Monthly Archives: June 2025

USA Today: Manufacturing down, food expensive and ICE is deporting moms. Happy now, MAGA? | Opinion

Posted on by
Reply

If performative cruelty is the only thing that mattered to you, things are working out great under President Trump. Otherwise, things stink.

Look at Trump’s empty promises. Cruelty is all that matters.

If you voted for President Donald Trump and hoped something good would happen to you, feel free to say: “Oops.” If you voted for him out of a thirst to see immigrants who have committed no crimes suffer and live in fear, then feel free to say: “Yes!”

Because that’s where we are at the start of June 2025. Trump’s promises of a better life for Americans are proving to be empty.

And his promise to round up “millions” of “criminals” and deport them hasn’t materialized, because the claim that there are millions of criminal immigrants in America was a lie in the first place.

Instead, the administration has resorted to grabbing immigrants at courthouses where they’re appearing for hearings – in other words, following the rules – or snatching up and deporting working moms and high school kids.

ICE isn’t just going after criminals. Moms and kids are easy targets.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official interviewed by the conservative Washington Examiner said Trump adviser Stephen Miller has been demoralizing the agency with unrealistic deportation demands: “Stephen Miller wants everybody arrested. ‘Why aren’t you at Home Depot? Why aren’t you at 7-Eleven?’ ”

So much for going after the “bad guys.”

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old high school junior was recently arrested by ICE agents as he drove with friends to volleyball practice in Milford, Massachusetts.

A school administrator told the Boston Globe the teenager was well-known in the community and had attended Milford Public Schools since kindergarten: “It’s just horrendous. These are babies. They’re kids. I don’t care that they’re 18 – he’s just a kid.”

Communities are watching people they love get rounded up

In the small Pennsylvania town of Honesdale, ICE agents recently raided a pizzeria and detained three employees, rattling the community. Resident Connor Simon told WNEP-TV: “It’s really hard to fathom that the guy making my pizza for 25 years is a gangster and a terrorist, and the person who shows up in an unmarked car wearing a mask and body armor comes to take him away is somehow the good guy.”

And the recent ICE arrest in Kennett, Missouri, of a mother – an immigrant from Hong Kong – has led residents to denounce what happened to the longtime resident who works at a diner.

“I voted for Donald Trump, and so did practically everyone here,” Vanessa Cowart told The New York Times. “But no one voted to deport moms. We were all under the impression we were just getting rid of the gangs, the people who came here in droves.”

These actions by the Trump administration benefit only the most sadistic among us.

But it’s part and parcel of the harm Trump’s MAGA policies have already caused.

Manufacturing down, food expensive and ICE is deporting moms. Happy now, MAGA? | Opinion
If you voted for President Donald Trump and hoped something good would happen to you, feel free to say: ‘Oops.’

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/06/03/trump-deportations-construction-spending-down-economy/83995322007

Washington Post: Records of dead people show how the pro-Trump spin machine keeps going

Posted on by
Reply

Supporters cite a prosaic DOGE announcement as evidence that a Social Security problem that never existed has been fixed.

The big lie:

“We’re also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors, and that our seniors and people that we love rely on. Believe it or not, government databases list … 3.47 million people from ages 120 to 129, 3.9 million people from ages 130 to 139. 3.5 million people from ages 140 to 149. And money is being paid to many of them.”

— President Donald Trump, in a speech to Congress, March 4

The simple explanation:

Social Security databases rely on COBOL, a nearly 70-year-old computer programming language, and COBOL doesn’t have a standardized way to store dates. So a default date, such as 1875, was chosen for people lacking birth information.

But Trump and his cronies will never let a good lie go unrepeated, every chance they can.

Analysis | Records of dead people show how the pro-Trump spin machine keeps going
Supporters cite a prosaic DOGE announcement as evidence that a Social Security problem that never existed has been fixed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/03/social-security-dead-trump-false

Fox News: Largest ever ICE operation results in nearly 1,500 illegals arrested in blue state

Posted on by
Reply

Operation Patriot, the largest ever ICE operation, resulted in the arrest of nearly 1,500 illegals, including murderers, rapists, drug traffickers and child sex predators, in the deep blue sanctuary city-heavy state of Massachusetts.

Operation Patriot concluded on Saturday after netting 1,461 illegal aliens throughout the Greater Boston area and the state of Massachusetts, which includes numerous sanctuary jurisdictions.

Sources at ICE told Fox News that 790 of those arrested had criminal convictions or charges and 277 had final removal or deportation orders. The sources said that all the targeted criminals were roaming the streets of Massachusetts cities freely before being apprehended.

How many of those 790 with “criminal convictions or charges” were for traffic violations and other low-level crimes of litttle consequence? Probably most of them.

ICE lies, always exaggerates their achievements, has no credibility whatsoever.

How many of the 1461 were wrongfully arrested? Probably quite few.

