Sign in

Tyler McBrien

@tylermcbrien.com
22K followers 1.4K following 1.2K posts

Managing Editor at Lawfare @lawfaremedia.org Signal - tylermcbrien.97 Writing in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Washington Post, Slate, Mother Jones, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and more: www.tylermcbrien.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 29/09/2026
Watch the second chapter of "DEPORTATION, INC.: The Rise of the Immigration Enforcement Economy" here or on @lawfaremedia.org's YouTube page: www.lawfaremedia.org/deportationinc
194
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 29/09/2026
As I write in @theintercept.com today, 3rd country agreements in particular illustrate the Trump administration’s obfuscation, nondisclosure, and dealmaking of the backroom variety, as it invokes national security to justify shielding itself from public scrutiny and accountability.
1118
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 29/09/2026
The next chapter of DEPORTATION, INC., an investigative video series from @situ-research.bsky.social @lawfaremedia.org—and now @theintercept.com —is out now. CHAPTER 2: REMOVAL examines the network of flights shuffling migrants around and out of the US, & the shady deals behind 3rd country removals
13623
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 28/09/2026
NEW: Today, the ACLU and other immigrant rights' orgs filed a new lawsuit — NATHAN V. TRUMP — in federal court in D.C. challenging President Trump's new birthright citizenship executive order by asking a judge to declare it unlawful and prevent the admin from enforcing it.
26822
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 28/09/2026
NEW: Lawyers for migrants in D.V.D. v DHS—a class action lawsuit challenging the Trump admin's third-country removal policy—filed its opposition to the government's emergency application to the Supreme Court for an administrative stay of the lower court's ruling agnst the policy.
1103
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 28/09/2026
"You think I'm Santa Claus? No Santa in Israel, pal." - President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
2235
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 28/09/2026
In addition to the report, the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations also sent letters to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Todd Blanche calling for an investigation into Tether's anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance practices.
1196
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 28/09/2026
NEW: A Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report released today "exposes how [Howard Lutnick-linked] Tether & its...token have become central to Iran’s shadow banking system" allowing Iran to fund proxies, commit human rights abuses, and...defy US sanctions, says Senator Blumenthal.
313088
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 25/09/2026
Amid Trump admin plans to admit 17,500 more Afrikaners, this story making headlines in South Africa hasn't gotten much traction in the US: an Afrikaner family lost US refugee status after returning to South Africa to treat their sick child because they still had medical aid there
32511
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 24/09/2026
Access the case files and underlying evidence of this sprawling investigation here at "Under Attack," the platform @hrcberkeley.bsky.social built to document the targeting of Mexican journalists and human rights defenders during AMLO's tenure: hrcberkeley.github.io/under-attack... (7/7)
030
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 24/09/2026
This is one of the many consequences of the Trump administration’s war on the ICC: a two-year investigation meticulously documenting crimes may go to waste and, even worse, those perpetrators will continue with impunity when they may have faced justice. (6/7)
1111
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 24/09/2026
Deciding the investigation should not go unused, @hrcberkeley.bsky.social adapted a portion for public release on this platform, which represents not a legal argument or accusation but "the factual building blocks" for investigators, prosecutors, and any member of the public to use. (5/7)
120
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 24/09/2026
This platform and trove of evidence was never meant to be public. The @hrcberkeley.bsky.social team began its investigation in 2024 intending to compile findings for the International Criminal Court, but Trump admin sanctions made the original plan too legally risky for US researchers (4/6)
120
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 24/09/2026
The @hrcberkeley.bsky.social investigation was prompted in part by the September 2022 breach of Mexican military email servers by the hacktivist group Guacamaya—which leaked 6 terabytes of SEDENA emails and attachments to DDOSecrets. (3/6)
130
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 24/09/2026
Researchers also confirmed that the Mexican military (SEDENA) secretly used powerful spyware to surveil journalists, human rights defenders, & public officials investigating the military, w/out judicial authorization and despite AMLO's public assurances that it had ended. (2/6)
120
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 24/09/2026
NEW: A new @hrcberkeley.bsky.social investigation found that in Mexico during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration (December 2018 to September 2024), 337 journalists and human rights defenders were killed—a number much higher than previously reported. (1/6)
11512
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 20/09/2026
NEW: Tues 9/22, Sen Blumenthal & Rep Garcia will hold their 5th public forum on DHS abuses with witness testimony from family members of Ruben Martinez, Renée Good, Alex Pretti, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, & Johan Durán Guerrero—who were all fatally shot by federal immigration agents
4367135
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 19/09/2026
Finding the most amazing places to stay for my trip to Taiwan
0142
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 18/09/2026
...and a few more still.
