iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

I had the dubious pleasure of attending the AI workshop at the AFT Leader meeting this weekend and I thought I might have a stroke. Hoping to find time to write it up.

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Workshops4Gaza @workshops4gaza.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

www.instagram.com/p/DUeabmyDUT... Free Leqaa Kordia now!!!

Ig post from freeleqaakordia
About her hospitalization

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tamara nopper @tamaranopper.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

The Department of Homeland Security, which houses ICE, has over 260,000 employees. The Department of Defense, which houses the military, is the largest employer in the world. Carceral industries are some of the most unionized. Abolition is a labor issue. We need a new economy with different work.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Never mind that no, undocumented parents who entered without inspection will not be able to get a green card if their kid enlists in the military. Even the temporary relief from deportation for military families - Parole in Place - is costly and harder to get now. taskandpurpose.com/news/militar...

taskandpurpose.com

Recruiter told students that enlisting can lead to Green Cards for parents

The Parole in Place program is not available until after service members enlist, and it often requires a lawyer.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Imagine you are a teen in Minnesota, fearing that your immigrant parents will be abducted by ICE. You get an email from a military recruiter, who is also an immigrant, telling you that you can enlist and get a green card for your parents. 1/2 taskandpurpose.com/news/militar...

taskandpurpose.com

Recruiter told students that enlisting can lead to Green Cards for parents

The Parole in Place program is not available until after service members enlist, and it often requires a lawyer.

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Nick Pinto @nickpinto.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

The public trust that runs Hudson River Park is making money renting space to ICE to park its kidnapping vans on Pier 40. hellgatenyc.com/hudson-river...

hellgatenyc.com

Hudson River Park Lets ICE Park Vans at Pier 40

A contract with the Trump administration has been a windfall for the park—plus more stories for your Wednesday.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

😞 Unfortunately the limited provisions protecting family members of the military are even more limited now.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

New piece on how veterans can find themselves in debt to the VA, including the involvement of predatory third parties. Something I wrote about in my essay for the South Atlantic Quarterly a few months ago. www.military.com/feature/2025...

military.com

How Veterans Accidentally Commit Benefits Fraud Without Realizing It

Veterans can unintentionally trigger benefit investigations through reporting mistakes, confusing rules, or bad advice from third parties. Complex VA systems mean honest errors can quickly escalate in...

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Andrew J Douglas @ajdouglas.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Absolutely stunning that OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft were able to buy off an entire teachers’ union for just $23 million.

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Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) @transequality.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

TWO anti-trans bills are up for a vote this week: ❌ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's bill that would criminalize providers of gender-affirming care ❌ Rep. Dan Crenshaw's bill that would block Medicaid funds from covering transition-related care (1/2)

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scholarsforsj.bsky.social @scholarsforsj.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Join this Wednesday's webinar WHY PALESTINE IS A UNION ISSUE (12/3) at 5:30—7:30pm ET, hosted by our comrades at Coalition for Action in Higher Ed! Registration: zoom.us/webinar/regi...

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Wait, I thought AI and suicide was in the news for something else recently 🤔

Screenshot of a military.com daily brief for Dec. 1. Photo of a bold, bearded veterans with a backpack and a US flag. Lawmakers to VA: Use AI to help prevent veteran suicide.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Bane of our existence as a smaller union (PSC). See also how the Municipal Labor Committee decides our health insurance.

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talia jane @taliajane.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

ICE garage blockaded in lower Manhattan with dozens of agents stuck inside as more and more New Yorkers gather. NYPD observed staging on Canal & Broadway, expected come over for crowd control.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Wonder how it affects Northwestern's credit rating 🤔

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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

We're gonna need a truth and reconciliation commission and Nuremberg style trials to reckon with all of this evil, and any Dem candidate for office who shies away from a full reckoning in the name of "moving forward as a nation" can get well and truly fucked

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

And likely our pension money and our union reserves are invested in it.