How many are U.S. citizens who will be wrongfully deported? Probably several.

F*ck ICE!

Largest ever ICE operation results in nearly 1,500 illegals arrested in blue state
Operation Patriot resulted in the arrest of nearly 1,500 illegals, including murderers, rapists, drug traffickers and child sex predators, in Massachusetts.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/largest-ever-ice-operation-results-nearly-1500-illegals-arrested-blue-state

Miami Herald: Kristi Noem’s ‘Unprofessional’ Post Draws Backlash

Posted on by
Reply

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has sparked controversy by posting the message “Suck it” on her official social media account alongside a screenshot of a court filing confirming the voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit. The remark followed the ACLU’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s plan to transfer detained migrants to Guantánamo Bay. Critics have since criticized Noem’s leadership and her repeated focus on media engagement.

…

The lawsuit was dropped after several plaintiffs were deported or declined to continue. Critics have scrutinized Noem’s leadership under Trump, arguing that her media presence undermines her professional responsibilities.

One X user wrote, “How unprofessional. But I don’t expect anything less from someone who shoots puppies.”

Don’t forget her poor goat. She shot her goat, too!

Kristi Noem’s Gloat Over Dismissed Migrants Lawsuit Sparks Outrage
Donald Trump’s Homeland Security secretary shared two words condemned as “classless” and “embarrassing.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kristi-noem-s-gloat-over-dismissed-migrants-lawsuit-sparks-outrage/ar-AA1FkDJu

Law & Crime: ‘We are guilty. Period.’: Jan. 6 rioter refuses pardon from ‘felon Trump,’ claims president has been ‘gaslighting’ followers

Posted on by
Reply

An Idaho woman who was found guilty of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and encouraging others to do the same is now working to ensure that she is not among the more than 1,500 rioters to be pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Pamela Hemphill, who was 69 years old in 2022 when she was sentenced to two months in jail for her role in the attack, is actively refusing the president’s clemency, claiming that Trump’s mass pardons and commutations are part of his larger effort to push false claims about the crimes committed by his followers that day.

“The pardons just contribute to their narrative, which is all lies. Propaganda. We were guilty, period,” Hemphill said in a recent interview with CBS News.

Jan. 6 rioter refuses pardon, claiming Trump has been ‘gaslighting’ followers
Pamela Hemphill is refusing a pardon from President Trump for her role in the Jan. 6 riot, claiming the president has been “gaslighting” his followers.
‘We are guilty. Period.’: Jan. 6 rioter refuses pardon from ‘felon Trump,’ claims president has been ‘gaslighting’ followers

Independent: New video shows Judge Hannah Dugan with federal agents in moment that led to her arrest

Posted on by
Reply

Attorneys for Wisconsin county judge call the case against her ‘entirely unconstitutional’

Newly obtained surveillance footage from inside a Wisconsin courthouse shows a county judge speaking with federal law enforcement officers before they arrested an undocumented immigrant moments after his hearing in the judge’s courtroom.

A week later, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was placed in handcuffs and accused of obstructing his arrest.

Footage from April 18 provided to The Independent from a public records request shows at least six plain-clothes agents in ball caps and hooded sweatshirts arriving on Dugan’s floor. At one point, one agent sits directly across from Dugan’s courtroom.

Minutes after Dugan’s arrival, agents see Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his attorney entering the courtroom. Flores-Ruiz faces domestic abuse charges stemming from an argument with his roommates, according to a criminal complaint.

Dugan can be seen speaking to a pair of agents sitting on a bench in the courthouse hallway, and then appears to direct them down the hall. According to the criminal complaint, the agents told the judge they had an administrative warrant, which is typically issued by immigration authorities without a judge.

The judge allegedly told the agents to see the chief judge about their plans to make an arrest inside the courthouse. The complaint accuses Dugan of exhibiting “confrontational, angry demeanor” when speaking with federal agents. The surveillance footage does not include any audio.

Dugan is standing still in the video while speaking with two agents, who appear relaxed and slouched on the benches. One agent begins to walk down the hall while Dugan continues speaking with the other agent. Dugan then gestures towards the other end of the hall. She walks the opposite direction when the agents walk away.

None of the videos show the inside of her courtroom. A hearing for Flores-Ruiz lasted only a few minutes. Federal prosecutors allege Dugan directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out of her courtroom through a non-public door.

But video footage shows the door was just a few feet from the main entrance. Flores-Ruiz and his attorney walk past federal agents as they head towards the elevator. One agent follows them to the elevator. According to a criminal complaint, the agent shared an elevator to the lobby with the both of them.

Looks like ICE’s Gestapo thugs have no evidence worth mentioning.