2160
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 18/09/2026
...a few more favorites...
2160
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 18/09/2026
I touched grass....and trees and sand and boulders and pebbles and pinecones and trekking poles...last week hiking the West Coast Trail in beautiful Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip:
3344
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 08/09/2026
For more on why we at @lawfaremedia.org are suing the Trump administration and State Department, read this piece from @sranderson.bsky.social, published moments ago (link below)
1166
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 01/09/2026
NEW: @lawfaremedia.org sued the Trump admin over State Dept and Sec Rubio's failure to disclose details of international agreements on 3rd-country deportations & other issues, allegedly in violation of the Case Act. Yesterday, Judge Boasberg in D.C. rejected the government's motion to dismiss.
113452
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 27/08/2026
🚨DC FRIENDS🗓️ Join me Thurs 9/24 at the Festival Center for a screening of "Deportation, Inc: Investigating the Business of Migrant Removal" + panel discussion w/ @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social, @nickturse.bsky.social & more Presented by @lawfaremedia.org @situ-research.bsky.social @theintercept.com
1149
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 19/08/2026
NEW: Today, immigrant rights groups representing thousands of asylum seekers sued the Trump admin over a recent interim final rule (91 Fed. Reg. 47101) allowing US Citizenship and Immigration Services to send asylum seekers to immigration court w/out assessing legal claims or an asylum interview.
22110
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 14/08/2026
AFSC v. Trump—the case of human rights groups suing the admin over the ICC sanctions EO—has been assigned to Judge Jesse Furman, who ruled against the government last year in Rona v. Trump and is overseeing related cases (Prost v. Trump; Democracy for the Arab World Now v. Trump)
0207
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 13/08/2026
Check out this incredible, totally specific, not at all generic, and definitely real quote from "National Security Leader" at IBM in this ad for the upcoming Border Technology Summit
2105
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 13/08/2026
For more on ideological exclusion and deportation, revisit my @lawfaremedia.org piece with @juliarosekraut.bsky.social, "The Trump Admin’s Embrace of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation," cited on page 26 of this very good brief (link below) in the AAUP v. Rubio appeal
1137
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 11/08/2026
NEW: Human rights groups @afsc-org.bsky.social @ccrjustice.org @hrw.org and @open-society.bsky.social sued the Trump administration over its executive order imposing sanctions on the International Crim Court. They're asking a judge to "enjoin the EO and the sanctions regime as a whole," per counsel.
22210
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 10/08/2026
Marimar Martinez, who testified back in February at a public forum on DHS abuse and overreach hosted by Sen. Blumenthal & Rep. Garcia, joined other Chicago residents in filing police reports against Charles Exum and other federal agents connected to Operation Midway Blitz (per @chicago.suntimes.com)
24216
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 10/08/2026
Federal Judge Emil Bove swearing in Attorney General Todd Blanche:
4234
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 06/08/2026
2234
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 05/08/2026
The Depravity Economy (Still) Has No Bottom
1306
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 05/08/2026
Huge thanks to Bernice Yeung for joining me on the @lawfaremedia.org podcast to discuss her recent @thebulletin.org feature, "The Rise of the Military-Technology Complex," which traces the long, on-again off-again on-again relationship between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon.
