Second
up, go read Marcia's "The continued attacks on trans people" from last night. Really important post about
the attacks of transgender people. That's what happens when an idiot
like Donald Chump is in the White House.
Loved
C.I. in the snapshot (posted in full at the end of this post) today. I
hadn't realized that the mid-terms meant two things. I got that it
meant that we had a chance to take back the House and the Senate next
year. I had forgotten that it also meant Chump becomes a lame duck.
Republican Party's got to focus on their next nominee. That nominee
can't be applauding Chump and stand a chance of winning -- not with the
inflation, not with the attacks on people's healthcare, etc. And Chump
will throw his tantrums but find less and less support.
Yea!
For now, we can just enjoy Chump's many failures. He never met a qualified person he liked. Have you noticed that? Ashleigh Fields (THE HILL) reports:
The
nation’s 250th birthday celebration will go on without the help of a
White House-appointed director who was removed from planning efforts
after allegedly making unapproved posts and financial decisions.
Ariel Abergel, a 25-year-old who previously worked as a Fox News producer, was fired from the bipartisan Semiquincentennial Commission after being appointed to the role by President Trump.
The
commission is made up of 16 unpaid private citizens, eight members of
Congress and 12 federal officials who serve as nonvoting ex-officio
members supported by the America250 foundation.
Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State
Marco Rubio and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) each serve on the
committee.
Abergel was terminated “after he
initiated a security breach of a commission social-media account,
attempted to procure the resignations of multiple commissioners by
misrepresenting himself as acting on behalf of Congressional leadership,
and engaged in multiple other serious and repeated breaches of
authority and trust,” an America250 foundation spokesperson told The
Journal.
Chump
has never found anyone qualified in his second term -- it's been one
loser after another. But he keeps dipping into the FOX "NEWS" pool,
doesn'the?
One
failure after another: Loose Lips Hegseth, Drunken Jean . . . Over 23
of these losers. But he still won't bring in Laura Ingraham. She's
probably too masculine for him. I think Laura exists to disprove the
image of FOX "NEWS" hiring pretty blondes.
Speaking of inexperienced failures, Theodoric Meyer (WASHINGTON POST) reports, "On
Monday, the president named Lindsay Halligan, a former insurance lawyer
with no prosecutorial experience, as interim U.S. attorney for the
Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan replaces Erik S. Siebert, who
resigned Friday as interim U.S. attorney after refusing to prosecute two
of Trump’s most prominent political enemies."
Meanwhile,
Little Marco disgraced himself. He's just a Chump puppet. At least
when he was in the Senate, he called his own shots. Things just get
worse and worse for Little Marco. Leigh Kimmins (DAILY BEAST) reports:
Secretary
of State Marco Rubio was put on defense Tuesday over his boss Donald
Trump’s claim he would end the Ukraine war on “day one.”
He
was confronted with the reality that the war is raging months into
Trump’s second term as he appeared on NBC News’ Today show, where he had
intended to hype the president’s address to the United Nations in New
York.
Trump
campaigned on a promise to stop hostilities between the two nations
after Russian President Vladimir Putin green-lit a full-scale invasion
in February 2022. And Trump, who is forcefully stuffing his hat into the
ring for a Nobel Peace Prize following his dubious peace-keeping efforts, took it upon himself to act as the peace-maker.
President
Donald Trump took aim at the decision from several countries to
recognize a Palestinian statehood, arguing that it serves as a "reward"
to Hamas during his address at the United General Assembly in New York
on Tuesday.
"As if to encourage continued
conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a
Palestinian state," said Trump. "The rewards would be too great for
Hamas terrorists for their atrocities. This would be a reward for these
horrible atrocities, including October 7."
Trump
said he has been "deeply engaged" in trying to procure a cease-fire in
the Israel-Hamas war, and insisted that he wants all hostages to be
released. "We have to get it done," Trump emphasized.
"This
could have been solved so long ago, but instead of giving into Hamas
ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message,
release the hostages now," he said, arguing that Hamas has “repeatedly
rejected reasonable offers to make peace.”
Remember
when dumb ass Rashida refused to endorse Kamala Harris or campaign for
her. Remember Rashida and her trashy sister doing everything they could
to sink Kamala's campaign.
They got what they wanted: Chump in the White House.
Seen on BLUESKY:
hope reins
@hopereins.bsky.social
· 1mo
Replied to
VOTING > PROTESTING
Rashida
Tlaib and the Dearborn mayor led the charge against Kamala Harris and
Biden. Yelled and screamed not to vote for her because of Gaza.
Palestinians are facing genocide. Where are they now? Not a freekin word
from either of them. Freekin Crickets!;'
Tuesday, September 23, 2025. Chump continues to destroy the economy,
Kamala Harris reminds how he swore he'd fix it on day one and she
observes how feckless so many business leaders have become, Senator Adam
Schiff calls out the bribe-taking Tom Homan, we take a part an article
sent to the public e-mail account for us to highlight in order to
explain what we won't highlight here (poorly written articles containing
one factual error after another) and much more including how Chump is
losing his power not just due to his abuses but also to the natural
effect of mid-terms turning presidents in their second term into lame
ducks.
Let's start with the White House and Karoline
Leavitt who was asked about Donald Chump's illegal actions and abuse of
office as he went after political enemies. Propaganda Pig Leavitt
swiped her head repeatedly and chomped and grunted and squealed as she
lied lied lied. Robert McCoy (THE NEW REPUBLIC) explains:
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt crumbled Monday when pressed about President Trump’s lawfare against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump last week forced
Erik Siebert out of his post as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District
of Virginia for failing to find (read: concoct) evidence of James’s
criminality during a five-month-long investigation.
James previously filed a civil case against Trump, in which he was ultimately found liable
for business fraud in September 2023. (An appeals court last month
tossed a $500 million penalty—but not the verdict.) Now, like several
other Trump foes, James faces a thinly veiled retribution campaign, in
which she’s accused by the administration of mortgage fraud.
ABC
White House correspondent Selina Wang laid these facts before Leavitt
at a Monday press conference. Considering that a monthslong
investigation into James by Siebert (a Trump appointee) yielded no
evidence, she asked, “Is the president saying here it doesn’t matter if there’s a crime, he just wants his political enemies to be charged?”
Leavitt
launched into a tirade against James, who, she said, “completely abused
her oath of office” and “was actively and openly engaged in lawfare.”
The press secretary also falsely claimed that last month’s removal
of Trump’s half-billion-dollar civil fraud penalty meant the president
was “exonerated” of James’s “witch hunt”—when, in reality, the appeals
court upheld the lower court’s verdict that Trump is indeed liable for
fraud.
Most likely after that,
Propaganda Pig kicked her hind legs in the air and charged at the wooden
fence around her pigsty in an attempt to get out of the barn yard.
In the meantime, are you ready for Farmageddon? Donald Chump's destroyed the economy and farmers are seeing it. James Havers (MONEYWISE) reports:
The
combines are rolling across the American Midwest, but instead of
excitement, many farmers say this harvest feels more like a crisis.
Trade
wars, rising costs, labor shortages and high interest rates have
converged into what some growers call ‘farmageddon,’ a tidal wave of
financial and emotional strain threatening one of this country’s most
vital industries. And with markets closing and storage bins filling
fast, they say time is running out.
“It
just seems like things have stalled all summer long,” Brian Warpup told
CNN recently [1], who grows corn and soybeans on 3,900 acres in
northeastern Indiana. “With harvest here, patience may be running thin.”
