Sign in

Shirin Ali

@shirinali.bsky.social
260 followers 113 following 28 posts

Jurisprudence @ Slate.com, author of the Executive Dysfunction newsletter: slate.substack.com/?utm_campaign=pr…

PostsRepliesMedia
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
New Executive Dysfunction is live! This week I explain how the Justice Department is desperately trying to keep the president's executive order targeting mail voting alive for Nov's midterms:
substack.com
Trump Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop (Undermining the 2026 Elections)
It doesn’t matter how many times he loses in court.
110
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Frank Bowman @frank-bowman.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Thx to @shirinali.bsky.social and Slate for running some fairly extensive quotes about the Fauci affair in this excellent piece. slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
The Real Reason Rand Paul Put a DOJ Target on Anthony Fauci’s Back
Dr. Anthony Fauci is a name most Americans probably didn’t think they would have to hear about again.
064
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Slate @slate.com · 23/07/2026
The plan: activate a controversial immigration court that has never once been used by any U.S. president. slate.trib.al/UVXHCzv
slate.trib.al
Trump’s Latest Under-the-Radar Mass Deportation Moves Are Truly Creepy
This week’s Executive Dysfunction.
077
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Outrage matters www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/u...
nytimes.com
ICE Ordered to Cease Most Vehicle Stops After Fatal Shootings in Maine and Houston
Agents fatally shot a man in Houston and another in coastal Maine, both in their vehicles. The killings were the latest in a string of ICE shootings during President Trump’s second term.
063
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Slate @slate.com · 06/07/2026
Congress has leaned into a sense of helplessness. It doesn’t have to be like this. slate.trib.al/qvHVd3R
slate.trib.al
We’re Not Doomed to Live Under the Supreme Court’s Mistakes. Here Are Five Ways Congress Can Clean Up SCOTUS’s Mess.
Congress used to overturn several opinions practically every term.
01613
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Stephen Miller suggested suspending habeas corpus last year and not only is this wildly unconstitutional, it would have been deadly. The brilliant Elora Mukherjee of Columbia's Immigrants’ Rights Clinic spoke to me about how habeas has been a lifeline for noncitizens, esp babies and young children:
substack.com
Stephen Miller Was Closer to Realizing His Scariest Idea Than We Ever Knew
Suspending habeas corpus is not a simple on/off switch.
000
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
In this week’s Executive Dysfunction newsletter, I unpack how finally, after facing the wrath of the Trump admin for over a year, Kilmer Abrego Garcia finally caught a break in his legal fight with the U.S. government: slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Trump’s First Big Vindictive Prosecution Just Went Up in Smoke
This week’s Executive Dysfunction.
021
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Christina Cauterucci @c-cauterucci.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
This story has everything: * the biggest fertility clinic scandal in U.S. history * high-rolling doctors and heroic whistleblowers * an unlikely friendship born of tragedy * a major update to the story that came years after I started reporting it * Pedro Pascal's dad slate.com/life/2026/05...
slate.com
In 1995, a Woman Got a Call That Shook Her to Her Core—and Ignited an International Scandal. It Took Almost 30 Years to Come Full Circle.
She had gone to a clinic for help getting pregnant. She got something far different.
155
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Frank Bowman @frank-bowman.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Thanks to @shirinali.bsky.social at Slate for including me in this discussion of Colo Gov Polis' commutation of Tina Peters' sentence. slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
A Democratic Governor Just Failed Our Democracy in the Worst Possible Way
This week’s Executive Dysfunction.
001
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Two weeks ago, I visited the small conservative town of Roxbury, NJ to cover a protest over a warehouse slated to become an ICE detention center. It was a visceral experience, seeing the warehouse with my own eyes and the community it will impact-- read more about it in this week's newsletter!
232
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Back in 2024, I was tracking each of Trump's legal battles for Slate, so this week when Judge Cannon banned DOJ from releasing the final report on the classified documents case...I had some strong thoughts (1/2)
100
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
I've been covering politics and the law at Slate for the past three years & I'm channeling all that experience into a new project. I will be authoring Slate's new legal newsletter Executive Dysfunction! My inaugural post went live today, check it out and subscribe! slate.substack.com/p/if-democra...
slate.substack.com
If Democrats Fold on Their ICE Demands, It Will Be a Disaster
They have a big list of shutdown demands to rein in ICE. Will any of them actually work?
