A Quote And More

"It was not Hitler or Himmler who abducted me, beat me, and shot my family. It was the shoemaker, the milkman, the neighbor, who received a uniform and then believed they were the master race."

--Karl Stojka, Auschwitz survivor

If you're not a jerk who likes to shit on people, how do you justify this? What has you thinking it's OK to put your neighbors thru this?

A Good Sign

We can't win without a fight, and we can't fight if we don't show up.

People are usually a huge disappointment to me, and a royal pain in my ass.

But then there's this, and the night seems a bit brighter.

Today's Angela

We Call Them Fascist Assholes

... because they act like fascist assholes.

ICE Agents Dragged Naked Children Out of Homes in Chicago Raid: Neighbors

Several South Shore residents reported witnessing federal immigration agents forcibly removing unclothed children from apartments during the pre-dawn raid in Chicago.

Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment via email.

Why It Matters

Immigration enforcement is at the forefront of the national conversation surrounding the policy in the United States as the administration pushes to remove millions of migrants without legal status. The administration is facing increased scrutiny as well as several allegations of misconduct against federal agents.

What To Know

In the pre-dawn hours of September 30, federal agencies coordinated a large-scale immigration enforcement action targeting a five-story apartment building near 75th Street and South Shore Drive, according to a Department of Homeland Security official. The DHS said that 37 individuals were arrested and that the operation involved the U.S. Border Patrol, FBI, and ATF.

The agency claimed the building and surrounding area were tied to activity by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, and that those arrested included people allegedly involved in drug trafficking, weapons offenses, or immigration violations.

Ebony Sweets Watson, who lives across the street from the building, told WBEZ Chicago that she saw federal agents dragging residents, including children, out of the building without clothes and loading them into U-Haul vans. She said the children were separated from their mothers.

Watson says she observed what appeared to be “hundreds” of agents outside her home.

“It was heartbreaking to watch,” Watson told the news station. “Even if you’re not a mother, seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.”

“Stuff was everywhere,” Watson told WBEZ. “You could see people’s birth certificates and papers thrown all over. Water was leaking into the hallway. It was wicked crazy.”

Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building, told CBS News Chicago: "No shoes, the kids didn't have no shirts or no pants on. They just treated us like we were nothing."

This raid comes amid Operation Midway Blitz, a federal push across Chicago and the wider Illinois area that began in early September. The initiative aims to apprehend undocumented immigrants, particularly those with criminal records, under a broader mandate by DHS.

The administration is coordinating multiple federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Border Patrol, the FBI, and the ATF, to carry out enforcement operations nationwide. Critics have characterized some of the immigration raids as aggressive and have raised concerns about potential violations of due process and the treatment of migrants in custody.

ICE and U.S. Border Patrol officers arrested more than 800 individuals without legal status during Operation Midway Blitz, according to a press release by DHS issued on October 1.

What People Are Saying

A DHS official told Newsweek: “In the early morning hours of September 30, 2025, allied federal law enforcement agencies with CBP, FBI, and ATF, executed an enforcement operation in Chicago’s South Shore area, a location known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua members and their associates. Some of the targeted subjects are believed to be involved in drug trafficking and distribution, weapons crimes, and immigration violators.

What Happens Next

Immigration arrests are expected to continue as part of Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago.

ICE Theater

Since Stephen Miller's demand for 3,000 arrests per day, ICE's numbers have gone up, but not like he and his head henchman Tom Homan had hoped.

In the first 100 days, they were getting about 670 per day. Then Miller throws his little hissy fit, and now they've managed to boost their daily bag to about 790 per day.

In fact, pretty much the only number that's shown a significant increase is the number of "agents" who're out there scrambling to nab practically anybody they see with brown skin.

I'd really like to see an accounting of the cost effectiveness of this giant clusterfuck.

ICE Arrests of Migrants Without Criminal Records Surge Nearly 200 Percent

Afar larger share of non‑criminal migrants have been arrested as part of the Trump administration's expanded immigration enforcement campaign, according to new federal and independent data.

The director of the Deportation Data Project told Newsweek that he found it "impossible" for the president to keep his promise of mass deportations of "criminals." Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at DHS, however, told Newsweek, in part, "It is not an accurate description to say they are 'non-criminals.' This deceptive categorization is devoid of reality and misleads the American public. Let us remind you that being here illegally is in fact a crime (8 USC 1325)."

