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Austin Kocher, PhD

@austinkocher.com
11K followers 2.3K following 4.8K posts

I untangle the data behind the US immigration enforcement system that touches millions of lives across the country. linktr.ee/austinkocher

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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 42m
If the current pace holds, ICE will book about 1.75 million people into detention by the end of this term in January 2029. It's a simple projection, and I explain exactly how I made it. austinkocher.substack.com/p/over-60000...
austinkocher.substack.com
Over 600,000 People Booked Into ICE Detention Centers Since Start of Trump II Administration
65,000 people are currently in ICE detention, but the full impact is much larger and most detained people are deported. 1.75M people could be detained by the end of the second Trump administration.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 1h
Starting now: my live conversation with Mazin Sidahmed of Documented. Join us on Substack at austinkocher.substack.com
austinkocher.substack.com
Austin Kocher | Substack
Decode the U.S. immigration system with clear analysis backed by data and designed for curious readers. Click to read Austin Kocher, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 2h
Matthew Soerens of World Relief on immigration enforcement at churches, from our conversation about the Trump administration's ban on persecuted Christians. The full conversation: austinkocher.substack.com/p/president-... @matthewsoerens.bsky.social
Quote card. Matthew Soerens, World Relief: “We’re not saying no immigration enforcement. We’re saying it shouldn’t happen on Sunday morning at church, unless you’ve got a really compelling public safety reason.” From the conversation President Trump Bans Christians Fleeing Persecution, austinkocher.substack.com
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 3h
The Detention Mortality Map (detentionmortality.com) covers ICE custody deaths back to 2003. On The Project Censored Show, I explained why it leaves out cause of death and unverified criminal history claims. www.projectcensored.org/the-detentio... @projectcensored.bsky.social
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 3h
Today at 10 am ET: my live conversation with Mazin Sidahmed on how Documented got started and what he plans to do with the city's ethnic and community media office. Watch on Substack at austinkocher.substack.com
austinkocher.substack.com
Austin Kocher | Substack
Decode the U.S. immigration system with clear analysis backed by data and designed for curious readers. Click to read Austin Kocher, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 9h
I talked with Matthew Soerens of World Relief about the first year the U.S. will likely resettle no Christians fleeing persecution. Listen to the whole conversation: austinkocher.substack.com/p/president-... @matthewsoerens.bsky.social
Quote card. Austin Kocher, from his post President Trump Bans Christians Fleeing Persecution: “FY 2026 will likely be the first year in modern immigration history that the United States will resettle not a single Christian fleeing religious persecution.” austinkocher.substack.com
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 13h
ICE has booked over 600,000 people into detention since January 20, 2025. About 65,000 people are detained on any given day, but the cumulative count shows how many families, workplaces and congregations have been touched. austinkocher.substack.com/p/over-60000...
austinkocher.substack.com
Over 600,000 People Booked Into ICE Detention Centers Since Start of Trump II Administration
65,000 people are currently in ICE detention, but the full impact is much larger and most detained people are deported. 1.75M people could be detained by the end of the second Trump administration.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 14h
Matthew Soerens of World Relief on what he is asking of President Trump, from our conversation about the administration's ban on persecuted Christians. Listen to the whole thing: austinkocher.substack.com/p/president-... @matthewsoerens.bsky.social
Quote card. Matthew Soerens, World Relief: “We’re not asking him to be Joe Biden or to be Barack Obama or to be George W. Bush. We’re just asking him to be Donald Trump from 2020.” From the conversation President Trump Bans Christians Fleeing Persecution, austinkocher.substack.com
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 16h
Out today! Thanks to @projectcensored.bsky.social for having me back on to talk about the Detention Mortality Map, which tracks deaths in ICE custody. I also talked about medical neglect in ICE detention and the INS roots of ICE. www.projectcensored.org/the-detentio...
