Tag Archives: Trump Administration

Commonweal: Jacaranda Season in Los Angeles

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A letter from the anti-ICE demonstrations

Every June, I look forward to the blooming of the jacarandas. These quintessential Los Angeles trees line the streets, and gentle breezes send their lavender blooms falling gracefully to the pavement. It’s a sign that the Los Angeles summer will soon be in full swing, with outdoor concerts, plays, films, food festivals, sports, farmers markets, art crawls, swap-meets, flea markets, and family evenings spent eating tacos, desserts, and fresh fruit from street vendors. Families begin to plan their children’s summer stay-cations and celebrate their graduates with carne asadas (Mexican-style barbecue cookouts) and backyard and front-yard parties that fill the street with laughter and music. This month, for the first time since the January fires, a peace began to settle in Los Angeles—until it was abruptly interrupted by federal agents.

What happened is well known: masked men in unidentifiable uniforms indiscriminately raiding streets, schools, businesses, and homes, refusing to spare even young Latino U.S. citizens from detention in their mass deportation roundups. In response to the understandable outrage and protests that followed, Trump—with dubious legality—sent in first the National Guard and then the Marines, inflaming the tense situation even further. Governor Gavin Newsom was exactly right when he said: “Donald Trump’s government isn’t protecting our communities, they’re traumatizing our communities, and that seems to be the entire point.” 

The misleading images of chaos and vandalism—perpetrated by a minority of the otherwise-peaceful protestors—that soon circulated through the news media failed to capture what life has been like here for the majority of Angelenos. Indeed, reporting has mostly neglected the fearful impact such a concentrated police and military presence has on people throughout the city.

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Jacaranda Season in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, our protests have been acts of hope and courage, full of moments of joyful resistance expressed by dancing, singing, and blessings.

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/los-angeles-trump-ice-protests-national-guard-immigration

Newsweek: ICE detains green card-holder returning from visit to son in US Air Force

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Victor Avila, a 66-year-old green card holder who has lived in the United States since he was a teenager, was detained in May by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at San Francisco International Airport after returning from a trip to visit his son, a U.S. Air Force servicemember stationed in Japan, according to local reports and a GoFundMe page.

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Avila was detained May 7 at San Francisco International Airport after returning from Japan. The 66-year-old has been a legal permanent resident since 1967, when he immigrated to the United States from Mexico. He was returning from the trip with his wife, who had not been detained.

According to a GoFundMe page, his wife, four children and six grandchildren are all U.S. citizens, including his son, who serves in the U.S. Air Force.

A longtime resident of San Diego, Avila has worked as a legal assistant at the workers’ compensation law firm Kiwan & Chambers APC for over a decade.

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Avila’s daughter, Carina Mejia, told local outlet ABC 10 News that her father was pulled over in 2009 and arrested for a DUI and drug possession misdemeanor. He served his time and paid the fines for the misdemeanors. She said he has been able to renew his green card two times since that arrest.

ICE detains green card-holder returning from visit to son in US Air Force
Victor Avila, a green card holder for more than 50 years, was arrested after returning from a visit to his son, a U.S. Air Force servicemember stationed in Japan.

https://www.newsweek.com/ice-detains-green-card-holder-returning-visit-son-us-air-force-2087397

Associated Press: US resumes visas for foreign students but demands access to social media accounts

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The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review.

The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles.

… or which might otherwise annoy our pathetic thin-skinned Grifter-in-Chief.

Currently only about half of social-media users have public profiles, and even then they may choose to limit access on a post-by-post basis.

This will not work to our advantage in the long run.

US resumes visas for foreign students but demands access to social media accounts

https://apnews.com/article/student-visas-trump-social-media-6632a2c585245edcd6a63594345dd8c7

Poeple: Trump Claims People Taken into ICE Custody Are Dangerous. But Only 10% Have Violent Crime Convictions: Report

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A new CNN report based on government data found that more than 75 percent of those detained had no record beyond traffic or immigration offenses

  • A new CNN report shows less than 10% of people taken into custody by ICE have serious criminal offenses
  • Most people detained by ICE merely have traffic or immigration-related offenses
  • The new report on ICE data comes as Donald Trump and his administration casts immigrants as “barbaric” and “violent criminals” without evidence to back their claims

The “deporting only criminals” lie has been refuted over and over, yet King Donald’s regime continue to repeat it ad nauseum.

Trump Claims People Taken into ICE Custody Are Dangerous. But Only 10% Have Violent Crime Convictions: Report
A new CNN report based on government data found that more than 75 percent of those detained had no record beyond traffic or immigration offenses.

https://people.com/trump-ice-raids-only-ten-percent-violent-criminal-convictions-11756096

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

Daily Beast: Stephen Miller and ICE Barbie in Bitter West Wing Civil War Over Round-Ups

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White House Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem—dubbed “ICE Barbie” for her stylized anti-immigration photo ops—were enraged after learning that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had called Trump and suggested that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents avoid deporting longtime workers in sectors heavily reliant on migrant labor, Axios reported.

