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  31. <title>Scratching the Record</title>
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  35. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Asheesh Kapur Siddique /  History News Network ]]></dc:creator>
  36. <pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2025 16:17:21 +0000</pubDate>
  37. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
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  43. <category><![CDATA[colleen shogan]]></category>
  44. <category><![CDATA[donald trump]]></category>
  45. <category><![CDATA[library of congress]]></category>
  46. <category><![CDATA[national archives]]></category>
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  49.  
  50. <description><![CDATA[<p>The National Archives are only as reliable as those who control them.</p>
  51. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/scratching-the-record/">Scratching the Record</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  52. ]]></description>
  53. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Since re-taking office</strong> in January, President Donald Trump has engaged in an unprecedented assault on the knowledge infrastructure of the federal government. He has canceled billions of dollars in grants for research at institutions such as the <a href="https://www.aau.edu/newsroom/leading-research-universities-report/new-brief-finds-nih-has-canceled-19-billion-grants" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">National Institutes of Health</a>, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/22/upshot/nsf-grants-trump-cuts.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">National Science Foundation</a> and <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/saving-the-neh/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">National Endowment for the Humanities</a>; moved to transform the Smithsonian Institution’s museums, galleries and research centers into <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/04/14/at-the-smithsonian-donald-trump-takes-aim-at-history" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">propaganda outfits</a> dedicated to rooting out “wokeness” from the study of the past; <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-reshaping-kennedy-center-board-performances/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">taken over the Kennedy Center</a> and pledged to purge it of “woke culture”; <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/03/19/nx-s1-5317567/federal-websites-lgbtq-diversity-erased" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">removed information from government websites</a>; and dismissed the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/us/politics/library-of-congress-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Librarian of Congress</a>. Of particular concern to historians, Trump in February fired the Archivist of the United States, Colleen Shogan, and many other staff members at the National Archives, entrusting control of this executive branch agency to his <a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/news/analysis/marco-rubio-is-simultaneously-serving-in-three-government-roles-heres-why-thats-a-problem/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">secretary of state</a>, Marco Rubio. Since the National Archives is tasked with overseeing the management and preservation of federal government records, many <a href="https://www.historians.org/news/american-historical-association-condemns-indiscriminate-cuts-to-the-federal-government/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">rightly fear</a> that the administration is, in the words of the American Historical Association, “render[ing] it impossible for Americans to learn about and from the past.” </p><p>Indeed, in seizing control of the National Archives, the Trump administration is taking aim at a central, widely shared if often unarticulated belief about the nature of public records preservation: that the bureaucratic past should be preserved and managed independent of political interference. As an op-ed in the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/opinion/public-records-data-history-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">recently argued</a>, the public should have a “right to remember,” and “what gets preserved and what vanishes should not be decided based on ideology.” That belief is surprisingly tenuous: it has constantly been contested even from its initial articulation, and it is in no way bound up with the creation of American democracy. Rather, the idea that public records should be preserved and made available free of political ideology is a surprisingly recent development. Trump’s effort to manipulate the federal infrastructure of historical knowledge is a reminder that the past is a site of constant political contestation — and that the public must be vigilant and insistent that our archives are managed toward democratic ends.</p><p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*   *   *</strong></p><figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left">
  54. <blockquote>
  55. <p>The powerful have consistently sought to manipulate the past.</p>
  56. </blockquote>
  57. </figure><p>There is nothing new about governments seeking to control records in order to protect their reputations and facilitate their preferred political outcomes. Centralized state archives began to emerge in Europe in the 1500s and 1600s, as secular governments sought to consolidate control over territory against the competing authority of churches. Officials envisioned their purpose in what we would now consider explicitly political terms: as instruments to enhance, support, and bolster their own institutional power. </p><p>At a time when the power of the ruler was considered to emanate from the sanction of God, and in which rulers made vast claims to control the lives of those over whom they ruled, the collection, ordering and preservation of knowledge was considered vital to the successful exercise of that authority. As one 17th century writer <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/abs/documents-archives-and-proof-around-1700/CFBACC31CEEF208E5755EAA11BABA6AA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">put it</a>, “the entire force of an archive, and of its records, depends on the authority of him in whose power the archives are.” </p><p>This was a world not made up of citizens bearing rights that governments were obligated not to violate, but instead of subjects who bore relationships of obligation and obedience to their sovereigns in exchange for safety against military attack. In the governing cultures of early modern states — which the historical sociologist Charles Tilly <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/51028/256.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">famously described</a> in 1982 as “protection rackets” whose rulers’ penchant for coercively eliminating rivals both inside and outside their territories bore a striking resemblance to the operations of “organized crime” — there was simply no expectation that anyone but rulers and their authorized servants could dictate the terms on which the access and control of official records proceeded. Indeed, as <a href="https://press.umich.edu/Books/T/The-Information-Master" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">recent</a> <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo207914400.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">scholarship</a> has emphasized, the powerful have consistently sought to manipulate the past to defend their preferred political outcomes. Reacting against the Protestant Reformation, for example, Catholic authorities sought to <a href="https://www.archivejournal.net/essays/expurgated-books-as-an-archive-of-practice/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">censor books</a> they believed challenged their authority. Sixteenth century rulers in Venice <a href="https://academic.oup.com/past/article/258/1/44/6532405#395117427" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">sought to suppress records of popular revolt</a>. The English East India Company over the 17th and 18th centuries <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300267716/the-archive-of-empire/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">continuously invoked</a> its archival holdings to defend its commercial sovereignty as rooted upon historical precedents. For much of history, it has been normal for elites to manipulate the past to protect their privileges. </p><p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*   *   *</strong></p><p>Today, by contrast, the idea of politicians controlling the terms on which the past is written may strike us as an affront to democracy — something we associate with <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4548668-putin-in-the-footsteps-of-potemkin-is-trying-to-recreate-the-russian-empire/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">authoritarian</a> <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/archive-wars" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">regimes</a> elsewhere. Yet, the sanctity of archival practices was not part of the founding ethos of the United States. Even as early Americans across the hemisphere turned against the monarchies of Europe at the end of the 18th century, independence did not result in any widely accepted belief in the new United States that the public should have ready access to government archives — or that the management of these archives should be free from political manipulation. </p><div id="ad_slot_wrapper_22724279127_1" class="max-w-td m-auto p-6 ad-slot--wrapper ad-slot--wrapper--article-hrec-1">
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  62. <p>In 1789, during its first session, Congress <a href="https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2014/08/31/setting-the-records-straight/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">passed the Records Act</a>. It compelled the secretary of state to oversee the publication of congressional legislation for public knowledge and the preservation of such legislation for posterity, and to have “custody” over the papers and records of Congress and other government agencies. Yet, the act said nothing about whether anyone else had a right of access to these records beyond what <a href="https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llsl/llsl-c3/llsl-c3.pdf#page=103" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">government itself chose to publish</a>. Moreover, the federal government at times used records in highly political ways — perhaps most notably in its handling of compensation claims from Americans who had lost property in the aftermath of the Civil War and who appealed to the government for restitution. </p><p>As the historian Yael Sternhell <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300234145/war-on-record/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">has demonstrated</a>, government used records to deny claimants recompense by showing that they had supported the confederacy. Subsequently, Sternhell shows, government officials at the War Department curated the publication of the multi-volume &#8220;Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies&#8221; in the closing decades of the 19th century, which presented a highly selective version of the war that diminished the accomplishments of African American veterans, contributing to the broader post-Reconstruction erosion of full African American citizenship.</p><figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left">
  63. <blockquote>
  64. <p>Trump seems to want to return to a world in which rulers treated archives as political tools.</p>
  65. </blockquote>
  66. </figure><p>Even the creation of the National Archives and the position of Archivist of the United States in 1934 did not mean that the preservation of government paperwork was now permanently free of political control. Only with the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/jmd/legacy/2014/05/01/act-pl79-404.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">1946 Administrative Procedure Act</a>, an effort to make government appear “responsible” in the face of <a href="https://columbialawreview.org/content/the-antifascist-roots-of-presidential-administration/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">concerns about the threat of fascism</a>, were federal government agencies compelled to make their records publicly available. In 1949, control of the National Archives passed to the General Services Administration, <a href="https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/fall/archivist.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">limiting the institution’s autonomy</a>. And the status of presidential records as “public records” — with the federal government, rather than presidents themselves, designated as their proper custodian — was only clarified after the Watergate scandal with the 1978 <a href="https://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/laws/1978-act.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Presidential Records Act</a>. The papers of <a href="https://history.house.gov/Records-and-Research/Archival-Research/Member-Resources/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">members of Congress</a> and those of <a href="https://nyulawreview.org/issues/volume-88-number-5/judges-and-their-papers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">federal judges</a> continue to be considered the personal property of their creators. </p><p>Even the autonomy of the National Archives itself is more recent than many think. In the midst of Watergate, Richard Nixon signed a now <a href="https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2024/09/05/more-than-watergate-the-nixon-sampson-agreement/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">infamous agreement</a> with the then-head of the General Services Administration, Arthur Sampson, allowing the president to retain control of his records. Partly in response to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40291921" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">complaints</a> about the National Archives’ politicization, Congress in 1984 passed the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/files/about/history/anniversary/nara-act.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">National Archives and Records Administration Act</a>, which established the body as <a href="https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2016/03/29/an-independent-national-archives/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">an independent government agency</a>, and made it explicit that the Archivist of the United States should be appointed “without regard to political affiliations and solely on the basis of the professional qualifications required to perform the duties and responsibilities of the office of Archivist.”</p><p>The legitimate outrage around Trump’s shocking decision to fire the archivist nevertheless risks obscuring the relatively proximate development of policies clarifying the “public” nature of official records and the independence of the National Archives — and its limited applicability to Congress and the Judiciary, since members of Congress and judges retain control over their own records. We may want to believe that the government’s responsibility to preserve its records without political bias — and the public’s ability to access those records — are fundamental aspects of American democracy and deeply rooted in the country’s founding principles. Yet history demonstrates that this is not true: both the political independence of the National Archives and the classification of many government records as “public” only emerged out of a long struggle. </p><p>That said, there is no doubt that in firing Shogan and bringing the institution in-house, Trump has engaged in an unprecedented politicization of this government agency. Despite the precarious nature of the National Archives’ institutional autonomy, <a href="https://action.everylibrary.org/we_should_all_be_paying_attention_to_what_s_happening_to_the_national_archives" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">no president before Trump had ever fired</a> the <a href="https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2022/04/28/appointment-of-the-first-archivist-of-the-united-states/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Archivist of the United States</a> quite so obviously — although George W. Bush certainly came close, as Anthony Clark <a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/p/nations-archivist-should-not-be-political-nara-national-archives-records-administration-shogan-wilson-weinstein-trump" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">recently explored</a> at the Bulwark. Nor has any president also embarked on the systematic dismissal of the National Archives’ staff, <a href="https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/06/trump-administration-resumes-layoffs-targeting-national-archives-staff/406112/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">which Trump has also begun to do</a>. While the administration gave no explicit reason for the firing of Shogan or the other staff members, despite <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title44-section2103&#038;num=0&#038;edition=prelim" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">the law</a> stating that the president must “communicate” to Congress “the reasons” for the archivist’s “removal,” there are grounds to believe that Trump is motivated by political animus. Shogan had a difficult time getting confirmed as Archivist after<strong> </strong>the National Archives <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-indicted-mar-a-lago-documents-investigation-timeline/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">sought to retrieve government records</a> that Trump had taken with him into his private custody after his first term ended in 2021, a development that eventually resulted in his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_prosecution_of_Donald_Trump_(classified_documents_case)" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">criminal prosecution</a> for violating the Presidential Records Act. Given Trump’s <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/political-enemy-retribution-efforts/682095/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">well-known penchant</a> for revenge against anyone who defies his aspiration to absolute authority, it is not hard to imagine why he has taken aim at an agency he accuses of undermining him simply for insisting that he follow the law. </p><p>In firing Shogan, however, Trump violates the <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title44-section2103&#038;num=0&#038;edition=prelim" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">fundamental requirement</a> governing appointments to the position as clarified by the 1984 National Archives and Records Administration Act: that the Archivist should be appointed based on professional, rather than partisan qualifications. Instead, Trump seems to want to return to a world in which rulers treated archives as political tools. He seeks to erode the important developments that have, over the course of American history, both expanded access to the nation’s heritage and gradually established the relative independence of government records from political manipulation. The autonomy that the National Archives has until recently enjoyed was by no means foreordained: it emerged only out of political struggle, with far more proximate origins than we may think. Let’s fight to preserve this hard-won autonomy — for the sake of our past, but also our present and future.  </p>
  67. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/scratching-the-record/">Scratching the Record</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
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  78. <title>Mass Federal Layoffs Can Move Forward</title>
  79. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/mass-federal-layoffs-can-move-forward/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=mass-federal-layoffs-can-move-forward</link>
  80. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/mass-federal-layoffs-can-move-forward/#respond</comments>
  82. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sarah Trent /  High Country News ]]></dc:creator>
  83. <pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2025 15:50:45 +0000</pubDate>
  84. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  85. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  86. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  87. <category><![CDATA[Labor]]></category>
  88. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  89. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  90. <category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
  91. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  92. <category><![CDATA[bird banding]]></category>
  93. <category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
  94. <category><![CDATA[DOGE]]></category>
  95. <category><![CDATA[federal layoffs]]></category>
  96. <category><![CDATA[usgs]]></category>
  97. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309656</guid>
  98.  
  99. <description><![CDATA[<p>The ‘shortsighted’ cuts — which could include more than 100,000 federal workers — could devaste conservation and science efforts.</p>
  100. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/mass-federal-layoffs-can-move-forward/">Mass Federal Layoffs Can Move Forward</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  101. ]]></description>
  102. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  103. <p class="has-small-font-size">This story was originally published by <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/mass-layoffs-can-move-forward-with-devastating-impacts-for-conservation-and-science/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">High Country News</a>.</p>
  104.  
  105.  
  106.  
  107. <p><strong>Mass federal layoffs</strong> the Trump administration has planned can move forward immediately, after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted an injunction that has held them off since mid-May. More than 100,000 federal workers can now be fired at any time.</p>
  108.  
  109.  
  110.  
  111. <p>Court documents show that when the initial pause was ordered, plans to fire staff of at least 17 agencies and departments were already underway, with expected impacts to the nation’s science, veteran health, small businesses, universities and much more. The administration could still face legal challenges, once the firings are carried out, if they are determined to be an illegal use of executive power.&nbsp;</p>
  112.  
  113.  
  114.  
  115. <p>Imminent cuts <a href="https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/05/thousands-layoffs-hit-interior-national-parks-imminently/405145/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">reportedly include</a> up to 80% of staff at the U.S. Geological Survey’s biological research arm, known as the Ecosystems Mission Area, whose science is the bedrock of American conservation. Even without additional budget cuts pending before Congress, the layoffs could eliminate virtually all biological research at that agency.</p>
  116.  
  117.  
  118.  
  119. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>More than 100,000 federal workers can now be fired at any time.</p></blockquote></figure>
  120.  
  121.  
  122.  
  123. <p>“The Trump administration is pushing fast forward on the extinction crisis,” Noah Greenwald, the Center for Biological Diversity’s endangered species director, said about the plans in May. “If we get rid of the science that shows [environmental] problems, we won’t have to think about it, but that won’t make them go away.”</p>
  124.  
  125.  
  126.  
  127. <p>Catastrophic “reduction in force” (RIF) layoffs there and elsewhere are expected to move forward quickly. The Department of Interior, which houses USGS, had prepared to send out RIF notices as early as May 15, according to reporting by <a href="https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/05/thousands-layoffs-hit-interior-national-parks-imminently/405145/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Government Executive</a>. Now, it can do so.</p>
  128.  
  129.  
  130.  
  131. <p>One nonprofit conservation biologist, speaking anonymously to High Country News for fear of retribution, in May called the then-imminent USGS layoffs <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/usgs-biological-research-arm-could-vanish-next-week/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">“shortsighted and ignorant.”</a></p>
  132.  
  133.  
  134.  
  135. <p>Cuts could, for example, <a href="https://www.audubon.org/magazine/looming-federal-cuts-threaten-bird-banding-lab-cornerstone-avian-science" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">shutter the Bird Banding Lab</a>, without which all handling and marking of live wild birds in the U.S. would quickly halt. Data from those activities not only informs the majority of avian science and conservation, it’s used to create population estimates that form the basis of waterfowl hunting regulations.</p>
  136.  
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  138.  
  139. <p>It would likely also mean&nbsp;<a href="https://civileats.com/2025/07/02/trump-cuts-threaten-federal-bee-research/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">the end of the USGS Bee Lab,</a>&nbsp;which is a linchpin for native pollinator protections. That lab, with its tiny staff of two, is the only entity with the expertise to identify the nation’s more than 4,000 native bee species. Such species are essential for ecosystem health and boost American agriculture to the tune of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/economic-value-insect-pollination-services-us-much" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">tens of billions of dollars per year</a>.</p>
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  141.  
  142.  
  143. <p>Numerous other large-scale layoffs are expected to move quickly. In addition to cuts at USGS, leaks to <a href="https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/05/thousands-layoffs-hit-interior-national-parks-imminently/405145/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Government Executive</a> revealed that the Interior Department has prepared to fire 1,500 people from the National Park Service, with more layoffs in the works at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and other branches. When the initial pause was ordered May 9, the issuing court noted that the Department of Health and Human Services was poised to fire up to 10,000 people. Veterans Affairs planned to fire 83,000. NOAA, the IRS, AmeriCorps and the National Science Foundation, among others, were prepared to eliminate 40% to 70% of their staff. The State Department later announced its own plans for cuts.</p>
  144.  
  145.  
  146.  
  147. <p>Such a reorganization, the <a href="https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2025/05/30/25-3293.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals</a> noted when it upheld the injunction, “facilitates the proliferation of food-borne disease, contributes to hazardous environmental conditions, hinders efforts to prevent and monitor infectious disease, eviscerates disaster loan services for local businesses, and drastically reduces the provision of health care and other services to our nation’s veterans.”</p>
  148.  
  149.  
  150.  
  151. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“The Trump administration is pushing fast forward on the extinction crisis.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  152.  
  153.  
  154.  
  155. <p>The high court’s ruling on the emergency appeal was somewhat unexpected: It is in recess until October and was not required to take up the case.</p>
  156.  
  157.  
  158.  
  159. <p>While the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1174_h3ci.pdf#page=3" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Supreme Court’s ruling</a> noted that the decision does not prevent legal challenges to any eventual layoffs, Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson, who authored the only dissent, said the damage will likely already be done by then.</p>
  160.  
  161.  
  162.  
  163. <p>“It is hard to imagine deciding that question in any meaningful way after those changes have happened,” she wrote. “Yet, for some reason, this Court sees fit to step in now and release the President’s wrecking ball.”</p>
  164. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/mass-federal-layoffs-can-move-forward/">Mass Federal Layoffs Can Move Forward</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  165. ]]></content:encoded>
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  173. </item>
  174. <item>
  175. <title>Trump 2.0 Could Devastate California’s Natural Disaster Response</title>
  176. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trump-2-0-could-devastate-californias-natural-disaster-response/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=trump-2-0-could-devastate-californias-natural-disaster-response</link>
  177. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trump-2-0-could-devastate-californias-natural-disaster-response/#respond</comments>
  179. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jeremy Lindenfeld /  Capital & Main ]]></dc:creator>
  180. <pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2025 15:34:29 +0000</pubDate>
  181. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  182. <category><![CDATA[Economic Justice]]></category>
  183. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  184. <category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
  185. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  186. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  187. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  188. <category><![CDATA[california]]></category>
  189. <category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
  190. <category><![CDATA[donald trump]]></category>
  191. <category><![CDATA[fema]]></category>
  192. <category><![CDATA[gavin newsom]]></category>
  193. <category><![CDATA[wildfires]]></category>
  194. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309650</guid>
  195.  
  196. <description><![CDATA[<p>Between Trump's proposed cuts to FEMA and his personal feud with Gavin Newsom, he could cost the state billions as climate-driven disasters intensify.</p>
  197. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trump-2-0-could-devastate-californias-natural-disaster-response/">Trump 2.0 Could Devastate California’s Natural Disaster Response</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  198. ]]></description>
  199. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  200. <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://capitalandmain.com/trumps-fema-proposals-and-feud-with-gavin-newsom-could-devastate-californias-disaster-response" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Capital &amp; Main</a> and was produced in partnership with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network.</em></p>
  201.  
  202.  
  203.  
  204. <p><strong>In January,</strong>&nbsp;Katie Clark’s one-bedroom rental of more than 15 years, and nearly everything inside, was incinerated by Los Angeles County’s Eaton fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. For her troubles, she received a one-time payment of $770 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which she used to replace clothes, food and a crate for her dog. While it was only a fraction of what she needed, the money was at least available while she waited for other funding.</p>
  205.  
  206.  
  207.  
  208. <p>As an organizer with the Altadena Tenants Union who has been helping renters with their FEMA applications, Clark knows just how common her experience has been for fire survivors. She says she believes federal and local agencies&nbsp;<a href="https://chu.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/chu.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/final-letter-to-fema-regarding-federal-housing-programs-for-los-angeles-fire-survivors.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">severely underestimated</a>&nbsp;the need and cost of housing for the 150,000 people displaced by the fires, leaving many still struggling to recover. A FEMA spokesperson denied the accusation, saying the agency’s “ongoing assessments indicate that the current Rental Assistance program is effectively meeting the housing needs of survivors eligible for FEMA assistance.”</p>
  209.  
  210.  
  211.  
  212. <p>The disaster response “has been so shockingly bad,” Clark said, but she recognizes that without FEMA’s help in responding to fires that killed at least&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/death-toll-from-the-wildfires-that-tore-through-the-los-angeles-area-reaches-30/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">30 people</a>&nbsp;and destroyed more than&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/la-wildfires-aftermath-insurance-housing-rebuild-update/story?id=119209482" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">16,000 structures</a>, “it could have been so, so, so much worse.”</p>
  213.  
  214.  
  215.  
  216. <p>“We would have seen a whole lot more people left to their own devices. And what that would mean is homelessness. It would mean people just abandoned,” Clark said.</p>
  217.  
  218.  
  219.  
  220. <p>Even before President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom squared off over Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops to quell immigration protests, before Newsom likened Trump to a dictator and Trump endorsed the idea of arresting the governor, the question of how much California could continue to rely on FEMA was front and center.</p>
  221.  
  222.  
  223.  
  224. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Without FEMA’s help “it could have been so, so, so much worse.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  225.  
  226.  
  227.  
  228. <p>It’s a critical question in a state — with its earthquakes, wildfires, floods, drought and extreme heat — that frequently suffers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/mapping" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">some of the costliest disasters</a>&nbsp;in the country.</p>
  229.  
  230.  
  231.  
  232. <p>Since Trump’s inauguration, his administration has floated sweeping proposals that would slash FEMA dollars and make disasters harder to declare. This has left both blue and red states wrestling with scenarios in which they must pay for what FEMA will not. States have long counted on FEMA to cover at least 75% of declared major disaster response and recovery costs.</p>
  233.  
  234.  
  235.  
  236. <p>In just the past few months, FEMA has denied federal assistance for devastating&nbsp;<a href="https://westvirginiawatch.com/2025/04/29/femas-refusal-to-help-some-west-virginia-counties-just-a-taste-of-whats-to-come/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">floods in West Virginia</a>&nbsp;and a destructive&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2025/04/14/trump-s-fema-denies-washington-disaster-relief-for-bomb-cyclone-windstorm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">windstorm in Washington</a>. The agency approved such funding for deadly tornadoes in Arkansas after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appealed an initial denial and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/sarah-sanders-begs-her-old-150513581.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANHkWGyIK7o9Y3LWrcxxb6F2T-vnrsTIgYBEbrPQ_V3HFmbM4_7LCx4KhiFlLWI1Jq_W1nZ_Wna8RiCw6VPiyV_Khsb2FzJCCSphNAilh4BVev2ewwIlzPakKwNVMF8_zilLuXw1fn7cDf5viYCCG2ZertlViMekUGyJOS75GLNF" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">personally begged</a>&nbsp;the president for help.</p>
  237.  
  238.  
  239.  
  240. <p>Trump has already clawed back almost $900 million in grants designed to pay for projects that safeguard against future disasters and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/us/trump-california-disaster-aid-newsom.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">has cast doubt</a>&nbsp;on whether he will approve the $40 billion Newsom&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfires-newsom-federal-aid-71ec591a60c05d45432382095dbfd147" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">has requested</a>&nbsp;to help pay for recovery costs associated with the fires, including $16.8 billion from FEMA to rebuild property, infrastructure and remove debris. That’s on top of the almost $140 million the agency has already provided to individual survivors.</p>
  241.  
  242.  
  243.  
  244. <p>The president told reporters last month that states need to be weaned off FEMA and that the federal government will start distributing less federal aid after hurricane season ends in November.</p>
  245.  
  246.  
  247.  
  248. <p>The questions now are: How much will be approved? Will it be enough? And, if not, what then?</p>
  249.  
  250.  
  251.  
  252. <p>A FEMA spokesperson did not directly respond to questions from Capital &amp; Main about anticipated funding cuts and potential impacts on state and local communities but said the agency “asserts that disasters are best managed when they’re federally supported, state managed and locally executed.”</p>
  253.  
  254.  
  255.  
  256. <p>The uncertainty makes it “very hard” to plan, said Heather Gonzalez, principal fiscal and policy analyst for emergency services at California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office. “The little bean-counters in the back are stressing out right now trying to figure out ‘What are we going to have to work with?’”</p>
  257.  
  258.  
  259.  
  260. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  261. <span class="aspect-w-16 aspect-h-9 block relative"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QwzDSaTO_T0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></span>
  262. </div></figure>
  263.  
  264.  
  265.  
  266. <p>The recent “dust-ups” between Newsom and Trump, she said, have only underscored the unpredictability. For his part, Newsom said he prefers the “open hand” of cooperation over the “closed fist” of fighting when it comes to disaster response.</p>
  267.  
  268.  
  269.  
  270. <p>“Emergency preparedness and emergency planning, recovery and renewal — period, full stop — that should be nonpolitical,” he said on Monday, which marked six months since the fires.</p>
  271.  
  272.  
  273.  
  274. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">The rising cost of disasters</h3>
  275.  
  276.  
  277.  
  278. <p>Since at least the 1980s, California has endured a rapidly growing number of billion-dollar disasters, with&nbsp;18 occurring&nbsp;between 2015 and 2024.</p>
  279.  
  280.  
  281.  
  282. <p>As the frequency and severity of California’s disasters increase, so too does its reliance on federal assistance to respond. In the aftermath of January’s Eaton and Palisades fires —&nbsp;<a href="https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calfire-website/our-impact/fire-statistics/top20_destruction_061925.pdf?rev=44aa48ce19614b759d44cf02380f34a5&amp;hash=59939EF7BE88548E2E8B4D718F060531" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">the second and third most destructive wildfires</a>&nbsp;in California history, respectively — FEMA has already provided $139 million to go toward home repair costs and medical expenses, and the agency “has allocated billions of dollars for debris removal,” according to a FEMA spokesperson.&nbsp;<a href="https://news.caloes.ca.gov/more-than-5000-properties-complete-in-wildfire-debris-removal-effort/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Over 5,000 properties</a>&nbsp;have already been cleared of ash and fire debris.</p>
  283.  
  284.  
  285.  
  286. <p>Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management Communications Director Emily Montanez said recovery efforts for the fires probably won’t be complete for many years and are heavily dependent on FEMA.</p>
  287.  
  288.  
  289.  
  290. <p>“After the Northridge earthquake in 1994, FEMA had field offices here for 28 years,” Montanez said. “We see this as being no different. This was way more devastation, way more impact. So this could be years, definitely decades.”</p>
  291.  
  292.  
  293.  
  294. <p>While Montanez acknowledged that potential “gaps” in disaster response efforts leave some survivors without sufficient resources, she said that the recent operations coordinated between FEMA and local agencies in Los Angeles have mostly been efficient and successful.</p>
  295.  
  296.  
  297.  
  298. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>California “can’t backfill the elimination of FEMA.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  299.  
  300.  
  301.  
  302. <p>FEMA’s federal assistance supplements California’s own disaster response and mitigation resources like those allocated to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.caloes.ca.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Governor’s Office of Emergency Services</a>, which was allotted $4.4 billion in the May revision of the&nbsp;<a href="https://ebudget.ca.gov/FullBudgetSummary.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">state’s 2025-26 budget</a>. When the office’s funding does not cover all disaster costs, California can also pull from a number of its reserves, including the Budget Stabilization Account and Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties.</p>
  303.  
  304.  
  305.  
  306. <p>Newsom told Capital &amp; Main on Monday that the state has increased its discretionary reserves as a direct consequence of Trump’s ongoing threats to FEMA, though he admitted that even that increased investment wouldn’t make up for the potential loss in federal funding.&nbsp;</p>
  307.  
  308.  
  309.  
  310. <p>California “can’t backfill the elimination of FEMA,” Newsom said. “There’s no state in America [that can], even the most endowed state — $4.1 trillion a year economy — largest in the nation, fourth-largest in the world.”  </p>
  311.  
  312.  
  313.  
  314. <p>And California’s&nbsp;<a href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/05/california-budget-revision-may-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">$12 billion budget deficit</a>&nbsp;will make backfilling the office’s shortfall especially difficult the next time a major disaster strikes, according to Laurie Schoeman, senior adviser on climate resilience to former President Joe Biden.</p>
  315.  
  316.  
  317.  
  318. <p>That will be made even harder if the still-unfinalized proposals outlined in&nbsp;<a href="https://lisamillerassociates.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FEMA-OMB_Memo_FEMA_Rebalance_250423.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">an internal FEMA memo</a>&nbsp;are implemented, according to Schoeman. One of the reforms floated in the memo caps the proportion of recovery costs covered by the federal government at the current baseline of 75%. Under current rules, the president can increase FEMA’s cost share up to 100%, as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/01/09/californias-partnership-with-federal-government-boosts-states-rapid-response-to-los-angeles-fires/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Biden did</a>&nbsp;for the Los Angeles fires less than two weeks before he left office.</p>
  319.  
  320.  
  321.  
  322. <p>Another proposal quadruples the amount of damage that needs to be suffered in a disaster before FEMA awards any public assistance grants for infrastructure repair and debris removal. That would hike California’s damage threshold from roughly $75 million to nearly $300 million per disaster.</p>
  323.  
  324.  
  325.  
  326. <p>Had just that second reform been in place between 2008 and 2024, California would have received 26% less in public assistance funding from FEMA, a loss of nearly $2 billion, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/proposed-cuts-federal-disaster-assistance-will-hit-states-just-hurricane-season-ramps#:~:text=Last%20week%2C%20CNN%20reported%20that,the%20same%2016%2Dyear%20period." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">a May analysis</a>&nbsp;by the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.</p>
  327.  
  328.  
  329.  
  330. <p>Such reduced funding during future events would cause an “apocalyptic scenario” where California communities would struggle to afford the cost of running shelters and paying for emergency responders to rescue disaster victims, according to Sarah Labowitz, a senior fellow in the Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.</p>
  331.  
  332.  
  333.  
  334. <p>Yet already, significant damage has been done, Schoeman said.</p>
  335.  