Graphic styled like the Project Censored episode page. Header: The Project Censored Show, The Detention Mortality Map, featuring Austin Kocher, September 29, 2026, 31 minutes 22 seconds. Below, an audio player with a black-and-white photo of people standing at a chain-link fence topped with razor wire at night, level meters, and a red Listen button.
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Reposted by Austin Kocher, PhD
Hachi @hachi19.bsky.social · 21h
They've been creating a generation of ICE orphans, and they've apparently "lost" hundreds (possibly thousands) due to ICE not keeping records of where them or their families were sent. I mean, did we ever find out where everyone in Alligator Alcatraz was sent after it was closed down?
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Reposted by Austin Kocher, PhD
Simply Rheumatoid @simplyrheumatoid.bsky.social · 19h
Reposting Facts and Data from @austinkocher.com "Immigrant children are being held in federal custody six times longer under this administration than under prior administrations"- Austin Kocher, PhD. #Immigration #AmericanHistory #TipTuesday #Facts #Data austinkocher.substack.com/p/this-week-...
austinkocher.substack.com
This Week by the {Immigration} Numbers (September 26, 2026)
Welcome to the weekly segment called This Week by the {Immigration} Numbers.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 18h
Tomorrow at 10 am ET, I am talking live on Substack with Mazin Sidahmed about building Documented, a newsroom for immigrant New Yorkers, and his new job leading NYC's Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media. austinkocher.substack.com
austinkocher.substack.com
Austin Kocher | Substack
Decode the U.S. immigration system with clear analysis backed by data and designed for curious readers. Click to read Austin Kocher, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 18h
On @projectcensored.bsky.social with Eleanor Goldfield, I talked about why the Detention Mortality Map records the names of people who die in ICE custody. Listen to the clip below. Full episode is on the Project Censored site. www.projectcensored.org/the-detentio...
projectcensored.org
The Detention Mortality Map
The Detention Mortality Map, deaths in ICE custody, medical neglect in detention centers, surveillance, and the profits of private prisons.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 19h
The Taco Bell crunch wrap supreme is more supreme than this Supreme Court. #SubpremeCourt
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 21h
ICE is deporting parents without their children. The Atlantic follows a 2-year-old in Mobile, Alabama, left behind when his parents were sent to Venezuela. 🧵 www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The Babies Left Behind in America
The United States is deporting parents without their children, creating a whole new family-separation crisis.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 23h
More immigration enforcement data is public than ever, but not every newsroom is ready to use it on deadline. So I'm partnering with Documented to bring hands-on data training to reporters in New York and across the country. austinkocher.substack.com/p/announcing...
austinkocher.substack.com
Announcing a New Partnership to Bring Hands-On Immigration Data Training to Newsrooms Across the Country
A new partnership with Documented, an immigration-focused outlet in NYC, brings hands-on training to reporters in City and beyond, more opportunities for academic-journalist collaboration.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 29/09/2026
No refugee fleeing religious persecution was resettled in the U.S. in fiscal year 2026 through July, per World Relief and Open Doors US, likely the first such year in at least a quarter century. austinkocher.substack.com/p/this-week-...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 29/09/2026
President Trump Bans Christians Fleeing Persecution: Matthew Soerens on the Collapse of Refugee Resettlement and Why Churches Should Care austinkocher.substack.com/p/president-...
austinkocher.substack.com
President Trump Bans Christians Fleeing Persecution: Matthew Soerens on the Collapse of Refugee Resettlement and Why Churches Should Care
2026 is the year that the United States breaks with a long history of resettling Christians and other religious minorities fleeing persecution, and many people of faith don’t even know it.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 29/09/2026
El Colegio de México, where I gave a talk in September, is a masterpiece of mid-century brutalism, a style that too often gets a bad rap. My field notes from Mexico City are in my new post. austinkocher.substack.com/p/notes-from...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 29/09/2026
All 11 active D.C. Circuit judges hear argument today on whether Judge James Boasberg's criminal contempt inquiry into the March 2025 Alien Enemies Act flights can go forward. The court streams it live. 🧵 www.youtube.com/USCourtsCADC
youtube.com
United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit
This is the official YouTube Channel for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. For more information regarding the Court's oral arguments, please visit our web site.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 29/09/2026
Notes from Mexico City: The View from the South Side of U.S. Deportation Policy austinkocher.substack.com/p/notes-from...
