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Nathan Leach

@nathanleach.bsky.social
1.2K followers 321 following 16 posts

Assistant Professor of Instruction in Religious Studies, Texas State University | writing on ancient Mediterranean religions, apocalypses, divination, and mysteries

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Nathan Leach @nathanleach.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
My book is now available for pre-order! edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-revelat... Publisher flier and discount code:
Publisher flier for book "Revelation as Divination" with discount code NEW30 for 30% discount.
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Democrats @democrats.org · 02/06/2026
Trans rights are human rights.
A graphic with black text on a light blue to pink gradient that reads: "Trans rights are human rights." At the bottom is a white donkey symbol.
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Nathan Leach @nathanleach.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
My first book is coming out this year! It analyzes Revelation as a divinatory performance, situated within the broader spectrum of divinatory performances in Roman Asia and Achaia (in oracles, mysteries, and associational settings). edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-revelat...
Book cover: A black background, top half of the cover taken up by a stone relief carving of the goddess Leto holding child Apollo, with child Artemis at her side, fleeing left. To their right is a giant snake, Python, exiting a cave mouth and pursuing them. Both Artemis and Apollo have their hands raised in fists towards Python (presumably firing painted bows/arrows that have now worn off). The bottom quarter of the cover is filled by another, uncarved fragment of the same block of stone as the upper carvong. Book title: Revelation as Divination: Divine Presence and Knowledge in Oracles, Mysteries, and the Apocalypse of John. Edinburgh Studies in Religion in Antiquity.
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Nathan Leach @nathanleach.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Nero Redivivus
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Josh Zingher @zingherpolisci.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Americans have a habit of trying to compare all authoritarianism to Nazi Germany. I think in some ways i think it is comforting to view authoritarianism as a foreign ideology. If you want to understand our current authoritarian moment, you need to look to our own past, not to Europe 1/x
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Since July, I've tracked at least 2,300 cases in which federal judges have ruled ICE has illegally detained people without bond or due process. This is one that stands out: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Michael E. Carter @deckofcarterhist.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Alex was disarmed, pinned, and then executed.
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Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today. This could be you.
Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting
"They killed my wife," the distraught woman says, adding, "They shot her in the head."
An ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman who was driving an SUV in Minneapolis on Wednesday. / Screenshot/@Breaking911"They killed my wife. I don't know what to do," the woman says through sobs in the footage, with a damaged SUV visible in the distance behind her. "We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head," the woman cries.
"We have a six-year-old at school," she says, almost unable to breathe, as a chaotic scene in which federal officers prevented at least one doctor who was on the scene from assisting the shot victim unfolds. "We're new here," the distraught woman says in despair.
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Michael Tisserand @tisserand.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
“The revolution conquers the folk and public life, it stamps its mark on culture, the economy, politics, and private life. It would be naive to believe that art could be spared this …” — Joseph Goebbels, 1933 Photo by Jacquelyn Martin
Exterior of Kennedy Center with addition of Trump’s name
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
So Democrats get: 1. A CR that will prevent the GOP from facing the wrath of Americans for a shutdown over the holidays 2. A coupon for one (1) meaningless ACA vote that will fail 3. An end to the illegal RIF/SNAP moves that are already before the courts Those all seem like wins for the GOP.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 06/11/2025
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 24/10/2025
"Well, I don't think we're gonna necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We're gonna kill them. You know, they're gonna be, like, dead. Okay? Yeah." Trump has abandoned even the pretext of following the law.
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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
That would be Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, in the Oval Office for a meeting btwn the U.S. president and the NATO Secretary-General in the middle of a brutal war in Europe, staring at plans for a ballroom that will replace the now-demolished East Wing of the White House.
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Joshua Foust 🪖🎮 @joshuafoust.com · 20/10/2025
Over and over again, establishment journalists just refuse to describe Republican policies and beliefs in plain language to mislead the public. The GOP says it is purging liberals from academia and journalists reframe it as “rebuilding trust.” That is not journalism, it is regime propaganda.
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Dr. Chance Bonar @chancebonar.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
God, Slavery, and Early Christianity is out in the real world with @universitypress.cambridge.org! I have some extra, so retweet this by the end of Oct. 19 if you’re interested in receiving a copy! Book info here: www.cambridge.org/core/books/g...
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
New — Video shared with me shows ICE officers in DC detaining a man on Friday. Bystander filming asks man for his name. ICE agent lies and says he’s not allowed to speak to him “by law” and another says “We’ve arrested American citizens for being too close…If he gets any closer, put him in cuffs.”
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
