Thursday, July 17, 2025

Chump wants America to be a s**t hole country



Havalah Hopkins rarely says no to the chain restaurant catering gigs that send her out to Seattle-area events — from church potlucks to office lunches and graduation parties.

The delivery fees and tips she earns on top of $18 an hour mean it’s better than minimum-wage shift work, even though it’s not consistent. It helps her afford the government-subsidized apartment she and her 14-year-old autistic son have lived in for three years, though it’s still tough to make ends meet.

“It’s a cycle of feeling defeated and depleted, no matter how much energy and effort and tenacity you have towards surviving,” Hopkins said.

Still, the 33-year-old single mother is grateful she has stable housing — experts estimate just 1 in 4 low-income households eligible for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rental assistance get the benefits. And now Hopkins is at risk of losing her home, as federal officials move to restrict HUD policy.


Amid a worsening national affordable housing and homelessness crisis, President Donald Trump’s administration is determined to reshape HUD's expansive role providing stable housing for low-income people, which has been at the heart of its mission for generations. The proposed changes include a two-year limit on the federal government’s signature rental assistance programs.
[. . .]

New research from New York University, obtained exclusively by The Associated Press and published Thursday, found that if families were cut off after two years, 1.4 million households could lose their vouchers and public housing subsidies — largely working families with children. This would lead housing authorities to evict many families, the report said.


What we should all grasp is that we are the s**t hole country.  That's what Chump has turned our once great nation into.  He's reshaping it into the failure that he had repeatedly turned every business he owned into.  


"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, July 17, 2025.  Chump continues to tank the economy, Hunter Biden pops up trying to rewrite history, Chump's working overtime to prevent people from voting in the mid-terms, US House Rep Dan Godlman shines a light on Chump's concentration camps for immigrants as horror stories of Chump's attacks on immigrants increase,  and don't let Chump claim he gives a damn about children because when you let ICE goons kidnap a parent at a school's morning drop off, you've made clear that you don't give a damn about children. 


Let's start with Hunter Biden to get him over with.  Marita Vlachou (HUFFINGTON POST) reports:

Hunter Biden has offered his assessment on why President Donald Trump won the 2024 election, claiming that Democrats “literally melted down” by giving up on his father.

In an interview with Jaime Harrison as part of the former Democratic National Committee chair’s new podcast “At Our Table,” set to debut on Thursday, Biden suggested Democrats were wrong to pressure Joe Biden to exit the 2024 presidential race.
“We lost the election because we did not remain loyal to the leader of the party,” Biden said, according to experts shared with multiple outlets in advance of the show’s release. “That’s my position. We had the advantage of incumbency. We had advantage of an incredibly successful administration and the Democratic Party literally melted down.”
Harrison appears to share Hunter Biden’s view, telling Semafor the outcome of the election would have been different if Democrats had the loyalty “Republicans have for Donald Trump.”

Does Harrison share it?  Don't think so.  Hunter's talking about Democratic Party officials -- including members of Congress. Harrison appears to be talking about Democratic voters.  No, there was no loyalty to Joe from Democratic Party voters.  Should there have been?  That's another question.

But let's deal with reality. To start with, Hunter didn't deal with reality.  He was a drain on his father's presidential campaign from day one. He should have wrapped up his own problems -- by admitting guilt -- early on.  But let it drag out and drag out.  And his refusal to take care of his daughter Navy Joan did not help nor did his latest marriage.  He was a mess and he was an embarrassment.  He was the fact of unethical corruption.  

That did not emerge after the 2020 election.  From the October 4, 2019 snapshot:


Last week, Sarah Chayes, "Hunter Biden’s Perfectly Legal, Socially Acceptable Corruption" was published by THE ATLANTIC.  Yesterday on MORNING EDITION (NPR), Sarah spoke with David Green:

 DAVID GREENE, HOST:
The impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump is drawing attention to the questionable activities of more than one major political family. Former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter are under scrutiny for Hunter's work in the Ukrainian energy industry.
The writer Sarah Chayes is the author of the book "Thieves Of The State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security" (ph). And she argues this scrutiny is a good thing.

 SARAH CHAYES: You know, when the son of a vice president gets a job in a field he knows nothing about while his father is vice president in a country that just had a revolution that, you know, typically, in that part of the world, post-revolution, all the oligarchs steal all the crown jewels, and the industry is one of the crown jewels - that is to say, gas - since when is that doing nothing wrong?

 GREENE: Now, wrong does not necessarily mean illegal, Sarah Chayes told me. But she said too often these days, people with political ties or prominent political names are getting involved where they shouldn't be.

 CHAYES: Almost any senior name that I start researching, I run into practices like this. It is extraordinarily widespread. And that's my question. How did we all convince ourselves that this isn't corrupt? And it seems to me that we're not going to recover, you know, even an approximation of the ideals on which we were founded as a nation unless each of us, as citizens, begins to make it less comfortable for our political and economic leaders to behave this way.

 GREENE: Well, let me ask you this, then. If it is not unusual, why focus on this case of Hunter Biden and Joe Biden specifically?


 CHAYES: Because it's in the news and because of the word that I kept seeing apply in this context, which is, no wrongdoing, or, they didn't do anything wrong. And I'm looking at that, saying, what? And if we can say that now, in this context, then there's something awry.
From her article at THE ATLANTIC:

When allegations of ethical lapses or wrongdoing surface against people on one side of the aisle, they can always claim that someone on the other side has done far worse. But taken together, all of these examples have contributed to a toxic norm. Joe Biden is the man who, as a senator, walked out of a dinner with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Biden was one of the most vocal champions of anticorruption efforts in the Obama administration. So when this same Biden takes his son with him to China aboard Air Force Two, and within days Hunter joins the board of an investment advisory firm with stakes in China, it does not matter what father and son discussed. Joe Biden has enabled this brand of practice, made it bipartisan orthodoxy. And the ethical standard in these cases—people’s basic understanding of right and wrong—becomes whatever federal law allows. Which is a lot.


To quote THELMA & LOUISE, "You get what you settle for."  Is that what we're willing to settle for as a society?  Corruption and lack of ethics?  Or do we have standards that we apply across the board?  Basic expectations from our public servants?



He did more harm to his father's image than anyone.  And this continued after the election.  He had no ethics at all.  

And then he coasted off to where?  No one's really sure but Joe does poorly in the debate and suddenly Hunter's back and advising on this and that.  Hunter, you should have been there before the debate.

Hunter -- who I do know -- thinks the debate wasn't that bad.

I happen to agree.  It was bad but I felt Joe won -- see "And the winner was . . . Joe Biden (Ava and C.I.)" which went up the night of the June 27th debate .  He had some good moments, but it was bad.  I did not call for Joe to step down after the debate.  I defended him here.  It was one week later, July 7th,  when Ava and I called for him to step down -- see "Media: It's Time For Joe To Go" -- and that was when, a week after the debate, he did his Friday interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC.  George did his job.  He repeatedly asked about the debate.

Joe didn't do his job.  Joe, in better times and days, was able to answer a question and move the conversation where he wanted to.  Joe didn't have that skill.  He was tired.  He was responding, not leading.  He wasn't up to a campaign race.  And in that interview, he fed the media narrative.

That Joe was too tired to run for president was something obvious to many during and right after the debate.  It wasn't obvious to me (and they may have been right).  What was obvious was the media narrative was now tired and old Joe. And that first interview had to end that talk.  But it didn't.  And if after a week's worth of no appearances, that long to rest, and Joe couldn't reassure?  He was never going to reassure.  And prior to the debate, Dems were already in trouble.  He was tanking the ticket in all the polls.  

(Which is why members of Congress up for re-election in 2024 especially did not want him to run.)

Joe, in 2020, had floated the idea that he might be a one-term president.  He should have stuck with that. 

That said, Joe did accomplish a lot.  We haven't had time to celebrate him.  If Hunter wants to talk about that, he should do so.  

Joe deserves to be celebrated.  Kamala deserves to be celebrated -- including for the amazing campaign she ran.  Donald did not get a majority of the vote.  She had to hit the ground running.  And most people were saying the race was over when Chump got shot.  Iconic! they hollered like trained monkeys.  Kamala was targeted with sexism and racism -- and that was just at COMMON DREAMS, THE NATION, THE PROGRESSIVE, etc.  A Black woman?  The left thought they disrespect her and order her around and belittle her.  This country never saw a campaign from the left so determined to attack and disrespect a candidate.  

But I don't have time for it. Applause to Joe and applause to Kamala.  But I've got to focus on the now and that means doing my part to ensure that the mid-terms are about Democratic victories.  