austinkocher.substack.com
Notes from Mexico City: The View from the South Side of U.S. Deportation Policy
Mexico City is on lots of people’s radars these days, and for good reason: it’s a hip, world-class city with a warm, bohemian exuberance, all the art, culture, and cuisine you can handle, and it’s an…
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Reposted by Austin Kocher, PhD
Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center @kennedyhrc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
2/ Our VP of U.S. Advocacy & Litigation, Anthony Enriquez, joined @austinkocher.com to discuss ICE’s shift to its most intensive and most expensive form of monitoring yet. Full episode ⬇️. 🔗 Learn how to fight GPS ankle shackles through our new practice advisory: rekhrc.org/3V6RKDP
austinkocher.substack.com
“This Is Really an Alternative Form of Detention”: Attorneys from Amica Center, Kennedy Human Rights, and Just Futures Law Discuss ICE’s 50,000 GPS Ankle Monitors
Watch or listen to my conversation with attorneys Evan Benz, Anthony Enriquez, and Lesley Nash on challenging ICE's expansion of punitive forms of electronic monitoring.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 28/09/2026
About half of unaccompanied children in US immigration court had a lawyer at some point in their case, and children ages 0 to 4 were the least likely (33.6%). Research by Chiara Galli and Tatiana Padilla: doi.org/10.1017/lsi....
doi.org
The Justice Gap for Unaccompanied Children in US Immigration Court: Rurality, Resources, and Client Characteristics as Determinants of Access to Counsel | Law & Social Inquiry | Cambridge Core
The Justice Gap for Unaccompanied Children in US Immigration Court: Rurality, Resources, and Client Characteristics as Determinants of Access to Counsel
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Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Happening now.
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Reposted by Austin Kocher, PhD
Mark Igra @markigra.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Got this newsletter from @austinkocher.com in my inbox & had to pass it on for the info about responses to deportation to Mexico, but also for the appreciation of CDMX (can't wait to go back) & the take on brutalist architecture austinkocher.substack.com/p/notes-from...
austinkocher.substack.com
Notes from Mexico City: The View from the South Side of U.S. Deportation Policy
Mexico City is on lots of people’s radars these days, and for good reason: it’s a hip, world-class city with a warm, bohemian exuberance, all the art, culture, and cuisine you can handle, and it’s an ...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 28/09/2026
Starting in one hour: my conversation with @matthewsoerens.bsky.social on refugees fleeing religious persecution. There is still time to register at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
us06web.zoom.us
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_78Sh_79pRrCshIiXz85QxA
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 28/09/2026
On Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 10 am ET, I am talking live on Substack with Mazin Sidahmed, who co-founded @documentedny.bsky.social and is leaving it to lead NYC's Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media. austinkocher.substack.com
austinkocher.substack.com
Austin Kocher | Substack
Decode the U.S. immigration system with clear analysis backed by data and designed for curious readers. Click to read Austin Kocher, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
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Reposted by Austin Kocher, PhD
Lina Srivastava @linasrivastava.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Pamela Yates and Paco de Onis are two of the best and most effective documentary filmmakers in this country.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 28/09/2026
Today at 3 pm ET: my conversation with @matthewsoerens.bsky.social about World Relief's State of the Golden Door report and a refugee ceiling directed primarily to Afrikaners. Register at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
us06web.zoom.us
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_78Sh_79pRrCshIiXz85QxA
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 27/09/2026
Tomorrow at 3 pm ET I am talking with @matthewsoerens.bsky.social about World Relief's finding that FY2026 is likely the first year the U.S. resettled no persecuted religious minorities. Register at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
us06web.zoom.us
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_78Sh_79pRrCshIiXz85QxA
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Reposted by Austin Kocher, PhD
Clever Resistance @cleverresistance.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
ICE separated an 8-year-old from his father while both were in custody. The cruelty mounts.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 27/09/2026
Jill Williams of the Acacia Center for Justice at "Habeas for Children," my Sept. 18 talk on kids in ORR custody: ICE took an 8-year-old Venezuelan boy and his father, both with TPS, and separated them. austinkocher.substack.com/p/no-child-s... @acaciajustice.org
Quote card. Jill Williams of the Acacia Center for Justice says:

“There's one case of an eight-year-old little boy that him and his father were [from] Venezuela, they had temporary protected status. For an unknown reason, not in the filing, [ICE] showed up at their house, and they apprehended the little boy and his dad at the same time. They then took them into custody, separated the father from the child.”

