Others have included Becky Burke, a Welsh backpacker who was detained for 19 days. Her parents complained she was taken to the airport for deportation “in leg chains, waist chains and handcuffs” after being accused of travelling on the wrong visa. “She’s not Hannibal Lecter,” her father Paul Burke told the BBC.
Avoid Trump’s Amerika. You’ll be sorry if you don’t.
Lucas Sielaff was in a car queue waiting to cross from Mexico into the US when a border guard, seeing his German passport, began bombarding him with questions.
The 25-year-old tourist, who had been travelling with his American fiancée, was shackled, taken in for questioning, and then interrogated for hours. He spent 16 days in detention before being escorted to the airport and allowed to fly back to Germany earlier this month.
“I still have nightmares [about the experience] and I’m not yet back to normal,” Sielaff told the Financial Times. “I’m trying to process everything properly. It’ll take a while.”
Sielaff, who had a valid visa waiver entry permit and had visited the US several times previously, is one of a string of high-profile cases of European and Canadian tourists to have suffered hostile treatment at the hands of border guards since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Avoid Trump’s Amerika. You’ll be sorry if you don’t.
I’m not going to sugarcoat this. We’re in the worst national emergency of our lives.
It is not coming directly from threats we should be coping with — climate change destroying our planet, another pandemic threatening millions of lives, artificial intelligence taking over our jobs and brains, nuclear proliferation threatening the future of life on earth.
No. This national emergency is coming from a madman determined to turn America into a dictatorship and from his crazed assistants, including the richest person in the world.
What can I say that’s even remotely encouraging at this point?
Six things.
1. Voters are furious.
On Tuesday, Democrats flipped a Trump-voting seat in the Pennsylvania state Senate. James Malone defeated a well-funded and well-known Republican, Josh Parsons, in Lancaster County. Malone openly campaigned against Trump and Musk and made sure his opponent was tied to them.
This was a red Republican area that went +15 for Trump in 2024. The last time a Democrat won this seat was in 1889.
Other state and federal districts are showing the same trajectory — away from Trump and Musk.
2. Bernie and AOC are drawing record crowds.
Some 34,000 people turned out at Civic Center Park in Denver to hear Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.” As Bernie said: “We will not allow America to become an oligarchy. This nation was built by working people, and we are not going to let a handful of billionaires run the government.”
It was the biggest rally of Bernie’s entire career, including his presidential races. Hours later, the two spoke before a crowd of about 11,000 at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
Elon Musk was so spooked he started peddling conspiracy theories about inflated crowd sizes and “paid” protesters.
According to YouGov, Sanders is the most popular politician in the country, with a +7 favorability. (Trump is -5, Vance is -8, Musk is -12, GOP is -15. Schumer is -33, and the Democratic Party as a whole is -35.)
3. April 5 protests are planned everywhere.
On April 5, 2025, Americans are hitting the streets. The “Hands Off!” movement — in response to Trump’s and Musk’s devastation — is the product of a large coalition. You can find the action nearest you by typing in “April 5 demonstration near me” on your browser. General information from one of the sponsoring organizations can be found here.
4. Trump is fumbling on all fronts.
— “Signalgate” — the group chat scandal — isn’t just an embarrassment for Trump and his regime. It also demonstrates that they cannot govern. They can’t even manage the most elementary of steps, like making sure they’re meeting secretly and securely.
At best, both Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz — not to mention the White House comms operation — are damaged goods. There is no administration in the world, beyond this one, where a blunder of these proportions happens and nobody gets fired or resigns.
Leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee — Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) — have sent a letter to the Pentagon’s acting inspector general requesting a formal investigation over “the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.”
— The economy is in deep trouble. Consumer confidence continues to plummet amid growing worries about inflation and recession. Trump’s tariffs — both those already implemented and those proposed — are already raising prices across the board.
— The Trump-Musk DOGE is threatening popular programs. DOGE cuts caused the Social Security website to crash four times in 10 days, leaving millions of recipients unable to log in. Office managers are answering phones instead of receptionists because so many Social Security employees have been laid off. Phone services have been eliminated. Field offices are being cut.
Meanwhile, Trump-Musk DOGE cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency are already causing thousands of Americans who have lost their homes in floods and fires to do without any aid.
5. Trump’s polls are plummeting.
As a result of all of the above, Americans are turning on Trump. Although I’m not a huge believer in individual polls, I pay attention when every major poll shows the same thing:
YouGov poll taken 3/22 to 3/25, Trump’s disapproval (49 percent) exceeds approval (48 percent).
Reuters/Ipsos taken 3/21 to 3/23 is even worse. His disapproval is 51 percent and approval only 45 percent.
Morning Consult poll taken 3/21 to 3/23 shows his disapproval at 50 percent and approval at 47 percent.
American Research Group poll taken 3/17 to 3/20 shows his disapproval at 51 percent and approval at 45 percent.