Donald
Chump was handed off a functioning economy, one that had recovered from
the pandemic and was an example for the entire world. And in 246 days,
he has destroyed the US economy. Last night on MSNBC, Kamala Harris
pointed out on THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW that Chump said that he was going
to lower prices -- day one -- and he did not.
That's the entire interview audio only. They have it up on their YOUTUBE channel with video in various segments.
China
is still holding off on making soybean purchases from U.S. farmers, as
its trade war with the Trump administration plays out. A key North
Dakota ag group says without an immediate solution, it could be harder
for local farmers to stay in business.
As
regional farmers fan out for the fall harvest, some are scrambling to
find extra storage for their soybeans, because China continues to look
to other nations for this commodity.
North
Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne said the dilemma also weighs
down prices for other major crops like corn. He said the ripple effect
could be felt for a while.
"This is a mess, and
time is of the essence here," said Watne. "We can't just keep throwing
things into storage and not have any corrective action, someplace along
the line that's going to utilize up the supply, or we'll see two, three
years of lower prices because of this action."
He agreed with analysts who predict the crisis will fuel more farm bankruptcies.
The Farmers Union acknowledges this summer's domestic tax law did
secure some benefits for farmers, but Watne said the effects won't be
noticed until next year.
During
a recent trip to Washington DC, Nebraska farmers told members of
Congress they’re being adversely impacted by President Donald Trump’s
tariffs, and they need financial assistance.
Many
corn and soybean producers say they’re losing money on their products.
The administration says it’s using economic levies to level the playing
field.
Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen
said ag producers want greater support for using farm products in
biofuel production, including ethanol and aviation fuel.
"We
need to be able to get serious about domestic utilization of soybeans
and corn in our gasoline and our diesel fuel," said Hansen, "and we
could be helping take a lot of pressure off of losing foreign markets if
we had better domestic utilization."
That’s largely because
key monthly costs for most Americans - shelter, food, health care,
electricity - are outpacing inflation. Rents are up 3.8 percent - the
largest increase since 2011 - the Census Bureau reported last week, and
roughly half of all renters spend more than the recommended 30 percent
of their incomes to cover the cost. Utility prices have spiked,
according to the consumer price index, with natural gas and electricity
bills rising 13.8 and 6.2 percent, respectively, since last year. And
though President Donald Trump promised to lower food costs during the
presidential campaign, grocery prices just posted their biggest increase
since 2022, due in large part to his tariffs.
Other
sectors where inflation is rising faster include homeownership and
medical care, while falling gasoline prices help bring down the overall
average.
“It’s not
that they have a choice. We’re talking about things that people must
buy. They have to live somewhere. … They have to heat their homes. They
need lights,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.
How
are people coping? The best that they can. While grocery prices
continue to increase, Americans are spending more on discounted foods.
There's not much more that Americans can do right now. They've had to
give up so much as it is because Chump has wrecked the economy and now,
studies keep finding, that discounted food consumption is the only way
many are staying afloat in this economy.
The nation’s top economic statistician was fired. Central bank independence is being undermined. The federal government is buying chunks of private companies and demanding cuts of revenue streams.
Presidential power to lob tariffs has been wielded in unprecedented
fashion. And federal regulators are threatening media companies over
late-night comics.
These events all took place this year, and not in a
third-world country, but in the world’s preeminent democracy under
President Donald Trump.
Some political scientists see a pattern that suggests
American democracy is being undermined in real time. The stakes are
massive for the US economy and the business world.
“I have never been this concerned about democracy in the
United States,” Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow of governance
studies at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, told CNN in a phone
interview.
CEOs are growing alarmed — even if they’re publicly staying quiet to avoid the wrath of the White House.
Business leaders are “quite alarmed” in private about the
state of democracy in the United States, according to Jeffrey
Sonnenfeld, the Yale professor known as the “CEO Whisperer” due to his extensive rolodex in the business community.
“We’ve had a serious erosion of the foundations of
democracy,” Sonnenfeld, founder and president of the Yale Chief
Executive Leadership Institute, told CNN.
As
Kamala noted to Rachel last night, the capitulation to Chump has been
surreal, "bending to blackmail and outrageous demands."
Angelina Jolie speaks for many Americans in the video below.
"I love my country but I don't at this time recognize my country."
The president posted — and then deleted — a message to Bondi
complaining that "nothing is being done" about former FBI director James
Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff,
a day after federal prosecutor Erik Siebert complied with Trump's
demand for his resignation for failing to bring mortgage fraud charges
against James.
"There's some speculation that this was
meant as a private message to Pam Bondi," Lemire told "Morning Joe."
"The White House has not confirmed that, but the writing of it might
have been meant as a DM, as opposed to a Truth Social post because Trump
then took that post down, tried to clean it up with a subsequent
posting.
"But this is, we know President Trump campaigned on the idea of retribution.
That was one of his campaign platforms last year, and this is what that
appears to look like, and we have seen U.S. attorneys across this
country find a lack of evidence, there has not been a charge yet against
Letitia James, the New York State attorney general. There have not been
charges yet against Sen. Schiff or others."
"We have also
seen, though, an effort by this president to remove a U.S. attorney who
wouldn't bring charges, and he makes mention of that in this post, too,
saying he needs to be replaced with someone perhaps more compliant, and I
think this is what Democrats have been warning about for months, that we'd get to this step," Lemire added.
"Will
there be follow-through? We'll see in the days ahead, but this is, as
one senior Democrat put to me over the weekend, this is a five-alarm
fire."
Former Trump defense attorney Lindsey Halligan was reportedly sworn in
as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Monday
after the president forced out her predecessor for failing to turn up
wrongdoing with which to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James
(D) and other public figures he considers his enemies.
Erik Siebert, the previous acting U.S. attorney, resigned Friday after Trump told reporters he wanted him gone.
Halligan has no prosecutorial experience. Most recently, she worked in the White House staff secretary’s office, reportedly
tasked with censoring the Smithsonian museums. Previously, per ABC, she
handled insurance claims related to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents
case.
Trump announced that he’d be appointing her Friday via
social media. That post came shortly after one that was styled as (and
possibly intended to be) a direct message to AG Pam Bondi, where Trump
reamed her out for not pursuing his political enemies (including James)
aggressively enough.
The president of the United
States is not supposed to misuse the government. He or she is not
allowed to, for example, ask the IRS to audit his political enemies.
Nixon tried all of that. Those were high crimes and misdemeanors.
People were put on enemies lists and harassed at the borders -- US
citizens harassed as they came back into the country.
Because
Nixon was a crook and not an idiot, he knew to keep it hidden. Chump's a
fool suffering from dementia and he is putting it out there for all to
see, he is making his own case publicly for why Congress should move to
impeach him.
The mid-terms are important because Democrats stand a good chance of regaining one house of Congress, maybe both.
But the mid-terms are important for another reason.
After the mid-terms focus turns to the next presidential election.
Someone who cannot run again -- like Chump -- becomes a lame duck.
There
will be less need for Republicans who remain in Congress after the
mid-terms to continue their slovenly support of Chump. They'll need to
focus on the candidates on their side who want to become the next
president.
To do that, a GOP candidate wanting to win
the primaries is going to have to distinguish him or her self from
Chump. Following the mid-terms, Americans are not going to want to hear
JD Vance promising that he will continue Chump's failed policies that
have increased prices, his failed policies that have destroyed
healthcare, his failed policies that have destroyed education, his
failed policies that have . . .
They will have to draw a
line between themselves and the current president. They will have to
run against 'the establishment.'
That's a reason
Chump should fear the mid-terms. Even the feckless will stand up to him
after the mid-terms -- or come as close to standing up as they are
physically possible.