Watch or listen to the full conversation, “Habeas for Children: A New Legal Strategy to Free Kids from Prolonged ORR Detention,” at austinkocher.substack.com.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 26/09/2026
Becky Wolozin of the National Center for Youth Law at "Habeas for Children," my Sept. 18 talk on kids in ORR custody: sponsoring a child now risks ICE detention, and the risk falls on a whole household. austinkocher.substack.com/p/no-child-s... @acaciajustice.org
Quote card. Becky Wolozin of the National Center for Youth Law says:

“ORR is increasingly enmeshed with ICE and with DHS, and so we have come to a point where becoming a sponsor places that sponsor at enormous risk of having ICE show up and detain the sponsor … Many people's sponsors, their mom is also home with two other kids. So it's not just these two individuals, one detained and one who is sponsoring. These are whole family units.”

Watch or listen to the full conversation, “Habeas for Children: A New Legal Strategy to Free Kids from Prolonged ORR Detention,” at austinkocher.substack.com.
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Reposted by Austin Kocher, PhD
Carceral Abolition @carceralabolition.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 26/09/2026
Eight numbers from this week in immigration, running from 0 to $46B. One is the number of refugees fleeing religious persecution the United States resettled this year. Click through for what the other seven count. austinkocher.substack.com/p/this-week-...
austinkocher.substack.com
This Week by the {Immigration} Numbers (September 26, 2026)
Welcome to the weekly segment called This Week by the {Immigration} Numbers.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 26/09/2026
More than 50,000 people are on ICE ankle monitors, up from about 20,000 when this administration began. On September 24 I talked with three attorneys about what the devices do to the people wearing them. austinkocher.substack.com/p/this-is-re...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 26/09/2026
Evangelical Christians broadly support refugee resettlement, and that support has not reached policy. On Monday at 3 pm ET I am asking @matthewsoerens.bsky.social what it is like to make this case to churches right now. Register at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
us06web.zoom.us
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_78Sh_79pRrCshIiXz85QxA
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Reposted by Austin Kocher, PhD
Naomi Mittet @naolimit.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
If you're in NYC...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 26/09/2026
ICE's ankle monitors are one of several tools used to track immigrants. Lesley Nash of @justfutureslaw.bsky.social spoke about who else that surveillance reaches at my September 24 conversation on the monitors. austinkocher.substack.com/p/this-is-re...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 26/09/2026
More than 50,000 people are on ICE ankle monitors. Anthony Enriquez of @kennedyhrc.bsky.social spoke about the long fight against them at my September 24 conversation on the monitors. austinkocher.substack.com/p/this-is-re...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 25/09/2026
ICE policy calls for an ankle monitor on anyone released from detention whenever possible. Evan Benz of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights explained it at my September 24 conversation on ICE ankle monitors. austinkocher.substack.com/p/this-is-re...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 25/09/2026
I'll be in New York on Oct 20 to talk about The Truth Tellers, a new film by Pamela Yates and Paco de Onís, and about documenting immigration detention right now. With @documentedny.bsky.social. Tue, Oct 20, 6 p.m., Columbia SIPA, NYC. Get tickets: givebutter.com/Documented-T...
