Author Archives: M

Huffington Post: Purple Heart Army Veteran Forced To Self-Deport Under ICE Order

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A Purple Heart Army veteran who said he took two bullets in the back while serving the U.S. during the invasion of Panama self-deported on Monday after receiving an order by immigration officials earlier this month.

Sae Joon Park, 55, who has lived in the U.S. since age 7, reportedly returned to his birth country of South Korea after being given an order related to drug and bail offenses from more than 15 years ago that he says were tied to PTSD.

Purple Heart Army Veteran Forced To Self-Deport After ICE Order
Sae Joon Park, 55, who’s lived in the U.S. since age 7, was deported Monday to South Korea over a 2009 drug conviction he says was tied to his PTSD.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/purple-heart-army-veteran-forced-to-self-deport_n_685aba3ce4b0ede248bacec0

NBC News: Trump administration accuses judge of ‘unprecedented defiance’ of Supreme Court in immigration dispute

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The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to clarify a decision Monday that paved the way for the government to quickly deport criminal immigrants to “third countries.”

 fight over the fate of six migrants the Trump administration wants to deport to South Sudan flared up again on Tuesday as the Justice Department accused a federal judge of “unprecedented defiance” of a Supreme Court decision the previous day.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed a motion at the Supreme Court seeking clarification of the Monday evening decision that lifted nationwide restrictions on the administration’s ability to send convicted criminals to “third countries” they have no connection to.

Immediately after the Supreme Court action, Massachusetts-based U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, who is presiding over the litigation, said in a docket entry he did not believe that a May 21 order he issued that prevented the six people being sent to South Sudan had been blocked by the justices. The detainees are currently being held in a U.S. facility in Djibouti.

Murphy’s understanding was that the high court had blocked only his earlier ruling that set nationwide rules giving those affected a “meaningful opportunity” to bring claims that they would be at risk of torture, persecution or death if they were sent to countries the administration has made deals with to receive deported immigrants.

The Supreme Court itself did not explain its decision and did not specify which of Murphy’s rulings were blocked. But liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote a dissenting opinion, said she did not think Murphy’s May 21 decision was affected.

Trump administration accuses judge of ‘unprecedented defiance’ of Supreme Court in immigration dispute
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to clarify a decision Monday that paved the way for the government to quickly deport criminal immigrants to “third countries.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/trump-administration-accuses-judge-unprecedented-defiance-supreme-cour-rcna214735

Rolling Stone: Stephen Miller Has Financial Stake in Company Helping ICE With Deportations: Report

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White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s obsession with kicking millions of undocumented immigrants out of the country is a byproduct of his hateful ethnonationalism – but he also stands to make a pretty penny off the administration’s deportation agenda.

According to ethics disclosure reports released by the White House, Miller owns between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of stock in Palantir, Peter Thiel’s data and intelligence software company that has a several lucrative contracts with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to track data and conduct surveillance on undocumented immigrants. It’s a pretty clear conflict of interest from the man behind much of Donald Trump’s immigration policy, in an administration that is already rife with corruption.

Stephen Miller Has Financial Stake in Company Helping ICE With Deportations: Report
Stephen Miller reportedly has a financial stake in Palantir, which is helping ICE deport undocumented migrants.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/stephen-miller-financial-stake-palantir-ice-contractor-1235371343

Newsweek: Trump admin ordered to return man deported to El Salvador

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President Donald Trump‘s administration has been ordered to return a Salvadoran man who was deported minutes after a federal appeals court blocked his removal.

Jordin Melgar-Salmeron was deported to El Salvador on May 7 despite an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, New York, blocking it.

On Tuesday, the appeals court ordered the administration to “facilitate the return” of Melgar-Salmeron as soon as possible to “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”

It also directed the government to return to court within one week to provide details on the current location of Melgar-Salmeron and how it planned to return him to the United States.

Trump admin ordered to return man deported to El Salvador
The Trump administration was ordered to return a Salvadoran man deported minutes after a federal appeals court blocked his removal.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-ordered-return-man-deported-el-salvador-2090058

CBS News: Cuts to FEMA’s storm prep program hammer communities that voted for Trump

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A CBS News investigation found two-thirds of counties that have lost funding from this FEMA program supported President Trump in the 2024 election.

The mayor of Central — a community of about 30,000 outside of Baton Rouge — Evans and his family were forced to evacuate their home by boat in 2016 when flooding from torrential rains destroyed 60% of the structures in town.

“Flood water doesn’t discriminate,” said Evans, a Republican and supporter of President Trump. ‘”Any person that flooded is shocked that it would be considered politics to do flood mitigation.”

So when he received word in April that FEMA was canceling a grant program that would provide nearly $40 million for a new flood control system in Central, he was angry. In a press release, FEMA said the program, which provided funding for infrastructure projects in storm-prone communities, was “wasteful” and had become “more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans recover from natural disasters.”

“To me, it’s a brilliant business decision,” said Evans, who said the drainage project in Central would have saved money in the long run by protecting houses that routinely sustain flood damage FEMA ultimately ends up covering. “And then they pulled the rug out from under us.”

Evans and Central aren’t alone. Amid the avalanche of cuts made in the first five months of the Trump administration, none may have red state politicians more up in arms than the cancellation of the infrastructure program, which is formally known as Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC for short.

