🎥 “It's not about public safety. It's about optics and immigration enforcement, plain and simple.” Former acting ICE Chief of Staff @dtfleisch.bsky.social warned that operation "Midway Blitz” is only the beginning.

“The idea that immigration enforcement is the most significant national security and public safety concern that we as a country face is deeply unserious.” newrepublic.com/article/1961...

It’s the definition of being between a rock and a hard place. No real options, only bad choices.

NEW: The National Sheriffs’ Association(!) puts out a statement saying the Trump admin’s publication, with no feedback first, of a list of Sheriff departments alleged to be sanctuary jurisdictions “violated the core principles of trust, cooperation, and partnership with fellow law enforcement.”

Due process exists for all persons in our country because our laws assume you're innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. That being said, the "they need to do it the right way" crowd is awfully quiet on this report. www.cato.org/blog/50-vene...

It should be the lowest of our expectations that our leaders understand basic constitutional protections. Apparently, Kristi Noem doesn’t pass the test.

Cato has published my comprehensive review of the ~240 Venezuelans the US government renditioned 2 months ago to Salvador’s notorious prison. We identified FIFTY who came legally, never violated any immigration law, but are imprisoned at the US government’s request and at US taxpayer expense.

Discretion is a dirty word in the Trump administration, but it shouldn’t be. CBP could have declined to arrest her, ICE could decline to detain her, and Ms Petrova could be allowed to continue her work. There is a better way forward on immigration if we want it. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/o...

For those of us following the story of the Democrats’ search for a new political approach to immigration it’s fascinating to see @gallego.senate.gov release a seemingly fresh plan. It looks moderate, well reasoned & also a whole lot like another document that Dems’ve been hearing abt for months. 1/

The Suspension Clause: 1) Doesn't allow the President to unilaterally suspend habeas, especially when Congress is in session; 2) Applies only to cases of invasion or rebellion (this is quite clearly neither); and 3) *Even then,* applies only "when the public safety may require it." (It doesn't.)

There’s always an FTCA claim, but I don’t hold out much hope either.

There should be bipartisan concern about the reports that DOGE is merging HHS, Social Security, and IRS data into one database. That is the trifecta of personal information, and any competent person (or machine) could essentially put together a complete profile of your life.

Really strong reporting by the Wall Street Journal on one man’s attempt to cross the border legally and ending up in CECOT based on nothing more than a few (likely non gang related) tattoos. youtu.be/mZCqic4ameY

Mass deportation is a failure, both in terms of the lower-than-promised deportation numbers AND the higher-than-anticipated breach of American values like fairness and due process.

So in an enforcement operation targeting people with final orders of removal (people who have been through the legal process), 505/780 arrests were of people without them. These 505 people not being deported (legally at least) anytime soon. Discretion matters. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/u...

This is the unfortunate outcome when speed and numbers are the only goals.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Judge Hannah Dugan, two-year-old V.L.M. They are not outliers, exceptions, or aberrations. … What we are witnessing is the Trump administration’s immigration plan in motion. Today, at Law Dork:

Q: "How do you respond to Governor Newsom?" Sen. Van Hollen: "I think Americans are tired of elected officials or politicians who are all finger to the wind...Anybody who can't stand up for the Constitution and the right of due process doesn't deserve to lead."

One point that's going to get lost in the discussion of #SCOTUS's intervention in the Alien Enemy Act case: This is the *value* of nationwide injunctions. Without them, you have to go district by district, and the government can try to play games by moving people to districts without relief (yet).

In Trump’s worldview, all migrants are “the worst,” so they’re all eligible to be sent to Gitmo. Would be good if folks started to understand that Trump’s “worst of the worst” means nothing and everything and could be any of us.

the exact sort of thing CRCL would promptly investigate if it still existed which is of course why it doesn't exist anymore

Ding ding ding ding ding

It is such welcome news. Now it’s up to us to force the administration to bring Mr Abrego Garcia - and the rest of the people unconstitutionally deported and left to rot in a torture prison - back to the US.

It’s no surprise the Administration is arresting people at courthouses, but their approach is short-sighted. It will discourage people from interacting with the justice system and reduce public safety when the criminal justice systems can’t operate effectively. www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...

On top of the actual fiscal cost of disincentivizing the filing of income tax returns by undocumented people AND their US citizen families, I suspect the actual benefit to the sharing is likely to be relatively modest. So high cost, low “reward.” Seems about right for the current times.

The current and ongoing immigration efforts are designed to scare and overwhelm, but unfortunately leave us less safe. We should focus on true nat sec and public safety threats, but we can’t when we’re focused instead on optics and cruelty without conscience. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/o...

People used to claim they weren’t anti-immigrant, but that immigrants should come into the US “the right way.” Those same people are now working to take away legal status from people who did enter legally. Spoiler alert: It was never about the way they entered. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

We are PAYING the government of El Sal to imprison him. Of COURSE we can bring him back to the US. This isn’t a question of ability, it’s a question of will.

In my time at ICE, I aimed to work with moral clarity to fix mistakes, including bringing people back to the US when they were deported wrongly. It was not always easy, but it WAS doable There is no common ground to be found here, there is only right and wrong. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

On X, VP Vance falsely claims that Mr. Abrego was a "convicted MS-13 gang member." In fact, Mr. Abrego has no criminal record at all. He was arrested (but not charged) while looking for day labor outside a Home Depot in 2019. Local cops then said a "confidential informant" said he was in MS-13.

If you're looking for an explainer on why due process matters to share with friends and family members who might ... need convincing, I've removed the (partial) paywall from my March 19 post for "One First" on the topic: www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-133-...