Don Zeko

@donzeko.bsky.social

Public defender in the South, politics obsessive, nerd stuff enthusiast. Also a dad, although I'm trying to respect the privacy of my increasingly feral children.

This couple came legally. They applied for asylum before their visas expired, wanting to do it all by the books. After six months, they applied for work permits to stay afloat, passing background checks. They worked legally and paid taxes while government delay dragged on. Then ICE came for them.

The couple quickly became key to Chicago’s nightlife, curating events and performing in some of Chicago’s most popular venues. They were getting ready for their biggest venture yet: following Karol G’s tour across the country, hosting unofficial afterparties.
But on Sunday morning, as the couple walked out of their rideshare outside of Midway Airport, they were apprehended by federal immigration agents. The two were on their way to take a flight to Washington, D.C., the first stop of the tour. They never made it through the door.
The Department of Homeland Security said it had arrested Panqueva, 26, and Paez, 27, for overstaying their visas, which both expired in 2022. But their attorney, Enrique Espinoza, said the pair had applied for asylum within the required time frame before their visas expired. The two both have asylum cases, Social Security numbers, work permits and the documents required for their ongoing legal process, Espinoza said.
Laura Rodríguez Presa@lauranrodriguez.bsky.social · 7h ago

The couple’s arrest outside Midway Airport aligns with what immigration attorneys across the country have observed in recent months: an increase in ICE arrests at airports of people traveling domestically with expired visas but pending immigration cases. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/05/c...

being in a situation where you need Literally Every Single Dem on Literally Every Single Vote is a recipe for getting mad at the Dem party all the time because you give maximal leverage to its worst members elect enough Dems and you’ll be less mad! it’s basic math!

Can't get numb to this stuff. Pursuing a case that you know lacks PC, getting an indictment via grand jury misconduct, and doing so for corrupt purposes coming directly from the president. There's not much a prosecutor can do that's worse than this.

Eric Columbus@ericcolumbus.bsky.social · yesterday

Pirro "gave the White House a heads-up last week before filing the motion to dismiss the charge against Mr. Hearn in federal court, although it was not clear if Mr. Trump was briefed." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/u...

American 1st amendment jurisprudence ain't perfect but every time this site reminds me of how things work in the UK I thank my lucky stars that we have it.

Really important to understand that Truman and Ike set up & institutionalized a whole process so that presidents would be briefed on (among other things) what was true and what wasn't and it served all the presidents since then well and Trump deliberately garbaged it and has no idea what's going on.

Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 2d ago

Very cool we have an 80 year old president who proudly displays his ability to discern reality from the Oval Office, a condition worsened by a bubble of sycophants and his struggles with AI

There's a persuasive argument that based on conventional liberal principles (central planning, market distortions, coercion, interference in hiring, trade, manufacturing, mergers & acquisitions, etc.) this is the least market-friendly administration since FDR. Possibly ever.

Eric Columbus@ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 3d ago

The Trump administration is so opposed to socialism that it has acquired — sometimes by coercion — equity stakes in 30 companies so far. www.cato.org/blog/governm...

Sen. Bernie Moreno (paraphrased): On second thought, now that it's clear this is making me personally look awful, I say domestic abuse, lying about it, and failing basic standards of character like that has no place in the Republican Party, except at the top, and some other places too. Thank you.

Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · 3d ago

senator bernie moreno finally makes a statement about the allegations of abuse by rep. max miller against his daughter and granddaughter after miller went live on X this morning to deny everything.

It's pretty infuriating that Trump is denying disaster aid to Oregon for political reasons and I have barely heard anything about it, while Biden was falsely accused of doing the exact same thing to North Carolina and millions of people believed that

“Sandwich guy case” “Harvard clawed frog embryo smuggling case” “Olympic canoeist reflecting pool vandalism case” “James Comey seashells Instagram post case” New rule: If the case sounds like a Mad Libs story, it’s probably about to implode.

Great thread here from Michael Hobbes, and I'll add my little extra: Politicians and police often try to force people into treatment without understanding that forced treatment generally isn't effective. People like doing drugs because life can suck and an escape can feel nice.

Michael Hobbes@michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 4d ago

It was inevitable that reactionary centrists would turn against harm reduction and call for a return to mass incarceration

It is funny that this person thinks “immigrants defended the union while native born whites sought to destroy it in the name of slavery” is an argument against immigrants being Americans. This is precisely the point, nothing about being born here makes you better bsky.app/profile/aphc...

Alexander Clarkson@aphclarkson.bsky.social · 5d ago

Another datapoint for the fascist radicalisation of institutional pillars of much of the American Right

Gift alert if you have a dad in your life to shop for! I think they're only for sale through August. It was a real missed opportunity that they didn't make this a gift set with a tiny can. And maybe the tiny holster. But it's still fun & useful.

A woman's hand holding a can of King of the Hill special edition WD-40 in a hardware store. Meme with a screen shot of Hank from King of the Hill spraying a normal sized can of WD40 with a tiny can of WD40 & text reading The best joke in TV history is when Hank Hill can't get the cap off a can of WD40 so he pulls out second, mini can of WD40 to lubricate it.

The thing about natural immunity is that it requires you actually get the disease. The whole reason immunity is desirable is because it means you won’t get the disease. It really doesn’t matter which is better at preventing subsequent infections. Only vaccines can prevent initial infection.