Most European citizens will likely never have heard of VFS Global. But across much of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, the visa giant has become notorious An investigation coordinated by @lighthousereports.com has found that VFS has made huge profits by subjecting people to exploitative practices

New: Regretful cities are literally covering their Flock cameras with black trash bags because they cannot figure out how to immediately exit their surveillance contracts or get the cameras taken down: www.404media.co/cities-are-c...

For nearly a decade, the Pentagon was warned—by its own contractors, analysts, and intelligence agencies—that anyone with a credit card could buy a map of where American troops sleep, work, and store nuclear weapons. Now the bill has come due in a war zone. My latest at @wired.com

Looking forward to seeing folks today in Douglas, AZ. If you're in Douglas or thereabouts, come by and say hi!

Our team spent months tracking hundreds of street arrests by ICE across the New York region through federal court records. Here’s what we found: 🧵 projects.thecity.nyc/ice-street-a...

Me, cheering, YES YES

In Tucson, the Ishkashitaa Refugee Network harvests citrus, builds community, and serves 1,000 people through food, art & connection. But refugee families now face SNAP cuts & stalled green card processes. Read the full Q&A🦂🔗:

Pleased to speak with @theguardian.com about the US boat strikes and this important investigation into the identities of the victims. “I think this was in part a military spectacle to give the illusion of the administration doing something ‘macho’ about drugs.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

BREAKING: SB 2471 has been signed into law! It’s the first of its kind in the nation and renders the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision irrelevant in Hawaii. This is a win for the movement to get big money, especially dark money, out of politics.

Worth emphasizing that this was in reference to the Voluntary Work Program (a program which is often involuntary in many private prisons), which is not typical prison labor; it's basically cost-cutting for the private companies, letting them offload housekeeping/maintenance cost to detainee labor.

A 20-story surveillance tower in Ciudad Juárez is about to go live, sharing intel with U.S. & Texas law enforcement. Investigative journalist José Olivares went inside Torre Centinela. New podcast episode 🎙️🦂:

Join us if you're in or near Douglas, Arizona on May 27. We'll be in Bisbee on June 23rd! 🦂😊

At the 2026 Border Security Expo in Phoenix, CBP & ICE have already contracted $25.8B this fiscal year, nearly 3x the previous record. Border Czar Homan was named Person of the Year. Todd Miller reports from inside. Read the full on-the-ground report.🦂🔗

Update on ICE's "Detention Reengineering Initiative": GEO Group's CEO said today that "the warehouse project has been paused, and [DHS] is evaluating how to proceed with this initiative..." He also acknowledged that, as part of the plan, ICE is looking to buy upwards of 10 of GEO's existing jails.

Join Wendy Liu and Cory Doctorow for "How to Dissenshittify the Internet" on May 14 at 11 am PT eff.org/livestream-...

Go inside our investigation into the Southern Border with @theborderchronicle.bsky.social. Learn about our reporting into the unprecedented expansion of federal power and its impact on border communities: www.theborderchronicle.com/inside-the-n...

El Paso was the Southwest’s Ellis Island, a gateway of workers, poets & activists who shaped the region. Journalist Jazmine Ulloa on her debut book reclaiming that forgotten history To read the full Q&A🦂🔗:

Laredo landowners are fighting a 30-ft border wall & buoy plan on the Rio Grande. An independent study warns it could endanger flood-prone neighborhoods. The federal government won't share design plans. Full report🦂🔗:

Hey everybody! I am taking the helm of this classic American institution with @theonion.com and want to know what you fine folks would like to see from us.

This week: Mexico's right wing explained + a powerful doc on Argentina's disappeared & unidentified migrants at the border. Independent journalism like this needs YOU. Subscribe for $59/yr & get a free tote bag! 🦂🌵 Full Roundup🔗:

NEW from me for @immcouncil.org's blog. I dig into the Deportation Data Project's information and shed some light on Trump's mass deportation project, more than one year into his latest term in office. You'll want to check this one out! www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/ice-arr...

STOP PUTTING AI IN ALL MY STUFF www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

This is compelling

"Beyond the pain and the characters who bear it, this book is a commentary on the ways America abandons its people to fend for themselves." @tobyleblancauthor.bsky.social reviews A HISTORY OF HEARTACHE by Patrick Strickland. @melvillehouse.bsky.social southernreviewofbooks.com/2026/04/15/a...

Only three people officially registered in support of the proposal, while 337 registered against it. Republicans passed it any way. story via @caitlinsievers.bsky.social

Today, EFF sent complaints to the attorneys general of California and New York urging them to investigate Google for deceptive trade practices over Google's broken promises to users targeted by the government 🧵(1/4) www.eff.org/press/relea...

