our plutocrats have done everything in their power to rekindle. Trump was certainly bailed out by his ghost-written puff-book that the ghost writer now renounces, as well the phony image-making of "The Apprentice". Also Trump Jr. said “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia,”.
Yup. It's all a con, and Trump is a lazy playboy con-man born to a crap-ton of money. Nope, he is not really a working class hero, he just plays one on TV.
If you feel America is a fiction then for you there is no reason to fight. Change is hard and life is all about adjusting. It's not a solution but there is a balance and those of us who belong to this movement, will fight for it.
Without question the next Dem president (if allowed to happen) will need to shut ICE down on Day One and do a thorough cleansing of the organization before it is allowed to operate again.
There are so many things that will have to be done on Day One, I suggest an E.O. that reverses every Trump E.O. during his term. Erase him and start all over. And by the way, if he tries to make off with the billion dollar Air Force One, that will have to be seized too.
I vote to have the engines removed from Arab Force One. it should be parked at Alligator Acatraz and the whole site should become a national museum of american autocracy
Another museum will only eat more taxpayer money over the years. Fuel the plane up and send it back to Qatar with a 'no thanks' note on it. Our government should never have accepted it as a massive violation of the emoluments & gifts clause.
Do as Dwight Eisenhower said: "take pictures of everything", (detainees included). Return them to due process status, then allow the Everglades to re-take the facility. Few would want to experience the heat, humidity and insects to visit the place. Some things should just be allowed to rot.
I think it has to be fixed before it can be flown. Also, I believe that a gift to the US government, without expectations, does not come under the emoluments clause. That's only if a member of the government is given something. We can fix that simply by removing it from service as Air Force 1 and placing it within the overall fleet under another number. Qatar can decide if they want to change their mind about the gift but must remunerate the US for any funds put into refurbishment/rebuilding if they want it back. (Before anyone gets bent out of shape over my thinking on this, keep in mind that when the topic warrants it, whimsy is a good tool to use. Thank you.)
Excuse me but I live there and the ONLY reason parts of Florida are being fouled is because of DeSantis, our idiot governor! Oh, and the commissioners, following his bidding, who love taking out all the trees and building yet more housing but fail to bother working on roads and traffic first. I can think of at least a dozen other states that have shit hole cities that I would NEVER volunteer to live. New York to start with....
Sadly, DeSantis was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. What is the saying? When they show you who they are, believe them the first time? It seems that some of the good people of Florida need to do some heavy thinking.
He was elected, but by whom? Which state has the best gerrymandering and most onerous voting regulations? If you say Florida, you are starting to get the point.
A battle of EOs based on the party of the administration seems like a poor governance model. Trump has exposed fundamental flaws in our constitutional democracy, at least as that system has been perverted by the Roberts court and the most spineless Congress in history. Just as decades of a peaceful, American-led world order have been undone in a matter of weeks or months, centuries of democracy are at risk of permanent damage.
I think EOs are likely to go the way of the Dodo bird as soon as a Dem takes over. It will include overwhelming congressional acts to reverse, and they’ll come fast and furiously. Can’t happen soon enough but know it WILL happen! At least we know which of these egregious (mostly departments) will be completely wiped out and revised (how about DHS taking First Place?). Well, we can dream …
I read somewhere that the Penske company objected very strongly to using their trucks to conduct these raids. That would be great if they could shut it down in that manner. At least make a dent in it.
ALL truck rental companies need a clause in their contracts that prohibits using the trucks for “inhuman trafficking” (of ICE agents etc.) and subject the renter to blacklisting and lawsuits.
As Bill Clinton says “It depends on what ‘is’ is. But I like your idea: Instead of transporting the ICE agents to Home Depot, drop ‘em off in El Salvador.
Swbv, when you make an assertion, please base it on known facts, not suppositions. "Probably" is not evidence and your allegation does not reach the level of assertion. You clearly have no idea one way or the other, but felt compelled to make this meaningless comment anyway. Why?
If ICE is behaving illegally by abducting people without warrants and denying due process, why aren’t state authorities holding individuals accountable. Kidnapping is still a crime.
