The Common Ills: 2025

Friday, July 18, 2025

Isaiah's latest THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Another Message of Hope and Love from Virginia Foxx." 82-year-old Virginia Foxx explains, "Virginia Foxx aka Grand Dragon of North Carolina. I used some of my final breaths to attack Maxwell Frost. When did they start letting Black people into Congress? Fortunately, Satan's keeping Hell segregated for me." Isaiah archives his comics at THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS.

Cher - I'm No Angel (Cher: Extravaganza - Live At The Mirage, 02/04/91)

The Snapshot

Friday, July 18, 2025. Chump's war on immigrants, his war on NPR and PBS, everything is tied to the reality that Donald Chump is a slave serving the super wealthy -- a detail that some in MAGA are finally waking up to.

We're starting with public media which is under attack from Donald Chump.

David Folkenflik (NPR) notes one of the week's big developments:

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have passed legislation on a narrow, party-line basis to eliminate all federal funding for public broadcasting for the next two years. That's $1.1 billion previously approved by the Republican-led Congress and President Trump. The reversal is notionally due to the need to cut funds to help pay for new Republican priorities, including an expansion of immigration enforcement and extension of Trump's prior tax cuts.

Yet Trump had campaigned on retribution and made the news media a core element of his grievance. Public broadcasting has offered a ready target, given the government funding, and he has repeatedly claimed NPR and PBS demonstrate ideological bias.

NPR and PBS -- and other public media -- do have a bias -- they are anti-stupidity.

An administration that's purged climate change from all federal government pages, can't handle science. An administration that puts a fool in charge of public health -- a fool who thinks vaccines cause autism -- can't handle science.

If NPR and PBS were like FOX "NEWS" and just told lies, Chump wouldn't claim they had a bias. The threat to Chump is that NPR and PBS and other public media are science-based and fact-based.

Earlier this month, Ruth wrote about how important NPR and PBS are in "Chump attacks NPR and PBS:"

We need NPR and we need PBS. The cloven hoofed Jonathan Turley would beg to differ but he is a turncoat and a liar. In fact, he is a work write-up waiting to happen. Tick-tick-tick-tick.

NPR gives us news and it gives us explorations. I am not a Terry Gross fan but she can have a guest that makes me tune in. And I really do not like her. When she has a great guest though, she is worth listening to even for me because you have a real exploration of a topic and not just silly soundbytes. PBS? We get THE NEWSHOUR which remains America's strongest news hour or news half hour. No one does the evening news better. In addition, we get documentaries and we get NOVA and AMERICAN MASTERS and children's programming and cooking shows and gardening shows and some great dramas and, if we are lucky, Britcoms. I do not have Britcoms currently. I do have a movie on Saturday nights (AIRPLANE! is this weekend). AMANPOUR & COMPANY and LIDIA'S KITCHEN. Sometimes I will watch AUSTIN CITY LIMITS based on the musical guest. My PBS station (CPTV) offers BBC NEWS as well. I love POV. I could honestly live with just PBS.

I have YOUTUBE TV. I dropped cable years ago. I went with YOUTUBE TV because of Stan's praise for it. Which includes, I can watch a program and pull up the schedule to see what else is on. Or I can watch a program and pull up the things I have recorded to see if there is something else I want to watch. Try to do that on HULU LIVE TV and the program you are watching stops. I also like YOUTUBE TV because many of the streaming TV services do not offer PBS.

But if I had only over air TV, I could survive on just PBS because it offers so much. And I am someone who will fold laundry in front of the TV, chop vegetables in front of the TV. If I am home and not reading, I have the radio on -- or radio via the internet -- or a record on the stereo or PBS on as I go through the house doing chores. And I dust and vacuum daily, by the way. My family makes fun of me (kindly) about that. That is how I did it raising the kids and it is how I do it now. But, no, I do not expect that from other people and their homes and I am fully aware that most people did not have eight hours a day to straighten and clean their homes to begin with.

So when they attack PBS and NPR, they are really attacking us.

I encounter people sometimes who hate PBS and do not watch it or hate NPR and do not listen to it. And I will speak with them and find out their interests and usually be able to recommend one show that they should catch. The reality usually is that people who do not watch it or listen to it do not really know what it offers. Once they do, they tend to find something of value because it is "public" TV and "public" radio -- meaning that it serves us.