An NBC News poll taken 3/7 to 3/11 shows that a majority of Americans (52 percent) are disappointed with Trump’s appointees — a higher percentage than at the start of Trump’s first term, or at the start of Obama’s, George W. Bush’s, or Clinton’s.
6. The courts continue to hold Trump and Musk in check, but for how long?
Federal judges are requiring that Trump reinstate 25,000 federal workers he fired; blocking the Trump regime from banning transgender people from the military; stopping ICE and the Department of Homeland Security from detaining several international graduate students for participating in demonstrations or adding their names to dissenting publications; and stopping ICE from deporting people without due process of law.
All told, hat there are more than 130 cases pending against Trump and his Administration challenging the legality of their actions. More than 40 injunctions have been issued and more than a dozen rulings have already found that the Administration has either violated, or probably violated, the law.
Another case is expected to be filed soon challenging Trump’s executive order issued Tuesday, requiring proof of citizenship before voting. This could prevent millions of eligible citizens from voting in future elections. The Constitution gives the states and Congress – not the President – the power to regulate elections and voting. Trump’s EO is unconstitutional.
The massive pushback from the federal courts has led Trump to threaten federal judges. It has also led Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to suggest potentially defunding, restructuring, or eliminating the federal courts altogether. “We do have the authority over the federal courts, as you know. We can eliminate an entire district court,” Johnson said.
***
These six morsels of hope are small relative to the damage Trump and Musk are doing, but I wanted to let you know that all is not lost; there is push-back against them.
The damage is likely to accelerate in weeks to come.
Trump is gearing up his attacks on lawyers and law firms that during Trump’s first term challenged him or offered pro bono services to nonprofits that challenged him.
His Justice Department is just beginning to target his enemies.
His mass raids on alleged undocumented workers and deportations are just getting started.
His (and RFK Junior’s) campaign against vaccinations is already costing lives, including those of children who were not vaccinated against measles.
America has never been subject to this degree of cruelty, incompetence, and disregard for democratic norms.
My hope is that this horrific experience will lead to a new era of fundamental reform — of our economy, our democracy, and our commitment to social justice and the rule of law.
I hope this is not too much to hope for.
What do you think?
Robert Reich
Friends, I’m not going to sugarcoat this. We’re in the worst national emergency of our lives. It is not coming directly from threats we should be coping with — climate change destroying our planet,…
The mood inside the White House is verging on panic with just days to go before Donald Trump‘s ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2.
Trump is expected to unveil sweeping new tariffs on America’s global trading partners, but those tasked with implementing his agenda admit they’re uncertain.
Behind closed doors, top administration officials are deeply concerned, with many quietly admitting they’re unsure what the president is actually going to do.
But with less than a week to go, even the most basic details including which countries will be hit, at what rates, and for which goods, remain undecided or constantly shifting.
White House officials freaking out about Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’
White House officials are increasingly alarmed ahead of Trump’s April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcement, uncertain of its scope or targets with a series of conflicting signals from the president.
When a protester was caught on video in January at a New York rally against Israel, only her eyes were visible between a mask and headscarf. But days later, photos of her entire face, along with her name and employer, were circulated online.
“Months of them hiding their faces went down the drain!” a fledgling technology company boasted in a social media post, claiming its facial-recognition tool had identified the woman despite the coverings.
She was anything but a lone target. The same software was also used to review images taken during months of pro-Palestinian marches at U.S. colleges. A right-wing Jewish group said some people identified with the tool were on a list of names it submitted to President Donald Trump’s administration, urging that they be deported in accordance with his call for the expulsion of foreign students who participated in “pro-jihadist” protests.
So it’s ok for extremist Jewish groups to show bias against the Palestinian people, who have suffered horribly the past two years? Supporting the Palestinian people does not mean that one supports Hamas and/or terror.
“If you’re here, right, on a student visa causing civil unrest … assaulting people on the streets, chanting for people’s death, why the heck did you come to this country?” said Eliyahu Hawila, a software engineer who built the tool designed to identify masked protesters and outed the woman at the January rally.
Eliyahu Hawila, software engineer and fake Jew
And who is Eliyahu Hawila? He is not Jewish, although he has pretended to be a Jew. More on that in separate post.
Private groups work to identify and report student protesters for possible deportation
President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations are getting help from private groups that use facial-recognition technology to identify masked protesters.
During an interview with Sen. Chris Coons on MSNBC’s “The Weekend ” former RNC Chair Michael Steele got the Delaware democrats to agree with him the Trump appointee is either lying or has no idea what she is talking about.
During an appearance on Fox News on Thursday, Trump’s AG claimed, “I think Signal is a very safe way to communicate. I don’t think foreign adversaries are able to hack Signal as far as I know and maybe people just have to keep an eye on their contact list a little bit more carefully.”