Fed law on kidnapping applies only when victim is transported across state lines, though the definition can be kind of goosey. States have differing laws on kidnapping, and sometimes both state and fed law can apply. In general, if the crime meets the standards for applying fed law, it will take precedence over state law.
I never cared for the Progressive wing's cry to "de-fund ICE". I thought it would never happen, and just alienated the political center. But ICE is so out of control that, should the Democrats ever capture Congress and the White House (from my keyboard to The Lord's eyes), that step seems a lot more reasonable now.
In the 'In Death" books set 30 years in the future, Homeland is still here and still cruel and inhumane. If I were President, this is the first department I would disband and refer all involved for criminal actio.
The "de-fund police/ICE" movement was never more than a small percentage of activists. That slogan was inflammatory and divisive, and overshadowed good faith and necessary efforts to reform and improve police departments.
I think it was far more widely supported than you suggest. The issue was distorted by a many police agencies who made it into a black and white issue of no cops and rampant crime, rather than an effort to open up law enforcement to address social problems in other ways than arrest and imprisonment. In fact, the movement influenced how many police departments operate and still do. It has not gone away, and the underlying principles are more relevant than ever.
The United States is NO longer United. We have a crazy idiot as President and his ENTIRE group
of crazies in his Cabinet are evil. How much money (US tax money) is being pissed away on all of Trumps and Millers evil ideas. How long is America going to put up with this disaster? Sending national guards to blue states. Do you think this shit is free??????
There is so much that will need to be “taken down to the studs” when this nightmare is over.🙏Thank you as usual for your eloquent and powerful truth telling, Jen.
“Taken as a whole, the DHS appears to have morphed into a brutal, lawless gang of street thugs reminiscent of dictatorial shock troops in other autocratic regimes”
How does one's blood not boil over reading this? That these atrocities are not only happening, but being funded by our hard-earned tax dollars, should shock the conscience of every American. Every one of us who finds this abhorrent should be shouting about it from the rooftops and doing everything we can to stop it from continuing. End the ICE age now!
Well done, Pamela and team! Love your Substack post and inspired bridge signage! Let’s hear it for the MN Visibility Brigade!!! You are doing very important work. 💙👏🏼💙👏🏼💙
Hear hear, sister! Being out there and making good trouble with like-minded activist friends is so therapeutic! Keep up the great work. Proud of you all! Together We Rise!!! 😍🙏
Thank you for your post. ICE has long shuffled their detainees between locations, mostly to camouflage that they have kept them longer than I believe the law allows. The money that ice makes on each and every detainee is the main driver, seconded only by their long list of cruelties.
This horrific DHS will be violating Constitutional and Human rights for 3 1/2 more years. Legal permanent residents today, citizens tomorrow. And without the guardrails,of the Supreme Court and a functioning Congress, what can We the People do to stop this stuff being done in our names?
Three days I ago, I took the time to listen to Tim Miller's entire 20-minute interview with Andry Hernandez, the young Venezuelan hairdresser abducted by masked ICE goons during a pre-scheduled appointment with DHS. A gay man legally seeking asylum in the United States, abducted on the spot and spirited out of the country to CECOT in El Salvador, who was finally released two weeks ago and flown back to Venezuela. You can find it now on YouTube or Bulwark.
I encourage everyone to listen to it in its entirety. If you have a shred of humanity within you, your blood will boil with rage. "Why am I here?" Andry wondered, upon discovery that he was not only in El Salvador, a country he had never even visited, but inside one of the most ruthless, notorious prisons for terrorists in the world. Somehow, through his own faith in God, his love of mother and father (whose tattoos he had gotten that were crudely, mistakenly and deliberately used as "evidence" of his association with a criminal gang in Venezuela), his own inner strength, somehow he made it, though hardly unscathed. It is clear he suffered abuse, verbal degradation, physical deprivation and raped while in prison.
But what shines is his humanity. As a small, slightly effeminate gay man, he would have been targeted almost anywhere, no matter what. But somehow, in his own words, he entered with 240 other Venezuelan men as strangers, who all somehow left "as brothers." Some of those brothers are now getting married, and their sweethearts have asked him to do their hair for them, which pleases him no end. And the good news is that his family has not disowned him. His mother met him in Venezuela bringing his favorite Andean fish soup. Other gay children are not so lucky, as they themselves will attest, even without arrest and torture.