Why It Matters

President Donald Trump emphasized a prioritization of the removal of violent offenders and the "worst of the worst" during his presidential campaign; however, data shows growing arrests of people without U.S. criminal charges or convictions, raising legal and policy questions about resources, detention capacity and humanitarian oversight.

Recent cases involving nonviolent immigrants lacking criminal records have exacerbated concerns and led to broader discussions of whether immigrants, in certain instances, who lack citizenship but have abided by all other U.S. laws, should be removed.

What To Know

Federal and independent datasets show that ICE arrested substantially more people overall during the Trump administration's first six months in office than during the final six months of the Biden administration.

Researchers at the the University of California at Berkeley's Deportation Data Project, which compiles federal data, found that roughly 37 percent of ICE arrests in July 2025 were of people with no U.S. criminal convictions or pending charges—doubling to about 92,000 during the first six months of the Trump administration compared with the final half‑year of the Joe Biden administration.

That 37 percent figure is up from 13 percent during Biden's last full month in office in December.

"As the [Trump] administration increases immigration arrests, it will inevitably sweep in many people with no criminal record," Davis Hausman, a law professor and faculty director of the Deportation Data Project, told Newsweek via email on Thursday. "There just aren't many noncitizens with criminal records, so the promise of mass deportations of criminals is an impossible one to keep."

The Trump administration has dramatically increased arrests of people who have never been convicted of a crime in the US, accounting for a little more than 60 percent of ICE arrests during his first six months in office, roughly equating to 188 days, compared to the 44 percent of arrests during Biden's last six months as president.

Of the Trump administration's approximate 132,485 arrests, 39 percent had criminal convictions; 31 percent had criminal charges pending; and 30 percent had no criminal charges.

In comparison, the Biden administration's approximate 52,334 arrests included 56 percent with criminal convictions, 28 percent with pending criminal charges, and 16 percent with no criminal charges.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at DHS, told Newsweek via email that the Deportation Data Project "is being cherry picked...to peddle a false narrative."

Multiple independent analyses and reporting showed the detention population rose to record levels in June and July, with estimates of roughly 55,000 to 59,000 people held in ICE facilities during late June and July, according to The Guardian—noting that ICE arrests have more than doubled in 38 states and are most prevalent in states with large immigrant populations including California, Florida and Texas.

Southern and western states that have embraced Trump's agenda have also experienced higher arrests.

During a White House meeting in May, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller urged ICE agents to aim for as many as 3,000 arrests per day.

A recent case involving a Chinese immigrant and small-business restaurant owner, Kelly Yu, in Arizona has led to bipartisan calls for her release from ICE detainment. DHS has refuted statements in her defense.

"Lai Kuen Yu, an illegal alien from Hong Kong, has had a final deportation order from a judge since 2005," Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at DHS, told Newsweek via email. "She was arrested illegally crossing the border by U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona on February 4, 2004, and two days later was released into the country."

DHS said that in November 2013, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed her appeal and upheld her final order of removal. On August 23, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied her appeal.

On June 12 of this year, the Board of Immigration Appeals granted her a temporary stay of removal while it considers her motion to reopen. She will remain in ICE custody pending her removal proceedings.

"ICE does not deport U.S. citizens," McLaughlin said. "It's her choice. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with someone the parent designates."

What People Are Saying

Davis Hausman, a law professor and faculty director of the Deportation Data Project, told Newsweek via email on Thursday: "As the [Trump] administration increases immigration arrests, it will inevitably sweep in many people with no criminal record. There just aren't many noncitizens with criminal records, so the promise of mass deportations of criminals is an impossible one to keep."

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at DHS, told Newsweek via email on Thursday: "This data is being cherry picked by the Deportation Data Project to peddle a false narrative. Many of the individuals that are counted as 'non-criminals' are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more; they just don't have a rap sheet in the U.S. Further, every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally.

"It is not an accurate description to say they are 'non-criminals.' This deceptive categorization is devoid of reality and misleads the American public. Let us remind you that being here illegally is in fact a crime (8 USC 1325). We are putting the American people first by removing illegal aliens who pose a threat to our communities."