  336.  
  337.  
  338. <p>In April, the Trump administration canceled the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, a FEMA initiative dedicated to funding disaster-preparedness projects. Over $880 million in federal funding was rescinded, including a $35 million grant in California’s Napa County largely dedicated to wildfire prevention work. The administration declined to respond to Capital &amp; Main’s request for comment, referring questions to FEMA. An agency spokesperson said that its approach to disaster preparedness mirrors that of disaster response: FEMA will play a supporting role.</p>
  339.  
  340.  
  341.  
  342. <p>“All types of preparedness start with families, individuals and local and state officials ahead of any emergency and disaster,” a statement from the agency said.</p>
  343.  
  344.  
  345.  
  346. <p>The rescinded federal funding risks undermining communities’ abilities to protect against future disasters, Schoeman said, and undoes work accomplished under Trump’s first term.</p>
  347.  
  348.  
  349.  
  350. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>&#8220;It feels like the administration is going to cut their own leg off.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  351.  
  352.  
  353.  
  354. <p>“They’re just cutting these projects even though they have proven benefit cost analyses in place,” Schoeman said. “The BRIC program was started under the Trump administration … so it feels like the administration is going to cut their own leg off.”</p>
  355.  
  356.  
  357.  
  358. <p>Mass layoffs and voluntary buyout offers led by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency have already downsized FEMA’s workforce. The resulting uncertainty and low morale at FEMA has already caused chaos, according to Schoeman, but if the Trump administration’s proposals are implemented, the agency could be further weakened.</p>
  359.  
  360.  
  361.  
  362. <p>Schoeman said the ensuing chaos would lead to “lost lives, lost structures and communities that are unable to sustain these impacts,” all of which could exacerbate existing inequalities and result in low-income communities getting “left in the dust.”</p>
  363.  
  364.  
  365.  
  366. <p>That dynamic is already playing out across burn-scarred Los Angeles, according to Clark. She has struggled herself to get much help. She said her insurance provider has so far withheld over $25,000 due to disagreements over whether her transitional housing qualifies as temporary, and her applications for additional FEMA assistance have been denied due to her technically being insured. Some wealthier survivors had “the insulation and resiliency that economic resources give you,” while others had to depend on nonprofits or the kind of government assistance that is now at risk to afford transitional housing.</p>
  367.  
  368.  
  369.  
  370. <p>“If you don’t have those economic resources, your only option is to turn to either philanthropy or the state,” Clark said. “If neither of those are available, then tough luck.”</p>
  371.  
  372.  
  373.  
  374. <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>Copyright 2025 Capital &amp; Main and ProPublica.</em></p>
  375. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trump-2-0-could-devastate-californias-natural-disaster-response/">Trump 2.0 Could Devastate California’s Natural Disaster Response</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  376. ]]></content:encoded>
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  384. </item>
  385. <item>
  386. <title>The India-Pakistan Conflict Is Over, But the Aftermath for Civilians May Be Even Worse</title>
  387. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-india-pakistan-conflict-is-over-but-the-aftermath-for-civilians-may-be-even-worse/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-india-pakistan-conflict-is-over-but-the-aftermath-for-civilians-may-be-even-worse</link>
  388. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-india-pakistan-conflict-is-over-but-the-aftermath-for-civilians-may-be-even-worse/#respond</comments>
  390. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Shivani Chaudhary]]></dc:creator>
  391. <pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2025 15:14:02 +0000</pubDate>
  392. <category><![CDATA[Asia Pacific]]></category>
  393. <category><![CDATA[Global Voices]]></category>
  394. <category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
  395. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  396. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  397. <category><![CDATA[Wounds of War]]></category>
  398. <category><![CDATA[india]]></category>
  399. <category><![CDATA[kashmir]]></category>
  400. <category><![CDATA[pakistan]]></category>
  401. <category><![CDATA[political violence]]></category>
  402. <category><![CDATA[war]]></category>
  403. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309637</guid>
  404.  
  405. <description><![CDATA[<p>Government support after the conflict has been scarce, leaving many struggling to rebuild shattered homes and livelihoods.</p>
  406. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-india-pakistan-conflict-is-over-but-the-aftermath-for-civilians-may-be-even-worse/">The India-Pakistan Conflict Is Over, But the Aftermath for Civilians May Be Even Worse</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  407. ]]></description>
  408. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  409. <p class="has-drop-cap">KASHMIR, INDIA — On April 22, a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, a town in India-administered Kashmir,<strong> </strong>killed 26 people and became the pretext for a military and diplomatic crisis between India and Pakistan. India retaliated with Operation Sindoor, saying that it was targeting militant bases across the border, while Pakistan denied involvement before launching its own strikes on India. A May 10 ceasefire halted hostilities and local officials have formed assessment <a href="https://www.knskashmir.com/dc-baramulla-conducts-extensive-visit-of-uri--reviews-relief-measures-for-shelling-affected-people-194971" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">teams</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  410.  
  411.  
  412.  
  413. <p>Although the conflict was short-lived, the consequences for people on both sides continue. From destroyed homes, the loss of family members, ruined crops and shattered businesses, insufficient government support and general neglect has left many struggling to recover. In May, I visited villages by the Line of Control border (LoC) — the military boundary that separates the Indian-administered portion of Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir — and spoke with residents about the impact on their homes and livelihoods.</p>
  414.  
  415.  
  416.  
  417. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Losing a mother</h3>
  418.  
  419.  
  420.  
  421. <p>Nargis Begum was among those caught in the horror of May 7, 2025. The mother of six was sleeping peacefully in her home in Rajarwani, a small village near the LoC, when loud explosions and artillery shelling rocked the neighborhood. As houses collapsed under the heavy strikes, people rushed outside, desperate to escape, only to find the once-peaceful streets covered in debris. Many lost their lives — some inside their homes, others while running for safety. </p>
  422.  
  423.  
  424.  
  425. <p>Saqib Bashir Khan, Begum’s oldest son, spoke to Truthdig from his single-room home in Rajarwani. He said that when heavy fighting started between Indian and Pakistani troops, his mother and family fled to the Baramulla district for safety. However, as they did so, a shell fragment hit their cab, leaving Begum severely injured. She was rushed to Mohra District Hospital, but did not survive. </p>
  426.  
  427.  
  428.  
  429. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Rajarwani residents told Truthdig the local government authorities didn’t warn them.</p></blockquote></figure>
  430.  
  431.  
  432.  
  433. <p>“For nearly 12 hours on May 7, our family hid in a single room on the top floor of the house as relentless shelling continued. Seeing no end to the attacks, my mother and some relatives left on May 8 at around 9:30 p.m,” said Bashir. He described a dangerous journey, traveling in two cars with 18 others, and then the shell exploding in front of their vehicle and shrapnel ripping through the upper part of the car. </p>
  434.  
  435.  
  436.  
  437. <p>“My mother was a midday meal worker earning only 1,000 rupees (U.S. $11.64) per month,” said Bashir. Such workers help prepare and serve midday meals in government schools. “My father suffers from several diseases and has been bedridden since her death,” he said, explaining that he is a worker without stable employment, and now faces financial difficulties. </p>
  438.  
  439.  
  440.  
  441. <p>“My youngest sister has taken my mother’s place at school as a midday meal worker, while another sister’s marriage after Eid has forced us to take out a bank loan,” he said.</p>
  442.  
  443.  
  444.  
  445. <p>The shelling destroyed his village. With 45 houses in Rajarwani, most of the villagers were evacuated by May 8, and the Hindu news site <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/displaced-by-pakistani-shelling-residents-of-border-villages-long-for-home-and-peace/article69554304.ece" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">reported </a>that many other villages by the LoC were similarly evacuated. Rajarwani residents told Truthdig the local government authorities didn’t warn them nor hold mock drills, and there are no bunkers, despite being so close to the LoC. Hence, when the families fled, it was disorganized, and they left their belongings behind.</p>
  446.  
  447.  
  448.  
  449. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Losing homes</h3>
  450.  
  451.  
  452.  
  453. <p>Mehmood Ali, a laborer from Gingal, a small village near Uri town, was devastated to lose his home twice. On the night of May 8, as intense shelling threatened his village, Ali made the heartbreaking decision to flee with his family of nine to a friend’s house in Sheri, Baramulla district. Just half an hour after they left, a mortar shell struck, destroying his home. The next day, he saw the news on television, confirming his worst fears.    </p>
  454.  
  455.  
  456.  
  457. <p>“It wasn’t the first time I suffered such a loss. Back in October 2005, an earthquake had wiped out my entire home. Back then, I got only a small amount of government help; 130,000 rupees (U.S. $1,509). Still, I had to take on big loans to rebuild everything, and it took me years to repay my debts,” Ali told Truthdig.</p>
  458.  
  459.  
  460.  
  461. <p>He said this time he doesn’t expect to receive any financial support. Insurance companies have refused to cover war-related destruction, leaving him with the burden of rebuilding. He estimated that it would cost 1.5 million rupees (U.S. $17,419). </p>
  462.  
  463.  
  464.  
  465. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="682" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bandi1.jpg?width=1024&#038;height=682" alt="" class="wp-image-309640" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bandi1.jpg?width=1024&amp;height=682 1024w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bandi1.jpg?width=300&amp;height=200 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bandi1.jpg?width=768&amp;height=512 768w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bandi1.jpg?width=270&amp;height=180 270w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bandi1.jpg?width=405&amp;height=270 405w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bandi1.jpg?width=608&amp;height=405 608w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bandi1.jpg?width=878&amp;height=585 878w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Bandi1.jpg?width=1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A hotel in Bandi Brahmanan village, in the Uri region, that sustained damage during the India-Pakistan conflict. (Shivani Chaudhary)</figcaption></figure>
  466.  
  467.  
  468.  
  469. <p>“I am a contract laborer earning 20,000 rupees (U.S. $232) per month, struggling to support my family. My children’s school fees and the rent for my temporary shelter only add on more worries. As the sole provider, I am now facing an uncertain future, unsure of when — or if — I will ever have a home of my own again,” he said.</p>
  470.  
  471.  
  472.  
  473. <p>A similar incident occurred 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from Gingal village, where Rameez Ahmad, a painter from Gharkote, experienced a heartbreaking ordeal. While working in Srinagar, he received a shocking call from his sister — his father had been seriously injured by an undetonated mortar shell explosion. Ahmad rushed home, only to find his house damaged by cross-border shelling.</p>
  474.  
  475.  
  476.  
  477. <p>In a phone interview, Ahmad told Truthdig that his family, who had been sheltering at a relative’s home during the attack, returned home on May 10. But as his father opened the door, an unexploded shell detonated, rupturing the veins in his hands. “I rushed with my father to the Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, where doctors performed plastic surgery to save his hand,” he said.</p>
  478.  
  479.  
  480.  
  481. <p>Ahmad said he received just a small amount of compensation from the government; a blanket and 6,500 rupees (U.S. $75). However, he said rebuilding his home would cost nearly 500,000 rupees (U.S. $5,806). </p>
  482.  
  483.  
  484.  
  485. <p>“That’s out of my reach as a laborer and the only provider for my family. It’s hard for me to even think about rebuilding my home with how expensive everything is these days,” he said.</p>
  486.  
  487.  
  488.  
  489. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">A villager dies from shock </h3>
  490.  
  491.  
  492.  
  493. <p>Ahsan Lone, a volunteer with the <a href="https://www.buzzbytes.in/abshar-trust-a-beacon-of-resilience-in-uris-darkest-hour/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Abshar Trust</a>, a nonprofit in Uri, told Truthdig about a case in Parampilla village, where a resident applied for government relief after his home was destroyed in the cross-border shelling. However, when he received just 6,500 rupees (U.S. $75) from the local administration, the <a href="https://thekashmiriyat.co.uk/%E2%82%B96500-for-a-destroyed-home-destruction-widespread-in-border-villages-of-jammu-kashmir-relief-negligible/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">shock</a> and disappointment overwhelmed him, leading to his death. </p>
  494.  
  495.  
  496.  
  497. <p>Lone said he spoke with the victim’s family and learned that the cost of rebuilding their home would be around 1.5 million rupees (U.S. $17,419).</p>
  498.  
  499.  
  500.  
  501. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“It wasn’t the first time I suffered such a loss.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  502.  
  503.  
  504.  
  505. <p>According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, <a href="https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2135226" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">2,060</a> structures were damaged across Jammu and Kashmir due to heavy gunfire and artillery shelling during the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan from May 7 to 10. However, compensation has been insufficient, with most receiving only <a href="https://www.dailypioneer.com/2025/india/jammu-residents-express-outrage-over-meagre-rs-6-500-compensation-offer.html#google_vignette" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">6,500</a> rupees and blankets, while others received <a href="https://thewire.in/rights/cross-border-shelling-kashmir-displaced-refugees" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">130,000</a> rupees (U.S. $1,509).</p>
  506.  
  507.  
  508.  
  509. <p>The home ministry has also <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/mha-sanctions-additional-25-crore-for-over-2000-homes-and-properties-destroyed-in-pakistani-shelling-along-punjab-and-jk-border/article69676022.ece" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">announced </a>a special compensation package of 200,000 rupees (U.S. $2,309) for each fully damaged house and 100,000 rupees (U.S. $1,154) for those partially damaged. However, the funds haven’t been released yet, residents told Lone. </p>
  510.  
  511.  
  512.  
  513. <p>Schooling has also suffered, Lone said. In Gingal village, students lost books, uniforms and important documents, and many have struggled to study while having to live in makeshift tents. </p>
  514.  
  515.  
  516.  
  517. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">The struggle to rebuild </h3>
  518.  
  519.  
  520.  
  521. <p>The cross-border conflict has left not only homes in ruins but also <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/j-k-shops-damaged-locals-suffer-losses-due-to-shelling-by-pakistan/articleshow/121018620.cms" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">wiped </a>out <a href="https://kashmirobserver.net/2025/05/10/brick-by-brick-then-boom-what-uri-lost-in-minutes/#:~:text=In%20Bandi%20Market%2C%20Uri's%20commercial,words%20of%20consolation%20and%20comfort." rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">businesses</a>, shops and livelihoods. Netra Prakash Sharma, a shopkeeper from Bandi Brahmanan village, saw his cosmetic shop and its stock, worth 800,000 rupees (U.S. $9,319), burnt to ashes during the shelling on May 8. The devastation didn’t stop there — his house was also destroyed, leaving his family of five to live in the damaged remains.</p>
  522.  
  523.  
  524.  
  525. <p>While standing in front of his destroyed shop, Sharma told Truthdig it would cost 4 million rupees (U.S. $46,596) to rebuild his home. </p>
  526.  
  527.  
  528.  
  529. <p>“I didn’t get any financial help, so I had to take a loan of 300,000 rupees (U.S. $3,483) just for the most urgent repairs,” he said.</p>
  530.  
  531.  
  532.  
  533. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="682" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Neetu-Sharma.jpg?width=1024&#038;height=682" alt="" class="wp-image-309639" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Neetu-Sharma.jpg?width=1024&amp;height=682 1024w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Neetu-Sharma.jpg?width=300&amp;height=200 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Neetu-Sharma.jpg?width=768&amp;height=512 768w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Neetu-Sharma.jpg?width=270&amp;height=180 270w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Neetu-Sharma.jpg?width=405&amp;height=270 405w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Neetu-Sharma.jpg?width=608&amp;height=405 608w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Neetu-Sharma.jpg?width=878&amp;height=585 878w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Neetu-Sharma.jpg?width=1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Neetu Sharma’s shop in Dungus, Poonch city. It was hit by an artillery shell, damaging clothes, goods and other items. (Shivani Chaudhary)</figcaption></figure>
  534.  
  535.  
  536.  
  537. <p>“And I’m not alone. My neighbors, Sajad Hussain and Parvez Ahmed, also lost their businesses and hotels … along with their homes,” he added, noting that while the government has announced some compensation for damaged homes, there’s no support for small business owners.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  538.  
  539.  
  540.  
  541. <p>Similarly, Neetu Sharma, a shopkeeper from Dungus, Poonch district, had her world turned upside down on May 7 when cross-border shelling ravaged her clothing and footwear shop, which she had opened just six months ago to support her 5-year-old daughter&#8217;s hearing treatment. It was destroyed, with goods worth 100,000 rupees (U.S. $1,167) burnt.</p>
  542.  
  543.  
  544.  
  545. <p>Standing before her damaged shop, Sharma shared with Truthdig the weight of her financial hardship, “Despite filing for compensation, no aid has come — not from the government, administration or insurance companies.”</p>
  546.  
  547.  
  548.  
  549. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Twins and a young artist killed in the shelling</h3>
  550.  
  551.  
  552.  
  553. <p>On the morning of May 7, tragedy struck Dungus, Poonch district, as 13-year-old twins Zain Ali and Urwa Fatima <a href="https://article-14.com/post/-we-tried-to-bring-them-back-to-life-death-of-twins-12-reveals-human-cost-of-india-pakistan-conflict-682325fc09b36" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">lost </a>their lives amid heavy cross-border shelling. Their father, Rameez Khan, was severely injured.</p>
  554.  
  555.  
  556.  
  557. <p>Local activist Sadaqat Ali Mir recounted a tragic sequence of events to Truthdig that unfolded near the home of the twins. He said three mortar shells struck just outside their residence, prompting the family to flee in search of safety. While escaping, a fourth shell detonated nearby, its fragments fatally injuring Urwa. Her brother, Zain, reportedly collapsed and died at the scene, overwhelmed by the trauma of witnessing his sister’s death. Mir confirmed to Truthdig that Zain&#8217;s death appeared to be a result of shock induced by the horrific incident.&nbsp;</p>
  558.  
  559.  
  560.  
  561. <p>Mir witnessed the situation and revealed that smoke engulfed the neighborhood, panic spread and terrified residents ran for their lives. During the chaos, neighbor Paramjit Singh rushed to help Khan — the father of the twins — who had been injured by shrapnel. While trying to rescue him, another shell exploded nearby, severely burning Singh’s right hand.</p>
  562.  
  563.  
  564.  
  565. <p>Standing outside the twins’ former home, landlord Manzoor Ahmed told Truthdig that their parents, devastated by the tragedy, have since moved away from the area to their ancestral village.&nbsp;</p>
  566.  
  567.  
  568.  
  569. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa.jpg?width=1024&#038;height=576" alt="" class="wp-image-309641" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa-scaled.jpg?width=1024&amp;height=576 1024w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa-scaled.jpg?width=300&amp;height=169 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa-scaled.jpg?width=768&amp;height=432 768w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa-scaled.jpg?width=320&amp;height=180 320w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa-scaled.jpg?width=480&amp;height=270 480w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa-scaled.jpg?width=720&amp;height=405 720w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa-scaled.jpg?width=1040&amp;height=585 1040w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa-scaled.jpg?width=1280&amp;height=720 1280w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ayan-and-Urwa-scaled.jpg?width=2000 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The alley in front of the rented home where 13-year-old twins Zain Ali and Urwa Fatima died after a shell hit the area. (Shivani Chaudhary)</figcaption></figure>
  570.  
  571.  
  572.  
  573. <p>And in the Dungus area of Poonch district, a home once filled with art and creativity now stands as a painful reminder of loss. A framed picture of 13-year-old Vihaan Bhargava, hangs on the wall, paying tribute to a life tragically cut <a href="https://www.etvbharat.com/en/!bharat/dark-reality-of-war-family-loses-only-son-to-pakistani-shelling-in-poonch-enn25050806420" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">short </a>by the shelling.&nbsp;</p>
  574.  
  575.  
  576.  
  577. <p>At her home, Rashmi Bhargav, Vihaan&#8217;s mother, shared her grief with Truthdig at losing her only child. She described fleeing the city, with six family members in one car. Just 10 minutes outside Poonch, “a shell exploded in front of our vehicle, sending sharp splinters through the roof. One hit Vihaan’s head fatally, tearing his head into two. His lifeless body fell into his father’s lap. Despite the quick arrival of an ambulance, he did not survive. One of our relatives was also badly injured in the attack.”</p>
  578.  
  579.  
  580.  
  581. <p>At his home, Sanjeev Bhargava, Vihaan&#8217;s father and a teacher, told Truthdig that his son was passionate about painting and an excellent chess player. “I acknowledge the government’s efforts through Operation Sindoor to combat terrorism, but stress the need to prioritize civilian safety in any future response. I urged authorities to … establish clear safety protocols to help prevent similar tragedies,” he said.</p>
  582.  
  583.  
  584.  
  585. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Misinformation in the aftermath</h3>
  586.  
  587.  
  588.  
  589. <p>On May 7, around 7 a.m, amidst intense cross-border shelling, <a href="https://www.altnews.in/his-name-was-qari-mohammad-iqbal-he-was-not-a-terrorist/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Qari Mohammad</a> <a href="https://www.altnews.in/his-name-was-qari-mohammad-iqbal-he-was-not-a-terrorist/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Iqbal</a>, a teacher, was tragically killed. Teaching four children in his home located near the Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom madrasa campus, Iqbal was caught in the conflict when a shell exploded on a nearby construction building, sending deadly splinters into his house. One struck his neck, critically wounding him. Despite immediate efforts by neighbors and friends to rush him to the hospital, he succumbed to his injuries shortly after.</p>
  590.  
  591.  
  592.  
  593. <p>The following day, Indian mainstream news outlets sparked national outrage by falsely declaring Iqbal a “most wanted terrorist.” Reports alleged his involvement in terror recruitment and even linked him to the 2019 Pulwama attack, in which a convoy of security personal was attacked by a suicide bomber. However, Poonch District Police denied the claims against Iqbal via their official X <a href="https://x.com/Poonch_Police/status/1920403287204876544" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">account</a>.&nbsp;</p>
  594.  
  595.  
  596.  
  597. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“I blame India’s mainstream media.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  598.  
  599.  
  600.  
  601. <p>Maulana Saeed Ahmed Habib, chairperson of Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom Group of Institutions, defended Iqbal’s legacy, describing him to Truthdig as a person with no criminal record. Speaking at his office, he said Iqbal was a postgraduate in Islamic studies, and he had served as a teacher for 21 years. His grieving family, now relocated to their native village of Baila, <a href="https://x.com/zoo_bear/status/1920446248135368899" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">condemned </a>the media misinformation, as did the local community in Poonch. The incident highlighted the dangers of <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1joJfYpgdb1bKN1WWbLbZj37eJ6WKjiwO/view?usp=drive_link" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">misinformation </a>during conflict.</p>
  602.  
  603.  
  604.  
  605. <p>Lone added that in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, <a href="https://article-14.com/post/how-the-persecution-of-kashmiri-students-after-the-pahalgam-terror-attack-upended-their-academic-journeys--684f954ca6e3f" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Kashmiri students</a> and <a href="https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/islastudj.8.1.0083" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Muslims </a>nationwide have faced verbal abuse on campuses, intimidation in public spaces and online vilification.&nbsp;</p>
  606.  
  607.  
  608.  
  609. <p>“I blame India’s mainstream media for broadly portraying the entire Kashmiri community as complicit in the terror strike — an unfounded generalization,” he said.&nbsp;</p>
  610.  
  611.  
  612.  
  613. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Burnt savings and crops: farmers’ plea for relief</h3>
  614.  
  615.  
  616.  
  617. <p>In Karmara village, Poonch district, Mohammad Sharif, a farmer, lost <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BmP6Bb8eE/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">960</a>,<a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BmP6Bb8eE/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">000</a> rupees (U.S. $11,148) worth of cash when an artillery shell struck his home during cross-border shelling from May 8 to 10. The money, stored in a steel box, was burned beyond recognition, along with other household items and the walls of his home. Now, Sharif roams the streets, clutching his charred currency notes, hoping a bank or government official will offer him new currency in exchange.</p>
  618.  
  619.  
  620.  
  621. <p>Sharif stood in front of his heavily damaged home, holding half-burned currency as he spoke to Truthdig, “I had sold my last piece of farmland to build a secure future. Now, I am staying at my sister’s house, with no home, land or income.” </p>
  622.  
  623.  
  624.  
  625. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“I had sold my last piece of farmland to build a secure future.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  626.  
  627.  
  628.  
  629. <p>Sharif’s family is crammed into the small house with 16 other people, sleeping in the kitchen, struggling to survive. Sharif said he pleads for government assistance, urging the authorities to exchange his burnt currency, provide relief and reimburse families whose homes were destroyed.</p>
  630.  
  631.  
  632.  
  633. <p>Karmara village sits just 2 kilometers from the LoC, and on May 8 its fields paid the price. A single artillery shell reduced farmer Shabir Hussain’s four-acre, 30,000 rupee (U.S. $348) wheat crop to ashes and uprooted a supporting pillar of his home. Standing in his field, Hussain told Truthdig that around 80% of villagers fled during the conflict. </p>
  634.  
  635.  
  636.  
  637. <p>“I and a few others stayed behind to care for the farm animals. My four cattle were tied up in the courtyard of my house,” he said, adding that the crops he was about to harvest were destroyed in the attack. He has since planted rice but has struggled as he didn’t earn anything from the previous harvest. </p>
  638.  
  639.  
  640.  
  641. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">The politics of disaster relief</h3>
  642.  
  643.  
  644.  
  645. <p>While Global South countries like India have far less resources to provide support after tragedies, political party differences in India have also led to an insufficient response. India Today <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/no-flood-relief-to-kerala-centre-ignores-left-ruled-state-again-in-fund-release-1634741-2020-01-07" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">highlighted</a> growing concerns over the Indian government’s BJP’s (Bharatiya Janata Party) unequal treatment of opposition-led states like Kerala. Despite suffering major losses in the 2018 and 2019 floods — estimated at over 420 billion rupees (U.S. $5 billion) — Kerala has been excluded twice from central flood relief packages. In the latest announcement, 5.9 trillion rupees (U.S. $690 million) was allocated to seven states, most of them governed by the BJP, including Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Kerala’s request for aid was denied without explanation, prompting strong criticism from state leaders. The BJP is also the main <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/politics/jammu-kashmir-assembly-election-2024-results-nc-alliance-wins-majority-bjp-strong-jammu-regional-divide/article68746524.ece" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">opposition </a>party in Jammu and Kashmir.</p>
  646.  
  647.  
  648.  
  649. <p class="is-td-marked">The pattern raises serious questions about whether disaster relief decisions are being influenced by political affiliations, even as vulnerable communities continue to grapple with the effects of disasters.</p>
  650. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-india-pakistan-conflict-is-over-but-the-aftermath-for-civilians-may-be-even-worse/">The India-Pakistan Conflict Is Over, But the Aftermath for Civilians May Be Even Worse</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  651. ]]></content:encoded>
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  654. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  657. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309637</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25129343190211.jpg?width=878&#038;height=585" length="3723259" type="image/jpeg" />
  658. <media:thumbnail url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25129343190211.jpg?width=878&#038;height=585" />
  659. </item>
  660. <item>
  661. <title>Why Musk Wants a Third Party</title>
  662. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/why-musk-wants-a-third-party/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=why-musk-wants-a-third-party</link>
  663. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/why-musk-wants-a-third-party/#respond</comments>
  665. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Robert Reich /  Substack ]]></dc:creator>
  666. <pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:47:31 +0000</pubDate>
  667. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  668. <category><![CDATA[Business & Economy]]></category>
  669. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  670. <category><![CDATA[Economic Justice]]></category>
  671. <category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
  672. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  673. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  674. <category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
  675. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  676. <category><![CDATA[america party]]></category>
  677. <category><![CDATA[curtis yarvin]]></category>
  678. <category><![CDATA[donald trump]]></category>
  679. <category><![CDATA[elon musk]]></category>
  680. <category><![CDATA[third party]]></category>
  681. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309598</guid>
  682.  
  683. <description><![CDATA[<p>He suggests that he has an issue with the rising deficit, but what he really wants is to finish the job of annihilating American democracy.</p>
  684. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/why-musk-wants-a-third-party/">Why Musk Wants a Third Party</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  685. ]]></description>
  686. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  687. <p><strong>“The America Party</strong> is needed to fight the Republican/Democrat Uniparty,”&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1942003079521472760" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Elon Musk posted on X</a>, announcing that he’s forming a third party.</p>
  688.  
  689.  
  690.  
  691. <p>Does America need a third party? Possibly, for a reason I’ll get to in a moment.</p>
  692.  
  693.  
  694.  
  695. <p>But America doesn’t need a third party financed by the richest person in the world, who sank a quarter of a billion dollars into making Donald Trump president and was also among the most prolific Republican donors in 2024 (Trump officials are still <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-doge.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">awaiting $100 million in pledges</a> Musk made this year).</p>
  696.  
  697.  
  698.  
  699. <p>We need a third party dedicated to just the opposite — getting big money <em>out</em> of politics.</p>
  700.  
  701.  
  702.  
  703. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Both major parties are far too dependent on big corporations and the ultra-wealthy.</p></blockquote></figure>
  704.  
  705.  
  706.  
  707. <p>Both major parties are far too dependent on big corporations and the ultra-wealthy, although the GOP is far more dependent than are the Democrats.</p>
  708.  
  709.  
  710.  
  711. <p>Just 100 extremely&nbsp;<a href="https://americansfortaxfairness.org/billionaires-buying-elections-theyve-come-to-collect/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">wealthy families invested $2.6 billion</a>&nbsp;in the 2024 election that put Trump back in the White House and Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.</p>
  712.  
  713.  
  714.  
  715. <p>Even if you subtract Musk’s contribution, that’s more than double what billionaire donors contributed just four years ago.</p>
  716.  
  717.  
  718.  
  719. <p>Fully <a href="https://americansfortaxfairness.org/billionaires-buying-elections-theyve-come-to-collect/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">70%</a> of the bounty from the top 100 contributing billionaire families went to Republicans.</p>
  720.  
  721.  
  722.  
  723. <p>Billionaires accounted for almost three-quarters (71%) of the total amount used by outside spending groups to attack Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and over three-fifths (61%) of all outside dollars spent praising Trump.</p>
  724.  
  725.  
  726.  
  727. <p>In the three Senate races that gave Republicans control of the Senate, billionaires supplied most Republican outside spending: in Montana, 58.1%; Pennsylvania, 56.8%; Ohio, 44.5%.</p>
  728.  
  729.  
  730.  
  731. <p>Soon, the billionaires who invested in Trump will get a giant return on their investment, courtesy of Trump’s Big Ugly budget bill.</p>
  732.  
  733.  
  734.  
  735. <p>The Joint Committee on Taxation <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications/2025/jcx-33-25/?utm_" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">estimates</a> that by 2027, the richest 0.1% of taxpayers (of which the country’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sylvanlebrun/2025/04/01/the-countries-with-the-most-billionaires-2025/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">estimated roughly 900 billionaires</a> are a subset) will collectively save $60 billion in federal taxes, due to the Big Ugly.</p>
  736.  
  737.  
  738.  
  739. <p>Clearly, Musk’s purpose in creating a third party has nothing whatever to do with ending this deepening corruption.</p>
  740.  
  741.  
  742.  
  743. <p>He says he wants to unseat Republican lawmakers who backed Trump’s Big Ugly because it will add trillions to the national debt.</p>
  744.  
  745.  
  746.  
  747. <p>“What the heck was the point of @DOGE if he’s just going to increase the debt by $5 trillion??”&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1941997557514703294" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Musk wrote on X</a>, referring to his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.</p>
  748.  
