Oct 4, 2025
Oct 3, 2025
Coming For You
First they came for the career bureaucrats ...
Then, they came for the soybean farmers ...Then they came for the energy sector workers ...
Then they came for the construction guys ...
A billion dollars in Trump's pocket eventually translates to about a million Americans losing their jobs in seemingly unrelated fields.
"Downstream effects"
The Tourist Blight
When I was a kid, the lore was that Black Bear Pass killed a few people every few years.
Then they kinda Flat-Lander-ized it, and now the thing mostly just kills a tourist's rent-a-car once in a while.
If you fuck up and give it a chance, the mountain will kill you.
Hey, Everyone: Look at This Stupid Kia Telluride, Stuck in Telluride
Truck and SUV commercials love showing their vehicles scaling high mountain peaks and ancient temples, but most dirt roads and mountain trails are simply too much for the average driver. Just look at this moron who got a Kia Telluride stuck on Black Bear Pass outside Telluride.
In an October 1 announcement on social media, the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office shared photos of a white Kia Telluride SUV high-centered on the side of the mountain trail. According to the post, the man was from South Carolina and drove up the one-way road “despite being advised not to do so by people in the area.”
The driver of the high-centered vehicle was from South Carolina, according to law enforcement.
The incident left the vehicle “unstable,” and as a result Black Bear Pass and parts of the nearby Bridal Veil Road are closed indefinitely, the sheriff’s office adds.
“The vehicle requires tow, and it is unknown at this point when this can happen. Bridal Veil Road up to the Falls is also closed just past the parking lot which prohibits access to the Via Ferrata. Bridal Veil Trail will remain open,” the post notes.
In the battle of Tellurides, always choose the mountain. Didn’t Game of Thrones teach us anything?
Colorado’s mountain ranges have swallowed cars and driver dignity before. In 2023, the driver of a GMC Canyon pickup truck got stuck on an undriveable path in Park County, near the 14,178-foot summit of Mount Bross. Thanks to a Bobcat loader vehicle, the truck, registered in Arkansas, was recovered in about a week.
In an October 1 announcement on social media, the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office shared photos of a white Kia Telluride SUV high-centered on the side of the mountain trail. According to the post, the man was from South Carolina and drove up the one-way road “despite being advised not to do so by people in the area.”
The driver of the high-centered vehicle was from South Carolina, according to law enforcement.
The incident left the vehicle “unstable,” and as a result Black Bear Pass and parts of the nearby Bridal Veil Road are closed indefinitely, the sheriff’s office adds.
“The vehicle requires tow, and it is unknown at this point when this can happen. Bridal Veil Road up to the Falls is also closed just past the parking lot which prohibits access to the Via Ferrata. Bridal Veil Trail will remain open,” the post notes.
In the battle of Tellurides, always choose the mountain. Didn’t Game of Thrones teach us anything?
Colorado’s mountain ranges have swallowed cars and driver dignity before. In 2023, the driver of a GMC Canyon pickup truck got stuck on an undriveable path in Park County, near the 14,178-foot summit of Mount Bross. Thanks to a Bobcat loader vehicle, the truck, registered in Arkansas, was recovered in about a week.
Oops
He Doesn’t Live There.
A long paper trail shows that Jack Posobiec votes in one state and lives in another.
Jack Posobiec is very concerned about voter fraud. An influential MAGA voice and prominent conspiracy theorist, he’s perhaps best known for amplifying the 2016 “Pizzagate” conspiracy, which culminated in a man firing a gun in a D.C. pizza restaurant. In the years since, Posobiec has loudly espoused a range of debunked conspiracy theories. That includes the GOP theory—once semi-fringe and now thoroughly MAGA mainstreamed—that Democrats have won elections via millions of fraudulent votes. The Republican National Committee last fall enlisted him to speak to poll watchers about election security. Posobiec is particularly focused on Pennsylvania, repeatedly accusing the state’s Democratic officials of fraud, even spreading conspiracy theories that were followed by an RNC lawsuit.
The focus on voter fraud in Pennsylvania is particularly ironic because it sure looks like, and a trail of documentation suggests, that Posobiec is living in Maryland but voting in Pennsylvania. If so, that would be a violation of voting laws, experts say.