"Public media." We say that because, as Ruth noted earlier this week "Chump continues his attack on NPR, PBS and Native Americans" -- Native American media is being attacked by Chump and by GOP members of Congress:

As bad as the attack on PBS and NPR is, it goes beyond that. Margery A. Beck (AP) reports, "Dozens of Native American radio stations across the country vital to tribal communities will be at risk of going off the air if Congress cuts more than $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, according to industry leaders." There are 59 tribal stations in the US. Native Public Media notes, "Native stations play a vitally important role in the communities they serve. Native stations serve as an essential source of news, deliver critically important health information, provide a forum for discussion and debate around the issues that affect their communities, broadcast life-saving information in times of emergencies, air extensive cultural content, promote language preservation, and provide jobs as part of the local economy." NPM president Loris Taylor writes:

Tribal radio stations operate on tight budgets. Most cannot apply for competitive federal energy grants while also maintaining daily broadcast services. Asking them to pivot to climate funding, without a clear and dedicated pathway, sets them up to fail.

We call on Congress to reject any measure that would eliminate or reduce CPB funding for Tribal media. Instead, we urge lawmakers to follow Senator Rounds’ lead in recognizing the importance of Tribal stations and take it further. Rather than replace CPB, strengthen it. Protect this cornerstone of Tribal sovereignty, cultural preservation, civic engagement, and emergency response.

The future of Tribal media and the communities it serves depends on it.

Kolby KickingWoman (ICT) reports:

Francene Blythe-Lewis, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Navajo and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, is the president and chief executive officer of Vision Maker Media. Her father, Frank Blythe, founded the nonprofit organization in 1976 with seed money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and wanted to bring contemporary Native storytelling to public television.

“At the time, public leaders and programmers and station managers, they were all wanting the iconic Indian history, Indian Wars, Indian chief stories and biographies,” she said. “And so he really fought hard to set a precedent of bringing the lives and experience of Native Americans in the times that we are in to public television.”

The impending proposal to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would “almost virtually eliminate” Vision Maker Media and be “extremely tragic.”

Without organizations like Vision Maker Media, Blythe-Lewis said new generations would lose awareness of Native people, cultures and communities.

“That is the tragic part, because we’re very much a part of civil society. We’re very much part of political influence. We’re very much a part of, you know, this whole fabric of American culture and so too, because we’re the original peoples to the land, our history is critical to remain sort of the foundation of finding and founding of America.”

This was money well spent to inform and educate. But as Mammy Yokum Linda McMahon makes clear daily, the administration doesn't do public education. Instead they are at war with it.

The above re: public media? It's the same as THE WALL STREET JOURNAL report, the same as everything going on with this crooked administration.

On THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE, Stephanie and her guests discussed THE WALL STREET JOURNAL's report last night about Chump's birthday greeting (obscene birthday greeting) to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Leigh Ann Caldwell's excellent analysis above noted the betrayal MAGA was feeling due to the lies from Chump and the administration regarding Jeffrey Epstein. It goes to the heart of the lies he's told since 2015 repeatedly. He was going to be the savior who ended pedophile rings. When he first started saying that, Epstein was alive and Chump's good friend. While Chump was president, Epstein was arrested and imprisoned and died in jail. After Chump loses the 2020 election to Joe Biden, Chump begins portraying himself as a truth teller who will release documents -- he tells FOX "NEWS" as a candidate in 2024 that he'll release the JFK assassination files and the Epstein files and blah blah blah.

And then last week, Americans are greeted with a lie that there are no documents to release.

David Jolly: But there's also the theme of a ruling class in America -- the super wealthy. People who can escape accountability. The law applies to them differently than the law applies to someone who maybe gets picked up off the streets for maybe, for instance right now, during an ICE raid. And so we have the disparity, we have the victims who are also being lied to. Look, this is a moment where the American people -- regardless of party -- the numbers are wild, Stephanie -- they're demanding transparency and accountability. Some surveys show that 90 percent of the American people want transparency and accountability.

He is the Deep State. Chump is now the deep state denying the files.

Alicia Menendez did a great job on THE BRIEFING last night but I can't find the two segments I wanted to highlight on YOUTUBE (there's less than two minutes of one segment that is posted on BLUESKY -- BLUESKY took away the embed option months ago which is why we no longer rush to note BLUESKY).

Lawrence O'Donnell did a great job last night as well.

