Independent: She was Stephen Miller’s high school class president. Now she’s fighting his deportation efforts

California attorney is fighting Miller’s mass deportation efforts by working as an immigration lawyer

Cynthia Santiago, an attorney in Southern California, won her high school presidential class race the same year Stephen Miller, the current White House Deputy Chief of Staff, lost the class speaker race. More than 20 years later, Santiago is trying to fight Miller’s mass deportation efforts.

Recalling the day she won her class election at Santa Monica High School, Santiago said that Miller was “booed” off stage for giving an incendiary speech about picking up trash.

video of the moment, posted online years ago, shows Miller on stage asking his fellow students, “Am I the only one who is sick and tired of being told to pick up my trash, when we have plenty of janitors who are paid to do it for us?”

A school newspaper clipping, obtained by The Daily Beast, says Miller’s microphone was turned off and he was escorted off stage for what school officials said was going “over time.”

Writing for the Santa Monica Lookout in 2002, Miller advocated for all announcements to be written in English only, claimed “very few” Hispanic students were in honors classes, and asserted that the school’s political correctness would make Osama bin Laden “feel very welcome at Santa Monica High School.”

It seems Stephen Miller was brain dead at an early age and has never recovered.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/stephen-miller-deportation-high-school-classmate-b2768997.html

Mediaite: Pritzker Throws ‘Hitler’ Comment Back at GOP Congresswoman: ‘I Am Not Going To Be Lectured to by Somebody Who Extols the Virtue of Adolf Hitler’

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) did not appreciate the line of questioning he received from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) during a committee meeting on Thursday.

The House Oversight Committee conducted a wild hearing with “sanctuary state governors,” featuring Govs. Pritzker, Kathy Hochul (D-NY), and Tim Walz (MN). Republicans on the committee took turns hectoring the witnesses.

When it was her turn, Miller took issue with Pritzker’s criticism of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago.

Pritzker responded by referencing a bizarre comment Miller made in 2021, when she said, “Hitler was right on one thing: He said, ‘Whoever has the youth, has the future.’” The congresswoman eventually apologized for the reference.

“You know, Congresswoman Miller, I am not going to be lectured to by somebody who extols the virtue of Adolf Hitler,”

“Reclaiming my time!” Miller interjected. The hearing moved on.

CNN: DHS posted an image calling for help locating ‘all foreign invaders.’ It was previously circulated by far-right accounts

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security posted a striking graphic on its official X account. Uncle Sam, a symbol of American patriotism, is depicted nailing a poster to a wall that reads, “Help your country… and yourself.” Written underneath the poster is the sentence, “REPORT ALL FOREIGN INVADERS,” and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement hot line.

The post — which DHS and the White House also posted to Instagram — prompted a flood of criticism, with some social media users comparing the post to authoritarian propaganda. On Thursday, at least two far-right X accounts claimed to have a hand in creating or disseminating the image before it was shared by DHS. A source within DHS told CNN the agency did not create the graphic.

The Uncle Sam graphic is reminiscent of media used previously by other governments to provoke fear, especially of immigrants, said Elisabeth Fondren, a journalism professor at St. John’s University who has studied government propaganda and communications during war times.

“This poster fits within a long history of anti-immigrant rhetoric and, yes, state propaganda,” Fondren said. “It evokes these remnants of Cold War, fake propaganda by the Russians, or, you know, authoritarian fear mongering messages … but what I think is so interesting is that this is a call to action in an environment where we’re not in a war.”

Perhaps from here:

The image of the Uncle Sam poster was posted on X last Friday, around the time tensions in Los Angeles escalated, by podcaster C. Jay Engel, who describes himself as “Christian nationalist adjacent” and has claimed that “nations cannot survive replacement migration.” After DHS shared the Uncle Sam image, Engel posted: “This image came from my account. NEVER STOP POSTING.”