Rollins’ intervention—which one insider described as “minimal”—appeared to sway the president. Last week, Trump floated the idea of carving out exemptions from his mass deportation plans specifically to avoid targeting non-criminal workers on farms and in hotels.

An official policy shift followed soon after. Senior ICE official Tatum King informed regional ICE offices Thursday that “investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meatpacking plants), restaurants, and operating hotels” would be paused.

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By Monday, the Department of Homeland Security reversed course, notifying staff that the previous guidelines were scrapped and that ICE would resume raids on agricultural businesses, hotels, and restaurants, The Washington Post reported.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-miller-and-ice-barbie-kristi-noem-in-bitter-west-wing-civil-war-over-round-ups

Newsweek: Trump reveals new price tag for Canada to join “Golden Dome” defense system

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President Donald Trump increased the proposed price for Canada’s participation in the U.S. Golden Dome missile defense system.

“They want to be in,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday. “Seventy-one billion they’re going to pay.”

The new price tag is $10 billion higher than Trump’s earlier public demand for Canadian entry into the program.

And what if Canada simply said, “Take your Golden Dome and shove it! You may not put any part of your Golden Dome on Canadian soil.” The U.S. would be up the proverbial creek.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-canada-golden-dome-air-defense-missile-2086645

Reuters: US judge blocks Trump passport policy targeting transgender people

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A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from refusing to issue passports to transgender and nonbinary Americans nationwide that reflect their gender identities, after finding it was likely unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston issued a preliminary injunction that expanded an earlier order she issued in April that had stopped the U.S. State Department from enforcing the policy in the case of just six people.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-blocks-trump-passport-policy-targeting-transgender-people-2025-06-17

Washington Post: Trump accelerates push to reward loyalty in federal workforce

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Many critics say the administration is scrapping a nonpartisan, merit-based civil service in favor of a biased, politicized system.

President Donald Trump is accelerating efforts to transform the nonpartisan, merit-based federal workforce into one that demands and rewards loyalty to the president, according to civil servants, public service experts and employment attorneys.

The ongoing shift would ditch decades-old rules that were intended to ensure that federal hiring, retention and promotion decisions are based largely on employees’ skills and experience, say the workers, experts and attorneys.

The House-passed budget proposal under consideration in the Senate would give new federal workers an ultimatum to accept “at-will” status — meaning they could be more easily fired — or pay a higher retirement contribution. The administration also unveiled a plan to require job applicants to write short essays describing how they plan to advance Trump’s priorities. And Trump has revived his previous efforts to reclassify thousands of federal employees and blur the line between political appointees and career professionals.

“These employees could be replaced with partisan loyalists — people who will obey any order, regardless of the Constitution,” said Joe Spielberger, senior policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight. “This elevates loyalty to an individual president over the oath of office and the best interests of the public.”

Trump accelerates push to reward loyalty in federal workforce
Many critics say the administration is scrapping a nonpartisan, merit-based civil service in favor of a biased, politicized system.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/16/trump-civil-service-loyalty-firings

Also here:

Trump accelerates push to reward loyalty in federal workforce
Many critics say the administration is scrapping a nonpartisan, merit-based civil service in favor of a biased, politicized system.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-accelerates-push-to-reward-loyalty-in-federal-workforce/ar-AA1GN8nG

Raw Story: Trump delivered a ‘slap in the face to Stephen Miller’ with pivot: MSNBC analyst

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A decision by Donald Trump to urge ICE agents to change where they snatch up unsuspecting immigrants was a direct rebuke to White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller.

That is the opinion of former Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin as she spoke to MSNBC’s Ali Velshi on Sunday morning.

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Attributing the change of heart by the Trump administration to “donor pressure,” Rubin explained, “All of the ag interests and the hotel owners and Trump himself who rely on undocumented immigrants, don’t like this.”

“You know, who could have predicted that this would unravel the economy?” she asked sarcastically. “Who could have predicted that this would be disruptive to American society and the economy? Well, all of us have.”

“And this is really a slap in the face to Stephen Miller and those people who thought that somehow [they were] going to deport 11 million people, it is never going to happen,” she predicted.

Stephen Miller is an ass. Nobody will be shedding any tears for him if his feathers are ruffled.

Trump delivered a ‘slap in the face to Stephen Miller’ with pivot: MSNBC analyst

https://www.rawstory.com/stephen-miller-2672374100