But it's really the combination of Leigh Ann Caldwell's analysis and David Jolly's comments that captures it. Donald Chump rages against the Deep State and presents as the hero of the people. But he's not. He's the servant of the super wealthy.

That's what's going on with Epstein his admirers fear.

It's certainly what went down with his 'big' 'beautiful' bill that steals billions from the American people and hands them over to . . . the super wealthy.

Native Americans are going to suffer due to his attack on public media but they don't matter. Only the super wealthy matter to Chump.

He is their servant.

And that's why the Epstein matter is so important to MAGA and outraging them. His attempts to bury evidence regarding Epstein's crimes make clear that he is not about We The People, he is not about working people, he is just about serving the super wealthy.

Stephanie noted at the top of her segment that there were all these things going on but it was Epstein that was outraging Chump's supporters.

Because that's what they can't deny to themselves. They can pretend that the tax bill isn't as bad as it really is because it's not gone into effect yet. They can pretend regarding the econoy and a lot of other things. But on Epstein?

He promised them he would release the files. Now he won't.

And he's tried everything including his usual attempt to blame Joe Biden.

There's no one to blame for this but Chump. And it goes to the heart of the matter that he was not a change agent, he was not going to shake things up, he's just a tool of -- a slave to -- the super wealthy.

Let's turn to immigration. At AMNY, Jumaane D. Williams observes:

A toddler in a red and white dress told me she was four years old. Her family told me she was here for her court date.

A series of young men were granted a court date by a judge, a moment of relief, only to be ambushed by a gang of ICE agents before they’d even cleared the doorway. One was violently manhandled. Another collapsed into the corner, head in his hands.

These men were pulled down an unmarked hallway and into anonymity, possibly to be trafficked toward a deadly prison in El Salvador or South Sudan or Florida for the crime of coming to America for a better life, and expecting better of us.

And lining every hallway, a masked force of anonymous goons looming over the proceedings and ready to pounce, under the guise of “just doing my job” and the cover of a total lack of accountability. Who care more about keeping order than keeping a conscience.

It’s not clear whether the people being seized always know what’s being said to them in these moments of arrest, and very clear they don’t know why. They are being thrust unaware into the most traumatic experience of their lives – alone.

A frantic woman was asking anyone she could for any sign of her partner who had come for his lawful hearing. Forty-five minutes later, her six year old daughter heard the truth – her father had been kidnapped by the government, without cause or a chance to say goodbye. Still she asked us, “Where is my daddy?” up to the moment of an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital.

Words can’t convey the panic of a New Yorker suddenly pinned to the wall, the dread that hangs over the waiting room, the desperation of a mother and daughter begging for information about their family.

I can’t get these sickening sights and sounds out of my head – and maybe that’s a good thing.

I witnessed these scenes in Manhattan over a matter of hours – but what I saw is happening on a constant loop in buildings just out of sight of the Statue of Liberty.

And I don’t blame people for not knowing that.

Intentionally or not, our minds and media are often vague about the Trump administration’s crimes against our neighbors and rights. People hear about an “immigration crackdown,” maybe one that’s gone far beyond the so-called “criminals,” but it is in the details that the grotesque reality is revealed.

These aren’t vague issues –they’re specific cruelties. It’s not just an abstract overreach or a constitutional question. It’s an extra-legal abduction racket, the kind we’d hope the government would root out – but the government are the perpetrators.

Here the goons are in NYC. Little bitch boys and cowards in masks.

Secret Service doesn't need masks. Constables don't need masks. CIA agents don't even need masks. But bitch boys and cowards need masks. But even with masks, they can't hide from themselves and their own actions will haunt them forever -- and should. They're destroying lives.

Tom Sanders (DAILY BEAST) reports:

Public approval of President Donald Trump’s approach to immigration has dropped to its lowest level since his return to the White House, as Americans express a growing unease with his aggressive enforcement tactics.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on Wednesday shows an outright majority of Americans—51 percent—now openly disapprove of the president’s hardline approach to immigration enforcement, marking a dramatic shift from earlier this year when it was seen as his strongest issue.

Two things here. The more Americans see what's taking place, the more they reject Chump's war on immigrants. Second, that's another reason Mark Cuban's ridiculous notion (see Wednesday's snapshot) needs to be rejected. It's not our job to save Chump or his policies. Democrats came up with immigration plans and Republicans shot them down. Chump pushed this policy through -- illegal and inhumane -- and now that the public has decisively turned against it, we do not need to kiss Chump's boo boo and make it better. What he has done is outrageous and horrifying. Democrats should not now try to normalize it just because Cuban thinks that's a 'quick fix.' We can't normalize this and the American people don't want it normalized.