“The question is, ‘Is there room for like-minded Christians and patriots in Tennessee?’” the podcaster, Engel, said in an October podcast, in response to a listener’s question. “Yes, there’s an imperative for like-minded Christians to gather and fight with us.”

Or maybe:

Although Engel circulated the image of the Uncle Sam poster, another X user claimed to have created the image. That pseudonymous X account, which has the words “Wake Up White Man” in its biography, is full of nativist rhetoric and reposted another X user who declared: “Whites deserve our own nations, like everyone else is allowed to have.” The pseudonymous account appears to have been the first to post the image.

It’s beyond disgusting that Homeland Security is sourcing such material from white supremacists.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/12/politics/dhs-social-media-post-ice-deportations-criticisms

Newsweek: Gavin Newsom responds to Donald Trump’s ICE threat

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office has responded to President Donald Trump‘s threats to send federal immigration agents to sanctuary cities.

“It looks like Steven Miller got ahold of Trump’s phone again,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo, deputy director of communications at Newsom’s office, told Newsweek.

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside.”

Newsome responded in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “His plan is clear: Incite violence and chaos in blue states, have an excuse to militarize our cities, demonize his opponents, keep breaking the law and consolidate power. It’s illegal and we will not let it stand.”

https://www.newsweek.com/gavin-newsom-responds-donald-trump-ice-threat-sanctuary-cities-los-angeles-2086087

MSNBC: Elon Musk’s bad-faith response to the Minnesota shootings risks encouraging political violence

In the wake of the attacks, prominent right-wing social media commentators and conspiracy theorists were quick to falsely lay blame at the feet of Democrats.

The shootings of two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses this weekend — resulting in the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband and grievous injury to Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, who were shot multiple times — is the latest horrific episode of political violence across the country.

It won’t be the last.

In the wake of the attacks, prominent right-wing social media commentators and conspiracy theorists were quick to falsely lay blame at the feet of victims and Democrats. After reports surfaced that Gov. Tim Walz had appointed the Minnesota shooting suspect, who was taken into custody Sunday, to a state workforce development board, right-wing social media personality Mike Cernovich asked on X whether Walz had unleashed an “assassin” and “ordered the political hit against a rival who voted against Walz’s plan to give free healthcare to illegals.” Elon Musk was swiftly mocked online after he blamed the “far left” for the killings in a post on X.Expand article logo  Continue reading  Back to Home

These conspiracy theories are patently wrong. The suspect in custody for Saturday’s killings has reportedly voted for Trump and is a supporter of the president, according to a close friend of his who spoke with NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis, and he appears to have deliberately targeted progressive and liberal candidates and causes. Police discovered a list of other targets, including Democrats who support abortion rights and Planned Parenthood clinics. He was an ordained Christian minister who had taken several trips to proselytize overseas.

When political leaders use rhetoric that demonizes their opponents, declaring them enemies who are worthy of revenge or pledging retribution, their supporters may feel emboldened or empowered to take violent action.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/minnesota-shootings-suspect-elon-musk-response-conspiracies-rcna213152

Deadline: John Oliver Says “Slippery Slope To Authoritarianism Under Trump” Is Here With POTUS Response To L.A. Anti-ICE Protests

John Oliver, like his fellow late-night hosts before him, is ringing the alarm on president Donald Trump’s authoritarianism.

The Last Week Tonight host wasted no time getting down to brass tacks, addressing the Los Angeles protests that were spurred by the White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller-led escalation of ICE raids, with agents targeting a Home Depot parking lot occupied by day laborers to meet increased deportation quotas last week.

