Sign in

Thi Bui

@teabuoy.bsky.social
140 followers 63 following 98 posts

Writer, artist, cartoonist, educator. thibui.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Old comic I made at the beginning of Trump’s first term, new thoughts on the work in front of us right now on my Substack, Before You Die, Dammit.
teabuoy.substack.com
Love and Solidarity
Good politics is acting on these two principles.
011
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Ny Nourn is an extraordinary woman who survived the criminal justice system and ICE, after already surviving genocide, displacement, neglect, abuse, and assault. Her story lays bare the ineffectiveness of a justice system built for punishment, not protection.
teabuoy.substack.com
Survived and Punished
Ny Nourn’s story
000
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Love Louisiana, my home since 2023. Hate Landry, the janky Republican governor. New essay on this interesting place on my Substack, Before You Die, Dammit. substack.com/@teabuoy/not...
substack.com
Louisiana Does Deserve Better
And Governor Jeff Landry is a cancerous mole who should be recalled.
010
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I have a new picture book out! Written by the one and only Bao Phi, illustrated by me. Here’s an interview with us.
020
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Third country deportation is a deeper layer of hell in the barbaric landscape of immigration enforcement. Attorney Tin Nguyen updates us on the people he fights for, what it takes to fight the deportation machine, and his first moments in person with the man he got free last month in Viet Nam.
substack.com
Third Country Deportations, Part 3
An immigration lawyer versus the Empire
0326
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Dy Nguyen, Atlanta husband and father of four, was deported late last week. He writes about the experience, and what is getting him through it, here:
open.substack.com
Overwhelmed
Dy Nguyen, newly deported, writes from Viet Nam
000
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Justice was not served. Dy Nguyen, Atlanta father of four young children, one a newborn, is being deported to Viet Nam this week. His attorney, Phi Nguyen wrote today’s update because I have no words. Except #fuckICE
substack.com
Justice Was Not Served
Dy Nguyen is being deported to Viet Nam
010
Reposted by Thi Bui
Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 23/05/2026
“On May 23, 1796, a newspaper ad was placed seeking the return of Ona ‘Oney’ Judge, an enslaved Black woman who had ‘absconded from the household of the President of the United States,” George Washington.”
calendar.eji.org
May 23, 1796 | George Washington Offers Reward for Capture of Enslaved Black Woman
Learn more about our history of racial injustice.
1285111
Reposted by Thi Bui
Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 11/05/2026
Local police are getting bankrolled by ICE to inflict harm on their own communities. When we say that the deportation agenda isn't possible without local cooperation, this is exactly what we mean.
12419
Reposted by Thi Bui
Clever Resistance @cleverresistance.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Third-country removals, and the government grift and the dangers they represent, are not getting enough attention.
02114
Reposted by Thi Bui
Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 25/04/2026
Close-up. When we say Alexandria, La., is an ICE Air hub, this is what that looks like.
A close-up of a map of US states around the Gulf of Mexico showing dozens of ICE charter planes branching out from Alexandria, La. There is another smaller nexus around Harlingen, Tx.
27026
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I went to Stewart Detention Center to speak with an Atlanta father torn from his wife and children for the second time in 8 years. Part 1 of 2 here: open.substack.com/pub/teabuoy/...
open.substack.com
Love in a Time of Absurdity
ICE tears an Atlanta father from his family
110
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Tax Day a good day to remind everyone that undocumented immigrants can and do pay taxes. Billions every year. Now up to $479 billion less in the next decade bc of fears that IRS will share their data with ICE. open.substack.com/pub/teabuoy/...
011
Reposted by Thi Bui
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
The next administration must take the lesson of this one; every single immigration judge hired under Trump 2.0 must be fired on day one.
6738411098
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Writers, for the love of art and artists please never use AI for your book cover. Signed, an artist who will never use AI to help her write.
031
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Correction on my earlier post: The 15th death in ICE detention this year is the 2nd at one facility. System-wide, one detained immigrant is dying every six days. 46 people have died in federal immigration custody during the current Trump administration. substack.com/@austinkoche...
000
Reposted by Thi Bui
Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 07/04/2026
New DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin is says he's considering pulling customs officers from airports in so called "sanctuary cities" in an effort to punish jurisdictions that don't want to play ball with Trump's mass deportation plans. 🧵
155
Reposted by Thi Bui
Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 06/04/2026
According to this, the ICE flight to DRC last month wasn't a third-country removal -- just a "regular" deportation of migrants into a humanitarian crisis via private jet -- but third-country removals will begin soon. I'll be watching air traffic closely. apnews.com/article/cong...
apnews.com
Congo to receive third-country deportees from the US under new deal
Congo will receive some deportees from the U.S. as part of a new deal under the Trump administration’s third-country program.
512996
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
A positive story for your Monday about one disciplined, strategic planner and enterprising businessman, creating pathways for formerly incarcerated people to succeed after reentry.
substack.com
This Shiny Line
is what we're looking for.
010
Reposted by Thi Bui
Bolts @boltsmag.org · 04/04/2026
New Jersey joins nine other states in banning local participation in ICE’s 287(g) program, and it is the fourth state to do so this year. Is your state among them? Learn more:
boltsmag.org
New Jersey Becomes the 10th State with a Law Barring Local ICE Contracts
An attorney general had already imposed restrictions on how sheriffs and police can assist ICE, but advocates wanted those codified into law. Mikie Sherrill signed the bill this week.
421256
Reposted by Thi Bui
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 04/04/2026
