A future Democratic-controlled Congress should take up the job that Obama and the party’s old guard abandoned: put strict limits on the use of drones that won’t simply be alternately loosened and tightened by whichever president comes to power, explicitly outlawing “targeted killing” and any other attempt at finding a loophole for the already existing ban on assassinations; finally repeal the 2001 Authorization of the Use of Military Force that has been serially abused by presidents to fight often secret wars all over the world; end mass surveillance, whether in the form of the National Security Agency’s warrantless backdoor searches that Democrats actually expanded under Joe Biden, or in the warrantless spying that the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies now do through private data brokers; close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp that Trump is now trying to send migrants to; and embark on a twenty-first-century version of the Church Committee to investigate and lay bare national security abuses.
Archiv: 10-08-2025 US president orders homeless people out of the capital / taking command of Washington police / deploys National Guard and FBI and DEA agents on the streets
Stephen Miller: ICE’s ideologue-in-chief
(January 26, 2026)
Today, we’ll be talking about Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, and how the deadly ICE surge in Minnesota is only the latest example of domestic policy that he has championed. In Trump‘s second administration, Miller is emerging as the main architect and enforcer of Trump‘s signature policies: from hardline immigration policies and mass deportations, to retaliation against the administration‘s perceived enemies, to increasingly aggressive foreign policy.
Trump‘s immigration approval drops to record low, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Just 39% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing on immigration, down from 41% earlier this month, while 53% disapprove, the poll found.
ICE‘s killing in Minneapolis shows American empire has come home
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was created in the shadow of the so-called Global War on Terror that followed the attacks of 11 September 2001.
It became a key pillar of the architecture of repressive surveillance and militarised tactics that emerged during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
ICE itself was specifically designed to pursue „national security threats“ within the United States, granting agents sweeping discretion over who could be deemed to „pose a threat to public safety or national security“.
Since then, it has come to represent a rogue operation, its reputation clouded by harrowing stories of abuse, impunity and a near total lack of oversight.
Its close association with Palantir, a surveillance firm accused of helping generate kill lists for Israel, has also further embedded it within the US military-industrial complex.
Scalawag Magazine described Palantir‘s partnership with ICE as „one of the many links comprising the military-industrial surveillance connections between ICE and Israel Defense Forces“.
These links, it wrote, illustrate the ideological and practical ties between the two bodies, as they work to advance the militarisation of policing through the weaponisation of surveillance technology.
ICE has also participated in several exchanges with the Israeli military, and during the student protests for Gaza, it lifted names from the blacklisting website Canary Mission to identify and arrest protesters.
Protests against ICE planned across U.S. after shootings in Minneapolis and Oregon
Protests against immigration enforcement are planned for cities and towns across the country on Saturday after one federal officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis and another shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon.
The demonstrations come as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security pushes forward in the Twin Cities with what it calls its biggest-ever immigration enforcement operation. President Trump‘s administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who „weaponized“ their vehicles to attack officers.
ICE OUT For Good
On Wednesday, January 7th, Renee Good, an American citizen, was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This killing is part of a broader pattern of unchecked violence, impunity, and abuse carried out by federal immigration enforcement agencies against members of our communities.
A broad coalition of groups across the country is calling for a coordinated ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action on Saturday, January 10th and Sunday, January 11th to demand accountability, honor the life lost, and make visible the human cost of ICE’s actions.
Timing: Noon-2:00 pm local time preferred; however, plan what works for your local community. All events should be concluded, and attendees dispersed before dusk.
ICE Out For Good Coalition Announces Nationwide Weekend of Action Demanding Accountability After ICE Killing of Renee Nicole Good
(January 9, 2026)
Washington, D.C. — A broad national coalition, including Indivisible, MoveOn Civic Action, the American Civil Liberties Union, Voto Latino, United We Dream, 50501, the Disappeared in America Campaign of the Not Above the Law coalition, and partner organizations across the country, is calling for a coordinated ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action on Saturday, January 10, and Sunday, January 11. In less than 24 hours after the announcement, there are already 1,000 events anticipated nationwide. You can find the growing list of events here.
