Tag Archives: Florida

CNN: Trump is creating new universes of people to deport

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The full scope of the Trump administration’s mass deportation plan – which has been evident in theory – is only just starting to come together in practice, and its scale has come as a surprise to many Americans.

This week, the Supreme Court blessed, for now, the administration’s effort to deport people from countries such as Cuba and Venezuela to places other than their homeland, including nations halfway around the world in Africa.

In Florida, construction began on a migrant detention center intended to be a sort of Alcatraz in the Everglades.

And CNN reported exclusively that the administration will soon make a large universe of people who had been working legally after seeking asylum eligible for deportation.

I went to the author of that report, CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, and asked her to explain what we know and what we’re learning about how the different stories are coming together.

One thing that stuck out to me is how the totality of the administration’s actions is turning people who had been working legally in the US into undocumented immigrants now facing deportation.

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The plans that the administration has been working on are targeting people who came into the US unlawfully and then applied for asylum while in the country.

The plan here is to dismiss those asylum claims, which could affect potentially hundreds of thousands of people and then make them immediately deportable.

It also puts the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency responsible for managing federal immigration benefits, at the center of the president’s deportation campaign, because not only are they the ones that manage these benefits, but they have also been delegated the authority by the Department of Homeland Security to place these individuals in fast-track deportation proceedings and to take actions to enforce immigration laws.

This is a shift that is prompting a lot of concern. As one advocate with the ACLU put it – and I’ll just quote her – “They’re turning the agency that we think of as providing immigration benefits as an enforcement arm for ICE.”

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You’re right to say that coming into this administration, Trump officials repeatedly said their plans were to target people with criminal records.

That is a hard thing to do. It requires a lot of legwork, and their numbers in terms of arrests were relatively low compared to where they wanted to be.

The White House wants to meet at least 3,000 arrests a day, and you just cannot do that if you are only going after people with criminal records.

Analysis: Trump is creating a new universe of people to deport | CNN Politics
The puzzle pieces are starting to come together for Trump’s master deportation plan

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/26/politics/immigration-deportations-trump-asylum-seekers

The 19th News: Thousands of LGBTQ+ veterans were supposed to get pardons. A year later, only four have succeeded.

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President Biden pledged to use his clemency powers to right ‘an historic wrong.’ Why did it fall so short of its promise?

The email came while James Harter was on vacation with his husband in Quebec City, Canada. He was checking his computer in their RV when he read the no-nonsense subject line: Certificate of Pardon.

He had no idea just how uncommon that email was ….

Fast forward one year:

Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have been erased under the new administration’s zeal to refocus the military on lethality. Thousands of transgender service members are being discharged and banned from serving. And the Pentagon is considering renaming ships, including the USNS Harvey Milk, named for the slain gay rights activist and veteran who was discharged over his sexuality, among other ships that don’t fit a “warrior” ethos. 

While The War Horse had previously reported on the low number of pardon applications for LGBTQ+ veterans, records disclosed last month by the Office of the U.S. Pardon Attorney are the first to reveal just how few have been granted: two from the Navy, one from the Air Force, and one from the Army.

What a difference a year makes, when bigots like Hegseth & Trump are now running the show.

Thousands of LGBTQ+ veterans were supposed to get pardons. A year later, only four have succeeded.
Thousands of veterans separated from the military due their sexuality qualified for pardons under Biden, only four got one.
Leah Rosenbaum, The War Horse Archives
The 19th is an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting at the intersection of gender, politics and policy.

https://19thnews.org/author/leah-rosenbaum-the-war-horse

Newsweek: Trump’s border czar issues stark warning to Zohran Mamdani: “Game on”

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Tom Homan, President Donald Trump‘s appointed border czar, issued a warning to New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani on the heels of his mayoral primary victory, saying that immigration enforcement will “double down and triple down on sanctuary cities.”

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Mamdani built his campaign around affordability in the Big Apple and focused on rent freezes. His platform also includes no-cost child care, free buses and “Trump-proofing” the city.

In a link on his campaign website, Mamdani says his administration, should he become mayor, would focus on getting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of New York City facilities, end cooperation with the agency, protect personal data from outside jurisdictions and “bolster legal support” for immigrants.