They're talking about killing leftist activists. They're talking about murdering people organizing in defense of immigrant communities, doing mutual aid work, and protesting their violence. They are talking about murdering people like me and my friends. We must do more than acknowledge it's fascism.
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 08/10/2025
Conservatives at Harvard: "we need a diversity of views on campus." The diversity of views in question: www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Alt text: Screenshot of a Harvard Crimson news headline that reads, "Harvard College Will Ignore Student Magazine Article Echoing Hitler Unless It Faces Complaints, Deming Says."
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 08/10/2025
1. AG Ken Paxton of Texas has announced undercover operations into left leaning groups, citing "transgenderism" and "antifa." It is the latest in a series of moves that indicates LGBTQ+ people and left-leaning orgs may be targets for domestic surveillance. Subscribe to support our journalism.
erininthemorning.com
Texas AG Ken Paxton Announces Undercover Operations Into "Antifa," Citing "Transgenderism"
The announcement comes after a flurry of reports that Trump would weaponize the FBI against groups supporting LGBTQ+ people.
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Daniel Connerton @lordnad.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
@govpritzker.illinois.gov 37 and Kedzie, East Garfield, Illinois. This is assault.
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Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Hi, I served in Afghanistan: this is an obscenity and a perversion against both Christianity and America. Fuck this shit forever. Thanks.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13/09/2025
Brian Kilmeade endorses euthanizing homeless people: "Involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill them."
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
“Someday, I hope, we’re going to have a reckoning over the horrors of this moment, but I don’t think we can do it without a clearer understanding of how this fits into U.S. history. There’s a tendency to say, “This isn’t who we are,” and I get the impulse, but history is never that simple.”
startribune.com
Opinion | Concentration camps are not just part of our past, but our present and future
From David M. Perry: From Minnesota’s Fort Snelling to Japanese internment camps to Florida's Alligator Alcatraz, these camps have become an American tradition.
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Happening right in front of us
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
NEW: McCarthyism returns to immigration law, as @USCIS announces that it will begin screening applicants for immigration benefits for "Anti-America ideologies or activities." The term has no prior precedent in immigration law and its definition is entirely up to the Trump admin.
August 19, 2025 PA-2025-16
Policy Alert
SUBJECT: Clarifying Discretionary Factors in Certain Immigration Benefit Requests
Purpose
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating policy guidance in the USCIS
Policy Manual regarding the factors that officers may consider in certain benefit requests where an
exercise of discretion is required, including factors relating to aliens’ past requests for parole and
any involvement in anti-American or terrorist organizations.
Background
For certain immigration benefit requests, such as adjustment of status, the alien bears the burden of
proof to demonstrate that a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted.1 For these benefit requests,
the discretionary analysis is a separate component of adjudicating the benefit request which occurs
after an officer determines whether all threshold eligibility requirements have been met. The act of
exercising discretion involves weighing positive and negative factors and considering the totality of
the circumstances in each case. There are various factors officers may consider when conducting a
discretionary analysis, including facts relating to an alien’s conduct, character, family ties,
immigration history, and any humanitarian concerns.
USCIS guidance provides that an alien’s compliance with immigration laws is a relevant factor when
determining if a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted. USCIS is updating the Policy Manual
to provide additional guidance for officers on the significant negative discretionary weight USCIS
assigns in circumstances where an alien has endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused
the views of a terrorist organization or group, including those who support or promote anti-American
ideologies or activities, antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, and antisemitic
ideologies, in any case involving an exercise of discretion.2
In cases where the alien has engaged in such activities, USCIS will enforce all relevant …
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Amadi Lovelace @amaditalks.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
300,000 Black women have been pushed out of their employment in the last three months. This resegregation isn't just racial, it's also heavily gendered.
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Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
"He walked 8 km to get there. No shoes. Probably hadn't eaten in days... he set down his bags and he put his hands on my face and he kissed me... he left and the IDF opened up with machine gun fire... There were dead Palestinians. He was one of them." A five-year-old child.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
"Jonathan Caravello...was reportedly “piled on by multiple agents all at once” as “he tried to help a man in a wheelchair” who was having difficulty moving after...[ICE] agents threw canisters of tear gas" our colleague is still missing as of the last info I got dailynous.com/2025/07/12/p...
dailynous.com
Philosophy Professor Reportedly Assaulted & Abducted During ICE Raid on Farm - Daily Nous
Jonathan Caravello, a lecturer in philosophy at California State University Channel Islands, was reportedly "piled on by multiple agents all at once" as "he tried to help a man in a wheelchair" who wa...
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Lizzie O'Leary @lizzieohreally.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...
On July 5, as floodwaters were starting to recede, FEMA received 3,027 calls from disaster survivors and answered 3,018, or roughly 99.7 percent, the documents show. Contractors with four call center companies answered the vast majority of the calls.

