Tag Archives: Amazon

Newsweek: Amazon worker fears deportation after humanitarian parole revoked

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An Amazon employee in Indiana fears she will be deported to a war-torn country after her humanitarian parole was revoked by the Trump administration.

Now, her husband believes that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will come for her.

Daphnee S. Poteau, 33, originally from Haiti, had been working at an Amazon customer returns center in Speedway since entering the United States on July 4, 2023, under the Biden-era CHVN humanitarian parole program. On June 14, she was sent home mid-way through her shift after she lost her right to work.

The CHNV parole program was launched in early 2023 by the Biden administration to provide a lawful pathway for individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the U.S. temporarily under humanitarian parole. Participants with U.S.-based sponsors could live and work in the country for up to two years.

Though Poteau has not been arrested or detained by immigration authorities, Poteau’s husband, Kristopher D. Vincent, 45, an Amazon associate and U.S. citizen, says the family is feeling “frustrated and scared.”

“I am afraid they will come looking for her eventually. We’ve seen it in the news a lot lately. People in black masks snatching—or attempting to snatch—migrants up, even at immigration hearings,” Vincent told Newsweek. “When judges, and even U.S. representatives, are facing arrests and indictments, how are the little people like us supposed to feel? Her only ‘crime’ seems to be coming from the ‘wrong’ country.”

Amazon worker fears deportation after humanitarian parole revoked
Now, her husband believes that ICE agents will come for her.

https://www.newsweek.com/amazon-worker-deportation-humanitarian-parole-revoked-2089333

Daily Beast: MAGA Madman Told ‘Prepper’ Wife to Flee During Killing Spree

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An unsealed FBI agent’s affidavit reveals what Vance Boelter texted his wife soon after allegedly committing a pair of brazen shootings.

Hours after allegedly killing a Minnesota state representative and her husband, Vance Boelter sent a text to his wife telling her to flee.

In a newly unsealed affidavit obtained by The New York Times, FBI agent Terry Getsch described the message the suspect sent to Jenny Boelter, 51.

“The text stated something to the effect of they should prepare for war, they needed to get out of the house, and people with guns may be showing up to the house,” he wrote.

Boelter, 57, and his wife were “preppers,” Getsch said. The term refers to people who prepare for a cataclysmic event they believe is imminent, often stockpiling food and equipment.

As it turned out, Boelter himself was the “cataclysmic event”! 😀

MAGA Madman Told ‘Prepper’ Wife to Flee During Killing Spree
An unsealed FBI agent’s affidavit reveals what Vance Boelter texted his wife soon after allegedly committing a pair of brazen shootings.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-madman-vance-boelter-told-prepper-wife-to-flee-during-killing-spree

Geekwire: Immigration crackdown rattles tech employers and workers amid ICE raids

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U.S. immigration crackdowns aimed at undocumented workers in agriculture, construction and elsewhere are having ripple effects in the tech world, which employs thousands of foreign-born workers with highly sought-after computer science skills.

Two Seattle startups providing immigration services say the climate is stoking fears and a sense of urgency.

“Anxiety has increased,” said Xiao Wang, co-founder and CEO of Boundless. “The volume of questions, inquiries, and the amount of misinformation that goes on through social media is such that people are increasingly concerned about what is real, what is not real.”

Priyanka Kulkarni, founder and CEO of Casium, also sees corporations that sponsor employees from abroad examining their options.

…

Even if the administration’s current policies aren’t directly disrupting the flow of tech workers from abroad, Wang said he’s seeing a “chilling effect” on new immigrants coming to the U.S. and companies recruiting foreign workers.

By turning people away, “there can be a real dampening effect on new job creators, new innovators, new entrepreneurs that will also cause the U.S. to lose its lead in science, technology and the global economy,” he said. “It’s against our own interest.”

Immigration crackdown rattles tech employers and workers amid ICE raids
The Trump administration’s hostility against immigration has caught the attention of the tech sector, stoking anxieties and a sense of urgency.

https://www.geekwire.com/2025/flight-to-security-tech-employers-foreign-workers-anxious-amid-ice-raids-and-immigration-uncertainty

Washington Post: ‘La migra!’: Day laborers recount ICE raid outside Los Angeles Home Depot

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Angel knew from the moment he raised his hand with a whistle and shouted “Labor!” at a white van pulling into the Home Depot parking lot full of workers last Friday that something felt wrong.

The Honduran immigrant caught a glimpse of the driver and a passenger wearing what looked like bulletproof vests. He followed the vehicle with his eyes as it parked toward the eastern entrance near downtown Los Angeles and the heart of the city’s Central American immigrant community.