An e-mail from [unnamed
publication] wants to know how to get something noted. Oh, I have to
name them sorry. THE NATION magazine. I still have a few friends at
the rag. After the way they lied and worked to defeat Kamala --
including the editorial that argued you shouldn't vote for her -- they
can go f**k themselves. I've said that to friends there and I've said
it here at this site. But let's pretend that it's another outlet. You
would e-mail common_ills@yahoo.com and someone would look over it. If
they thought it was worthy of note, they'd put it in a folder for me to
look at. Sometimes they might put one in that they're unsure of. I'd
read and I'd decide.
"Nina
Bang: The Marxist Historian Who Opened the Doors of Power to Women" --
sorry Bayan but if, as you write, Nina got her masters in 1894 then
there was at least one woman before opening the doors of power or she
wouldn't have been able to get the degree. (Some sources note her
highest degree was a doctorate and there year the degree was awarded
also differs from source to source.)
In Bayan's badly written 3rd grade summary, she offers:
Selected Works
Karl Marx: His Life and Work (1918)
What
does that say? "Works"? That's plural. Change it to "Selected Work"
or note the other book she was an author of (the two-volume) TABLES OF
SHIPPING AND GOODS (she also translated another author's book on Karl
Marx).
Then you have this:
Although committed to women’s issues, she did not position herself
within a liberal feminist discourse. Instead, she considered women’s
liberation inseparable from the liberation of society as a whole from
economic and political constraints. She rejected a form of feminism that
isolated gender struggle from class struggle, believing that such an
approach stripped the movement of its revolutionary substance.
No, she wasn't a feminist, she pretty much rejected feminism itself as ENCYCLOPEDIA.COM notes,
"Although Bang was one of the first established female political
activists, she was not an active feminist; she considered women's social
and legal issues part of general political issues and part of the
general battle for democratic progress.
"She was among the first women historians to break men’s monopoly over academic history writing."
Really?
She was born in 1866. The first known female historian is usually said to be Anna Comnena
who wrote THE ALEXIAD and who was born in 1083. Others who predate Bang
include Matilda Josyln Gage, Henrica van Erp, Johanna Naber, Harriet
Martineiu, Anna Julia Cooper, Mary Wollstonecraft, Luise Gerbing, Mary
Bonaventure Browne and, as a feminist, I'm smart enough to know that for
every one woman historian I'm aware of there are probably 100 more who
are either erased in history or misclassified as something else (Anna
Julia Cooper's first book -- a collection of speeches and essays A VOICE
FROM THE SOUTH BY A BLACK WOMAN OF THE SOUTH is not considered a
history book by some but a book by a black woman forced into slavery and
published 27 years after the end of The Civil War about the life she
observed is history)l
I don't have much tolerance for nonsense. A lot of stuff that gets submitted via e-mail qualifies as nonsense.
Let's trudge through these three paragraphs from the bad ZNET column:
In 1895, she married Gustav Bang, a historian and prominent
politician of the Social Democratic Party. For Nina, marriage was not a
traditional framework of male authority but a partnership built on
intellectual equality and a shared political project.
Together, they formed a rare Marxist-socialist duo, jointly analyzing
the social and political realities of their time and contributing to
the development of a radical critical vision for the future of Denmark
and the world.
They had no children, but their relationship extended beyond private
life into the public sphere, as their home became both an intellectual
salon and a hub of political activity. Gustav’s death in 1915 was a
personal shock to Nina, but it transformed into a renewed commitment, as
though grief became a driving force for her continued defense of the
working class and marginalized groups.
They had no children?
That must have come as a surprise to Merete Hansen. Who? Gustav Ban and Nina Bang's daughter Merete Bang Hasen.
I
can do this with at least 21 more examples of a piece that should have
never been published. As an Iraqi woman who escaped to Denmark, is the
author compelled to make up lies? She wasn't the first feminist (she'
wasn't a feminist) in Denmark, she wasn't the first to blaze a trail. I
have no idea why an Iraqi woman would be so fascinated with this woman
and bend over backwards in order to make her appear to be a feminist, a
first and so much more. But that's how you can get rejected and ignored
by me: Write poorly and make one factual error after another. It's a
shame that despite Iraq's rich history of feminism -- and lengthy
history -- Bayen Saleh writes such an embarrassing article
Let's wind down with Senator Adam Schiff:
Schiff on Homan: “Who takes 50,000 in cash in a bag, if they’re doing something legitimate?”
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined MSNBC’s Alex Witt Reports to
discuss Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to weaponize the Department of
Justice (DOJ) against his political opponents and the administration’s
hypocrisy on DOJ investigations in the wake of a bombshell report
detailing the closing of a bribery probe into White House Border Czar
Tom Homan.
Schiff slammed Trump for pressuring the
Attorney General to bring baseless cases against his critics – including
himself, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General
Letitia James – and for filling DOJ and FBI leadership with loyalists
who have undermined serious investigations while dismissing corruption
among Trump’s allies. Schiff also slammed FBI Director Kash Patel for
his testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Epstein
case and the firing of senior FBI agents who investigated Trump.
On Trump pushing Attorney General Bondi to pursue baseless charges:
He made it very clear that he was firing
the U.S. Attorney of Virginia for not bringing a meritless mortgage
fraud case against Letitia James, and he’s basically out in the opening
pressuring his Attorney General, sending a message to other U.S.
attorneys out there that if they don’t do his will, they don’t do his
bidding and bring meritless cases against his enemies, they could be
fired. And this is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Nixon had his
enemies list, but it wasn’t so exhaustive and blatant as this, where he
was ordering, in front of the whole country, the Justice Department to
go after his enemies. In my case, for impeaching him, leading his first
impeachment, for serving on the January 6 Committee. And
what he wants to try to do is not just go after me and Letitia James or
Lisa Cook, but rather send a message that anyone who stands up to him
on anything, anyone who has the audacity to call out his corruption will
be a target, and they will go after you. It’s an effort to try to
silence and intimidate people, but I refuse to be silenced or
intimidated.
On weaponization of the Justice Department:
I served for almost six years in the U.S.
Attorney’s Office. I venerated my experience in that department, all
the hard-working men and women who are doing, I think really, really
important work on serious cases. But this just casts a shadow over all
of it. We’ve seen top leadership at the department devastated. We’ve
seen three top people, Trump criminal defense lawyers, appointed to the
top positions of the Justice Department. They’re running things. When
you see, for example, Todd Blanche personally intervene in the Epstein
case, someone Blanche who acknowledged that he has a continuing duty to
his client as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, then it’s the interest of
the American people that suffer. You’re seeing the same devastation at
the FBI, where senior FBI agents are being fired or pushed out, so the
nonpartisan leadership at the top is being pushed out. It’s
gone. And instead, you have this now fully weaponized department to go
after the president’s enemies. And in the case of Tom Homan, to run
interference against investigations that are a serious and warrant
investigation. So, you have both the dismissal of charges against the
president’s allies like Eric Adams, the dismissal of investigations
against Tom Homan and pressure to bring meritless investigations against
the president’s enemies.
On the investigation into Tom Homan:
These people should have never been confirmed for these positions.
And there’s only a limit to what Democrats can do, given that we don’t
have the votes in the Senate to defeat them. We need some Republicans of
good conscience to turn down the arcade juniors that are going to
endanger the public health of the people exists. They’re going to
endanger the national security and to call for the resignation of people
like Tom Homan. I mean, how can you have a top if. Enforcement
official, the border czar, like Tom Homan, who took $50,000 from
undercover agents in a bag, in a bag with the apparently, reportedly the
promise of helping deliver federal contracts when he was going to take a
position in the Trump administration. How
can you have that person in leadership? He should be gone. And I hope
my Republican colleagues will join me and others in demanding that the
videotape of him taking the bag, literally holding the bag, be shown to
the public. We also, I think, got to hear the audio conversations of him
making those promises in a change for that 50,000 in cold cash. I mean,
who does that? Who takes 50,000 in cash in a bag, if they’re doing
something legitimate?