That evening, however, Ms. Noem did not renew the contracts with the four companies and hundreds of contractors were fired, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter.

The next day, July 6, FEMA received 2,363 calls and answered 846, or roughly 35.8 percent, according to the documents. And on Monday, July 7, the agency fielded 16,419 calls and answered 2,613, or around 15.9 percent, the documents sho
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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
No one in this country—documented, undocumented—should be taken this way. That they snatched a disabled military veteran who’s a citizen gives up the whole game: they took a young man for fitting their color profile, not because he was any of the categories of people they claim they’re looking for.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
NEW: the Trump admin has moved to terminate TPS for Honduras and Nicaragua, covering over 50,000 people Both of these designations date back to 1999, meaning Trump wants to strip legal status from people here legally who have had a background check every 18 months for the last 26 years.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Notices
Temporary Protected Status:
Designation of Honduras; Termination
Filed on: 07/07/2025 at 8:45 am
Scheduled Pub. Date: 07/08/2025
FR Document: 2025-12621
PDF 11 Pages (120 KB)
Permalink
Termination of the Designation of Nicaragua
Filed on: 07/07/2025 at 8:45 am
Scheduled Pub. Date: 07/08/2025
FR Document: 2025-12688
PDE 10 Pages (114 KB)
Permalink
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
With all the news demonstrating how stupid this administration is, we should not lose sight of the fact that they’re certainly the most evil in American history. Just eliminating USAID is going to kill 14,000,000 more people over the next 5 years.
bbc.com
Trump's aid cut risks causing 14 million deaths, report finds
The figure from the Lancet, a leading medical journal, includes 700,000 child deaths globally a year.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
The people they kidnapped are from Vietnam, South Korea, Mexico, Laos, Cuba, Myanmar, and just one is from South Sudan.
theguardian.com
US supreme court clears way for deportations of eight men to South Sudan
Court halts ruling that allowed migrants to challenge removal to countries where they could be in danger
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 04/07/2025
Trump on undocumented immigrant workers: "We gotta work with the farmers and people that have hotels and leisure properties too. We're gonna work with them and we're gonna put you in charge. We're gonna make you responsible ... let the farmers be responsible."
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Rí Caoimhín 🇮🇪 @ricaoimhin.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
JFC! This needs to go straight to the Hague and we need arrest warrants for Trump and Bukele.
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 30/06/2025
The White House has ordered the US Dept. of Justice to prioritize denaturalization: voiding the citizenship of US citizens. Who will it denaturalize? "Any" case that it "determines to be sufficiently important". Point 10 leaves the criteria opaque and arbitrary. substack.com/redirect/169...
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Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
IDF soldiers have now themselves admitted they have been ordered to murder aid-seekers in Gaza. Truly an atrocity built on atrocity. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
'It's a Killing Field': IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid
IDF officers and soldiers told Haaretz they were ordered to fire at unarmed crowds near food distribution sites in Gaza, even when no threat was present. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, prompting the military prosecution to call for a review into possible war crimes
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029: - $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion - $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million - $8 billion for hiring/retention - Billions more.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 27/06/2025
for the record, just over 12 percent of students at uva are black or hispanic. 12 percent are asian. 5 percent identify as "multi-ethnic." about 57 percent of students are white. this is what Trump considers to be "DEI" run amok.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
🚨NEW: The Trump admin moves to terminate Temporary Protected Status for HALF A MILLION Haitians, claiming despite all reality that Haiti is a safe country to return to — even though large portions of the country are ruled by vicious gangs and civil governance has collapsed.
DHS Terminates Haiti TPS, Encourages Haitians to Obtain Lawful Status
Release Date: June 27, 2025
WASHINGTON – Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem today announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti. The TPS designation for the country expires on Aug. 3, 2025, and the termination will be effective on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. 