The cruelty of Chump's inhumane practices are something he and the GOP need to own. We shouldn't sully ourselves to help him look better and shame on Cuban for pretending we should. They're the ones being cruel and they like being cruel. Michael Luciano (MEDIAITE) notes:

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) advised U.S. citizens to avoid associating with undocumented immigrants, lest they be arrested during an immigration raid by federal agents.

The Trump administration is carrying out scores of raids across the country at factories, farms, restaurants, schools, and other locations to enact the president’s mass deportation policy. President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration, which was once seen as his strongest or second-strongest issue, is polling at its lowest level of the term so far, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey released on Wednesday. Just 41% of Americans approve, and only 28% agreed with the statement that “immigration arrests at places of work are good for the country.”

I believe the phrase we're all thinking right now is: "What the literal f**k!"

He's stoking fear, othering and justifying -- so very Mark Cuban of him -- what's being done to immigrants.

The administration's actions are not excusable but that's what an idiot elderly man named "Tommy" thinks. Chicken Hawk Tommy never served. We grasp that, right? He didn't sign up to go to Vietnam nor did he protest it. Little Chicken Hawk Tommy might need to meet George Retes. We noted George in yesterday's snapshot. He's a veteran of the US military. He's 25. Glass House Farms was raided by ICE gestapo agents. At least one person is dead. George is a security guard at Glass House Farms and when ICE Nazis came crawling, he identified himself from inside his car as that and as a US citizen. It made no different as they busted his window, pepper sprayed him and hit him with tear gas because, well, they can and then they dragged him from his car. This passes for how they carry out arrests these days. Olga R. Rodriguez (AP) notes

"It took two officers to nail my back and then one on my neck to arrest me even though my hands were already behind my back," Retes said.

[. . .]

Retes was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where he said he was put in a special cell on suicide watch and checked on each day after he became emotionally distraught over his ordeal and missing his 3-year-old daughter's birthday party Saturday.

He said federal agents never told him why he was arrested or allowed him to contact a lawyer or his family during his three-day detention. Authorities never let him shower or change clothes despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, Retes said, adding that his hands burned throughout the first night he spent in custody.

On Sunday, an officer had him sign a paper and walked him out of the detention center. He said he was told he faced no charges.

"They gave me nothing I could wrap my head around," Retes said, explaining that he was met with silence on his way out when he asked about being "locked up for three days with no reason and no charges."

This is America right now. Under the Chump Reich, this is America.

And if you're feeling sorry for cowardly Tommy who couldn't enlist, please note that when he offered his 'brilliant' advice that we noted earlier, he was informed veterans were being arrested by ICE. Back to Michael Luciano's report:

So Senator, do you care if U.S. citizens accidentally get detained in ICE raids?” Manríquez asked.

“If U.S. citizens?” Tuberville said, seeming surprised.

“Yeah, it’s been happening a lot,” the reporter replied. “It’s been having a lot with veterans in particular.

“Well, first of all, don’t put yourself in a situation where that happens,” Tuberville responded. “And I’m sure with all the illegals we have in this country, you’re gonna probably have some mistakes happen. That’s gonna happen. But again, as long as we take care of it the right way, understand they are our system, let them go. But again, if you’re gonna be hanging around people that are not citizens of this country, some things like that are gonna probably happen.”

That's 70 year old Tommy Girl for you. Yellow streak down his back and vengeance in his eyes, headed to hell for eternity.

Tommy's got a pal he can scissor in hell with, one Ralph Norman. Ailia Zehra reports:

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) are facing backlash over their responses to a reporter asking whether they “care if U.S. citizens accidentally get detained in [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] ICE raids.”

"No, I'm not concerned about that," Norman said in response to the question asked by a reporter on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

"I am concerned about law and order," he said. When the reporter pressed him about U.S. citizens getting detained and said "it's happening a lot," Norman said: "I don't believe that."

Just for the idiot Norman, let's note Aretha's version of "What A Fool Believes."