###
And also from Senator Schiff's office, let's note this on the same topic:
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Adam Schiff
(D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the
following statement in response to reports that
the Trump administration intervened to close an investigation into
former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and
current White House Border Czar, Tom Homan, despite evidence of Homan
collecting bribes in exchange for facilitating future government
contracts.
The investigation reportedly included video of Homan accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents last fall.
“Nothing demonstrates the Trump administration’s culture of
corruption like closing an ongoing investigation into one of the
President’s close associates despite clear evidence of a conspiracy to
commit bribery captured on camera.
“The Justice Department, FBI, and White House must be held to
account. Congress must demand that the administration immediately
preserve all evidence related to this investigation and immediately
release the video of Homan. The public should be able to watch the
conduct of a high-ranking law enforcement official for itself.
“From this report, it appears that the investigation into Homan
was known to Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and
other key administration officials, including then-Acting Deputy
Attorney General Emil Bove. It is critical that we understand who knew
about this probe, who specifically ordered its end and under what
circumstances, and whether it influenced the Trump Administration’s
decision to place Homan in a position that avoided Senate confirmation
and accountability to Congress.
“The American people also deserve a clear accounting of Homan’s
influence on federal contracting decisions. Homan has repeatedly touted
this administration’s aggressive plans for expanding immigrant detention
centers, including for families with young children. If he was willing
to accept at least $50,000 from an undercover FBI agent, any contracts
that Homan approved or advocated for must be scrutinized by independent
watchdogs and Congress.”
When
Zane Aparicio plucked a couple pieces of chalk — yellow and green —
from a plastic bucket to color in a crosswalk, they ended up handcuffed
and in jail.
When they tried to retrieve small
Pride flags that an angry driver had yanked up from the sidewalk and
thrown in the street, they got kicked in the face.
“I’m
literally chalking love over hate,” said Aparicio, who is nonbinary and
uses the name Cait Aldebrandt, standing near the crosswalk at the Pulse
nightclub site in downtown Orlando.
The
kicking incident, part of which was caught on video and is still being
investigated by police, has so far been the most violent episode
reported since Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) administration ordered
that colored markings on streets had to go.
In
the three months since the directive from the Florida Transportation
Department was issued, crews have paved or painted over most of the
hundreds of targeted intersections and sidewalks across Florida that for
years have been colorful symbols of community identity and, city
leaders say, safety enhancements.
All
Doo-Doo does is stoke and encourage hate. He needs to be kicked out of
public office forever. Probably will be since the coward ran all
through 2024 unable to stand up to Chump.
The
Trump administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, was caught on tape
accepting a bag filled with $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents
in Texas in September 2024, when he was a private citizen, according to
two people familiar with the matter and a government document confirming
the existence of the probe.
At
the time, Homan was being floated for a top immigration job in the
incoming administration and allegedly took the money from agents posing
as businessmen in exchange for potentially helping the men land
contracts related to immigration enforcement if Donald Trump won the
election, the people said.
The Justice
Department, in the final months of the Biden administration, launched a
bribery investigation into Homan, but the Trump administration shut it
down this year, citing a lack of “credible evidence” and calling it a
“political investigation.”
Homan belongs in prison. A functioning administration would see him told to resign immediately.
I hope you caught Kamala Harris tonight on THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW. It hasn't been posted to YOUTUBE yet but it was a really great discussion between Maddow and Harris. She should have been our president. She was the best one running.
Monday, September 22, 2025. Over the weekend, Chump continued his war on immigration while libertarian capon Bill Maher pretended to hold acting ICE director Tom Homan's feet to the fire, Tom had an embarrassment of his own when it was learned that last fall he was caught on tape taking a $50,000 bribed to steer federal contracts if Chump was elected and Chump put him in the administration, Chump and his lackeys launched a frivolous attack on California Governor Gavin Newsom, Chump openly brags of abusing and misusing his office to target political 'enemies,' and much more.
Daniel Rios was at lunch at John Hancock College Prep when he got a message from his mother that haunted him the rest of the day.
She was anxious after hearing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were near their neighborhood. Rios, a first-generation American, said he felt helpless. His mind wandered from his schoolwork, dreading the next message would bring terrible news.
“All day, I’ve been thinking about what she said, and all I can say is, ‘Be careful,’” Rios said. “It made me shut down, in a sense, and constantly look over and make sure I don’t get any kind of notification from my phone saying, ‘Oh, they’ve gotten me.’”
Rios was among more than a dozen teens from across Chicago who participated in a roundtable discussion last week about how immigration enforcement and the threat of a National Guard deployment was affecting their mental health.
They expressed feelings of powerlessness, frustration, fear and a deepening desire to become more involved with their communities. The students, representing more than 10 schools across the city, also shared ways they can avoid becoming overwhelmed.
The event was held in the Loop and organized by Communities United along with Voices of Youth in Chicago Education, Mikva Challenge and Hana Center.
Exactly how many students are staying home is not yet known. School enrollment data is collected on Oct. 15 of each school year and shared by the state Department of Education in its annual fall enrollment report, which includes enrollment numbers for multilingual learners. Attendance data is collected by districts throughout the school year and shared by the state in the annual release of school performance reports, which typically occurs in the spring of the next school year.
Some students and their families have left the country or are afraid of coming to school because of ICE raids, said Kathleen Fernandez, executive director of NJ Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/NJ Bilingual Educators.
“It’s hard to learn when you’re afraid,” she said.
This increased anxiety and fear can make it difficult to concentrate in school, said Jennifer Durham, a professor of school psychology at Rutgers University. And that fear doesn’t just impact undocumented students, but whole school communities, she said. Some people are worried about friends or family members being deported and others may be worried about getting arrested or bullied because of their appearance.
More than 40% of New Jersey students live with an immigrant, the second-highest rate after California. And over 10% of K-12 students have a parent who is an undocumented immigrant.
“It ups the anxiety level for everyone,” Durham said.
Who's protecting the children? Who's even recognizing them? These are real lives being impacted. These are real people being arrested and deported. But reality's too much for some like the always disgusting Bill Maher who played footsie on Friday with the acting director of ICE Tom Homan. Instead of asking serious questions about what's going on? He asks about a mythical and made up person named Carol. He could have dealt with reality but instead he invented "Carol." And, no Carol isnot a Spanish name. You know Mahers an Islamophobe so it's not a Muslim name. As Ava and I pointed out last night at THIRD in "Media: The Stupidity Is Killng Us,"
There was no reason to invent mythical Carol other than to avoid the reality of just how harsh and cruel ICE's actions are. Leave it to Bill The Capon Maher to give ICE an easy out and leave it to the massively stupid to then pretend The Capon held Homan's feet to the fire.
Chicago has a long, proud history of activism and is considered by many the birthplace of community organizing. So it's no surprise that there's fierce opposition in the city to increased immigration enforcement. On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement - or ICE - said it made 400 arrests since it launched Operation Midway Blitz two weeks ago. Resistance in the city is attracting many who are becoming politically active for the first time, as Jessica Pupovac reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Chanting) No more suspicion (ph)...
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) No more suspicion (ph)...
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: ...(Chanting) From fascist politicians.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: ...(Chanting) From fascist politicians.