‘Deliberately ignorant’ Pam Bondi claim slapped down by MSNBC host
A glib comment by Attorney General Pam Bondi that the use of the Signal messaging service is perfectly satisfactory for high-level conversations between Donald Trump administration officials was dismantled on MSNBC on Saturday morning. During an interview with Sen. Chris Coons on MSNBC’s “The Weekend ” former RNC Chair Michael Steele got the Delawa…
In reality, slapping taxes on car parts imported from Canada and Mexico will hurt U.S. automakers harder than their competitors offshore because U.S. automakers have extensive operations in Canada and Mexico.
U.S. auto dealers have warned the Trump regime that tariffs will make cars less affordable to American consumers at a time when many Americans remain concerned about inflation.
Trump has waved away such concerns, insisting his tariffs will raise revenue — enabling him to lower taxes. The White House calculates that his tariffs could raise $100 billion annually. But the mere threat of such tariffs has erased more than $100 billion from the largest carmakers’ market capitalization in recent weeks.
Plus, as I’ve shown, his tariffs are a regressive tax that will be paid mostly by lower-income Americans, while his planned tax cuts will mostly benefit higher-income Americans.
The result: a huge hidden upward redistribution.
Another dumb Trump move that’s not just a gross mistake | Opinion
Trump said worldwide automobile taxes, er, tariffs, will come into effect next week, on April 3, alongside Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, due April 2. The new 25 percent tariff will be applied to auto parts, as well. All other countries already face a 2.5 percent tariff on their passenger car exports to the United States and a 25 percent tar…
Laguna Niguel residents with no criminal record were detained during routine immigration check-in
The American dream ended abruptly last month for Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez, a Laguna Niguel couple deported to Colombia after 35 years of building their lives in Southern California. The pair, who raised three U.S.-born daughters, were detained during what should have been a routine check-in with immigration officials on February 21, according to Fox 11.
Their oldest daughter, Jessica, 33, described the confusion that day. Her mother called after initially receiving an extension, only to be arrested moments later when a different agent intervened. “This official was cruel,” said Stephanie, one of their three daughters. “They arrested my dad first and then called my mom in and arrested her too.”
They were put into handcuffs by their wrists and ankles and treated as criminals before getting to these detention centers,” Stephanie Gonzalez told KTLA. “All they said is they extended their stay, even though every year they’ve had permission to be here, and they’re law-abiding citizens who show up and are doing their duty to check in with immigration and say, ‘Hey, I’m here. I’m not hiding or doing anything wrong.’ Then they just arrested them like that.
The deportation left three adult daughters—Jessica, Stephanie, and 23-year-old Gabby—plus a young grandson behind in the United States.
For decades, the Gonzalezes had diligently followed immigration protocols. Nelson worked as a phlebotomist; Gladys maintained their household. Their daughters insist their parents never missed appointments and continually pursued legal pathways to remain in the country they called home since 1989 when they fled Colombia seeking asylum from violence and drugs.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson provided a different perspective, telling The Orange County Register the couple had “exhausted all legal options to remain in the U.S. between March 2000 and August 2021,” despite numerous appeals through various immigration channels.
After their initial detention, the couple spent weeks moving through the system—first to a San Bernardino facility, then Arizona, and finally Louisiana before being deported. The experience left them traumatized but grateful to reconnect with family in Colombia who are helping them restart their lives.
“We are thankful this nightmare is over, while at the same time grieving the reality that our parents will not be coming home anytime soon,” the daughters wrote in a GoFundMe update on March 20, confirming their parents had arrived in Colombia together.
The Gonzalez family’s story reflects the broader shift in immigration enforcement priorities that now target anyone living in the country without authorization rather than focusing primarily on those with criminal records.
U.S. immigration officials are asking the public and federal agencies to comment on a proposal to collect social media handles from people applying for benefits such as green cards or citizenship, to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump.
The March 5 notice raised alarms from immigration and free speech advocates because it appears to expand the government’s reach in social media surveillance to people already vetted and in the U.S. legally, such as asylum seekers, green card and citizenship applicants — and not just those applying to enter the country.
I doubt the proposal will matter much given that they are already doing this.
Immigration officials look to collect social media handles from those seeking benefits. Is this new?
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. immigration officials are asking the public and federal agencies to comment on a proposal to collect social media handles from people applying for benefits such as green cards or citizenship, to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump. The March 5 notice raised alarms from immigration and free speech adv…
A confidential Pentagon document suggests the United States may not come to Europe’s aid in the event of a Russian attack. The leaked internal memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is said to prioritise deterring China’s ambitions over Taiwan and bolstering defense measures on U.S. soil.
According to The Washington Post, parts of the memo are strikingly similar to a publication by a conservative think tank involved with Project 2025, with sections mirroring it word for word.
The memo outlines Hegseth’s stance that America is unlikely to offer significant support to Europe against Russian aggression. It highlights an expectation for NATO allies to assume the primary role in defending their territory.
The United States, the guidance suggests, will provide nuclear deterrence against Russia but will only commit forces that are not essential for homeland security or missions related to China.
US ‘won’t bother defending Europe from Russia’, leaked Pentagon memo says
The leaked memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instead focuses on deterring China’s seizure of Taiwan and shoring up homeland defense