At least 60 days before a TPS designation expires, the Secretary, after consultation with appropriate U.S. government agencies, is required to review the conditions in a country designated for TPS to determine whether the conditions supporting the designation continue to be met, and if so, how long to extend the designation.  

“This decision restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary,” said a DHS spokesperson. “The environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home. We encourage these individuals to take advantage of the Department’s resources in returning to Haiti, which can be arranged through the CBP Home app. Haitian nationals may pursue lawful status through other immigration benefit requests, if eligible.”

After conferring with interagency partners, Secretary Noem determined that conditions in Haiti no longer meet the TPS statutory requirements. The Secretary’s decision was based on a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services review of the conditions in Haiti and in consultation with the Department of State. The Secretary determined that, overall, country conditions have improved to the point where Haitians can return home in safety. She further determined that permitting Haitian nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the United States. Haitian nationals returning home are encouraged to use the U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP Home app to report their departure from the United States.
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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Today's Supreme Court decision does not opine on the constitutionality of Trump's assault on birthright citizenship. It is limited to the question of universal injunctions. But its ruling on that front is MASSIVE—a huge blow to plaintiffs and judges trying to block Trump's most lawless policies.
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Steven Mazie @stevenmazie.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
The upshot of this decision, for now, seems to be exactly the crazy patchwork scenario we were warned about: - the lower-court injunctions continue to protect the parties (immigrant orgs, individuals and 22 states) from Trump's EO - the EO can (and will) be enforced in the other 28 states
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America's Voice @americasvoice.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
"ICE holding a record 59,000 immigrant detainees, nearly half with no criminal record, internal data show," "Stephen Miller Has Financial Stake in Company Helping ICE With Deportations: Report," "Marine veteran defends gardener father seen being hit by immigration agents in video," & must-read news.
americasvoice.org
Immigration Reform News June 25, 2025 - America's Voice
English Newsweek Donald Trump Makes New Supreme Court Request Over Deportations By Dan Gooding and Gabe Whisnant June 24, 2025 CBS News ICE holding a record 59,000 immigrant detainees, nearly half wit...
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 25/06/2025
A breakthrough preventive drug that offers total protection from HIV was to be rolled out across parts of Africa this year. But the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts derailed those plans.
trib.al
Promise of Victory Over H.I.V. Fades as U.S. Withdraws Support
A new drug that gives almost complete protection against the virus was to be administered across Africa this year. Now, much of the funding for that effort is gone.
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Since May: Federal district courts have ruled against Trump admin 94% of the time. Supreme Court has sided with the Trump admin 94% of the time. A judiciary at war with itself.
Bar chart titled “The Supreme Court vs. The Lower Courts: Rulings on the Trump Administration” showing three horizontal bar charts for May 1-June 23, 2025. Federal District Courts: large red bar (82 cases, 94.3% against) with tiny green bar (5 cases, 5.7% for). Circuit Courts of Appeal: medium red bar (15 cases, 68.2% against) with smaller green bar (7 cases, 31.8% for). Supreme Court: tiny red bar (1 case, 6.3% against) with large green bar (15 cases, 93.7% for). Shows dramatic reversal from lower courts ruling against Trump administration to Supreme Court ruling for it.
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Keri Blakinger @keribla.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Houston police called ICE on a woman who called 911 to report domestic abuse by her ex-husband. The only reason she didn't get deported is because ICE said there was no one to take custody of her kids, according to the police report. www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
houstonchronicle.com
She called 911 to report domestic abuse. Then Houston police called ICE on her.
The woman’s case is a worst-case scenario, according to advocates worried about the worsening state of domestic violence in the Houston region.
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David J. Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
New data show that ICE is pulling record numbers of people off the streets who have no criminal convictions of any kind. This is not just a change from the Biden admin. This is a radical tactical shift compared to Trump 1.0. These arrests are up over 1,000% from 2017. www.cato.org/blog/ice-arr...
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
A U.S. citizen on their way to work abducted by ICE then locked in a basement, with federal government employees refusing to consider indisputable proof of citizenship. Congress endorses it. SCOTUS keeps thwarting judges from even slowing it. What more is there to say? We live under fascism now.
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