  749.  
  750.  
  751. <p>Oh, please.</p>
  752.  
  753.  
  754.  
  755. <p>If Musk is really worried about the federal debt, the easiest way to shrink it would be to raise taxes on the wealthy — including himself.</p>
  756.  
  757.  
  758.  
  759. <p>Near-record levels of income and wealth are now concentrated at the very top, yet the rich don’t pay nearly their fair share in taxes.</p>
  760.  
  761.  
  762.  
  763. <p>Consider this: Musk’s 2024 campaign contributions were four times more than what he <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/americas-highest-incomes-and-taxes-revealed/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">paid in annual federal income taxes</a> between 2013 and 2018.</p>
  764.  
  765.  
  766.  
  767. <p>In fact, Musk — the richest person in the world — pays a lower tax rate than average Americans.</p>
  768.  
  769.  
  770.  
  771. <p>A&nbsp;<a href="https://americansfortaxfairness.org/summary-propublicas-report-billionaire-tax-dodgers/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">ProPublica analysis</a>&nbsp;showed that between 2014 and 2018, Musk’s wealth increased by $13.9 billion, but he paid a “true tax rate” of only 3.27 percent on that growth.</p>
  772.  
  773.  
  774.  
  775. <p>If Musk gives his 14 children his shares of stock when he dies, his heirs won’t be taxed on any of the increases in their value over Musk’s lifetime because of a loophole in the tax laws called “stepped-up basis at death.”</p>
  776.  
  777.  
  778.  
  779. <p>So Musk’s real purpose in starting a third party can’t be to reduce the federal budget deficit. And it’s obviously not to get big money out of American politics.</p>
  780.  
  781.  
  782.  
  783. <p>What is it?</p>
  784.  
  785.  
  786.  
  787. <p>One hint comes in the people from whom Musk is seeking advice for his third party. The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/us/politics/elon-musk-curtis-yarvin-third-party.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">reported</a> that Musk recently spoke about the task with the blogger <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/magazine/curtis-yarvin-interview.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Curtis Yarvin</a>.</p>
  788.  
  789.  
  790.  
  791. <p>Yarvin has no particular expertise in the mechanics of American politics, but he comes as close as anyone to being the intellectual godfather of the anti-democracy movement in America.</p>
  792.  
  793.  
  794.  
  795. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>&#8220;All stable regimes are monarchical or oligarchic in practice.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  796.  
  797.  
  798.  
  799. <p>Yarvin is at the center of a group of libertarian tech bros that includes Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen. JD Vance has cited Yarvin’s writing.</p>
  800.  
  801.  
  802.  
  803. <p>In Yarvin’s&nbsp;<a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/25370/chapter-abstract/192453833?redirectedFrom=fulltext&amp;login=false" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">view</a>, real political power in the United States is held by a liberal amalgam of universities and the mainstream press, whose commitment to equality and justice is eroding social order.</p>
  804.  
  805.  
  806.  
  807. <p>He says democratic governments are inefficient and wasteful. “There is no such thing as ‘autocracy’ versus ‘democracy,’” <a href="https://graymirror.substack.com/p/its-easy-from-here" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Yarvin has written</a>. “All government is arbitrary, unlimited and contingent. … All stable regimes are monarchical or oligarchic in practice.”</p>
  808.  
  809.  
  810.  
  811. <p>Democracies, says Yarvin, should be replaced with sovereign joint-stock corporations whose major “shareholders” — wealthy oligarchs — select an executive with total power, who serves at their pleasure.<sup>&nbsp;</sup>Yarvin refers to the city-state of Singapore as an example of a successful authoritarian regime.</p>
  812.  
  813.  
  814.  
  815. <p>Yarvin&nbsp;<a href="https://graymirror.substack.com/p/its-easy-from-here" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">criticized</a>&nbsp;Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency for not assuming&nbsp;<em>enough</em>&nbsp;power.</p>
  816.  
  817.  
  818.  
  819. <p>So it seems we’ve come to Musk’s real purpose in starting a third party. Not to reduce the federal debt (which could be done by raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy like Musk). Certainly not to get big money out of politics (Musk is Exhibit A in how big money subverts democracy).</p>
  820.  
  821.  
  822.  
  823. <p>It’s to finish the job Musk’s money in the 2024 election began and his DOGE continued once Trump was in office: the total annihilation of American democracy.</p>
  824. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/why-musk-wants-a-third-party/">Why Musk Wants a Third Party</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  825. ]]></content:encoded>
  827. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/why-musk-wants-a-third-party/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  828. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  831. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309598</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25140655772581-scaled.jpg?width=878&#038;height=585" length="649956" type="image/jpeg" />
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  833. </item>
  834. <item>
  835. <title>20 Years of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions</title>
  836. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/20-years-of-boycott-divestment-sanctions/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=20-years-of-boycott-divestment-sanctions</link>
  837. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/20-years-of-boycott-divestment-sanctions/#respond</comments>
  839. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Arria /  Mondoweiss ]]></dc:creator>
  840. <pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:25:46 +0000</pubDate>
  841. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  842. <category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
  843. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  844. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  845. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  846. <category><![CDATA[Wounds of War]]></category>
  847. <category><![CDATA[apartheid]]></category>
  848. <category><![CDATA[BDS]]></category>
  849. <category><![CDATA[bds movement]]></category>
  850. <category><![CDATA[gaza]]></category>
  851. <category><![CDATA[israel]]></category>
  852. <category><![CDATA[Omar Barghouti]]></category>
  853. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309594</guid>
  854.  
  855. <description><![CDATA[<p>Omar Barghouti, the co-founder of the BDS movement, talks about its history and the hope that it will one day become unnecessary.</p>
  856. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/20-years-of-boycott-divestment-sanctions/">20 Years of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  857. ]]></description>
  858. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  859. <p><strong>July 9 marked the 20th anniversary</strong> of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions&nbsp;(BDS) movement, the nonviolent Palestinian-led campaign aimed at holding Israel accountable under international law.</p>
  860.  
  861.  
  862.  
  863. <p>“This day will be remembered in history as the start of a principled, strategic, and creative process that has isolated Israel’s 77-year-old regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid and military occupation at the grassroots and institutional level,” the BDS National Committee said in a statement. “It has redefined the meaning of solidarity with our struggle as starting with ending the complicity of states, corporations and institutions with this regime.”</p>
  864.  
  865.  
  866.  
  867. <p>Mondoweiss&nbsp;U.S. correspondent Michael Arria spoke with Omar Barghouti, a founding committee member of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bdsmovement.net/pacbi" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel</a>&nbsp;and a co-founder of the BDS movement, about the campaign’s past, present and future.</p>
  868.  
  869.  
  870.  
  871. <p>(This discussion has been edited for brevity and clarity.)</p>
  872.  
  873.  
  874.  
  875. <p><strong>Mondoweiss: How did BDS start and what are its goals?</strong></p>
  876.  
  877.  
  878.  
  879. <p>Barghouti: It’s important to situate it in the current ongoing live-streamed genocide, by Israel in Gaza, because BDS is now even that much more important than it has ever been and because of the genocide, because of the role BDS has played for the last 20 years in fighting the complicity of states corporations and institutions and that have enabled Israel to continue its settler colonialism, its apartheid and its military occupation leading up to this genocide.</p>
  880.  
  881.  
  882.  
  883. <p>So going back to 2005 when BDS was established, many civil society groups, trade unions, coalitions of political parties, women’s unions, students, academics, professional unions and grassroots movements got together and signed the BDS call, which a number of us drafted, basically after almost a year of community consultations.</p>
  884.  
  885.  
  886.  
  887. <p>By that I mean consultations within historic Palestine, in the ’67 territory or the ’48 territory, Palestinians in exile, in refugee camps and in Western exile because we wanted this movement to be inclusive of all Palestinians, especially after so many years of the so-called Oslo Accords and the complete fragmentation, if not complete undermining of the struggle for Palestinian rights.</p>
  888.  
  889.  
  890.  
  891. <p>BDS was inspired by a century of Palestinian popular resistance initially against British colonialism and then Zionist settler colonialism in Palestine. So we’ve learned the tactics of BDS mainly from our own people’s struggle, but it’s also inspired by many liberation movements, especially the South African anti-apartheid movement, and of course justice movements like the civil rights movement in the United States. Those played a very important role in inspiring the philosophy, if you will, of the BDS movement.</p>
  892.  
  893.  
  894.  
  895. <p>We decided that, at a minimum, in order for Palestinians to exercise our inalienable right as an indigenous people in our homeland to self-determination, three rights must be achieved. An end to the military occupation; an end to the system of racial domination, segregation and apartheid; and the right of refugees to return and receive reparations.</p>
  896.  
  897.  
  898.  
  899. <p>Without those three rights, we cannot exercise self-determination. We cannot enjoy the full menu of rights, as Archbishop Desmond Tutu would have said.</p>
  900.  
  901.  
  902.  
  903. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Palestinians have been fragmented into three constituent parts.</p></blockquote></figure>
  904.  
  905.  
  906.  
  907. <p>Now, why address all three? Palestinians have been fragmented by the different phases of Zionist settler colonialism into three main constituent parts. Palestinians in the occupied Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as recognized by the U.N., constitute only 38% of the entire Palestinian people. This is something since the Oslo Accords of 1993, people have forgotten that the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are really a minority.</p>
  908.  
  909.  
  910.  
  911. <p>Twelve percent of the Palestinian people are citizens of present-day Israel, living under a system of apartheid as second- or third-class citizens. And then 50% of Palestinians are in exile, not allowed to go home, not allowed to enjoy their right of return, as stipulated by international law.</p>
  912.  
  913.  
  914.  
  915. <p>Within Palestinian communities in historic Palestine, whether 67 or 48, there’s a very large minority of internal refugees, internally displaced persons, who together with the 50% in exile, constitute the absolute majority of Palestinians. That’s why the right of return is the most important right that the BDS movement has called for.</p>
  916.  
  917.  
  918.  
  919. <p>Another important aspect of BDS is that it’s an inclusive movement that has a unified leadership. The absolute largest coalition in Palestinian society, the BDS National Committee or BNC, leads this global movement.</p>
  920.  
  921.  
  922.  
  923. <p>BDS is opposed to racism of all forms, and therefore it opposes anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, anti-Jewish, anti-Black, anti-Indigenous racism and so on, as it opposes sexism and misogyny and all kinds of discriminatory tendencies.</p>
  924.  
  925.  
  926.  
  927. <p>It is based on international law, but it takes a critical view of it. We understand its limitations, and we work to expand its interpretation and we’ve done that.</p>
  928.  
  929.  
  930.  
  931. <p><strong>Could you give some examples of how you’ve done that, and maybe some other milestones of the last 20 years?</strong></p>
  932.  
  933.  
  934.  
  935. <p>There are too many to mention, but we put out a&nbsp;<a href="https://bdsmovement.net/news/bds-at-20" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">statemen</a><a href="https://bdsmovement.net/news/bds-at-20" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">t</a>&nbsp;about 20 years of BDS, with 20 highlights.</p>
  936.  
  937.  
  938.  
  939. <p>In the midst of a genocide, we feel it is quite inappropriate, quite awkward, quite tone deaf to celebrate. So we’re not celebrating, but we’re marking the occasion, highlighting the immense impact, this grassroots movement with its so many partners around the world has achieved in 20 years, not against Israel only, a nuclear power with immense influence in the colonial West, but against the entire colonial West.</p>
  940.  
  941.  
  942.  
  943. <p>Israel’s settler colonialism is not just Israeli, it’s a Western project. So throughout those 20 years, we were up against the U.S. government, both Congress and White House, European bureaucracy, the European Union, the U.K., Australia, Canada and so on.</p>
  944.  
  945.  
  946.  
  947. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Israel’s settler colonialism is not just Israeli, it’s a Western project.</p></blockquote></figure>
  948.  
  949.  
  950.  
  951. <p>It wasn’t just a struggle against Israel’s repression. It was against all of the partners in crime of Israel, if you will, the colonial West.</p>
  952.  
  953.  
  954.  
  955. <p>BDS has actually reshaped what solidarity with Palestinian liberation means and should look like. As I said, BDS is very influenced by the the South African anti-apartheid struggle and the U.S. civil rights movement, but it has created its own philosophical underpinnings and understanding of what solidarity should look like.</p>
  956.  
  957.  
  958.  
  959. <p>Our analysis was that Palestinians cannot reach liberation, freedom, justice, equality without cutting the links of international complicity with Israel’s regime of settler colonialism, apartheid, military occupation and now genocide, because Israel relies on the support it gets — diplomatic, financial, military, academic, cultural, in sports — mainly from the colonial West.</p>
  960.  
  961.  
  962.  
  963. <p>So BDS said, the first very profound obligation if you want to do real solidarity is to do no harm and to stop, cut back or offset, if you cannot do either, the harm done in your name. If you’re a citizen of the United States and you know that your government is deeply implicated in all the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians, including the ongoing genocide, in all aspects of this genocide, it’s a U.S.-Israeli genocide, then what is your responsibility?</p>
  964.  
  965.  
  966.  
  967. <p>That means that anyone in the U.S. should compensate for the government speaking on their behalf by joining BDS, by highlighting the complicity in their unions, in their schools, in their universities, in their hospital, wherever they work. That concept is a very important achievement for the BDS movement, actually.</p>
  968.  
  969.  
  970.  
  971. <p>A second aspect at this macro level is the analysis of Israel’s regime as well as settler colonialism and apartheid. We did not invent that, of course. Historians have written about that, but it was forgotten throughout the&nbsp;<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/the-oslo-accords-failure-or-betrayal/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Oslo Accords</a>&nbsp;years. The Palestinian question was reduced to the occupied West Bank and Gaza and the concept of autonomy, as if it’s a dispute between Israel and its neighbors.</p>
  972.  
  973.  
  974.  
  975. <p>The BDS movement said no, this is about settler colonialism and apartheid that has existed since the very foundation. This is a settler colony on the Palestinian indigenous homeland. That’s what it is.</p>
  976.  
  977.  
  978.  
  979. <p>Therefore, without this right analysis, we cannot find the right tools to dismantle the system of oppression. Many years later, major human rights organizations and U.N. experts started recognizing Israel as an apartheid state. Some of them started talking about settler colonialism, but we have a long way to go. But that is one of the main impacts of the BDS movement.</p>
  980.  
  981.  
  982.  
  983. <p>As far as impacts, I’ll start with the policy level, or what we call the S in BDS, which is mainly about observing, meeting, honoring obligations under international law, not discretionary sanctions, and definitely not the criminal sanctions that the U.S. has applied against Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Venezuela and other countries in the global South.</p>
  984.  
  985.  
  986.  
  987. <p>Before Oct. 23, we had no countries supporting a military embargo of Israel. Now, there are 52 states that have an official policy of a military embargo. There are loopholes, yes, but at least they’ve adopted that policy. Many states have taken actual actions as measures of accountability.</p>
  988.  
  989.  
  990.  
  991. <p>Colombia, for example, has banned the import of Israeli weapons and is working to ban the export of coal to Israel because of its genocide. Turkey has played a role in cutting a lot of trade with Israel. Malaysia has prevented ships from going to Israel. This is all very new. We didn’t see many states doing things in the past.</p>
  992.  
  993.  
  994.  
  995. <p>The Norwegian pension fund, which is the biggest sovereign state fund in the world, has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/norway-opt-divesting-pension-fund-a-crucial-step-towards-dismantling-israels-unlawful-occupation/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">divested</a>&nbsp;from Israeli bonds and several companies involved in apartheid. Many states have prevented ships carrying military material to Israel from using their&nbsp;<a href="https://bdsmovement.net/Stop-Illegal-Maritime-Transfers" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">ports</a>. Malta, Angola, South Africa and others. Dock workers played a very important role in this achievement.</p>
  996.  
  997.  
  998.  
  999. <p>In addition to Norway, there are New Zealand, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, among others, but also among faith communities who have divested from Israel. The United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA and others have divested from either Israeli banks or U.S. companies and French companies involved in Israel’s occupation and human rights violations.</p>
  1000.  
  1001.  
  1002.  
  1003. <p>Now we’re seeing universities across the United States divesting thanks to the student-led mobilizations, the encampments and the faculty supporting them.</p>
  1004.  
  1005.  
  1006.  
  1007. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>We’re too angry. We’re too enraged. We’re too sad to celebrate.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1008.  
  1009.  
  1010.  
  1011. <p>At the B level, which is the grassroots boycott level, many people understand BDS as only targeting corporations and consumer goods. That is definitely a very important part of BDS, but there’s also an academic boycott, a cultural boycott and a sports boycott.</p>
  1012.  
  1013.  
  1014.  
  1015. <p>I mentioned the military embargo to start with because that’s a sanction, but as far as boycotts are concerned, all of these are important. Across Europe, for example, we’re seeing many universities for the first time ever cutting ties with Israeli universities, even refusing to work with Israeli universities within the so-called Horizon program, the largest research program of the European Union.</p>
  1016.  
  1017.  
  1018.  
  1019. <p>In the cultural sphere, we’re seeing cultural centers cut ties, divesting or installing procurement policies that exclude companies involved in Israel’s occupation and apartheid.</p>
  1020.  
  1021.  
  1022.  
  1023. <p>We’re seeing thousands and thousands of artists and writers and publishers joining the cultural boycott of Israel, which, like the academic boycott, is institutional. It targets institutions not individuals, and this is very important difference between the BDS movement and the South African boycott, which was a blanket boycott against everyone and everything South African.</p>
  1024.  
  1025.  
  1026.  
  1027. <p>Then, of course, we see the boycott against corporations. We’ve seen some of the largest corporations in the world compelled, thanks to BDS pressure, to abandon entirely their illegal projects in the Israeli economy.</p>
  1028.  
  1029.  
  1030.  
  1031. <p>Some of them are Veolia, CRH, Puma, G4S, which is the largest security company in the world, and others.</p>
  1032.  
  1033.  
  1034.  
  1035. <p>There are so many companies that have been forced because of losing tenders across the world because of BDS pressure. Some companies, like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, have already had their bottom lines impacted by these grassroots campaigns. The CEO of McDonald’s has repeatedly said that they’re losing markets in many parts of the world. Some Israeli financial media puts the losses at McDonald’s at about $6 billion because of boycott pressures. Coca-Cola is facing a similar fate.</p>
  1036.  
  1037.  
  1038.  
  1039. <p>Companies like Chevron, the large oil company, are beginning to feel the heat. Intel was forced to abandon a $25 billion project in Israel that they had planned two months into the genocide. BDS played a role, not the only role, but an important role in this campaign.</p>
  1040.  
  1041.  
  1042.  
  1043. <p>I can go on and on. There are so many examples of impact. They are important to mark, but we cannot celebrate. We’re too angry. We’re too enraged. We’re too sad to celebrate. Yet we need to mark this because this is part of building hope and building people power to affect policy change.</p>
  1044.  
  1045.  
  1046.  
  1047. <p><strong>Looking back on the last 20 years, what has surprised you, and what have you learned? Did the backlash to the movement surprise you? Has it changed your strategy at all?</strong></p>
  1048.  
  1049.  
  1050.  
  1051. <p>We’ve always known that the U.S. partnership with Israel is important. We’ve known that without the U.S. military, financial, economic and diplomatic support for apartheid, it cannot continue.</p>
  1052.  
  1053.  
  1054.  
  1055. <p>However, when we began the BDS movement 20 years ago, we had no idea how much influence Israel has on the U.S. government. We had no idea it was to that extent.</p>
  1056.  
  1057.  
  1058.  
  1059. <p>We’ve always known and read analyses about the Israel lobbies, not one lobby, the Jewish Zionist lobby, the Christian Zionist lobby, the military industrial complex lobby and others. Now we have the tech lobby that is invested heavily in Israel because they get to test their weaponized AI and weaponized Cloud services in the battlefield against Palestinians, but we didn’t know the level to which it was happening.</p>
  1060.  
  1061.  
  1062.  
  1063. <p>So in any international conference, any resolution on Palestine, the main fight is not with Israel, because Israel is usually too small and too insignificant to count. You are fighting with the U.S. government, with the U.S. administration. You’re up against them in any international forum, be it the United Nations, international scholarly associations, international unions.</p>
  1064.  
  1065.  
  1066.  
  1067. <p>It’s always the United States, number one, followed by Germany, the rest of the Europeans and Israel’s ambassadors. This level of co-optation, corruption and complete partnership in crime was quite a surprise for us, indeed. We had no idea it was at at this level.</p>
  1068.  
  1069.  
  1070.  
  1071. <p>There’s another aspect which I think kind of surprised us, maybe because we were too influenced by the Western propaganda about liberal democracy. We’ve always looked at it very critically, and those of us who studied in the U.S. have always known the limits of liberal democracy. After all, the United States is a settler colony that just recognized equal rights for women not too long ago, not to mention equal rights for black people. There wasn’t equal rights for indigenous communities in the United States, and Jim Crow wasn’t that long a ago. So we never took this liberal democracy at face value. We’ve always looked deeper.</p>
  1072.  
  1073.  
  1074.  
  1075. <p>However, we had no idea that the United States, which has always cherished its First Amendment, the freedom of speech and expression, would sacrifice these civil rights to protect Israel from accountability, from grassroots campaigns.</p>
  1076.  
  1077.  
  1078.  
  1079. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>This is McCarthyism 2.0, and it will not stop with Israel and BDS.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1080.  
  1081.  
  1082.  
  1083. <p>Why would the state of Texas&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41688999" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">punish survivors</a>&nbsp;of a hurricane [in 2017], in the middle of nowhere in Texas, that have gone to the state to ask for support after the floods destroyed all their livelihoods, by making them sign an anti-BDS pledge?</p>
  1084.  
  1085.  
  1086.  
  1087. <p>They had no idea what this BDS was, but they had to sign something that said, “I will not boycott Israel or territories under Israel’s control while receiving aid from the state of Texas.”</p>
  1088.  
  1089.  
  1090.  
  1091. <p>Why? What could have led to such a level of penetration of Israeli interests in states, not to mention the federal government, and a sacrificing of civil rights, a sacrificing of the U.S. Constitution to shield Israel’s apartheid? This was a shock to us.</p>
  1092.  
  1093.  
  1094.  
  1095. <p>When I used to tour the U.S. around 2015, 2016, I remember in church after church, university after university, community center after community center, I was always saying, “These anti-BDS laws that are starting will not stop at BDS or the Palestinians.” It’s a threat to every justice movement because it’s a threat to the First Amendment and once they abuse the the First Amendment and bend it to allow for suppressing speech on Palestine, and BDS is freedom of expression, then they’ll use that against everyone else.</p>
  1096.  
  1097.  
  1098.  
  1099. <p>This is a new McCarthyism. Just like the first McCarthyism was not really against the Communist Reds only. That’s how it started, and then it was against every dissenting voice. This is McCarthyism 2.0 and it will not stop with Israel and BDS.</p>
  1100.  
  1101.  
  1102.  
  1103. <p>At that point, very few were listening, including our strongest partners. They did not comprehend that the writing on the wall, which Palestinians saw first, was true. They might have thought that we were being alarmist and exaggerating. It took them years to realize that anti-BDS legislation was used as template for suppressing black voting rights, women’s reproductive rights, campaigns against fossil fuels, and other movements.</p>
  1104.  
  1105.  
  1106.  
  1107. <p>The exact wording in one state legislature after another was used to suppress those other justice movements. So this intersectionality of struggles, which is now much more obvious, much more taken for granted, and it was not obvious even a few years ago.</p>
  1108.  
  1109.  
  1110.  
  1111. <p><strong>How did Oct. 7 impact BDS? Has the ongoing genocide recalibrated the movement in any way? Has it drawn more people to support BDS, in your opinion?</strong></p>
  1112.  
  1113.  
  1114.  
  1115. <p>Since the beginning of the genocide, we, all Palestinians, were in a state of complete shock. The level of grief and the level of rage has been unprecedented.</p>
  1116.  
  1117.  
  1118.  
  1119. <p>Nothing has prepared us for a live-streamed genocide. We’ve always thought that there must be some limits, some international law mechanism that will kick in and stop a live-streamed genocide. Even the United States, the world’s only empire, has never dared to perpetrate such a genocide.</p>
  1120.  
  1121.  
  1122.  
  1123. <p>It has always tried to find excuses for killing millions in Vietnam, hundreds of thousands in Iraq, in Afghanistan and across the world. They’ve always said they were trying to fight communism, terrorism or something, but they’ve never said, “These people are human animals and we’re going to slaughter them. We’re going to cut off water, electricity and food and let them die.” They never said, we’re going to concentrate them in camps.</p>
  1124.  
  1125.  
  1126.  
  1127. <p>This is the language used today by the Israeli establishment. They want to concentrate over 2 million Palestinians in camps. To get away with this was an absolute shock. However, we could not fall into despair, which is exactly what our detractors want. They want to colonize our minds with utter despair, utter powerlessness. They want us to think there’s nothing that we can do to stop this. Israel, supported by the U.S. and the European Union and the U.K., is unstoppable. It will continue killing and killing and killing. There’s nothing we can do.</p>
  1128.  
  1129.  
  1130.  
  1131. <p>That is one path that we refuse to take on ethical grounds. There was another path, the difficult one. We’re going to channel our immense grief and our boundless rage into constructive energy to campaign like never before to isolate apartheid Israel at every level possible. Academic, cultural, sports, economic. We are going to target every company involved in Israel’s crimes against us. We need to exact a price from it, a reputation price, we need to impact the bottom line.</p>
  1132.  
  1133.  
  1134.  
  1135. <p>That’s the path we took in the BDS movement from day one—actually, since we issued our first statement on October 8. We analyzed this as a genocide and we called for action. We called for escalating pressure, disruption, peaceful disruption of business as usual in every institution, every corporation that is complicit.</p>
  1136.  
  1137.  
  1138.  
  1139. <p>We called for boycotts like never before and for pressure on governments, and we had the tools because we’ve been building this toolbox for many, many, many years. We’ve built alliances and networks with trade unions and grassroots movements and racial justice movements and indigenous groups across the world. So we were a little prepared with our strategies, but we had to decolonize our minds from the hopelessness.</p>
  1140.  
  1141.  
  1142.  
  1143. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The mainstream media played a very important role in inciting genocide.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1144.  
  1145.  
  1146.  
  1147. <p>But your other point is absolutely right. Because of the genocide, because of the unspeakable horror that Israel has visited upon us, and the killing and destruction, destroying Gaza’s 4,000-year civilization, that has enraged not just Palestinians and many across the Arab region, but many across the world, especially the younger generation.</p>
  1148.  
  1149.  
  1150.  
  1151. <p>I think Israel will live, or not, to regret it — to regret that it has entirely lost the young generation, Gen Z and the younger generation worldwide, from Japan to the United States, from South Africa to Sweden, from Latin America to Indonesia.</p>
  1152.  
  1153.  
  1154.  
  1155. <p>They’ve lost the younger generations completely. I’ll explain another intersectional aspect aspect of their anger: it’s solidarity with Palestinians, it’s rage about what Israel is getting away with and how their leaders are trying to justify this, are trying to to sanitize this in such dehumanizing language.</p>
  1156.  
  1157.  
  1158.  
  1159. <p>They were so colonial, so dehumanizing. The so-called media outlets, from the&nbsp;New York Times’s&nbsp;genocidal coverage, to the BBC, super genocidal coverage, not to mention Fox News and the fascists.</p>
  1160.  
  1161.  
  1162.  
  1163. <p>Across the colonial West, the mainstream media played a very important role in inciting genocide. And when we have the power to have our own Nuremberg, it’s not only the presidents, ministers of defense, governors and so on who have led the support for the genocide that should be held to account, but also media executives, big tech executives, the executives of all the arms corporations that have sold the weapons and the companies themselves. So we will hold them all to account. That’s a very important point.</p>
  1164.  
  1165.  
  1166.  
  1167. <p>I think those young generations were saying that it’s not just Palestinians, Israel is destroying international law, it’s destroying the order that has ever existed, and bringing in a “might makes right” era with the support of the U.S. and Europe. This era is making the world so unsafe, so unpredictable for all of us.</p>
  1168.  
  1169.  
  1170.  
  1171. <p>On top of the climate disaster, now you have another disaster of a world where the powerful can do whatever they wish and they can just sanitize it and whitewash it. With the right propaganda tools like the&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;and the BBC, what kind of future will we have as young people?</p>
  1172.  
  1173.  
  1174.  
  1175. <p>I’ve heard this over and over from universities across the world, in Indonesia, in Stockholm, and in Cape Town, the same sentiment, despite the immense difference, saying the same thing. People are scared of what Israel is doing.</p>
  1176.  
  1177.  
  1178.  
  1179. <p>President Gustavo Petro of Colombia was the first head of state back in October 2023, who said, Gaza is only the first experiment. They will consider us all dispensable unless we do something about it. He was so right, and this reflects the sentiment among the global majority, actually, not just in the Global South.</p>
  1180.  
  1181.  
  1182.  
  1183. <p>I think that has channeled a lot of energy into supporting BDS. You’ve seen our campaigns grow immensely. We’ve begun to have much more influence on policy during the genocide. We’ve begun to exact a heavy price from complicit companies during the genocide because the support was extremely large and people wanted something effective to do.</p>
  1184.  
  1185.  
  1186.  
  1187. <p>They didn’t just want sloganeering and marching. While those are important, they are not enough. You need to target complicity. It’s all about complicity. That’s what meaningful solidarity begins with.</p>
  1188.  
  1189.  
  1190.  
  1191. <p><strong>What’s next for the movement? What’s upcoming? How do you see BDS evolving over the next 20 years?</strong></p>
  1192.  
  1193.  
  1194.  
  1195. <p>Well, we hope we won’t have a BDS movement in 20 years. We hope that apartheid will be dismantled, occupation will be ended, and Palestinian refugees will be able to return and reestablish their lives.</p>
  1196.  
  1197.  
  1198.  
  1199. <p>If that happens, we won’t need BDS movement. The BDS movement was born because the international community failed to hold Israel accountable to anything. International law broke down, and now it’s being buried under the rubble of Gaza and under the corpses of tens of thousands of Palestinian men, women and children.</p>
  1200.  
  1201.  
  1202.  
  1203. <p>If that were not to happen, we wouldn’t have had a BDS movement. So we really hope in 20 years we won’t have this movement. We hope peace, justice, dignity, self-determination and the right of return prevail.</p>
  1204.  
  1205.  
  1206.  
  1207. <p>However, until then, we will continue escalating our pressure. We’re getting more sophisticated. We have many, many more allies and partners.</p>
  1208.  
  1209.  
  1210.  
  1211. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The BDS movement was born because the international community failed to hold Israel accountable.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1212.  
  1213.  
  1214.  
  1215. <p>Just one example. BDS activists just disrupted a United Nations conference in Geneva called&nbsp;<a href="https://aiforgood.itu.int/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">AI for Good</a>. Extremely provocative title, not to mention that the United Nations is partnering with Microsoft, Google, Amazon, IBM, Cisco and other companies that are enabling to genocide.</p>
  1216.  
  1217.  
  1218.  
  1219. <p>We’ve established a very broad coalition calling on the U.N. to designate AI and Cloud as dual-use because they have a military application and to regulate them as such, including under the arms treaty.</p>
  1220.  
