NEW: A group of activists have built an awesome new tool to help immigration attorneys and the general public know when an ICE flight is headed to their area. gillianbrockell.com/habeas-fligh...

Habeas Flight Watch: New tool helps track ICE flights to your city

Activists have been quietly piloting a live map of ICE flights to help immigration attorneys with habeas filings. Now they say it's ready for everyone to use.

gillianbrockell.com

Gillian Brockell@gillianbrockell.com · 2mo ago

News incoming (good news from me for once!) …

Lawmakers said ProPublica’s findings showed a need for more restrictions on officers’ use of chemical munitions. “We cannot allow another child to be tear-gassed by federal law enforcement officers,” one senator said.

U.S. Lawmakers Demand Reforms to Immigration Officers’ Use of Tear Gas and Pepper Spray

A ProPublica investigation found that scores of children were hurt by these chemicals during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Lawmakers say the findings show more restrictions are…

propublica.org

As horrifying as this campaign of premeditated murder is, what might be even more disturbing is the utter indifference of Congress, the public and our allies to such a shocking and unapologetic obliteration of the many laws and norms against targeting civilians. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/w...

The U.S. Boat Strike Campaign Has Now Killed Over 200 People

nytimes.com

Sen. Andy Kim: "It's a choice. Delaney Hall is run by GEO Group. GEO Group is getting a nearly $1 billion contract to run Delaney Hall. They tell me there is one full-time doctor for 800 detainees. They could have more doctors if they wanted to, but that's cutting into their profits."

New meta-analysis of 100 studies in which people evaluated immigrant profiles finds that “one of the most important factors explaining immigrant preference is an irregular entry.” BSky authors: @mamalik.bsky.social, @mfroman.bsky.social Open Access: doi.org/10.1126/scia...

1/ Last fall, as we were interviewing immigrants detained during a dramatic immigration raid at an apartment complex in Chicago, we kept hearing about a Nigerian man whose leg was mauled by a police dog. 🧵:

As I’ve said before, Platner is a good example of how perceived electability advantage, often afforded to white men like him, can weaken Democrats’ fidelity to their values and make them more willing to engage in Trump-like excuse making for inexcusable behavior. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/o...

Opinion | The Platner Trap

nytimes.com

The coercive federalism of it all. ICE is paying local police salaries, bonuses, vehicles, and equipment to join the 287(g) program. The ACLU calls it “unprecedented.” But the fiscal relationship between the feds and local jails on immigration isn’t new /1🧵

NPR@npr.org · 3mo ago

The federal government is offering local law enforcement incentives to join a program that gives their officers authority to make immigration arrests. Police leaders say the funds, which include money for salaries, equipment and vehicles, are enticing.

ICE flights. Sunday, May 10, 2026.

More than 70 percent take “voluntary departure” from detention. So it’s not voluntary. And it shows you what detention is: punishment and coercion. Coercion most of all. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Immigrants are giving up their cases and leaving the U.S. in soaring numbers

People facing the prospect of prolonged ICE detention are increasingly abandoning their claims for humanitarian protection and agreeing to depart voluntarily.

washingtonpost.com

Breaking news: Indiana University plant microbiologist Roger Innes has been locked out of his laboratory by the school in response to a request by one of his federal funders. The move comes after Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs. https://scim.ag/4tsDqRr

After USDA request, Indiana plant biologist locked out of lab by school

Move comes after Roger Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs

scim.ag

We’ve been able to confirm 8 of the 10 turnkey facilities ICE wants to buy. Just over half are owned by GEO Group. We have leads on the remaining two, and have reached out to GEO Group and CoreCivic for any comment they can provide.

As Trump Officials Vow Deportation Surge, ICE Searches for Detention Space

The administration is looking at warehouse conversions, purchases of private detention facilities and expanded local jail partnerships as it promises a surge in immigration arrests.

open.substack.com

NEW: ProPublica identified at least 79 children who’ve been left screaming, unable to breathe, or otherwise hurt by tear gas and pepper spray during Trump’s historic immigration crackdown.

Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Has Harmed Scores of Kids With Tear Gas, Pepper Spray

In several cities, judges have chastised federal officers, saying they used excessive force. One former DHS leader called ProPublica’s findings a “bright red flag.”

propublica.org

Here 8 of the 10 “turnkey” facilities ICE is looking to purchase outright from private prison firms according to multiple sources. These would be much harder to fight than the warehouses, and would be “immune” from state or county level legislation as federal enclaves.

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 3mo ago

"A second individual, speaking to Project Salt Box on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, identified eight GEO-operated detention facilities that federal officials have examined as potential acquisition targets."

ICE’s FY2026 287(g) salary reimbursement apportionments have now surpassed $1 billion, according to OpenOMB records. The funding helps pay individual officer salaries for state and local agencies participating in ICE immigration enforcement partnerships.

Yes. Even in cities with Sanctuary Laws, local police routinely aid ICE by suppressing protests against them. truthout.org/articles/loc...