His creeping suspicion exploded into full-blown fear just as the doors of the van opened and masked agents began pouring out.

“La migra!” Angel and another day laborer yelled. More than 100 men and women standing in the parking lot began to run. Six migrants who said they were present recounted how federal immigration authorities began handcuffing anyone they could grab in one of several raids in the city that would spark a wave of unrest and leave immigrant workers of all stripes jolted.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation was one of several Friday in Los Angeles that drew widespread criticism from elected leaders and community activists in a city that is home to one of the largest undocumented immigrant communities in the country. As word spread, protesters hit the streets to confront the officers and denounce their actions as a broad attack against immigrant families. The indignation continued into Sunday as officers fired tear gas at demonstrators outside a downtown building where some National Guard troops mobilized by President Donald Trump had been stationed.

The hardware store parking lot was empty for the first 24 hours after the raid. The immigration sweep spooked many day laborers who said they could not recall another enforcement action in which people had been detained so seemingly arbitrarily. But by Sunday, they began to return. Their numbers were far fewer but, they said, they showed up because they had to. There were too many bills to pay and mouths to feed not to work.

‘La migra!’: Day laborers recount ICE raid outside Los Angeles Home Depot
Workers who witnessed the ICE raid outside a Los Angeles Home Depot say officers arbitrarily detained migrants. The sweep was one of several that sparked protests.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/06/08/ice-los-angeles-home-depot-raid-trump

Also at MSN:

‘La migra!’: Day laborers recount ICE raid outside Los Angeles Home Depot
Workers who witnessed the ICE raid outside a Los Angeles Home Depot say officers arbitrarily detained migrants. The sweep was one of several that sparked protests.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/la-migra-day-laborers-recount-ice-raid-outside-los-angeles-home-depot/ar-AA1GkfF2

Style on Main: Target And Walmart Sound Alarm Over Retail ‘Collapse’ As Shelves Go Empty

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For years, “retail apocalypse” headlines have cried wolf. Many blamed Amazon, others warned of overbuilt malls, but most claims fizzled. What’s happening now is different. Target just slashed its 2025 outlook after a brutal quarter, projecting a “low-single digit decline” in annual sales. Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon has gone straight to President Trump with warnings that store shelves may soon run dry. 

These aren’t fringe forecasts, they’re direct signals from America’s largest retailers. For the first time, retail’s titans are sounding the same alarm. The collapse isn’t theoretical anymore. Behind the aisles, a perfect storm of tariffs, supply chain chaos, and consumer panic is brewing.

Target And Walmart Sound Alarm Over Retail ‘Collapse’ As Shelves Go Empty
WWD Instagram For years, “retail apocalypse” headlines have cried wolf. Many blamed Amazon, others warned of overbuilt malls, but most claims fizzled. What’s happening now is different. Target just slashed its 2025 outlook after a
https://styleonmain.net/target-and-walmart-sound-alarm-over-retail-collapse-as-shelves-go-empty/

Raw Story: ‘Second biggest scandal’: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in Shade

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“The plane is the second-biggest scandal on this trip,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told Raw Story. “The $2 billion crypto investment in Trump stablecoin [by an Emirati firm] is the more offensive grift.”

…

Now, Trump is unshackled. The president and his sons aren’t even pretending to close shop: they’re expanding, thirsty for deals like the one they signed in April to build a golf club in Qatar.

…

“What he’s doing is already illegal, so we don’t actually need a statute for that,” Schatz told Raw Story. “Now I would say his corruption complicates the conversation for sure, but I am not one of these people who think we need to make a new law to reiterate that the existing laws shouldn’t be broken.”

…

As for the confluence of multi-billion dollar crypto investments, real-estate deals and a $400 million plane?

“That’s just what we know,” Whitehouse said. “I don’t think it gets better.”

‘Second biggest scandal’: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in Shade

https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/trump-qatar-plane-2672031382

The Nation: The Supreme Court Gifts Trump Even More Power

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The court seems ready to give the president extraordinary power over what had been independent worker- and consumer-protection agencies.

The court seems ready to give the president extraordinary power over what had been independent worker- and consumer-protection agencies.

Here’s a troubling news alert for everyone who cares about workers and consumers being protected from illegal, exploitative, and dangerous business practices: The Supreme Court appears ready to give President Donald Trump extraordinary power over what for nearly a century have been independent expert federal worker and consumer protection agencies insulated from White House interference.