  1221.  
  1222.  
  1223. <p>This work would have been completely impossible two years ago. Now it’s possible. Now many form a coalition and work with us on this.</p>
  1224.  
  1225.  
  1226.  
  1227. <p>So we will continue to do this, partnering with so many trade unions and grassroots movements who are supporting our demands. We will continue calling for the boycotting of Israel, divesting from companies invested in Israel and supporting its crimes against Palestinians and even imposing lawful, targeted sanctions, the only sanctions we call for.</p>
  1228.  
  1229.  
  1230.  
  1231. <p>None of this is beyond the pale, like it was 10 years ago, even five years ago. Today, it’s much more mainstream, but there’s a complete split between the establishment, especially in a colonial west that’s still extremely genocidal and extremely supportive of Israel, and the grassroots, especially the younger people, who are all pro-Palestine today.</p>
  1232.  
  1233.  
  1234.  
  1235. <p>So when we say “Palestine frees us all,” we really mean it. In the struggle to stand with Palestine, people have discovered the limits of their so-called liberal democracies, their universities that were supposedly democratic. They discovered how repressive, how autocratic how corporate controlled they are.</p>
  1236.  
  1237.  
  1238.  
  1239. <p>They’ve discovered their governments to be mainly oligarchies, not so much democracies. They’ve discovered the corruption in the political class, the economic class and the military-industrial conflicts.</p>
  1240.  
  1241.  
  1242.  
  1243. <p>Those discoveries will push younger generations to really demand change and lead change.</p>
  1244. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/20-years-of-boycott-divestment-sanctions/">20 Years of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1245. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1253. </item>
  1254. <item>
  1255. <title>The De-Documented</title>
  1256. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-de-documented/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-de-documented</link>
  1257. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-de-documented/#respond</comments>
  1259. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Lillian Perlmutter]]></dc:creator>
  1260. <pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:10:32 +0000</pubDate>
  1261. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  1262. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  1263. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  1264. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1265. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  1266. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  1267. <category><![CDATA[Asylum Ban]]></category>
  1268. <category><![CDATA[CBP One]]></category>
  1269. <category><![CDATA[ICE raids]]></category>
  1270. <category><![CDATA[immigration and customs enforcement]]></category>
  1271. <category><![CDATA[mass deportation]]></category>
  1272. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309589</guid>
  1273.  
  1274. <description><![CDATA[<p>Asylum claims for hundreds of thousands of migrants were vetted. Papers and work permits were issued. Then it was all taken away.</p>
  1275. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-de-documented/">The De-Documented</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1276. ]]></description>
  1277. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1278. <p class="has-drop-cap">When Ricardo and Yuli crossed the border in October of last year, they had the permission of the United States government. The couple’s petition to apply for asylum was granted following an interview at a Texas border crossing. After handling the required paperwork, the couple moved to Houston and received official work permits. Ricardo — who had run an informal taxi service in Havana — hoped to become a truck driver. In Houston, he acquired his U.S. drivers’ license, a used Honda, and began studying for the commercial trucking license exam. He and Yuli took jobs at a local car wash to make ends meet in the short-term.</p>
  1279.  
  1280.  
  1281.  
  1282. <p>In April, the Department of Homeland Security terminated the status of more than 900,000 people who had been vetted at the border for valid asylum claims by DHS personnel. Ricardo and Yuli were among them. Without papers and work permits, they were promptly fired from the car wash. The life they had been planning for over a year was suddenly cast into doubt.</p>
  1283.  
  1284.  
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  1292. </span>
  1293. <span class="block mt-2">
  1294. <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/how-to-survive-a-migrant-kidnapping/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="405" height="270" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=405&amp;height=270" class="attachment-16:9-medium size-16:9-medium wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=2560 2560w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=300&amp;height=200 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=1024&amp;height=683 1024w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=768&amp;height=512 768w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=270&amp;height=180 270w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=405&amp;height=270 405w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=608&amp;height=405 608w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=878&amp;height=585 878w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25120536897587-scaled.jpg?width=2000 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 405px) 100vw, 405px" /></a>
  1295. </span>
  1296. </span>
  1297. </span>
  1298. </span>
  1299.  
  1300.  
  1301.  
  1302. <p>The cancellation of these parole statuses was one of<a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/trump-2-immigration-first-100-days" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> 181 executive actions</a> that President Donald Trump issued in his first 100 days in office related to immigration and border enforcement. Another of those executive orders hit Ricardo’s plans especially hard: In May, Trump signed a law requiring all truck-driving license applicants to pass a rigorous English fluency test. Experts warn that the order<a href="https://www.borderreport.com/news/trade/mexican-truckers-reportedly-warned-about-lack-of-english-literacy-on-us-roads/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> could impede commerce</a>, as hundreds of thousands of new truck drivers are needed, and the majority of that labor market speaks Spanish.</p>
  1303.  
  1304.  
  1305.  
  1306. <p>In March, the Office of Refugee Resettlement — which during the Biden years offered small monthly payments to Cubans and Haitians entering the asylum process — said it no longer had enough money to continue the program, and the checks stopped coming. On the campaign trail, Trump had attacked the program as part of his<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-illegal-2200-payment-government-821946727757" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> deceptive narrative</a> that the Biden administration was giving thousands of dollars to people in the country “illegally.” But the program was a lifeline for Ricardo and Yuli. They spent their first $300 check on 10-kilo bags of beans and rice at Costco, not realizing that they would not need to stockpile like they had in Cuba, where they endured constant and severe food insecurity, as well as rolling blackouts. </p>
  1307.  
  1308.  
  1309.  
  1310. <p>“We had no idea what to get, so we just got everything,” said Yuli.</p>
  1311.  
  1312.  
  1313.  
  1314. <p class="has-drop-cap">The vast majority of asylum seekers who have lost their legal status are people who navigated the immigration system “the right way,” following the legal pathways created by previous administrations. Ricardo and Yuli entered the country from Mexico using the CBP One app, a phone application created by Customs and Border Protection, which was the only way to seek asylum in the United States between June 2024 and January 2025, when Trump cancelled the program, shutting off the asylum system entirely. The cancellation of the app left tens of thousands of migrants stranded in Mexico.</p>
  1315.  
  1316.  
  1317.  
  1318. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“It’s time for you to abandon the United States.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1319.  
  1320.  
  1321.  
  1322. <p>In April, the Trump administration began encouraging the 900,000 people who had entered the U.S. using the CBP One app to self-deport. That&#8217;s when Ricardo and Yuli lost their work permits. In May, a member of Ricardo and Yuli’s CBP One group, who had crossed the border with them in October 2024, received an email from Customs and Border Protection informing them, “It’s time for you to abandon the United States,” and warning him that he was at risk of deportation if he chose not to return to Cuba voluntarily. The email included a link to a new app, CBP Home, where immigrants are offered $1,000 to self-deport. They are told to report to a facility, where they will then be transported to an airport and flown to their home countries. So far, only 5,000 people have self-deported using this method as of May, despite the program’s <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/trump-self-deportation" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">$200 million</a> ad campaign.</p>
  1323.  
  1324.  
  1325.  
  1326. <p>Since the email was sent only to the leader of the group, not to Ricardo and Yuli, they were not sure whether it applied to them. They felt the “confusion and dread” that the<a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/what-we-know-about-trumps-efforts-to-roll-back-tps-for-venezuelans/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"> American Immigration Council</a> says is the characteristic response to the Trump administration&#8217;s executive orders.</p>
  1327.  
  1328.  
  1329.  
  1330. <p>“This is just one example of the administration making attempts to not only revoke lawful status from people who likely obtained it following all of the U.S. governance procedures, but also to prejudice them in unprecedented and discriminatory ways, barring them from applying for or receiving any form of relief for which they very well may be eligible,” said Hannah Flamm, a lawyer with the International Refugee Assistance Project.</p>
  1331.  
  1332.  
  1333.  
  1334. <p>Without a work permit, Ricardo and Yuli were forced to look for clandestine employment at factories that pay hourly wages of between $8 and $11. On the assembly line, packaging cosmetics or food products, workers are not allowed to talk to one another and are fired on the spot if they speak during their 10-hour shifts. “I’ve worked more in the past nine months than I worked in the rest of my 52 years combined,” Yuli said. Many of the factory employees are migrants in the same position, including several pregnant women who have decided, without any other option, to keep working until they go into labor.</p>
  1335.  
  1336.  
  1337.  
  1338. <p>Yuli says the couple also faces pressure from family back home, who continue to suffer through an economic crisis and need remittances to live. The couple, like most asylum-seekers, never dreamed of coming to the United States, but felt they had no other option to ensure the well-being of their family. Yuli saved enough to buy her mother a solar-powered generator, which cost more than $1,000, to use during extended blackouts. “They ask why we aren’t giving them money every month, but I tell them first I need to figure out how to survive here,” Yuli said.</p>
  1339.  
  1340.  
  1341.  
  1342. <p>Since losing their parole status, both Ricardo and Yuli have questioned their decision to leave Cuba. Yuli still believes she made the right choice; Ricardo regrets the migration. But even if he wanted to go back, Ricardo has sold his house and car to pay for the journey, so he would be returning to an inferior life. “I would return home to nothing,” he said.</p>
  1343.  
  1344.  
  1345.  
  1346. <p>The couple’s best hope is the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, which in theory allows them to obtain a green card after being in the U.S. for one year. However, the couple will need to attend other check-ins with authorities, as part of the asylum process this summer, and both worry they could be intercepted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deported before they have a chance to get a green card.</p>
  1347.  
  1348.  
  1349.  
  1350. <p>For the past month, ICE has been under increasing pressure to arrest 3,000 immigrants a day. This demand has led to a shift in policy, in which ICE officers are targeting people with no criminal records and who are easier to find. Because people who entered the country using the CBP One app have been tracked previously through government programs, their whereabouts are already known to the DHS. ICE agents wait outside courthouses to arrest asylum seekers who have lost their parole status and other undocumented immigrants, immediately placing them in expedited removal proceedings, deported without any opportunity to appeal the decision or any legal representation.</p>
  1351.  
  1352.  
  1353.  
  1354. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“This is not what we imagined at all.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1355.  
  1356.  
  1357.  
  1358. <p>Since May, dozens of people who entered the U.S. using the CBP One app have been arrested by ICE agents after routine court appearances across the country. Through a loophole, even when a judge moves to dismiss a deportation order against an immigrant, ICE agents can still arrest the immigrant after the hearing and put them into expedited removal proceedings. It’s a Catch-22: fail to show up at a hearing out of fear of an ICE arrest, face an automatic deportation order; show up and get snatched off the street and deported immediately. Ricardo and Yuli have begun to expect deportation one way or the other, unless they are able to acquire green cards prior to their asylum hearing.</p>
  1359.  
  1360.  
  1361.  
  1362. <p>“ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. She did not mention the fact that many of these migrants had legal status in the United States and entered the country through valid legal processes, before their rights were stripped by Trump administration regulations.</p>
  1363.  
  1364.  
  1365.  
  1366. <p>“The Trump administration is dead set on forcing out members of our community, indiscriminately [and] without regard for the law,” Flamm said. “The notion that certain people or policies are above the law is devastating to the United States as we know it.”</p>
  1367.  
  1368.  
  1369.  
  1370. <p class="is-td-marked">Exhausted by anxiety and toil, Ricardo and Yuli limit themselves to their apartment, the supermarket and the factory. “This is not what we imagined at all,” said Yuli. “But we’re here and we have no other choice.”</p>
  1371. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-de-documented/">The De-Documented</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1372. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1375. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1378. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309589</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25021554592542-scaled.jpg?width=878&#038;height=585" length="493758" type="image/jpeg" />
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  1380. </item>
  1381. <item>
  1382. <title>Intimate in Oslo</title>
  1383. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/intimate-in-oslo/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=intimate-in-oslo</link>
  1384. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/intimate-in-oslo/#respond</comments>
  1386. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Siddhant Adlakha]]></dc:creator>
  1387. <pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 15:58:58 +0000</pubDate>
  1388. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  1389. <category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
  1390. <category><![CDATA[Film]]></category>
  1391. <category><![CDATA[LGBTQIA+]]></category>
  1392. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  1393. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  1394. <category><![CDATA[gender]]></category>
  1395. <category><![CDATA[love]]></category>
  1396. <category><![CDATA[oslo]]></category>
  1397. <category><![CDATA[queer]]></category>
  1398. <category><![CDATA[sex]]></category>
  1399. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309530</guid>
  1400.  
  1401. <description><![CDATA[<p>Norwegian dramas “Sex” and “Love” search for the eternal in the flesh.</p>
  1402. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/intimate-in-oslo/">Intimate in Oslo</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1403. ]]></description>
  1404. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1405. <p class="has-drop-cap">Not to fear: the three entries in Dag Johan Haugerud’s loosely connected, soulful and amusing Oslo-set trilogy, “Sex Dreams Love,” can be viewed in any order. There’s no correct answer, but the first two released in the United States — “Love” and “Sex,” which debuted in May and June ahead of the third part’s Fall arrival — are thematically and aesthetically aligned, making for ambitious meditations on the follies of middle age and the search for the ethereal in a world of brick and mortar.</p>
  1406.  
  1407.  
  1408.  
  1409. <p>“Love,” the more episodic of the two, begins with the planning of a city-wide arts celebration highlighting an unconventional subject: sexual motifs hiding in plain sight, within local municipal architecture. The focus here is on tour guide Heidi (Marte Engebrigtsen), the best friend of the movie’s main character Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig), a local heterosexual surgeon seeking domestic stability. Even before we meet the latter, Heidi’s pitch guides us toward a more open-minded and sexually vulnerable reading of what might otherwise seem mundane. There’s an intentional plainness to Haugerud’s conception of Oslo. Like the film, it is sexually charged but never titillating.</p>
  1410.  
  1411.  
  1412.  
  1413. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The movie’s conversational nature makes for a deceptively comforting watch.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1414.  
  1415.  
  1416.  
  1417. <p>Marianne works alongside gay male nurse Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen), whose interest lies in casual Grindr hookups. Though primarily work acquaintances, their chance meetings on a local ferry leads to dreamlike conversations about their respective desires and approaches to sex and romance, which are gradually challenged as “Love” goes on. We see Marianne’s courtship with various men — among them, a geologist who studies the Earth’s changing history — until she finally experiments with a no-strings-attached approach. We also follow Tor’s sexual encounters in transient public spaces (like the isolated ferry). He chances upon a handsome but withdrawn older man, with whom love seems possible, but whose ailments take sex off the table.</p>
  1418.  
  1419.  
  1420.  
  1421. <p>The movie’s conversational nature makes for a deceptively comforting watch, aided by Haugerud and cinematographer Cecilie Semec casual visual approach, in which dialogue dictates the movie’s rhythm. Whether or not the characters realize it, their proximity to illness and mortality (much of the film takes place in a hospital) forces them to more closely consider what they might want out of life, in a secular society that increasingly rejects existence after death. Can one find meaning in desire, or just escape? Haugerud wrestles with this question through a series of gentle introspections, rather than the verbose declarations of a Hollywood rom-com. These meditations culminate in quiet and affecting dialogue scenes shot against gorgeous sunsets, which re-introduce luminous mysteries into the characters’ near-mathematical deconstructions of love and sex.</p>
  1422.  
  1423.  
  1424.  
  1425. <p>This climactic uncertainty pervades “Love’s” sister story, “Sex.” After using establishing shots of Oslo’s gruff, uniformed chimney sweeps — stoic caretakers of the city’s physical infrastructure — Haugerud and Semec switch visual modes to present a more wryly conceived tale of masculinity in crisis. In lengthy, drawn-out shots, a pair of rooftop workers find themselves on break in a bland, nondescript office, an unlikely venue for the subsequent charged confessions about gender and desire.</p>
  1426.  
  1427.  
  1428.  
  1429. <p>Both sweeps are family men with wives and teenage sons, and they both remain unnamed, a choice that gives the film the feeling of fable. One of them, the more cautious and secretly religious man (Thorbjørn Harr) recounts a dream from the previous night, in which the gaze of gender-bending sex symbol David Bowie pierced his sense of being, looking at him “as if he were a woman.” This leads him to worry that his voice is an octave higher than usual, which doesn’t bode well for his upcoming choir recital. In an act of shocking bluntness, the other, more forthcoming man (Jan Gunnar Røise) immediately retorts with an anecdote from the previous day about how a male client approached him with a similar gaze of longing, resulting in them having sex. However, he doesn’t consider himself to be queer, or the act to be cheating in any meaningful sense, even if his wife (Siri Forberg), disagrees.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1430.  
  1431.  
  1432.  
  1433. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>In the absence of religion, where do people direct their “faith” when engulfed by personal, internal chaos?</p></blockquote></figure>
  1434.  
  1435.  
  1436.  
  1437. <p>Their trepidation and frankness combine in marvelously entertaining scenes of the men trying to navigate these issues with their spouses. The two male leads seldom spend time together over the course of “Sex,” but their intimate chat proves catalytic for the movie’s crosscut cross-examination of traditional gender and sexuality. As these come into increasing friction with more fluid notions of being, each man is forced to reckon with the tension of what this means not only for himself as an individual, but as a member of a family unit, and of a larger society with its own opinions and prejudices — whether against sexual exploration or religious belief.</p>
  1438.  
  1439.  
  1440.  
  1441. <p>As he does in “Love,” Haugerud eventually doubles back to a series of increasingly vulnerable conversations at “golden hour,” this time at sunrise. But Haugerud is not content with repeating himself, and so the movie’s most important conversations happen through music and the arts — venues for more varied expression of the self. The aforementioned choir performance takes on an especially florid form that magnifies its Bowie-inspired notions of nontraditional masculinity. In the previous film, dusk brings about reflections on mortality. Here, dawn yields rebirth. </p>
  1442.  
  1443.  
  1444.  
  1445. <p>Neither “Love” nor “Sex” comes to easily digestible conclusions about the search for self, or the scramble for concrete footing in a shifting social landscape. Over the course of each movie, Haugerud transforms the meaning of Oslo’s modern skylines, imbuing concrete with infinite possibility. Disbelief in divinity and doctrine has long coincided with acceptance of wider spectrums of gender and sexuality, but Haugerud’s films are less interested in this political dynamic than in the emotional impetus behind searching for answers to one’s existence. In the absence of religion, where do people direct their “faith” when engulfed by personal, internal chaos?</p>
  1446.  
  1447.  
  1448.  
  1449. <p class="is-td-marked">By the end of each movie, skin glistening in the sun begins to feel less like the calculated product of cinematography, and more like a magical apparition with the power to make flesh feel divine. Coming to terms with one’s own complexity, Haugerud seems to suggest, is our age’s form of religious enlightenment.</p>
  1450. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/intimate-in-oslo/">Intimate in Oslo</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1451. ]]></content:encoded>
  1453. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/intimate-in-oslo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1454. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1457. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309530</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/15cul-love-review1-bqpz-superJumbo.webp?width=1040&#038;height=562" length="156088" type="image/webp" />
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  1459. </item>
  1460. <item>
  1461. <title>Trump’s Tax Law by the Numbers</title>
  1462. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-tax-law-by-the-numbers/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=trumps-tax-law-by-the-numbers</link>
  1463. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-tax-law-by-the-numbers/#respond</comments>
  1465. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Amanda Becker /  The 19th]]></dc:creator>
  1466. <pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 15:51:06 +0000</pubDate>
  1467. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  1468. <category><![CDATA[Economic Justice]]></category>
  1469. <category><![CDATA[Health & Wellness]]></category>
  1470. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  1471. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  1472. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1473. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  1474. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  1475. <category><![CDATA[big beautiful bill]]></category>
  1476. <category><![CDATA[chip]]></category>
  1477. <category><![CDATA[medicaid]]></category>
  1478. <category><![CDATA[rural hospitals]]></category>
  1479. <category><![CDATA[snap]]></category>
  1480. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309554</guid>
  1481.  
  1482. <description><![CDATA[<p>The new law extends tax breaks for the wealthy while threatening health care, nutrition and safety nets for millions.</p>
  1483. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-tax-law-by-the-numbers/">Trump’s Tax Law by the Numbers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1484. ]]></description>
  1485. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1486. <p><strong>President Donald Trump</strong> and his fellow Republicans’ sweeping tax-and-spending law, which renews tax breaks that largely benefited corporations and the wealthy, also contains sharp increases in spending on immigration enforcement and steep cuts to funding for government programs that serve lower-income Americans.&nbsp;</p>
  1487.  
  1488.  
  1489.  
  1490. <p>Like other areas of Trump’s agenda, parts of the bill could face legal challenges. On Monday, a federal judge in Boston&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25992555-pptro070725/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">temporarily blocked</a>&nbsp;a provision that prevents Planned Parenthood clinics from accessing Medicaid funding. If it takes effect, the provision could result in $52 million less being spent on reproductive health care, including preventative care, over the next decade.&nbsp;</p>
  1491.  
  1492.  
  1493.  
  1494. <p>Here is a by-the-numbers look at the law and its significant impact on the lives of women, children and LGBTQ+ Americans, who&nbsp;<a href="https://19thnews.org/2025/05/trump-big-beautiful-tax-bill-impact-medicaid-snap/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">disproportionately rely</a>&nbsp;on many of the affected programs.</p>
  1495.  
  1496.  
  1497.  
  1498. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">$3.7 trillion</h2>
  1499.  
  1500.  
  1501.  
  1502. <p>The tax revenue the federal government will not collect over the next decade due to the law’s extension of 2017 cuts. More than two-thirds of the tax cuts will benefit households with annual incomes of $217,000 or more. Roughly one-fourth of the tax cuts’ total value will benefit those with annual incomes of $1.1 million or more.</p>
  1503.  
  1504.  
  1505.  
  1506. <p><em>Sources: The&nbsp;<a href="https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-tcja-permanent-analysis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Tax Foundation</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://taxpolicycenter.org/tax-model-analysis/preliminary-ways-and-means-committee-bill-released-may-9-2025?&amp;utm_source=urban_newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=TPC&amp;utm_id=taxes_and_budget" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Tax Policy Center</a>, both nonpartisan research groups.</em></p>
  1507.  
  1508.  
  1509.  
  1510. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">$3.4 trillion</h2>
  1511.  
  1512.  
  1513.  
  1514. <p>The lower-end estimate of the amount that will be added to the country’s deficit over the next decade, with upper estimates exceeding $5 trillion.&nbsp;</p>
  1515.  
  1516.  
  1517.  
  1518. <p><em>Source: The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61534" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Congressional Budget Office</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
  1519.  
  1520.  
  1521.  
  1522. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">$1 trillion</h2>
  1523.  
  1524.  
  1525.  
  1526. <p>The amount of federal spending that will be cut over the next decade from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for lower-income Americans.&nbsp;</p>
  1527.  
  1528.  
  1529.  
  1530. <p><em>Source: The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61534" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Congressional Budget Office</a>.</em></p>
  1531.  
  1532.  
  1533.  
  1534. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">$186 billion</h2>
  1535.  
  1536.  
  1537.  
  1538. <p>How much will be cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps, through 2034.</p>
  1539.  
  1540.  
  1541.  
  1542. <p><em>Sources:&nbsp;<a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Legislative text</a>&nbsp;</em><em>passed by the U.S. Congress</em>.</p>
  1543.  
  1544.  
  1545.  
  1546. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">5 million</h2>
  1547.  
  1548.  
  1549.  
  1550. <p>The number of Americans participating in the SNAP program who would be at risk of losing benefits due to new work requirements. That includes 800,000 children and more than 500,000 adults who are 65 or older or disabled.</p>
  1551.  
  1552.  
  1553.  
  1554. <p><em>Sources:&nbsp;<a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Legislative text</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/by-the-numbers-senate-republican-leaderships-reconciliation-bill-takes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
  1555.  
  1556.  
  1557.  
  1558. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">2.9 million</h2>
  1559.  
  1560.  
  1561.  
  1562. <p>The average number of Americans who will likely lose their SNAP benefits in a given month once the provisions take effect.</p>
  1563.  
  1564.  
  1565.  
  1566. <p><em>Sources: The&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/senateagdems/status/1937565304646779171?s=42" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Congressional Budget Office</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/by-the-numbers-senate-republican-leaderships-reconciliation-bill-takes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
  1567.  
  1568.  
  1569.  
  1570. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">11.8 million</h2>
  1571.  
  1572.  
  1573.  
  1574. <p>The number of Americans expected to lose health care coverage due to Medicaid cuts over the next decade.&nbsp;</p>
  1575.  
  1576.  
  1577.  
  1578. <p><em>Source: The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61534" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Congressional Budget Office</a>.</em></p>
  1579.  
  1580.  
  1581.  
  1582. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">$2,200</h2>
  1583.  
  1584.  
  1585.  
  1586. <p>The amount of the new child tax credit, up from $2,000. One parent must have a Social Security number to claim the credit, and there is a cap on its refundable portion, limiting the ability of the country’s lowest-income parents to access it.</p>
  1587.  
  1588.  
  1589.  
  1590. <p>Parents of children under 8 years old will also receive $1,000 — if at least one parent is a U.S. citizen — to open “Trump accounts,” which are similar to retirement savings accounts and can be accessed once the children become adults. </p>
  1591.  
  1592.  
  1593.  
  1594. <p><em>Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Legislative text</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
  1595.  
  1596.  
  1597.  
  1598. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">338</h2>
  1599.  
  1600.  
  1601.  
  1602. <p>The number of rural hospitals at risk of closing due to Medicaid cuts. Before the tax-and-spending law was enacted, more than 700 rural hospitals were already facing that risk due to serious financial strain. Kentucky and Louisiana will probably have the highest number of closures. These happen to be the home states of Republican leaders who pushed the law through Congress: former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is from Kentucky, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Louisiana.</p>
  1603.  
  1604.  
  1605.  
  1606. <p>Congressional negotiators created a $50 million fund for rural hospitals as they tried to get Republican holdouts to vote for the legislation. But even with this fund, there will still be a Medicaid-related revenue shortfall at many facilities.</p>
  1607.  
  1608.  
  1609.  
  1610. <p><em>Sources:&nbsp;<a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Legislative text</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://chqpr.org/downloads/Rural_Hospitals_at_Risk_of_Closing.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Center for Healthcare Quality &amp; Payment Reform</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-truth-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-acts-cuts-to-medicaid-and-medicare/#:~:text=The%20nonpartisan%20Congressional%20Budget%20Office%20(CBO)%20estimated,With%20new%20federal%20limits%20on%20Medicaid%20eligibility" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Center for American Progress</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_on_rural_hospitals.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Sheps Center for Health Services Research</a>&nbsp;at the University of North Carolina.</em></p>
  1611.  
  1612.  
  1613.  
  1614. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">$46.5 billion</h2>
  1615.  
  1616.  
  1617.  
  1618. <p>The amount of money the law designates for Trump’s desired wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.</p>
  1619.  
  1620.  
  1621.  
  1622. <p><em>Sources:&nbsp;<a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Legislative text</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/07/04/secretary-noem-commends-president-trump-and-one-big-beautiful-bill-signing-law#:~:text=In%20June%2C%20Secretary%20Noem%20laid,for%20the%20next%20four%20years." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Department of Homeland Security</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
  1623.  
  1624.  
  1625.  
  1626. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">$45 billion</h2>
  1627.  
  1628.  
  1629.  
  1630. <p>The amount earmarked for the construction of new immigration detention centers. An additional $30 billion for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, will go to facilities maintenance, personnel, transportation and other costs. The American Immigration Council, which supports immigrants, estimates that detention capacity could increase by as many as 125,000 beds — nearly the size of the entire federal prison system.</p>
  1631.  
  1632.  
  1633.  
  1634. <p><em>Sources:&nbsp;<a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Legislative text</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/our-impact/mission-vision/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">American Immigration Council</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
  1635.  
  1636.  
  1637.  
  1638. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">$14.4 billion</h2>
  1639.  
  1640.  
  1641.  
  1642. <p>The amount that will go to the Department of Homeland Security to transport immigrants to and from detention centers and to deport them to other countries.</p>
  1643.  
  1644.  
  1645.  
  1646. <p><em>Sources:&nbsp;<a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Legislative text</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/07/04/secretary-noem-commends-president-trump-and-one-big-beautiful-bill-signing-law#:~:text=In%20June%2C%20Secretary%20Noem%20laid,for%20the%20next%20four%20years." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Department of Homeland Security</a>.&nbsp;</em></p>
  1647.  
  1648.  
  1649.  
  1650. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">$3 billion</h2>
  1651.  
  1652.  
  1653.  
  1654. <p>The amount of money that will go to the Justice Department for immigration courts, including for the hiring of additional judges.</p>
  1655.  
  1656.  
  1657.  
  1658. <p><em>Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Legislative text</a>.</em></p>
  1659.  
  1660.  
  1661.  
  1662. <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>Shefali Luthra contributed to this report.</em></p>
  1663. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-tax-law-by-the-numbers/">Trump’s Tax Law by the Numbers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1664. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1672. </item>
  1673. <item>
  1674. <title>Labor Mobilizes Against the Raids</title>
  1675. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/labor-mobilizes-against-the-raids/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=labor-mobilizes-against-the-raids</link>
  1676. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/labor-mobilizes-against-the-raids/#respond</comments>
  1678. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Natascha Elena Uhlmann, Sarah Lazare /  LaborNotes]]></dc:creator>
  1679. <pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 15:44:42 +0000</pubDate>
  1680. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  1681. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  1682. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  1683. <category><![CDATA[Labor]]></category>
  1684. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  1685. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1686. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  1687. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  1688. <category><![CDATA[chicago]]></category>
  1689. <category><![CDATA[ICE raids]]></category>
  1690. <category><![CDATA[immigration and customs enforcement]]></category>
  1691. <category><![CDATA[migrant ban]]></category>
  1692. <category><![CDATA[union labor]]></category>
  1693. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309550</guid>
  1694.  
  1695. <description><![CDATA[<p>Union members across the country intensify the battle to keep workers — unionized or not — free and safe from federal immigration authorities.</p>
  1696. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/labor-mobilizes-against-the-raids/">Labor Mobilizes Against the Raids</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1697. ]]></description>
  1698. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1699. <p><strong>It was the morning of June 9</strong>, and Genie Kastrup, president of Service Employees Local 1, stood in front of Chicago’s Daley Plaza and bellowed into a microphone. “What is happening right now is about silencing voices,” she said, flanked by members of her union holding signs that read “Free David Huerta.”</p>
  1700.  
  1701.  
  1702.  
  1703. <p>“It&#8217;s about dividing working people,” she continued. “It&#8217;s about dividing our communities against the have and have nots. It is abusing power.”</p>
  1704.  
  1705.  
  1706.  
  1707. <p>The demonstration was one of 37 taking place that day across the country to protest the June 6 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assault and detention of Huerta, the president of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West. Huerta had shown up to defend members of his Los Angeles community from federal raids. Images of the long-time labor leader with his head pressed to a curb by ICE agents touched off anger — and mobilization. Huerta was released after three days and hit with charges of felony conspiracy.</p>
  1708.  
  1709.  
  1710.  
  1711. <p>Facing an emboldened Trump administration, union members across the country are in an intensifying battle to keep their members — and all workers, whether they are in unions or not — free and safe from federal immigration authorities. They are holding emergency rallies, organizing in their workplaces, knocking on doors in their communities, using contracts to defend members, and building coalitions that can respond rapidly to detentions and raids.</p>
  1712.  