voters elected decadent money man to make them rich, what they've gotten is warmongering fanatic who wants to cut their health care to pay for more bombs
1424827843
Reposted by Thi Bui
Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
The death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Blind Rohingya refugee who was left on the freezing streets of Buffalo by Border Patrol officers, was ruled a homicide. New from me at @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Nurul Amin Shah Alam's death was a homicide
County medical examiners announced the ruling on Wednesday. New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating.
2140221621
Reposted by Thi Bui
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Kavanaugh twice says that he thinks their arguments about other countries adopting different rules is a good argument as a policy matter (ugh). Sauer falsely claims "almost every other country" doesn't have birthright citizenship, which is wildly wrong.
Map of countries which have birthright citizenship. Virtually the entire Western Hemisphere has complete birthright citizenship.
561305324
Reposted by Thi Bui
Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 01/04/2026
And in horrifying news, Idaho's governor has signed the felony bathroom ban, with 5 year penalties for second offense bathroom usage, into law. This is the most significant criminalization of trans people to date. On trans day of visibility no less. It will require a new "Do not travel" warning.
advocate.com
Idaho governor signs law making transgender bathroom use a felony
Gov. Brad Little signed the measure on Transgender Day of Visibility as advocates rallied outside the statehouse.
1021981828
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Visited the new Learning Center at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center yesterday to share some of my writing and learn about restorative justice.
substack.com
Restoring Our Original True Selves
The ROOTS program at San Quentin State Prison
030
Reposted by Thi Bui
Bolts @boltsmag.org · 31/03/2026
With New Jersey’s new ban on local partnerships with ICE, there are only four states governed by Democrats that still have local or state agencies with 287(g) contracts. boltsmag.org/new-jer...
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington all have bans on participation in ICE's 287(g) program. Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia all have Democratic trifectas, and at least one state or local agency that is enrolled in the 287(g) program.
26317
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Just got back from a reading and discussion I did at the ROOTS program at San Quentin State Prison, probably my favorite reading ever. Stay tuned for an essay very soon at teabuoy.substack.com
teabuoy.substack.com
Before You Die, Dammit | Thi Bui | Substack
Writing and art for fighting and living. Click to read Before You Die, Dammit, by Thi Bui, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
000
Reposted by Thi Bui
Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Huge news. The good people @deportationdata.org obtained updated ICE case records through a FOIA lawsuit. The dataset goes from October 2022 through *early March 2026.* deportationdata.org/data/ice.html
The table showing ICE data for Oct. 2022 through early March 2026. From the Deportation Data Project.
5265102
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Our systems for addressing harm are all wrong. They are all built around vengeance and fear, both of which are reactions and not needs. We need love and safety. These are the original needs and the end goals.
open.substack.com
Revolution and Repair
We badly need both.
000
Reposted by Thi Bui
Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
So are the headlines saying the Democrats won this round, or nah? Cause they did. Funding for TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard, no funding for ICE. That’s the deal Dems have been offering over & over. Republicans caved.
20962281604
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
To offset the particularly high level of manufactured chaos related to ICE funding at this time, I want to slow things down. and take us back to the human experience of living through one of Trump’s city sieges. We have to remember WHY we are trying to defund DHS and why we have to abolish ICE.
open.substack.com
Do Not Forget Our Winter of ICE
Writer and community activist Bao Phi on the occupation of Minnesota
023
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Seriously at the least don’t be bootlicking chumps.
010
Reposted by Thi Bui
Bolts @boltsmag.org · 22/03/2026
You asked and we answered. In our latest edition of “Ask Bolts,” our team tackles reader questions about how state and local officials are responding, and could respond, to federal immigration enforcement.
boltsmag.org
How State and Local Leaders Are Responding to ICE: Your Questions Answered
How are states restricting ICE activity? Can local prosecutors charge federal officers? How can local leaders prepare for ICE deployments? We provide answers about local responses to the immigration crackdown.
05722
Reposted by Thi Bui
Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 22/03/2026
ICE flights have landed in Liberia five times since Nov. 6 and as recently as March 16, and I remain deeply suspicious that some or all of these may have been third-country removals. This is a big reason why:
18943
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
“As a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people my job is to make revolution irresistible.” –Toni Cade Bambara
substack.com
Một Trăm Phần Trăm
One hundred percent
000
Reposted by Thi Bui
Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 19/03/2026
Royer Perez-Jimenez was 19 years old. He died by suicide at 3am on March 16 at Glades County Detention Center in Florida. He is the 2nd person to die in ICE custody this week, the 13th this year, and the 42nd under Trump. 🧵
3918651010
Reposted by Thi Bui
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Wrote about how MAGA is a rebellion against the reality of interdependence, and how that led the Trump administration to completely ignore the potential fallout of going to war with Iran. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Margaret Thatcher once declared that “there is no such thing” as society. She always insisted that what she meant was that “society was not an abstraction, separate from the men and women who composed it, but a living structure of individuals, families, neighbours and voluntary associations.“

Trump, however, and the Trumpified Republican Party, might actually subscribe to the way her critics understood her point—that society doesn’t exist, and that therefore none of us has any responsibilities or obligations to anyone else, other than the ones we choose to have.