As I watched with rage, and perhaps because I'm an older gay man, I found myself fantasizing that I were the judge at this young man's case, whenever it is finally called, standing up to say: "I would like to extend to you first my profound apologies for how the United States Government violated your rights as a person, as a refugee, as someone whose sole crime was loving the country you sought to become a part of."
Countless stories like his are surfacing -- fortunately, this one was not lost. I fear others may already have been. Somehow we must find the strength and focus not to allow these terrible people to continue doing horrible things -- that is not the American way. It must never be.
Beautifully written piece, and I have the interview you mentioned up to watch. But first, I would suggest that you change the name of the interviewer from "Steven Miller" in your post to "Tim Miller" so your readers know that the scoflaw Steven Miller is no part of this! I sometimes make this kind of typo myself, it's easy to do. And easy to fix by using the "edit function"- just click on the 3 dos at the top right corner of you post and select edit to open you post to fix the name!
DHS was formed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks for the purpose of streamlining cooperation between federal agencies to prevent the stove-piping of information that led to those attacks being successful; it was supposed to prevent terrorist attacks in the future. But its mission was always ill-defined, its implementation was riddled with problems, and now it's morphed into a state secret police force, which it was never intended to be. The entire agency needs to be disbanded, its functions returned to their previous agencies, and ICE needs to be either disbanded altogether or stood down while its ranks are purged of white supremacists, proud boys, insurrectionists, and wannabes who couldn't pass the tests for local law enforcement.
The fact that ICE and DHS are begging for recruits who don't even need a college degree or relevant work experience, with no age limits or physical fitness requirements should be flashing red lights for all Americans. This agency will take any low life off the streets, chuck them some fatigues, a ballistic vest and balaclava, and put them to work - AND give them a $50K signing bonus into the bargain. This is what's called a recipe for disaster. And that's just what they're delivering. It's a disgrace and an affront to American democracy. DISBAND DHS! And send HairExtensions back home to the Dakotas.
I may not be getting this entirely right, but I think it was after 9/11 when the Department of Homeland Security was created. And it seemed like a good idea at the time, but people did object to the name, Homeland Security, sounded a lot like Germany the “homeland” defending the “homeland”. And as I recall they pulled people from all kinds of different departments and put those departments together. Well I see it has grown like bad germs.
I was born and raised in what was then West Germany and the formation of DHS right after 9/11 creeped me out a the time. "Homeland" just sounds un-American and DHS was just a little too similar to Reichssicherheitshauptamt, not just in name but also in the concentration of enforcement power. No US government department should have that much power, it's not healthy for democracy. Stephen Miller looks a lot like Reinhard Heydrich, too.
Pam, there was a lot of push-back on this at the time, and a lot of argument both in Congress and out. Poeple hoped that it would be temporary. As you point out, it wasn't, and it is out of control, as those of us who lobbied against it feared it would become. It was a power grab within the US government, who are now enemies of the state in terms of how they operate. It was always a bad idea.
"Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass suspects that the government is flouting the TRO. She will conduct an investigation to determine if the government has defied a court order."
We already know the answer. The judge who ordered the TRO should call an emergency court session TODAY, and whatever Trump lackey lawyer shows up, charge him/her with contempt and jail that person.
Thanks as always to Jennifer Rubin for her great Substack columns. I would like to recommend that in any reference to ICE that she call them the American Gestapo.
At the first protest against drumpf on Cape Cod, I carried a sign that said, "ICE=Gestapo." Even some protesters shook their heads, thinking my statement was too extreme. Guess what.
I think it would be more accurate to call them "Gestapo in training "! IMHO, they have not yet reached full Geatapo-hood, but they're close! I'm sure our vicious, wouldbe autocrat is salivating at the opportunity to turn them loose on the entire country.
They are untrained Gestapo under piss-poor leadership.
That's in the works with the birthright-citizenship crap the would-be fuhrer's trying to pull.