  1713.  
  1714.  
  1715. <p>While unions cannot guarantee workers’ safety, many are mobilizing to protect them against an administration that is increasingly targeting workplaces and labor leaders themselves.</p>
  1716.  
  1717.  
  1718.  
  1719. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“What is happening right now is about silencing voices.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1720.  
  1721.  
  1722.  
  1723. <p>“We’re on the line, we’re targets,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham said about labor leaders and organizers. It was June 9, and she was addressing a rally on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. “They’ll come after anybody if you disagree with them. I think it’s just a matter of time. Watch where you’re at. You’re stronger in numbers than you are on your own.”</p>
  1724.  
  1725.  
  1726.  
  1727. <p>Huerta is not the only unionist who has been targeted by ICE. At least three other people affiliated with SEIU were also recently detained, though have since been freed: Lewelyn Dixon, a&nbsp;<a href="https://seiu.org/2025/05/seiu-celebrates-judges-decision-that-will-result-in-the-release-of-union-member-lewelyn-auntie-lynn-dixon-from-ice-detention-center" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">member</a>&nbsp;of SEIU 925; Rümeysa Öztürk, a&nbsp;<a href="https://massaflcio.org/news/statement-ices-detention-seiu-local-509-union-member-rumeysa-ozturk-and" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">member</a>&nbsp;of SEIU Local 509; and Cliona Ward, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.seiu2015.org/longtime-santa-cruz-residents-immigration-detention-sparks-protests-ahead-of-court-hearing-in-washington-state/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">member</a>&nbsp;of SEIU 2015. Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, a farmworker and leader in the militant union Familias Unidas por la Justicia,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/detained-farm-worker-activist-targeted-ice" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">is still in detention</a>, as are Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smart-union.org/smart-td-stands-with-brother-kilmar-abrego-garcia/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">member</a>&nbsp;of SMART Local 100, and Maximo Londonio, a member of Machinists (IAM) Local Lodge 695.</p>
  1728.  
  1729.  
  1730.  
  1731. <p>The vast majority of workers targeted by ICE have no union. They are day laborers, textile workers and caregivers, or work in other parts of the informal economy.</p>
  1732.  
  1733.  
  1734.  
  1735. <p>But some unions are mobilizing to defend not only their own members, but nonunion workers and communities that are under attack. SEIU, for example, is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.solidarityseason.org/bustour/bus-1-diary" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">calling for</a>&nbsp;an end to “the brutal ICE raids terrorizing our neighborhoods and tearing families apart.” This points to the underlying reality: Whether the Trump administration is targeting labor leaders or workers who are perceived to be powerless and unable to fight back, their attacks intimidate workers and undermine their fights for better wages and conditions.</p>
  1736.  
  1737.  
  1738.  
  1739. <p>At events across the country, union leaders and members have emphasized that detaining workers — union members or not — is unjust. But the Trump administration’s targeting of organized labor might reveal something about how it is trying to consolidate power.</p>
  1740.  
  1741.  
  1742.  
  1743. <p>“It’s not a surprise to me that a fascist government starts their crackdown by going after labor first, undocumented workers, and going into work sites,” Sheigh Freeberg, secretary-treasurer of Unite Here 17 told the crowd in St. Paul. Freeberg’s union represents hospitality and food service workers in Minnesota. “They know the real power in this country is labor, and they’re afraid of us.”</p>
  1744.  
  1745.  
  1746.  
  1747. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘Kidnapped off the street’</h3>
  1748.  
  1749.  
  1750.  
  1751. <p>On June 30, SEIU members and Starbucks baristas&nbsp;<a href="https://www.klfy.com/local/acadia-parish/hundreds-of-demonstrators-protest-ice-raids-outside-of-ice-detention-centers/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">gathered</a>&nbsp;from across the country to protest outside the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center. “We cannot wait for things to be happening to us to start fighting, because when we wait for that level, then we’re left with no one to fight with,” said Siti Pulcheon, a barista and shift supervisor who attended the demonstration.</p>
  1752.  
  1753.  
  1754.  
  1755. <p>In response to immigration raids across the country, Starbucks Workers United recently offered a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DLSWfSJxxTW/?hl=en&amp;img_index=1" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Know Your Rights training</a>&nbsp;to all Starbucks baristas. “A lot of really important questions were asked, like ‘How can we protect not just the baristas in our store, but also our customers?’” Pulcheon said.</p>
  1756.  
  1757.  
  1758.  
  1759. <p>The Trump administration has portrayed its widening ICE dragnet as targeting dangerous criminals, but that has turned out to mean legal permanent residents with traffic citations, nonviolent crimes committed 20 years ago (like Londonio), misdemeanors such as vending too close to the curb, or no record at all. And with no opportunity for detainees to make a case before a judge, and an ICE quota of 3,000 arrests a day, no one is safe.</p>
  1760.  
  1761.  
  1762.  
  1763. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“We cannot wait for things to be happening to us to start fighting.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1764.  
  1765.  
  1766.  
  1767. <p>“Anybody who thinks we have to ignore certain issues or avoid certain political conversations in order to grow the base, they don’t understand what it means to grow the base,” said Ryan Andrews, an English teacher and member of the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA). Organizing around immigrant justice has actually pushed some members to engage more closely with their union, he said.</p>
  1768.  
  1769.  
  1770.  
  1771. <p>Andrews pointed to a student walkout in February protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. After protesting students were assaulted by two adult men, teachers and students met to discuss a path forward. Teachers circulated a petition demanding that the district denounce the attacks, meet with students and their families when attacked, ensure the safety of students at student-led actions, and provide mental health resources for affected students.</p>
  1772.  
  1773.  
  1774.  
  1775. <p>“Almost every co-worker signed the petition,” Andrews said, including those who felt left behind by their union. “After careful organizing conversations, those co-workers signed because they care about their students and are open to perspectives that differ from their own.”</p>
  1776.  
  1777.  
  1778.  
  1779. <p>Andrews&#8217; union is now building on past contract wins. UTLA’s 2019 strike resulted in the creation of an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uclalawreview.org/los-angeles-teachers-strike-to-defend-public-schools-from-the-privatizers/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">immigrant defense fund</a>. Workers are now trying to further expand collective defense, said Andrews: They’re fighting to protect members who need to take a leave due to their immigration status and pushing the district to invest in legal and mental health support for immigrant students.</p>
  1780.  
  1781.  
  1782.  
  1783. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Mobilizing against the raids</h3>
  1784.  
  1785.  
  1786.  
  1787. <p>Beyond organizing on the job, workers are joining mass mobilizations in the streets. UTLA members have been canvassing their neighborhoods with door hangers informing residents of their rights if ICE agents come to the door. “Teachers are connected to the very fabric of the communities where we work,” Andrews said. “These things are not abstractions. We are seeing our students and their family members kidnapped off the street.”</p>
  1788.  
  1789.  
  1790.  
  1791. <p>Workers in major cities across the country are organizing against workplace raids. After the Trump administration set an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ices-tactics-draw-criticism-it-triples-daily-arrest-targets-2025-06-10/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">aggressive new quota</a>&nbsp;in late May demanding that ICE officers arrest 3,000 people per day, agents began flooding federal buildings, said Ben Mabie, a staffer with IFPTE Local 98 in New York City. “It was horrific to watch the [lack of] of personal dignity [afforded to] the people that were getting caught up, and it was also a really grave safety issue. These people weren’t identifying themselves as law enforcement,” he said.</p>
  1792.  
  1793.  
  1794.  
  1795. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“It is a profound attack on our civil institutions.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1796.  
  1797.  
  1798.  
  1799. <p>On June 25, federal workers in New York, Chicago and Seattle held informational pickets demanding an end to ICE’s workplace raids.</p>
  1800.  
  1801.  
  1802.  
  1803. <p>“It is a profound attack on our civil institutions,” said Colin Smalley, president of IFPTE Local 777 and a co-founder of the Federal Unionists Network who attended the ICE OUT demonstration in Chicago.</p>
  1804.  
  1805.  
  1806.  
  1807. <p>Smalley’s job at the Army Corps of Engineers is to ensure environmental compliance. He said that ICE’s presence in federal buildings affects his work: “If we have ICE agents that are conducting these raids without identification, without showing their face, without warrants, that makes it more risky for me to do my job,” he said. “If folks feel like submitting a permit application to us makes it more likely that they’ll get targeted in a raid, they’re not going to do it. Then, by not engaging in our permit process, they are less likely to do the work in a way that balances the needs of economic development with the best practices for environmental protection.” (Smalley stressed that he was not speaking on behalf of his employer.)</p>
  1808.  
  1809.  
  1810.  
  1811. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Unions fight for immigrant workers</h3>
  1812.  
  1813.  
  1814.  
  1815. <p>Even as the Trump administration cracks down on immigrant workers, union members continue to face the day-to-day challenges of organizing against the boss and fighting for a good contract. And sometimes that includes fighting to protect immigrants in the workforce.</p>
  1816.  
  1817.  
  1818.  
  1819. <p>More than 100 Teamsters Local 705 members at Mauser Packaging Solutions in Chicago are on strike, supported by fellow union members in Los Angeles and Minnesota. Protections for immigrant workers are part of what they are fighting for. The Chicago workers want contract language that protects immigrant workers from intimidation, modeled on language Seattle workers won three years ago. &#8220;Local 705 is fighting to win similar protections for our immigrant brothers and sisters that live in the very community where Mauser&#8217;s Chicago facility is located,&#8221; reads a press statement from the local.</p>
  1820.  
  1821.  
  1822.  
  1823. <p>In Chicago, labor, community groups and workers’ centers have been holding “Know Your Rights” trainings since&nbsp;<a href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/dont-open-the-door-how-chicago-is-frustrating-ices-campaign-of-fear" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">before</a>&nbsp;the Trump administration came to power, prompting Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, to complain in late January that Chicagoans were too well educated “on how to defy ICE.”</p>
  1824.  
  1825.  
  1826.  
  1827. <p>This work is more critical than ever, says Shelly Ruzicka, communications director for Arise Chicago, a workers&#8217; center. “One of the biggest things we&#8217;re telling people is to be informed and be connected,” Ruzicka explained. “Know what your rights are, have conversations with your family, and practice so that if there is an altercation, you are prepared.”</p>
  1828.  
  1829.  
  1830.  
  1831. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Chicago’s coordinated response</h3>
  1832.  
  1833.  
  1834.  
  1835. <p>The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to target Chicago because it is a sanctuary city, where laws restrict collaboration between the police department and ICE. Labor has been&nbsp;<a href="https://thetriibe.com/2025/01/a-diverse-coalition-of-immigrant-rights-advocates-defend-chicagos-sanctuary-status-before-city-council-vote/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">part of</a>&nbsp;the effort to defend the city’s sanctuary status, established in the 2006 Welcoming City Ordinance, against recent attempts to weaken its provisions.</p>
  1836.  
  1837.  
  1838.  
  1839. <p>Chicago has an extensive network of labor and community groups that rapidly respond to the presence of immigration authorities in the city. “We are trying to deepen and strengthen our capacity to do coalition work here in Chicago,” said Jackson Potter, the vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). “Labor and the community are coordinating responses to ICE in real time, because the attacks are becoming heightened, and putting a drain on our existing infrastructure and resources.” The coalition includes elected leaders, like Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez, who serves in the 25th Ward, often a port of entry for migrants and refugees.</p>
  1840.  
  1841.  
  1842.  
  1843. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“Labor and the community are coordinating responses to ICE in real time.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  1844.  
  1845.  
  1846.  
  1847. <p>In recent months, these coalitions have been tested — labor has had to quickly mobilize in response to reports of ICE. In late February, parents reported that they had “witnessed law enforcement agents … arrest a father in front of his children as he dropped them off for school at Idar Elementary,” according to a CTU&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/acero-ice-vigil-2025-02-26/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">press release</a>. Parents had already been planning to hold a vigil to oppose the proposed closure of three schools. But after the alleged detention, the vigil expanded to incorporate opposition to ICE, and CTU members and elected officials joined in the demonstration Feb. 26.</p>
  1848.  
  1849.  
  1850.  
  1851. <p>Potter said that the rally was intended to provide a layer of safety in case ICE carried out more raids in the area. “We had multiple conversations with a number of moms expressing fear, and they decided along with us that we should move forward to make sure people felt defended and protected in this terrifying incident and the aftermath,” he said.</p>
  1852.  
  1853.  
  1854.  
  1855. <p>“I don’t care what agency they turn out to be, targeting a father as he tries to provide an education to his children at their place of learning is a deliberate act of terror on behalf of this government,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said in a press statement about the vigil. “Chicagoans have already shown that we are who keep each other safe by knowing our rights and by organizing to have each others’ backs.”</p>
  1856.  
  1857.  
  1858.  
  1859. <p>The aim of ICE’s dragnet is not to deport every undocumented worker: Trump himself has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/us/politics/trump-undocumented-immigrants-farmers-hotels.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">acknowledged</a>&nbsp;that many industries rely on their labor. The aim is to&nbsp;<a href="https://labornotes.org/blogs/2024/12/poultry-bosses-benefit-trumps-threats" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">spread terror</a> and, in the process, scare workers from pushing back against the boss. The strategy is poised to intensify. The president’s budget bill, signed into law on July 4, allocates $170 billion toward the immigration crackdown, an amount that exceeds the funding of most of the world’s armies.</p>
  1860.  
  1861.  
  1862.  
  1863. <p>The labor movement can keep its head down, as the Trump administration hopes it will, and watch standards for every worker erode. Or it can fight — and grow stronger in the process.</p>
  1864.  
  1865.  
  1866.  
  1867. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">A win for immigrant street vendors</h3>
  1868.  
  1869.  
  1870.  
  1871. <p>In one case, that fight looked like winning legislation that reduces interactions between a largely immigrant workforce and law enforcement, a reduction that keeps workers safer. In 2022, 800 NYC street vendors discussed their shared struggles through the Street Vendor Project. After six months of discussion, they voted on issues they wanted to see addressed through legislation, creating the&nbsp;<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/street-vendor-reform-package" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Street Vendor Reform Package</a>, bills that would help protect NYC’s 20,000 street vendors.</p>
  1872.  
  1873.  
  1874.  
  1875. <p>For years, street vendors have reported abuses at the hands of the NYPD: from being ticketed&nbsp;<a href="https://citylimits.org/nyc-issued-over-10000-street-vendor-tickets-confiscated-tons-of-food-in-2024/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">hundreds of times</a>&nbsp;in one year to having their food carts&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/nyc-settles-with-hundreds-of-street-vendors-after-trashing-their-food-carts/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">illegally crushed</a>&nbsp;before their eyes.</p>
  1876.  
  1877.  
  1878.  
  1879. <p>Criminal charges for minor violations like standing a few inches too close to the curb can have life-altering immigration consequences, and fear of deportation has pushed many to <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/01/30/migrant-vendors-trump-deporations-arrests-immigrants-fears/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">cease vending altogether</a> <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/01/30/migrant-vendors-trump-deporations-arrests-immigrants-fears/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">— </a>often with no back up plan.</p>
  1880.  
  1881.  
  1882.  
  1883. <p>In May, more than 100 vendors and advocates gathered on the streets around New York’s City Hall demanding that City Council advance the reforms. On June 30, the City Council passed a key part of the reform package which replaces criminal misdemeanor charges for street vending with civil penalties.</p>
  1884.  
  1885.  
  1886.  
  1887. <p>“I’m so thankful that this new law passed,” said Ahmed Fouda, a halal food vendor who organized with other Midtown Manhattan food vendors who felt beleaguered by constant police presence in the tourist-heavy areas they serve. “I hope that the police will respect the law and respect the vendors and treat us for who we are.”</p>
  1888.  
  1889.  
  1890.  
  1891. <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>This article is a joint publication of Labor Notes and&nbsp;<a href="https://workdaymagazine.org/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Workday Magazine</a>. Amie Stager contributed reporting.</em></p>
  1892. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/labor-mobilizes-against-the-raids/">Labor Mobilizes Against the Raids</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1893. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1896. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1899. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309550</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_5583.jpeg?width=771&#038;height=585" length="815245" type="image/jpeg" />
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  1901. </item>
  1902. <item>
  1903. <title>Interviewing the Iranian President Isn’t Scandalous</title>
  1904. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/interviewing-the-iranian-president-isnt-scandalous/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=interviewing-the-iranian-president-isnt-scandalous</link>
  1905. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/interviewing-the-iranian-president-isnt-scandalous/#respond</comments>
  1907. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jack Hunter /  Responsible Statecraft ]]></dc:creator>
  1908. <pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 15:35:28 +0000</pubDate>
  1909. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  1910. <category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
  1911. <category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
  1912. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  1913. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  1914. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  1915. <category><![CDATA[dan crenshaw]]></category>
  1916. <category><![CDATA[iran]]></category>
  1917. <category><![CDATA[Masoud Pezeshkian]]></category>
  1918. <category><![CDATA[tucket carlson]]></category>
  1919. <category><![CDATA[youtube]]></category>
  1920. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309543</guid>
  1921.  
  1922. <description><![CDATA[<p>Tucker Carlson committed nothing but basic journalism in his post. More scandalous is how few journalists are driven to do the same anymore.</p>
  1923. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/interviewing-the-iranian-president-isnt-scandalous/">Interviewing the Iranian President Isn’t Scandalous</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  1924. ]]></description>
  1925. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  1926. <p><strong>Over the Independence Day holiday</strong>, Tucker Carlson&nbsp;<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/5386388-tucker-carlson-interviews-iranian-president-amid-maga-rift-over-iran-israel-conflict/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>announced</u></a>&nbsp;that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.</p>
  1927.  
  1928.  
  1929.  
  1930. <p>Hawkish Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, immediately attacked him. “Nothing screams July 4th like platforming the leader of a terror state that labels us ‘The Great Satan,’” he <a href="https://x.com/DanCrenshawTX/status/1941579917780713647" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">posted<u> </u></a>on X. Fellow right-wing hawks and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mark-levin-tucker-carlson-maga-fight-b2751193.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>frequent Carlson critics</u></a>, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and radio host Mark Levin, <a href="https://x.com/tedcruz/status/1941527023110979592" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>piled on</u></a>, <a href="https://x.com/marklevinshow/status/1941563011828990286" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>admonishing</u></a> Carlson for daring to do this.</p>
  1931.  
  1932.  
  1933.  
  1934. <p>But why&nbsp;<em>wouldn’t</em>&nbsp;an American political pundit or stateside journalist of any kind do this?</p>
  1935.  
  1936.  
  1937.  
  1938. <p>That this is “wrong” would have been news to the New York Times when it  <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/07/archives/an-interview-with-khomeini.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1979. The MacNeil/Lehrer Report also <a href="https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-507-f18sb3xj3q" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> Khomeini. A number of mainstream American outlets <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/interview-with-ayatollah-khomeini-pbs-newshour/1131879117" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> him. These particular interviews were on the eve of the U.S. hostage crisis that began in early November of 1979. CBS News’ Mike Wallace <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/irans-ayatollah-khomeini-1979-60-minutes-archive/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> Khomeini two weeks after the hostage crisis began. Time magazine also interviewed him during the crisis and <a href="https://time.com/archive/6857734/man-of-the-year-an-interview-with-khomeini/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>declared</u></a> Khomeini 1980’s &#8220;Man of the Year.&#8221;</p>
  1939.  
  1940.  
  1941.  
  1942. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Why&nbsp;<em>wouldn’t</em>&nbsp;an American political pundit or stateside journalist of any kind do this?</p></blockquote></figure>
  1943.  
  1944.  
  1945.  
  1946. <p>That label was not an endorsement of Khomeini. Time <a href="https://time.com/archive/6598257/adolf-hitler-man-of-the-year-1938/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>called</u></a> Adolf Hitler “Man of the Year” in 1938. Like with Khomeini, that was not an endorsement of the German dictator. It was recognition of his impact on the world stage at that time. This is why&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/nx-s1-5324672" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>American journalists</u></a> also<a href="https://www.billdownscbs.com/2015/11/1941-adolf-hitler-on-united-states.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u> interviewed</u></a> Hitler.</p>
  1947.  
  1948.  
  1949.  
  1950. <p>Journalism 101 requires covering and talking to the major players in any given conflict.</p>
  1951.  
  1952.  
  1953.  
  1954. <p>During the Obama administration, <a href="https://www.gadsdentimes.com/story/news/local/2011/09/22/ahmadinejad-in-controversial-interview-its-not-too-late-to-fix-us-ties/32143252007/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>controversial</u></a> Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2012/09/24/world/meast/iran-ahmadinejad-interview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> by the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14912050" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>American press</u></a> on a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/21/world/meast/iran-ahmadinejad-interview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>regular basis</u></a>. American reporters had <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> al-Qaeda terrorist leader and eventual 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-saddam-hussein-interview-pt-1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> by CBS News maven Dan Rather one month before the 2003 U.S. invasion. Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was <a href="https://youtu.be/smU-EZui4WU?si=hs8RRnXCD42C-X3e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> a <a href="https://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,41931145001_1926129,00.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>number</u></a> of <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/christiane-amanpour-interviews-libyas-moammar-gadhafi/story?id=13019942" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>times</u></a> throughout <a href="https://youtu.be/9YiCbtStn-8?si=z9g7k9VdN4_h4gyO" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>many</u></a> American administrations.</p>
  1955.  
  1956.  
  1957.  
  1958. <p>Outside the <a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/regions/middle-east/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Middle East</a>, entertainment host Ed Sullivan <a href="https://youtu.be/VHsW5vrSi2Y?si=OVBRj0VpQ7Rq58Wd" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> Cuba’s Fidel Castro on his popular nighttime variety series in 1959. ABC News’ Barbara Walters <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/708440628385394" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> him in 1977. The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour <a href="https://youtu.be/OwN3i56Wzas?si=-iCfdiLL9yGUafbX" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> Castro in 1985. In fact, Cigar Aficionado <a href="https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/a-conversation-with-fidel-6005" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> the brutal dictator in 1994, in which publisher Marvin Shanken’s first question was “How important are cigars to Cuba?”</p>
  1959.  
  1960.  
  1961.  
  1962. <p>That interview might actually sound like “platforming” someone who probably shouldn’t be. That said, the magazine&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/a-conversation-with-fidel-30th-anniversary" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>republished</u></a>&nbsp;the interview in the summer of last year to celebrate its 30th anniversary.</p>
  1963.  
  1964.  
  1965.  
  1966. <p>Last June, Carlson <a href="https://www.rev.com/transcripts/tucker-carlson-interviews-vladimir-putin-transcript" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was also controversial. Less controversial were the times Walters <a href="https://youtu.be/eCtwtF-__rY?si=JlMQa57V9rYPistm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> Putin, NBC News <a href="https://youtu.be/m6pJd6O_NT0?si=9izXY33pJYQ-pfeh" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> him, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-vladimir-putin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> him, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/05/international/interview-with-president-putin.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> him and all the American outlets who <a href="https://time.com/archive/6704583/an-interview-with-mikhail-gorbachev/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>interviewed</u></a> different Russian presidents going back to the <a href="https://youtu.be/XAG6D73gttA?si=i_NQwMIiAKkLOKpB" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>earliest days</u></a> of the Cold War.</p>
  1967.  
  1968.  
  1969.  
  1970. <p>Why would so many American journalists “platform” so many adversaries of the United States?</p>
  1971.  
  1972.  
  1973.  
  1974. <p>Because even framing the question that way is ridiculous. Carlson’s explanation for why he recently interviewed Iran’s president is similar to what any journalist of any generation might say to critics who could question their decision to interview international bad actors.</p>
  1975.  
  1976.  
  1977.  
  1978. <p>“We know we’ll be criticized for doing this interview,” Carlson&nbsp;<a href="https://tuckercarlson.com/president-of-iran-intro" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><u>explained</u></a>&nbsp;in a short video clip to address any such questions, prior to releasing his actual interview. “Why did we do it anyway? Well, we did it because we were just at war with&nbsp;<a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/tag/iran/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Iran</a>&nbsp;10 days ago, and maybe again.”</p>
  1979.  
  1980.  
  1981.  
  1982. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Tucker Carlson interviewing Iran’s president isn’t a scandal.</p></blockquote></figure>
  1983.  
  1984.  
  1985.  
  1986. <p>That part is important. It’s as if hawkish figures, like Crenshaw, Cruz and Levin, who seek war, find it treasonous to let Americans hear all the sides involved. Wars in which American sons and daughters potentially could be asked to risk their lives.</p>
  1987.  
  1988.  
  1989.  
  1990. <p>It’s easier to get to war if fewer questions are asked and one side can exclusively control the narrative.</p>
  1991.  
  1992.  
  1993.  
  1994. <p>Carlson continued, “And so, our view, which has remained consistent over time, is that American citizens have the constitutional right and the God-given right to all the information they can gather about matters that affect them.”</p>
  1995.  
  1996.  
  1997.  
  1998. <p>One could imagine Walters giving a similar answer if challenged for interviewing Castro or Putin. Different words, perhaps, but the same, simple journalistic reasoning.</p>
  1999.  
  2000.  
  2001.  
  2002. <p>In the interview, Carlson asks Pezeshkian, among other things, about his country’s seriousness in continuing nuclear negotiations and also why his countrymen chant slogans like ‘Death to America’ and call the U.S. ‘The Great Satan,’ and the Iranian president gives his answers.</p>
  2003.  
  2004.  
  2005.  
  2006. <p>Is he serious? Is he lying? Is this a man that can be believed?</p>
  2007.  
  2008.  
  2009.  
  2010. <p>That’s not the point. He’s a politician. The same questions might also apply to any American politician. The point is that Americans hear him. “The purpose of the interview was to add to the corpus of knowledge from which Americans can derive their own opinion,” Carlson said. “Learn everything you can, and then you decide.”</p>
  2011.  
  2012.  
  2013.  
  2014. <p>Tucker Carlson interviewing Iran’s president isn’t a scandal. It’s basic journalism. More scandalous is how many journalists today no longer feel the need to do it.</p>
  2015. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/interviewing-the-iranian-president-isnt-scandalous/">Interviewing the Iranian President Isn’t Scandalous</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2016. ]]></content:encoded>
  2018. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/interviewing-the-iranian-president-isnt-scandalous/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2019. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2022. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309543</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-113402.png?width=1040&#038;height=491" length="1213704" type="image/png" />
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  2024. </item>
  2025. <item>
  2026. <title>The Girls of Guadalupe</title>
  2027. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-girls-of-guadalupe/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-girls-of-guadalupe</link>
  2028. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-girls-of-guadalupe/#respond</comments>
  2030. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Travis Kelly]]></dc:creator>
  2031. <pubDate>Tue, 08 Jul 2025 17:23:11 +0000</pubDate>
  2032. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  2033. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  2034. <category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
  2035. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  2036. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2037. <category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
  2038. <category><![CDATA[TD Column]]></category>
  2039. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  2040. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2041. <category><![CDATA[camp mystic]]></category>
  2042. <category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
  2043. <category><![CDATA[DOGE]]></category>
  2044. <category><![CDATA[flash flood]]></category>
  2045. <category><![CDATA[guadalupe river]]></category>
  2046. <category><![CDATA[nws]]></category>
  2047. <category><![CDATA[texas]]></category>
  2048. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309526</guid>
  2049.  
  2050. <description><![CDATA[<p>The National Weather Service did its job on July 4. But reduced funding to critical weather programs kept local officials in the dark.</p>
  2051. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-girls-of-guadalupe/">The Girls of Guadalupe</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2052. ]]></description>
  2053. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2054. <p class="has-drop-cap">Texas has long been the leading U.S. state for flood damage, hence the Stevie Ray Vaughan song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC5H9P4F5Uk&amp;list=RDKC5H9P4F5Uk&amp;start_radio=1" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><strong>“It’s Flooding Down in Texas.”</strong></a> The Guadalupe is not a large river, normally no more than about 25 yards wide from dense cypress-lined shore to shore and normally plodding along at 500 to 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), or even lower in drought years.</p>
  2055.  
  2056.  
  2057.  
  2058. <p>In the mid- and late 1970s, I often paddled the Guadalupe with fellow University of Texas at Austin students in old surplus Grumman canoes. Our favorite stretch was a 17-mile run with a few Class II rapids and one Class III (Hueco Falls). On one trip, I don’t recall if we missed the weather warnings (before our current era of multimedia saturation, if you missed the TV news at 6 and 10, or didn’t read the daily newspaper, you were in the dark) or if we discounted them in our youthful eagerness to get out of Austin and have some fun despite the probable rain.</p>
  2059.  
  2060.  
  2061.  
  2062. <p>We had not been on the river long when the sky erupted in a torrential downpour — a hard, pelting “frog floater” with lightning cracks and rapidly rising water. The Class II rapids were washed out but the splash and driving rain were flooding the canoes, making them impossible to maneuver. We couldn’t bail fast enough and soon flipped. The current was so strong that we couldn’t swim the boats to the washed out “shores.” So we just hung on to the upside-down canoes in our PFDs, floating fast along with the increasing tree debris. Twice we managed to find an eddy and bail out, resumed paddling and then flipped again. That’s how we spent most of the trip — floating like flotsam — until the take out, requiring a hard eddy turn before a low-water bridge, difficult enough in normal conditions. The tunnels in low-water crossings are potential death traps, often filled with tree debris forming a weir that will trap and drown people. With a water-logged canoe and the swift current, we couldn’t make the turn — both of us leapt out of my canoe on top of the low-water dam as the empty canoe floated through beneath us. (Our partner’s canoe snagged some trees before the bridge.) I don’t recall the exact max flow that day, but I’m sure it was under 10,000 cfs. We considered this a once-in-a-lifetime “Deliverance” trip.</p>
  2063.  
  2064.  
  2065.  
  2066. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The Guadalupe rose an astounding 26 feet in about 45 minutes.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2067.  
  2068.  
  2069.  
  2070. <p>The monster that hit on July 4 was another order of magnitude: the Guadalupe rose an astounding 26 feet in about 45 minutes, peaking at 166,000 cfs. There are no good photos or video of the peak flow in the dark early hours, but the next morning the swollen Guadalupe looked like the Amazon or Orinoco. It appears to have set a high-water record, although deadly flooding is not unprecedented: flash floods in the Texas Hill Country killed 10 in 1987 and 215 in 1921. All three were precipitated by the remnants of tropical cyclones in the Gulf combined with moisture from the Pacific Ocean.</p>
  2071.  
  2072.  
  2073.  
  2074. <p>Despite the cuts of 600 staffers at the National Weather Service by Department of Government Efficiency, the NWS was on top of this, issuing 22 flood warnings for stricken Kerr and Bandera counties, including urgent ones at 1:14 a.m. and 4:03 a.m. on July 4, followed by three more urgent ones after 5 a.m. by cellphone: &#8220;This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!&#8221; It appears none of these warnings were transmitted to Camp Mystic and other campers by Kerr or Bandera county officials. A counselor at another Christian camp on the river, the Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, noticed high water at 1 a.m. and evacuated all 70 children to higher ground, saving them.</p>
  2075.  
  2076.  
  2077.  
  2078. <p>&#8220;The National Weather Service weather forecasts offices in San Angelo and San Antonio got the forecast right,&#8221; said Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization. &#8220;The forecasters did their jobs.&#8221;</p>
  2079.  