Fatal ICE shooting of Minneapolis activist sets stage for national protests
Protest organizers said more than 1,000 weekend events were planned across the country demanding an end to large-scale deployments of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ordered by President Donald Trump, mostly to cities led by Democratic politicians.
Trump zieht Nationalgarde aus US-Städten ab
Kurz vor Weihnachten hatte Trump vor dem Obersten Gerichtshof der USA bei seinen Plänen eines Nationalgarde-Einsatzes in Chicago eine Niederlage kassiert. Der Oberste Gerichtshof der USA wies einen entsprechenden Eilantrag ab.
Trump says he’s withdrawing National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland
His announcement comes after the US Supreme Court last week rejected his request to allow him to deploy the guard to Chicago to protect ICE agents as part of the administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown.
US official says shooting suspect was vetted by intel agencies and “clean on all checks”
At the time, the CIA would have done its own vetting of him through a variety of databases, including the National Counterterrorism Center database, to see if he had any known ties to terrorist groups. The CIA did its own vetting before he started working with them and kept the identities of those they worked with secret, the official said.
NCTC would have vetted him again during Operation Allies Welcome in 2021 for any ties to terrorism before he was allowed into the US. He was clean then as well and did not show any ties to terror organizations, per the senior US official.
Afghan national charged in Guard ambush shooting drove across US to carry out attack, officials say
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, declined to provide a motive for Wednesday afternoon’s brazen act of violence which occurred just blocks from the White House. The presence of troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint.
National Guard shooting suspect served in CIA counterterrorism unit, group says
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan man who allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, previously served in one of Afghanistan‘s elite counterterrorism units, according to AfghanEvac, a nonprofit run by U.S. veterans and others who served in Afghanistan.
The unit was operated by the CIA with direct U.S. intelligence and military support, according to AfghanEvac.
Attentat auf Nationalgarde: Wie Trump den Angriff instrumentalisiert
Washingtons Bürgermeisterin und auch die örtliche Polizei haben sich immer wieder gegen den Einsatz der Nationalgarde in ihrer Stadt ausgesprochen. Der Bundesdistrikt Washington D.C. hatte sogar eine Klage gegen die Trump-Regierung eingereicht – und recht bekommen. Eine Bundesrichterin entschied vor etwa einer Woche, dass der immer wieder verlängerte Einsatz der Nationalgarde in der Stadt illegal sei.
Von dieser Entscheidung zeigt sich der US-Präsident aber unbeeindruckt. Nach den Schüssen auf die beiden Nationalgardisten fühlt er sich im Recht. Seinen Pentagon-Chef hat er jetzt sogar angewiesen, noch weitere 500 Nationalgardisten in die Hauptstadt zu schicken.
Entscheidung von US-Richterin: Einsatz der Nationalgarde in Washington ist illegal
Die Regierung von US-Präsident Donald Trump habe die Einheit der Hauptstadt nicht ohne ausdrückliche Anforderung der lokalen Behörden aktivieren dürfen. Zudem hätte sie Nationalgardisten aus anderen Bundesstaaten zu polizeilichen Zwecken nicht nach Washington beordern dürfen, hieß es in der Verfügung weiter.
Cobb ordnete an, den Einsatz der Nationalgarde zu beenden, setzte ihre Entscheidung jedoch für drei Wochen aus, damit die Trump-Regierung in Berufung gehen kann. Die Anordnung bleibt damit bis zum 11. Dezember außer Kraft.
Trump administration ordered to halt ‘unlawful’ Guard deployment in D.C.
U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb wrote in her opinion that the deployment was “unlawful,” has caused D.C. “irreparable harm to its sovereign powers under the Home Rule Act” — the 1973 law that gave D.C. residents their own elected government — and has “infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself.”
What is the Posse Comitatus Act, and how does it apply to Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in California and Washington, D.C.?
(September 9, 2025)
Dan Urman, director of the law and public policy minor at Northeastern University, who teaches courses on the Supreme Court, says the National Guard is often caught between state and federal authority. The guard generally reports to their respective state governors, “but if they get called into federal service, then the Posse Comitatus Act applies to them.”