Life is more complicated than that, especially when you’re trying to make war on a state that can close a strategic waterway that is crucial to the world economy. The Trump administration seems to have neither anticipated nor planned properly for the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s oil is transported. Iran has begun firing at ships in the strait, dissuading commercial traffic from transiting it. Energy prices are almost certain to rise, but so are prices on other products—you need energy to transport goods to meet global market demand. The possibility that the war might destabilize the world economy either was not part of the Trump administration’s plans for this capricious, ill-advised, and arguably unconstitutional military venture, or was not taken seriously. American war planners seem to have not factored in that, despite being adversaries, the U.S. and Iran are interconnected in vital ways that waging war on Iran would disrupt.
602195499
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
I wrote the whole essay this morning with no coffee so you get it hot off the press two days early, and if that’s not testament to the energizing power of being around smart people who are also fighting for a better world, I don’t know what is.
open.substack.com
Get Shit Done
Some practical suggestions for working with others.
031
Reposted by Thi Bui
Pablo Manríquez @pabloreports.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Haitian woman, 31, dies alone at Pittsburgh bus stop days after ICE released her to the streets far from home to perish. Rest in power, Daphy Michel: migrantinsider.com/p/the-loneso...
migrantinsider.com
The Lonesome Death of Daphy Michel
Watch now | Haitian Woman, 31, Dies Alone at Pittsburgh Bus Stop Days After ICE Released Her Far From Home to Die.
15153213002
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
I am done proving my humanity to racists. Let them prove their humanity to me. open.substack.com/pub/teabuoy/...
021
Reposted by Thi Bui
Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
By analyzing records obtained by @deportationdata.org, I found that the total number of people who have experienced ICE detention in the first 9 months of the Trump admin amounts to the population of a mid-sized city.
During the first nine months of Trump’s second term, at least 272,000 people were booked in ICE detention, according to Adam Sawyer, a data analyst at Relevant Research, the group behind Detention Reports, which breaks down government data on immigration detention facilities.
1244172
Reposted by Thi Bui
Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 07/03/2026
Psst! Your crown prince is aggressively fighting the California billionaire tax. He’s doesn’t care about you, pass it on! www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Gavin Newsom comes out swinging against California billionaire tax
Ballot initiative, opposed by the ultra-wealthy, would levy one-time 5% tax on individuals worth more than $1bn
828584
Reposted by Thi Bui
Ann Telnaes @anntelnaes.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
anntelnaes.substack.com/p/kristi-noe...
anntelnaes.substack.com
Kristi Noem is out
Writing her political obituary
11663150
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Third country deportations are a test, really, of how much bullshit you will tolerate from the people in charge. And also how much cruelty. These tests are always done on individuals they believe you won’t care about. The ones who are easy to dehumanize.
substack.com
Third Country Deportations, Part 2
Regular people trying to survive while the government pilot tests human trafficking
000
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
New reporting and further analysis of third country deportations, with a closer look at the individuals going through this dystopian nightmare.
open.substack.com
Third Country Deportations, Part 2
Regular people trying to survive while the government pilot tests human trafficking
000
Reposted by Thi Bui
Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 02/03/2026
I should do book promo— *ICE murder several blocks from me* *sheltering in place bc of racial profiling* *mutual aid* *mutual aid* *a second ICE murder* *mutual aid* *Local kidnapped kids sent to Dilley* *phone tree to Lawyers Guild for LO friend* *more kidnappings* *mutual aid* *mutual aid* *war*
121289198
Reposted by Thi Bui
Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
The war on Iran & the war on immigrants aren’t different stories— wars justify investments in technologies of violence, create a foreign threat that manufactures consent for the abrogation of domestic rights. See: “War on Terror” that killed millions & in whose shadow DHS was formed.
115756
Reposted by Thi Bui
Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
I am pro Iranian people. I stand with them against their own government’s repression AND against the imperial violence in the form of bombs dropped from the sky from Israel & the US who have already killed hundreds. I support neither imperialism or dictatorship. Sahar Delijani said it best:
I was born in an Iranian prison. My parents were held in their jails. My uncles lie in their mass graves.
Nothing you can tell me about the crimes of the Iranian regime that I haven't lived in blood and bone.
That doesn't mean I want my people bombed, maimed, killed, their homes in ruins.
If your vision of liberation comes only through the destruction of innocent lives, then it's not freedom you're after.
Sahar Delijani, Iranian author
43100873557
Thi Bui @teabuoy.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
It seems, some days, that the world is made up of the lies people tell themselves as they go to work for evil corporations and governments. Today James Baldwin’s words gave me some solace and courage. So did calling my mom.
substack.com
Fractals of Light
Tiny love letters to the parts of us that are good
000