The mid-terms should be a cakewalk.  Historically, the party in power loses power in the mid-terms.  And Chump grows ever more unpopular every day. That should be a good portent.  As should:  Ariel Edwards-Levy (CNN) notes, "Roughly 6 in 10 Americans say they oppose the GOP domestic policy bill that President Donald Trump recently signed into law, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS."  And Leigh Kimmins (DAILY BEAST) notes, "President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating has hit a new high for his second term as those outside his MAGA base steadily desert him, according to a new poll. A survey conducted over the weekend by the Economist/YouGov shows that Trump’s overall disapproval rating has climbed to the dizzying new height of 55 percent. Forty-one percent of the 1,680 U.S. adults who responded still approve of the job Trump is doing, down from 42 percent in the same poll a week earlier, when Trump’s disapproval rating sat at 53 points."


So that should say: Breeze.

But I don't think it's going to be a breeze.  And certainly Chump is already attempting to steal the 2026 election.  Patrick Marley and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez (WASHINGTON POST) report:

The Trump administration and its allies have launched a multipronged effort to gather data on voters and inspect voting equipment, sparking concern among local and state election officials about federal interference ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The most unusual activity is happening in Colorado — a state that then-candidate Donald Trump lost by 11 points — where a well-connected consultant who says he is working with the White House is asking county clerks whether they will allow the federal government or a third party to physically examine their election equipment. Federal agencies have long offered technical assistance and cybersecurity advice to election officials but have not examined their equipment because election laws tightly limit who has access.
Separately, the Justice Department has taken the unusual step of asking at least nine states for copies of their voter rolls, and at least two have turned them over, according to state officials.

In addition, two DOJ lawyers have asked states to share information about voters to implement a Trump executive order that would shift some power over elections from the states to Washington. Courts have temporarily blocked key provisions of that order, including changing mail ballot deadlines and requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship. The DOJ attorneys have asked to talk about a different provision, which has not been halted by the courts, focused on sharing information.

Colorado Weld County clerk Carly Koppes (Republican) tells THE POST, "That's a hard stop for me.  Nobody gets access to my voting equipment, for security reasons."

In addition, Chump's attempting to force -- with Texas AG Ken Paxton's help -- a redistricting in Texas.  Ja'han Jones (MSNBC) explains:

Donald Trump appears to be leading the most blatant election-rigging scheme in American history.

In the wake of The New York Times’ report last month on the Trump administration’s redistricting efforts in Texas, more details have emerged about the attempt to pressure the state’s leaders into a potentially unlawful — and certainly illiberal — mid-decade redraw of its congressional districts in order to shore up the GOP’s chances in next year’s midterms. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has instructed his state’s Republican-led legislature to craft a redistricting plan this summer, in a move my MSNBC colleague Hayes Brown aptly assessed as a mockery of the Voting Rights Act.
Trump’s civil rights-averse Justice Department has specifically targeted four House seats with sizable Black and Latino populations for redraws, according to The Texas Tribune.

And on Tuesday, Trump openly told reporters that he’s pushing for a “very simple redraw” so that Republicans pick up five seats. He added that other states could undergo redistricting as well.

Roland Martin discusses this attempt to destroy voters rights in the video below.



Think that's bad?  We're not done yet.  Nora Mable (MONTANA FREE PRESS) reports:


A group of tribes in Montana alleges a new election law will disenfranchise Native voters and has moved to join a lawsuit challenging it.
On June 24, the ACLU of Montana, American Civil Liberties Union nationally and Native American Rights Fund filed a motion to intervene in an existing case on behalf of a group of tribal plaintiffs, including the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Blackfeet Nation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Fort Belknap Indian Community and Western Native Voice.
In their complaint, the group of tribal plaintiffs argues the changes to Election Day voter registration outlined in Senate Bill 490 disproportionately harm Native Americans in rural and tribal communities who already face significant barriers to voting.
Sponsored by Sen. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, SB 490 changes the deadline for registering to vote or changing voter information. Where previously anyone in line by 8 p.m. on Election Day could register to vote and then cast a ballot, the new law, signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte on May 5, closes voter registration at noon on Election Day (generally Tuesdays) and ends the ability to register on the Monday before an election. State lawmakers who supported the legislation argued it would curb long lines and benefit election workers; opponents said it was unconstitutional.
“[SB 490] disproportionately burdens Native voters compared to non-Native voters due to inequities in mail delivery service, internet access, access to post offices and post office boxes, and increased burdens on Native voters due to disproportionate rates of poverty and lack of vehicle access,” tribal plaintiffs allege in their complaint.
Northern Cheyenne Tribal President Gene Small called SB 490 “anti-democratic.”
“When you live miles and miles from the nearest polling place, and the roads are snowed in all morning, taking away eight hours of Election Day registration creates real life problems for everyday voters,” he said in a statement.

So there are efforts around the country to suppress turnout.

We lost in 2024.  Why?  Because Amy Goodman and others worked overtime to trash Kamala Harris -- remember, Amy did segments telling her audience that Kamala and Chump were the same on immigration -- and the point was missed by all the deluded -- Amy was part of Uncommitted and Uncommitted was committed to trashing Kamala.  They put Chump in the White House.

You need to grasp that.  We don't have time for your stupidity or fan worship -- a combination of the two -- again.  Democrats have the numbers.  When we turn out, we win.  Goodman and others attacked Kamala to suppress turnout.  And the succeeded.  And that's how Chump ended up in the White House.

Again, when we turn out, we win.  

Here's Thom Hartmann discussing Chump's efforts to strip us of our voting rights.



One more time, when we turn out, we win.  

Chump's a stupid idiot but even he grasps that.  Which is why he's working so hard to ensure that we aren't able to vote. He's trying anything and everything.  Jen Fifield (VOTE BEAT) reports:


The Republican Party is challenging the voting eligibility of some U.S. citizens who have always lived abroad, in what they’re calling a broader strategy ahead of next year’s midterms to clean up voter rolls and improve voter confidence.
But Democrats see the effort as a blatant attempt to disenfranchise eligible Democrats in key swing states.

The GOP terms the voters they are targeting as “never residents” because they are U.S. citizens but haven’t lived in the United States. Most frequently, they are children of U.S. citizens who have been in the military, or lived overseas for other reasons. Three-quarters of states have laws on the books allowing such citizens to vote by absentee or mail ballot in the same state where their parents or other relatives last lived or are registered.

Arizona is one of these states, and allows such expatriates to vote in federal, state, and local elections.

Republican lawmakers tried to change the law this year to disqualify citizens overseas who haven’t lived in Arizona, but Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, vetoed the proposal in May. Now, the Republican National Committee and Arizona Republican Party have filed a lawsuit alleging that the current law conflicts with the state constitution’s residency requirements for voting.


Get it?  Chump's trying to prevent as many people as he can from voting.  He's scared of voters -- and considering his policies, he should be scared of them.

We need to be aware of what's going on.  We also need to be checking registration for ourselves and our friends and families.  I don't mean the day before you vote.  I'd argue you need to check before the deadline to register to vote.  If you're dropped from the voter rolls and only learn of that on election day?  In most areas of the United States, you're out of luck.  You could request a provisional ballot but that brings up 101 other issues.  We need to be prepared.  This is about the future of democracy -- whether it will exist anymore in the US or not.  We have got to be prepared.

Being prepared also means after the election.  For example, I want Congress to have serious hearings on voting.  I want Greg Palast in there offering his expert testimony on how many people are getting dropped from the voter rolls.  We need a Congressional hearing (probably several) so that we can strengthen voting rights. 


On the economy, THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE addressed Chump's tariffs and other nonsense.




Let's turn to Chump's war on immigrants which is one horror story after another as he destroys one life after another.  Horror story?  Alex Woodward (INDEPENDENT) reports:


Four American-born siblings and their mother have been held inside a border patrol facility for more than two weeks after her arrest by federal law enforcement agents near the U.S.-Canada border.

Kenia Jackeline Merlos, her nine-year-old triplets and seven-year-old son, were visiting her sister at Peace Arch State Park in Washington state on June 28 when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents took them into custody.
Merlos’ mother, who joined the family on the trip, was also detained, but it remains unclear where she is being held.

The Department of Homeland Security accused Merlos of “attempting to smuggle illegal aliens” into the country, according to a statement. Merlos had requested that her children stay with her during her detention, the agency said.

Merlos’ husband Carlos was detained several days later outside the family’s home in Portland, Oregon. He is currently being held inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Tacoma, Washington. The couple’s immigration status is unclear.

“What began as a simple family trip to Peace Arch Park — a place Jackie had safely visited in the past to visit family in Canada — has turned into a devastating immigration nightmare,” according to a statement from family friends helping raise money for the family’s legal defense.
Merlos’ sister, a legal resident of Canada, had stepped across the boundary while saying goodbye, “which triggered this unfounded accusation,” they said.

The family’s arrest and detention has alarmed legal advocates and members of Congress who are pressing Donald Trump’s administration for their swift release from custody. Customs and Border Protection policy largely prohibits holding people in custody for more than 72 hours.


Tuesday, US House Rep Maxine Dexter's office issued the following regarding the above horror story:


PORTLAND, OR —Today, Congresswoman Maxine Dexter, M.D. (OR-03), along with U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, announced that a federal judge granted an emergency temporary restraining order preventing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from removing the Merlos family from the court’s jurisdiction.

