This is also a frightening sign of what is to come. If diverting TENS OF THOUSANDS of federal law enforcement officers to deportations & causing mass distress with nonstop at-large arrests is still keeping them at numbers well below their goas & Obama's numbers... what will they do next?

One week from today! Come view a sneak peek of "Credible Fear", a forthcoming feature length documentary about the asylum system, & join a discussion with @yaelschacher.bsky.social & myself. Date: Sept 24, 6pm Location: Immigrant Food, Ballston Tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/credible-f...

12 Senate Dems on Armed Services write strongly against use of military as immigration judges: "the Trump administration views skilled personnel as pawns to be traded between agencies, rather than as professionals essential to their core missions, in order to advance misguided immigration policies"

"At DHS, Trump has ordered agents formerly dedicated to investigating and arresting human traffickers to focus on deporting immigrants." This is not an administration that cares about public safety. This is an administration that cares about padding its deportation numbers.

This new @thirdway.bsky.social memo is just as relevant for immigration. "Dismissing voters’ legitimate concerns about crime & public safety will only confirm their suspicions that at best, you’re not serious about these issues, & at worst, your policy stances are making things worse"

As helpful as streamlining & simplifying H-2As could be, a reform that allowed farmers to legally employ unauthorized immigrants that they have long worked with & trust, would be far more effective. For decades, 40-55% of farmworkers have been unauthorized.

Former ICE Director John Sandweg, expressing concern that the Trump administration is prioritizing padding their deportation numbers over public safety: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NLy...

The State Department's Diplomatic Security Service-- which should be investigating human trafficking, passport or visa fraud, etc.-- is now added to the long list of agencies pursuing the admin's deportation numbers instead of focusing on public safety.

"I'm angry that society has a playbook for reacting to dead children-- but still can't answer the only question that matters: How do we stop it from happening again?" - Sam Hasler, Annunciation School parent www.startribune.com/annunciation...

Proud to have the support of @sarahpierce.bsky.social for our recently released Immigration & Border Security Framework. New Dems are committed to using commonsense policies that address our more important issues.

Public opinion is shifting on immigration & (as long as Stephen Miller is in the White House) the Trump admin is not shifting with it. Democrats need to define themselves on immigration with clarity & purpose. Dems can be the party of balanced solutions vs. Trump's rage & noise.

This is a perfect (& terrifying) example of what happens when you prioritize politics over public safety: real threats go unaddressed. It is great to see both former & current HSI agents speaking out against this admin's diversion of resources away from important investigations.

This is not normal. Because of this administration's reckless pursuit of interior immigration enforcement & their own administrative error, this man became a political liability. They're now showing how broad the president's authority is to terrorize his political foes.

This is a big yes BUT issue. Yes, the name derives from the movement to protect those fleeing Central American proxy wars... BUT, there is WAY more at play.

Now that we're regularly seeing HSI agents popping up in routine immigration raids & even patrolling DC streets, it’s worth asking: what 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 HSI be doing? Let’s reintroduce the agency & its vital public safety mission. 🧵

DC, Maryland, and Virginia all offer limited-use driver’s licenses for unauthorized immigrants. This means most residents can get a legal license, but also that some may be forced to show officers a document that strongly indicates they lack legal status.

This is a frightening endangerment of the integrity of government statistics.

Unauthorized immigrants pay nearly $100 billion each year in taxes. With actions like this, why would they continue to do so? This administration cares about immigration enforcement above all else.

Nowadays everything is labeled family separation, but this is legitimate. ICE needs cooperation to deport families on commercial flights. @haleaziz.bsky.social found that if families fail to cooperate (ex due to fear of persecution), ICE separates them. Taking kids to incentivize deportation.

We've been here before. This helpful piece by @juliagelatt.bsky.social & @migrationpolicy.bsky.social explains why an effort to exclude unauthorized immigrants from the Census is likely to end up also excluding tens of millions of U.S. citizens. migrationpolicy.org/news/millions-…

The $29b given to ICE "exceeds the budgets for all other non-immigration federal law enforcement functions put together, eclipsing funding to agencies whose law enforcement missions involve pursuing terrorists, violent criminals, sex offenders, fentanyl & other drug traffickers, & gun traffickers."

20 states are now authorized to support ICE with Title 32 troops: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, & Wyoming. www.csmonitor.com/USA/2025/080...

Big Budget Act Creates a ‘Deportation Industrial Complex' That Will be Hard to Dismantle By @margyoh.bsky.social On the long-term consequences of the massive influx of funds for DHS/ICE deportation forces, the ties to for-profit detention companies, and absence of funds for legal process.