“To work around this, presidents can ask governors to deploy their state’s National Guard members,” Urman says.
Rep. Dan Goldman, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Comptroller Brad Lander Call on NYPD to Enforce State and Local Law Against Abusive Federal Immigration Officers
NEW YORK, NY — Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) was joined by Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams today for a press conference calling on New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to strictly enforce state and local laws and hold federal immigration agents accountable for unlawful conduct, including potentially arresting federal officers who illegally assault or detain New York residents. Assemblymember Tony Simone and Councilmember Alexa Aviles were also in attendance.
The press conference followed Goldman’s letter to NYPD Commissioner Tisch, citing numerous instances of federal immigration officers abusing their authority and detaining, arresting, and deporting American citizens and law-abiding, non-violent New Yorkers.
‘This is Lawless Terror’: Chinatown Reacts to ICE’s Street Vendor Raid on Canal Street
At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Goldman, who was focused on the detention of citizens — rather than the noncitizens, who remain detained in New Jersey — suggested that the involvement of the NYPD would help prevent federal abuse. “We will continue to call on the NYPD to make sure that they are present for these raids,” he said. “Because it’s the NYPD’s job to protect New Yorkers.”
The Congressman also announced that his office would be starting a “Rapid Response Task Force” to coordinate a response to overreach by federal authorities.
“This is not immigration enforcement,” he said. “This is lawless terror to create a pretext for Donald Trump to send the military into New York City.”
No Kings protests: What to expect at Saturday‘s marches around the country
No Kings organizers estimated that more than 5 million people turned out for the June protests. They speculate that Saturday‘s event could be even bigger.
Trump says he‘ll send troops to Portland, Ore., to handle ‚domestic terrorists‘
He made the announcement on social media, writing that he was directing the Department of Defense to „provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland.“ Trump said the decision was necessary to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, which he described as „under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.“
Trump to deploy troops to Portland, Oregon, vows ‘Full Force’
(today)
In a brief post to his social media platform, Trump said he would have Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth order troops deployed to Oregon’s largest city.
Trump did not specify what legal justification he had to do so, what military branch would be used or other key details. The troops would be used to defend U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities from “domestic terrorists,” he said.
Pentagon plan envisions 1,000 troops for Louisiana policing mission
(September 13, 2025)
Documents reviewed by The Washington Post illustrate the Trump administration’s evolving strategy for sending the military into cities with Democratic majorities
Trump deployment of military troops to Los Angeles was illegal, judge rules in blistering opinion
Experts say the ensuing judicial dust-up it will clarify precedent in a murky corner of the law. But some warn it could also unearth a road map for future deployments in cities across the U.S.
“If Breyer sides with Newsom and the 9th Circuit sides with Trump, we now have a playbook to use the National Guard and maybe the military around the country,” said Mark P. Nevitt, a law professor at Emory University and one of the country’s foremost experts on the law at the heart of the case.
“He’d have a ruling from the most liberal circuit in America giving the legal go-ahead for this deployment,” Nevitt said. “That would make bad law for the country.”
Majority Of Voters Oppose Deploying National Guard To D.C., Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Support Drops For U.S. Military Aid To Israel As 50% Think Israel Is Committing Genocide In Gaza
Voters were asked whether their sympathies lie more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians based on what they know about the situation in the Middle East. Thirty-seven percent of voters say the Palestinians, while 36 percent say the Israelis, and 27 percent did not offer an opinion.
This is an all-time high for the Palestinians and an all-time low for the Israelis since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question of registered voters in December 2001.
Fifty percent of voters think Israel is committing genocide based on what they know about the situation in Gaza, while 35 percent do not think Israel is committing genocide and 15 percent did not offer an opinion.
D.C. attorney general sues Trump administration over ‘hostile takeover’ of police
The lawsuit came hours after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered sweeping changes to law enforcement policies in the city and said a Trump administration official should assume all duties and responsibilities of the police chief, drawing immediate legal pushback from Schwalb and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D).
Schwalb called it the “gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced.”
FBI and DEA Patrolling Georgetown in Washington DC
Aug 13, 2025