Dexter, Wyden, and Merkley released the following joint statement: 

 “Our constituents, including four U.S. citizen children, were detained without due process by their own government. This case is as urgent as it is egregious. This emergency ruling is a legal lifeline to provide critical protection to the Merlos family. 

“We are gratified with this temporary win as a necessary step toward justice. In the coming days, we will be watching with unwavering attention to make certain due process is followed and this family is treated with the dignity every Oregon family deserves.

“This fight is every single Oregonian’s fight. If we allow this—citizen children detention, neighbors disappeared, due process ignored—we surrender not just our country but our conscience. That is an outcome we refuse to accept.”

On Sunday, Dexter, Wyden, Merkley, Congressman Rick Larsen (WA-02), and other lawmakers sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security and CBP setting a deadline of 10:00 a.m. PT on Monday, July 14 to grant the family access to their attorney. The lawmakers condemned the egregious, prolonged detention of U.S. citizen children in facilities that are not equipped or intended for the long-term custody of anyone.

Last week, Dexter personally traveled to the Bellingham Border Patrol Station, where the Merlos family was detained. CBP refused to allow her to speak with the family or connect the family with legal counsel. 

###




Federal immigration officers arrested a 38-year-old Iranian man outside his child’s preschool in Beaverton on Tuesday, according to school and law enforcement officials.

The man was arrested by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during morning dropoff at Guidepost Montessori School. The incident has deeply shaken the school community, which went into “soft lockdown to ensure the safety of all students and staff,” according to a message sent to parents.

OPB is not naming the man because his family was not immediately reachable and his immigration attorney did not return a request for comment.

The incident marks the first confirmed case of an immigration arrest at an Oregon school amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Historically, certain locations – including schools and houses of worship – have been largely off limits to immigration enforcement.

According to an ICE spokesperson, the man lawfully entered the United States in 2017, but overstayed his student visa.

Caroline Medeiros is an immigration attorney who is consulting with the family and the school. Medeiros’ child attends the same Montessori school. She said the man ICE arrested works as a chiropractor and she disputed the agency’s claim he was not in the U.S. lawfully.

“He married a U.S. citizen and his U.S. citizen wife filed a green card application for him,” Medeiros told OPB. “He attended his green card interview with his wife and they were just simply waiting for the green card to come through.”


Let's drop the pretense once and for all that Donald Chump cares about children because -- unless they're underage girls that Epstein supplied him with -- he doesn't care.  You can't care about children and do that.  That upset not only that man's children, it upset the entire school. 

Some children saw it happen.  Every child heard about it.  A parent whisked away.  Don't pretend you give a damn about children when you carry out an operation like that.  Those kids must have been frightened and worried.  But there's Chump and is gestapo force doing whatever they want with no regard for the law.  

The father's not a criminal.  And unless ICE is made up of the brain dead, they knew he wasn't a criminal before they staged the kidnapping.  If you thought the man was a violent criminal, I don't believe you'd try to arrest him with children around thereby putting their lives at risk.


Let's note another horror story.  Walter Morris (NEWS4) reports:

The family of a Maryland man who’s lived in the United States for decades is looking for answers after they say he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last month while walking his dog.

Loved ones said Reza Zavvar came to the U.S. from Iran as a student when he was 12, eventually got a green card and is now facing deportation to a country he has no connection to.

Firouzeh Firouzabadi, Zavvar’s mother, recounted the terrifying moments on June 28 when she said ICE agents took the 52-year-old into custody, just feet from their Gaithersburg home.

She said minutes after Zavvar left to walk his dog, Duke, strangers in uniform arrived at her front door holding the leash.

“I was shaking,” Firouzabadi said. “My brother was behind me holding me, and a lot of questions were coming, but the first thing that came to my mind was that maybe a car hit him and he’s on the floor, that’s why they brought him, Duke, to me. That was the first thing that hit me. It was hard.”

The mother said that was the beginning of their family’s nightmare.

“You just have to be a mom to understand what I’m talking about,” Firouzabadi said.

Zavvar's family said he was first taken to a facility in Baltimore, where he was questioned. He is currently being held at a detention center in Texas, according to online ICE detention records.

At last update, family members said the government has given orders to deport him to Romania or Australia, but gave no further explanation.

"I can’t sleep at night, I just can’t,” his sister, Maryam Zavvar, said.


This is not America.  It's something out of Nazi Germany and we shouldn't pretend otherwise. 




Since President Donald Trump returned to office, his campaign to deport thousands of immigrants has created headlines in Maryland after dispatching federal agents to sweep the streets, raiding worksites and, in one case, removing a mother from her vehicle.

Now, government records reveal the scale of these efforts: Arrests by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers have more than doubled in the state under Trump, a Baltimore Banner analysis of ICE data found.

Increasingly, according to the data analysis, the campaign has targeted immigrants without criminal charges or convictions.

This is despite Trump promising his mass deportation campaign would go after violent criminals, whom the president has called “the worst of the worst.” The data shows that since the president’s Jan. 20 inauguration, 60% of immigrants arrested in Maryland have never been convicted of crimes. Only 13% committed violent crimes.

After reviewing The Banner’s findings, Adina Appelbaum, program director at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said the findings show the deportation campaign “is not about public safety.”

“It’s about systemic punishment, racial profiling and the dehumanizing political exploitation of our immigrant neighbors,” Appelbaum said.


Other horror stories?  AP reports, "Immigration authorities are demanding that landlords turn over leases, rental applications, forwarding addresses, identification cards and other information on their tenants, a sign that the Trump administration is targeting them to assist in its drive for mass deportations."   Sam Levin (IRISH EXAMINER) reports: 35-year-old Irish citizen Thomas visited his girlfriend in West Virginia and got sick which caused him to overstay by three days, "he was detained by Ice in three different facilities, ultimately spending roughly 100 days behind bars with little understanding of why he was being held – or when he’d get out."  Thomas is now back in Ireland and states, "Nobody is safe from the system if they get pulled into it."


And the horror stories continue when Chump's Nazis put the immigrants into gulags and concentration camps.  Didi Martinez, Julia Ainsley and Laura Strickler (NBC NEWS) report:

Immigrants being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in at least seven states are complaining of hunger, food shortages and spoiled food, detainees and immigration advocates say. They say some detainees have gotten sick; others say they have lost weight. In one facility, an incident involving detainees reportedly broke out in part because of food.

The food problems come amid overcrowding at ICE facilities tied to the Trump administration’s push to quickly ramp up immigration arrests. While capacity data isn’t publicly available for every ICE detention facility, nationwide figures on the availability of beds show a system beyond its overall capacity. As of mid-June, ICE was detaining nearly 60,000 people, almost 45% above the capacity provided for by Congress.
Although many of ICE’s detention centers are run by private contractors, the problems are happening all over the country regardless of who’s running a given facility, advocates say. A former ICE official told NBC News it is difficult for a facility to stay stocked with the right amount of food when, on any given day, it may face an unexpected surge of new detainees. While the agency can move money around to cover the cost of detaining more immigrants, planning for unexpected daily spikes can be difficult for facilities and could lead to food being served late or in small quantities, the former ICE official said.

On top of that, there are now fewer avenues for detainees to submit concerns while they are in ICE custody, advocates say, pointing to recent job cuts to an independent watchdog within the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency.


Let's wind down with this from US House Rep Dan Goldman's office:



VIDEO, PHOTOS, TRANSCRIPT: REP. DAN GOLDMAN, STATE SENATOR GOUNARDES CALL FOR END TO ICE DETENTION AT NOTORIOUS FEDERAL PRISON 
 
Rep. Goldman: “The Trump Administration is now sending non-criminal, non-charged, nonviolent immigrants, many of whom have ongoing asylum cases, to be detained in this place where federal judges will not send convicted criminals.” 
 
MDC Brooklyn is Notorious for Violence, Understaffing, Power Outages, Extended Lockdowns, and Solitary Confinement 
 
Watch the Press Conference Here 


Washington, D.C. — Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10), State Senator Andrew Gounardes, and Assemblymember Bobby Carroll today hosted a press conference outside the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn to call for an end to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) usage of the facility to detain over 100 immigrants. Federal judges have recently called the prison ‘barbaric’ and refused to send convicted criminals there, citing its chronic understaffing, extended use of solitary confinement, unsanitary conditions, routine power outages, and lack of access to medical care and legal counsel.  
 
Last week, the Congressman sent an oversight letter of inquiry to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) demanding answers on their interagency agreement with ICE to house more than 100 immigration detainees at the Brooklyn MDC. 
 
Watch the press conference here
 or read a rough transcript below: 
 
Rep. Dan Goldman:  Thank you all for joining us today. I’m Congressman Dan Goldman, and I'm here with my colleagues in the State Senate and State Assembly, Andrew Gounardes and Bobby Carroll, as well as our friends from Mixteca.  
 