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talia jane @taliajane.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

VERIFIED: Fundraiser for the Queens family that had their door busted down & a gun pointed in their face by ICE. The children are all traumatized, unable to sleep. Fundraiser seeks to secure them emergency housing and get therapy for the kids. www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-...

gofundme.com

Donate to Help a Traumatized Family Find Safety and Stability, organized by Katherine Gomez

A family in our community is living through every parent’s worst n… Katherine Gomez needs your support for Help a Traumatized Family Find Safety and Stability

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Tej Nagaraja @tejnagaraja.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

*Nov 19 — The migrant worker Joe Hill was executed — Around the world, wherever working people struggle, he lives on beside them. #1u *Nov 20 — Trans Day of Remembrance, for those lost around the world — as we cherish and champion all of our neighbors. 🏳️‍⚧️ An injury to one, is an injury to all.

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Louise Seamster @louiseseamster.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

people “embracing” AI in their classroom…you are ushering in the thing that is supposed to replace you not just as instructor but as source of knowledge, after it fed off your blood and guts “embracing the bubonic plague-infested rats in the classroom"

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Dang, you are a real one @rtfanning.bsky.social "it gets clearer and clearer that “Veterans Day” is nothing more than an attempt to bury the oppressive and deadly agenda of the U.S. ruling class by celebrating our “heroes.” 🔥

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

This would be transformative. To invest in publicly developed and owned learning management systems at CUNY instead of extractive and shitty Brightspace, Blackboard etc.

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Eman Abdelhadi @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Every time one of these mass murderers dies without having faced any consequence for the massacres they ordered, the lives they destroyed, the societies they razed to the ground… I realize how far we are from a world with justice. Rest in hell Dick Cheney. Your legacy is death.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Nov. 14: BU Law Review Symposium on The University and Democracy. I'll be in PLENARY #2: The Political Economy of the Modern University, speaking about debt financing of public higher ed, credit ratings, and Wall Street governing our universities, building on Lend & Rule www.bu.edu/law/engageme...

bu.edu

Fall 2025 Law Review Symposium | The University and Democracy | School of Law

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Nov 13: honored to be invited by the talented and committed @lizbethdsantana.bsky.social to participate in a panel on deported veterans at Baruch College, drawing on my research for Green Card Soldier.

Honoring Our Own. Veterans Day Event Program. November 13, 2025. 12:30-2:30. Baruch College NVC, Multi-purpose Room 107. 12:30-2:30 deported veterans photo exhibit by Dr. Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana. 1pm-1:30pm Bring Them Home (2022) film screening 1:30-2:15 hybrid panel with Juan Garcia (deported veteran), Rob Young (Excuse My Accent), Dr. Sofya Aptekar (CUNY), Margaret Cargioli (Immigrant Defenders Law Center), and James Smith (Black Deported Veterans of America), Background of the flyer is a photograph of the border wall painted with names of deported veterans and crosses.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

How are we already entering November... Amidst it all, it feels a bit weird to do normal things like talks, but here I go: 11/3: Wake Forest sociology department visit 11/13: Baruch College panel on deported vets 11/14: Boston University Law Review Symposium More details in thread

Speaker Series: Technologies of the State. Green Card Soldier: Betwen Model Immigrant and Security Threat. Professor Sofya Aptekar. CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. November 3, 2025. 3:30-5:00pm ZSK Room 404.
In the corner, there is a photograph of the speaker, white woman with long gray-brown hair against a black background and image of the book cover in a circle, black outline of the United States against a camo background

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style. Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.

Bill Melugin
@BillMelugin_
BREAKING: Per four senior DHS & Trump admin sources, a mass removal of ICE leadership around the country is underway, with up to 12 ICE field office chiefs being removed & reassigned in an effort to increase deportation numbers. I'm told the move is spearheaded by Corey Lewandowski, and a handful of the ICE Chiefs will likely be replaced by Border Patrol & CBP officials, some of whom will be hand-picked by aggressive & controversial Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. I'm told some of the ICE leadership removed from their positions include the ICE Field Office Directors in:

- Los Angeles
- Phoenix
- Philadelphia
- Denver
- El Paso
- San Diego
- Seattle/Portland
- New Orleans

Border Patrol officials taking over ICE leadership positions would be extremely significant, as Border Patrol and ICE do different things, and I've done numerous ride-alongs/embeds with both.