010
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Slate @slate.com · 11/02/2026
“That subject is clearly not compliant.” We learned on Tuesday that DHS officials will defend literally anything. slate.trib.al/x7eoR9j
slate.trib.al
Congress Showed ICE Leaders Images of ICE Brutality. It Went About How You’d Expect.
Congress finally got a chance on Tuesday to confront Homeland Security officials.
052
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
I peeked under the hood of Georgia's voting system and what I found suddenly makes the FBI's raid of Fulton County's election office even more alarming--- my latest for @slate.com: slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
The Real Reason Trump Chose Georgia as His First Strike on the 2026 Vote
On Monday, the New York Times reported a bizarre and shocking update to news of an FBI raid last week on a Georgia election office.
000
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
What's happening in Minnesota will not stay in Minnesota. And state senator @erinmayequade.bsky.social is warning Americans what they can expect and how they can prepare for when ICE invades their neighborhood. My latest for @slate.com: slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
ICE Will Come to Your City, Suburb, or Town. Here’s How to Prepare.
Residents of Minneapolis have advice for the rest of us.
013
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Slate Union @slateunion.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
The Slate Union is extremely happy to announce that we have a tentative agreement on a contract! This was a hard-fought effort, and the result is a stronger, better-compensated union.
1112
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
My latest story features a great conversation with Gabe Roth of @fixthecourt.com where we analyze Emil Bove's long game 👀
031
Reposted by Shirin Ali
The Hamilton Project @hamiltonproject.org · 17/11/2025
“One way to think about the One Big Beautiful Bill is that it could end SNAP in some states, and it certainly ends SNAP as a national entitlement that is there for people in good economic times and bad.” @laurenhlb.bsky.social spoke to @Slate.com’s @shirinali.bsky.social about the OBBBA’s SNAP cuts:
slate.com
Republicans Are Ripping a New Giant Hole in the Social Safety Net
After punishing hungry people during the government shutdown, the GOP has a new plan to make life harder for the most vulnerable.
065
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Slate @slate.com · 31/10/2025
Richard Hasen: “This is not normal. I do think we have to take seriously the possibility that people are going to have to get around federal troops if they want to be able to vote.” slate.trib.al/PYLBU0T
slate.trib.al
Trump’s “Election Observers” Are a Sign of Something Much Worse on the Horizon
None of the election monitors will have much to do. That doesn't mean they’re not damaging.
33117
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Slate @slate.com · 27/10/2025
I tagged along with some canvassers to see what people make of Mamdani in a Queens neighborhood that shifted 12 points toward Trump in 2024. slate.trib.al/jmkjo2j
slate.trib.al
I Went Door-to-Door With Zohran Canvassers. What People Said Surprised Me.
It made me appreciate how messy, fluid, and emotional American politics is.
1123
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
My latest story with @coribush.bsky.social! A great conversation about tough changes Democrats have to embrace and how to fight with integrity 💪
03611
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Slate @slate.com · 02/10/2025
The reality bears no resemblance to Kavanaugh’s rosy description of immigration arrests. slate.trib.al/V6DcEcp
slate.trib.al
One Man’s Story Shows Just How Out of Touch Brett Kavanaugh Is
And there are too many other stories like this one.
4187
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Isaac Dovere @isaacdovere.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
At event in DC, Sen. Chris Van Hollen keeps it going with Hakeem Jeffries over not endorsing @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social: if you can’t back the kind of campaign he ran, “don’t ask those young people to show up for other Democrats across the country — that’s the message that will be sent.”
522847492
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
👀 slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Democrats Caved to Keep the Government Open in March. Now They’re Changing Their Tune.
Here's how they're looking at it now.
210
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Caroline Stout (@babybluetx.bsky.social) knows Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA better than most---she used to work there. For @slate.com, she told me what it was like and what Kirk's death means for the future of the far-right: slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
She Was a Charlie Kirk Disciple. She Knows How Democrats Can Win Back Young Republicans.
Stout’s political transformation is instructive for those in this moment wondering how to bridge what seems like an unfathomable political divide.
000
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Nitish Pahwa @nitishpahwa.com · 23/09/2025
my latest: on how the H-1B visa became a symbol of the MAGA coalition's divides, why Trump is charging hopeful immigrant workers an extra $100k, how this plunged Silicon Valley into panic mode, and what this means for Trump's already-fraying relationship with Modi—who's inching closer to China(!)
