Tag Archives: Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times: ‘Even the cops don’t like us anymore’: Under Trump, ICE is despised and divided

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Poor crybabies!

Across the nation, ICE has never seemed more visible, especially as anger continues over the separation of immigrant families at the border under the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy. Protesters have rallied across the U.S., demanding that the agency be abolished — calls that have been echoed by politicians. Earlier this month, WikiLeaks published the identities and information of more than 9,000 supposed current and former ICE employees.

Being an ICE agent has always come with challenges. The agency has faced criticism for years from immigration activists, including during the uptick in immigration enforcement during the Obama administration.

But Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration has made ICE much more of a target. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf won praise from many of her constituents and criticism from the White House earlier this year when she alerted her city to upcoming ICE raids.

Many California police departments have longstanding policies against working with ICE to arrest suspects on immigration charges. But since Trump took office, California has enacted even tougher “sanctuary state” policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration officials even more, and that has heightened the strains.

…

Recently, “Occupy ICE” protests have sprung up across the nation. In Portland, Ore., protesters were able to shut down an ICE facility for at least a week.

On Saturday, hundreds of coordinated rallies were scheduled around the country to protest Trump’s zero tolerance policy, which has resulted in the separation of more than 2,000 children from their parents or guardians crossing the border.

This week, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) stated that he plans to introduce legislation to eliminate ICE. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who beat Rep. Joe Crowley, the House Democratic Caucus chair, in New York’s Democratic primary, ran on a platform that called for the abolition of the agency.

And this is total bullshit:

ICE “fully respects the Constitutional rights of all people to peacefully express their opinions,” ICE said in a statement. “That being said, ICE remains committed to performing its immigration enforcement mission consistent with federal law and agency policy.”

Just ask all the students who are being deported for espousing pro-Palestinian views.

‘Even the cops don’t like us anymore’: Under Trump, ICE is despised and divided
In May, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were spotted in Union Station.

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ice-conflict-20180630-story.html

Euronews: ‘A surprising debasement’: Trump administration sues four states over climate lawsuits and laws

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The Trump Administration filed lawsuits against two US states on Wednesday, to stop them from taking legal action against fossil fuel companies for harms caused by climate change. On Thursday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued two more states over their climate laws.

Officials in the four Democratic states – Hawaii and Michigan, New York and Vermont – are defiant in the face of these unprecedented lawsuits.

It fits a strong pattern of anti-climate action measures that Trump has pursued during his first 100 days back in office. On the campaign trail last year, he pledged to “stop the wave of frivolous litigation from environmental extremists.”

‘A surprising debasement’: Trump administration sues four states over climate lawsuits and laws
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https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/other/a-surprising-debasement-trump-administration-sues-four-states-over-climate-lawsuits-and-laws/ar-AA1E3KNa

Raw Story: ‘Come take me’: AOC dares Trump’s ‘border czar’ to make good on DOJ threat

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Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) goaded Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s so-called “border czar,” to make good on his threats of a potential Justice Department investigation into her efforts to inform migrants about their rights when interacting with federal immigration agents.

Homan’s repeatedly threatened Ocasio-Cortez in media appearances, and his comments were widely interpreted as attempts to intimidate or punish the congresswoman over her “Know Your Rights” seminars.

“Is that impeding our law enforcement efforts? If so, what are we gonna do about it? Is she crossing the line? So, I’m working with the Department of Justice and finding out. Where is that line that they cross? So, maybe AOC’s gonna be in trouble now.”

‘Come take me’: AOC dares Trump’s ‘border czar’ to make good on DOJ threat
Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) goaded Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s so-called “border czar,” to make good on his threats of a potential Justice Department investigation into her efforts to inform migrants about their rights when interacting with federal immigration agents. Homan’s repeatedly threatened Ocasio-Cortez in media appearanc…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/come-take-me-aoc-dares-trump-s-border-czar-to-make-good-on-doj-threat/ar-AA1E55Zm

The Atlantic: Airport Detentions Have Travelers ‘Freaked Out’

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Fears of being detained are in overdrive, even if the Trump administration insists that they’re overblown.

Jeff Joseph, a 53-year-old immigration attorney in Colorado, has recently started taking precautions while traveling abroad that, at another time, he would have considered a little paranoid. He leaves his phone at home. Instead, he carries a “burner’’—a device scrubbed of his contact list and communications—in case U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers send him to secondary inspection or seize his electronics when he returns home. Joseph told me his knowledge of immigration law has left him with less confidence, not more, about the risks of crossing U.S. borders during the second Trump administration.

“Among immigration lawyers who are well versed in this, and who know what happens in secondary, there’s a level of anxiety and panic that we’ve never seen before,” said Joseph, the president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “Myself included.”

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Immigration attorneys also note Trump has curbed CBP officers’ ability to allow the entry of migrants or visitors using an authority known as “parole.” So travelers who do not qualify for admission to the United States are more likely to be handed over to ICE for detention and deportation. Although U.S. citizens cannot be denied entry to the United States, all other categories of noncitizens—even, in some cases, legal permanent residents with green cards—are at risk of being denied entry or deemed inadmissible by a CBP officer.

https://archive.is/47W6S#selection-745.0-748.0

Barron’s: Global Shipping Is Grinding to a Standstill. It’s a Matter of Time Until Americans Feel It.

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There aren’t shortages of goods in U.S. stores yet, but if the deterioration in global shipping is any indication, they are on the way. That could complicate the White House’s pleas for Americans to be patient as trade officials rush to strike dozens of deals.

Cargo has dropped, or is expected to, at major ports including those of Los Angeles; Long Beach, Calif.; and New York-New Jersey, primarily on shipments from China, which exports more than any other country to the U.S.