Local Police Departments Are Enabling ICE’s Deportation Machine

Even in cities where police decline to work with ICE, local law enforcement still bolster Trump’s deportation agenda.

truthout.org

The Trump administration is closing the office responsible for investigating misconduct and abuse in the immigration detention system, per an email obtained by HuffPost

Trump Admin Closes Office That Investigates Abuse In Immigration Detention System

The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman is in the process of removing all its public signage and ending its inspections, according to an internal email.

huffpost.com

New paper (w @elizabethacox.bsky.social ): Labor Market Impacts of ICE Activity in Trump 2.0 ICE activity reduced employment for undocumented immigrants in US, did NOT increase employment for U.S.-born workers & generated negative spillovers in immigrant-intensive sectors bit.ly/3QZWbxW

Labor Market Impacts of ICE Activity in Trump 2.0

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

bit.ly

Reminder: Deaths are not climbing in detention simply because there are more people detained. The death *rate* has skyrocketed because conditions are getting worse inside ICE hellholes. Chart: www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...

Judd Legum@juddlegum.bsky.social · 3mo ago

1. ICE has not paid for detainee medical care for 7 MONTHS The termination of payments to providers has coincided with a MASSIVE SPIKE in detainee deaths. This is a health crisis and a moral crisis. Follow along for details. 🧵

www.themarshallproject.org/2026/05/02/c... I was today years old when I learned that California state prisons hand people over to ICE and that sanctuary laws only apply to local jails and law enforcement.

Immigrants Behind Bars Often Find ICE Waiting After Their Prison Sentences

Many state prison systems work with ICE. California, for example, has handed over 18,000 prisoners since 2015.

themarshallproject.org

In only *3 states* — OR, IL, VT — do state prisons not cooperate with ICE to transfer people who have completed their criminal sentences to immigration detention, accd to new Marshall Project reporting 47 states allow or actively facilitate ICE transfers www.themarshallproject.org/2026/05/02/c...

This flight made yet another stop, to the Republic of Georgia, that I hope was just for fuel but was probably also a deportation. Meaning people would’ve been shackled for 50+ hours. Longest one I’ve recorded this year. (The longest I’ve ever recorded is 82 hours, in December.)

Gillian Brockell@gillianbrockell.com · 3mo ago

God almighty, Uzbekistan wasn’t the last stop. This ICE flight continued on to Pakistan via this circuitous route. Migrant passengers onboard will have been shackled for at least 43 hours.

ICE has created a public records catch-22: Local law enforcement says only ICE can respond to records requests about 287(g) partnerships, but ICE says only local law enforcement has access to the info. Here’s how they’re dodging accountability for their work. americanoversight.org/ice-287g-foi...

ICE’s Work with Local Police Departments is Being Kept Secret - American Oversight

ICE is avoiding accountability about its 287(g) programs by dodging public records requests.

americanoversight.org

It isn’t just the FBI. I reported last month that a significant percentage of federal air marshals—who are supposed to protect *commercial* air travel—have been reassigned since last summer to guard ICE charter flights. gillianbrockell.com/extremely-da...

‘Extremely dangerous’ reassignment of TSA’s federal air marshals for ICE flights more widespread than previously known

Hundreds of air marshals, who are supposed to protect commercial air travel, have replaced ICE agents on deportation flights since last summer.

gillianbrockell.com

Akela Lacy@akelalacy.bsky.social · 3mo ago

NEW: Trump diverted >9,100 FBI personnel to work on immigration during the first 9 months of this term, per public records I obtained. He multiplied them by a factor of 23 - from 279 before he took office to >6500 by September. theintercept.com/2026/05/01/f...

This is crazy. Akela found out that the admin has diverted a *quarter of the entire FBI* away from their jobs to instead help Trump and Vance's immigration agents, whose most notable work includes kidnapping pro-Palestine students and murdering two Americans in broad daylight.

Akela Lacy@akelalacy.bsky.social · 3mo ago

NEW: Trump diverted >9,100 FBI personnel to work on immigration during the first 9 months of this term, per public records I obtained. He multiplied them by a factor of 23 - from 279 before he took office to >6500 by September. theintercept.com/2026/05/01/f...

What is the San Diego Police hiding? SDPD refuses to release bodycam footage of their role in ICE operations. We’re representing @daylightsdnews.bsky.social to get the truth. The public deserves to know what police in their community are doing. firstamendmentcoalition.org/news/post/sa...

San Diego Sued for Withholding Bodyworn Camera Footage and 911 Call Logs From ICE Operations

The public has a right to see for itself what role San Diego police officers play when ICE and other federal agents come to San Diego.

firstamendmentcoalition.org

Every damn book, conference, big money fellowship has been about reducing polarization. Many knew the real issue wasn’t polarization, but that polarization was the only politically correct proxy for the real problem. What a joke man

Given the argument that ended the VRA, I think it’s time liberals did some self reflection about the now decades long obsession with partisan polarization as the problem, as opposed to authoritarianism, extremism, oligarchy, and racism