The court showed its hand in Wilcox v. Trump—the case involving Trump’s unprecedented effort to fire Gwynne Wilcox—a Senate-confirmed member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the first Black woman to ever serve as a member of the NLRB.

Members of independent agencies like the NLRB, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), are nominated by the president and confirmed by the US Senate for defined terms. They are protected by law against being removed from office except where there has been wrongdoing and only after notice and a hearing. The Supreme Court has recognized and respected these “for cause” removal protections for 90 years.

That is, until now. Upon taking office for his second term, Trump decided that he has the power to unilaterally remove members of independent boards and commissions whenever and for whatever reason he wants. The list of casualties is long—in addition to Wilcox, he has fired members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the FTC, the CPSC, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and more. And by firing these officials, Trump has left these consumer- and worker-protection agencies without a quorum to act and hold corporations accountable.

…

The court’s order is going to embolden a president who has already shown himself willing to push or violate the boundaries of his power. Now that the Supreme Court has nodded at his power to fire members of independent boards and commissions, he will undoubtably continue to do so, even before the Supreme Court definitively rules on the merits of the question in its next term.

The Supreme Court Gifts Trump Even More Power
The court seems ready to give the president extraordinary power over what had been independent worker- and consumer-protection agencies.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/wilcox-trump-federal-agencies

New York Times: As Trumps Monetize Presidency, Profits Outstrip Protests

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The president and his family have monetized the White House more than any other occupant, normalizing activities that once would have provoked heavy blowback and official investigations.

When Hillary Clinton was first lady, a furor erupted over reports that she had once made $100,000 from a $1,000 investment in cattle futures. Even though it had happened a dozen years before her husband became president, it became a scandal that lasted weeks and forced the White House to initiate a review.

Thirty-one years later, after dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Jeff Bezos agreed to finance a promotional film about Melania Trump that will reportedly put $28 million directly in her pocket — 280 times the Clinton lucre and in this case from a person with a vested interest in policies set by her husband’s government. Scandal? Furor? Washington moved on while barely taking notice.

The Trumps are hardly the first presidential family to profit from their time in power, but they have done more to monetize the presidency than anyone who has ever occupied the White House. The scale and the scope of the presidential mercantilism has been breathtaking. The Trump family and its business partners have collected $320 million in fees from a new cryptocurrency, brokered overseas real estate deals worth billions of dollars and are opening an exclusive club in Washington called the Executive Branch charging $500,000 apiece to join, all in the past few months alone.

Just last week, Qatar handed over a luxury jet meant for Mr. Trump’s use not just in his official capacity but also for his presidential library after he leaves office. Experts have valued the plane, formally donated to the Air Force, at $200 million, more than all of the foreign gifts bestowed on all previous American presidents combined.

And Mr. Trump hosted an exclusive dinner at his Virginia club for 220 investors in the $TRUMP cryptocurrency that he started days before taking office in January. Access was openly sold based on how much money they chipped in — not to a campaign account but to a business that benefits Mr. Trump personally.

trump-money-plane-crypto.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/us/politics/trump-money-plane-crypto.html

ABC News: New Social Security chief tells staff he had to Google the job when he was offered it

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ABC News obtained audio of Frank Bisignano’s staff meeting with managers.

The newly sworn-in head of the Social Security Administration told agency staff this week that when he was first offered the job in the Trump administration, he wasn’t familiar with the position and had to look it up online.

Frank Bisignano, a former Wall Street executive, said during a town hall with Social Security managers from around the country on Wednesday that he wasn’t seeking a position in the Trump administration when he received a call about leading the SSA.

“So, I get a phone call and it’s about Social Security. And I’m really, I’m really not, I swear I’m not looking for a job,” Bisignano said, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by ABC News. “And I’m like, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’ So, I’m Googling Social Security. You know, one of my great skills, I’m one of the great Googlers on the East Coast.”

“I’m like, ‘What the heck’s the commissioner of Social Security?'” said Bisignano, who now oversees one of the largest federal agencies that’s responsible for distributing retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to more than 70 million Americans.

“A former Wall Street executive”, once the head of a major financial services firm, has to use Google to find out what the Commissioner of Social Security does? He seems relatively harmless compared to F’Elon Musk and his band of DOGE stooges, but I’m still not impressed.

I’ll bet I’m a lot better with Google than he is. Am I qualified for the job? 😀

New head of Social Security, hired from Wall Street, tells staff he had to Google the job when he was offered it
Newly sworn-in Social Security chief Frank Bisignano, who previously was a Wall Street executive, told staffers he had to Google the SSA job when it was offered to him.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/new-head-social-security-hired-wall-street-tells/story?id=122075152