U.S. import booking volumes have dropped 35% since late March, according to the shipping data company Vizion, including a 26% drop between the week ended April 21 and the following week. Shipments from China dropped nearly 43% in the last full week of April, the sharpest decline of the year. During April, several weeks saw China import bookings down by more than half, Vizion said.

The potential impact on companies and consumers is broad. Imports of Chinese electronics, plastics, vehicles, steel, and textiles have all fallen by more than half.

Perhaps just as concerning for some farmers and 

Global Shipping Is Grinding to a Standstill. It’s a Matter of Time Until Americans Feel It.
There aren’t shortages of goods in U.S. stores yet, but if the deterioration in global shipping is any indication, they are on the way.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/ar-AA1EhmJR

LA Times: ‘The truckers are scrambling’: Trump’s tariffs hit drivers, L.A. port workers hard

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Amid a wave of unprecedented tariffs, anxiety is running high for truck drivers like Helen, who makes her living delivering cargo containers from the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors to warehouses and other customers around Southern California.

After a strong start to the year, the number of jobs has started to slip in recent days and truck drivers have heard reports predicting a sharp decline in incoming cargo for May and June.

‘The truckers are scrambling’: Trump’s tariffs hit drivers, L.A. port workers hard
As Trump’s aggressive tariffs rattle business owners and shake the foundation of American importing, the men and women who work on the ground at the country’s busiest port are feeling the effects too.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-truckers-are-scrambling-trump-s-tariffs-hit-drivers-l-a-port-workers-hard/ar-AA1E63Gd

Associated Press: May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda

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Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world rallied Thursday in May Day protests that united many in anger over President Donald Trump’s agenda from aggressive tariffs that are stoking fears of global economic turmoil to his administration’s immigration crackdowns.

In the United States, organizers framed this year’s International Workers’ Day protests as a pushback against what they see as the administration’s sweeping assault on labor protections, diversity initiatives and federal employees. Protesters lined streets in many cities from New York to Philadelphia to Los Angeles and held a boisterous rally outside the White House in Washington.

May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda
Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in U.S. cities and around the globe for International Workers’ Day or May Day, with the focus this year on President Donald Trump’s agenda.

https://apnews.com/article/may-day-workers-labor-unions-rallies-marches-trump-46de8196d7f01d7458c3d77ccd5e0e54

Musk Watch: Musk-owned company says it qualifies for federal contracts reserved for small businesses

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Trump’s crony & billionaire F’Elon Musk isn’t above looting the treasury by pretending to be a “small” business:

Musk founded Boring in 2017 as a subsidiary of SpaceX. Its raison d’être was rectifying Southern California gridlock via a subterranean transportation network, though it has failed in that regard. In 2018, Musk spun off Boring, making it a privately held company that has largely served to promote his car manufacturer, Tesla. Through the gravity of its founder, carefully staged photo ops, and alleged environmental and labor violations, Boring has maintained media interest throughout its eight years of existence. But it remains the least distinguished of Musk’s companies. It has struggled to generate revenue despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in fundraising.

The company, which is based near Austin, Texas, has built just a few miles of commercial tunnels, all of which are located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its failure to generate substantive business could explain why it would seek federal funding from a White House that has proven to be partial to Musk’s business interests. A senior Trump adviser, Musk also leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the White House’s austerity and parapolitical initiative. Steve Davis, the president of the Boring Company, is reportedly in charge of DOGE’s day-to-day operations.

Musk-owned company says it qualifies for federal contracts reserved for small businesses
Not long after Donald Trump won the 2024 election, Elon Musk’s $7 billion tunneling company registered as a small business on a government portal for federal contractors.

https://www.muskwatch.com/p/musk-owned-company-says-it-qualifies

Are Tesla odometers accurate?

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Tesla odometer uses “predictive algorithms” to void warranty, lawsuit claims
This is a separate case to the lawsuits alleging Tesla misleads about range.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/tesla-makes-its-cars-lie-about-their-mileage-lawsuit-claims

Tesla speeds up odometers to avoid warranty repairs, US lawsuit claims
Tesla faces a proposed class action claiming it speeds up odometers on its electric vehicles so they fall out of warranty faster, saving Elon Musk’s company from having to pay for repairs.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-speeds-up-odometers-avoid-warranty-repairs-us-lawsuit-claims-2025-04-17

Tesla Accused Of Speeding Up Odometers So Their Warranties Expire Faster
Odometer fraud: very much illegal.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tesla-accused-speeding-odometers-warranties-204441359.html

LA Times: UCLA international student detained at U.S.-Mexico border amid Trump visa cancellations

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A UCLA international graduate student has been detained at the U.S.-Mexico border and is being held by Customs and Border Protection, the school confirmed late Thursday.

The student, whose name was not released, was taken into custody Wednesday night, according to faculty members and students who quickly organized a campus rally in her support Thursday evening.

…

Few details were released about the student, including her name and nationality. Faculty, and an immigration attorney who has been attempting to contact the student, said late Thursday they had not yet spoken to her. They added that the student was detained at the San Ysidro border crossing south of San Diego and was able to reach a UCLA contact before she was taken into custody.

It is unclear why the student was in Mexico or what led to her detention.

Earlier in April:

On April 4, UC San Diego said an international student there was also detained at the U.S.-Mexico border while attempting to cross. In a campus message, UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said the student was “detained at the border, denied entry and deported to their home country.”

UCLA international student detained at U.S.-Mexico border amid Trump visa cancellations
UCLA confirmed that an international student was detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. A campus rally was quickly organized in her support.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-17/ucla-international-student-detained-us-mexico-border