What Happens Next

Lawmakers have sent oversight letters raising priority questions for enforcement, and legal groups filed suits challenging arrests at courthouses and expanded detention practices, indicating litigation and hearings were likely to follow.

The administration has sought expanded detention capacity and funding to sustain higher arrest rates, with federal budget allocations and proposals under discussion as the enforcement campaign continues.

Some Data

The law-n-order gang used to spend a lot of time whining about illegal tactics by a tyrannical government. But now - cue the crickets.

MAGA freaks puff up their chest and say idiotic things like "I just want those immigrants to do it the right way" with absolutely no sense of how fucking stupid they sound.

Fake lord have mercy.

One in Five ICE Arrests Are Latinos on the Streets with No Criminal Past or Removal Order

On August 11, Deportation Data Project released new data from the government that cover through July 28. The analysis was updated using the new data below. The new data differ somewhat, but the general conclusions remain unchanged.

Illegal profiling accounts for a substantial portion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in 2025. While ICE has other tactics to arrest peaceful immigrants—such as during immigration hearings, appointments, and check-ins—ICE agents are deliberately targeting workers in heavily Latino jobs and neighborhoods, sometimes based on its community tip line where residents claim to “see” illegal immigrants in their areas, but more often based on nothing at all.

This policy is a threat to the rights of all people in the United States.

ICE Is Arresting Thousands of People with No Reason to Target Them

New data obtained from ICE by the Deportation Data Project drives home how frequently Latino immigrants are arrested off the streets without any recent prior contact with law enforcement. The screenshot below shows what the data look like. Each row represents an individual arrest and provides details about the arrest method, criminal history, and citizenship status. The most notable aspect of the new data is that they provide the exact location of each person’s apprehension.

The key takeaway is that ICE is arresting thousands of people in random locations—what it calls “non-specific” or “general” areas—who had no prior contact with law enforcement: the telltale sign of illegal profiling. Normally, ICE makes arrests only after the suspect has been identified in some other way. For instance, they were arrested by local police and their name was checked against the government data, or they were going to an appointment related to their status, so ICE knew they would be there. But in these cases, ICE is arresting people who weren’t going to appointments or committing criminal offenses that would put them on ICE’s radar, as well as people who had not been ordered removed from the country, giving ICE a reason to seek them out.

Example of Detailed Records for Individual ICE Arrests, June 2025
ICE arrests spreadsheet showing nonspecific arrests

Since January 20 through the end of July, ICE has conducted over 16,000 street arrests of immigrants who had no criminal convictions, charges, or removal orders. Incredibly, over half (nearly 9,000) occurred in June and July alone: about 90 percent of them were immigrants from Latin America.

Street arrests refer to arrests in non-specific locations and exclude anyone in jails, prisons, offices, courts, police departments, detention centers, facilities, or anyone otherwise in the custody of any agency. Because ICE rarely sends agents to specifically arrest noncriminal immigrants whom it cannot promptly remove, and because it is difficult to locate and identify people who have not committed crimes or gone through removal proceedings, this is the likely population of people ICE has targeted through illegal street profiling. Most of these arrests do not have a “fugitive operations” designation, which are the agents who would normally track down specific people.

These types of arrests without charges, convictions, or removal orders on the streets increased from 4 percent of a relatively small number of arrests in December to 19 percent of a massive number of arrests in July. Again, nearly one in five ICE arrests is a Latin American on the streets without a criminal history or a removal order.

Although some street arrests of noncriminals did take place before, it is not believable that ICE could suddenly identify this many people on the streets without profiling them when they weren’t previously identified by law enforcement.

ICE’s Illegal Profiling Is Well Documented

As Tom Homan described it, ICE and Border Patrol are detaining people “based on the location, their occupation, their physical appearance, their actions like…the person walks away.” According to the Wall Street Journal, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told ICE in mid-May to stop “develop[ing] target lists of immigrants” and just “go out on the streets” and arrest people “right away” at Home Depots or 7‑Elevens. At the same time, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations acting leader Marcos Charles told his agents to “turn up the creative knob up to 11 and push the envelope…If it involves handcuffs on wrists, it’s probably worth pursuing.”