No, it wasn't. Although I might have said ICE = Stasi.
Good for you, and thank you.
I carried a variation of that sign too, and at the time I felt like it was almost a bit too much. I don't anymore.
I continue to be surprised that more contempt charges aren’t filed against these lackeys.
The problem is some of the appellate courts have made this process, which should be purely fact-based, political in the sense of yielding total discretion to Trump.
"We the People" are obliged to defend and demand fact-based formulations and administration of law, to the best of our ability to empirically determine facts. That is the core of the "Enlightenment" era philosophies that underlie our founding documents.
yep, yep, yep
Don’t be surprised.
This is exactly what most Americans voted for. Democracy is too much work for them. They’ll never object strongly enough to put an end to Project 2025.
Seems to me it's more a matter of bait and switch, and Orwellian propaganda. Yeah, there are many fanatics out there, but we in aggregate have also been remiss about the discipline required to be an informed electorate, and let top-down broadcasting rot our brains. Democracy, government, of, by and for the people HAS to be a conversation, not just an audience, and a vote reflecting what is just for society as a whole, fair to every individual as well as common good, not just a matter of personal preference, a least as far is that is possible. Those who are already deprived suffer disproportionately from our careless choices. The ultimate "buck" stops with us.
And resistance is not futile. It does not always succeed, but neither does it necessarily fail.
Whatever.
Democracy dies on the sword of complacency.
I have to disagree with your statement that this is what most Americans voted for. Trump got less than 50% of the vote so this is not representative of what most Americans voted for. This is what pretty much all Republicans voted for and they should be ashamed! They should all ask themselves if this is how they'd want to be treated if their circumstances were different. All these so called Christians that go to their churches every Sunday and act all pious will turn a blind eye to the suffering of others that 'aren't like them' or look different or pray to a different God.
Yes. And hundreds of thousands, probably tens of millions, voted for him by just not voting. Same difference. A majority of Americans are directly responsible for Trump being president again.
Very sad but I'm afraid you're right.
It seems a fiction that the US Government is a government for all Americans. Just look at the ICE Raids in LA. Think we'll see anything like this in RED States? Especially in RedStates like Texas that are faithfully following all of Trump's desires? Or how about Ohio? Never, ever, has the US been as polarized as we are today. Keep in mind that Trump didn't know how to run any businesses successfully. He was bailed out by being a reality TV star on "The Apprentice". Which goes a very long way to explaining his comfort in being surrounded by other reality TV stars (FOX) in his cabinet.
Their version of reality is so far from it, it shouldn't even be considered so. This is part of the reason for the extreme polarization -- two distinct versions of reality, and neither side wants to give up their version even though one is false, based upon lies.
I feel like Trump is the front man. The thinking behind the throne is done my Miller, Vought, Bondi, Wiles, and Lutnik. I can't believe Trump has spent any meaningful time thinking about his upcoming summit. For example, could he articulate why Putin invaded Ukraine twice?
For a man whose history shows that he considers the daily intel reports not worth reading, or to be reduced to charactered bullet point half-pages tells us how seriously he reads these (if he reads them at all) and how intelligently he arrives at his decisions. It's all from his gut, massive as it is.
I know some have said he can't read at all and I wouldn't be surprised if that were true.
I'm sure he can read. I also believe he is at some level of functional illiteracy. That's one of the reasons he needs pictures and charts. He also has a short attention span, so any reports have to mention his name, frequently.
As reported by his staff.
Lying outrageous lying with nary a flicker of shame is his superpower, and Goebbels was, right, it seems to work, or at least fools some nearly all of the time. He is also bone lazy, but has always been wealthy enough to get away with it. Why study for "the test" when he can say whatever pleases him and still have it count? I am confident that we would find private conversations between Trump and Putin profoundly alarming. Putin is patently evil, but is not a fool.
I'm not sure I would include Bondi in there. I know pet rocks that have more brains than she does.
It's not her smarts that I'm concerned about. It's the raw ambition and lack of decency that pervades her every utterance and appearance on FOX. She works for 1 man, not the nation.