JESSICA PUPOVAC: Outside an ICE processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, armed federal agents in tactical gear and gas masks recently stared down about 50 demonstrators. Jose Richter (ph) stood toward the front, wearing a pro-Second Amendment hat. He was in his work clothes, a black security guard uniform with an American flag on the sleeve.
JOSE RICHTER: I do security at Navy Pier.
PUPOVAC: Have you been to many protests?
RICHTER: No. This is my first one.
PUPOVAC: Richter is a U.S. Army veteran, born in Mexico and adopted by a U.S. family as a child. He has legal status but said he's standing up for those who don't.
RICHTER: I never seen this, how they discriminate if you're Latino and looking at you like a criminal. That's not right. My old friends, they got deported already. They went to court. Not even 10 minutes, they were out of the courthouse, sent back to Mexico. And it shouldn't be like that. We're not in Russia. They need to stop it.
PUPOVAC: The Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration has sparked a wave of new organizing here and inspired many first-time activists like Richter and Kevin Naglich. Naglich used to work in cybersecurity. Now he's devoting most of his time to resisting Trump's second-term agenda, including his call for mass deportations.
Since September 8th, Chump has sent ICE into a war against Chicago. People don't really seem to get that. We're the United States -- not the Divided States. We're not supposed to be at war with one another and certainly not while a member of the "state's rights" party occupies the White House. But here we are. Laws violated, democracy trashed. All the signs that Chump's been here. Nicole Acevedo (NBC NEWS) reports:
Nearly a week after a Mexican immigrant was fatally shot by an immigration officer during a traffic stop in the Chicago area, his family in Mexico and community members continue to seek answers as they call for more transparency in the probe looking into the sequence of events surrounding his death.
The Mexican Consulate in Chicago and local police confirmed the the FBI is leading the investigation into the death of 38-year-old Silverio Villegas González, a single father of two boys.
A spokesperson for the FBI Chicago Field Office did not confirm or deny their involvement in the investigation, but told NBC News in an email that "as a general matter, we examine the facts with consideration of federal criminal statutes. We then proceed as appropriate, whether by investigating or referring the matter to the relevant partners."
With law enforcement releasing little information about the ongoing probe, some community members in the Chicago area feel like they "have to stitch this together" themselves, with "no expectation of a real investigation," Brandon Lee, an organizer with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "The community is expected to do their own."
Speaking to Telemundo Chicago from Mexico, Jorge Villegas González, Silverio's brother, said his family "wants justice to be done."
We could consult the footage from the body cam; however, the ICE agent "was not wearing a body camera." How convenient, right?
They've been caught on camera multiple times where they stop someone and surround him or her and then while he or she answers the questions one ICE agent asks, another steps behind the one being questioned and shoves him/her into the ICE agent asking questions. That's not an accident. They do intentionally because then they can lie further and claim assault.
This has been captured on camera repeatedly.
If that happened once to real officer of the law -- one with actual training -- that officer would be kicked off the force.
No fewer than a dozen elected officials — people chosen by the voters to seats in government to represent their interests — came to 26 Federal Plaza on Thursday seeking answers about ICE’s treatment of immigrant detainees being held there.
They were not only denied entry to the 10th-floor holding area, where many detainees are supposedly being held despite ICE’s continued denials, but the lawmakers also staged a protest over the federal agency’s continued obfuscation about the fate of the immigrants in its custody.
Through a cynical lens, the episode could be written off as political theater — a number of state and city lawmakers putting on a show for photo ops and headlines. However, this seemed to be a desperate attempt to get answers while ICE continues to leave the city’s elected officials in the dark about what’s going on at Federal Plaza.
It is no secret that ICE has used the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza as a facility to detain immigrants it seized outside courtrooms for the past few months. The leaked video showed these individuals living in tight quarters and squalid conditions in an area not fit for use as a holding cell.
FAFO is the phase so many are now on. The Black woman running for president wasn't holding hate rallies where speakers attacked Puerto Rico, for example, or trashed immigrants. But some immigrants clung to Chump. On TABITHA SPEAKS POLITICS, Tabitha loves to play the video of an immigrant population in Florida with their little song about how "I will vote . . . for Donald Trump. I will vote . . . for Donald Trump." And you did. And now you hate what he's doing. And let's not just pick on immigrants here, there were elected officials (US House Rep Rashida Tlaib, for example) and national con artists (Jill Stein and Norman Solomon) who did their part to put Chump in the White House as well. But we remain stuck in the FAFO phase. Phillip Martin (WGBH) reports from Massachusetts:
Sinvalda Oliveira of Marlborough says she voted for Donald Trump for president in 2024 because she wanted to see a tighter border and fewer immigrants flooding into the country.
But the Brazilian immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen says she didn’t expect Trump’s campaign promise to remove “criminals” from the country to expand to local Brazilian construction workers, nannies and house cleaners, including one of her own friends.
“He was just sitting inside his car in the parking lot of his apartment. And they detained him and they deported him,” she said.
Now the 56-year-old longtime aesthetician says her business is floundering, many of her clients are staying home and she’s worrying about the future.
“If these raids keep going, we’re all going to go broke,” Oliveira told GBH News recently. “All the bakeries, all of the markets, we’re not making enough money to pay our employees. It’s crazy. It is horrible. It’s not right.”
No, it's not right. And, yes, the whole country suffers due to your stupidity. (In fairness, the stupidity and the lies from the media led to a lot of people being confused -- see, for example, Ava and my "Media: How Amy Goodman harmed immigrants and helped elect Chump" from January about how the Goody Whore miscovered immigration -- intentionally miscovered the topic.)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has instituted a policy of mass arrests and deportations of Michigan immigrants under Trump’s executive orders claiming the need to rid the country of “the worst of the worst” criminals. A report published September 4 by the Detroit News directly refutes these lies. By far, most immigrants arrested in Michigan have been innocent of any crime. Close to two-thirds, or 65 percent, of the more than 3,100 people Detroit ICE arrested from January to July had no convictions. Most had never been charged with a crime.
The Deportation Data Project, a database maintained by lawyers and academics using Freedom of Information Act requests to ICE and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), shows that only approximately 35 percent of these immigrants were convicted of any crime. The remaining 65 percent of the arrests targeted people who either had pending criminal charges, that is, had not yet pled guilty or been convicted of a crime, or had no criminal history whatsoever.
While many immigrant families are unable to speak publicly, those who have spoken have shed light on the unspeakable brutality being meted out to people who happen to have been born in other countries and are seeking to make a life in the US.
As part of its report, the News spoke with Taicha, an autoworker at the Lansing General Motors plant, whose Haitian husband has been detained since August. The case is an example of the egregious violations of democratic rights taking place. Taicha is a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Her husband, Mike entered the United States in October 2023, using the CBPOne mobile app to apply for asylum. He was granted permission to live and work in the US. In 2024, he applied for Temporary Protective Status (TPS), but his application was still pending in June when Trump ended the program.
Chump's actions are illegal but apparently the Supreme Court has no disregarded the Constitution. While federal courts continue to find the administration's actions to be breaking the law when appeals go up to The Crooked Court presided over by lead Crook John Roberts, Chump gets his way.
One judge called the administration’s reinterpretation of the law to prioritize detention “radical.” Another said it had resulted in “arbitrary” arrests and turned routine immigration proceedings into an unsustainable “game of detention roulette” in service of Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Another called the administration “willfully blind” to the plain meaning of long-standing immigration laws. Another said the administration’s position “defies logic.”
“The Government’s discretion in matters of immigration is deep and wide, but surely its chop does not overcome the banks of due process enshrined in the Constitution,” said U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin, a Maryland-based appointee of Joe Biden.