The 40-year-old Posobiec has voted in Pennsylvania elections from 2004 to 2024, both in person and by mail, according to a copy of his voting record viewed by Slate and the Handbasket. Until 2016, Posobiec used military and civilian overseas ballots. After resigning from his job as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer in 2017, he remained in Maryland while becoming a full-time influencer and political activist with groups such as Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. He continued voting in Pennsylvania via absentee ballots and, later, in-person on-demand mail voting, using his parents’ home address in 2018, 2022, and 2024, according to an official copy of his voter information file from Montgomery County obtained through a right-to-know request.
There’s nothing untoward about any of that, provided Posobiec actually lives in Pennsylvania. But the evidence is extremely strong that he doesn’t. Instead, it suggests that, despite growing up in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Posobiec has lived in Maryland for almost a decade.
In a 2017 divorce complaint from his first wife, Posobiec listed a Maryland apartment as his address. Both he and his current wife, Tanya, have posted on their personal social media accounts photos of the suburban Maryland home they appear to have resided in since 2018. Tanya often calls the house “home”—at least five times, according to our review—and shows many milestones of family life there. She also lists her location as the District of Columbia on Facebook and enrolls in family crafts and lessons in the area, according to her social media posts. She registered to vote at their Maryland address on Election Day 2020. (Posobiec voted that year in person in Pennsylvania.)
Perhaps most damningly, Posobiec listed a Maryland address—the same one he and his wife show in social media posts—more than a dozen times in his 2024 political contributions, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Some of those contributions (which, again, listed Maryland as his home address) were made on Oct. 27, 2024. Exactly two weeks earlier, Posobiec posted a photo on X featuring a Pennsylvania ballot and captioned: “SECURED THE BAG. Just stopped by the county voting board and did the deed—easy and even open on Sunday! Vote Early, Pennsylvania!” His voting record shows that he voted by hand-delivered mail-in ballot that day.
So is this the dreaded “voter fraud” that Posobiec has been warning America about? Determining legal residency for voting takes multiple factors into account, but Posobiec’s situation appears problematic, according to Pennsylvania election law expert and attorney Adam Bonin. “Your legal residence is where your life is rooted, the place you come back to,” he explained. “Usually, where your spouse lives is where you are presumed to live, but we look at the totality of the circumstances,” adding that other evidence, like where someone pays taxes, whether they have a full-time job nearby, and whether their home is intended to be permanent, all comes into play. “You only have one residence for voting, and you can’t choose where you vote based on convenience or politics,” Bonin said.
(College students and members of the military are two exceptions and are allowed to vote in the place of their most recent legal residency, Bonin noted, as those two groups’ situations are considered temporary.)
Posobiec has not been charged with any violation of voting laws, but both the Pennsylvania state attorney general’s office and the Montgomery County district attorney’s office were previously made aware of Posobiec’s possible residency in Maryland, a source with knowledge told us. A spokesperson for the county DA’s office said they do not comment on active investigations. A spokesperson for Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office said that the office does not discuss investigations or confirm their existence, but that, “generally speaking, our office has jurisdiction over the Pennsylvania Election Code.”
A long paper trail shows that Jack Posobiec votes in one state and lives in another.
Jack Posobiec is very concerned about voter fraud. An influential MAGA voice and prominent conspiracy theorist, he’s perhaps best known for amplifying the 2016 “Pizzagate” conspiracy, which culminated in a man firing a gun in a D.C. pizza restaurant. In the years since, Posobiec has loudly espoused a range of debunked conspiracy theories. That includes the GOP theory—once semi-fringe and now thoroughly MAGA mainstreamed—that Democrats have won elections via millions of fraudulent votes. The Republican National Committee last fall enlisted him to speak to poll watchers about election security. Posobiec is particularly focused on Pennsylvania, repeatedly accusing the state’s Democratic officials of fraud, even spreading conspiracy theories that were followed by an RNC lawsuit.
The focus on voter fraud in Pennsylvania is particularly ironic because it sure looks like, and a trail of documentation suggests, that Posobiec is living in Maryland but voting in Pennsylvania. If so, that would be a violation of voting laws, experts say.