The results of the White House’s May order are clearly evident when looking at the rolling weekly totals for street arrests of Latinos without criminal convictions, pending charges, or removal orders. Although we know that there was profiling happening even before May, the mid-May spike is different. The weekly totals increase sharply after the inauguration from a pre-inauguration weekly total of 118, but then they fall and level off at around 450 until mid-May. After Miller’s meeting, however, street arrests of immigrants without removal orders, criminal convictions, or charges increased more than threefold, from 450 to over 1,318 in June.

In any case, we know ICE is involved in illegal profiling because a July 11 district court ordered ICE to stop these activities in the Los Angeles area, and the appeals court upheld that order this week. The ruling has had a dramatic effect on the number of arrests in Los Angeles, confirming that it was profiling. It reduced these street arrests by 83 percent.

How is this happening on the ground? Here’s a description of ICE’s activities in the district court order that attempted to block this conduct in Los Angeles:

Officers approach suddenly and in large numbers in military style or SWAT clothing, heavily armed with weapons displayed, masked, and with their vests displaying a generic “POLICE” patch (if any display at all). Agents typically position themselves around individuals, aggressively engage them, and/​or shout commands, making it impossible for individuals to decline to answer their questions. When individuals have tried to avoid an encounter with agents and officers, they have been followed and pushed to the ground, sometimes even beaten, and then taken away.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals describes a specific incident:

Vasquez Perdomo and Osorto sat on the bench, and Villegas Molina stood next to them. Suddenly, four unmarked cars pulled up and surrounded them. The cars were large and black with tinted windows and had no license plates. The doors opened and men in masks with guns started running at them aggressively. One of the men had a “large” military-style gun. The masked men wore regular clothes, they had no visible badges, and they did not identify themselves.

Vasquez Perdomo, Osorto, and Villegas Molina were afraid they were being kidnapped. Vasquez Perdomo tried to move away but was immediately surrounded by several men with guns. They grabbed him, put his hands behind his back, and handcuffed him. Then, one of the men asked him for identification. Vasquez Perdomo said in English, “I have the right to remain silent.”

…Osorto did not know the men were government agents. Terrified, he tried to run. The men yelled “stop” but did not identify themselves as law enforcement officers. Soon, one of the men caught up to Osorto, pointed a taser over his heart, and yelled, “Stop or I’ll use it!” Osorto stopped immediately, and the man handcuffed him. The unidentified, masked, and armed men put Vasquez Perdomo, Osorto, and Villegas Molina into separate cars and drove them to a parking lot where they interrogated them further. Eventually, the men chained each plaintiff at the hands, waist, and feet and took them to a Los Angeles detention center. The men never identified themselves to the plaintiffs…

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also relies on its community tip line, where people can claim to “see” illegal immigrants. ICE Special Agent Rebecca González-Ramos told NPR that ICE knows that some accusations against employers come from “competitors” seeking “a lot of revenge,” but she sees that as an opportunity. In Maine, Border Patrol responds to sightings of “possible illegal aliens” and then makes arrests. In Florida, Fox News reported on a “first of its kind” operation that started with a tip line complaint in a retirement community:

ICE moves from house to house, approaching workers. ICE describes the interaction as a consensual and optional conversation since they did not have a warrant. Agents question their legal status and those who couldn’t provide valid immigration documentation were fingerprinted….Tampa agents talked to 361 construction workers yesterday, but arrested 33.

In other words, ICE admits that its profiling was accurate less than 10 percent of the time. Although ICE claims the encounters are “consensual,” they are not. Workers who try to leave are threatened or tackled. One landscaper accosted by Border Patrol outside an IHOP was pepper-sprayed, tackled, and beaten after he “refused to answer questions” and tried to walk away—and that’s according to DHS. He was the father of three US Marines and had no criminal history. Yet another landscaper was tackled inside a California surgical center, and although the agency initially claimed in a press statement that his arrest was part of a “targeted operation,” its court affidavit stated the agents were doing a “roving patrol” and he was not identified as “illegal” until later, after his arrest. He also had no criminal history.

ICE Profiling Targets US Citizens and Legal Immigrants

It is no surprise that US citizens are also being tackled and arrested. Here’s a case just minutes away from the others where, after tackling the US citizen, the agents shrug and say, “Why were you running?” ICE tackled and arrested a US citizen and veteran, George Retes, and detained him for three days following a worksite raid in California. US citizen Leonardo Garcia Venegas, who was tackled by agents at a jobsite in Alabama in May, said they dismissed his REAL ID as fake. The casual dismissal of identification is also a common refrain in these racial profiling cases of US citizens.