In many cases, judges are ordering detainees immediately released from custody, so long as they vow to continue attending immigration court proceedings and remain in contact with immigration officials. They are still likely to be deported, but the judges say they may not be held indefinitely in detention facilities while they await the outcome of their proceedings.
In other cases, judges are requiring the administration to at least give immigrants a chance to seek bond from immigration judges — a fighting chance to win release from ICE custody that the administration has tried to deny.
On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law a massive, partisan budget bill: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). This bill—which congressional Republicans passed—makes devastating cuts to programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that help Americans meet their basic needs while giving massive tax breaks to the wealthy.1 The OBBBA—combined with other changes to the Affordable Care Act enacted by the president and congressional Republicans—will leave 15 million more people without health insurance and cause about 4 million people to have their food assistance terminated or cut substantially.2
However, the harmful impacts of the law don’t stop there. The new law provides an unprecedented increase in funding to implement the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda with zero accountability, after congressional Republicans rejected multiple requests to amend the bill to place checks on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) use of these funds.3 The law provides $45 billion—available through fiscal year 2029—to dramatically expand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention capacity to 100,000 beds.4 Additionally, the law appropriates nearly $30 billion for ICE personnel and enforcement operations.5 It pushes ICE’s overall annual budget of around $9.9 billion in fiscal year 2024 to $28 billion.6 The OBBBA will nearly triple ICE’s budget with this infusion of additional funding while taking away valuable support for vulnerable populations, including more than $1 trillion in cuts to medical care for children, the elderly, and disabled people.7 Even prior to the OBBBA, ICE and its contractors have operated without sufficient accountability and oversight.8 This funding increase will only enhance the Trump administration’s cruel immigration actions without making Americans safer.
In response to the Trump administration’s arbitrary demand that DHS arrest 3,000 immigrants per day, ICE has operated with impunity.9 The administration has essentially dismantled congressionally created watchdog agencies that provided oversight of DHS, including monitoring immigration detention and ensuring the protection of detainees’ civil rights.10 Unless Congress steps up and demands accountability for the slush fund, DHS under the Trump administration now has at its disposal the additional funding provided by the OBBBA. This funding will be used to further escalate the Trump administration’s unprecedented and indiscriminate deportation agenda that separates families, detains students and children, and terrorizes communities. Although we are already seeing the effects of the administration’s cruel, anti-immigrant policies, the full extent of the economic and human impact on families and communities will only multiply as these funds are expended.
Before we leave the topic of immigration, let's note this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
Senate Judiciary Committee report: Trump Administration appears to have ended presumption of release, is detaining more and more pregnant women in facilities ill-equipped to manage their well-being and safety;
ICYMI: Senator Murray Leads Colleagues in Reintroducing Legislation to Prevent the Shackling and Mistreatment of Pregnant Women in ICE and CBP Custody
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee, and Senator Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Judiciary Committee, led 27 of their Senate colleagues in a new letter expressing grave concerns about the prevalence and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. In their letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the lawmakers urgently requested that ICE stop detaining pregnant women absent exceptional circumstances, and asked the Department to provide information about the number of pregnant women in its custody and the treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women who are in ICE detention—as well as answers to a long list of additional oversight questions no later than September 26th.
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) study published in 2020 found that between 2016 and 2018, ICE detained pregnant women over 4,600 times. As Congress increased its oversight into the detention of pregnant women, that number dropped to just 158 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women detained in the first half of Fiscal Year 2024. After President Trump took office this year, the Administration stopped providing reports to Congress on the number of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in their custody.
“We write to express grave concerns about the prevalence and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. A recent Senate Judiciary Committee site visit and media reports point to the alarming detention of a significant number of pregnant women in ICE custody. We urgently request that ICE cease detaining pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women absent exceptional circumstances and that the agency provide information about the number and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in its custody,” the senators wrote. In their letter, the senators referenced reporting on 911 calls recorded from ICE facilities involving pregnant women in “distress, bleeding or suffering severe pain,” as well as a recent Senate Judiciary Committee staff visit to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, LA that found 14 pregnant women—a shockingly large number—detained at the time of the visit, with many of them receiving little to no medical care.
“Medical research links ICE detention to high rates of pregnancy complications, with physicians finding serious risks to both fetal and maternal health. These already serious risks are heightened by the deteriorating conditions inside detention facilities, including severe overcrowding, reports of inadequate food and water, and lack of emergency medical care,” the senators continued. “At this time, we do not know how many pregnant women are in ICE custody, whether U.S. citizen babies have been born in ICE custody, and what provisions have been made for mothers’ and children’s health, safety, and wellbeing.”
“ICE’s own standards are unambiguous on the detention, monitoring, and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in detention. ICE Directive 11032.4, Identification and Monitoring of Pregnant, Postpartum, or Nursing Individuals (2021 Pregnancy Directive), states that ICE should not detain pregnant, postpartum, or nursing individuals except under very limited circumstances,” the senators wrote. “If detention of these individuals is deemed absolutely necessary, the directive provides detailed requirements for ensuring that they are monitored closely, kept in suitable facilities, and given access to both routine and emergency health care… Given the urgent nature of pregnant women’s health and safety needs, we request that you ensure all detention facilities are in full compliance with current law and the 2021 Pregnancy Directive.”
Senator Murray has longfought against the mistreatment of pregnant women in detention, and leads legislation—the Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act—that would provide permanent safeguards for pregnant and postpartum women in ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody. She first introduced the legislation in 2018 during the 115th Congress, and reintroduced it in 2019—on the heels of a Washington Post report about a woman in ICE custody whose pregnancy ended in a stillbirth after she went into labor prematurely—2023, and 2025 alongside Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (D, TX-29), who leads companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
“In defiance of medical evidence counseling against their detention, ICE is horrifically detaining pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in conditions that compromise their physical and mental health,” said Jennifer Ibañez Whitlock, Senior Policy Counsel for the National Immigration Law Center. “It is clear that ICE is ill-prepared to meet even the minimum healthcare and safety standards for pregnant women in their custody. The National Immigration Law Center calls on Secretary Noem to immediately halt the detention of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women, resume transparent reporting, and ensure full compliance with federal law and agency directives. The health and dignity of these women must no longer be compromised.”
“U.S. policy makes clear that pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women should not be detained — yet ICE continues to ignore these protections,” said Zain Lakhani, Director of Migrant Rights and Justice at the Women’s Refugee Commission. “We continue to hear reports of pregnant women being held in dangerous conditions without adequate food or medical care, putting their health and lives at risk. These harms are occurring in a black box, where we know precious little about immigrant women’s access to healthcare and nutrition. We thank Senators Murray and Blumenthal for demanding that the Department of Homeland Security end this inhumane practice and call for vital transparency around their access to services. Together we must shine a light on detention conditions and ensure these women and their babies are treated with safety, dignity, and humanity.”
In addition to Murray and Blumenthal, the following 27 senators also signed onto the letter to Secretary Noem: Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NM), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The full text of the letter is available HERE and below.
Secretary Noem:
We write to express grave concerns about the prevalence and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. A recent Senate Judiciary Committee site visit and media reports point to the alarming detention of a significant number of pregnant women in ICE custody. We urgently request that ICE cease detaining pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women absent exceptional circumstances and that the agency provide information about the number and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in its custody.