“Donald Trump is tearing at the fabric of New York City in his second term. He has deployed ICE agents to pluck New Yorkers from their families,” Mamdani said on his website.

While speaking on Fox Business with Larry Kudlow, Homan was asked about Mamdani’s immigration platform, saying, “Good luck with that.”

“Federal law trumps him … every day, every hour of every minute,” Homan continued. “We’re going to be in New York City, matter of fact, because it’s a sanctuary city and President Trump made it clear a week and a half ago, we’re going to double down and triple down on sanctuary cities.”

Homan later added: “Were going to concentrate in sanctuary cities because we know they’re releasing public safety threats and national security threats back to the street, so we know we’ve got a problem there.”

Trump’s border czar issues stark warning to Zohran Mamdani: “Game on”
Homan said immigration enforcement is going to “double down and triple down” on New York City.

https://www.newsweek.com/trumps-border-czar-issues-stark-warning-zohran-mamdani-game-2090822

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

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

Daily Beast: Florida Proposes ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to House Illegal Migrants

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The state’s AG has pitched a dystopian Everglades detention camp surrounded by crocs and snakes as an “efficient” solution for holding “criminal aliens.”

ICE’s assault on illegal migrants could be about to take a dystopian twist—with the creation of a detention camp dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier has proposed building a center in the middle of the Everglades—surrounded by ‘gators, crocs and snakes—as a “low-cost” solution for detaining what he described as “criminal aliens.”

Speaking from the Miami-Dade Collier training facility, Uthmeier said in a video posted to his X account that the abandoned airfield site in a 30-square-mile patch of isolated swamp, could quickly be transformed into what he called “Alligator Alcatraz.”

“People [detained migrants] get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide,” he declared. “It presents an efficient, low-cost opportunity… because you don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter.”

With ICE detention centers overflowing, Uthmeier claimed the site could be operational within 30 to 60 days of breaking ground and could house up to 1,000 people.

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Uthmeier also did not provide any details about funding, oversight, and federal involvement…. The [DHS] department is tearing through its budget, which is already more than $1 billion in the red, according to a report in Axios on Monday.

Florida Proposes ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to House Illegal Migrants
The state’s AG has pitched a dystopian Everglades detention camp surrounded by crocs and snakes as an “efficient” solution for holding “criminal aliens.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-attorney-general-james-uthmeier-proposes-alligator-alcatraz-to-house-illegal-migrants

Wall Street Journal: Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration

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The Trump administration’s aggressive deportation program is testing the political bounds of what Americans will tolerate, spurring a backlash from voters and some Republicans and testing the administration’s resolve.

Federal officials in recent weeks have stepped up raids on worksites and farms, seeking to fulfill President Trump’s pledge of mass deportations. The move has sparked alarm in immigrant communities and street protests in Los Angeles and other cities. Last weekend, Trump directed that arrests be paused at farms and hotels, only to reverse the directive days later.

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Republican members of Congress from California, Texas and Florida have publicly urged the White House to give priority to deportations of criminals rather than migrants who have resided in the U.S. for long periods and have otherwise obeyed the law. The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R., Pa.), called the farm raids “just wrong.” The co-founder of Latinas for Trump, Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia, wrote on X that the administration’s actions were “unacceptable and inhumane” and “not what we voted for.”

“I may have voted for Trump, but I can’t stay silent about what’s happening with ICE in LA,” Ryan Garcia, a former interim lightweight boxing champion who endorsed Trump last year, wrote on X. “We can have borders without losing our humanity.”

Presidents of both parties have historically hesitated to pursue large-scale immigration enforcement in the country’s interior precisely because it tends to be politically unpopular. Trump’s push for deportations far from the border has begun to trigger a backlash in public opinion, with polls showing his approval rating on immigration and deportations—formerly one of his strongest issues—has now turned negative.

A Quinnipiac poll earlier this month found that just 43% approved of Trump’s performance on immigration while 54% disapproved. On deportations, 40% approved while 56% disapproved. In the polling average maintained by the analyst Nate Silver, Trump’s immigration policies were popular on a net basis until earlier this month—but are now more unpopular than popular by a 3-point margin. 

Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-is-losing-political-ground-on-immigration-20de43bc

Also here:

Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration
The administration’s aggressive deportation push has alarmed voters, including some of the president’s supporters.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-is-losing-political-ground-on-immigration/ar-AA1H5df5

Daily Beast: Trump Judge Gave Jew-Hating Neo-Nazi Coveted Academic Prize

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Prior to his suspension, Preston Damsky won an award for his paper arguing against voting rights for nonwhites.

The University of Florida has suspended one of its students over racist social media posts—but not before he won an award for a paper arguing the Constitution only protects non-whites.

The college placed Preston Damsky, a 29-year-old law student, on leave earlier after he posted a series of racist messages to his X account that included suggesting Jewish people should be “abolished by any means necessary,” The New York Times reports.

Before his suspension, Damsky had written a paper for one of his legal seminars in which he argued “We the People” in the Constitution should be understood as referring solely to white people, that voting rights ought to be revoked for non-whites, and that shoot-to-kill orders should be issued for “criminal infiltrators at the border.”

John L. Badalamenti, a sitting federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump, taught the class for which Damsky wrote that report. Badalamenti granted Damsky a “book award,” reserved for the seminar’s top student.

Trump Judge Gave Jew-Hating Neo-Nazi Coveted Academic Prize
Prior to his suspension, Preston Damsky won an award for his paper arguing against voting rights for nonwhites.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-judge-gave-jew-hating-neo-nazi-coveted-academic-prize

Axios: Senate Democrats press Hegseth on domestic military deployment plan

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Senate Democrats on Wednesday demanded the Trump administration to share its plans to deploy active duty military in cities across the U.S.

President Trump’s decision to send active duty Marines and National Guard to Los Angeles following pro-immigrants’ rights protests sparked more demonstrations nationwide.

  • Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sparked additional backlash after she said the goal is to “liberate” Los Angeles from its elected Democratic leaders during a press conference where Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed.
  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that the Trump administration would not respect district court orders to disband troops, but that it would abide by a Supreme Court ruling.

“I have been deeply disturbed and alarmed by the use of active-duty troops, Marines in Los Angeles,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said.

  • “And President Trump has made clear his intentions to continue to use the military to suppress dissent and likely inflame tensions there and elsewhere all under the guise of enforcing the law. What he’s doing may well be illegal.”
  • Hegseth pushed back on the claim that the deployments have been illegal, but he did not confirm whether contingency plans were in place for using military in other cities.

“I take it from your answer that you do have contingency plans for the use of military in other cities,” Blumenthal said.

Hegseth did not address Blumenthal’s request.

Hegseth is a slimy, slippery snake who will never give an honest answer to a direct question.

Senate Democrats press Hegseth on domestic military deployment plan
Blumenthal said he was “deeply disturbed and alarmed” after Marines were sent to Los Angeles.

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/18/hegseth-senate-testimony-blumenthal-military-domestic-protests

Charlotte Observer: ACLU Wins Major Legal Decision on Immigration Law

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Florida’s latest immigration law requires undocumented adults to report to federal authorities before entering the state, allowing for their arrest and prosecution. Despite a federal judge’s injunction against enforcing this law, some arrests have still happened, including one involving a U.S. citizen.

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Despite U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ temporary injunction, some unlawful arrests have taken place, including one of a U.S. citizen.

Williams stated, “There is no such basis.” She added, “Why aren’t these people being released immediately?”

Williams said, “I’m astounded and don’t understand this argument.” She added, “That’s concerning that they don’t work in concert with state officials. When I issued the temporary restraining order, it never occurred to me that police officers would not be bound by it.”

Williams added, “It never occurred to me that the state attorneys would not give direction to law enforcement so that we would not have these unfortunate arrests.”

James Uthmeier, the Attorney General of Florida, said his office must comply with the order but also claimed he cannot stop law enforcement agencies from enforcing the law independently.

ACLU Wins Major Legal Decision on Immigration Law
Florida’s latest immigration law requires undocumented adults to report to federal authorities before entering the state, allowing for their arrest and prosecution. Despite a federal judge’s injunction against enforcing this law, some arrests have still happened, including one involving a U.S. citizen. Tensions have risen as state officials clash over enforcing the policies. Despite U.S.Continue reading “ACLU Wins Major Legal Decision on…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/aclu-wins-major-legal-decision-on-immigration-law/ar-AA1GVlWP