@graemeblair.com
Professor of Political Science at UCLA Deportation Data Project (deportationdata.org) Organizer at UCLA Faculty Association (AAUP+AFT) Posts do not represent the positions of any of these organizations 🇵🇸
"So I carry you too, Leqaa. And I will carry you until you are free, and then I will carry the memory of this year alongside you, because we are bound now by what has been done to us and by what we refuse to let it make us become."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
When Greg Bovino and his agents left Chicago, the reprieve came with a warning: They might return fourfold in March.
It's March. And Trump has fired Kristi Noem, instead.
On the lookout for a second surge, w/ @tinasfon.bsky.social and @sophiesherry.bsky.social: chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
New, with @jessicaschulberg.bsky.social: Immigration detention is not supposed to be punitive. But one man who spent 20 years in state prison told HuffPost the ICE detention facility he is currently in is worse. Inside Trump's plan to jail many, many more people:
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
NEW: ICE tackled + arrested Juanita Avila, an Oregon shop owner who is a legal permanent resident and had her green card in her pocket.
When she asked through sobs why they didn't believe her, one masked agent replied: “Because they lie all the time.”
Video + interview with her and her daughter:
The Deportation Data Project is hiring a fulltime senior research analyst to work with us on obtaining data on immigration enforcement in the US.
Competitive salary, excellent University of California benefits, and work on a small, collaborative team. Join us!
deportationdata.org/hiring.html
A reminder that ICE does not collect data on US citizens it detains, like it does for all other detainees, even when they are kept for hours or longer - so ProPublic had to collect the data themselves
The Massachusetts Department of Correction has been fighting me for months, trying to withhold data about its collaboration with ICE.
Yesterday, I won that fight, and obtained records showing that the state has transferred more than 2,000 people into ICE custody since 2009.
A quick thread:
The findings come from little-known documents called I-213 forms, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security, which are used in court to prove that a person is in the country illegally.
Read the full investigation here:
Important story from @themarshallproject.org on what happens when families are released from DHS detention:
“It boggles the mind why we're disrupting people from their immigration proceedings only to abduct them, incarcerate them at Dilley, and then just recycle them out the back door”
This is a practice and policy that came from local policing -- police and prosecutors can lie to people (witnesses, suspects, etc) and they can pretend to be anyone they want. They can recruit informants who are coerced into cooperating.
When the Supreme Court allowed immigration agents to consider race during sweeps, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that citizens shouldn’t be concerned because agents will “promptly let the individual go.”
For these Americans, that wasn’t true.
(Published Oct. 2025)
Since 2020, ICE Flight Monitor has tracked 50K+ ICE flights. In Trump’s 2nd term alone: 2,253 deportation flights (46% ↑ from Biden’s last year) & 9,966 “shuffle” flights (132% ↑). These flights operate under an opaque system that rips families apart and endangers our democracy.
We obtained the Dilley detention center’s 911 call logs.
Among them are pleas for help for toddlers having trouble breathing, a pregnant woman who passed out and an elementary-school-aged girl having seizures.
As of tonight, licenses of trans people across Kansas are being invalidated en masse, enabling the overnight criminalization of an entire group of people for going about our lives. It’s often said you never know when you’re living through history, so let me assure you: that’s what’s happening now.
Well, the DOJ has done it: they have filed a lawsuit against the University of California over antisemitism.
The complaint contains some falsehoods. But as someone who teaches and writes about Title VII, I'm equally struck by what the complaint doesn't say.
A few thoughts— 🧵
Despite court rulings that limit the ability of local & state governments to fight federal actions, there are avenues cities can take to contest ICE that might work, including by controlling zoning & building permits. Exciting to see so many cities pushing back.
ICE raids have forced many immigrant workers in LA to make a horrific decision: go to work and risk arrest or stay home and risk eviction — which can force people to leave the U.S.
LA officials say they oppose ICE but they've refused to pass eviction protections www.huffpost.com/entry/los-an...