Bribable Bondi will think whatever she's paid to think. She has proven that in the past. The short-fingered vulgarian better hope that nobody comes along with a better offer. But Miller? Absolutely!
There are provably shadowy billionaires involved in this, including the utter corruption of the majority of $COTUS. I was never sure how much of "The Reagan Revolution" was Reagan and how much was his script. He always seemed more than a little muddled when asked to think.
He has no thinking ability at any time in his life. It is painfully obvious.
Thinking. ability expands with maturity and the capacity to care beyond oneself.
Donald Trump is neither learned or honorable, unfit beyond measure for such immense power.
Thinking and integrity. Trump projects a certain, sleazy charisma, as many sociopaths do, ans has made a career out of grifting. I suppose there is a certain talent to that; and it has made him quite dangerous.
"Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men (sic), in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors. Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage and you are preparing your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises." -- Lincoln
Bingo.
The problem is that with their reality, things work until suddenly they don't. And that happens when the ultimate laws of the Universe are not followed.
Much agreed. Nature is indifferent to our desires and opinions, but we can hitchhike on her routinized movements if we pay keen enough attention; what science is for, but also as a personal practice. A sailboat can be made ride with the wind; and with finesse, even against it. A refined pile of minerals can be crafted into the device I am typing on.
And yeah nature can crush us like a bug at any time, and eventually and/or capriciously does; but if we know the rules we will likely enjoy a much better ride.
I envision blue Kool Aid being pumped into our drinking water so he can enjoy the rest of his miserable life with only the people he likes surrounding him.
The US was pretty polarized in the Civil War which our plutocrats have done everything in their power to rekindle. Trump was certainly bailed out by his ghost-written puff-book that the ghost writer now renounces, as well the phony image-making of "The Apprentice". Also Trump Jr. said “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia,”.
Yup. It's all a con, and Trump is a lazy playboy con-man born to a crap-ton of money. Nope, he is not really a working class hero, he just plays one on TV.
Have any reporters tried to interview Mark Burnett and the other people involved in "The Apprentice "?
Seems to me Burnett has some explaining to do
he has said he feels bad he did the apprentice
As is so often the case when you confront misbehavior of the very wealthy, the scandal is shrouded by NDA's and the law is on their side.
Exactly. You think his Survival series is reality TV? Yet many people believe it is. Result? The felon is President.
maybe America was always a fiction...
No.... I don't think so
guess you're not a black person or an immigrant ?
America was not and is not a fiction. It just has had no leadership to directly address the bias and racial injustice we have always had.
um, thanks for proving my point...
If you feel America is a fiction then for you there is no reason to fight. Change is hard and life is all about adjusting. It's not a solution but there is a balance and those of us who belong to this movement, will fight for it.
Very well stated.
Without question the next Dem president (if allowed to happen) will need to shut ICE down on Day One and do a thorough cleansing of the organization before it is allowed to operate again.
There are so many things that will have to be done on Day One, I suggest an E.O. that reverses every Trump E.O. during his term. Erase him and start all over. And by the way, if he tries to make off with the billion dollar Air Force One, that will have to be seized too.
I vote to have the engines removed from Arab Force One. it should be parked at Alligator Acatraz and the whole site should become a national museum of american autocracy
Another museum will only eat more taxpayer money over the years. Fuel the plane up and send it back to Qatar with a 'no thanks' note on it. Our government should never have accepted it as a massive violation of the emoluments & gifts clause.
There are good reason to preserve evidence of eras of national shame.
Do as Dwight Eisenhower said: "take pictures of everything", (detainees included). Return them to due process status, then allow the Everglades to re-take the facility. Few would want to experience the heat, humidity and insects to visit the place. Some things should just be allowed to rot.
Give it to the Air Force for target practice.
That would get rid of it quickly. Suggest stripping it for any useful components before doing so. There is value in salvage.
Plant bugs on it first, though!