The 40-year-old Posobiec has voted in Pennsylvania elections from 2004 to 2024, both in person and by mail, according to a copy of his voting record viewed by Slate and the Handbasket. Until 2016, Posobiec used military and civilian overseas ballots. After resigning from his job as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer in 2017, he remained in Maryland while becoming a full-time influencer and political activist with groups such as Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. He continued voting in Pennsylvania via absentee ballots and, later, in-person on-demand mail voting, using his parents’ home address in 2018, 2022, and 2024, according to an official copy of his voter information file from Montgomery County obtained through a right-to-know request.
There’s nothing untoward about any of that, provided Posobiec actually lives in Pennsylvania. But the evidence is extremely strong that he doesn’t. Instead, it suggests that, despite growing up in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Posobiec has lived in Maryland for almost a decade.
In a 2017 divorce complaint from his first wife, Posobiec listed a Maryland apartment as his address. Both he and his current wife, Tanya, have posted on their personal social media accounts photos of the suburban Maryland home they appear to have resided in since 2018. Tanya often calls the house “home”—at least five times, according to our review—and shows many milestones of family life there. She also lists her location as the District of Columbia on Facebook and enrolls in family crafts and lessons in the area, according to her social media posts. She registered to vote at their Maryland address on Election Day 2020. (Posobiec voted that year in person in Pennsylvania.)
Perhaps most damningly, Posobiec listed a Maryland address—the same one he and his wife show in social media posts—more than a dozen times in his 2024 political contributions, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Some of those contributions (which, again, listed Maryland as his home address) were made on Oct. 27, 2024. Exactly two weeks earlier, Posobiec posted a photo on X featuring a Pennsylvania ballot and captioned: “SECURED THE BAG. Just stopped by the county voting board and did the deed—easy and even open on Sunday! Vote Early, Pennsylvania!” His voting record shows that he voted by hand-delivered mail-in ballot that day.
So is this the dreaded “voter fraud” that Posobiec has been warning America about? Determining legal residency for voting takes multiple factors into account, but Posobiec’s situation appears problematic, according to Pennsylvania election law expert and attorney Adam Bonin. “Your legal residence is where your life is rooted, the place you come back to,” he explained. “Usually, where your spouse lives is where you are presumed to live, but we look at the totality of the circumstances,” adding that other evidence, like where someone pays taxes, whether they have a full-time job nearby, and whether their home is intended to be permanent, all comes into play. “You only have one residence for voting, and you can’t choose where you vote based on convenience or politics,” Bonin said.
(College students and members of the military are two exceptions and are allowed to vote in the place of their most recent legal residency, Bonin noted, as those two groups’ situations are considered temporary.)
Posobiec has not been charged with any violation of voting laws, but both the Pennsylvania state attorney general’s office and the Montgomery County district attorney’s office were previously made aware of Posobiec’s possible residency in Maryland, a source with knowledge told us. A spokesperson for the county DA’s office said they do not comment on active investigations. A spokesperson for Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office said that the office does not discuss investigations or confirm their existence, but that, “generally speaking, our office has jurisdiction over the Pennsylvania Election Code.”
In a brief phone call, Posobiec said he was unavailable to speak. He did not reply to a list of emailed questions.
There’s a strong political incentive to vote in Pennsylvania: It’s an all-important swing state, where voters wield tremendously outsize influence over the future of American politics. Maryland, meanwhile, is a solidly blue state (at least in national elections), whose voters—thanks to the U.S. Electoral College system—are effectively sidelined when it’s time to pick the president.
The whole saga is a bit rich. For more than a decade, Republicans have been pushing conspiracy theories about mass voter fraud. Even before Donald Trump, they used those claims as the basis for laws that make it more difficult to vote. And MAGA’s ascendancy has supercharged the conspiracy: The belief that 2020 was a “stolen election” is now gospel for much of the GOP, and it was at the heart of efforts to overturn the result—in court, in Congress, and, most famously, via the Capitol insurrection.
But for all the bleating, the conspiracy theorists have continually failed to find widespread fraud. Despite court cases and mass searches, there have been vanishingly few substantiated instances of voters illegally casting ballots.
Perhaps, for Posobiec, it’s a grand exercise in projection.