We are here to bring attention to what is an increasingly urgent and dangerous situation now that relates entirely to the militarized ICE efforts to arrest immigrants who are here lawfully, and to whisk them down south for expedited deportation. That would break the law. 
 
One of the things that this new policy has done is create a shortage of places to hold these non-criminal, nonviolent civilians who are trying to immigrate to this country, as so many have before. So what we have learned is that ICE and the federal government, in coordination with the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons, are relocating immigration detainees here to MDC. 
 
Now, this is not the first time we've been out in front of the MDC, which has a very well-established record of being incredibly unsafe, inhumane, cruel – even to the point where federal judges call the conditions in the MDC barbaric and have refused to send convicts and criminals here because those conditions are so bad. And yet the Trump Administration is now sending non-criminal, non-charged, nonviolent immigrants, many of whom have ongoing asylum cases, to be detained in this place where federal judges will not send convicted criminals. 
 
They're doing this because there is no room anywhere else for this disgusting mass deportation policy that once again, is not targeting convicted criminals, but is targeting so many community members, spouses of citizens, parents of citizens, people trying to immigrate to this country to pursue the American dream and trying to do it the right way under the law.  
 
Last week, I wrote a letter to the head of the Bureau of Prisons demanding answers and asking for an immediate suspension of all transfers of ICE detainees to the MDC and to any other federal prison. And to understand what exactly the agreement is between ICE and the Bureau of Prisons. Who is paying for the staffing for these ICE detainees?  
 
Part of the reason why the MDC has been in such terrible, terrible condition is that it is grossly understaffed. And because it's understaffed, it is unable to keep everyone safe. It has required numerous lockdowns just simply because of a shortage of staffing. 
 
The Biden Administration added a 35% retention bonus at the end of that administration, to increase the staffing significantly here and made the conditions much better. When Donald Trump came in, his administration yanked that retention bonus, and staffing has now gone down.  
 
So, who's paying? Because the Bureau of Prisons doesn't have money to pay for its own staff, for its own detainees, much less ICE detainees? 
 
We want answers to those questions, and we want to know where the money will be coming from now that the Republicans jammed through a bill that takes health care and food benefits from millions and millions of Americans, but increases ICE's budget for detention by $45 billion.  
 
Who is going to pay for this? This is just yet another example of ICE's lawless, un-American, inhumane treatment of people trying to seek the American dream, trying to immigrate to this country like so many of New Yorkers have – 40% – and so many of our ancestors and descendants have. This is dangerous. It's lawless and it's unacceptable. So we are here out in front of the MDC to demand answers from the Bureau of Prisons, from the Department of Justice, from the Department of Homeland Security. They owe us answers. They owe me, as a member of Congress, answers as I conduct oversight, both constitutionally authorized and statutorily obligated oversight. 
 
But they mostly owe answers to New Yorkers and to the American people for what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how they are doing it.  
 
Let's remember. Immigrants are our neighbors. They are parents, they are workers working here with work authorization, paying taxes, paying into the Social Security fund, and they are community members who deserve to be treated with dignity. 
 
If immigrants have committed a crime, they should be deported. But that is not what is happening. These are our community members being yanked from their families, unsuspectingly and deceptively. And it must stop.  
 
### 



The following sites updated:





Posted by at

Lauren Boebert is so much dumber than we ever knew

Boe-Boe?  I've ignored of late.  Even the whispers that she's going to face a challenger in the mid-terms who could send her back to waiting tables at the truck stop.  But 
Mychael Schnell (THE HILL) notes Boe-Boe has the 'answer' to how to get the truth regarding Jeffrey Epstein:


In a sign of the growing discontent with the current situation, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, called for a special counsel to be appointed to oversee the Epstein matter, joining vocal MAGA figures in making the request.

She floated former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for the job.

“Of course we want answers. Nobody is satisfied with what has been received, or lack thereof. No one is satisfied with the rollout of this,” Boebert said during another interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. “I think moving forward, we need a special counsel. That has got to happen. There has to be a special investigation into this if we aren’t going to be provided information.”


She's a moron.  Epstein was a sex trafficker.  Gaetz?  From WIKIPEDIA:

 Gaetz's tenure as congressman was widely criticized and controversial, with The New York Times noting accusations of:[111]

sexual misconduct and illicit drug use; sharing inappropriate images or videos on the House floor; misusing state identification records; converting campaign funds to personal use; and accepting impermissible gifts under House rules.[111]

Gaetz routinely conflicted with members of Republican leadership. In October 2023, Gaetz filed a motion to vacate which led to the removal of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.[71]

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson wrote in her memoir that, during a trip to Camp David in 2020, Gaetz made "repeated passes" at her and asked her to "escort" him to his room. Gaetz has denied these actions.[275]

Federal investigations into child sex trafficking and statutory rape

In January 2020, the U.S. Secret Service reportedly received a tip that, in April 2018, Gaetz had accompanied Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg to a government office where Greenberg was producing fake IDs.[276] Greenberg was indicted in August 2020 on an array of charges, including sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl in 2017 and creating fake IDs to facilitate sex trafficking.[277][278] The investigation of Greenberg led federal officials to look into some of Gaetz's related activities.[276] In late 2020, the Justice Department opened its investigation of Gaetz for allegedly sex trafficking the same 17-year-old girl in 2017 and whether he had violated federal sex trafficking laws by paying her to travel with him across state lines.[277][279][280] As part of his plea bargain, Greenberg cooperated with the investigation of Gaetz and others.[281][282]

Axios reported that Gaetz was "seriously considering not seeking re-election and possibly leaving Congress early for a job at Newsmax" on March 30, 2021.[283] The same day, The New York Times reported the Justice Department's investigation of Gaetz.[277] According to CNN, a person briefed on the matter said investigators also examined whether Gaetz used campaign money in his relationships with young women for travel and expenses and whether cash and drugs were involved.[284] By April 2, the Justice Department was examining whether Gaetz asked women to recruit others for sex.[285][286]

According to the 2021 reports, federal investigators were looking into Gaetz's September 2018 trip to the Bahamas.[278] Gaetz was reportedly joined by marijuana entrepreneur and hand surgeon Jason Pirozzolo, who allegedly paid trip accommodations, traveling expenses, and escort services. Investigators were reportedly exploring whether the escorts were sexually trafficked for Gaetz and whether Gaetz accepted paid escorts in exchange for political access or legislative favors for Pirozzolo, who at the time chaired the board of the Medical Marijuana Physicians Association. Gaetz made two speeches for the organization while in Congress, and Pirozzolo gave two separate donations of $1,000 to Gaetz's campaign arm, "Friends of Matt Gaetz", in March 2016 and May 2017.[287] A spokeswoman for Gaetz denied the new allegations.[288] A woman on the Bahamas trip—a Capitol Hill intern who did not work in Gaetz's office but who was dating him—reportedly agreed in May 2021 to cooperate with investigators, who believe she has information about Gaetz's financial transactions on the trip.[289][290]

Investigators believe that Greenberg met women through a website for sex and introduced them to Gaetz, who also had sex with them.[277] Evidence including mobile payment receipts reportedly suggesting Gaetz had illegally exchanged money for sex, such as May 2018 Venmo transaction records showing Gaetz sending $900 (with a memo referring to a woman) to Greenberg, who then relayed the money (with the memos "tuition" and "school") to three women, one of whom was 18.[291] Joseph Ellicott, an associate of both Gaetz and Greenberg, pleaded guilty in January 2022 to two charges related to this investigation and is also cooperating with authorities.[292]

Gaetz had argued in a November 2020 Fox News appearance that Trump "should pardon Michael Flynn [and] everyone from himself to his administration officials to Joe Exotic".[293][294] In late 2020, Greenberg apparently attempted to secure a pardon from the Trump administration via a confession letter (first reported by The Daily Beast in April 2021), writing that he and Gaetz had had sex with a 17-year-old girl they believed was 19, which Greenberg learned of on September 4, 2017, and that payments had been made on behalf of Gaetz to her and other women in exchange for sex.[295] Greenberg attempted to bribe Roger Stone with a $250,000 Bitcoin payment to secure a presidential pardon, texting Stone, "They know [Gaetz] paid me to pay the girls and that he and I both had sex with the girl who was underage."[295] By the end of the Trump administration, Greenberg was under indictment, investigators had been questioning some Gaetz associates, and federal agents had seized the phone of one of Gaetz's former girlfriends.[296] Gaetz's phone was also seized, and he changed his phone number in late December.[278]

Defense and counter-claim of extortion

Denying any sexual relationships with minors, Gaetz said on March 30, 2021, that he did not plan to resign from the House.[277] That same day, he tweeted that he and his family were "victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million".[277][297] This allegedly began on March 16, with a text message to his father demanding money in exchange for making sex trafficking allegations "go away".[298] Gaetz and his father purportedly received communications saying that the FBI had photographs of Gaetz engaged in a "sexual orgy with underage prostitutes". The sender demanded millions of dollars to help secure the release of U.S. federal agent Robert Levinson (who had disappeared in Iran in 2007 and had already been presumed and declared dead),[299][300] proposing that President Joe Biden would pardon Gaetz as a reward for freeing Levinson.[301][302] The sender was later identified as Florida developer Stephen Alford, who was arrested on August 31.[303][304]