  2080.  
  2081.  
  2082. <p>But Fahy has taken issue with some budget cuts enacted by this administration. He told CBS News that reduced funding for critical weather programs focused on the last level of warnings disseminated to the public are to blame for much of what happened in Texas.&nbsp;Some of the programs Fahy cited that have been suspended relate to coordinating between NWS meteorologists and state, local and county emergency management officials and public safety officers.</p>
  2083.  
  2084.  
  2085.  
  2086. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  2087. <span class="aspect-w-16 aspect-h-9 block relative"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lbz4lIv4YNs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></span>
  2088. </div></figure>
  2089.  
  2090.  
  2091.  
  2092. <p>There is no doubt that natural disasters are growing stronger and more frequent with continued global warming, whatever the causes. In my resolute, nonbinary mode of thinking, I’m convinced it’s anthropogenic carbon dioxide exacerbating a natural warming trend. (The Three Gorges dam in China recently opened all 13 floodgates to ease pressure, causing massive flooding downstream.) Growing human population means more people will reside and/or recreate in danger zones, requiring more resilient infrastructure and precautions (I doubt Camp Mystic will be rebuilt anywhere close to the river).</p>
  2093.  
  2094.  
  2095.  
  2096. <p>Which means budget and personnel cuts to NWS and climate science by DOGE and the Trump budget bill are particularly stupid and untimely, as is the elimination of subsidies for renewable energy and more energy efficient infrastructure. “Just Stop Oil” is a naive pipe dream, but every pound of atmospheric CO2 saved helps, for many reasons beyond avoiding a theoretical apocalypse. “Drill, baby, drill!” is the cry of a gluttonous ignoramus, his pretext of saving public funds due to our $37 trillion national debt belied by his budget-busting bill with more tax breaks for billionaires and a record-breaking $1 trillion for the Pentagon, <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/out-of-all-greenhouse-gas-emitters-on-earth-one-us-organization-takes-the-biscuit-79879" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">one of the biggest CO2 polluters on the planet.</a></p>
  2097.  
  2098.  
  2099.  
  2100. <p>This was a Black Swan event, unpredictable for now. The “100 Year” floods may soon become the 50-year or 25-year or once-per-decade floods. Already, weather forecasts are far beyond what they were in 1921, and it’s probable that they will improve in the future with more climate research and the light-speed data-crunching analyses of artificial intelligence. </p>
  2101.  
  2102.  
  2103.  
  2104. <p class="is-td-marked">“We need God more now than ever,” said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Really, guv? Most of those washed away in the Guadalupe were Christian adults and children who prayed every day and night in those camps. Your God, if He exists, is either a derelict or sadistic asshole. What we need now more than ever are not useless prayers but the funds and clear-eyed foresight to adapt to our changing climate and mitigate the worst tragedies. We would be better served by investing in siren warning systems for flash flood zones in America in lieu of infinite bombs for Israel and Ukraine.</p>
  2105. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-girls-of-guadalupe/">The Girls of Guadalupe</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2106. ]]></content:encoded>
  2108. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-girls-of-guadalupe/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2109. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2112. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309526</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25189196115688.jpg?width=878&#038;height=585" length="9277770" type="image/jpeg" />
  2113. <media:thumbnail url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25189196115688.jpg?width=878&#038;height=585" />
  2114. </item>
  2115. <item>
  2116. <title>Vermonters Fight To Free Their Dairy Farmworker Neighbors</title>
  2117. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/vermonters-fight-to-free-their-dairy-farmworker-neighbors/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=vermonters-fight-to-free-their-dairy-farmworker-neighbors</link>
  2118. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/vermonters-fight-to-free-their-dairy-farmworker-neighbors/#respond</comments>
  2120. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Moran /  Sentient ]]></dc:creator>
  2121. <pubDate>Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:26:48 +0000</pubDate>
  2122. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  2123. <category><![CDATA[Business & Economy]]></category>
  2124. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  2125. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  2126. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  2127. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2128. <category><![CDATA[Race]]></category>
  2129. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2130. <category><![CDATA[ICE raids]]></category>
  2131. <category><![CDATA[immigration and cus]]></category>
  2132. <category><![CDATA[migrant ban]]></category>
  2133. <category><![CDATA[migrant justice]]></category>
  2134. <category><![CDATA[vermont]]></category>
  2135. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309511</guid>
  2136.  
  2137. <description><![CDATA[<p>Vermont’s dairy industry relies on immigrants, and when those workers are detained, the community is showing up for them.</p>
  2138. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/vermonters-fight-to-free-their-dairy-farmworker-neighbors/">Vermonters Fight To Free Their Dairy Farmworker Neighbors</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2139. ]]></description>
  2140. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2141. <p><strong>On a cool May afternoon</strong>, a group of Vermonters crowded into the cheerful, teal-painted headquarters of&nbsp;<a href="https://migrantjustice.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Migrant Justice</a>, a human rights organization led by immigrant farmworkers. The team of over a dozen volunteers assembled quickly, in just a day’s notice, in order to show support for two young detained farmworkers: Jesus Mendez Hernandez, 25, and Adrian Zunun-Joachin, 22, co-workers in the dairy industry. Some lived nearby in Burlington. Others traveled for hours from more rural parts of northern Vermont, a lush, hilly region known for its dairy farms and tight-knit, trusting communities where it’s custom <a href="https://www.rutlandherald.com/news/some-vermonters-lock-up-but-many-still-rely-on-trust/article_66b36664-6dba-57de-8909-282fd730e942.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">not to lock your doors</a>. That same neighborly spirit is now rising in defense of farmworkers targeted by expanded immigration raids.&nbsp;</p>
  2142.  
  2143.  
  2144.  
  2145. <p>Many of the volunteers belong to Migrant Justice’s rapid response network, a list of nearly a thousand people that get text alerts when they need to quickly mobilize. Lately this network of volunteers has been called on again and again —&nbsp;for emergency protests,&nbsp;<a href="https://laist.com/news/politics/first-amendment-right-film-ice-detentions-bystander" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">to document and observe detention incidents</a>&nbsp;and to show support at hearings like these. On this particular afternoon, the organizers came together to watch the virtual bond hearing of Hernandez and Zunun-Joachin, hoping they would be freed on bond.</p>
  2146.  
  2147.  
  2148.  
  2149. <p>If that happens, the bond will be paid by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vtfreedomfund.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Vermont Freedom Fund</a>, a statewide, volunteer-run bail fund that works closely with Migrant Justice to pay the bonds for detained farmworkers. “There are just so many good-hearted people in Vermont who know about us, and they send us money,” said Lisa Barrett, the only active member of the bail fund. To her surprise, two of the farmworkers, recently freed on bond, have fully reimbursed the bail fund, Barrett told Sentient. “These guys are so community-minded.They want to be sure that we have the money to bail out the next person.”&nbsp;</p>
  2150.  
  2151.  
  2152. <div class="wp-block-image">
  2153. <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="540" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/image-4.png?width=720&#038;height=540" alt="" class="wp-image-309512" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/image-4.png?width=720 720w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/image-4.png?width=300&amp;height=225 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/image-4.png?width=240&amp;height=180 240w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/image-4.png?width=360&amp;height=270 360w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/image-4.png?width=540&amp;height=405 540w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">José Edilberto Molina-Aguilar holds a poster depicting the eight farmworkers detained at Pleasant Valley Farms, including himself, Jesus Mendez Hernandez and Adrian Zunun-Joachin (Migrant Justice)</figcaption></figure></div>
  2154.  
  2155.  
  2156. <p>Hernandez and Zunun-Joachin were apprehended on April 21 at what is both their home and workplace:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pvfarmsvt/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Pleasant Valley Farms</a>. The farm is the largest dairy operation in Vermont, raising 3,000 cows just a few miles from the Canadian border. Hernandez and Zunun-Joachin were arrested along with six of their co-workers in what’s been described as one of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2025/4/24/headlines/ice_arrests_8_dairy_workers_in_largest_immigration_raid_in_vermonts_recent_history" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">largest immigration raids in Vermont’s recent history</a>. They were later abruptly transported — without any notice to their loved ones or lawyer — to a detention facility in Karnes County, Texas, separated from their friends and family by thousands of miles.</p>
  2157.  
  2158.  
  2159.  
  2160. <p>An estimated&nbsp;<a href="https://brownpoliticalreview.org/from-farm-to-fridge-the-hidden-hands-behind-vermont-dairy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">1,000 undocumented migrants</a>&nbsp;— primarily from Mexico and Central America — form the backbone of Vermont’s dairy industry. It’s grueling work: dairy farmworkers often endure 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. The vast majority earn less than the state’s minimum wage, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://migrantjustice.net/news/results-from-200-farmworkers-surveyed-on-labor-conditions-on-vermont-dairies" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">a survey conducted by Migrant Justice</a>. Unlike other agricultural workers, dairy workers typically are employed year-round, which means workers tend to put down roots where they work and reside, making strong connections with their fellow residents.</p>
  2161.  
  2162.  
  2163.  
  2164. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>An estimated&nbsp;1,000 undocumented migrants&nbsp;form the backbone of Vermont’s dairy industry.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2165.  
  2166.  
  2167.  
  2168. <p>Those fellow residents have been showing up for farmworkers like Hernandez and Zunun-Joachin who have been threatened with deportation. “There is a community both fighting and waiting for them to return home,” Su Ughetti, one of the volunteers who lives a few towns over in Essex, told Sentient. Ughetti, who decided to virtually attend the bond hearing in order to show Hernandez and Zunun-Joachin “that they are not alone,” has participated in other bond hearings for Vermont immigrants. Showing up in this way helps ease her own distress, she said. “It feels a lot better than not doing anything about it.”</p>
  2169.  
  2170.  
  2171.  
  2172. <p>Just before the hearing was expected to begin, Ughetti and the other supporters pushed their chairs close together, attempting to fit all of their heads within the narrow frame of the laptop camera — a similar gesture to packing a courtroom. They hoped to be visible to the farmworkers, who had been detained for about a month by that point, with little outside communication. The feelings of duress are often made worse by the fact that the farmworkers are so far from their home in Vermont.</p>
  2173.  
  2174.  
  2175.  
  2176. <p>“Being in immigration detention is so dramatic and so isolating, and there’s so much pressure on people to just give up and accept their deportation,” Will Lambek, an organizer with Migrant Justice, a group that has been on the frontlines in providing detention support, told Sentient. ”So knowing that there’s an organized community outside the bars that are fighting for you and pulling for your release gives people the strength that they need to stay in it and fight the cases.”</p>
  2177.  
  2178.  
  2179.  
  2180. <p>The volunteers are also hoping to be visible to the immigration judge. Community support sometimes has the potential to favorably sway the determination of a bond hearing, Lambek said, to show the judge “that they have roots in Vermont, that they’re part of the community here.”&nbsp;</p>
  2181.  
  2182.  
  2183.  
  2184. <p>The idea is to persuade the judge that the detainee can be trusted to show up to future court hearings rather than flee, said Brett Stokes, a lawyer representing the detained farmworkers and the director of Vermont Law School’s Center for Justice Reform. “It’s pretty telling that a lot of people took the time to be there to support that person. I think that that does go a long way with the court,” Stokes said.&nbsp;</p>
  2185.  
  2186.  
  2187.  
  2188. <p>When supporters show up, it also gives the judge a glimpse into the farmworkers’ lives and social networks. It can serve as a reminder to the judge of their humanity, something that is so often lost in the deportation process. “For the judge to have to look at people that support this person — it really humanizes them,” Stokes said.&nbsp;</p>
  2189.  
  2190.  
  2191.  
  2192. <p>That morning, José Edilberto Molina-Aguilar, who was swept up in the same raid on Pleasant Valley Farms, was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKdcEkqOoz9/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">freed on bond</a>. And a few days prior to this hearing, Migrant Justice leaders and supporters welcomed home Diblaim Maximo Sargento-Morales, another co-worker on the farm, who also goes by Max, was released at the lowest possible bond amount, $1,500.&nbsp;</p>
  2193.  
  2194.  
  2195.  
  2196. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
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overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ5KTAZpv_I/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">A post shared by Migrant Justice (@migrantjusticevt)</a></p></div></blockquote><script async src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
  2198. </div></figure>
  2199.  
  2200.  
  2201.  
  2202. <p>It was a sweet moment of victory: a welcome crew met him at the airport to drive him home, showering him in applause and cheers of “Sí se pudo!” (Yes, it was possible!). In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ5KTAZpv_I/?igsh=NDMxMHJ4bWRxMGV1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">a video</a>, Max appears visibly dazed but is smiling from ear-to-ear.</p>
  2203.  
  2204.  
  2205.  
  2206. <p>It’s a success that Migrant Justice has replicated with three recent detention cases so far, calling upon the community support they’ve forged through years of organizing in Vermont. These cases have also received a rare outpouring of support from local politicians, including nearly 100 state elected officials who&nbsp;<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DjGnmJoKzIB8v458ciqx1Y-pPb0HKPGI/view" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">signed onto a letter asking the Department of Justice</a>&nbsp;to free the detained farmworkers.&nbsp;</p>
  2207.  
  2208.  
  2209.  
  2210. <p>“The speed and efficacy of the response is due to the groundwork that we’ve been laying now for over a decade,” said Rachel Elliott, an organizer with Migrant Justice. Some of the detained farmworkers were involved in “public outreach, community building and trust building,” she says, which has helped them cultivate a wide network of support. The political climate has also motivated the volunteers. “People are especially energetic right now because of the current political situation and are even more willing than usual to step up and stand in solidarity.”</p>
  2211.  
  2212.  
  2213.  
  2214. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">A capricious, unpredictable system</h3>
  2215.  
  2216.  
  2217.  
  2218. <p>“People are continuing to be persecuted and criminalized and detained in Vermont and around the country,” said Lambek, addressing the volunteers who had gathered for the bond hearing. “With some of these cases, we’ve shown that it is possible to interrupt that process through community organizing and support.” </p>
  2219.  
  2220.  
  2221.  
  2222. <p>But this particular bond hearing didn’t go as planned, Lambek acknowledged. The support team had waited for several hours as the hearing was significantly delayed, but they eventually received the news that the judge presiding over this case had decided to not let them in the room. </p>
  2223.  
  2224.  
  2225.  
  2226. <p>Stokes, who was the lawyer on this case, urged the judge to let them in, explaining that it’s a room full of people demonstrating support, but the request was denied. “I have literally never been in a situation like that,” he said. </p>
  2227.  
  2228.  
  2229.  
  2230. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="679" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vermont-state-house.png?width=1024&#038;height=679" alt="" class="wp-image-309514" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vermont-state-house.png?width=1024&amp;height=679 1024w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vermont-state-house.png?width=300&amp;height=199 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vermont-state-house.png?width=768&amp;height=509 768w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vermont-state-house.png?width=271&amp;height=180 271w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vermont-state-house.png?width=407&amp;height=270 407w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vermont-state-house.png?width=611&amp;height=405 611w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vermont-state-house.png?width=882&amp;height=585 882w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/vermont-state-house.png?width=1194 1194w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(Migrant Justice)</figcaption></figure>
  2231.  
  2232.  
  2233.  
  2234. <p>In the end, the judge decided that both Hernandez and Zunun-Joachin posed a “flight risk” and denied them bond. The bar was unusually high, according to Stokes. The judge reasoned that since the two dairy workers probably would not be eligible for <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2004/08/05/ReliefFromRemoval.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">forms of relief from deportation</a> like asylum, they therefore would not show up to court — despite the fact that they have a legal and advocacy team to support the process. </p>
  2235.  
  2236.  
  2237.  
  2238. <p>It was an especially challenging outcome for Zunun-Joachin. His health has deteriorated so quickly and significantly in detention that he had to attend his bond hearing from the hospital while bedridden. </p>
  2239.  
  2240.  
  2241.  
  2242. <p>In May, Stokes petitioned the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on Zunun-Joachin’s behalf to receive&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/humanitarian_parole" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">humanitarian parole</a>, which would have released him from custody to receive urgent medical care. After a month of waiting, the petition was denied in late June, without any explanation, beyond that it was “deemed not appropriate.”</p>
  2243.  
  2244.  
  2245.  
  2246. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Despite setbacks, a small human rights victory</h3>
  2247.  
  2248.  
  2249.  
  2250. <p>It’s hard to predict what will lead to a successful outcome in deportation cases. The system itself is unpredictable. This affords both immigration judges and ICE a lot of discretion, even when they are following the law.&nbsp;</p>
  2251.  
  2252.  
  2253.  
  2254. <p>On top of that, according to Stokes, it is not uncommon for immigration enforcement officials to <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/417612/supreme-court-bivens-ice-law-enforcement-donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">overstep the bounds of the law entirely</a>.</p>
  2255.  
  2256.  
  2257.  
  2258. <p>Four Vermont farmworkers have been deported under a process known as expedited removal, without ever seeing a judge. They have been denied due process, alleges Stokes — specifically, each was denied a <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum/questions-and-answers-credible-fear-screening" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">fear screening</a> to determine whether it was safe for them to return to their countries of origin, which is required in expedited removal cases where there is a credible fear of persecution or torture. “I know from speaking to each four of those individuals that they did express a fear of return and had no access to these credible fear screens,” Stokes said. DHS is supposed to offer these screenings, but they did not in these cases, according to Stokes. </p>
  2259.  
  2260.  
  2261.  
  2262. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“It’s just another example of the capriciousness and injustice of the system.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  2263.  
  2264.  
  2265.  
  2266. <p>Even after a judge grants release, there can be more delays. On the day of the hearing, Migrant Justice was awaiting the return of Arbey Lopez-Lopez, another community member whose bond was fully paid thanks to the Vermont Freedom Fund. Yet he remained stuck at the <a href="https://www.aclu-nh.org/press-releases/aclu-nh-confirms-fci-berlin-already-jailing-ice-detainees/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">New Hampshire federal prison FCI Berlin</a>. </p>
  2267.  
  2268.  
  2269.  
  2270. <p>Lambek gave the crowd of supporters gathered for the bond hearing an update. “ICE has just for a couple of days now refused to let him out of jail,” said Lambek. “It’s just another example of the capriciousness and injustice of the system.” Even after the judge grants release, Lambek said, “ICE can just drag their feet for three more days.” </p>
  2271.  
  2272.  
  2273.  
  2274. <p>Still, there was one small moment of victory for the advocates gathered that afternoon. As the crowd of Vermonters waited for the hearing, Migrant Justice leaders received good news from their legal team, who are in contact with the lawyers representing activists for Palestinian freedom who have been detained. </p>
  2275.  
  2276.  
  2277.  
  2278. <p>A Palestinian flag is displayed prominently on Migrant Justice’s office walls; a show of solidarity between the two groups. Those gathered learned that Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian student activist detained in Louisiana, would now be granted permission to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/22/mahmoud-khalil-son-contact" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">meet his month-old son</a> for the first time. </p>
  2279.  
  2280.  
  2281.  
  2282. <p>The room erupted in cheers. “At the end of the day, we are a human rights organization,” said Elliott. “We are deeply concerned with collective liberation and see the struggle for the liberation of Palestine and the end of the genocide as inextricably tied with the liberation of our community members here at home.” For Vermont’s Migrant Justice, even though Hernandez and Zunun-Joachin were denied bond, there was still a small victory that day, for collective human rights. </p>
  2283. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/vermonters-fight-to-free-their-dairy-farmworker-neighbors/">Vermonters Fight To Free Their Dairy Farmworker Neighbors</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2284. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2287. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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  2292. </item>
  2293. <item>
  2294. <title>Trump’s Trillion Dollar NATO Gambit</title>
  2295. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-trillion-dollar-nato-gambit/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=trumps-trillion-dollar-nato-gambit</link>
  2296. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-trillion-dollar-nato-gambit/#respond</comments>
  2298. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Edward Hunt /  FPIF ]]></dc:creator>
  2299. <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 16:35:46 +0000</pubDate>
  2300. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  2301. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  2302. <category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
  2303. <category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
  2304. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  2305. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2306. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2307. <category><![CDATA[article 5]]></category>
  2308. <category><![CDATA[donald trump]]></category>
  2309. <category><![CDATA[nato]]></category>
  2310. <category><![CDATA[russia]]></category>
  2311. <category><![CDATA[ukraine]]></category>
  2312. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309441</guid>
  2313.  
  2314. <description><![CDATA[<p>The president claims that militarizing Europe is a good thing for the United States and the world. He’s wrong.</p>
  2315. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-trillion-dollar-nato-gambit/">Trump’s Trillion Dollar NATO Gambit</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2316. ]]></description>
  2317. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2318. <p><strong>President Donald Trump is embracing</strong> new military goals for NATO that may lead to an additional trillion dollars in military spending and the greater militarization of Europe.</p>
  2319.  
  2320.  
  2321.  
  2322. <p>In pressuring the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to vastly <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/what-is-natos-new-5-defence-spending-target-2025-06-23/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">increase</a> their military spending, Trump is setting Europe on a pathway to becoming a major center of military power. Although a far more militarized Europe holds great dangers for the world, including a greater risk of war, Trump is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/world/europe/nato-increase-military-spending-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">boasting</a> about his move, enthralled by how much more money European countries are pledging to spend on their war-making capabilities.</p>
  2323.  
  2324.  
  2325.  
  2326. <p>“It’s over a trillion dollars more a year,” Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/president-trump-holds-a-press-briefing-june-27-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">marveled</a>&nbsp;at a June 27 press briefing. “Think of that, a trillion dollars.”<strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
  2327.  
  2328.  
  2329.  
  2330. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Trump’s position</h3>
  2331.  
  2332.  
  2333.  
  2334. <p>Since rising to power, Trump has made it one of his primary goals to make European countries spend more on their militaries. Claiming that he is putting America first, the president has demanded that European countries rely less on the United States for their security and take on greater responsibility.</p>
  2335.  
  2336.  
  2337.  
  2338. <p>Trump has focused his efforts on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-nato" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">NATO</a>, the transatlantic military alliance that is led by the United States. Unlike other U.S. presidents, who have embraced the alliance as a tool for reinforcing U.S. military power and maintaining U.S. dominance over Europe, Trump has criticized the alliance as a way for Europe to take advantage of the United States.</p>
  2339.  
  2340.  
  2341.  
  2342. <p>At the core of Trump’s critique has been military spending. One of his constant complaints has been that the United States spends far more <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katharinabuchholz/2022/06/30/where-nato-defense-expenditure-stands-in-2022-infographic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">overall</a> on its military than other members of NATO. Rather than calling for reductions in U.S. military spending to achieve parity, however, Trump has pushed for a record-setting <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/07/hegseth-trump-1-trillion-defense-budget-00007147" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">$1 trillion Pentagon budget</a> while demanding that NATO members increase their military spending.</p>
  2343.  
  2344.  
  2345.  
  2346. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  2347.  
  2348.  
  2349.  
  2350. <p>One of the ways in which Trump has pressured NATO countries to increase their military spending is by equivocating on U.S. treaty obligations. Repeatedly, Trump has indicated that he will not uphold the North Atlantic Treaty’s Article 5 to defend member states under attack, just as the European powers did when they came to the assistance of the United States after 9/11.</p>
  2351.  
  2352.  
  2353.  
  2354. <p>“If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,” Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-document-signing-ceremony-and-exchange-with-reporters-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">said</a>&nbsp;in March.</p>
  2355.  
  2356.  
  2357.  
  2358. <p>Another one of Trump’s moves has been to exploit past commitments by member states to increase their military spending. During his first term, for example, Trump demanded that each NATO member achieve military spending of at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), a target that NATO had established in 2014 as a long-term aspiration.</p>
  2359.  
  2360.  
  2361.  
  2362. <p>Since the start of his second term, however, Trump has demanded even more of Europe, urging NATO countries to increase their military spending to 5 percent of their GDP. Although the United States will not meet Trump’s threshold under its new Pentagon budget, Trump insists that all other NATO members must meet the target.</p>
  2363.  
  2364.  
  2365.  
  2366. <p>“I don’t think we should, but I think that the NATO countries should, absolutely,” Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/president-trump-gaggles-with-press-at-morristown-municipal-airport-june-20-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">told</a>&nbsp;reporters on June 20.</p>
  2367.  
  2368.  
  2369.  
  2370. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Long-term implications</h3>
  2371.  
  2372.  
  2373.  
  2374. <p>Despite the fact that several U.S. leaders have been wary of Trump’s tactics, especially the manner in which he has berated Europe, they have remained quiet about the potentially dangerous long-term consequences of a more militarized Europe. As officials in Washington are well aware, Trump’s moves to militarize Europe put the people of Europe and the world at great risk.</p>
  2375.  
  2376.  
  2377.  
  2378. <p>One of the major risks to the people of Europe concerns social spending. If Europe follows through on its new military commitments and starts investing vast sums of money on its war-making capabilities, then it may try to offset costs by cutting social programs.</p>
  2379.  
  2380.  
  2381.  
  2382. <p>In a June 25 interview with Politico, Secretary of State Marco Rubio pointed to the possibility of reductions in social spending when he indicated that Europe’s “vast social safety network programs” may be at risk. Every dollar “spent on military is money you’re taking away from education, health care, all the stuff that people have come to benefit from in your government,” Rubio <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/06/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-with-dasha-burns-of-politico/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">said</a>.</p>
  2383.  
  2384.  
  2385.  
  2386. <p>Another danger is that Europe may become more prone to war. With greater military capabilities, European powers will find it tempting to increasingly turn to war and aggression, just as they had done during the early 20th century, when they led the world into two catastrophic world wars.</p>
  2387.  
  2388.  
  2389.  
  2390. <p>“We are in an era of rearmament,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission,&nbsp;<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/et/statement_25_673" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">declared</a>&nbsp;in March. “And Europe is ready to massively boost its defense spending.”</p>
  2391.  
  2392.  
  2393.  
  2394. <p>With Europe moving into an era of rearmament, there’s also a greater risk of war with Russia. Not only will an additional trillion dollars in military spending have serious consequences for the war in Ukraine, which continues to suffer from a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/us/politics/russia-ukraine-troop-casualties.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">tremendously violent war</a>&nbsp;with Russia, but such a vast increase in military spending is likely to inflame tensions with Russia, which views NATO as a security threat.</p>
  2395.  
  2396.  
  2397.  
  2398. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Trump’s moves to militarize Europe put the people of Europe and the world at great risk.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2399.  
  2400.  
  2401.  
  2402. <p>One of the most tragic ironies of Trump’s approach is that he is militarizing Europe at the same time that he is blaming NATO for the war in Ukraine. Repeatedly, Trump has claimed that the United States bears responsibility for the Russian invasion due to its efforts to bring Ukraine into the military alliance.</p>
  2403.  
  2404.  
  2405.  
  2406. <p>“I believe that’s the reason the war started,” Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-signing-memorandum-reciprocal-trade-and-tariffs-and-exchange-with-reporters" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">said</a>&nbsp;in February.</p>
  2407.  
  2408.  
  2409.  
  2410. <p>Beyond the dangers of militarization for Europe, there’s also a major risk to the people of the world. If Europe takes on a greater military role within NATO, then the United States will be better positioned to shift more of its military assets to other regions.</p>
  2411.  
  2412.  
  2413.  
  2414. <p>In fact, the Trump administration has repeatedly indicated that it is pushing for an increase in military spending in Europe so that the United States can send more of its military assets to the Pacific, where it is directing a military buildup against China.</p>
  2415.  
  2416.  
  2417.  
  2418. <p>“As our allies share the burden, we can increase our focus on the Indo-Pacific, our priority theater,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth&nbsp;<a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Speeches/Speech/Article/4202494/remarks-by-secretary-of-defense-pete-hegseth-at-the-2025-shangri-la-dialogue-in/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">explained</a>&nbsp;in May.</p>
  2419.  
  2420.  
  2421.  
  2422. <p>With the United States moving toward a greater militarization of the Pacific, where it already maintains a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12604" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">massive military presence</a>, the world will face one of its greatest long-term dangers. As things now stand, the United States is preparing for a future in which there may be a great power war on two fronts: one in which Europe wages war against Russia and another in which the United States wages war against China.</p>
  2423.  
  2424.  
  2425.  
  2426. <p>“The motto of my first platoon, first one I led, was: ‘Those who long for peace must prepare for war,’” Hegseth said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing.”</p>
  2427.  
  2428.  
  2429.  
  2430. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">More pathways to war</h3>
  2431.  
  2432.  
  2433.  
  2434. <p>With its campaign to pressure Europe into committing an additional trillion dollars to military spending, the Trump administration is making a dangerous gamble. Not only is it laying the groundwork for Europe to become one of the world’s major centers of military power, but it is risking more military conflict.</p>
  2435.  
  2436.  
  2437.  
  2438. <p>The Trump administration’s approach requires greater militarization in Europe and the Pacific. With Europe embracing a new era of rearmament and the United States directing a military buildup in the Pacific, the transatlantic allies are likely to provoke Russia and China, both of which will face pressure to act.</p>
  2439.  
  2440.  
  2441.  
  2442. <p>At the same time, the Trump administration is creating more pathways to war. In pushing for the militarization of Europe, the administration is positioning Europe to take the lead in directing more military operations against Russia. By shifting more military assets to the Pacific, the administration is preparing the United States for multiple military scenarios against China.</p>
  2443.  
  2444.  
  2445.  
  2446. <p>Officials in the Trump administration may defend their actions as a matter of deterrence or an effort to achieve peace through strength, but what they are really doing is destabilizing the world. Rather than making a dedicated commitment to finding diplomatic solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, the Trump administration is making a long-term commitment to militarization and war, all with great risks for Europe, the United States and the world.</p>
  2447. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-trillion-dollar-nato-gambit/">Trump’s Trillion Dollar NATO Gambit</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2448. ]]></content:encoded>
  2450. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-trillion-dollar-nato-gambit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2451. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2454. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309441</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25176512526612-scaled.jpg?width=877&#038;height=585" length="531272" type="image/jpeg" />
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  2456. </item>
  2457. <item>
  2458. <title>The Birthright Citizenship Decision Is a Jurisprudential Mess</title>
  2459. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-birthright-citizenship-decision-is-a-jurisprudential-mess/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-birthright-citizenship-decision-is-a-jurisprudential-mess</link>
  2460. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-birthright-citizenship-decision-is-a-jurisprudential-mess/#comments</comments>
  2462. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Bill Blum]]></dc:creator>
  2463. <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 16:21:11 +0000</pubDate>
  2464. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  2465. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  2466. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  2467. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  2468. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  2469. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2470. <category><![CDATA[Race]]></category>
  2471. <category><![CDATA[TD Column]]></category>
  2472. <category><![CDATA[TD Original]]></category>
  2473. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2474. <category><![CDATA[14th amendment]]></category>
  2475. <category><![CDATA[amy coney barrett]]></category>
  2476. <category><![CDATA[birthright citizenship]]></category>
  2477. <category><![CDATA[scotus]]></category>
  2478. <category><![CDATA[trump v. casa]]></category>
  2479. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309457</guid>
  2480.  