Fortunately, not everyone is as butt-ass-stupid as Tommy and Ralph. In fact, even some Republicans have caught on to the damage Chump is doing -- including damage to this country's economy. Michael Luciano reports:

Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) sounded the alarm on President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan, stating that if the administration tries to deport every undocumented immigrant, the economy will crash.

[. . .]

On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal relayed remarks from a pair of House Republicans who expressed concern at the ongoing raids on businesses in the food industry.

The Journal said Stutzman took out his phone to reveal a message from a poultry farmer in his district. Stutzman stated that he has received several such messages.

“I have people they call me. They’re like, ‘I’m not sure if my crew is going to show up for work Monday morning, because if there’s a raid, or something like that, right?” the lawmaker said. “If you try to deport all of them, you’re gonna crash the economy.”

This is not the United States, this is not democracy. These are gestapo tactics and they have no place in this country. Lives are being destroyed. Ailia Zehra reports:

Delegates at the United Church of Christ’s (UCC) 35th General Synod overwhelmingly passed an emergency resolution this week, condemning the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids as “domestic terrorism” and accusing President Donald Trump's administration of “weaponizing the Constitution.”

Religious News Service reported Tuesday that the resolution targets immigration enforcement operations “carried out by ICE agents working without uniforms, wearing masks or refusing to identify themselves,” condemning these tactics as threatening and abusive.

Titled “Responding to the federal government’s attack on immigrants, migrants, and refugees,” the resolution urges the church to divest from for-profit private detention firms, specifically naming CoreCivic, GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp.— while allowing congregations to go further if they choose, according to the report.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Mark Kelly's office:

Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Alex Padilla (D-CA) led a group of 21 Senate Democrats in pressing the Trump administration on its recent initiatives to weaponize immigration court hearings as an inhumane trap to arrest immigrants—who are just trying to follow the law—by terminating their immigration court cases and deporting them without adequate due process.

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons, the senators condemned these actions as an affront to due process.

“We are extremely concerned by reports of a recent initiative to arrest and detain noncitizens at their immigration court hearings, and in many cases, dismiss their immigration cases without advance notice and while hiding the government’s intent to arrest them,” wrote the senators. “These actions prevent noncitizens from having their fair day in court and raise serious legal and due process concerns. They also make clear that this Administration is not targeting the worst criminals and threats to public safety, instead redirecting staff and resources away from drug trafficking and human trafficking and towards these operations targeting noncriminal immigrants who are following the law and showing up for their day in court.”

The senators then admonished the misuse of expedited removal (ER) as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts: “ER historically has applied only to a noncitizen who ‘is arriving in the United States’ and certain other noncitizens apprehended close to the border less than 14 days after arrival in the United States […]. ICE is now expanding the application of ER to noncitizens in the interior of the United States who have developed significant ties to the United States, including by lawfully working and attending school. Arresting law-abiding individuals and placing them in ER deprives them of the opportunity to have their fair day in court with the due process protections in immigration court proceedings.”

The senators then raised serious due process concerns: “Due process requires notice that is reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties and that affords[s] a reasonable time to make an appearance. Here, it appears that the ICE attorneys are being told to dismiss immigration cases and place noncitizens in expedited removal. At the same time, immigration judges are being told that they may dismiss such cases without any briefing or opportunity to respond. In addition, often noncitizens have not been notified of the purpose of their dismissal, in order to respond or contest the dismissal of their immigration cases, or the placement of their case into expedited removal. Taken together, these actions raise serious due process concerns.”

The senators concluded by articulating the horrible situation this puts immigrants in with no benefit to our country: “These actions also place noncitizens in an impossible position. If noncitizens who fear arrest do not attend their immigration court hearing, they may receive an in absentia removal order that will newly subject them to swift detention and removal. If they do attend, they risk arrest, detention, and a swift deportation, possibly to South Sudan, Libya, or El Salvador—countries they may have no connection to. This manipulation of existing laws to enact this Administration’s mass deportation agenda is creating chaos in our immigration system while doing nothing to make our communities safer.”

In addition to Kelly, Durbin, and Padilla, the letter is signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Read the full letter here.

The following sites updated:

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The Snapshot

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 face 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 could 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.

###

Need another? Conrad Wilson and Holly Bartholomew (OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING) report:

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 his 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.

Let's stay with Maryland for a moment more. Sapna Bansil, John-John Williams IV and Daniel Zawodny (BALTIMORE BANNER) report:

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.

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The following sites updated: