Rachel Simmonsen

WBAL in Baltimore helping viewers understand the difference between watches and warnings

“Losing My Religion”was released 35 years ago today. The lead single from Out Of Time earned multiple GRAMMY Awards, topped charts worldwide, and helped redefine what alternative rock could sound like on mainstream radio.

More here: i.craftrecordings.com/rem-outoftime

We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”

"On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1 More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet].

So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination). Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) ¶ 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. ¶ 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. ¶ 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. ¶ 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. ¶ 5. They claim that Secretary Noem’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law. Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary’s decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI. Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem

has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up, twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all. See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id. The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes, the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary, Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A. As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot]

Dkt. 100 (§ 705 Reply) at 20–21.4 “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason” does not exactly scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return. And so, the Government studiously does not argue that Plaintiffs will suffer no harm if removed to Haiti. Instead, it argues Plaintiffs will not certainly suffer irreparable harm because DHS might not remove them. But this fails to take Secretary Noem at her word: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” See Section IV.B.2.b. Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959 lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of them. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.

Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.

It's a tour de force:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

How to Film ICE Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact.

Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact. www.wired.com/story/how-to...

Good luck to all the fellow caregivers navigating online learning today. Having serious pandemic flashbacks...

brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

Baltimore!

Baltimorioles protesting in force outside the ICE field office. #Baltimore

Another ICE murder in Minneapolis!

Rally at City Hall 6pm TONIGHT!

Oh, that's me! What a great photo!

The sign game was on point.

A cold but beautiful night for fighting back against fascists.

I know transit is pretty bad across North America, but most of you have no excuse to not take transit at least once a week.

A perfect Baltimore afternoon. ❤️

A lantern and small elephant sculpture at Akbar restaurant

Finished with dinner at Akbar.

A collage of photos behind a makeshift basketball hoop, with designs on the floor meant to look like a basketball court

An oversized basketball hoop, with light-up net, in the lobby of the central library.

Next stop: the House of Mello exhibit at the central library. Really well-designed, with artwork, interactive elements, and biographical info spread throughout the various sections of the library (which itself is a piece of art). And the exhibit is free!

A statue of Isis with Horus the Child in the Ancient Egypt gallery.

Metal cylinders hanging from the ceiling in the Walters lobby, with blue skies visible through the windows.

A girl sitting in a folding stool in front of a mosaic map

Wonders of the natural world exhibit, featuring a crab, coral, and shells

We had a fun afternoon playing tourists here in Baltimore. We started at the always fabulous (and free!) Walters Art Museum, which now offers clipboards, paper, and pencils for sketching or taking notes, and folding stools so you can sit a spell wherever you like.

A List of Predictions Made in 1926 About 2026

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Baltimore YouTube video by Randy Newman - Topic

today's first song of the day is "baltimore" by randy newman

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz1o...

Woody Guthrie’s New Year's resolutions for 1943.

“Wake up and fight.”

Wreck by Catherine Newman

Can you imagine?

Idiocy. Bigotry. Cruelty.

Donald Trump’s racist attack on Somali Americans YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie

i made a video about the president's gutter racism against somali-americans and how a scandal became a smear became a call for de facto ethnic cleansing

Thank you for asking! I looked up the agenda and was puzzled.

The Gardener by Giuseppe Arcimboldo via DailyArt mobile app When I look at this painting, I dream of some great, tasty, and warm soup. The painting we present today was created by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, famous for his imaginative portrait heads made entirely of

So clever!

You can curse daylight saving time, daylight saving, daylight savings, daylight savings time, and/or daylight time.

All are considered acceptable so go off.

Halloween from
Down Under

I love Kangaroos
Just had to share
(sound up) 🎃🤣