The $4.6 billion initiative was launched under the first Trump administration, and a CBS News analysis of FEMA data revealed that two-thirds of the counties awarded grants voted for President Trump over former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election.

In other words, King Donald is giving his own fan bois the royal shaft!

https://www.cbsnews.com/femagrantcuts

Mirror: Cyberattack hits major university with pictures of Donald Trump

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Columbia University has been dealing with “widespread outages” since 7 a.m. Tuesday, which has prevented students from accessing any online platforms.

The Columbia Spectator reports that several screens were taken over and displayed images deemed “unrelated to University activities.” At least one dorm television screen showed a picture of President Donald Trump.

…

Police had no information as of 4:15 p.m. to update the community on the situation.

An investigation is still ongoing, though a University spokesperson told the Spectator that it was able to debunk posts circulating online from a group claiming responsibility for the cyberattack. It is not clear what post or group they were referring to at press time.

Suck it up, fellas! King Donald is Columbia’s new Deal Leader!

Cyberattack hits major university with pictures of Donald Trump
The University has been unable to access critical online platforms all day due to “widespread outages” in a suspected cyberattack.

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/breaking-cyberattack-hits-major-university-1214335

Alternet: This obscure Supreme Court decision could impact Trump’s agenda — and restore faith in the court

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But there is one recent decision where the court was unanimous in its ruling, perhaps because its holding should not be controversial: National Rifle Association v. Vullo. In that 2024 case, the court said that it’s a clear violation of the First Amendment’s free speech provisions for government to force people to speak and act in ways that are aligned with its policies.

The second Trump administration has tried to wield executive branch power in ways that appear to punish or suppress speech and opposition to administration policy priorities. Many of those attempts have been legally challenged and will likely make their way to the Supreme Court.

The somewhat under-the-radar – yet incredibly important – decision in National Rifle Association v. Vullo is likely to figure prominently in Supreme Court rulings in a slew of those cases in the coming months and years, including those involving law firms, universities and the Public Broadcasting Service.

…

In May 2024, in an opinion written by reliably liberal Sonia Sotomayor, a unanimous court ruled that the efforts of New York state government officials to punish companies doing business with the NRA constituted clear violations of the First Amendment.

Following its own precedent from the 1960s, Bantam Books v. Sullivan, the court found that government officials “cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors.”

This obscure Supreme Court decision could impact Trump’s agenda — and restore faith in the court

https://www.alternet.org/trump-supreme-court-2672423710

LA Times: Judge in Newsom vs. Trump could soon order L.A. troop deployment records handed over

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The Trump administration could soon be forced to turn over a cache of documents, photos, internal reports and other evidence detailing the activities of the military in Southern California, a federal judge wrote Tuesday, signaling a possible procedural victory to the state in its fight to rein in thousands of troops under the president’s command.

If he approves “expedited, limited discovery,” Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer in San Francisco would likely also authorize California lawyers to depose key administration officials and might review questions about how long California National Guard troops remain under federal control.

Judge in Newsom vs. Trump could soon order L.A. troop deployment records handed over
A federal judge weighed ‘expedited, limited discovery’ in California’s challenge to Trump’s authority over troops deployed to L.A. County, potentially allowing depositions and signaling he might review questions about how long California National Guard troops remain under federal control.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-24/newsom-trump-judge-troop-records

Alternet: ‘Don’t have a smidgen of hope’: [Bimbo #2] Noem to divert FEMA money as flood victims struggle

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The New Republic reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem intends to use FEMA funds to build a new detention center in Florida.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier revealed his approval of plans for funding the facility, called “Alligator Alcatraz” with federal money last week. He said on Fox News that the hostile Florida Everglades would act to deter escape from the 39-square-mile site.

“You don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter. People get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide,” said Uthmeier.

Despite proposed saving from the facility’s isolation, The New York Times reports it will cost $450 million every year to operate the center, and Noem posted on X that this will be funded “in large part … by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program.”

In other words the money is being stolen from the people for who it was appropriated by Congress — the victims of floods and other natural disasters.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed to deliver cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” [Bimbo #2] Noem’s claimed. “We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.”

Repeating a lie ad nauseum doesn’t make it true. Only a small percentage of the deportees have criminal records.

‘Don’t have a smidgen of hope’: [Bimbo #2] Noem to divert FEMA money as flood victims struggle

https://www.alternet.org/fema-doge-trump-voters

Spectrum News: Syracuse mother, four children detained by ICE

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A mother and her four children, three of them born in the U.S., complied with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement order to report for detainment, reporting to the Syracuse ICE office early Tuesday morning.

The woman and her kids, ages 13, 10, 9 and 6, are being sent to Texas, according to their La Vid Verdadera pastor, Paul Reynoso. He says ICE arrested her husband at their Syracuse home last Friday.

The detainment letter arrived just one day later.

The family brought legal filings from their attorneys, but immigration officials said they must still report.

According to the pastor, three of the children were born in the U.S. and attend Syracuse City Schools. 

“We offered to keep the children with us, but she decided to keep the family together,” Reynoso said. “That’s good. The family should stay together.”

Reynoso says the family, originally from Guatemala, has lived in the U.S. for more than a decade. ICE reportedly told them they’ll be housed in a hotel together and provided for during detainment.

Syracuse mother, four children detained by ICE
The woman and her kids, ages 13, 10, 9 and 6, are being sent to Texas, according to their pastor.

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2025/06/24/syracuse-mother-children-ice-detainment