Posobiec was part of extensive efforts to spread conspiracies about the results of the 2020 presidential election, posting often to Twitter (now X) with the movement’s catchphrase, “Stop the Steal,” as early as September of that year. He spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, the prelude to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
In the run-up to the 2024 election, Posobiec was again pushing voting fraud claims along with other prominent Trump supporters—particularly in Pennsylvania. His claims about fraudulent registrations in the state went viral throughout that fall, as Pennsylvania became ground zero of the closely contested election. He accused Gov. Josh Shapiro of “disenfranchising” voters by not posting about extended early voting days in Bucks County and claimed: “Thousands of fraudulent registrations have already been reported in multiple counties across PA and we all saw Josh Shapiro sit silent as officers blocked people from early voting yesterday.” Here he was, echoing Trump’s assertion in the days before the election that “Pennsylvania is cheating, and getting caught, at large scale levels rarely seen before.” State officials repeatedly denied Trump’s and Posobiec’s allegations.
Posobiec zeroed in on his parents’ Democratic-leaning county, falsely accusing a Montgomery County commissioner of voting illegally. The RNC sued the county with related allegations four days after Posobiec’s post but withdrew the suit weeks later. The judge opined that “the Petitioners have failed to produce any evidence that Montgomery County has violated any federal or state law … [or] that the testing procedures employed by Montgomery County are unlawful or inaccurate.”
Many of Posobiec’s attacks on election integrity in the state focused on Shapiro, accusing him of various electoral improprieties and “MAGA suppression.” Shapiro, like Posobiec, grew up in Montgomery County, and his 2011 election to its board of commissioners flipped control from a GOP stronghold to a reliably blue county.
“Yesterday in Pennsylvania I saw officers blocking people from voting early in person. I saw Democrats wearing fake badges illegally posing as election officials. And I didn’t see Gov Josh Shapiro doing a single thing about it. This is who Shapiro is. A bum,” he posted on Oct. 30.
“The integrity of our elections is paramount. Voter fraud is extremely rare and in the few circumstances where it occurs, individualized,” said Neil Makhija, chair of Montgomery County’s Board of Commissioners and Board of Elections, in a statement sent to Slate and the Handbasket.
He continued: “As chairman of Montgomery County Board of Elections, I take all allegations of election fraud seriously and make referrals as appropriate to our law enforcement partners. We are grateful that these crimes are assiduously investigated and prosecuted by our DAs, AG and DOJ, ensuring the integrity of our elections, as evidenced by these recent prosecutions by the USAO of the EDPA. We do not comment on individual matters.”
Despite—or perhaps because of—his role promoting voting fraud conspiracies, Posobiec has become a high-profile figure on the right. He was invited to join Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on his first trip to Europe in February, a decision that sparked alarm among defense officials concerned about the optics of a divisive political figure attending a trip to meet U.S. allies. Last month, CNN drew criticism for platforming the conspiracy theorist to speak about slain colleague Charlie Kirk, describing him simply as “a friend” of Kirk’s and a “conservative commentator.”
This past April, Posobiec was a panelist at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, where the state’s Republican attorney general, Dave Sunday, was a speaker. The conference focused in part on election integrity.
Sunday’s spokesperson said the two do not have a relationship.
There’s a strong political incentive to vote in Pennsylvania: It’s an all-important swing state, where voters wield tremendously outsize influence over the future of American politics. Maryland, meanwhile, is a solidly blue state (at least in national elections), whose voters—thanks to the U.S. Electoral College system—are effectively sidelined when it’s time to pick the president.
The whole saga is a bit rich. For more than a decade, Republicans have been pushing conspiracy theories about mass voter fraud. Even before Donald Trump, they used those claims as the basis for laws that make it more difficult to vote. And MAGA’s ascendancy has supercharged the conspiracy: The belief that 2020 was a “stolen election” is now gospel for much of the GOP, and it was at the heart of efforts to overturn the result—in court, in Congress, and, most famously, via the Capitol insurrection.
But for all the bleating, the conspiracy theorists have continually failed to find widespread fraud. Despite court cases and mass searches, there have been vanishingly few substantiated instances of voters illegally casting ballots.
Perhaps, for Posobiec, it’s a grand exercise in projection.