Agents tackled a 32-year-old US citizen, Andrea Velez, on her way to work in June. The 4’11” woman was then accused of assaulting the ICE agent by putting her hand out as the agent ran her over. The agents claimed that they were chasing some other people to figure out if they were in the country illegally when they crashed into her. They asked Velez about her legal status after literally picking her up and carrying her away. These bogus assault charges against US citizens are becoming a disturbingly common tactic to justify racial profiling mistakes. Fortunately, the charges against Velez and several others were dismissed. Another US citizen, Job Garcia, was also tackled and beaten in a similar manner and was detained for 24 hours.

An American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit regarding these tactics in Los Angeles involves US citizens detained by DHS for questioning. As the appeals court decision upholding the lower court’s ban on these tactics in the city explained:

Jason Brian Gavidia is a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in East Los Angeles and identifies as Latino. On the afternoon of June 12, he stepped onto the sidewalk outside of a tow yard in Montebello, California, where he saw agents carrying handguns and military-style rifles. One agent ordered him to “Stop right there” while another “ran towards [him].” The agents repeatedly asked Gavidia whether he is American—and they repeatedly ignored his answer: “I am an American.” The agents asked Gavidia what hospital he was born in—and he explained that he did not know which hospital. “The agents forcefully pushed [Gavidia] up against the metal gated fence, put [his] hands behind [his] back, and twisted [his] arm.” An agent asked again, “What hospital were you born in?”

Most of that incident is recorded on video. Another US citizen named in the lawsuit was arrested and removed from his job because he did not carry his passport, only his driver’s license.

A separate ACLU lawsuit involves a legal permanent resident who was arrested by Border Patrol when going to work in California’s Central Valley, and a judge in that part of the state also issued an order blocking these illegal tactics. As the appeals court notes in its decision, stops are unconstitutional when they are based on broad criteria that would sweep up numerous innocent people. Setting aside the unconstitutionality of these detentions and arrests, however, the Immigration and Nationality Act itself prohibits ICE and Border Patrol from even interrogating anyone about their right to be in the United States without a warrant or reasonable basis to believe that they are an “alien.”

Mass deportation is a socially and economically damaging goal regardless, but it’s certainly not a goal for which we should sacrifice a sliver of our liberty or the Constitution. Only time will tell whether ICE and Border Patrol can continue to get away with these tactics.

Undocumented My Ass

DHS has an extra $150B for their budget, and they've been spending it lavishly on 50-thousand-dollar signing bonuses for new ICE agents, who'll start at $100K a year.

They're buying fleets of cars and vans, helicopters and airplanes and weapons and gear.

All for the purpose of rounding up brown people. And when I say "all", I mean it's a safe bet that some of it is coming off the top and going straight into the boss's pocket.

Anyway, we're spending way more than we should - way more than we need to be spending.

So let's do something radical and make the whole mess a lot more cost-effective.

Let's send those ICE guys out to find all those undocumented people and - uh - you know - document them.

Boston Legal

Today's Hawk

I'm old and fat and in terrible condition - I wonder if I can get in on this fun.

Say What?

ABC News headline:

Why Is Summer Tourism Down In The US?

U.S. Tourism Will Lose Up To $29 Billion As Visitors Plummet Amid Trump Policies

While tourism is booming across the rest of the world, the U.S. is a notable loser this year as tens of millions of international visitors are choosing to travel elsewhere—costing the economy up to $29 billion—and risking millions of jobs.

-more- (pay wall)

Say Hello To ICE

PDS Clips

With all the money we're throwing at DHS, should we be seeing some improvement in procedure and facilities and training and - who the fuck am I tryin' to kid?

A Built-In Problem

There was a very similar problem with German SS. They were initially tasked with shooting prisoners, and it fucked up their morale something awful.

I guess we can only hope Stephen Miller isn't concocting some shitty scheme to provide a better "solution".

And I have to wonder - it seems pretty obvious that there aren't millions of dangerous criminals among the undocumented immigrants. Will this fact finally break thru, and show people the problem isn't what they've been told it is?