Can we declare it unsafe for use and prohibit if from taking off or landing at US airports
I think it has to be fixed before it can be flown. Also, I believe that a gift to the US government, without expectations, does not come under the emoluments clause. That's only if a member of the government is given something. We can fix that simply by removing it from service as Air Force 1 and placing it within the overall fleet under another number. Qatar can decide if they want to change their mind about the gift but must remunerate the US for any funds put into refurbishment/rebuilding if they want it back. (Before anyone gets bent out of shape over my thinking on this, keep in mind that when the topic warrants it, whimsy is a good tool to use. Thank you.)
Maybe the entire state of Florida should be included. The place is a shithole and I believe that it could be the earthly entrance to hell......
Excuse me but I live there and the ONLY reason parts of Florida are being fouled is because of DeSantis, our idiot governor! Oh, and the commissioners, following his bidding, who love taking out all the trees and building yet more housing but fail to bother working on roads and traffic first. I can think of at least a dozen other states that have shit hole cities that I would NEVER volunteer to live. New York to start with....
No point in getting into an insult contest.
Sadly, DeSantis was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. What is the saying? When they show you who they are, believe them the first time? It seems that some of the good people of Florida need to do some heavy thinking.
He was elected, but by whom? Which state has the best gerrymandering and most onerous voting regulations? If you say Florida, you are starting to get the point.
Of course, if Winsome wins her election in November, you'll be justified in saying the very same thing to Virginians!
and texass is the exit
A battle of EOs based on the party of the administration seems like a poor governance model. Trump has exposed fundamental flaws in our constitutional democracy, at least as that system has been perverted by the Roberts court and the most spineless Congress in history. Just as decades of a peaceful, American-led world order have been undone in a matter of weeks or months, centuries of democracy are at risk of permanent damage.
I think EOs are likely to go the way of the Dodo bird as soon as a Dem takes over. It will include overwhelming congressional acts to reverse, and they’ll come fast and furiously. Can’t happen soon enough but know it WILL happen! At least we know which of these egregious (mostly departments) will be completely wiped out and revised (how about DHS taking First Place?). Well, we can dream …
We'll need to go through the entire government to weed them all out. A significant number of them will need to be put on trial.
Of course DHS is committed to transparency. What could be more transparent than the ICE masks?
so well said! that sums up everything quite nicely!
BURN!!!!🔥
I read somewhere that the Penske company objected very strongly to using their trucks to conduct these raids. That would be great if they could shut it down in that manner. At least make a dent in it.
They probably have too much government paid revenue to really make a fuss.
https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/penske-calls-out-dhs-for-using-its-rental-trucks-during-immigration-raids-in-la-we-did-not-authorize-this
ALL truck rental companies need a clause in their contracts that prohibits using the trucks for “inhuman trafficking” (of ICE agents etc.) and subject the renter to blacklisting and lawsuits.
I’m going to be really picky here. I think you meant “by” ICE agents as I would be in favor of using them for trafficking “OF” ICE agents!
As Bill Clinton says “It depends on what ‘is’ is. But I like your idea: Instead of transporting the ICE agents to Home Depot, drop ‘em off in El Salvador.
Swbv, when you make an assertion, please base it on known facts, not suppositions. "Probably" is not evidence and your allegation does not reach the level of assertion. You clearly have no idea one way or the other, but felt compelled to make this meaningless comment anyway. Why?
Try Google. Although it's a private company, the AI results indicate to me that the "probably" you so object to is, in fact, probably right.
Here is the link to the story. It was cited by Jess Craven.
https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/penske-calls-out-dhs-for-using-its-rental-trucks-during-immigration-raids-in-la-we-did-not-authorize-this
Jessica Craven reported that Penske objected. Her Chop Wood, Carry Water
Surely there’s a law against transporting humans in the back of a moving van? No?
If ICE is behaving illegally by abducting people without warrants and denying due process, why aren’t state authorities holding individuals accountable. Kidnapping is still a crime.
Thank you!!!!! 💖
Unfortunately (in the current regime) kidnapping falls under the jurisdiction of the FBI.
Fed law on kidnapping applies only when victim is transported across state lines, though the definition can be kind of goosey. States have differing laws on kidnapping, and sometimes both state and fed law can apply. In general, if the crime meets the standards for applying fed law, it will take precedence over state law.