Medical research links ICE detention to high rates of pregnancy complications, with physicians finding serious risks to both fetal and maternal health. These already serious risks are heightened by the deteriorating conditions inside detention facilities, including severe overcrowding, reports of inadequate food and water, and lack of emergency medical care. According to one media investigation, since January 2025, at least four 911 calls have been recorded from ICE detention facilities involving pregnant women in “distress, bleeding or suffering severe pain”– including one involving a facility staff member. A recent Senate Judiciary Committee staff visit to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana revealed that 14 pregnant women—a shockingly large number—were detained at the time of the visit. Women reported receiving little to no medical care and insufficient nutrition; some reported having never been seen by a physician in the facility, despite efforts to get care. The report shares an anecdote of “a pregnant woman who had a miscarriage while detained and was allegedly still bleeding when she was deported.”
Since the start of the Trump administration, accurate information about the number of pregnant women in ICE custody has been difficult to ascertain. Until this year, ICE provided semiannual reports to Congress on the number and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in immigration detention; however this previously required reporting has now ceased. Moreover, the effective closure of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman means that there is little visibility and independent oversight of the treatment of vulnerable populations, including pregnant women. At this time, we do not know how many pregnant women are in ICE custody, whether U.S. citizen babies have been born in ICE custody, and what provisions have been made for mothers’ and children’s health, safety, and wellbeing.
ICE’s own standards are unambiguous on the detention, monitoring, and treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in detention. ICE Directive 11032.4, Identification and Monitoring of Pregnant, Postpartum, or Nursing Individuals (2021 Pregnancy Directive), states that ICE should not detain pregnant, postpartum, or nursing individuals except under very limited circumstances. If detention of these individuals is deemed absolutely necessary, the directive provides detailed requirements for ensuring that they are monitored closely, kept in suitable facilities, and given access to both routine and emergency health care. ICE recently reaffirmed its commitment to the health and safety of detained pregnant women in the 2025 revisions to its National Detention Standards.
In response to our concerns that pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women may not be receiving necessary monitoring, health care, and treatment, we request answers to the following questions by September 26, 2025.
As of the date of receipt of this letter, how many women currently in ICE custody are known to be pregnant, postpartum, and nursing? Please provide totals for each category. How many of those women currently are in their third trimester of pregnancy? For the purposes of defining “postpartum,” please use the number of women in the one-year period following the end of pregnancy.
Section 5.4 of the 2021 Pregnancy Directive requires that pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women receive weekly evaluations to determine whether continued detention is appropriate.
What is the process for conducting these evaluations and what criteria are used? From January 1, 2025 to the date of receipt of this letter, how many pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women have been released pursuant to one of these screenings? Who is conducting these evaluations and are they reported to ICE headquarters? If yes, what office?
From January 1, 2025 to the date of receipt of this letter, how many have remained in ICE custody? Of those pregnant women who received determinations to remain in custody, how many were in their third trimester?
Have any women given birth in ICE facilities from January 1, 2025 to the date of receipt of this letter, including both live and stillborn births? If so, how many live and stillborn births and in which facilities? In that same time frame, how many miscarriages have occurred?
All children born on U.S. soil, including at ICE detention facilities, are U.S. citizens. For any child born in ICE custody, what is the process for allowing their mothers to secure U.S. birth certificates and other vital documents? Have any women been deported before having an opportunity to seek and obtain a birth certificate for their child?
How many pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women have been deported since January 1, 2025? Please provide the monthly total.
Section 2 of the 2021 Pregnancy Directive requires that pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women be detained in facilities that are suitable for their physical and mental health needs.
What ICE facilities currently detain pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women? Please provide a list by facility name and location.
What are the criteria for determining if a facility is suitable for pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women? Of the pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in ICE custody, how many were detained in facilities that have been deemed suitable according to these criteria from January 1, 2025 to the date of receipt of this letter? What ICE office determined those facilities were suitable and when was that determination made?
How many women since January 1, 2025 have been transferred into a suitable facility once it is discovered that they are pregnant, postpartum, and nursing? How many of these transfers occurred because the woman was pregnant?
Since January 1, 2025, how many approved referrals for offsite obstetrics and gynecology services have been completed? How many inpatient hospitalizations related to active labor and birth for ICE detainees have occurred since January 1, 2025?
Please describe pregnant women’s access to prenatal and postnatal health care in all ICE facilities that detain pregnant women, including routine medical examinations, treatment for pregnancy complications, and access to medical specialists such as OB/GYNs.
Please describe the provisions for ensuring safe labor and delivery, including an opportunity for mother and child to bond immediately after birth.
Current law (Section 528 of P.L. 118-47) and Section 2.3 of the 2021 Pregnancy Directive severely curtails the use of restraints on pregnant women at any time and prohibits them entirely during active labor and delivery. If restraints are used, documented medical approval is required. Since January 1, 2025, have any pregnant women been placed in restraints? If yes, how many and at which locations have restraints been used on pregnant women?
Please describe any provisions for ensuring that pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women have access to a diet that meets the U.S. government recommended dietary guidelines for pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women, which includes including fruits, dairy products, vegetables, to support a healthy pregnancy and ensure their safety after birth.
Given the urgent nature of pregnant women’s health and safety needs, we request that you ensure all detention facilities are in full compliance with current law and the 2021 Pregnancy Directive. We also request as a sign of your agency’s commitment to the care of all individuals in your custody that you immediately resume semiannual reporting on Pregnant, Postpartum, and Lactating Individuals in Immigration Detention.
We look forward to receipt of this reporting and responses to our questions.
Isaiah's latest THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Holman Side Hustle Press briefing." In response to the news that last fall the now-Acting Director of ICE was captured on video by the FBI taking a $50,000 bribe, the administration steps forward with some comments. Tom himself explains, "Everybody needs a side hustle." Attorney General Pam Bimbo Bondi ads, "Exactly. Kristi can't afford her extinctions in this economy." And she pats FBI Director Ka$h Patel on the head while he yells, "I helped too! I kissed Tom on his chili chute! His balloon knot! His leather cheerio!" White House spokesperson Propaganda Pig Karoline Leavitt shows up offering, "Too clarify 'Hair extensions.' Pam is so busy with her crusade against free speech she sometimes misspeaks." Isaiah archives his comics at THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS.
A great comic and if the topic's new to you, Rebecca covered it Saturday night with "corruption is always around chump." Here's Ben covering the issue for MEIDASTOUCH NEWS.
The FBI reportedly recorded Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover agents who were posing as business contractors last year.
A new report from MSNBC on Saturday reveals that the agents recorded Homan, six weeks before the 2024 election, allegedly promising to assist in securing government contracts across the border security industry during Trump’s second term.
Six sources familiar with the matter told MSNBC that the FBI and justice department – then run by Joe Biden’s administration – had intended to hold off and assess whether Homan would follow through on his alleged promises after he was appointed as Trump’s border czar. However, the investigation stalled after Trump took office, and in recent weeks, officials appointed by Trump decided to close the case, according to MSNBC.
[. . .]
Homan was captured on video accepting $50,000 in cash at a meeting spot in Texas on 20 September 2024, according to an internal summary of the case reviewed by MSNBC and sources who spoke to the outlet.
Four sources familiar with the matter told MSNBC that multiple federal officials believed they had a solid criminal case against Homan for conspiracy to commit bribery. However, since Homan was not a public official at the time he accepted the money and Trump had not yet become president, his actions did not meet the criteria for a standard bribery charge.
Officials eventually decided to continue monitoring Homan once he joined Trump’s second presidential administration. MSNBC reports that officials had been looking at four potential criminal charges including conspiracy, bribery and two kinds of fraud, before Trump’s new justice department shut down the investigation.
Pam Bimbo Bondi and Ka$h Patel need to explain to the American people how dropping the case was "justice." Because what it looks like is they weren't interested in justice, they were just scratching one another's backs and practicing The Laws Are For Thee Not For Me.