Generally speaking, ICE typically conducts very targeted operations, largely going after criminal illegal aliens or those with deportation orders, but almost always knowing who they are targeting for arrest, often conducting surveillance to learn their schedules before and waiting hours before arresting them if needed.

Border Patrol, under Trump 2.0, while sometimes doing their own targeted operations, has been extremely aggressive and has been at the forefront of some of the most controversial immigration enforcement operations we've seen so far, carrying out roving patrols in Los Angeles, Chicago, etc, often at Home Depot, car washes, flea markets etc, leading to a handful of federal judges around the country issuing injunctions against them. A majority of the viral videos you see online are Border Patrol agents, including the use of a Trojan horse style Penske moving truck at a Los Angeles Home Depot, an operation organized by Bovino.

ICE often gets blamed for what Border Patrol does, as the media and activists often cannot tell the difference between federal agents, and everyone is called "ICE". I'm told there are growing concerns about the political and PR fallout associated with some of the roving patrols Border Patrol is conducting as lawsuits continue to stack up and mid-terms approach next year.

I'm told there is significant friction within different wings of DHS and the administration, with Border Czar Tom Homan & ICE Director Todd Lyons preferring to prioritize targeting criminal aliens & the "worst of the worst" or those with deportation orders, while DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, and BP Commander Bovino prefer to use aggressive tactics to arrest anyone in the US illegally, including but not limited to criminals, to ramp up deportation numbers and achieve President Trump's promises of mass deportations.

I am hearing from both sides of this friction.

One senior DHS official tells me:

"ICE started with the worst of the worst, knowing every target they are hitting, but since Border Patrol started in LA in June, we've (DHS) lost our focus, going too hard, too fast, with limited prioritization. It's getting numbers, but at what cost?".

Border Patrol agents I've talked to defend their tactics, with one telling me:

"What did everyone think mass deportations meant? Only the worst? Tom Homan has said it himself, anyone in the US illegally is on the table."

It's quite a situation, as both sides of this are on the same team, with the same end goals, but different perspectives on how to get there.

Another DHS official confirmed the personnel changes to me on deep background, adding that the moves are based on performance and doing what is needed to achieve the best results.

Official statement to
@FoxNews
via
@TriciaOhio
:

"While we have no personnel changes to announce at this time, the Trump Administration remains laser focused on delivering results and removing violent criminal illegal aliens from this country."
7:57 PM · Oct 27, 2025
·
29.6K
Views

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Tomorrow evening! Come to discuss debt struggles, including the debt our public schools are in, abortion debt, and military debt.

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Starbucks Workers United @sbworkersunited.org · 01/10/2025

✊ALLIES: WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! > Sign our No Contract No Coffee pledge to commit to not crossing a picket line: bit.ly/NoContractNoCoffee > Donate to our strike fund by purchasing union-made merch from our store or donating directly: sbworkersunited.org/strike-fund/

bit.ly

No Contract, No Coffee Pledge

 Baristas are the most important part of the Starbucks experience. Baristas open the stores every morning and close them every night. They greet customers, make the coffee, clean up the spills, a...

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

The Defense Commissary Agency is pushing its predatory credit card on military workers dealing with food insecurity. Under the debt regime we live in, debt is a solution for every problem, for survival itself. It comes at you seemingly from every side, including from your employer/government.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

I went on the American Campus podcast to talk about the other kind of college debt - the debt that our colleges are in. What does the financialization of higher ed mean for the way colleges and universities are governed? americancampuspodcast.buzzsprout.com/2396665/epis...

americancampuspodcast.buzzsprout.com

The university’s creditors with Sofya Aptekar - American Campus Podcast

On hedge funds, private equity, and the financialization of public colleges.References and suggested readings:The Coalition Against Campus Debt. 2024. Lend and Rule: Fighting the Financialization of P...