Video shows Judge Hannah Dugan with federal agents in moment leading to her arrest
Attorneys for Wisconsin county judge call the case against her ‘entirely unconstitutional’

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/judge-hannah-dugan-video-ice-arrrest-b2762081.html

NBC News: ICE arrest of H.S. student sends shockwaves through a Massachusetts town

Posted on by
Reply

The 18-year-old is in immigration detention after being arrested on graduation weekend in Milford, southwest of Boston, where he has attended school since he was 6, friends said.

An athlete, a musician, an exceptional high school student with an infectious smile.

This is how community members in Milford, Massachusetts, described Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, an 18-year-old high school junior who was arrested by immigration authorities and sent to a detention center this weekend.

Gomes Da Silva was driving his father’s car on his way to volleyball practice with some of his teammates Saturday morning when immigration authorities stopped him.

Immigration authorities made the traffic stop because they were looking for Gomes Da Silva’s father, who is unlawfully present

ICE arrest of H.S. student sends shock waves through a Massachusetts town
The 18-year-old is in immigration detention after being arrested on graduation weekend in Milford, southwest of Boston, where he has attended school since he was 6, friends said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/ice-arrest-high-school-milford-massachusetts-immigration-rcna210324

Techdirt: Trump Administration Tells Supreme Court DOGE Can’t Be FOIAed

Posted on by
Reply

The destructive force that is DOGE still somehow manages to exist, despite it not being (depending on which claim is made and when) an official federal agency and/or overseen by anyone specifically identifiable as the head of DOGE.

Until recently, everyone — including Donald Trump — knew (and said as much in public) that DOGE was both a government agency and headed by Elon Musk. When the lawsuits started flying, the backtracking began by the administration, which apparently thought it could cover its tracks by walking backwards in its golf-cleated clown shows.

Trump’s love for DOGE has managed to undercut the protections DOGE hoped it would be able to avail itself of when the FOIA requests began pouring in and the discovery demands started hitting federal dockets.

Trump Administration Tells Supreme Court DOGE Can’t Be FOIAed
The destructive force that is DOGE still somehow manages to exist, despite it not being (depending on which claim is made and when) an official federal agency and/or overseen by anyone specifically…
Trump Administration Tells Supreme Court DOGE Can’t Be FOIAed

CNN: Trump returns to Supreme Court with emergency appeal over mass firings

Posted on by
Reply

The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court on Monday to ask the justices to reverse a lower court order that has blocked mass firings and major reorganizations at federal agencies, a case that could have enormous implications for the president’s power to reshape the federal government.

The latest emergency appeal involving President Donald Trump’s second term to reach the Supreme Court followed an order last week from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that kept on hold Trump’s plans for the sweeping layoffs – known as reductions in force, or RIFs.

Loser Trump has lost at the first two levels (district court & court of appeals); let’s make it 3 for 3!

Trump returns to Supreme Court with emergency appeal over mass firings | CNN Politics
The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court on Monday to ask the justices to reverse a lower court order that has blocked mass firings and major reorganizations at federal agencies, a case that could have enormous implications for the president’s power to reshape the federal government.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/02/politics/trump-returns-to-supreme-court-with-emergency-appeal-over-mass-firings

USA Today: Democratic Congress member demands investigation after staffer handcuffed by DHS

Posted on by
Reply

Rep. Jerrold Nadler is demanding a congressional investigation after an aide at his Manhattan office was handcuffed and detained by Department of Homeland Security officers.

The incident, which occurred on May 28, began after the staffer saw federal agents detaining migrants outside a courtroom located in the same building as the New York Democrat’s office, according to The New York Times.

Robert Gottheim, Nadler’s chief of staff, told The New York Times in an interview that staff members had invited immigration rights advocates who witnessed the detentions to the office.

Nadler alleged in a CNN interview on June 2 that the officers had “barged” into his office because the officers were “upset” that his staff members watched them detain immigrants.

“And they were upset that my staff invited some of the observers up to my office. They then came up to the office and demanded entrance. One of my staff members said, you can’t come in here, you need a warrant. They said, ‘No, we don’t need a warrant,’ which is incorrect,” Nadler said.

Nadler further claimed that one of the officers pushed his aide and she pushed back, and was then shackled. Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin alleged in a statement that the aide “became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office.”

In a video shared by Gothamist, a New York City-focused news website that first reported the incident, an officer with the Federal Protective Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security, can be seen handcuffing an apparently distressed staffer. Another officer had confronted a second Nadler aide, who asked for a warrant.

Nadler further claimed that one of the officers pushed his aide and she pushed back, and was then shackled. Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin alleged in a statement that the aide “became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office.”

In a video shared by Gothamist, a New York City-focused news website that first reported the incident, an officer with the Federal Protective Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security, can be seen handcuffing an apparently distressed staffer. Another officer had confronted a second Nadler aide, who asked for a warrant.

Democratic Congress member demands investigation after staffer handcuffed by DHS
The incident, which occurred on May 28, began after the staffer saw federal agents detaining migrants outside a courtroom.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/06/02/rep-nadler-demands-investigation-dhs/83990737007