Referring to a clip of Trump’s Fort Bragg speech, where POTUS claimed the City of Angels would be “on fire” akin to the devastating Palisades and Eaton blazes earlier this year if he hadn’t mobilized thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines, Oliver remarked: “I know I’m not saying anything new right now, but he is such a dick. There is just no reason to bring up the traumatic fires that are still very much on people’s minds in L.A., for the same reason you shouldn’t open a toast at a retirement party with, ‘Wow, only milestone left after this is death.’ Yeah, everyone knows that, and we’re all trying not to think about it.”

https://deadline.com/2025/06/john-oliver-trump-los-angeles-protests-ice-authoritarian-1236434562

Independent: Popular Oregon vineyard owner arrested by ICE agents outside his church: ‘Everything was taken from him’

A popular Oregon vineyard owner was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody outside his church in Oregon on Thursday.

Moises Sotelo-Casas was detained outside of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Newberg, about 25 miles outside of Portland. His daughter, Alondra Sotelo-Garcia, told KGW8 that he’s now being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington.

She found out about her father’s detention when a neighbor spotted his truck and told her mother, she said. After confirming the car indeed belonged to her father, she tracked his location to an ICE detention facility in Portland and saw him later that day.

“I was crying, I was a mess,” she told the outlet. “He was in chains at his feet,” she said. “Shoelaces were taken off, his belt was off, he didn’t have his ring, he didn’t have his watch. Everything was taken from him.”

She said she understands that ICE is seeking to detain criminals, but reiterated that’s not who her father is.

The TV station said it couldn’t find any records for Sotelo-Casas.

Another family broken up to assuage the of egos Bimbo #2 Noem, Homan, Miller, etc., no criminal records to be found.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/oregon-vineyard-owner-ice-arrest-church-b2770978.html

Newsweek: Texas man with two US citizen children detained by ICE

A Texas man with two children who are United States citizens was apprehended by federal immigration agents following a traffic stop that turned into a life-altering encounter for his family.

Pablo Jose Morales Petzey, 32, from Guatemala, was detained on June 6 after local police pulled him and his wife over on Highway 6 while they were on their way to a landscaping job. The officer cited a missing license plate, which the family said had fallen off the vehicle unknowingly. The officer called federal authorities after discovering Morales’s immigration status.

Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen, told Newsweek the arrest has left their family broken, and their two children, 4-year-old Victoria and 3-year-old son Angel, are struggling to cope with the sudden absence of their father.

“My son Angel has autism and struggles to talk. The only words he says are ‘papa’ and ‘mama,’ and now he just looks out the window to see when his dad will return,” Rodriguez said.

“My daughter cries when she thinks of him in the truck when the police told him to get off, and she started to scream, ‘Why are they taking my dad? Why is he all chained up?’ I just told her everything will be OK with a knot in my throat with nothing else to say.”

One more family cruelly separated!

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-man-us-citzen-children-detained-ice-2086161

Kansas City Star: Border Czar: Migrants Detained Without Criminal Records

Federal agents in Los Angeles have reportedly apprehended over 2,300 individuals in early June at their workplaces, resulting in rapid deportations. The operation has sparked significant unrest and protests, as critics have expressed outrage regarding immigrant rights. One detained individual’s parents claimed their son had no legal representation and that their son had no criminal record.

Advocates have argued the raids contradict federal claims of targeting offenders. They claimed that over 200 detainees have no documented offenses.

Protests have intensified over ICE raids and tactics. Critics claimed the administration has shifted from targeting criminals to broad deportation.

To claim that they are deporting criminals is a farce. At this point it’s all about number — they’ll deport anyone they can get their hands on.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/border-czar-migrants-detained-without-criminal-records/ss-AA1GP6ex

Irish Star: ‘Repugnant’ Eric Trump slammed for using vile slur to describe LA protestors

Eric Trump, the son of President Donald Trump, recently appeared on the Benny Show podcast. During the episode, he commented on the protesters from the “No Kings Day” demonstrations, which took place over the weekend alongside his father’s military birthday parade. He shamelessly described the Americans who took to the streets in protest of the Trump regime as “mongoloids.”

Jr. has no class and no clue, just like Daddy.

https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/repugnant-eric-trump-slammed-using-35402554