One problem with concentration camps—and wars, too—is that they tend to take on a life and momentum of their own.

A little indigestion?

The fact that every major police union endorsed Donald Trump is under appreciated in our political discourse.

That would be a hard call. I love this song, "Dimming of the Day," "Night Comes In, "Wall of Death," and a few others.

Hoping this starts a trend of DIY versions that involve defacing the sweater in creative ways.

Someday, with luck and hard work, she will have a name too.

There has never been a dog so good at sitting in the history of dogness.

Richard & Linda Thompson - A Heart Needs A Home YouTube video by Cleapatr

BREAKING--I can now sing and play this song on guitar (though I don't sound as good as this).

To escape authoritarianism, somebody's going to have to come up with an inspiring vision of what the country could be and motivate people to help make it happen. I'm guessing a bitter indictment of people whose support you're asking for may not help with that.

Not a dime of taxpayer money or govt contracts should go to Palantir.

Oh it turns out that vanquishing the college student who uses they/them in their email signature is not bringing you the fulfillment that you hoped for? You are still working in your crappy and unfulfilling job, paying a mortgage you now can't afford, and dealing with your annoying kids... I see.

Page 1 of a legal Judgment document from the United States District Court, District of Oregon for Case No. 6:25-cv-02409-MTK, filed on 04/18/26. The plaintiffs are listed as "STATE OF OREGON, et al.," and the defendants are "ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., in his official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, et al." The document is from United States District Judge Kasubhai. It outlines that final judgment is entered in favor of the Plaintiffs on Counts I, II, III, and IV. Item 3 states the Court holds unlawful, sets aside, and vacates the "Declaration of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services RE: Safety, Effectiveness and Professional Standards of Care for Sex-Rejecting Procedures on Children and Adolescents".

Page 2 of a legal judgment document for Case 6:25-cv-02409-MTK, filed on April 18, 2026. The text outlines a court order declaring that defendants lack the authority to unilaterally establish standards of care that supersede professionally recognized standards for gender-affirming care in the Plaintiff States. It permanently enjoins defendants and their agents, including the HHS-OIG, from enforcing the "Kennedy Declaration" against providers in those states. The document is dated April 18, 2026, and is signed by United States District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai.

Huge news: the court has entered final judgement in Oregon v Kennedy (HHS trans youth care ban) and has vacated the Kennedy declaration and permanently enjoined its enforcement to target gender clinics.

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

this reminds me, i don't think SCOTUS should be allowed to choose their own clerks. standardize the hiring schedule, put the applications in a pool, blind reads (perhaps by a panel of former clerks) and random assignments.

🚨On April 30, 12-1pm ET, I’ll moderate a webinar on ICE detention centers with

-journalist @andreapitzer.bsky.social
-Afghan-American psychologist Rosalind Rogers
-Dr Brinkley-Rubinstein, scholar of incarceration
-infectious disease expert Chris Beyrer
childandfamilypolicy.duke.edu/blog/event/t...

Guards Beat Up Immigrants Detained at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ After They Complained About Losing Phone Access, Lawyer Claims An attorney for an immigrants’ rights firm representing detainees at Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz detention center alleged in a court filing that inmates reported that guards severely beat detainees, ...

Shoutout to @people.com, which covered horrific abuses at the Everglades camp that the administration refers to as "Alligator Alcatraz," citing several folks (including me) who call it a concentration camp.

Def the first time I've been referred to as a prominent liberal commentator, but I've been called worse! And Toby quoted me accurately, which is the main thing. I identify as a journalist and author, and see my work as focused on how societies move deeper into or away from authoritarian control.

You cannot make appeasing these people your entire political project.

I talked to @polphilpod.bsky.social about reactionary centrism as a demand to embrace some magic amount of intolerance in order to win—and why that's dangerous.

Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump Twenty-nine people have died in ICE custody since October, the start of the federal government's fiscal year, already surpassing 2004's toll of 28, the previous record, according to government data.

Twenty-nine people have died in ICE custody since October, the start of the federal government's fiscal year, already surpassing 2004's toll of 28, the previous record, according to government data. n.pr/4sLetjV

(Not sure anyone listened to that record when it came out, let alone now.)

Bring me the head of John the Baptist.
Show it round and shine
his cloudy, marble, crossed, and final eyes
once more into mine.

Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt is the 17th Reported ICE Detention Death of 2026 Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, a 27-year-old man from Cuba, died on April 12, one day after the 16th death of the year. The pace of detention deaths holds at an average of 1 every 6 days.

Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt is the 17th Reported ICE Detention Death of 2026

A 27-year-old man from Cuba died on April 12, one day after the 16th death of the year. The pace of detention deaths holds at an average of 1 every 6 days.

austinkocher.substack.com/p/aled-damie...

all the world

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick | The State of U.S. Immigration Policies and Practices Today Join St. John’s on Sunday, April 19, 2026 as we welcome Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.

For any DC folks interested, I'm going to be speaking at St. John's Church on Lafayette Square this Sunday. My goal, if I can manage it, will be to give an overview of what's happened in the last year with immigration, putting it in historical context, and arguing why it should matter to all of us.

Cuban man dies by suicide in ICE detention in Miami — the second in Florida in a month Aled Carbonell-Betancourt, a 27-year-old man from Cuba, died from a presumed suicide in April 2026 while in Immigration and Customs enforcement detention

Cuban man dies by suicide in ICE detention in Miami — the second in Florida in a month

Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt was found in his cell “in what appeared to be a suicide attempt” on April 12, ICE said in a press release. The official cause of death is under investigation.

Nope! But about something written in the same era.

ICE charter lands in Congo carrying 15 Latin American migrants The Democratic Republic of Congo becomes the eighth African nation known to have taken third-country nationals from the Trump administration.

ICYMI: I first reported last night on the arrival of a third-country removal ICE flight to the DRC. Story is now updated with new info on the passengers and comment from @yaelschacher.bsky.social at @refugeesinternational.org.

gillianbrockell.com/breaking-ice...

Did some literary forensics with a friend to solve a small mystery, and another friend—who had hoped to keep this mystery mysterious—sent a note saying, "This is how legends die."

Rümeysa Öztürk, Tufts University grad arrested by ICE agents last year, returns to Turkey - The Boston Globe The government and Öztürk’s legal team have jointly moved to dismiss her immigration proceedings.

America is losing a talented researcher today.
Rümeysa Öztürk, whose abduction by masked men prompted a search and her eventual release by ICE, has returned to Turkey. She wants to resume a career without "state-imposed violence and hostility."
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/17/m...