NEW: Federal prison workers are jumping ship & heading to ICE for better pay + bonuses. Already BOP lost >1400 people this year, reversing all of 2024’s staffing gains. It’s an unintended consequence of Trump’s push for mass deportations My 1st for @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/ice-...

among many other things, "college" meaning "ivy leagues" explains so much about the discourse

Looking to talk to current or former workers at the National Park Service for a story for The Economist. Please help share this around! I’m on signal at abraun.99

Spending my 4th of July listening for fireworks and then obsessively checking Watch Duty hbu

REPEAT Project just completed our rapid analysis of the impacts of the Senate-passed version of the One Big "Beautiful" Bill (OBBB), which the House is considering now, on the US energy sector and emissions. Still working up full report, but here is a sneak peak... 🔌💡 🧵

A decade-spanning political battle between housing developers and defenders of CEQA, California’s preeminent environmental law, came to an end this afternoon with only a smattering of “no” votes. The forces of housing won. calmatters.org/housing/2025...

This should be interesting: State Sen. Scott Wiener has filed to run in 2028 for the House seat currently held by Nancy Pelosi. docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...

NEW: Here is Judge Farbiarz's formal order that Mahmoud Kahlil "shall be released from immigration custody today." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Proud to share that The US in Brief from @economist.com won best political newsletter at this year’s Publisher Newsletter Awards 🏆 Want to read our daily analysis of the second Trump presidency? Subscribe here www.economist.com/newsletters/...

DTLA

“The president hasn’t invoked the Insurrection Act. He’s instead relying on a theory of inherent constitutional power that is far more limited..” For Lawfare, Chris Mirasola explains the purported legal basis for Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in LA: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

I’ve spent years covering both immigration and Los Angeles and sending National Guard troops to LA feels like “a thinly-veiled message to Democratic-run places that retribution awaits those who would stand between immigrants and the administration’s deportation machine” economist.com/united-state...

Several people were set on fire in an “act of terror” Sunday afternoon on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder during a gathering to raise awareness about people taken hostage during Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel, authorities said. coloradosun.com/2025/06/01/b...

ICE arrested Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil without a warrant, the Trump admin admits—claiming “exigent circumstances.” Khalil, a green card holder, missed his son’s birth while detained. Critics call it retaliation for pro-Palestinian speech. www.cbsnews.com/news/mahmoud...

This is so pure www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/...

Hot take: California is good, actually

Wrote two very different, but very California, stories this week. First, on the effects of last year’s Grants Pass SCOTUS decision and the dozens of cities trying to end homelessness by force economist.com/united-state...

Looking to talk to current or former federal workers at NOAA for a story for The Economist. Please share far and wide! I’m on signal at abraun.99

From 4/29: First migrants charged for entering military zone on US border -28 charged so far -Trump admin is using the zone to have troops arrest migrants without invoking the Insurrection Act -about 11,900 troops currently deployed to the SW border www.reuters.com/world/us/fir...

Breaking News: Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said he wanted to partner with President Trump to craft a $7.5 billion federal film tax credit for Hollywood.

Alums of Outside magazine are donating a complete collection of back issues to the Outdoor Recreation Archive at Utah State in Logan, UT. We need to get them from Santa Fe to Logan. If you or anybody you know is planning a trip from NM to UT, please contact me. And please RT.

Our cover this week.

Economist/YouGov Poll % of U.S. adult citizens saying that in general, immigration makes the U.S. better off | worse off, in... Oct 19-22, 2024: 35% | 36% Apr 19-22, 2025: 40% | 29% today.yougov.com/politics/art...

Listening to Mayor Bass’s state of the city address, and she says she wants to “stop the bureaucratic madness” that prevents police hiring. Should be a slogan for the whole city…county…state

I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.

The scene from Bernie Sanders’ and AOC’s “Fighting Oligarchy” rally in front of LA city hall this afternoon

UPDATE: ICE has awarded a new contract worth up to $3.8 billion for the company to operate a migrant detention camp on Fort Bliss — its largest contract yet. It's the first time ICE is moving ahead with plans to detain thousands of people arrested on U.S. military bases in tents before deportation.

Important piece of Justice Sotomayor's Alien Enemies Act dissent www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

#BREAKING: 5-4 Court, with Barrett joining the three Dem. appointees in dissent *vacates* Chief Judge Boasberg’s temporary restraining orders in the Alien Enemy Act cases. Judicial review must be available, Court holds, but has to come through habeas petitions: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

60 Minutes could find no criminal records for 75% of the Venezuelans the U.S. sent to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador. https://cbsn.ws/4clubLP

The Trump administration has removed environmental protections covering more than half of the land managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the president’s aim to significantly bolster the U.S. logging industry.

New SF zoning map just dropped 🚨

The battle between Trump's DOJ and the courts has reached a worrisome level. New @economist.com analysis of last weekend's lawless deportations from @arynbraun.bsky.social and me, with insights from @stevevladeck.bsky.social www.economist.com/united-state...

1/ Quite the admission in a government Declaration submitted late last night in the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) case: "It is true that many of the TdA members removed under the AEA do not have criminal records in the United States." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Family members of Venezuelan migrants who suspect their loved ones were sent to El Salvador as part of a rapid US deportation operation over the weekend are struggling to get more information as a legal battle plays out. @kristinacooke.bsky.social and Sarah Kinosian www.reuters.com/world/americ...

If you want to ramp up deportations or shrink the court backlog, ousting immigration judges isn't the way to do it... www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/u...

Worth stating simply what’s happening. An American government is launching a full-scope political & economic assault on an ally repelling an ongoing invasion to compel them to terminate martial law, topple their president, hand over minerals to America & accept a ceasefire w/out security guarantees.

SCOOP: Michael Bennet is “very, very seriously” considering a run for Colorado governor in 2026, senior aides say coloradosun.com/2025/02/28/m... #copolitics

A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s halt of the country’s refugee resettlement program.

Ventured to Kansas this week to write about how Trump’s funding cuts are already hurting some of his biggest supporters: farmers www.economist.com/united-state...

Really good story from our LatAm desk: "If you listen to American politicians you might think that every migrant in Latin America is heading for the United States. In the past most did, but not any more." www.economist.com/the-americas...

“Single-family zones will be left largely untouched” www.latimes.com/california/s...

Here’s a reminder that I cover immigration for The Economist. If any folks who work in the federal government want to get in touch I’m on signal at abraun.99

Looking up from LA to see snow falling on the San Gabriels just does not get old

NEW: The Trump administration just reinstated Expedited Removal to a nationwide extent. Under this authority, ICE can rapidly deport any undocumented immigrant arrested inside the US who can't prove they have been here for more than 2 years. public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-01720.pdf

A century later, William McKinley gets a second term: "Trump announced the arrival of a new 'golden age'. But on tariffs, territorial expansion and a fixation with Panama what he seems to want is a return to the gilded one." www.economist.com/united-state...

I swear to god this month is 95 days long

It has been a horrific week. And the fires are still burning. Before my brain stopped working I tried to write a story about how catastrophe befell Los Angeles, and where we Angelenos go from here. Reported from what is left of Altadena www.economist.com/united-state...