172
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 27/07/2026
Wow, a federal judge just ruled in favor of the CFTC, Kalshi, and Polymarket, temporarily barring the state of Minnesota from enforcing its prediction market statute until final decision on the merits is reached. (h/t @seamushughes.bsky.social)
11212
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 24/07/2026
NEW: Mon 6/27 @ 3:30pm, Van Hollen & Blumenthal will hold a public forum on "Trump's Crypto Corruption" to show how his "greed and recklessness have supercharged foreign influence and bribery" and make the case agnst crypto regulation allowing "Trump to corruptly enrich himself"
1188
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 21/07/2026
I should add that this is exactly what @nkorpett.bsky.social and James Pearce predicted in their May 2025 @lawfaremedia.org piece, "The Law Firms’ Deals with Trump Are Even Riskier Than They Seem"
24316
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 21/07/2026
INBOX: Sens. Blumenthal, Raskin, & Schiff sent another letter to Skadden seeking records/info related to the law firm's "profoundly troubling agreement" with the Trump admin and reporting on apparent conflicts of interest related to the admin's 10% equity stake in Intel.
13813
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 21/07/2026
NEW: Today the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals held that the district court lacked the authority to release Mohsen Mahdawi in April 2025 following his arrest from his citizenship interview. The 2nd Cir vacates the order and remands to the district court to dismiss the petition.
140
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 16/07/2026
NEW: Today, Rep. Garcia and Sen. Blumenthal requested DHS Sec Mullin provide info and records related to two recent fatal ICE shootings, incidents which raise questions about whether ICE made promised reforms "and how ICE is using the massive funding that Congress appropriated"
1276
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 15/07/2026
Major new report from PHR and @hrcberkeley.bsky.social documented 412 times between 06/25-26 that immigration enforcement officers used excessive force or misused crowd-control weapons on protesters. Nearly half of all victims had "explicit legal protections" or required "special caution."
13412
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 14/07/2026
Today in federal court, Mahmoud Khalil sued the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission, Betar, & senior Trump admin officials under the KKK Act of 1871, alleging they conspired to deprive him of his constitutional rights while carrying out a coordinated plan called "Project Esther."
46834
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 13/07/2026
Ruling in Trump v. IRS today, Judge Williams writes: "The nature of the suit [and] conduct of the Parties...make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity" to Trump affiliates and to earmark billions from U.S. taxpayers
14013
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 07/07/2026
"The sheer investigative chops...make it worth a listen but its most profound takeaway is also the ultimate ironic twist. A band of journalists managed to pierce the heart of an enduring local mystery only to discover that many people prefer the mystery to the truth." - @goodtape.com
1163
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 02/07/2026
Someone on the 6 train edited this AI advertisement
06914
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 29/06/2026
I'm headed to the Aspen Security Forum July 14-17 and planning to record a series of interviews for the @lawfaremedia.org podcast — if any friends or colleagues also going would like to join me on the podcast, have guest ideas, or just want to grab a coffee, let me know!
061
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 29/06/2026
INBOX: Sen. Blumenthal sent a letter to Acting AG Todd Blanche demanding information and documents related to the Trump administriation commuting David Gentile’s sentence and the "subsequent closure" of DOJ/EDNY's investigation into potential misconduct regarding that commutation
13710
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 25/06/2026
Blumenthal, Merkley, Schiff, Murphy, Warren, & 12 more Dem senators urged the Senate financial services subcommittee to prohibit the CFTC from meddling in states' ability to regulate prediction markets, which "have led to underage gambling...addiction...and financial losses."
13213
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 23/06/2026
Reminds me of when @muira.bsky.social employed a clever yet, shall we say, *unorthodox* method—Tinder—to speak candidly with U.S. personnel stationed at the Guantánamo Bay detention center - from Muira McCammon's 2021 Logic essay, "Zoomers Versus the National Security State" (link below)
1160
Tyler McBrien @tylermcbrien.com · 23/06/2026
INBOX: Today, @weareoversight.bsky.social sued DOJ to expedite its FOIA request for documents related to Todd Blanche's role in 1) Trump admin's release of the Epstein files and 2) reported attempt to bury Special Counsel Jack Smith's report, ahead of Blanche's 7/15 AG confirmation hearing
13917