I never cared for the Progressive wing's cry to "de-fund ICE". I thought it would never happen, and just alienated the political center. But ICE is so out of control that, should the Democrats ever capture Congress and the White House (from my keyboard to The Lord's eyes), that step seems a lot more reasonable now.
In the 'In Death" books set 30 years in the future, Homeland is still here and still cruel and inhumane. If I were President, this is the first department I would disband and refer all involved for criminal actio.
The "de-fund police/ICE" movement was never more than a small percentage of activists. That slogan was inflammatory and divisive, and overshadowed good faith and necessary efforts to reform and improve police departments.
I think it was far more widely supported than you suggest. The issue was distorted by a many police agencies who made it into a black and white issue of no cops and rampant crime, rather than an effort to open up law enforcement to address social problems in other ways than arrest and imprisonment. In fact, the movement influenced how many police departments operate and still do. It has not gone away, and the underlying principles are more relevant than ever.
It was widely reported. I meant to say that I thought that slogan/movement was not widely embraced by the public.
The United States is NO longer United. We have a crazy idiot as President and his ENTIRE group
of crazies in his Cabinet are evil. How much money (US tax money) is being pissed away on all of Trumps and Millers evil ideas. How long is America going to put up with this disaster? Sending national guards to blue states. Do you think this shit is free??????
AND we're paying for the lead shit-head to cheat at golf, too!!
There is so much that will need to be “taken down to the studs” when this nightmare is over.🙏Thank you as usual for your eloquent and powerful truth telling, Jen.
“Taken as a whole, the DHS appears to have morphed into a brutal, lawless gang of street thugs reminiscent of dictatorial shock troops in other autocratic regimes”
EXACTLY right!
Excellent expose, Ms. Rubin! Thank you!
How does one's blood not boil over reading this? That these atrocities are not only happening, but being funded by our hard-earned tax dollars, should shock the conscience of every American. Every one of us who finds this abhorrent should be shouting about it from the rooftops and doing everything we can to stop it from continuing. End the ICE age now!
Thanks, Pamela. 👏🏼 “End the ICE Age Now!” would make an excellent protest sign.
I am going to use this for the protests on Labor day!
Hola, nmgirl! I lived in El Norte, NM for 20 years. Please give my regards to the Land of Enchantment! Still trying to find my way back. 🌶️ ☀️
That's a sign my bridge brigade brandished last week! I wrote about it here: https://open.substack.com/pub/pamschmid/p/screeching-on-the-overpass?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=el96r
Well done, Pamela and team! Love your Substack post and inspired bridge signage! Let’s hear it for the MN Visibility Brigade!!! You are doing very important work. 💙👏🏼💙👏🏼💙
Many thanks! It feels really good to be out there...honestly, it's what is keeping me sane these days.
Hear hear, sister! Being out there and making good trouble with like-minded activist friends is so therapeutic! Keep up the great work. Proud of you all! Together We Rise!!! 😍🙏
Thank you for your post. ICE has long shuffled their detainees between locations, mostly to camouflage that they have kept them longer than I believe the law allows. The money that ice makes on each and every detainee is the main driver, seconded only by their long list of cruelties.
It's not just ICE that makes money. City and county jails also get money.
This horrific DHS will be violating Constitutional and Human rights for 3 1/2 more years. Legal permanent residents today, citizens tomorrow. And without the guardrails,of the Supreme Court and a functioning Congress, what can We the People do to stop this stuff being done in our names?
If we can switch the majority in Congress next year, a change could come sooner. We need to work in that direction for this and diverse other reasons.
Indeed, but the redistricting now being attempted may make that more difficult.
Gerrymandering works both ways. Look at New Mexico
...which is why it needs to be fiercely resisted.
Three days I ago, I took the time to listen to Tim Miller's entire 20-minute interview with Andry Hernandez, the young Venezuelan hairdresser abducted by masked ICE goons during a pre-scheduled appointment with DHS. A gay man legally seeking asylum in the United States, abducted on the spot and spirited out of the country to CECOT in El Salvador, who was finally released two weeks ago and flown back to Venezuela. You can find it now on YouTube or Bulwark.
