Mediaite: Whopping Majority of Americans Oppose US Military Involvement in Conflict Between Israel and Iran

A whopping majority of Americans do not support the United States getting involved in the fighting between Israel and Iran, according to a new poll.

According to the results, just 16% back US involvement while 60% say the US should not be involved. Another 24% said they were unsure.

Associated Press: Coming to America? In 2025, the US to some looks less like a dream and more like a place to avoid

For centuries, people in other countries saw the United States as place of welcome and opportunity. Now, President Donald Trump’s drive for mass deportations of migrants is riling the streets of Los Angeles, college campuses, even churches — and fueling a global rethinking about the virtues and promise of coming to America.

“The message coming from Washington is that you are not welcome in the United States,” ….

https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-deportation-student-visa-c01ab48d12af9e832c7bd88036c79ae1

Guardian: Australian deported from US says he was ‘targeted’ due to writing on pro-Palestine student protests

Alistair Kitchen says he was detained and questioned about views on Israel and Palestine before being deported from LA to Melbourne

An Australian man who was detained upon arrival at Los Angeles airport and deported back to Melbourne says United States border officials told him it was due to his writing on pro-Palestine protests by university students.

The 33-year-old said he was “clearly targeted for politically motivated reasons” and said officials spent more than 30 minutes questioning him about his views on Israel and Palestine including his “thoughts on Hamas”.

Kitchen said officials asked him for his “thoughts about the conflict in a very broad sense”, including about student protesters, what Israel “should have done differently” and “how I would resolve the conflict”.

“It was quite an in-depth probing of my views on the war,” he said.

Kitchen said he was deported and landed back in Melbourne on Saturday morning.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/15/australian-deported-from-us-says-he-was-targeted-due-to-writing-on-pro-palestine-student-protests

TAG24 News: Trump’s anti-immigrant ICE raids to shift away from certain industries

The New York Times reported the Trump administration is moving away from immigration raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels, and restaurants.

“Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels,” senior ICE official Tatum King wrote in the message shared by the outlet.

https://www.tag24.com/politics/refugees/trumps-anti-immigrant-ice-raids-to-shift-away-from-certain-industries-3394991

Raw Story: Trump just went ‘two bridges too far even for MAGA’: ex-GOP strategist

Donald Trump’s latest actions amount to “two bridges too far even for a lot of MAGA folks,” according to a former Republican strategist on Saturday.

First, Wilson noted the “assault” of Senator Padilla, who was tackled while speaking out at a press conference for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

The second, Wilson said, was sending the Marines into LA.

After it was suggested that Republicans “lost their footing” when it comes to immigration, Wilson said, “I think Senator Padilla being assaulted, to my mind, and maybe you have another moment in the week you think is different, I think the Marines being deployed and Senator Padilla being assaulted, were two bridges too far even for a lot of MAGA folks.”

Wilson’s guest agreed, calling the assault a “flex of muscle” that will backfire on the administration.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-two-bridges-rick-wilson

Sacramento Bee: Seven Men Deported in Violation of Court Order, Judge Says

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy has criticized the Trump administration for expediting the deportation of seven men to South Sudan, violating court orders and due process. The administration reportedly failed to provide sufficient notice before these actions, jeopardizing the deportees’ safety. Murphy has allowed the convicted individuals to remain in U.S. custody abroad on a military base in Djibouti, where they can raise concerns about potential violence in South Sudan.

Murphy wrote, “Defendants have mischaracterized this Court’s order, while at the same time manufacturing the very chaos they decry.” Murphy added, “By racing to get six class members onto a plane to unstable South Sudan, clearly in breach of the law and this Court’s order, Defendants gave this Court no choice but to find that they were in violation of the Preliminary Injunction.”

Murphy wrote, “From this course of conduct, it is hard to come to any conclusion other than that defendants invite lack of clarity as a means of evasion.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/seven-men-deported-in-violation-of-court-order-judge-says/ar-AA1GJqtr

Politico: Trump knocks California on its heels: ‘He’s pulling the trigger on everything all at once.’

In years of conflict with Trump, California has never seen anything like this.

California Democrats have long battled Donald Trump. But they’ve never faced such a ferocious offensive as they did this week.

Between the deployment of federal agents to Los Angeles, the gutting of climate standards and the manhandling of the state’s senior U.S. senator, the state absorbed one show of force after another from the president. And in the balance of power between the Trump administration and the nation’s most populous state, California was on the losing end.

“We’re at DEFCON 1 in the conflict between California and the Trump administration,” said Democratic strategist Katie Merrill. “It’s orders of magnitude more than what we’ve seen, ever.”

Democrats in this deep-blue state have spent years working to shield California from a hostile White House, dating back to his first term. But for them, the week’s events registered a new low — a multifront assault that not only threatened the state’s liberal values, but exposed the limits of California’s ability to control its destiny when the federal government has other ideas.

“The moment we’ve feared,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Tuesday night address, “has arrived.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/14/the-week-trump-rocked-california-00405932

Guardian: EPA drops case against prison company that has donated heavily to Trump

The Donald Trump administration has dropped up to $4m in potential fines against the private prison operator Geo Group over the latter’s use of a toxic disinfectant in a detention center that allegedly put employees’ and detainees’ health at risk.

The administration made the move after Geo donated over $4m to the president and Republican leadership, as well as Trump’s inauguration fund.

More corruption?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/14/trump-administration-epa-prison-company-donations

Atlantic: In Minnesota, America’s Luck Ran Out

Early this morning, a gunman apparently impersonating a police officer targeted two Democratic Minnesota state lawmakers in their homes. First, he shot State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, who were seriously wounded. Law-enforcement officials believe the same gunman then shot Melissa Hortman, who served as Minnesota’s speaker of the house from 2019 to 2024. She was killed, along with her husband, Mark.

The perp was a die-hard MAGA maniac Trump supporter with hit list of 70 Democrats and abortion providers to be snuffed out.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/06/in-minnesota-americas-luck-ran-out/683194

AFP: Balloons, bubbles, tear gas: LA anti-Trump protests turn chaotic

For hours, thousands of people in Los Angeles peacefully celebrated their defiance of US President Donald Trump Saturday with music, marching, bubbles and balloons — then police unexpectedly moved in, and chaos and confusion broke out.

The demonstration — part of the nationwide “No Kings” day of protests across the country — was by far the largest in more than a week of protests ignited by anger against immigration raids the Trump administration has been carrying out across the country’s second-largest city. 

Like those before it, Saturday’s had been largely peaceful. A march that began in the morning had finished, with demonstrators milling about on a sunny afternoon as the scene took on the air of a street festival. 

But then:

Then police unexpectedly began moving people away from the area, igniting confusion and anger among demonstrators caught off guard and unsure of where to go.

Police on horseback pushed crowds back as law enforcement fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades hours ahead of an 8:00 pm (0300 GMT) curfew. 

A police spokeswoman later told local TV channel KTLA that a “small group of agitators” had begun throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers, prompting the decision to order the crowd to disperse.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/balloons-bubbles-tear-gas-la-anti-trump-protests-turn-chaotic/ar-AA1GJd8h