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Join us for this @debtcollective.bsky.social Jubilee School session on Oct. 21. Ill be talking about military labor and debt (even as footage of military workers in food pantry lines is all over the news) debtcollective.org/event/is-a-d...

debtcollective.org

Is a Debtors’ Revolution the Way?

Presented by South Atlantic Quarterly Special Debt Issue Authors Jason Wozniak, Eleni Schirmer, Braxton Brewington, Sofya Aptekar

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Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

This is who @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social is. Brilliant. Fearless. I fucking hate typing this shit out: Free Eman. Amplify amplify amplify please.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Fresh example of trash research for my research methods class.

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Lauren McKenzie @themckenziest.gay · 27/09/2025

Sobbing at these Italians being happy to be stuck in traffic during a strike for Palestine

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

This type of policy deepens the use of naturalization to discipline military labor. For ex., you might not report discrimination or abuse, or not get an injury or condition treated, because you are worried about the consequences that might lead to an uncharacterized or other disqualifying discharge.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

New USCIS policy regarding military naturalization further limits access to naturalization for immigrants in the military by limiting the types of separations eligible for citizenship. Raises questions about what happens to those naturalized before they are discharged. www.uscis.gov/sites/defaul...

uscis.gov

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American Sociological Association @asanews.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Take action! You have just a handful of days left to make your voice be heard on the proposed DHS rule that will eliminate Duration of Status & have a detrimental effect on international students. Use ASA’s Action Center to submit your public comment by 9/29. bit.ly/ASAaction

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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 23/09/2025

i have to say, as a trans journalist who has covered the "trans debate" for about a decade now, there is no daylight between how the trump administration and conservatives lie about tylenol and autism and how they've lied about youth trans care.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Much prefer Indi Samarajiva: "Fuck your citizenship. It’s barbed wire around an indigenous graveyard. It’s a moat around a colonial crime scene." indi.ca/abolish-citi...

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

With the re-implementation of the revised naturalization test first tried out under Trump pt. 1, pondering this quote from USCIS spokesperson: "American citizenship is the most sacred citizenship in the world." www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

federalregister.gov

Notice of Implementation of 2025 Naturalization Civics Test

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reimplementing the 2020 Naturalization Civics Test, which was originally announced on ...

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PSC-CUNY @psc-cuny.org · 09/09/2025

We are proud co-sponsors of the "New Yorkers Against ICE" rally on Thursday, 9/25 at 6pm in Foley Square.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

On the difference between cops and the National Guard, @rtfanning.bsky.social reminds us that Guard members "have very little training, and lack much of the discipline that the police have." - they have been moved historically and can be moved now to resist their order.

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Sofya Aptekar @sofaptekar.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Great interview by @mskellymhayes.bsky.social with @rtfanning.bsky.social. Helpful for understanding the deployment of National Guard to cities, how to respond, and how to fight ICE recruitment. organizingmythoughts.org/what-do-we-s...

organizingmythoughts.org

What Do We Say When the Soldiers Come?

"There is no honor in this mission," says counter-recruiter Rory Fanning.

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Albert S. Fu @novumsimulacrum.com · 09/09/2025

I wrote a piece on tech contracts in higher ed. for Jacobin. The endless outsourcing is troubling for a variety of reasons. Not helping is vendors jumping on the AI hype to offer ever-more-advanced and expensive programs to universities. #CheatGPT

jacobin.com

Universities Are Selling Themselves Off Piece by Piece

American higher ed has become a mesh of corporate contracts and outsourced services. From dining halls to student records, private vendors now run many institutions’ most basic operations — atomizing workers and undermining the university’s public mission.

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tamara nopper @tamaranopper.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Whatever it’s named and whoever renames it, the Department of Defense, which houses the U.S. military, is the largest employer in the world. Its name is not the issue. And abolition involves dealing with labor and what work is government work.

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