  2481. <description><![CDATA[<p>The Supreme Court ruling is a victory for Donald Trump, but it does leave open a pathway for state and class-action challenges.</p>
  2482. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-birthright-citizenship-decision-is-a-jurisprudential-mess/">The Birthright Citizenship Decision Is a Jurisprudential Mess</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2483. ]]></description>
  2484. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2485. <p class="has-drop-cap">Just how bad is the Supreme Court’s June 27 decision on birthright citizenship? Among progressive and liberal commentators, the thinking is surprisingly mixed. Some assert that <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><em>Trump v. CASA</em></a> “<a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/06/supreme-court-trump-victory-birthright-citizenship-disaster.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">couldn’t be more disastrous</a>” and will leave the Trump administration with “<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/john-roberts-injunction/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">blood on its hands</a>”; others see “<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/27/trump-supreme-court-birthright-injunction-loopholes-00430225?utm_source=chatgpt.com" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">silver linings</a>” in the ruling.</p>
  2486.  
  2487.  
  2488.  
  2489. <p>The reason for the diverse reactions is simple: The 6-3 majority decision written by Amy Coney Barrett didn’t address the underlying issue in the case — the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-02007.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">executive order</a> ending birthright citizenship under the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment for the children of undocumented immigrants. Instead, Barrett and the conservative majority produced a complicated and confusing procedural ruling that leaves the executive order in legal limbo, intact for now but subject to further litigation.</p>
  2490.  
  2491.  
  2492.  
  2493. <p>As I have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/birthright-citizenship-and-the-post-constitutional-agenda/">written before</a>, Trump’s birthright order defies the plain text of the very first sentence of the 14<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;Amendment. Known as the “Citizenship Clause,” the sentence reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”</p>
  2494.  
  2495.  
  2496.  
  2497. <p>The executive order stunningly disregards these easily understood words, proclaiming that the amendment “has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States,” but was adopted only to repudiate the Supreme Court’s infamous <em><a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/60us393" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Dred Scott</a> </em>decision that denied citizenship to Black Americans.</p>
  2498.  
  2499.  
  2500.  
  2501. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The 6-3 majority decision written by Amy Coney Barrett didn’t address the underlying issue in the case.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2502.  
  2503.  
  2504.  
  2505. <p>But while repudiating&nbsp;Dred Scott&nbsp;was the immediate impetus for crafting the Citizenship Clause, the Senate and the House&nbsp;<a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30867/m1/12/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">debates</a>&nbsp;in 1866 extended far beyond that notorious decision.</p>
  2506.  
  2507.  
  2508.  
  2509. <p>The clause was introduced in the Senate by Jacob Howard of Michigan on May 30, 1866, as an add-on to the draft of the 14th&nbsp;Amendment formulated by the House. The clause tracked similar language contained in the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1866" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Civil Rights Act of 1866</a>&nbsp;and followed the general principles of English common law and the ancient doctrine of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><em>jus solis</em></a>&nbsp;(the “law of the soil’’) — the principle that all those born within the geographic boundaries of a nation are citizens at birth.&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/countries-that-recognize-birthright-citizenship-jus-soli-2018-10" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">More than 30 countries</a>&nbsp;today recognize the doctrine, including the United States, Canada and Mexico. Great Britain modified its&nbsp;<a href="https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/vjtl/article/1734/&amp;path_info=Birthright_Citizenship_in_the_United_Kingdom_and_the_United_States.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">nationality law</a>&nbsp;in 1981.)</p>
  2510.  
  2511.  
  2512.  
  2513. <p>In his introductory remarks, Howard noted the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States meant that the citizenship clause would not apply to the children of ambassadors or foreign ministers, the children of occupying foreign soldiers or to the offspring of Native Americans who claimed allegiance to tribal governments, but that the clause would “include every other class of person,” regardless of race or descent.&nbsp;(Native Americans were accorded citizenship&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Citizenship_Act" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">by legislation passed in 1924</a>.)</p>
  2514.  
  2515.  
  2516.  
  2517. <p>The citizenship clause, Howard said, “settles the great question of citizenship and removes all doubt as to what persons are or are not citizens of the United States.”&nbsp;</p>
  2518.  
  2519.  
  2520.  
  2521. <p>Trump’s executive order also contradicts the court’s precedent opinions dating back to the landmark 1898 case of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/169/649" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank"><em>United States v. Wong Kim Ark</em></a>, which recognized the citizenship of a man born in the U.S. to parents who at the time were subjects of the Chinese Emperor but domiciled in California. That case and <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/471/444/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">other later decisions</a> demonstrate the inclusive nature of the Citizenship Clause.</p>
  2522.  
  2523.  
  2524.  
  2525. <p>Had Barrett and her confederates not ducked the underlying issue of the executive order’s constitutionality, they would have been forced either to rewrite the Citizenship Clause to uphold the order — a step even they apparently are not yet prepared to take — or invalidate a centerpiece of the MAGA mass deportation agenda.</p>
  2526.  
  2527.  
  2528.  
  2529. <p>In the end, they chose to do neither.</p>
  2530.  
  2531.  
  2532.  
  2533. <p>But they still managed to hand Trump the next best thing to a total victory. Barrett’s ruling granted the administration’s request for a “partial stay” (or pause) on <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">three nationwide preliminary injunctions</a> that had been issued by three federal district court judges — which blocked the birthright order from taking effect anywhere in the country — and sent the cases back to the district judges for further consideration to weed through and apply the jurisprudential mess that Barrett left behind.</p>
  2534.  
  2535.  
  2536.  
  2537. <p>In a tortured analysis that <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-injunction-ruling-experts-pundits-analysis.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">New York Magazine’s Chas Danner called “an originalist fever dream</a>,” Barrett limited the court’s review to the sole question of whether, under the Judiciary Act of 1789, federal courts have the authority to issue nationwide, or “universal,” injunctions. The act was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-06-27/supreme-court-limits-universal-injunctions-but-skips-birthright-citizenship" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">one of the first laws passed by Congress</a> after the ratification of the Constitution, and in modified form remains on the books in <a href="https://www.fjc.gov/history/spotlight-judicial-history/federal-judicial-statutes#:~:text=As%20many%20legal%20researchers%20know,or%20easy%20to%20find%2C%20however." rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Title 28 of the United States Code</a>. And as Barrett noted, it is the Judiciary Act that has endowed federal courts with jurisdiction over “all suits &#8230; in equity,” and that “still today … authorizes the federal courts to issue equitable remedies,” such as injunctions.</p>
  2538.  
  2539.  
  2540.  
  2541. <p><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/live-amy-coney-barrett-supreme-court-confirmation/2020/10/13/923215778/barrett-an-originalist-says-meaning-of-constitution-doesn-t-change-over-time" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">As an originalist</a>, Barrett interprets the Constitution and federal statutes rigidly according to their text and their “original public meaning,” discounting evolving legal norms and practices as well as contemporary social values and needs. When it comes to universal injunctions, however, originalists have a problem. No federal statute, including the Judiciary Act, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R46902" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">explicitly authorizes judges to issue nationwide injunctions, but no statute prohibits them from doing so</a>.</p>
  2542.  
  2543.  
  2544.  
  2545. <p>In the absence of any guidance from the 1789 act, Barrett and the majority revved up their originalist wayback machine to examine how the English High Court of Chancery operated at the time of the founding, asking if that court issued forms of equitable relief analogous to contemporary universal injunctions. “The answer,” she wrote, “is no.” Equitable remedies at the time of the founding, she concluded, could provide “complete relief between the parties” to a lawsuit, but “complete relief is not synonymous with universal relief” that applies throughout an entire country.</p>
  2546.  
  2547.  
  2548.  
  2549. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson blasted Barrett’s opinion “as an existential threat to the rule of law.”</p></blockquote></figure>
  2550.  
  2551.  
  2552.  
  2553. <p>But then, in another confusing twist, Barrett offered the aforementioned silver linings, writing that legal challenges to Trump’s birthright order might proceed under the Administrative Procedures Act, or as class actions, or in lawsuits brought by individual states seeking relief on behalf of their own residents, which 22 states to date have joined. Barrett left it to the district courts to determine which of these alternative legal avenues might suffice, and she gave them 30 days to do so before the executive order takes effect.</p>
  2554.  
  2555.  
  2556.  
  2557. <p>In a blistering dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor charged that Barrett’s opinion “kneecaps the Judiciary’s authority to stop the Executive from enforcing even the most unconstitutional policies” and that “newborns subject to the Citizenship Order will face the gravest harms imaginable,” jeopardizing their “chance to participate in American society … unless their parents have sufficient resources to file individual suits.”</p>
  2558.  
  2559.  
  2560.  
  2561. <p>In another scathing dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson blasted Barrett’s opinion “as an existential threat to the rule of law.”</p>
  2562.  
  2563.  
  2564.  
  2565. <p>Trump, by contrast, hailed the court’s decision,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cev0d10kdd9o" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">boasting that it will unblock other items on his political agenda</a>&nbsp;that have been stymied by district court injunctions.</p>
  2566.  
  2567.  
  2568.  
  2569. <p>In the meantime, attorneys in the&nbsp;CASA&nbsp;case have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2025/06/CASA-v-Trump-Amended-Complaint.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">amended their complaint to proceed as a class action</a>, and New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aol.com/nj-attorney-general-universal-injunctions-184008958.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">has expressed confidence that&nbsp;broad injunctions stopping Trump’s executive order can still be enforced</a>&nbsp;in lawsuits filed by state governments.</p>
  2570.  
  2571.  
  2572.  
  2573. <p class="is-td-marked">Whether the new legal maneuvers succeed remains to be seen. None would be necessary if the Supreme Court had stood up to Trump and done its job in the first place.</p>
  2574. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-birthright-citizenship-decision-is-a-jurisprudential-mess/">The Birthright Citizenship Decision Is a Jurisprudential Mess</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2575. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2578. <slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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  2583. </item>
  2584. <item>
  2585. <title>Trained Volunteers Patrol L.A. Streets on Alert for ICE Raids</title>
  2586. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trained-volunteers-patrol-l-a-streets-as-ice-raids-intensify/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=trained-volunteers-patrol-l-a-streets-as-ice-raids-intensify</link>
  2587. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trained-volunteers-patrol-l-a-streets-as-ice-raids-intensify/#respond</comments>
  2589. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Myriam-Fernanda Alcala Delgado /  Capital & Main ]]></dc:creator>
  2590. <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 16:02:43 +0000</pubDate>
  2591. <category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
  2592. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  2593. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  2594. <category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
  2595. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  2596. <category><![CDATA[Race]]></category>
  2597. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  2598. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2599. <category><![CDATA[ICE raids]]></category>
  2600. <category><![CDATA[immigration and customs enforcement]]></category>
  2601. <category><![CDATA[Josh Hawley]]></category>
  2602. <category><![CDATA[mass deportation]]></category>
  2603. <category><![CDATA[migrant ban]]></category>
  2604. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309446</guid>
  2605.  
  2606. <description><![CDATA[<p>Neighborhood watch groups monitor immigration enforcement agents amid rising threats, fear and federal scrutiny.</p>
  2607. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trained-volunteers-patrol-l-a-streets-as-ice-raids-intensify/">Trained Volunteers Patrol L.A. Streets on Alert for ICE Raids</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2608. ]]></description>
  2609. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2610. <p><strong>The day after</strong>&nbsp;families across the country gathered to celebrate Father’s Day, Francisco Romero huddled at dawn with 10 volunteers in a South Los Angeles parking lot. The group was preparing to patrol the neighborhood for signs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.</p>
  2611.  
  2612.  
  2613.  
  2614. <p>There was a heaviness in the atmosphere, despite the comradery and smiles. During the group huddle, some reflected on the difficulty celebrating Father’s Day while families across the city were being separated by ICE. Another volunteer mentioned viral videos from the prior weekend showing apparent ICE presence in the nearby city of Bell, including “snatch and grabs,” in which unmarked vehicles surrounded pedestrians suspected of being undocumented and ICE officers pulled them inside.</p>
  2615.  
  2616.  
  2617.  
  2618. <p>“It’s psychological,” Romero said, speculating about the timing of the raids, which coincided with a holiday meant to celebrate family.</p>
  2619.  
  2620.  
  2621.  
  2622. <p>While L.A. residents — and much of the country — were transfixed for days by images of masked officers rounding up immigrants and protesters flooding downtown streets, this quieter, grassroots effort to protect vulnerable communities from these raids has continued to unfold. Volunteers like Romero patrol the streets across Los Angeles weekly, keeping watch with the aim of alerting the community to any ICE operations.&nbsp;</p>
  2623.  
  2624.  
  2625.  
  2626. <p>Such patrols are nothing new. Since the&nbsp;<a href="https://uniondelbarrio.org/main/4-2/about-udb/the-history-of-union-del-barrio/udb-history-1992-to-1996/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">civil unrest</a>&nbsp;that erupted after the beating of Rodney King in 1992, Unión del Barrio has operated community patrol networks to monitor for law enforcement activity and other potential dangers to residents in neighborhoods across California. But the environment has become more treacherous in recent weeks. There has been an increase in ICE operations across the city, including masked officers detaining suspected undocumented immigrants from local stores, street shops and neighborhoods. Their enforcement actions have led to protests in Los Angeles and pushback from residents and organizers alike.</p>
  2627.  
  2628.  
  2629.  
  2630. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“The objective of Mr. Hawley’s letter was to intimidate us.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  2631.  
  2632.  
  2633.  
  2634. <p>In addition, Unión del Barrio — along with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles and the Party for Socialism and Liberation — has drawn the attention of <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Hawley-Letter-to-Coalition-for-Humane-Immigrant-Rights.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Sen. Josh Hawley</a>, R-Mo., who alleged in a letter sent to the groups in mid-June that they are providing “logistical and financial resources” in support of civil unrest and “aiding and abetting criminal conduct.” The letter calls on the groups to “cease and desist” their operations.</p>
  2635.  
  2636.  
  2637.  
  2638. <p>In response, Unión del Barrio&nbsp;<a href="https://uniondelbarrio.org/main/niunpasoatras062025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">said</a>&nbsp;in a June 15 statement, “The objective of Mr. Hawley’s letter was to intimidate us and compel Unión del Barrio to stop organizing the self-defense of our communities.”</p>
  2639.  
  2640.  
  2641.  
  2642. <p>Many volunteers, including Aimee and Ruth, never interact directly with ICE, while those who do, like Romero, follow a strict protocol meant to protect them from arrest while they carry out their work. When Romero spots what he believes might be an ICE vehicle, he first calls for backup from fellow organizers before deciding whether to approach. In the past, he would tap on the car window and ask the officer to identify themselves.</p>
  2643.  
  2644.  
  2645.  
  2646. <p>“That was back when they would still roll down their windows. Now, they don’t,” he said.</p>
  2647.  
  2648.  
  2649.  
  2650. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="573" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL1-scaled-1.jpg?width=1024&#038;height=573" alt="" class="wp-image-309448" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL1-scaled-1.jpg?width=1024&amp;height=573 1024w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL1-scaled-1.jpg?width=300&amp;height=168 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL1-scaled-1.jpg?width=768&amp;height=430 768w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL1-scaled-1.jpg?width=320&amp;height=180 320w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL1-scaled-1.jpg?width=480&amp;height=270 480w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL1-scaled-1.jpg?width=720&amp;height=403 720w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL1-scaled-1.jpg?width=1040&amp;height=582 1040w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL1-scaled-1.jpg?width=2000 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Francisco Romero meets with Unión del Barrio volunteers in a South Los Angeles parking lot before heading out on patrol. Faces of volunteers who asked not to be identified have been obscured. (Marco Amador)</figcaption></figure>
  2651.  
  2652.  
  2653.  
  2654. <p>The atmosphere of heightened fear has caused the members of the group to use extra caution when describing their work and when approaching ICE agents. When speaking among themselves or with the broader community, they avoid language that suggests they are “chasing out” or “following” ICE operations. Instead, they describe their efforts as “safely monitoring” ICE activity from a distance. When agents leave a neighborhood, organizers say the agents are “electing to do so,” often because they have lost the element of surprise, according to Romero.</p>
  2655.  
  2656.  
  2657.  
  2658. <p>The group has also gone to extra lengths to make sure community members are comfortable with their presence when they are on patrol. Each member of Unión del Barrio’s patrol wears a green shirt emblazoned with the group’s logo, so they are clearly recognizable. The volunteers are given magnets with the organization’s name to affix to the side of their cars. They travel in small groups. On this Monday in June, Francisco, Ruth and Aimee were assigned to patrol the residential neighborhoods north of Martin Luther King Boulevard. Aimee, who lives in the community, said she preferred to use only her first name for the safety of her friends and family; Ruth, a teacher, likewise asked that only her first name be used.&nbsp;</p>
  2659.  
  2660.  
  2661.  
  2662. <p>Aimee, who has volunteered with Unión del Barrio for the past six months, was looking through the back seat window when she noticed a car with blacked out plates. Romero decided the car was suspicious enough to merit an investigation to see whether it belonged to ICE officers.&nbsp;</p>
  2663.  
  2664.  
  2665.  
  2666. <p>The spotting of any car that is unmarked, has tinted windows or is deemed in any way out of the ordinary is enough to prompt the patrol team to turn back and retrace their steps.&nbsp;</p>
  2667.  
  2668.  
  2669.  
  2670. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=1024&#038;height=576" alt="" class="wp-image-309449" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=1024&amp;height=576 1024w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=300&amp;height=169 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=768&amp;height=432 768w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=320&amp;height=180 320w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=480&amp;height=270 480w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=720&amp;height=405 720w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=1040&amp;height=585 1040w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=1280&amp;height=720 1280w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ICE-PATROL3-scaled-1.jpg?width=2000 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Romero pulls over during an early morning ICE patrol to coordinate with other volunteer units. (Marco Amador)</figcaption></figure>
  2671.  
  2672.  
  2673.  
  2674. <p>That particular car turned out not to be a threat. But just two hours after Romero, Aimee and Ruth’s patrol had finished for the morning, Unión del Barrio posted a warning on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK-EXyIojm9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">social media&nbsp;</a>about ICE presence less than a mile away.&nbsp;</p>
  2675.  
  2676.  
  2677.  
  2678. <p>Unión del Barrio conducts two types of patrols: morning rides that monitor neighborhoods with large numbers of Latino residents or workers who may be targeted for immigration enforcement and patrols triggered by community tips about real-time ICE activity. The latter have become more frequent in recent weeks, as ICE operations have intensified. In both cases, the organization either verifies the activity directly or coordinates with trusted community members or other civil rights organizations before issuing public alerts on social media.</p>
  2679.  
  2680.  
  2681.  
  2682. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>ICE officers are altering their tactics to evade detection by community patrols.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2683.  
  2684.  
  2685.  
  2686. <p>Despite heightened scrutiny of immigrant rights organizations in recent weeks by federal officials, a growing number of community groups and individuals are seeking them out for guidance. Unión del Barrio has received calls from across the state and country from individuals and groups requesting resources on preparing communities for incursion by ICE. The organization is planning a trip across California to provide training to allied community groups over the course of the summer. Romero estimates interest in those trainings has tripled in the last few weeks. Instead of taking Hawley’s allegations as a deterrent, “We see it as a new front of struggle,” said Romero, who has been with Unión del Barrio for 30 years and got his start as an activist against police violence.</p>
  2687.  
  2688.  
  2689.  
  2690. <p>But, according to Romero, ICE officers are altering their tactics to evade detection by community patrols. ICE used to commonly conduct operations in the morning but has now shifted its efforts to later in the day, when most patrol volunteers are working.&nbsp;</p>
  2691.  
  2692.  
  2693.  
  2694. <p>Another ICE innovation is the use of decoys — in which a suspected ICE vehicle leads patrol cars one way while other ICE operations move elsewhere.&nbsp;</p>
  2695.  
  2696.  
  2697.  
  2698. <p>Capital &amp; Main reached out to ICE officials for comment for this story but received no response.</p>
  2699.  
  2700.  
  2701.  
  2702. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp; &nbsp;*&nbsp; &nbsp;*</strong></p>
  2703.  
  2704.  
  2705.  
  2706. <p>With about 15 minutes left in his patrol shift, Romero headed toward Santee Alley just as businesses start to open. Ruth, who was riding shotgun, explained how Unión del Barrio has done more than patrol the community.  They have been offering training to community members for months, including on how to prepare a plan in case one of them is detained by ICE.  “So we know how to respond when ICE inevitably attacks us again,” she said. </p>
  2707.  
  2708.  
  2709.  
  2710. <p>Ruth also shared her motivation for volunteering: She sees how ICE’s increased presence in the community over the last few weeks has impacted her students, whom she calls “her kids.” They are why she continues to patrol.&nbsp;</p>
  2711.  
  2712.  
  2713.  
  2714. <p>Meanwhile, Romero was making a point that morning of staying within the speed limit and obeying traffic laws at every stop or turn. Sometimes, he said, he has the urge to “book it” to respond to an alert that ICE has been spotted. But he knows, now more than ever, that “any excuse to engage with us is an opportunity for them to break us.”</p>
  2715.  
  2716.  
  2717.  
  2718. <p><em>Copyright 2025 Capital &amp; Main</em></p>
  2719. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trained-volunteers-patrol-l-a-streets-as-ice-raids-intensify/">Trained Volunteers Patrol L.A. Streets on Alert for ICE Raids</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2720. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2728. </item>
  2729. <item>
  2730. <title>The Megabill Is a Disaster for Children</title>
  2731. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-megabill-is-a-disaster-for-children/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-megabill-is-a-disaster-for-children</link>
  2732. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-megabill-is-a-disaster-for-children/#respond</comments>
  2734. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Kalyn Belsha /  Chalkbeat ]]></dc:creator>
  2735. <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 15:36:22 +0000</pubDate>
  2736. <category><![CDATA[Courts & Law]]></category>
  2737. <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
  2738. <category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
  2739. <category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
  2740. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2741. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  2742. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2743. <category><![CDATA[big beautiful bill]]></category>
  2744. <category><![CDATA[donald trump]]></category>
  2745. <category><![CDATA[health insurance]]></category>
  2746. <category><![CDATA[medicaid]]></category>
  2747. <category><![CDATA[pell grants]]></category>
  2748. <category><![CDATA[snap]]></category>
  2749. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309438</guid>
  2750.  
  2751. <description><![CDATA[<p>It slashes spending on Medicaid, which provides health insurance to 37 million children and is a critical revenue source for schools.</p>
  2752. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-megabill-is-a-disaster-for-children/">The Megabill Is a Disaster for Children</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2753. ]]></description>
  2754. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2755. <p class="has-small-font-size">This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at&nbsp;<a href="https://ckbe.at/newsletters" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">ckbe.at/newsletters</a>.</p>
  2756.  
  2757.  
  2758.  
  2759. <p><strong>Republicans in Congress</strong> have approved President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and domestic policy bill that will ramp up spending on immigration enforcement and make deep cuts to social safety net programs, with major ramifications for children and schools.</p>
  2760.  
  2761.  
  2762.  
  2763. <p><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">The bill</a>, which the president signed Friday, slashes spending on Medicaid, which provides health insurance to some 37 million children and is a critical revenue source for schools. It also limits eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides food assistance to more than 13 million children and makes kids automatically eligible for free meals at school.</p>
  2764.  
  2765.  
  2766.  
  2767. <p>The legislation significantly raises spending on immigration enforcement, which will probably translate to more immigration arrests and deportations. The president’s deportation campaign has already left schools working overtime to assure families it’s safe to send their children to school.</p>
  2768.  
  2769.  
  2770.  
  2771. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“We’re going to see that the effects reverberate.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  2772.  
  2773.  
  2774.  
  2775. <p>“When you take it all together, it’s kind of like an assault on children and families, policy-wise,” said Megan Curran, the director of policy at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University. “We’re going to see that the effects reverberate well beyond what we’re even understanding” right now, she said, “and schools are going to be on the front lines.”</p>
  2776.  
  2777.  
  2778.  
  2779. <p>The nearly 900-page bill also creates a new voucher-like program that will pay for private school scholarships — a major victory for school choice advocates who have successfully expanded similar programs in several states, but have previously failed to enact a nationwide version. States will be allowed to opt out, however, and it’s likely many Democrat-led states will.</p>
  2780.  
  2781.  
  2782.  
  2783. <p>Here is more on how the bill is likely to affect children and schools:</p>
  2784.  
  2785.  
  2786.  
  2787. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Medicaid cuts will hurt school budgets</h3>
  2788.  
  2789.  
  2790.  
  2791. <p>Trump’s policy bill <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/who-would-be-affected-by-health-care-cuts-in-senate-version-of-trumps-budget-bill" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">makes historic cuts to Medicaid</a>, which is the fourth-largest source of federal funding for schools. If <a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/deep-medicaid-spending-cuts-put-health-care-coverage-risk-one-five-enrolled-children" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">millions of children lose their health insurance</a>, it will undoubtedly reduce funding for schools, though it’s unclear by how much.</p>
  2792.  
  2793.  
  2794.  
  2795. <p>“Cutting Medicaid is equivalent to cutting school district budgets,” said Jessie Mandle, the national program director at the nonprofit Healthy Schools Campaign. “School districts are very much aware of how important Medicaid dollars are to serve students with disabilities, address the youth mental crisis [and] address students’ behavioral health needs.”</p>
  2796.  
  2797.  
  2798.  
  2799. <p>In March, Mandle’s organization and other education groups <a href="https://www.aasa.org/docs/default-source/resources/reports/how-medicaid-cuts-will-harm-students-and-schools.pdf?sfvrsn=d4128eba_3" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">surveyed 1,400 school staffers and officials from across the U.S. about how they rely on Medicaid</a>. Around 9 in 10 respondents used Medicaid to pay the salaries of school health staff, such as school nurses, psychologists and speech therapists. A little under half relied on Medicaid to buy assistive technology and other specialized equipment for students with disabilities.</p>
  2800.  
  2801.  
  2802.  
  2803. <p>Cuts to Medicaid would likely require schools to lay off staff and make cuts elsewhere in their budgets, the survey found.</p>
  2804.  
  2805.  
  2806.  
  2807. <p>And schools in rural communities, where a higher share of kids are enrolled in Medicaid and schools often play a big role in providing health care, are likely to feel the cuts more acutely.</p>
  2808.  
  2809.  
  2810.  
  2811. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">SNAP cuts could limit free school meals</h3>
  2812.  
  2813.  
  2814.  
  2815. <p>The federal legislation makes a series of changes to the SNAP program,&nbsp;<a href="https://frac.org/blog/senate-snap-bill-heads-back-to-house-for-final-vote" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">including requiring more parents of school-aged children</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/congress-may-slap-work-requirements-on-food-aid-for-youth-exiting-foster-care/262348" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">teens aging out of foster care</a>&nbsp;to work, scrapping eligibility for refugees and people who’ve been granted asylum, and raising how much states have to kick in.</p>
  2816.  
  2817.  
  2818.  
  2819. <p>The changes could result in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/by-the-numbers-senate-republican-leaderships-reconciliation-bill-takes" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">hundreds of thousands of parents losing their SNAP benefits</a>, which could have ripple effects on schools — though&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/03/12/house-republican-budget-would-slash-free-school-meals-for-many-students/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">earlier provisions that would have more directly targeted the school meal program</a>&nbsp;were stripped out of the bill.</p>
  2820.  
  2821.  
  2822.  
  2823. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“The cuts to SNAP that are currently proposed will increase hunger in homes and in classrooms.&#8221;</p></blockquote></figure>
  2824.  
  2825.  
  2826.  
  2827. <p>When kids are enrolled in SNAP, they automatically qualify for free breakfast and lunch at school. And when a high share of kids are enrolled in SNAP, it’s more financially viable for schools to provide free meals to all students. That&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/8/10/23825754/free-universal-school-meals-lunch-breakfast-research-studies-bullying-groceries-academics-states/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">has a number of academic and social benefits for kids</a>.</p>
  2828.  
  2829.  
  2830.  
  2831. <p>If families fall off the SNAP rolls, they may not realize they have to fill out paperwork at their child’s school to get free meals. And if fewer kids qualify for free school meals, schools will get a lower reimbursement from the federal government, which will make it harder to cover the cost of providing free meals to all kids.</p>
  2832.  
  2833.  
  2834.  
  2835. <p>“The cuts to SNAP that are currently proposed will increase hunger in homes and in classrooms,” said Erin Hysom, the senior child nutrition policy analyst for the nonprofit Food Research &amp; Action Center. “It’s really going to be this kind of double whammy for families.”</p>
  2836.  
  2837.  
  2838.  
  2839. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Boost for immigration enforcement likely to affect schools</h3>
  2840.  
  2841.  
  2842.  
  2843. <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/30/upshot/senate-republican-megabill.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">The president’s policy bill includes $31 billion</a>&nbsp;in additional funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hire more agents and cover the cost of deportations. The legislation also includes $13 billion in grants for states and local communities to assist with immigration enforcement.</p>
  2844.  
  2845.  
  2846.  
  2847. <p>An increase in immigration enforcement is likely to put additional burdens on school communities, many of which have already spent time and resources tending to students whose family members were arrested,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/06/05/nyc-student-detained-by-ice-supported-by-ellis-prep-bronx-school-community/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">advocating on behalf of students who were detained</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/06/18/los-angeles-immigration-raids-prompt-bigger-investment-in-summer-school/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">adding transportation and safety measures</a>&nbsp;to assuage the fears of immigrant parents.</p>
  2848.  
  2849.  
  2850.  
  2851. <p><a href="https://edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai25-1202.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Recent research from Stanford University found</a> that raids carried out by the Trump administration this year in California’s Central Valley notably increased daily absences from school, especially for younger children. And <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2024/10/29/trump-mass-deportation-immigration-raids-aftermath-for-children-schools/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">research has found that immigration raids have significant effects on children’s physical and mental health</a>, as well as on <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0002831219862998" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">broader school climate</a>.</p>
  2852.  
  2853.  
  2854.  
  2855. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">New voucher-like program will pay for private schooling</h3>
  2856.  
  2857.  
  2858.  
  2859. <p>Tucked into the bill is the creation of a tax-credit scholarship program that will pay for private school tuition. Individuals can knock $1,700 off their tax bill if they donate that amount to an organization that awards scholarships to kids who attend private school.</p>
  2860.  
  2861.  
  2862.  
  2863. <p>The inclusion is a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/05/16/school-choice-expansion-in-budget-bill-puts-federal-stamp-on-gop-priority/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">win for private school choice advocates who have long championed an idea like this</a>.</p>
  2864.  
  2865.  
  2866.  
  2867. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The inclusion is a win for private school choice advocates.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2868.  
  2869.  
  2870.  
  2871. <p>But the program will be optional for states, after the Senate parliamentarian ruled states could not be required to participate. That will probably curb the program’s impact, because it’s unlikely that Democrat-led states — where officials have vociferously opposed using public money for private schools — will opt in.</p>
  2872.  
  2873.  
  2874.  
  2875. <p>It is unclear exactly how much the federal voucher-like program will cost,&nbsp;<a href="https://itep.org/trump-megabill-expensive-private-school-vouchers/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">as there is no cap on the amount of tax credit payouts</a>. (An earlier House version would have capped those costs at around $5 billion to $6 billion a year.)</p>
  2876.  
  2877.  
  2878.  
  2879. <p><a href="https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/dashboard/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Many states have their own tax-credit scholarship or voucher program</a>.</p>
  2880.  
  2881.  
  2882.  
  2883. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Pell Grants now available for workforce training</h3>
  2884.  
  2885.  