givebutter.com
Private Screening: Borderland – The Line Within. A Conversation on Immigration Detention, Accountability, and Who Profits
immigration, media, New York, Borderland
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 25/09/2026
More than 50,000 people are on ICE GPS ankle monitors, the most I’ve seen in years of studying the data. I talked with attorneys from the Amica Center, @kennedyhrc.bsky.social, and @justfutureslaw.bsky.social about why “this is really an alternative form of detention.”
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 25/09/2026
The State Department removed the religious breakdown of refugee arrivals from its website after FY2024, so the Golden Door report estimates the recent figures. I am asking @matthewsoerens.bsky.social about it on Monday at 3 pm ET. austinkocher.substack.com/p/the-year-t...
austinkocher.substack.com
The Year the U.S. Resettled No One Fleeing Religious Persecution: A Conversation with World Relief's Matthew Soerens
A new World Relief report finds FY2026 is likely the first year the U.S. refugee program resettled no one fleeing religious persecution. On Monday, September 28 at 3pm ET, I talk with Matthew Soerens.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 24/09/2026
Starting in one hour: my conversation with Evan Benz, Anthony Enriquez and Lesley Nash on ICE ankle monitors. There is still time to register at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
us06web.zoom.us
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4217897688134/WN_2XlryglvSQinTRAuwFguIw
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 24/09/2026
The FY2026 refugee ceiling was set at 7,500, down from 125,000 the year before, and directed primarily to Afrikaners. On Monday at 3 pm ET I am talking with @matthewsoerens.bsky.social about who that leaves out. austinkocher.substack.com/p/the-year-t...
austinkocher.substack.com
The Year the U.S. Resettled No One Fleeing Religious Persecution: A Conversation with World Relief's Matthew Soerens
A new World Relief report finds FY2026 is likely the first year the U.S. refugee program resettled no one fleeing religious persecution. On Monday, September 28 at 3pm ET, I talk with Matthew Soerens.
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 24/09/2026
Today at 1 pm ET: my conversation with Evan Benz, Anthony Enriquez and Lesley Nash about the lawsuit over ICE ankle monitors and what the devices cost the people wearing them. Register at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
us06web.zoom.us
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4217897688134/WN_2XlryglvSQinTRAuwFguIw
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 23/09/2026
Tomorrow at 1 pm ET I am hosting Evan Benz, Anthony Enriquez and Lesley Nash on ICE's blanket GPS monitoring of more than 50,000 people. Register at us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
us06web.zoom.us
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4217897688134/WN_2XlryglvSQinTRAuwFguIw
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 23/09/2026
ICE counted 20,012 people on ankle monitors in the first count of this administration and 53,192 on July 11, 2026. Evan Benz and Anthony Enriquez are suing over the memo behind that growth, and they join me Thursday at 1 pm ET. austinkocher.substack.com/p/over-50000...
austinkocher.substack.com
Over 50,000 People Are on ICE Ankle Monitors. Meet the Attorneys Suing to Take Them Off.
In June, two organizations sued ICE over a policy of blanket GPS monitoring. On Thursday, September 24 at 1pm ET, I am talking with the lawyers about what the case has turned up so far.
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Ashley DeAzevedo @afuashley.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
ICE could deport Pastor Molis Augustave, husband of a U.S. citizen, as soon as Thursday. We told Newsweek, "What benefit is it to the United States to deny this man his place among us?" www.newsweek.com/ice-poised-t...
newsweek.com
ICE poised to deport Christian pastor after green card application rejected
A pastor is facing imminent deportation to Haiti after immigration officials denied his application for lawful permanent residence, advocates said.
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