Thirty-two people died in ICE custody nationwide last year, surpassing the previous high of 20 in 2005, according to federal data.
Nearly a quarter of last year’s deaths occurred in Texas.
SCOOP: ICE is asking Social Security for peoples' in-person appointment dates and times, and SSA staff are being told to give it to them. From me + @leahfeiger.bsky.social + @zoeschiffer.bsky.social @wired.com
wired.com/story/social...
ICE deported 2-month-old Juan Nicolás with his mother and father to Mexico, despite the baby suffering from bronchitis while in detention. trib.al/YGS1yQC
Nicolás’s mother said they were left at the border with no phone and only the money they had in their commissary.
BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.
This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.
February 16, 2026 NR26026kt Los Angeles Police Department Encourages School Attendance Amid Recent Downtown Activity Los Angeles: In light of recent activity in the downtown area, the Los Angeles Police Department would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and students of the importance of staying in school. School attendance is mandatory in the City of Los Angeles and there may be legal consequences for parents and students for: • Day time Curfew violations - It is unlawful for any minors under 18 to be in public places, streets, or amusement spots during school hours (typically 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. The only exception includes being with a parent, authorized school activities, or emergencies. • California Education Code violations: • Mandates that all children between the ages of six and eighteen, unless exempted, must attend a full-time public day school for the full designated school day. • Middle and high school students are legally permitted one excused absence per calendar year to participate in a "civic or political event," provided advance school notification (emphasis added). • Additionally, Los Angeles Unified School District policy states that three or more unexcused absences or tardies of 30 minutes or more, can trigger a School Attendance Review Board (SARB) intervention for disciplinary action. Parents and students are also reminded that presence at school promotes intellectual growth. It becomes more difficult to fill knowledge gaps with student absences. Attendance builds good habits and healthy routines; and provides structure and stability. Lastly, school attendance also increases student safety, which includes safety resources provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District. (Page 1 of 2) X Follow @LAPDHQ
Any adult that collects or picks up a child and transports them to participate in any illegal activities may be responsible for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and is subject to arrest and prosecution. This law applies to actions like providing drugs/alcohol to minors, promoting truancy, and for parents failing to exercise reasonable supervision. Community members, parents, and students may contact their local Community Police Station of the Los Angeles Police Department for additional guidance specific to their community.
The LAPD is citing truancy laws in an attempt to squash the ongoing school walkouts against ICE. The LAPD is also threatening to arrest any parents or adults who support the kids in their acts of civil disobedience.
I moved my money! A @uofcalifornia.bsky.social faculty initiative to divest our retirement savings from state violence, war, fossil fuels is up and running. It's simple: 1) open your retirement portfolio, 2) move your money into UC's Social Equity Fund!
Learn more here: www.ucmoveyourmoney.org/home
And one more, with the apt comparison between ICE's claims of an assault and how "a bully might accuse you of having gotten in the way of his fist."
This piece finds at that time assaults were *down* not up.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Another investigation earlier in the fall also found no support for DHS's claims:
www.npr.org/2025/10/10/n...
Reupping three stories debunking DHS claims -- parroted again by Tom Homan this weekend -- that assaults on ICE officers are up by 1000%.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Can’t protest? Here are other ways to get involved in LA
There are lots of other ways to make a difference during Los Angeles ICE raids. “We need you, the people, to stand with immigrants.”
ProPublica received eight handwritten letters from children who have been held at the detention center that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was recently released from.
We'll let their words speak for themselves.
Cartoon of two police officers holding weapons. Text below the drawing reads “Our new crowd control weapons are less lethal than guns. Unless you aim jusssst riiiight…”
Sunday Taquitos #15: Less Lethal Than What?
Art by @ivan-ehlers.bsky.social
Massachusetts has spent months delaying & denying @boltsmag.org’s public records requests on how many people it has transferred ICE during Trump as part of its formal contract with ICE.
A supervisor of records ruled last week that the state’s denials are improper; we hope to get records soon.