Chump is out of control and breaking the law. Over the weekend, he posted to his social media the following:
Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’ Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT
The New York Times reported that Siebert had told senior justice department officials their investigations had not unearthed enough evidence to prosecute James.
James, a Democrat who won a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump in 2023, has denied the mortgage fraud allegations as "baseless" and motivated by "revenge".
"I want him out," President Donald Trump declared on Friday, referring to Erik Siebert, the career prosecutor he had tapped less than five months earlier to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Siebert, who had been in the role in an acting capacity since January and whose nomination was pending on the Senate floor, complied in short order. His resignation was not enough for Trump, who took to his social-media platform Truth Social just after midnight to make his point: “He didn’t quit, I fired him!” Trump insisted he had acted when he was informed that Siebert had received the “UNUSUALLY STRONG support of the two absolutely terrible, sleazebag Democrat Senators, from the Great State of Virginia.” He was referring to Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, who, along with the state’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, had recommended Siebert for the post.
This odd justification—faulting Warner and Kaine for their bipartisanship—should fool no one. The source of Trump’s beef with Siebert was evident. According to numerous reports, Siebert had balked at bringing criminal charges against two of Trump’s supposed enemies: New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who had sued Trump and his company for fraud; and the former F.B.I. director James Comey, whom Trump had fired during his first term. This moment was inevitable. Trump has been proclaiming for years that his political opponents should be locked up, but there is a gulf between loudly alleging criminal behavior and amassing the evidence necessary to prove the elements of an actual crime. The difference in Trump’s second term is that he is not about to be deterred by such niceties. This time around, the lawyers aren’t going to stop him.
The Trump Administration’s modus operandi has been to flood the zone with a torrent of illegal acts. One day it uses the military to blow up boats suspected of trafficking drugs, without legal authorization and in defiance of both U.S. and international law; the next it threatens to revoke the broadcast licenses of television networks whose speech displeases the Administration. These are not discrete incidents. They are linked by the common threads of Trump’s disdain for the rule of law, his bloated conception of Presidential power, and his readiness to bend the state to his will. The scope of the assault seems intended to inure the public to the outrages it is witnessing. It is impossible, emotionally and intellectually, to be worked up about everything, everywhere, all at once.
But here we are. In the hierarchy of the Administration’s horrors, the Siebert firing is about as bad as it gets. Since Trump regained office, the Department of Justice has dismissed career prosecutors for an array of unjustified and self-serving reasons: for daring to have worked on the criminal cases against Trump; being the daughter of Comey; failing to remove personal pronouns in a signature block. It has dismissed pending cases to serve political ends, such as that of New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams. What’s happening now is worse. Dropping the criminal charges against Adams amounted to a political perversion of the justice system. But using the criminal law to punish political opponents as retribution inflicts far greater damage. Here, a potentially guilty person doesn’t walk free; an innocent person is harmed. The prospect of eventual acquittal in the case of an unjustified prosecution is of little comfort; as Trump well understands, being indicted and having to stand trial is ruinous enough. Firing a prosecutor for refusing to pursue a political opponent without a sufficient legal basis crosses the reddest of lines. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche were reported to have privately defended Siebert and questioned the viability of the case against James. On Saturday evening, Trump directed a Truth Social post at his Attorney General, demanding action. “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” the President wrote. “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT.” For good measure, Trump said he would nominate his former criminal-defense lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, to take Siebert’s place. “She will be Fair, Smart, and will provide, desperately needed, JUSTICE FOR ALL!” Trump wrote, of Halligan, who has been the White House staffer in charge of removing “improper ideology” from museums, as it’s described in an executive order. “Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot,” he publicly assured Bondi.
In another era, of stiffer spines and greater integrity, we would be in Saturday Night Massacre territory. On the evening of October 20, 1973, President Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire the Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refused and resigned, followed by Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus. (The deed was ultimately done by the No. 3 official, Solicitor General Robert Bork; unlike Richardson and Ruckelshaus, he hadn’t assured lawmakers he could not interfere with Cox’s work.) To expect a similar display of principle from Bondi and Blanche would be to ignore their track record of servility to Trump.
He is out of control and is disregarding the Constitution. Over the weekend, he demonstrated that yet again. Anchor baby Bill Essayli is in the news. No, he's not being deported. Nor are his parents. When you sell your soul to the devil known as Chump, he doesn't deport you or your parents -- especially when you're ready to break the law for him. Ty Roush (FORBES) reports:
Bill Essayli, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, on Saturday said he referred Gov. Gavin Newsom to the Secret Service for a “full threat assessment,” after Newsom wrote on social media a jab targeting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“We have zero tolerance for direct or implicit threats against government officials,” Essayli wrote on X, adding he “referred this matter” to the Secret Service and requested a “full threat assessment,” though it’s not immediately clear what the assessment would entail.
Essayli responded to an earlier social media post from Newsom, who wrote, “Kristi Noem is going to have a bad day today,” before signing a series of bills protecting California’s immigrant population, including a ban on face coverings for federal agents and a requirement for officers to identify themselves.
A motion needs to be made for Essayli to be disbarred.
He clearly is not qualified to hold public office (which we'll get back to) and he is clearly not qualified to practice the law.
There is no threat -- direct or implicit -- in Gavin's Tweet.
Bill Essayli is not qualified for the job he's 'holding.' Again, we'll get to it.
There have been two or three attempts on Donald Chump's life in the last two years. How is it helping Chump or the Secret Service for Essayli to being making these frivolous charges that distract from the Secret Service's main duty?
Should he be fired? I believe he has been. But before we get to that, let's note how he's never really been up to the job to begin with. From WIKIPEDIA:
The Los Angeles Times reported that Essayli struggled to secure convictions at grand juries for charges he brought against protestors during the June 2025 Los Angeles protests. By July 23, federal prosecutors brought 38 felony cases against protestors but secured only seven indictments, with many being dismissed or reduced to misdemeanor charges. Three federal law enforcement officers reported to the Times that they overheard a speakerphone conversation in the vicinity of the grand jury room in which Essayli screamed at a prosecutor to ignore the department's Justice Manual and instead to secure indictments as directed by Pam Bondi. The reporting said Essayli's low number of indictments raised concerns among legal experts over the strength of the cases he was filing.[16]
Now let's deal with 'firing.' He's no longer the practicing attorney general overseeing California. Pam Bondi named him that -- without Congressional approval -- on April 1st. Sunday will be 173 days since April 1st.
Do we get the problem or do I need to do a slow walk through? Think Alina Haba, if you're confused.
(c) A person appointed as United States attorney under this section may serve until the earlier of—
(1)
the qualification of a United States attorney for such district appointed by the President under section 541 of this title; or
(2)
the expiration of 120 days after appointment by the Attorney General under this section.
Get it? His 'term' has expired. Yesterday, it was 53 days after his term expired. As a California tax payer and a US tax payer, I want him to pay for every day after 120 that he has (mis)used office space. His term has expired. We should not be paying for his office space of his 'on the job' transportation (his job is over).
He has refused to follow laws and regulations which is why the cases he's brought have not resulted in convictions. He has tossed aside the laws and regulations to serve at the whims of Bimbo Bondi. That doesn't cut it. And, again, he should be disbarred.
Right now what needs to happen is Gavin Newsom needs to bring a lawsuit against him. That way, when it moves to discovery, we can find out whether it's just Essayli that's an idiot who doesn't understand the law and that's why he filed this frivolous claim against Gavin or whether Pam Bondi ordered Essayli to waste all of our time (and tax dollars and divert the attention of the Secret Service's resources to a non-issue).