I encourage everyone to listen to it in its entirety. If you have a shred of humanity within you, your blood will boil with rage. "Why am I here?" Andry wondered, upon discovery that he was not only in El Salvador, a country he had never even visited, but inside one of the most ruthless, notorious prisons for terrorists in the world. Somehow, through his own faith in God, his love of mother and father (whose tattoos he had gotten that were crudely, mistakenly and deliberately used as "evidence" of his association with a criminal gang in Venezuela), his own inner strength, somehow he made it, though hardly unscathed. It is clear he suffered abuse, verbal degradation, physical deprivation and raped while in prison.
But what shines is his humanity. As a small, slightly effeminate gay man, he would have been targeted almost anywhere, no matter what. But somehow, in his own words, he entered with 240 other Venezuelan men as strangers, who all somehow left "as brothers." Some of those brothers are now getting married, and their sweethearts have asked him to do their hair for them, which pleases him no end. And the good news is that his family has not disowned him. His mother met him in Venezuela bringing his favorite Andean fish soup. Other gay children are not so lucky, as they themselves will attest, even without arrest and torture.
As I watched with rage, and perhaps because I'm an older gay man, I found myself fantasizing that I were the judge at this young man's case, whenever it is finally called, standing up to say: "I would like to extend to you first my profound apologies for how the United States Government violated your rights as a person, as a refugee, as someone whose sole crime was loving the country you sought to become a part of."
Countless stories like his are surfacing -- fortunately, this one was not lost. I fear others may already have been. Somehow we must find the strength and focus not to allow these terrible people to continue doing horrible things -- that is not the American way. It must never be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ySsBj3OOg0
Beautifully written piece, and I have the interview you mentioned up to watch. But first, I would suggest that you change the name of the interviewer from "Steven Miller" in your post to "Tim Miller" so your readers know that the scoflaw Steven Miller is no part of this! I sometimes make this kind of typo myself, it's easy to do. And easy to fix by using the "edit function"- just click on the 3 dos at the top right corner of you post and select edit to open you post to fix the name!
Done! Thanks for catching....
DHS was formed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks for the purpose of streamlining cooperation between federal agencies to prevent the stove-piping of information that led to those attacks being successful; it was supposed to prevent terrorist attacks in the future. But its mission was always ill-defined, its implementation was riddled with problems, and now it's morphed into a state secret police force, which it was never intended to be. The entire agency needs to be disbanded, its functions returned to their previous agencies, and ICE needs to be either disbanded altogether or stood down while its ranks are purged of white supremacists, proud boys, insurrectionists, and wannabes who couldn't pass the tests for local law enforcement.
The fact that ICE and DHS are begging for recruits who don't even need a college degree or relevant work experience, with no age limits or physical fitness requirements should be flashing red lights for all Americans. This agency will take any low life off the streets, chuck them some fatigues, a ballistic vest and balaclava, and put them to work - AND give them a $50K signing bonus into the bargain. This is what's called a recipe for disaster. And that's just what they're delivering. It's a disgrace and an affront to American democracy. DISBAND DHS! And send HairExtensions back home to the Dakotas.
I may not be getting this entirely right, but I think it was after 9/11 when the Department of Homeland Security was created. And it seemed like a good idea at the time, but people did object to the name, Homeland Security, sounded a lot like Germany the “homeland” defending the “homeland”. And as I recall they pulled people from all kinds of different departments and put those departments together. Well I see it has grown like bad germs.
I was born and raised in what was then West Germany and the formation of DHS right after 9/11 creeped me out a the time. "Homeland" just sounds un-American and DHS was just a little too similar to Reichssicherheitshauptamt, not just in name but also in the concentration of enforcement power. No US government department should have that much power, it's not healthy for democracy. Stephen Miller looks a lot like Reinhard Heydrich, too.
Pam, there was a lot of push-back on this at the time, and a lot of argument both in Congress and out. Poeple hoped that it would be temporary. As you point out, it wasn't, and it is out of control, as those of us who lobbied against it feared it would become. It was a power grab within the US government, who are now enemies of the state in terms of how they operate. It was always a bad idea.