Posobiec was part of extensive efforts to spread conspiracies about the results of the 2020 presidential election, posting often to Twitter (now X) with the movement’s catchphrase, “Stop the Steal,” as early as September of that year. He spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, the prelude to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
In the run-up to the 2024 election, Posobiec was again pushing voting fraud claims along with other prominent Trump supporters—particularly in Pennsylvania. His claims about fraudulent registrations in the state went viral throughout that fall, as Pennsylvania became ground zero of the closely contested election. He accused Gov. Josh Shapiro of “disenfranchising” voters by not posting about extended early voting days in Bucks County and claimed: “Thousands of fraudulent registrations have already been reported in multiple counties across PA and we all saw Josh Shapiro sit silent as officers blocked people from early voting yesterday.” Here he was, echoing Trump’s assertion in the days before the election that “Pennsylvania is cheating, and getting caught, at large scale levels rarely seen before.” State officials repeatedly denied Trump’s and Posobiec’s allegations.
Posobiec zeroed in on his parents’ Democratic-leaning county, falsely accusing a Montgomery County commissioner of voting illegally. The RNC sued the county with related allegations four days after Posobiec’s post but withdrew the suit weeks later. The judge opined that “the Petitioners have failed to produce any evidence that Montgomery County has violated any federal or state law … [or] that the testing procedures employed by Montgomery County are unlawful or inaccurate.”
Many of Posobiec’s attacks on election integrity in the state focused on Shapiro, accusing him of various electoral improprieties and “MAGA suppression.” Shapiro, like Posobiec, grew up in Montgomery County, and his 2011 election to its board of commissioners flipped control from a GOP stronghold to a reliably blue county.
“Yesterday in Pennsylvania I saw officers blocking people from voting early in person. I saw Democrats wearing fake badges illegally posing as election officials. And I didn’t see Gov Josh Shapiro doing a single thing about it. This is who Shapiro is. A bum,” he posted on Oct. 30.
“The integrity of our elections is paramount. Voter fraud is extremely rare and in the few circumstances where it occurs, individualized,” said Neil Makhija, chair of Montgomery County’s Board of Commissioners and Board of Elections, in a statement sent to Slate and the Handbasket.
He continued: “As chairman of Montgomery County Board of Elections, I take all allegations of election fraud seriously and make referrals as appropriate to our law enforcement partners. We are grateful that these crimes are assiduously investigated and prosecuted by our DAs, AG and DOJ, ensuring the integrity of our elections, as evidenced by these recent prosecutions by the USAO of the EDPA. We do not comment on individual matters.”
Despite—or perhaps because of—his role promoting voting fraud conspiracies, Posobiec has become a high-profile figure on the right. He was invited to join Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on his first trip to Europe in February, a decision that sparked alarm among defense officials concerned about the optics of a divisive political figure attending a trip to meet U.S. allies. Last month, CNN drew criticism for platforming the conspiracy theorist to speak about slain colleague Charlie Kirk, describing him simply as “a friend” of Kirk’s and a “conservative commentator.”
This past April, Posobiec was a panelist at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, where the state’s Republican attorney general, Dave Sunday, was a speaker. The conference focused in part on election integrity.
Sunday’s spokesperson said the two do not have a relationship.
We Call Them Fascist Assholes
... because they act like fascist assholes.
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 Agents Dragged Naked Children Out of Homes in Chicago Raid: Neighbors
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.
Ask And Ye Shall Be Answered
In June, SCOTUS handed Trump another pass by ruling that lower courts can't put a restraining order on the whole federal government in response to a lawsuit filed in a local or regional jurisdiction - unless its a class action suit that reaches across jurisdictions.
US-born citizen sues after twice being arrested by immigration agents
Leonardo Garcia Venegas was twice arrested in construction site sweeps.
Alabama man sues federal government after being detained by ICE twiceAttorney Jaba Tistsuashvili says his client, Garcia Venegas, was wrongly detained by ICE twice, one of which was a violent encounter, despite showing his real ID to prove his American citizenship.
A U.S.-born citizen who was arrested and detained by immigration authorities twice in recent months has filed a lawsuit against the federal government claiming he was improperly detained.
Leonardo Garcia Venegas, an American citizen and construction worker who lives and works in Baldwin, Alabama, claims the arrests were "unreasonable" and violated the Fourth Amendment that protects against unreasonable search and seizure.
"DHS authorizes these armed raids based on the general assumption that certain groups of people in the industry, including Latinos, are likely illegal immigrants," Venegas' attorney claimed in the lawsuit. "Once immigration officers are on a site, they preemptively seize everybody they think looks undocumented."