32614
Reposted by Shirin Ali
American Constitution Society @acslaw.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
If you haven't yet read Justice Sotomayor's dissent in yesterday's Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo, it is worth taking a few moments to do so tonight. As she notes, the Court's use of the emergency docket to greenlight ICE's use of racial profiling is troubling in part because it is entirely unexplained.
supremecourt.gov
1259
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Family separation is back... slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Trump Is Bringing Back One of the Most Reviled Policies of His First Term, in a New Form
It forces parents without legal status to make an impossible choice.
010
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
This is why the Bove seat was vacant, and there’s a real throughline from the forces that defeated the previous Democratic nominee to where we are today. www.newyorker.com/news/the-pol...
newyorker.com
The Two-Pronged Attack on a Muslim Judicial Nominee
How the smearing of Adeel Mangi became a bipartisan exercise.
18773372525
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
David Hogg may be imperfect, but he's on to something: slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
He’s Backing Losers and Infuriating the DNC. It Might Be Exactly What Democrats Need.
David Hogg has had an interesting summer.
020
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor did not hold back on her colleagues' majority decision today on birthright citizenship. Her dissent was nothing short of scathing, so we highlighted some of the most cutting lines: slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Sonia Sotomayor Puts It Clearly: None of Our Rights Are Safe
The high court has opened Pandora’s box.
020
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Nitish Pahwa @nitishpahwa.com · 25/06/2025
man, Brad Lander is really that guy bsky.app/profile/jool...
412814
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
The delusional presidency slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Even Donald Trump Is Starting to See the Absurdity of Stephen Miller’s Deportation Targets
Trump’s mass deportation plans will continue to go up in smoke, whether he likes it or not.
011
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Buried in the news of Republican's Big Beautiful Bill: Major immigration policy. Not only would ICE be given a massive budget increase, but asylum seekers would have to pay $1000 in order to submit an application (it currently costs $0) slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
There’s an Alarming Part of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” You Probably Haven’t Heard Much About
Two historic changes in the Republican budget bill haven’t gotten that much attention.
032
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
“Babies born on the same day could be citizens in one state, but stateless in the other,”—- the reality of what the Trump admin is asking SCOTUS for slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
What It Would Look Like If the Trump Administration Got Its Way in the Birthright Citizenship Case
The Supreme Court could create a patchwork of citizenship rules that echoes a dark time in the nation's history.
1155
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Immigration updates for the week: slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Is Trump Carrying Out His Mass Deportation Promises? The Numbers Might Surprise You.
The administration's extreme methods might obscure this reality.
000
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
The Democrats' new town hall strategy is certainly interesting, but will it work? I went over to New Jersey and Pennsylvania to find out for myself and one thing was clear: Americans are *very* fed up with Dems. slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Voters Are Frustrated. Will Democrats Be Able to Do Something With It?
I went to two Democratic events in GOP-held congressional districts to see what new message the party is putting out.
011
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
As if the past few weeks of breaking news wasn't bleak enough, this week a pro-Palestinian activist was lured to an immigration office for a citizenship interview, only to be arrested upon arrival. My latest edition of Who Gets to Be American This Week: slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Trump Is Talking About Finding Ways to Send U.S. Citizens to Salvadoran Prison
The idea once again involves America's new partner in lawless deportations.
000
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Slate @slate.com · 15/04/2025
The state's detention facilities have a dark history.
slate.com
There’s a Reason the Trump Administration Is Fighting to Keep Detained International Students in Louisiana
It's a tactical move.
12410
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Jeva Lange 🫎 @jeva.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Final_Version_of_Tarrifs_actualFINALcopy_version7_USETHISONE.docx
289233234876
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
👀 slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Democrats Might Finally Be Learning an Important Lesson. Will They Run With It?
Will the party do something with this momentum?
000
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
The way that refugees are being shut out right now is absolutely tragic and inhumane newrepublic.com/article/1935...
newrepublic.com
Trump Has Upended the Lives of Afghan Refugees
The administration’s cuts to resettlement aid and services are sowing uncertainty and fear among recent arrivals from Afghanistan, many of whom served alongside our military.
000
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
U.S. immigration is changing in ways we’ve never seen before. It’s confusing and scary, so to help make sense of it all, @slate.com launched a new series Who Gets To Be American This Week? I’ll be breaking down what you need to know—and our first edition is live today! slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
This Is One of the Most Fundamental Ways Trump Is Trying to Change America. We’re Here to Help You Keep Track.
As the battle between the judiciary and the president continues, we've started a new tracker to understand what's really going on.