Wow, after their initial sanctuary jurisdiction list drew widespread criticism & was pulled down within days, the admin has published ANOTHER sanctuary jurisdiction list. First list by DHS: 14 states, 415 counties & 227 cities New list by DOJ: 13 states, 4 counties & 18 cities

Having this come out the same day as reports of a blatantly illegal new ICE policy to ER immigrants after their first encounter with ICE really paints the picture of an admin willing to do anything to drive up numbers, no matter the cost. It was never about public safety.

Due to changes to international student visa processing under Trump, @nafsa-official.bsky.social predicts a 15% decrease in enrollments for 25-26, $7 billion in lost revenue & 60,000 fewer jobs. And that estimate doesn't take into account decreased interest- so the drop could be much more.

I'd supplement this to say we have 3 forces coming to a head on immigration: tricky politics & polling, ICE's new 3x budget & Stephen Miller Will the admin actually back down when the American people are not on board? With the budget increase, will they be able to? www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

This case is chilling- it exposes a new policy that is a blatant violation of law. Federal law clearly states immigrants cannot be subject to expedited removal if they've resided here for +2 years. But ICE has a "new policy" to place longtime residents in ER after their "first contact with ICE"

This administration is picking right back up where it left off with family separation-- giving parents a "binary choice" between imminent danger or surrendering their children. Chilling piece by @haleaziz.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/u...

According to @nafsa-official.bsky.social, international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities contributed $43.8 billion and supported 378,175 jobs to the U.S. economy during the 2023-2024 academic year. At this rate, what will those numbers look like for 2025? 2026?

"Federal judge blocks Trump from swiftly deporting immigrants granted parole" The decision could present a major hurdle for the Trump admin & bar federal immigration officers from summarily deporting hundreds of thousands I talked to the @washingtonpost.com about yesterday's ruling

“‘The conflation of a low-level threat like transnational criminal organizations with Al Qaeda, which was actually attempting to topple the United States government, is a clear attempt to use excessive force for a purpose normally handled by civil authorities,’ Lindsay Cohn”

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act handed ICE $45 billion to expand ICE detention. A rural hospital costs ~$80-120 million each year. The amount handed to ICE is enough to run 50 rural hospitals for more than a decade.

Amazing (& terrifying) new work by @migrationpolicy.bsky.social & @kathleenbush.bsky.social Since Trump took office, the number of 287(g) agreements between ICE & local law enforcement has ⬆️ more than 5-fold: from 135 to 866. & this is before One Big Beautiful Bill funds supercharge the efforts...

Cases abandoned by shuttering CRCL include: 1) CBP discriminated against travelers, including USCs, based on religious affiliation & other protected characteristics 2) DHS failed to provide accommodations to individuals with disabilities 3) FEMA discriminated against supporters of President Trump

The 13 countries that have agreed to accept people forcibly expelled from the U.S.: Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Eswatini, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Mexico, Panama, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uzbekistan.

Two reasons these comparisons are dangerous: 1️⃣ It's wrong. Interior removals are a different beast than border removals. Here they compare Trump interior removals to Obama interior & border removals 2️⃣ This is exactly the sort of story that drives this admin to more aggressive measures to ⬆️ removals

NEW: Nathan Albers once co-owned a company that schemed to hire and conceal undocumented workers. Now his company could make hundreds of millions from work on the nation's largest detention camp. “The irony is thick,” said a former DHS official.

Even early data on this administration (dating back to the end of March) show that this tactic is likely having its intended effect: in absentia removal orders are up 20% compared to last year. Nothing moves cases faster than scaring immigrants away from even showing up.

Who is Arrested by ICE under Trump 2.0? A 🧵 New from me & @elizabethacox.bsky.social! Piece: immresearch.org/publications... 1. ICE arrests spike in Jan & May 2025; when arrests increase, percent of those arrested who are convicted of a crime falls Majority arrested have no criminal conviction

More evidence that the administration’s immigration enforcement regime is far more focused on numbers and politics than it is on public safety and national security…

DHS' decision to strip parolees and Temporary Protected Status holders of their protections & work authorization is hitting the aging care workforce. Nursing homes in Boston & Boca Raton say they're having to lay off 9-10% of their workers. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/u...

This gets even more problematic when you look at Border Patrol today-- agents that were quickly hired in the 2000s are now in leadership, contributing to the agency's culture and corruption problems. We need to learn from those past lessons & ensure strict oversight of ICE hiring.

Amazing work from @austinkocher.com- even with a slight DECLINE in ICE detainees, the # of detained immigrants w/out criminal records STILL GREW. The focus on criminals was always a lie. During Trump 1, the noncriminal share of ICE arrests MORE THAN DOUBLED austinkocher.substack.com/p/ice-detent...

I'm excited to announce I have joined @ThirdWayTweet as Director of Social Policy! At this critical moment, I’m proud to help advance smart, realistic immigration policy—& work with Democrats to restore trust in our immigration system.🧵