The lawsuit is a proposed class action complaint filed on behalf of U.S. citizens and lawful residents who, while working a construction job, "have been or will be subject to the Warrantless Entry Policy," the suit said, amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
The complaint alleges that immigration officers have enforced policies adopted by the Department of Homeland Security that "grant federal immigration officers sweeping search and seizure powers."
"ICE does NOT arrest or deport U.S. citizens," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement responding to accusations that immigration authorities have detained American citizens. "Any U.S. citizens arrested are because of obstructing or assaulting law enforcement."
According to the lawsuit, Venegas, who was born in the United States, was first detained in May at a construction site by armed men in camouflage.
"The officers ran right past the white and Black workers without detaining them and went straight for the Latino workers," his attorney claimed in the lawsuit.
Two weeks later, Venegas was allegedly arrested again on another private construction site "when another immigration patrol saw him working and assumed, without reasonable suspicion, that Leo was undocumented."
Both times, Venegas claims he told the officers he was a citizen and showed them his REAL ID, an identification card issued only to citizens and lawful residents, the lawsuit said.
"But the officers still wouldn't let him go," the suit said.
The lawsuit included 19 examples of citizens and lawful residents who have been allegedly detained "in circumstances" like Venegas.
"As Leo's experience shows, these unlawful policies have real consequences for innocent, hardworking Americans," the lawsuit said.
Trump seeks expedited Supreme Court review of birthright citizenship executive order
A statement released by DHS said that during a targeted worksite operation, "Garcia Venegas attempted to obstruct and prevent the lawful arrest of an illegal alien."
"He physically got in between agents and the subject they were attempting to arrest and refused to comply with numerous verbal commands," the statement said. "Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties, including U.S. citizens, will of course face consequences which include arrest."
So guess what.
Leonardo Garcia Venegas was twice arrested in construction site sweeps.
Alabama man sues federal government after being detained by ICE twiceAttorney Jaba Tistsuashvili says his client, Garcia Venegas, was wrongly detained by ICE twice, one of which was a violent encounter, despite showing his real ID to prove his American citizenship.
A U.S.-born citizen who was arrested and detained by immigration authorities twice in recent months has filed a lawsuit against the federal government claiming he was improperly detained.
Leonardo Garcia Venegas, an American citizen and construction worker who lives and works in Baldwin, Alabama, claims the arrests were "unreasonable" and violated the Fourth Amendment that protects against unreasonable search and seizure.
"DHS authorizes these armed raids based on the general assumption that certain groups of people in the industry, including Latinos, are likely illegal immigrants," Venegas' attorney claimed in the lawsuit. "Once immigration officers are on a site, they preemptively seize everybody they think looks undocumented."
The lawsuit is a proposed class action complaint filed on behalf of U.S. citizens and lawful residents who, while working a construction job, "have been or will be subject to the Warrantless Entry Policy," the suit said, amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
The complaint alleges that immigration officers have enforced policies adopted by the Department of Homeland Security that "grant federal immigration officers sweeping search and seizure powers."
"ICE does NOT arrest or deport U.S. citizens," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement responding to accusations that immigration authorities have detained American citizens. "Any U.S. citizens arrested are because of obstructing or assaulting law enforcement."
According to the lawsuit, Venegas, who was born in the United States, was first detained in May at a construction site by armed men in camouflage.
"The officers ran right past the white and Black workers without detaining them and went straight for the Latino workers," his attorney claimed in the lawsuit.
Two weeks later, Venegas was allegedly arrested again on another private construction site "when another immigration patrol saw him working and assumed, without reasonable suspicion, that Leo was undocumented."
Both times, Venegas claims he told the officers he was a citizen and showed them his REAL ID, an identification card issued only to citizens and lawful residents, the lawsuit said.
"But the officers still wouldn't let him go," the suit said.
The lawsuit included 19 examples of citizens and lawful residents who have been allegedly detained "in circumstances" like Venegas.
"As Leo's experience shows, these unlawful policies have real consequences for innocent, hardworking Americans," the lawsuit said.
Trump seeks expedited Supreme Court review of birthright citizenship executive order
A statement released by DHS said that during a targeted worksite operation, "Garcia Venegas attempted to obstruct and prevent the lawful arrest of an illegal alien."
"He physically got in between agents and the subject they were attempting to arrest and refused to comply with numerous verbal commands," the statement said. "Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties, including U.S. citizens, will of course face consequences which include arrest."
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