Very proud to premier award-winning filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz's documentary short today at @theborderchronicle.bsky.social "What Do Argentina's Disappeared Have to Do With Unidentified Migrants on the U.S.-Mexico Border? www.theborderchronicle.com/exclusive-do...

The SAVE Act goes beyond voter ID. It would require a passport or birth certificate to register to vote, which would block millions of American citizens from voting.

In 2021 we launched The Border Chronicle because we believed that the U.S.-Mexico border needed a region-wide publication from the perspective of the people who live here. We're launching our 1st fundraiser on Local News Day. Please donate so we can hire more reporters, and expand our coverage.

"To put it bluntly, an X post today receives less than 3% of the views a single tweet delivered seven years ago." If you think it is necessary to be on Twitter to communicate your fact-based worldview, the reality is that worldview is being smothered.

The iterations of border walls have transformed a beautiful international park along the San Diego / Tijuana border. I wrote about what I have seen over nearly three decades, and the implications to sacred lands with new border walls planned in the San Diego region. Read more below:

The Tohono O'odham have run their ancestral land across the US-Mexico border every year since 1995 — as prayer, as ceremony, as resistance. Amy Juan joins the Border Chronicle podcast to talk about what's at stake. Listen to the podcast episode🦂🎙️🔗:

BREAKING: NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan detail how Netanyahu sold Trump on going to war with Iran. It will be easy, they assured him. It was all lies. Here is an excerpt from this must-read article, just posted. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/u...

What makes Corpus Christi significant as a case is not that the drought was unpredictable. It is that the drought was predicted, and that the planning systems in place were calibrated to conditions that are no longer stable.

“We are grateful for the 37 years we had her and her warmth,” they said. “Today and everyday we remember what we have lost but remain so thankful for what she gave to all of us. We love and miss you so much, Nae.”

“It is for your safety” the agent explained. Safety from what? Gallegos wondered. The last gunshot she remembered was in 2011, when the Border Patrol killed 19-year-old Carlos LaMadrid as he climbed the wall to return to Mexico… www.theborderchronicle.com/thou-shall-n...

Days after bombing Iran, Border Patrol quietly banned civilians from the Douglas, AZ border wall, blocking a church group mid-prayer. A supervisor cited “escalations worldwide.” No announcement was made. Full Story🔗🦂:

In one of his final acts in office, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy had vetoed a bill that banned local partnerships with ICE, citing potential legal challenges. Governor Mikie Sherrill has signed a slightly modified bill into law.

We are $39 trillion in debt with it accelerating more rapidly during Trump’s presidency than any other in history and Trump is asking for an obscene record shattering amount of military spending for his forever wars & bombings after he just got an obscene increase for DOD & ICE.

The Colorado Times Recorder reports on ICE’s sprawling network of unofficial detention sites:

Raskin: "It doesn't give me a lot of comfort that Todd Blanche is now the acting AG. This is the guy who transferred Ghislaine Maxwell from the higher security prison to the low security prison camp in Texas."

A federal board just ruled that immigration judges can be fired at will by the president, stripping the civil service protections meant to insulate them from political interference. This is a HUGE deal for asylum seekers and the courts.

Bounty hunters seen in viral videos brandishing weapons in Minneapolis charged with felonies www.startribune.com/two-bounty-h...

An important DNA database that has helped hundreds of families find their missing loved ones has vanished. Reporters @cetracey.bsky.social and Gabriel Schivone investigate what happened and also report on how NGOs could get it back, if it hasn't already been destroyed.

A lot of Trump voters I spoke to during the campaign were convinced the Wrong People were getting free stuff and that Trump would make sure the Right People (them) got it. bsky.app/profile/fact...

The death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Blind Rohingya refugee who was left on the freezing streets of Buffalo by Border Patrol officers, was ruled a homicide. New from me at @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

It's been 66 days since agents killed Alex Pretti. DHS has body-cam footage. They haven't released it. 66 days and counting. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...

The Trump administration is demanding that states hand over their voter files. Most states have refused, but at least 10 have provided full voter lists, placing the sensitive data of more than 37 million voters in the federal government’s hands. Here’s what you need to know: bit.ly/3JFbKaB

Today, the Archive published a Disappearing Data Chronology--a timeline tracking changes in access to federal information under Trump, including major data losses and restorations, legal challenges to information takedowns, and threats to archival collections. nsarchive.gwu.edu/special-exhi...

Four-byline alert: 🚨 “.. A broker for Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, attempted to make a big investment in major defence companies in the weeks leading up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran, according to three people familiar with the matter.” www.ft.com/content/744e...