Gaetz said his attorneys contacted the FBI, whom he said had informed them that Gaetz was a subject, not a target, of an investigation. He also said his father agreed to wear a "wire" to help the FBI record the alleged extortionists.[305] Gaetz sent Axios screenshots of text messages, emails and documents outlining the alleged extortion scheme, which he asserted was being run by David McGee,[306] a former federal prosecutor who has been a private attorney since 2005[307] and has represented the Levinson family.[308] McGee's law firm called Gaetz's allegation "completely, totally false" and defamatory,[298] telling The Daily Beast that Gaetz was attempting to distract from the sex trafficking investigation.[309] Alford, who has previously been federally convicted of fraud and is represented by McGee, was federally indicted in August 2021 for allegedly conducting the scheme. Prosecutors alleged that Alford said he had contacts in the Justice Department who could arrange for a presidential pardon for Gaetz and directed Don Gaetz to wire the money to a trust account managed by McGee. McGee reportedly met with Don Gaetz before Alford did,[308][310] but apparently did not discuss a presidential pardon, which Alford later admitted to the FBI that he had lied about his ability to arrange.[300]

Also on March 30, Tucker Carlson interviewed Gaetz on Fox News. In addition to denying the allegations about his relationship with a 17-year-old girl, Gaetz denied a previously unreported claim that he had been photographed "with child prostitutes", and said that the FBI had urged a friend of his (whom Carlson had supposedly met) to claim Gaetz was "involved in some pay-for-play scheme". He also argued that "Providing for flights and hotel rooms for people that you're dating who are of legal age is not a crime."[311][312][313]

Response and other developments

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he had no plans to remove Gaetz from his seats on the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees on March 31, 2021, but that he might change his mind if Gaetz "gets indicted"[314] or "if it comes out to be true".[315]

CNN reported on April 1 that Gaetz had shown pictures of naked women to colleagues on the House floor. Gaetz had allegedly claimed to have slept with the women in the photos.[316] The next day, his communications director, Luke Ball, and his legislative director, Devin Murphy, resigned. Both had begun working for Gaetz when he joined Congress in 2017.[317][318][319]

On April 6, The New York Times reported that in the last weeks of the Trump administration, Gaetz privately requested a blanket presidential pardon for himself and others, which was reportedly denied because it would set a bad precedent.[294] The next day, Trump publicly denied that Gaetz had asked him for a pardon.[320] On April 7, journalist Maggie Haberman revealed on CNN that Trump had reportedly wanted to defend Gaetz but was told to stand down due to the seriousness of the allegations.[156][157]

Gaetz's congressional office released a statement purportedly from his female employees vouching for his character, stating they "uniformly reject these allegations as false" on April 8. Gaetz's new communications director, Joel Valdez, told Forbes that "all of the office's eight female staffers signed it", but the version of the statement that was released did not have anyone's signature or identify any specific employee.[321] That evening, Representative Adam Kinzinger tweeted that Gaetz should resign, becoming the first congressional Republican to make such a call.[322][323]

The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation on April 9 into allegations that Gaetz "may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift".[324] The committee deferred its investigation at the request of the Justice Department, but resumed it in June 2023.[325][326]

In late April, Gaetz fundraised to run his own political ads, claiming that he was under attack by powerful interests such as "big government, big tech, big business, big media" that perceived him as a political threat.[327] A public relations firm hired by Gaetz issued a denial statement regarding The Daily Beast's reporting on Greenberg's correspondence implicating him and Gaetz.[295]

Greenberg pleaded guilty to multiple crimes on May 17 in a plea bargain in which he would have to cooperate with prosecutors.[282]

By June, the federal investigation had reportedly broadened to include obstruction of justice, relating to Gaetz's phone conversation with a witness.[328][329] Later in June, ABC News reported that the investigation had engulfed many in the Central Florida political scene and that prosecutors could decide whether to bring charges against Gaetz as early as July.[330] In August, ABC News reported that Greenberg had "provided investigators with years of Venmo and Cash App transactions and thousands of photos and videos, as well as access to personal social media accounts". These include September 2018 text messages between Greenberg and a woman engaging in prostitution, which indicate that a prostitute was arranged for Gaetz and that MDMA may have been proffered. A spokesperson for Gaetz said, "not one woman has come forward to accuse Rep. Gaetz of wrongdoing" and that Gaetz had "addressed the debunked allegations against him" on his new podcast, Firebrand.[331][332] According to Greenberg, he made the arrangements for Gaetz.[331]

Two top Washington prosecutors—a public corruption investigator with expertise in child exploitation crimes and a leader of the public corruption unit—have worked on Gaetz's case since at least mid-2021.[333] Greenberg's sentencing hearing was originally scheduled for August 2021,[334] but due to his cooperation in related investigations, had been repeatedly delayed.[335][336] In January 2022, an ex-girlfriend of Gaetz's testified before a grand jury after being granted immunity;[337] she reportedly had information relevant to two of three criminal charges being considered for Gaetz: sex trafficking a minor and obstruction of justice.[337] (A year later, her attorney said that Justice Department prosecutors made the right decision not to charge Gaetz because "they didn't have evidence to prove a crime".)[338] Gaetz was also accused of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits sex trafficking across state lines.[339] Later in January 2022, Joseph Ellicott confessed that on September 4, 2017, he witnessed Greenberg telling Gaetz over the phone that the woman they had both had sex with was underage.[340][341][342]

Thanks to his assistance with the prosecutors in a series of investigations, including those involving Gaetz, Greenberg was sentenced to 11 years in prison, plus 10 years of supervised release, on December 1, 2022.[343] The sentencing judge, Gregory A. Presnell, said, "He has provided substantial cooperation to the government...more than I've seen in 22 years."[343]

Court documents filed in September 2024 stated that, according to multiple eyewitnesses, Gaetz had attended a party in 2017 alongside a 17-year-old girl, at the home of lobbyist Chris Dorworth where people engaged in sexual activities and did drugs, including cocaine, ecstasy, and cannabis.[344][345]

Conclusion of DOJ investigation

A September 2022 Washington Post article reported that prosecutors had recommended not to charge Gaetz in the sex trafficking investigation, telling Justice Department superiors that a conviction is unlikely in part because of credibility questions about the two central witnesses.[346] In February 2023, the DOJ communicated to the attorneys for Gaetz that they had concluded their investigation and would not be laying charges against him, effectively ending a multiyear probe including allegations of misconduct.[347]

Re-opening of investigation by House Ethics Committee

The House Ethics Committee began its probe in April 2021 into Gaetz's alleged misconduct but soon paused it while the DOJ investigated. Shortly after the February 2023 conclusion of the DOJ investigation, the House Ethics Committee reopened its probe.[348][349] Two women, both represented by attorney Joel Leppard, testified that Gaetz paid them for sex. One of those women said that in July 2017, she saw Gaetz having sex with her 17-year-old friend and that once Gaetz became aware of the girl's age, he paused the relationship until she turned 18.[350] The woman who was 17 at the time of the incident told the House Ethics Committee that she had two sexual encounters with Gaetz at the same party.[351] The DOJ had charted payments showing that, between July 2017 and January 2019, Gaetz paid both women a total of over $10,000 across 27 Venmo transactions and a check. The committee received this chart from the DOJ, but the DOJ did not turn over other information the committee requested.[352][353] The committee also contacted Gaetz's ex-girlfriend who in 2022 had received immunity and testified in the criminal investigation, though reportedly it did not expect her to cooperate in the ethics investigation voluntarily.[354]

In mid-November 2024, days before the committee was scheduled to vote whether to release its report, which was nearly complete and which insiders said was "highly critical" of Gaetz,[355][356][357] Gaetz resigned from the House, in part due to an announcement of his nomination as United States Attorney General for Donald Trump's second term.[358] This caused the committee to lose jurisdiction to continue its probe[359] and, under the House's own rules, it cannot release the report either. (Despite this internal rule, the House has released reports on former members before.)[360] House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would "strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report".[361] Given the Senate's role in approving Gaetz's nomination for Attorney General, several senators including Joni Ernst, John Curtis, John Cornyn, and Markwayne Mullin called on the House to allow them to review the Ethics Committee report.[362][363] Attorneys for the two women called for the report to be released publicly: John Clune (representing the woman who had been 17 at the time of the incident) and Joel Leppard (representing the witness).[360][364]

The sworn testimony of the woman who said she had sex with Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17, along with corroborating eyewitness testimony to that sexual encounter, was obtained by a hacker on November 18. A lawyer on the case noticed the suspicious download. The hacker did not immediately leak the material.[365]

The House Ethics Committee decided that by December 5, it would finish its report and vote on whether to release it.[366][367]

Gaetz withdrew his nomination for attorney general on November 21,[368] and indicated the following day that he would not return to the House.[369]

The House Ethics Committee voted to release its report in December 2024.[370] It was made public on December 23. The Ethics Committee report concluded that Gaetz had violated Florida state laws, including those prohibiting statutory rape, procurement of prostitution, and illicit drug use, but that Gaetz did not engage in sex trafficking across state lines. The committee identified at least 20 occasions on which he had paid women for sex or drugs. It found a total of over $90,000 in payments to the 17-year-old girl and 11 other women.[371][2][372][373]



No, you do not put someone like that in charge of an Epstein investigation.  Even Boebert cannot be that stupid.


"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Wednesday, July 16, 2025.  Inflation increases under Chump, the effects of the tariffs begin to be felt, ICE agents need to hide behind masks while ICE attorneys hide their names from the courthouse records, Mark Cuban wants Democrats to co-sign on Chump's gestapo immigration war, and much more.


Jeff Cox (CNBC) reports, "Consumer prices rose in June as President Donald Trump’s tariffs began to slowly work their way through the U.S. economy.  The consumer price index, a broad-based measure of goods and services costs, increased 0.3% on the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.7%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. The numbers were right in line with the Dow Jones consensus."  Shane Croucher (NEWSWEEK) adds:

But there are signs that prices are due to rise further in the coming months.

Some companies have said they have or plan to raise prices as a result of the tariffs, including Walmart, the world's largest retailer.

Automaker Mitsubishi announced in June that it would be increasing prices by an average of 2.1 percent in response to the duties, and Nike stated that it would implement "surgical" price hikes to offset tariff costs.

But many companies have been able to postpone or avoid price increases, after building up their stockpiles of goods this spring to get ahead of the duties.

Other companies may have refrained from lifting prices while they wait to see whether the U.S. is able to reach trade deals with other countries that lower the duties.


Inflation was addressed at the top of THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE last night on MSNBC.



Chump campaigned on ending inflation on day one.  As Stephanie noted, Tuesday was day 177 of the Chump administration.  No, that's not day one.


Inflation continues to increase.


Question: Do you think he might have done a better job if he and his administration had focused on the economy instead of trying to micro manage college universities -- not really a presidential duty -- or a hundred and one of his other pet causes?  


If he'd focused on the actual job, would the economy be as bad as it is?  Because it is bad and its going to get worse.  Each month it already has.  Walmart, for example?  Keesha e-mailed to note that the plain label canned chick noodle soup?  Great Value is the brand.  It's not at 70 cents a can and, under Joe, it was 50 cents a can.  Last month, Keesha notes, she paid 70 cents an avocado and this week the price jumped to 90 cents.  


And as if inflation isn't bad enough for the average American, Chump's 'big' 'beatiful' bill is about to really steal from the middle class, the working class and the poor to give huge tax breaks to te extremely wealthy.

Stephanie noted and quoted the banking institution's reaction to the inflation increase:


Bank of America: Today's report provides ample evidence that tariffs are being passed onto consumers.


Wells Fargo: One of the top questions we get these days involves when will we see the impact of tariffs on consumer spending and in the retail sector.  The time is now.


Ben covers the economy this morning on MEIDASTOUCH NEWS.


Ben notes, "But the only prices that are going down?  Airfare, hotel and motel prices.  These are recession indicators, folks."  


Chump's tariffs are destroying the economy and so is his war on immigration.  Martín Macías, Jr. (LOS ANGELES PUBLIC PRESS) reports:


Over the last month, Jorge, an Inglewood resident and a cook at a restaurant, has scanned social media each morning to check for ICE activity near his home or along the route to work. If federal immigration agents are around, he stays inside, which he said means risking the loss of a job that sustains his family of four.

“I leave home not knowing whether [ICE agents] will arrest me or not,” said Jorge, whose last name LA Public Press has agreed to withhold to protect his identity as an undocumented person. “I don’t go to work when I hear that [ICE is] near my home.”

Jorge, who said he’s lived in the United States for 24 years and is married to a U.S. citizen, said he’s missed at least eight days of work in recent weeks due to the fear of arrest by ICE. 

“I can’t miss many more days of work,” Jorge said. “Money isn’t going as far as it once did.” 

Though ICE hasn’t targeted his workplace, Jorge said he’s distributed red cards explaining the legal rights of immigrants to his coworkers so they’re more prepared in case agents show up.

Jorge’s story reflects a broader crisis across Los Angeles County’s restaurant industry, where some establishments have seen revenue drop by as much as 25% since immigration raids began in June, according to industry leaders, forcing owners to cut staff and reduce hours.

Since June 6, undocumented restaurant workers like Jorge have been targeted for arrest by federal immigration agents across Los Angeles County, where one in three residents is an immigrant. About 1.8 million California residents work in restaurants and food service, making it the largest private employer in the state, according to the National Restaurant Association. Nationwide in 2025, at least 20% of restaurant workers are immigrants. 

Across Southern California over the last month, at least 1,600 immigrants have been arrested by ICE in raids at sites including factories, car washes and Home Depot parking lots. The operations have made immigrants fearful of leaving home for daily errands and forced businesses such as auto shops to close, costing thousands of dollars in lost wages and revenue.

An ICE spokesperson didn’t respond by time of publication to a request for comment on the impact that federal immigration operations are having on restaurants. 

The restaurants where immigrants work and eat have also reported that they’re struggling to remain open as ICE operations continue to sweep across the region. 

Tricia La Belle, president of the Greater LA Hospitality Association and a restaurant owner for more than 30 years, told the LA Public Press that her five establishments have seen a 25% drop in revenue since ICE launched raids in June. 

The loss of business has forced her to cut staff, she said.

“We’ve cut down to the bare bones,” La Belle said about her establishments, which include Boardner’s nightclub in Hollywood and the Bon Vivant restaurant in Atwater Village. “You can’t provide the same quality of service when you don’t have a bus boy, barbacks and floor maintenance crews. You just don’t have those bells and whistles anymore.”




You wouldn’t know it from what FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, is about to do, but it has a human rights policy.

“Guided by its human rights approach, FIFA embeds its commitment throughout the organisation and engages in an ongoing due diligence process to identify, address, evaluate and communicate the risks of involvement with adverse human rights impacts. … FIFA will constructively engage with relevant authorities and other stakeholders and make every effort to uphold its international human rights responsibilities.”

But here was Sunday’s final of the Club World Cup — a sort-of dry run over the past four weeks for its 2026 World Cup in North America scheduled to be anchored in the United States — with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino and champion Chelsea in celebratory embrace with President Donald Trump, who is defining his second term in the White House not by protecting human rights but by trampling them.

Indeed, a day before the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, several lawmakers toured a hastily built detention center in the Florida Everglades for undocumented migrants and described it in inhumane terms. Trump officials and supporters jovially named the encampment “Alligator Alcatraz” after the vicious reptiles that live in the surrounding swamp and the notorious prison of last resort in the San Francisco Bay that was shuttered because the government deemed it too expensive to keep humane.

On Friday, a federal judge in California ordered a stop to Trump administration raids of everything from farms to public parks to car washes looking for undocumented laborers. The actions erupted into violent confrontations between National Guard troops in riot armor and protesters trying to protect the immigrants being hunted.

Anecdotal narratives illustrate the enforcement of Trump’s immigration policies as xenophobic at best. People such as Kilmar Abrego García, the Salvadoran man living in Maryland on protected status whom the Trump administration admitted it mistakenly deported in a raft of detainees to a dissolute El Salvador prison. He’s still in custody. People such as University of Florida student Felipe Zapata Velásquez, a Colombian whom Gainesville police arrested on traffic offenses and then turned over to Trump immigration officers. He agreed to be deported rather than face detention.
Then there are those such as Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University PhD student on a student visa from Turkey, and Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown academic, whom Trump’s masked squads snatched off streets into unmarked vehicles and whisked away to who-knew-where because they were said to have voiced opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza. Both eventually were released but not necessarily freed.

And there is an expanding list of countries from which Trump would like to ban citizens’ entry to the United States. They include mostly sub-Saharan African nations to go along with countries in Latin America, Central Asia and the Middle East. They include countries that certainly will qualify for the World Cup. Iran already has.

All of this is an affront to what FIFA claims it stands for. Human Rights Watch reminded FIFA of as much last month.


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will now be the biggest federal law enforcement agency, by far. Its budget will exceed that of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Marshals Service combined. (It even has a bigger budget than the militaries  of Brazil, Italy, and Israel.)

It will require a crash hiring spree for new ICE agents, with little training and oversight. Federal and local law enforcement officials will be pulled off their core duties in massive numbers to play the unfamiliar role of immigration enforcer. All this for an agency whose agents wear masks to avoid identification while grabbing people off the street, arresting political leaders, and choosing to sow terror.   