0147
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
We have a new series called WHO GETS TO BE AN AMERICAN THIS WEEK? led by @shirinali.bsky.social, which explores the many ways Trump is shrinking the definition of "American," often illegally. This week: a broad assault on the rights of *legal* immigrants. slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
Who Gets to Be an American This Week? Not Some of the People Who Immigrated Legally.
As the battle between the judiciary and the president continues, we've started a new tracker to understand what's really going on.
616546
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
It's clear that the Trump administration denied due process to the migrants it banished to El Salvador *precisely because* any measure of judicial oversight would've proved their innocence immediately. Deported, imprisoned, and condemned to hard labor—for a soccer tattoo. slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
We’re Finally Seeing the “Evidence” Against the Migrants Deported by Trump. It’s Unbelievable.
The Trump admin said a soccer player had a gang tattoo. It’s a tattoo of Real Madrid’s logo.
10344121722
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Dahlia Lithwick @dahlialithwick.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
The Trump Admin’s New Birthright Citizenship Strategy Could Lead to a Truly Bonkers Result
The Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on a question that tests the limits of executive power.
1310533
Shirin Ali @shirinali.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
A clarifying conversation with @immcouncil.org about the GOP's favorite punching bag: sanctuary cities slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
There Are Some Big Problems With This Republican Talking Point. The Constitution, for One.
Here’s what the Constitution says.
010
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Slate Union @slateunion.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
On Monday morning, Slate was suddenly informed that six of its employees—including three editors, two of whom were members of the union—were being laid off, just months after four other staffers were also let go. The Slate Union's official statement reads as follows:
The Slate Union logo—the Slate S featuring upward fist and surrounded by pink and white stripes—is seen above a statement: We, the Slate Union, are united in our belief that management’s decision yesterday to lay off three editorial employees—along with three of our coworkers in other departments—was misguided, foolish, and cruel. The cuts are not these employees’ failures; they are the result of the failure of this company to follow its obligations to its workers. When you can’t find a way to make the most out of smart, talented journalists, that’s a failure of management—and Slate staffers are right to believe it’s incumbent upon management to find ways to solve that problem that don’t involve job losses. Otherwise, what are we investing in journalism for? What are we asking Slate Plus members to invest in us for?

There are particular aspects of these layoffs that we in the union find particularly outrageous. Eliminating three editors with their hands on politics and business will put an unbearable strain on others in the department, at the precise moment when coverage of these two subjects is crucial to the magazine’s success. One of the laid-off editors had union-negotiated parental leave approaching—as did another union member who was laid off just months ago. Another one of the laid-off employees was about to go on a honeymoon, and yet another was about to meet the qualifications for their pension benefit. The affected worker will be paid out for their parental leave, but the timing of these departures appears to be designed to make other union members think twice before utilizing the leave they have the contractual right to take. Not to mention, that one of the laid-off editors was hired not even a year ago—after a protracted search—calls management’s strategy into question, to put it lightly.
Slate has had two consecutive years of profitability. The fact that management views employees as chits to be discarded at any hint of trouble, instead of valuable people whose work makes our shop successful and profitable, is an enormous mistake. We insist that, in the upcoming contract negotiations, Slate commits to policies that treat layoffs not as a hair-trigger response to adversity but as an absolute last resort, one that will not be undertaken without consulting with the union and the employees in question. Simply paying out extra severance to a laid-off employee should no longer be a substitute for warnings about the state of our business and, more importantly, real attempts to save our staffers’ jobs. Anything short of this will demonstrate that Slate values the jobs of its executives more than its rank-and-file workers, and that good journalism by good journalists is no longer the north star of the magazine.
215672
Reposted by Shirin Ali
Nitish Pahwa @nitishpahwa.com · 06/03/2025
unbelievable, heartless, stupid cruelty (and it will probably get a fraction at best of the coverage and mass condemnation that greeted the Afghanistan withdrawal) www.reuters.com/world/us/new...
reuters.com
New Trump travel ban could bar Afghans, Pakistanis soon, sources say
A new travel ban by President Donald Trump could bar people from Afghanistan and Pakistan from entering the U.S. as soon as next week based on a government review of countries' security and vetting risks, three sources familiar with the matter said.
053
Reposted by Shirin Ali
cwrightdurocher.bsky.social @cwrightdurocher.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Check out my interview with @shirinali.bsky.social in @slate.bsky.social about the once fringe theory that Trump is using to justify his unconstitutional power grabs. @acslaw.bsky.social slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
The Dangerous Conservative Theory Behind Trump’s Assault on Government Workers
There are good reasons why federal agencies need some degree of independence.
044