Friday News Roundup
Trump’s Out-of-Control Deportation Machine
Lebanese doctor & member of Brown University faculty who specializes in kidney diseases held for deportation by customs officials after visiting her parents in Beirut. The doctor has a valid H1-B visa. Do any of J.D. Vance’s “hillbillies” happen to have that specialty in kidney disease?
German man with green card stripped naked and subject to sleep deprivation torture due to a marijuana possession charge from California that the state no longer considers to be against the law.
Two German tourists become headline news in Germany after being manhandled by ICE agents (one sent to solitary confinement, one chained to a bench).
Canadian business consultant detained at Mexican border while trying to renew work visa to accept job offer in the United States. Ironically, the consultant was previously an actress who appeared in American Pie Presents: The Book of Love.
German hiker attempting to walk the Arizona trail deported and banned from United States after being thrown in a cold cell and being denied her medication.
British backpacker dogsitting for an American family handcuffed and detained while trying to re-enter U.S. from Canada.
Fulbright scholarship student from India flees to Canada after U.S. immigration authorities go after her for making pro-Palestine social media posts.
Canadian indigenous classical composer from the Cree tribe barred from entry into United States.
German issues warning advising trans and nonbinary German citizens not to travel to the United States.
Milwaukee woman of Hmong descent deported to Laos despite having no family there and not knowing the language.
ICE has disappeared 48 New Mexico residents, according to a court filing made in that state.
Five members of the Bhutanese Nepali community from Dauphin County, Pennsylvania have been detained by ICE. (If you know anybody from Dauphin County who has additional information about this news story, please contact me at jonpennington@mac.com).
Trump’s March to American Autocracy
Trump is currently defying court orders to return people he “disappeared” by sending them to foreign jails. Experts warn that his defiance of court orders is worse than behavior by similar autocrats in Hungary and Turkey.
In a gift to autocrats around the world, Trump has silenced Voice of America, as well as other radio and media services that provide uncensored news all over the world, including to the dictatorships of China and North Korea.
Members of DOGE invaded the United States Institute of Peace by force. DOGE accomplished this by getting Inter-Con, the US Institute of Peace’s own security contractors, to betray their own client by threatening to cut off all their other government contracts if they did not comply.
Politico article: Universities are caving to Donald Trump with astonishing speed and scope. No additional comment necessary.
The law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifking, Wharton & Garrison LLP has ignominiously caved to the Donald Trump administration. Their abject surrender includes reversing all the firms DEI policies and agreeing to donate a $40 million slush fund to Trump in the form of pro bono legal services to Donald Trump’s pet causes. The cave-in by Paul Weiss places other major law firms at risk, who are currently being threatened with investigations by Trump for their DEI policies (i.e., for not being racist enough).
Censor, purge, defund: Excellent Substack article about how the Trump Administration’s actions against universities will play out in degrading scientific research in the United States.
Trump’s Foreign Policy Madness
Trump’s insane plan to take over Greenland has already inspired protests at the U.S. consulate in that country. Protesters brandished signs that said MAGA: Make America Go Away. All 5 major political parties in Greenland’s parliament have also issued a joint statement rejecting Trump’s “annexation” plans.
The European Union has issued a white paper with a huge rearmament plan that signals Europe wants to step in as a counterbalance to Trump’s ruinous rule in the US. The paper proposes pooling EU members’ defense budgets for greater buying power, while shutting out American defense contractors via a strong Buy European program.
Meanwhile, “Donald the Dove” is still getting us involved Middle Eastern wars, including missile strikes that left 53 dead in Yemen.
Hungary, home of Viktor Orban, Donald Trump’s favorite European strongman, has passed a law banning LGBTQ+ events, including the country’s biggest pride festival in Budapest.