And for all the claims that only the “worst of the worst” will be targeted, enforcement seems increasingly to be focused more on construction workers and landscapers with no criminal history than on drug traffickers or sex offenders.

Then there is the troublesome role for private prisons. Many of the new facilities will be built and run by private firms. Eisen is the author of the definitive book, Inside Private Prisons. She reports, “In May, the CEO of private prison company CoreCivic told investors, ‘Never in our 42-year company history have we had so much activity and demand for our services as we are seeing right now.’ This budget bill will solidify that vision for CoreCivic, GEO Group, and other firms that manage and own immigrant detention centers and transportation subsidiaries.”

The administration has rebuffed oversight by Congress. Federal law says that members of Congress and their staffs must be permitted to “enter[], for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.” ICE is throwing up barriers and in some cases denying access outright. 

And of course, the Brennan Center has documented the ways this current crackdown is being pursued in violation of the law. The misuse of the Alien Enemies Act, a discredited wartime statute the administration has used to deport migrants, is a vivid example.


Let's stay with legal issues for a moment.  ICE agents?  As weve noted, if they don't quit their jobs their future is one of two paths: Suicide or drug addiction to self-medicate.  You can't do what they're doing and not tear apart your soul.  The same is true of the the attorneys working for ICE. 


Debbie Nathan (INTERCEPT) reports:


Inside a federal immigration courtroom in New York City last month, a judge took an exceedingly unusual step: declining to state the name of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney pressing to deport asylum seekers. 

“We’re not really doing names publicly,” said Judge ShaSha Xu — after stating her own name and those of the immigrants and their lawyers. It was the first of two separate instances The Intercept identified in which judges chose to withhold the identities of the attorneys representing the Trump administration’s deportation regime. 

As ICE agents across the country wear masks to raid workplaces and detain immigrants, government attorneys need not cover their faces to shield their identities. Legal experts who spoke to The Intercept agreed the practice of concealing the lawyers’ identities was both novel and concerning.

“I’ve never heard of someone in open court not being identified,” said Elissa Steglich, a law professor and co-director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin. “Part of the court’s ethical obligation is transparency, including clear identification of the parties. Not identifying an attorney for the government means if there are unethical or professional concerns regarding [the Department of Homeland Security], the individual cannot be held accountable. And it makes the judge appear partial to the government.”


Why not identify themselves?  Because they're rightly ashamed of themselves.  And they can hide all they want from the public -- or try to -- but they can't escape the voice inside them that knows what they're doing is wrong, the voice that will nag them until the day that they die.  Too late, they'll grasp that there's not enough money in the world to justify selling your soul.

Some people really aren't qualified for politics.  Politics chases money, yes, but your ability to amass money does not mean you grasp politics.  More than anything, common sense is required for politics and our best politicians possess common sense.  Selling out is not common sense.

I'm not a Mark Cuban fan.  That's been obvious for years.  Mark always has an idea.  "Idea" may be giving him too much credit.  He always has a "notion."  But his notions are not based on common sense.  His notions are based on what the other side is saying.

We'll circle back around.  Let's move over to Paul Krugman who has common sense and a brain and uses both.  From his most recent SUBSTACK: 

And as G. Elliott Morris points out, the detailed polling suggests overwhelming disapproval of Trump’s immigration policies. Notably, voters are twice as likely to support giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship than they are to support deporting them. By the way, in 2023 Congress seemed likely to enact bipartisan legislation that would have opened such a path. But Trump killed it.

What’s going on? Why were cynical, seemingly savvy takes on the politics of immigration so wrong?

Part of the answer is that there is almost always a “thermostatic backlash” against the policies pursued by a party that has recently gained power. Pundits who imagined that Trump’s war on immigrants would become more, not less popular once it began were assuming that he could defy all historical precedent.

But, like Morris, I think there’s more going on here than just the thermostat.

First, it’s important to understand that the call for mass deportations and/or imprisonment was based on a lie — the claim that America is facing a huge immigrant crime wave. “They’re not a city of immigrants, they’re a city of criminals,” declared Kristi Noem about Los Angeles last month. Last week city officials reported that LA is on track to have the fewest homicides in 60 years.

It's true that many Americans have remained willing to believe that big cities like LA and NYC are scary urban hellscapes, even though they’re quite safe these days.

An aside: There was a period in the 1970s and 1980s when New York, in particular, actually was the kind of scary place people like Trump and Noem claim it still is. As it happens, that sort-of hellscape period coincided with an era when New York had fewer immigrants than at any time before or since:

In any case, however, it seems to me that the lie is beginning to unravel as it becomes clear that ICE is having a really hard time finding violent immigrants to arrest.

According to the Miami Herald, only around a third of the people being held in “Alligator Alcatraz” — a cute name, but it’s a concentration camp, pure and simple — have any kind of criminal conviction.

Why aren’t they rounding up more undocumented criminals? Because that would be hard work, and anyway there aren’t that many of them. Morris did a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggesting that there may in total be only around 78,000 undocumented immigrants with criminal records, and 14,000 convicted of violent crimes. Meanwhile, Stephen Miller is demanding that ICE arrest 3,000 people a day. Do the math, and you see why they’re grabbing farm workers and chasing day laborers in Home Depot parking lots.

So Americans may be turning on Trump’s immigration policies in part because they’re starting to realize that they’ve been lied to. But an even more important factor may be that more native-born Americans are beginning to see what our immigrants are really like, rather than thinking of them as scary figures lurking in the shadows.

It’s a familiar point that views of immigration tend to be most negative in places with very few immigrants and most positive in places where there are already many foreign-born residents. You can get fancy about why that’s true, but I would simply say that if you live in a place like New York, where you’re constantly interacting with immigrants, they start to seem like … people.

And the Trumpies — for whom, as Adam Serwer famously observed, the cruelty is the point — are inadvertently humanizing immigrants for Americans who don’t have that kind of daily experience. The nightmarish ordeal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia has probably done more to highlight the humanity of immigrants, documented or not, than any number of charts and tables. And while some Americans are instinctively cruel, most are, I believe, instinctively decent.


Get it?  The crime wave myth needs to be called out.  Common sense and a brain puts Paul miles ahead of Mark Cuban.  Mark's gotten  Eric Swalwell on his side.  With what?  Mark's notion.  The way to take on Chump is to accept his premise (cave) and start making lists of violent criminals and we'll all round them up together.


What are we, Lindsey Buckingham?


If we go, go insane
We can all go together
In this wild, wanton world
We can all break down forever


Mark Cuban throws in the towel.  He calls that politics.  

If we've learned anything in these most recent days of The Epstein Files, it's that MAGA lies.  And then lies again.

What kind of an idiot -- Mark Cuban, for one -- buys the lie and makes plans to meet in 'the middle.'  It's not the middle.  The lie has pulled the country over to the right and Mark Cuban is going to push us further over.


I'm getting really tired of the Mark Cuban fan boys.  If you're not paying attention, he's also pimping Alien Musk's notion of a new political party.  

I don't see why elected Democrats feel they owe Mark Cuban anything. 

Take what's being called the biggest sweep or raid, the one targeting the cannabis farm in California.  Julie Watson, Amy Taxin and Olga R. Rodriguez (AP) note, "The government said four of the 361 arrested had prior criminal records, including convictions for rape and kidnapping."  The government says they nabbed 361 people.  And the government says four "had prior criminal records."  The government said.  Even their own figures don't back up a crime wave.   That's 1.1080% of the number taken in.  


And I look at the concentration camp in Florida -- call it whatever you want -- and I'm thinking, "If this were the McCarthy era would Mark Cuban be coming forward to say: Hey, let's meet them half way.  Some of these artists are Communists so let's make a list and . . ."  At what point do we take a stand for what we believe in and say, "No, we're not going to make this easy for you."  Because what Mark Cuban's proposing and what Eric has signed off on is making it easier and is getting in bed with the devil.  That's because every generation has a Mark Cuban or two who doesn't have a spine and is more inclined to go along to get along.  


Across the country, people are standing up and saying "no."  At USA TODAY, Rev. Tanya Lopez writes:

As a pastor, I consider the church not just a place of worship, but a sacred home − somewhere families gather to find comfort, courage and communion. For generations, our pews have held the laughter of children, the tears of grief and joy, and the prayers of the faithful.

Last month, the sanctity of our space was shattered.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered the parking lot of Downey Memorial Christian Church to take a man who was walking through our property. The agents were armed, masked and aggressive.

They tried to intimidate clergy and staff − people whose only armor is their faith and moral convictions. In that moment, our sacred space became a site of state-sanctioned fear and violence.
This is not isolated. It is part of a widening campaign.
Archbishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino, the spiritual shepherd of more than a million Catholics, recently excused parishioners from their obligation to attend Mass.

Why? Because fear of ICE raids has become so pervasive that even worship cannot feel safe.


 
Standing in front of the Detroit headquarters of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a sunny Monday morning, the Rev. David Buersmeyer asked a security officer if he could accept a letter from Catholics asking ICE Detroit to better treat immigrants.

Judith Brooks, a fellow Catholic who advocates for immigrants, stood by the Detroit priest's side with a sealed envelope, leaning forward to hand the letter to him. But the officer didn't respond, slammed the glass door shut with a loud thud and then pushed on it to make sure it was secure.

"Shame!" a protester shouted out. A crowd of hundreds who stood outside the building on Michigan Avenue then started to sing a song by Batya Levine, a Jewish musician: "In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here, in hope, in prayer, we're right here."

The scene on July 14th outside the Detroit ICE building illustrated the growing frustration Catholic leaders and others have expressed with immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, which they allege has unfairly targeted communities with overzealous actions.

[. . .]

"We are here today to ask that our nation and its leaders" listen to the plight of immigrants, Sister Rebecca Vonderhaar of Immaculate Heart of Mary told the large crowd at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church before the march.

"Many of our brothers and sisters and their families have proven their innate goodness," Vonderhaar said. "They have been so unjustly treated by raids and mass deportations. Let us know that apathy is never an option, but trust with faith, goodwill and a bit of advocacy will bear fruit. And trusting in your goodness oh, God, we move on."

 To defend immigrants and fight back against Chump's gestapo tactics, people are being thoughtful (well, people other than Mark Cuban) and creative.  Jennifer Stavros (LOS ANGLES PUBLIC PRESS) explains:


Federal immigration raids sweeping Los Angeles have created such widespread fear that even naturalized citizens are afraid to leave their homes, prompting mental health providers to form informal support networks for traumatized immigrant communities.

Immigrant neighborhoods that were once bustling have become noticeably quieter, with fewer people on the streets and some businesses seeing reduced foot traffic.

Therapists working in these communities say clients are canceling appointments and expressing new fears about seeking help.

Sandra Espinoza is a second-generation, bilingual Mexican-American licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and associate professor at Alliant International University’s Los Angeles campus. She has been paying attention to what has been happening locally and said she felt called to action.
“Once I heard about the ICE raids happening, I was very upset, and [I wanted] to find a way to kind of channel my anxiety and anger. I remembered that during the wildfires, another therapist had organized a list of over 800 therapists who were willing to provide pro bono services,” Espinoza said. “[I thought] how cool would it be if we could do this for the undocumented community at this time?”

While Espinoza’s network is smaller than the 1,000-provider wildfire list, she is far from alone in her desire to help migrants across the county. Some care providers are offering support publicly, while others, fearful due to their own or their clients’ immigration connections, are choosing to offer it privately through whisper networks and word-of-mouth referrals.

Therapists have voiced concerns about making these lists publicly accessible for confidentiality and safety reasons, so accessibility is limited and relies primarily on referrals and vetting processes.
For Espinoza’s network, both therapists and clients complete Google forms for vetting. The list is password-protected with only three people having access. Most connections are made personally by Espinoza, with 95% of clients choosing telehealth sessions.


The Coalition to Stop Avelo is another example of fighting back. The Houston, Texas based airline entered into a contract with Homeland Security to deport immigrants to other countries (not necessarily their own country) and the coalition came together to protest and raise awareness that if you're flying Avelo, you're flying with the gestapo.  The Coalition's Matthew Boulay explains that Avelo "got themselves into financial trouble and took the ICE contract out of desperation.  It was a morally bankrupt deal with the devil -- and now it’s backfiring, because passengers don’t want to fly Avelo."

Information is key.  Fiona Murphy (NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER) notes how NYC's faith-based food banks and shelters are preparing:

Immigration enforcement agents do not legally need a judicial warrant, issued by a court, to make an arrest in a public space. If they have reason to believe someone is in the country unlawfully, they can detain the person on the street. However, entering private areas like offices, kitchens or the grounds of a mosque or church requires a signed judicial warrant. Still, immigration advocates warn that many agents present administrative warrants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security instead, which do not authorize entry. 

That distinction has shaped recent training sessions at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen in Manhattan, the largest soup kitchen currently operating from the grounds of an Episcopal church in the city.

"We certainly have done some internal preparations just so that our staff knows what to do in the event that [immigration agents] show up," said Elizabeth Starling, Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen director of development. "We went through a training about the need for them to have a specific judicial warrant because, well, you're not coming on our property for a fishing mission — that's not going to happen." 


People are fighting back.  MOTHER JONES' Isabela Diaz reports:

Marcelo Gomes da Silva is still trying to get back to his old life. The 18-year-old, who was born in Brazil, wants to enjoy the summer before his senior year at Milford High School in Massachusetts—go to pool parties, hang out with friends. Since his arrest by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he has been praised for his strength. “But that’s not really what I want,” he told Mother Jones on a video call. “I want everyone to think of me as Marcelo Gomes da Silva, just as I was before.”

On a Saturday morning in late May, ICE arrested Gomes da Silva on his way to volleyball practice. At first, when he noticed a white Ford Explorer trailing his car, he thought little of it. But when Gomes da Silva pulled into a friend’s driveway, an ICE agent walked up, knocked on the window, asked for his documents, and eventually handcuffed him. The officer asked Gomes da Silva if he knew the reason for his arrest. He said he did not. “Because you’re illegal,” the agent told him, “you’re an immigrant.”

Gomes da Silva had never thought of himself as undocumented. He came to the United States at age 7 as a visitor and later obtained a now-lapsed student visa. “I was just in shock,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on and I was kind of questioning God…Why is this happening to me? Did I do something? I never really understood why I was there.”

The Department of Homeland Security said ICE officers “never intended to apprehend” Gomes da Silva but were instead looking for his father, the owner of the car, whom they accused of having a “habit of reckless driving.” To the US government, Gomes da Silva was an accidental target in the wrong place at the wrong time. These so-called “collateral arrests”—often warrantless apprehensions of immigrants without a criminal history—have become more commonplace as the Trump administration pushes the legal limits of its deportation dragnet.

“I didn’t say he was dangerous,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said of Gomes da Silva at a press conference days after his detention. “I said he’s in the country illegally and we’re not going to walk away from anybody.” Gomes da Silva was taken to ICE’s Boston field office in Burlington, where he was detained for six days until a judge released him on bond in early June.

Fortunately, the young man's community said "Hell no" and got to work:

After practice, school administrators gathered everyone in the locker room and shared the news. There was a deep silence. Some players cried. One of them threw up. “I knew it was happening in Milford, but I didn’t really know anybody who was detained,” said Greco’s son Colin. “That’s when emotion just hit everybody and we were like, ‘This is real.’”

The Archbishop of Miami, Father Thomas Wenski, issued a lengthy statement which included:


It is alarming to see enforcement tactics that treat all irregular immigrants as dangerous criminals. Masked, heavily armed agents who do not identify themselves during enforcement activities are surprising - so is the apparent lack of due process in deportation proceedings in recent months.

Along these lines, much of the current rhetoric is obviously intentionally provocative. It is unbecoming of public officials and corrosive of the common good to speak of the deterrence value of “alligators and pythons” at the Collier-Dade facility. Common decency requires that we remember the individuals being detained are fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters of distressed relatives. We wish to ensure that chaplains and pastoral ministers can serve those in custody, to their benefit and that of the staff. We also raise concerns about the isolation of the detention facility, which is far from medical care centers, and the precariousness of the temporary “tent” structures in the Florida heat and summer thunderstorms, not to mention the challenge of safely protecting detainees in the event of a hurricane. 

We call on all people of goodwill to pray for our government officials, for those in immigration custody and their families, for those who work in enforcement, and for justice for all in this nation, whose prosperity immigrants have always contributed to. 


Mark Cuban wants us to 'meet in the middle' on this hideous program.  He wants Democrats to co-sign off on it, thereby giving Republicans cover and the ability to claim both parties supported this evil plan. No.  This needs to be fought and people across America grasp and see what Mark Cuban can't or won't.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:


ICYMI from June: Senator Murray Statement on Protests in Response to Immigration Arrests in Spokane

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on the news, reported by the Spokesman-Review, that federal agents arrested and searched the homes of Spokane residents who took part in a protests in Spokane on June 11th. The protests in June were sparked by the sudden detention of two asylum-seekers whose work visas were abruptly revoked days before.

“The Trump administration is abusing the force of the law to intimidate Americans exercising their First Amendment rights—whether you are a Democrat or Republican, this is wrong and we all need to speak out against this disturbing perversion of justice.

“If you are as angry as I am about Trump’s unconstitutional and cruel assault on immigrants, we need to speak out peacefully against inhumane policies. We lose our democracy when our voices fall silent.

“Let’s be perfectly clear about Trump’s unconstitutional immigration crackdown: he is diverting limited federal resources away from pursuing violent criminals to instead round up individuals with no criminal record—and now, apparently, he’s going after peaceful protestors as well. We cannot be silent and I will be contacting DOJ directly regarding this gross abuse of federal resources.”

###


 Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Pam Tries Another Lie" went up yesterday.   The following sites updated:



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