  2886.  
  2887. <p>Starting with the 2026-27 school year, students from low-income backgrounds who would normally qualify for a federal Pell Grant to pay for college can get aid for short-term workforce training.</p>
  2888.  
  2889.  
  2890.  
  2891. <p>Known as a Workforce Pell Grant, the money could be spent on training programs that last eight to 15 weeks and lead to some kind of credential or academic credit toward a degree or certificate program. The idea has gotten&nbsp;<a href="https://edworkforce.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bipartisan_workforce_pell_act_fact_sheet.pdf" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">bipartisan support in Congress</a>, and has been endorsed by both Trump and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ccdaily.com/2025/02/mcmahon-workforce-pell-and-more-cte/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Education Secretary Linda McMahon</a>.</p>
  2892.  
  2893.  
  2894.  
  2895. <p>The training would need to prepare students for jobs or industries that are high-skill, high-wage or in-demand — in line with the federal Perkins Career and Technical Education Act — and governors and state school boards would decide which programs qualify.</p>
  2896.  
  2897.  
  2898.  
  2899. <p>The Congressional Budget Office expects the program will be relatively small to start: Just $17 million in the first year and $20 million the following year.</p>
  2900.  
  2901.  
  2902.  
  2903. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Child tax credit bump excludes many low-income families</h3>
  2904.  
  2905.  
  2906.  
  2907. <p>The bill increases the size of the credit from $2,000 to $2,200 a year, but does nothing to ensure more low-income families can benefit.</p>
  2908.  
  2909.  
  2910.  
  2911. <p>That means the child tax credit is actually “less generous” in today’s dollars than when the $2,000 credit began in 2018, because it was never adjusted for inflation, Curran said.</p>
  2912.  
  2913.  
  2914.  
  2915. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The child tax credit is actually “less generous” in today’s dollars than when the $2,000 credit began in 2018.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2916.  
  2917.  
  2918.  
  2919. <p><a href="https://povertycenter.columbia.edu/publication/2025/children-left-behind-by-child-tax-credit-house-reconciliation" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">A July analysis by Curran and others found</a>&nbsp;that 19 million children are in families who would get only some, or none, of the revised tax credit because they don’t earn enough money. That’s up from 17 million children who don’t fully benefit from the current child tax credit.</p>
  2920.  
  2921.  
  2922.  
  2923. <p>The final result is “head-scratching,” Curran said,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2024/09/10/why-expanding-the-child-tax-credit-would-help-kids-at-school/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">after all of the bipartisan enthusiasm</a>&nbsp;to expand and increase the child tax credit.</p>
  2924.  
  2925.  
  2926.  
  2927. <p>During the pandemic, the federal government temporarily raised the credit to $3,000 per child and $3,600 for younger children, and made it available to many more families with low or no income.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2021/11/15/22783579/child-tax-credit-schools-biden-reconciliation-plan-education-poverty-families-research/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">There’s solid evidence that helped many families</a>&nbsp;stay on top of household bills and pay for school supplies and other items for their children.</p>
  2928.  
  2929.  
  2930.  
  2931. <p>But the bill Trump is about to sign does not include those changes.</p>
  2932.  
  2933.  
  2934.  
  2935. <p>“It’s a huge pendulum swing,” Curran said. “The child tax credit doesn’t really do anything extra for families.”</p>
  2936. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-megabill-is-a-disaster-for-children/">The Megabill Is a Disaster for Children</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2937. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2940. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2943. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309438</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AdobeStock_305474896-scaled.jpeg?width=885&#038;height=585" length="452342" type="image/jpeg" />
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  2946. <item>
  2947. <title>June EV Sales in China Exceed U.S. Total Vehicle Sales</title>
  2948. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/june-ev-sales-in-china-exceed-u-s-total-vehicle-sales/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=june-ev-sales-in-china-exceed-u-s-total-vehicle-sales</link>
  2949. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/june-ev-sales-in-china-exceed-u-s-total-vehicle-sales/#respond</comments>
  2951. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dean Baker /  Beat the Press ]]></dc:creator>
  2952. <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2025 16:44:41 +0000</pubDate>
  2953. <category><![CDATA[Business & Economy]]></category>
  2954. <category><![CDATA[Column]]></category>
  2955. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  2956. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  2957. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  2958. <category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
  2959. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  2960. <category><![CDATA[china]]></category>
  2961. <category><![CDATA[electric vehicles]]></category>
  2962. <category><![CDATA[fossil fuels]]></category>
  2963. <category><![CDATA[solar energy]]></category>
  2964. <category><![CDATA[trump tariffs]]></category>
  2965. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309395</guid>
  2966.  
  2967. <description><![CDATA[<p>As Donald Trump rails against the 'EV mandate,' China has gone all-in on electric vehicle production and clean energy.</p>
  2968. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/june-ev-sales-in-china-exceed-u-s-total-vehicle-sales/">June EV Sales in China Exceed U.S. Total Vehicle Sales</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2969. ]]></description>
  2970. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  2971. <p><strong>Who knew that when</strong> President Donald Trump said he wanted to “make America great again” he meant locking us into antiquated technology from the last century. Apparently, that is the case, as China and the rest of the world rush ahead with electric cars and clean energy and Trump doubles down on traditional cars and fossil fuels.  </p>
  2972.  
  2973.  
  2974.  
  2975. <p>We hit a milestone of sorts in this divergence last month as EV <a href="https://t.co/ZFJSQ2VTzY" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">sales</a> in China for June exceeded total U.S. car <a href="https://t.co/dwMYtWR0M8" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">sales</a> for the month. More than half the cars sold in China are now EVs. They are much <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-byd-auto-seagull-auto-ev-cae20c92432b74e95c234d93ec1df400#:~:text=The%20car%2C%20launched%20last%20year%20by%20Chinese,much.%20A%20shorter%2Drange%20version%20costs%20under%20$10%2C000." rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">cheaper</a> than internal combustion cars and also cost less to drive and maintain. Charging is no longer a major issue as many cars have ranges of more than 300 miles and can be <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/18/cars/china-byd-supercharging-system-ev-tesla-intl-hnk#:~:text=Chinese%20EV%20giant%20BYD%20says%20new%20charging,range%20of%20250%20miles%20%7C%20CNN%20Business." rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">recharged</a> in five or six minutes. </p>
  2976.  
  2977.  
  2978.  
  2979. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>More than half the cars sold in China are now EVs.</p></blockquote></figure>
  2980.  
  2981.  
  2982.  
  2983. <p>And it is not just EVs where China has shot ahead of the U.S. in a clean energy transition. In the first four months of this year, China <a href="https://www.pvknowhow.com/news/china-solar-installation-2025-record-installation/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">installed</a> an amount of solar capacity that is almost equal to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_the_United_States" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">half</a> of the U.S. total capacity at the end of 2024. It’s also shooting ahead in <a href="https://ember-energy.org/latest-updates/wind-and-solar-generate-over-a-quarter-of-chinas-electricity-for-the-first-month-on-record/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">wind</a> generation capacity. Renewable energy now accounts for almost two-thirds of China’s electricity generation capacity.</p>
  2984.  
  2985.  
  2986.  
  2987. <p>Clean energy is also cheap energy. The <a href="https://www.pvknowhow.com/solar-report/china/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">cost</a> of solar energy in China is 8 to 9 cents per kilowatt hour and falling rapidly. The average <a href="https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">cost</a> in the United States is 13 cents per kilowatt hour. </p>
  2988.  
  2989.  
  2990.  
  2991. <p>It is unfortunate that the United States is taking a back seat in the development of electric vehicles and clean energy and letting China lead the way. However, on the plus side, if we ever get a president who is not committed to accelerating global warming and the destruction of the planet, the technology will exist for a quick transition to a green economy. We will be able to both save money, and save ourselves and the planet from the pollution emitted by burning fossil fuels.&nbsp;</p>
  2992. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/june-ev-sales-in-china-exceed-u-s-total-vehicle-sales/">June EV Sales in China Exceed U.S. Total Vehicle Sales</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  2993. ]]></content:encoded>
  2995. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/june-ev-sales-in-china-exceed-u-s-total-vehicle-sales/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2996. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2999. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">309395</post-id> <enclosure url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25106630252553.jpg?width=878&#038;height=585" length="2924644" type="image/jpeg" />
  3000. <media:thumbnail url="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25106630252553.jpg?width=878&#038;height=585" />
  3001. </item>
  3002. <item>
  3003. <title>The Problem with Iraq War Movies</title>
  3004. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-problem-with-iraq-war-movies/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-problem-with-iraq-war-movies</link>
  3005. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-problem-with-iraq-war-movies/#respond</comments>
  3007. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jake Pitre /  History News Network ]]></dc:creator>
  3008. <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2025 16:25:15 +0000</pubDate>
  3009. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  3010. <category><![CDATA[Film]]></category>
  3011. <category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
  3012. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  3013. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  3014. <category><![CDATA[alex garland]]></category>
  3015. <category><![CDATA[iraq war]]></category>
  3016. <category><![CDATA[propaganda]]></category>
  3017. <category><![CDATA[the hurt locker]]></category>
  3018. <category><![CDATA[warfare]]></category>
  3019. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309382</guid>
  3020.  
  3021. <description><![CDATA[<p>Celebrated depictions of forever wars prize “truth-telling” without offering insights about the wars themselves.</p>
  3022. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-problem-with-iraq-war-movies/">The Problem with Iraq War Movies</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  3023. ]]></description>
  3024. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  3025. <p><strong>Are war films <em>ever</em> true?</strong> The historian Norman Kagan introduced this question in his 1974 book &#8220;The War Film,&#8221; adding, “true to what?” Are they true to the experience of war? Are they true to history, to facts, to contexts? Are they true to their time? In <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/BLAEIA-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">a 2012 article</a> in the Bulletin of Science, Technology &amp; Society about the propagandistic nature of Hollywood’s War on Terror films, scholar Tim Blackmore argues that many tell a “partial history” whereby “the attempt to make a film that has no visible politics creates a weightless, value-free historical environment where things just happen because they do, where wars are out of our control, and where obedience to an authority that must know better is the rule.” </p>
  3026.  
  3027.  
  3028.  
  3029. <p>Alex Garland’s recent film &#8220;Warfare,&#8221; co-written and co-directed by Iraq war veteran Ray Mendoza, is a quintessential example of the “partial histories” that Hollywood has generated about that war. Its release is cause for a critical evaluation of this corpus and its preference for the aesthetics of historical accuracy over the historical work of interpretation — and its reliance on ignoring the significance of politics in any engagement with the past.</p>
  3030.  
  3031.  
  3032.  
  3033. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  3034.  
  3035.  
  3036.  
  3037. <p>&#8220;Warfare&#8221; is based on Mendoza’s experience in Iraq as a Navy SEAL in 2006, and, further, on actual testimonies by soldiers from his platoon. It plays out largely in real time as the platoon commandeers an Iraqi family’s home during the Battle of Ramadi. All of this is intended to give the project a veneer of authenticity and verisimilitude as the audience is immersed in the chaos, violence, pain and even absurdity of the conflict. </p>
  3038.  
  3039.  
  3040.  
  3041. <p>One significant side effect of this approach is how easy it becomes to forget about why these soldiers are doing what they’re doing or what it all might mean. The only takeaway by the end, as the platoon makes a bad situation worse and has nothing to show for it, is that this outcome is reflective of the invasion itself. </p>
  3042.  
  3043.  
  3044.  
  3045. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="511" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ggbain-22500-22520v.jpg?width=800&#038;height=511" alt="" class="wp-image-309386" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ggbain-22500-22520v.jpg?width=800 800w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ggbain-22500-22520v.jpg?width=300&amp;height=192 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ggbain-22500-22520v.jpg?width=768&amp;height=491 768w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ggbain-22500-22520v.jpg?width=282&amp;height=180 282w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ggbain-22500-22520v.jpg?width=423&amp;height=270 423w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ggbain-22500-22520v.jpg?width=634&amp;height=405 634w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Director J. Stuart Blackton directing a scene in the 1915 Vitagraph Studios film &#8220;Battle Cry of Peace.&#8221; [<a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2014702459/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Library of Congress</a>]</figcaption></figure>
  3046.  
  3047.  
  3048.  
  3049. <p>Even this belies the true nature of the project. As the film says at the start, &#8220;Warfare&#8221; is about re-enacting <em>memory</em>, not history. The memories of these soldiers, and Mendoza in particular, are re-processed through their own minds over time, then processed again via the eye of the camera and presented to us, playacting like a primary source on what occurred. Coming from a participant who is chiefly interested in having their memory actualized, there is little if any interest in analytical reflection. Sound and fury represented authentically, yet nevertheless signifying nothing. </p>
  3050.  
  3051.  
  3052.  
  3053. <p>As historian Jay Winter argues in his 2006 book &#8220;Remembering War,&#8221; we ought to remember German philosopher Walter Benjamin’s comment that “memory is not an instrument for exploring the past but its theatre.” Winter adds: </p>
  3054.  
  3055.  
  3056.  
  3057. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  3058. <p>Understanding the power of film to serve as a mediator of prior and current memories helps us appreciate the dangers of analyzing film as if it were a transparent and unproblematic device for the construction of acceptable narratives about the past.</p>
  3059. </blockquote>
  3060.  
  3061.  
  3062.  
  3063. <p>E.H. Carr, a British historian and diplomat, described history as “a continuous process of interaction between the historian and his facts, an unending dialogue between the present and the past.” </p>
  3064.  
  3065.  
  3066.  
  3067. <p>A war film doesn’t need to look like a peer-reviewed historical account to be history, but a memory alone is something else altogether. As Winter puts it, “history is about questions, hypotheses, speculations. The traces of memory help establish their validity, but in and of themselves memories do not create history.” Memory and history inherently overlap, and to privilege one over the other without addressing any of those questions, hypotheses or speculations is little more than an empty exercise in style. History must be interpretive, and interpretation is inherently political. &#8220;Warfare&#8221; and the Iraq War films that preceded it seem to be deliberately non-interpretive, and therefore beyond the reach of history. </p>
  3068.  
  3069.  
  3070.  
  3071. <p>American war films have long treasured an aesthetic of veracity — depicting historical battles with actors who have undergone real military training under the supervision of real veterans. This doesn’t mean we must necessarily say, as filmmaker Francois Truffaut (perhaps apocryphally) did, that there can be no such thing as an antiwar film because representation inherently romanticizes. It does, however, mean that relying on aesthetics of accuracy cannot be conflated with proper history. Interpretation is a bad word to war filmmakers in America because it inevitably invites political scrutiny, as it recognizes how history is inherently subjective through its analytical eye. It is easier to settle for an aesthetic “truthiness” over an historical interpretation. This is a bastardized fetishization of “history” as an aesthetic category. Iraq war films are prime offenders, because they’ve had no incentive to interpret the war up to this point. &#8220;Warfare&#8221; is now streaming, and we are watching as the U.S. threatens to find itself in another Iraq. It is no filmmaker’s responsibility to teach the audience history. These are intended to be products of entertainment. But it remains worthwhile to notice how ignoring interpretation reverberates through time as we risk repeating the mistakes of the past.</p>
  3072.  
  3073.  
  3074.  
  3075. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  3076.  
  3077.  
  3078.  
  3079. <p>In the years following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Hollywood quickly realized that the safest way to engage with the war was through the plight of veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress, the re-adjustment to civilian life, and the weaknesses of veteran care. In this basic model, a veteran is haunted by flashbacks from the front while having trouble fitting back into civilian life and/or receiving veteran care. These films are usually tightly focused on the protagonist’s personal journey, and the larger context of the war is almost beside the point. If there is a political message in these films, it is that America fails its veterans. Examples include &#8220;Stop-Loss&#8221; (2008), &#8220;The Lucky Ones&#8221; (2008), &#8220;American Sniper&#8221; (2014), &#8220;Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk&#8221; (2016), &#8220;Thank You for Your Service&#8221; (2017), &#8220;Megan Leavey&#8221; (2017) and &#8220;Cherry&#8221; (2021). </p>
  3080.  
  3081.  
  3082.  
  3083. <p>One of the earliest — and most egregiously apolitical — examples is &#8220;Home of the Brave&#8221; (2006), which tells the story of four veteran soldiers returning to civilian life, and in which, for instance, one character references a History Channel special on World War II about plaques honoring American soldiers who liberated occupied French towns during that war. He wonders, “what if 10, 15 years from now we go back, do you think they’ll have statues thanking us? Because we saved ’em, we liberated ’em.” There is something tongue-in-cheek about the moment, as its absurdity seems clear even to him as he says it, but the film is certainly, according to Kagan’s guidelines, true to its time. Samuel L. Jackson’s veteran character’s son pushes him on how the invasion was really about oil and not about building a country, and Jackson’s character sputters, “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, you should read a history book.” This is, perhaps paradoxically, an interesting point: depending on the perspective of the imaginary book’s author or publisher, would the war be described there in all its truth, including the son’s point of view? Can any war be fully comprehensible through a historical account? </p>
  3084.  
  3085.  
  3086. <div class="wp-block-image">
  3087. <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="568" height="847" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-cph-3g00000-3g02000-3g02800-3g02825v.jpg?width=568&#038;height=847" alt="" class="wp-image-309383" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-cph-3g00000-3g02000-3g02800-3g02825v.jpg?width=568 568w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-cph-3g00000-3g02000-3g02800-3g02825v.jpg?width=201&amp;height=300 201w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-cph-3g00000-3g02000-3g02800-3g02825v.jpg?width=121&amp;height=180 121w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-cph-3g00000-3g02000-3g02800-3g02825v.jpg?width=181&amp;height=270 181w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-cph-3g00000-3g02000-3g02800-3g02825v.jpg?width=272&amp;height=405 272w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-cph-3g00000-3g02000-3g02800-3g02825v.jpg?width=392&amp;height=585 392w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 568px) 100vw, 568px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">“Official United States War Films” poster, by Harry Stoner, 1917. [<a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/94500776/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Library of Congress</a>]</figcaption></figure></div>
  3088.  
  3089.  
  3090. <p>Hollywood’s other model for representing the Iraq War — exemplified by &#8220;Warfare&#8221; — zooms in on life “in the shit.” In these films, anchored with veteran screenwriters or consultants, the viewer is embedded into a single mission, amplified with “authentic” details, for the duration of the runtime. Iraq is often simplified into “Middle Eastern” signifiers (music, the orange-green color filter overlaid on everything, sand), and the context of the invasion itself is not particularly relevant. Any specificity is generally elided in favor of the chaotic and messy conflict at hand. If there is a political message in these films, it is that the troops were doing their best within a complicated, nuanced and bewildering geopolitical moment during an invasion that may or may not have been a mistake. Other examples of the form include &#8220;The Wall&#8221; (2017), &#8220;Green Zone&#8221; (2010) and &#8220;The Hurt Locker&#8221; (2009). </p>
  3091.  
  3092.  
  3093.  
  3094. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote alignleft has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Iraq is often simplified into “Middle Eastern” signifiers.</p></blockquote></figure>
  3095.  
  3096.  
  3097.  
  3098. <p>The blunt eponymous metaphor of Fernando Coimbra’s &#8220;Sand Castle&#8221; (2017), another version of the “in the shit” approach, imagines Iraq as a sandcastle that is built up only to be torn down again in perpetuity. Written by an Iraq War veteran, the film follows a squad tasked with repairing an Iraqi village’s broken water system, which the U.S. Army itself destroyed. After several instances of attack and sabotage, eventually one of the Iraqi laborers hired to assist suicide-bombs their work, making it all for naught. The squad’s translator is the one who informs the American soldiers of the country’s history, and that “the Sunnis and the Shiites, they will always find a reason to kill each other.” Therefore, the film implies, the American efforts are moot, and the war’s destruction would have occurred with or without their interference — ignoring, of course, that it was the Americans who destroyed the system in the first place. None of the other films listed above offer anything even close to this basic, somewhat warped level of historical grounding.</p>
  3099.  
  3100.  
  3101.  
  3102. <p>Of course, film generally privileges, for better or worse, personal experience and biographical detail when engaging with history, but cinematic storytelling can be many things at once. An instructive example is Clint Eastwood’s diptych of &#8220;Flags of Our Fathers&#8221; and &#8220;Letters From Iwo Jima&#8221; (both 2006), the former depicting an American viewpoint on the Battle of Iwo Jima and the latter, a Japanese viewpoint of the same. Coming 60 years after the historical event itself, the films not only offer two sides of the same battle, but also, as critic Jonathan Rosenbaum <a href="https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2023/12/new-perspectives/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">has pointed out</a>, use history to implicitly reflect on what was unfolding in 2006. “One could argue that the struggle in World War II was meaningful and the occupation of Iraq senseless,” Rosenbaum writes, but even this distinction is a “civilian luxury.” The films show how dedication to one’s country is equated with a death drive that runs on symbols and myths, which are fundamentally unreal yet hold meaning. This is a moral and indeed political lesson in history, as it is re-interpreted and given renewed relevance to the contemporary audience. This is the interpretive power of history. As it turned out a little more than a decade later, Eastwood’s own Iraq film, &#8220;American Sniper,&#8221; lacked that very same critical eye.</p>
  3103.  
  3104.  
  3105.  
  3106. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>*&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp; *</strong></p>
  3107.  
  3108.  
  3109.  
  3110. <p>What about making sense of history as it happens? Stacey Peebles, author of the 2024 book &#8220;The War Comes with You: Enduring War in Life, Fiction, and Fantasy,&#8221; <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/PEELIW" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">points out</a> that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were broadcast around the world, sometimes directly from the soldiers themselves, with digital cameras and then smartphones in hand: “The image of combat — real combat, complete with real blood and real casualties — could be seen by others in a way that was direct, unfiltered and undiluted by the influence of institutions or other interested parties.”</p>
  3111.  
  3112.  
  3113.  
  3114. <p>A number of Hollywood films have taken up this “digital vérité” style of cinematography — often handheld and shaky&nbsp;— to heighten the authenticity of their stories, recalling similar styles of realism&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/cinema-rubble-movies-made-ruins-postwar-germany" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">“amid the rubble”</a>&nbsp;following World War II. Many audiences tend to associate what the camera shows them with some idea of reality, which further limits any ability to answer the question of whether war films are true. At the same time, viewers also bring an inherent knowledge that the camera can lie, putting us into a contradictory position as subjective decoders of an object that pretends to be objective even as we understand this to be an illusion.&nbsp;</p>
  3115.  
  3116.  
  3117.  
  3118. <p>Brian De Palma’s &#8220;Redacted&#8221; (2007) is something of an outlier within this model for daring to show what was deemed inappropriate or incomprehensible while the war was ongoing. The film begins with the text that it “visually documents imagined events before, during and after a 2006 rape and murder in Samarra,” a real-life event. It goes on to combine “amateur” video diary footage taken by a soldier who hopes to turn what he captures into a submission for film school, alongside faux-news footage by a French documentary crew, fake internet surveillance and video chats. </p>
  3119.  
  3120.  
  3121.  
  3122. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="516" src="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ds-01300-01311v.jpg?width=800&#038;height=516" alt="" class="wp-image-309385" srcset="https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ds-01300-01311v.jpg?width=800 800w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ds-01300-01311v.jpg?width=300&amp;height=194 300w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ds-01300-01311v.jpg?width=768&amp;height=495 768w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ds-01300-01311v.jpg?width=279&amp;height=180 279w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ds-01300-01311v.jpg?width=419&amp;height=270 419w, https://truthdig.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/186046-service-pnp-ds-01300-01311v.jpg?width=628&amp;height=405 628w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A man and a woman watching film footage of the Vietnam war on a television in their living room in 1968. (Warren K. Leffler via <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2011661230/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Library of Congress)</a></figcaption></figure>
  3123.  
  3124.  
  3125.  
  3126. <p>Early in the film, the videographer who intends to go to film school insists, “this camera, it never lies” — parroting the idea framing most Iraq War films’ attempt to portray the conflict. Another soldier retorts, “Dude, that is bullshit. That’s all that camera ever does.” De Palma seems to be inserting himself in the story here, for his career is notorious for its playful, sophisticated and even garish perspective on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jun/07/brian-de-palma-carrie-scarface-retrospective-documentary" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">the power of images to deceive and manipulate</a>; as he said in a 2016 interview, “I always said that film lies 24 times a second. That’s the antithesis of what Jean-Luc Godard said, that it’s truth 24 per second. That’s nonsense! Film lies all of the time.” </p>
  3127.  
  3128.  
  3129.  
  3130. <p>The fascinating tension of &#8220;Redacted&#8221; is his intention to “tell the truth” about the war through the artificiality of these various video formats. Digital vérité is a strategy used here to question the images we see, or don’t see, in the media, especially at a time when everything is mediated. Later on, a soldier claims, rather didactically, “you don’t see the My Lai massacre in movies, because the truth of that fascist orgy is just too hellish for even liberal Hollywood to cop to.” De Palma makes his intentions clear, pushing the film’s audience to challenge popular media narratives of the war. The extent to which he was or was not successful remains an open question: in the U.S., the film grossed only $65,388 against a budget of $5 million, and today, &#8220;Redacted&#8221; carries a 45% rating among audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.</p>
  3131.  
  3132.  
  3133.  
  3134. <p>De Palma, it seems, was far too early in trying to upend Americans’ memories of the Iraq War and its meaning. The war needs to spend more time becoming history, perhaps, for others to take on the same risk.</p>
  3135.  
  3136.  
  3137.  
  3138. <p>Which returns us to the question of whether a war film can ever be true at all. If cinema is, as De Palma argues, lying at 24 times a second, it might turn out to be the ideal medium for questions, hypotheses and speculation about the past, enabling us to achieve greater understanding not through the vacuum of memory but rather the more constructive — and ultimately more political — interpretive power of history. </p>
  3139. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-problem-with-iraq-war-movies/">The Problem with Iraq War Movies</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  3140. ]]></content:encoded>
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  3143. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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  3148. </item>
  3149. <item>
  3150. <title>Farewell To Bill Moyers</title>
  3151. <link>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/farewell-to-bill-moyers/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=farewell-to-bill-moyers</link>
  3152. <comments>https://www.truthdig.com/articles/farewell-to-bill-moyers/#respond</comments>
  3154. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Julie Hollar /  FAIR ]]></dc:creator>
  3155. <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2025 15:46:15 +0000</pubDate>
  3156. <category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
  3157. <category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
  3158. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
  3159. <category><![CDATA[US]]></category>
  3160. <category><![CDATA[bill moyers]]></category>
  3161. <category><![CDATA[journalism]]></category>
  3162. <category><![CDATA[lyndon b johnson]]></category>
  3163. <category><![CDATA[newsday]]></category>
  3164. <category><![CDATA[pbs]]></category>
  3165. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.truthdig.com/?p=309376</guid>
  3166.  
  3167. <description><![CDATA[<p>The venerable journalist used his personal brand of independent reporting to show how public TV could serve viewers.</p>
  3168. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/farewell-to-bill-moyers/">Farewell To Bill Moyers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
  3169. ]]></description>
  3170. <content:encoded><![CDATA[
  3171. <p class="has-small-font-size">Publisher&#8217;s Note: Bill Moyers previously donated to Truthdig through the Schumann Foundation.</p>
  3172.  
  3173.  
  3174.  
  3175. <p><strong>Bill Moyers died last week</strong> at the age of 91. His career began as a close aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-dec-13-la-ca-bill-moyers13-2009dec13-story.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">serving</a> as LBJ’s de facto chief of staff and then his press secretary, but Moyers spent most of his life in journalism. After the Johnson administration, he was briefly publisher of Long Island’s <a href="https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/bill-moyers-dead-o22177" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Newsday</a>, which won two Pulitzers under his tenure before he was forced out <a href="https://fair.org/home/how-new-york-newsday-died-and-why-it-didnt-have-to/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">for being too left</a>.</p>
  3176.  
  3177.  
  3178.  
  3179. <p>Most of Moyers’ journalism, however, appeared on public television, an institution he helped launch as a member of the 1967 Carnegie Commission, which&nbsp;<a href="http://fair.org/take-action/action-alerts/tell-pbs-dont-abandon-hard-hitting-journalism/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">called</a>&nbsp;for public TV to be “a forum for controversy and debate” that would&nbsp; “provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard” and “help us see America whole, in all its diversity.”</p>
  3180.  
  3181.  
  3182.  
  3183. <p>While public TV as a whole has often&nbsp;<a href="https://fair.org/home/all-the-right-moves/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">failed</a>&nbsp;to live up to those ideas, Moyers exemplified them.</p>
  3184.  
  3185.  
  3186.  
  3187. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Consistently critical</h3>
  3188.  
  3189.  
  3190.  
  3191. <p>Moyers was a consistently critical voice on PBS. In 1987, his PBS special <a href="https://billmoyers.com/content/secret-government-constitution-crisis/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">&#8220;The Secret Government</a>: The Constitution in Crisis&#8221; offered a searing examination of the Iran/Contra scandal; he followed that up with an even deeper dive into the story three years later for Frontline with &#8220;<a href="https://billmoyers.com/content/high-crimes-misdemeanors-reagan-iran-contra-scandal/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">High Crimes and Misdemeanors</a>.&#8221;</p>
  3192.  
  3193.  
  3194.  
  3195. <p>Moyers’ 2007 documentary &#8220;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/watch.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Buying the War</a>,&#8221; aired four years into the Iraq War, offered a critique of media failures in the run-up to war that was rarely heard in corporate media.</p>
  3196.  
  3197.  
  3198.  
  3199. <p>His independence made him a thorn in PBS‘s side. <a href="https://fair.org/uncategorized/more-on-cnns-tea-party/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Robert Parry</a> explained:</p>
  3200.  
  3201.  
  3202.  
  3203. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  3204. <p>When I was working at PBS Frontline in the early 1990s, senior producers would sometimes order up pre-ordained right-wing programs — such as a show denouncing Cuba’s Fidel Castro — to counter Republican attacks on the documentary series for programs the right didn’t like, such as Bill Moyers’ analysis of the Iran/Contra scandal.</p>
  3205.  
  3206.  
  3207.  
  3208. <p>In essence, the idea was to inject right-wing bias into some programming as “balance” to other serious journalism, which presented facts that Republicans found objectionable. That way, the producers could point to the right-wing show to prove their “objectivity” and, with luck, deter GOP assaults on&nbsp;PBS&nbsp;funding.</p>
  3209. </blockquote>
  3210.  
  3211.  
  3212.  
  3213. <p>When Moyers hosted the news program Now (2002-2004), the right complained — and PBS addressed the complaints by cutting the hour-long show to 30 minutes, while adding three right-wing programs: Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered, a show by conservative commentator Michael Medved and the Journal Editorial Report, featuring writers and editors from the arch-conservative <a href="https://fair.org/take-action/action-alerts/pbs-panders-to-right-with-new-programming/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal editorial page</a>.</p>
  3214.  
  3215.  
  3216.  
  3217. <p>Moyers was already heading out the door at&nbsp;Now, passing the torch to co-host David Brancaccio, who largely continued its hard-hitting tradition. Moyers returned to&nbsp;PBS&nbsp;in 2007 with a revival of his 1970s public affairs show,&nbsp;Bill Moyers Journal. When he retired that show in 2010,&nbsp;PBS&nbsp;also&nbsp;<a href="https://fair.org/extra/what-pbs-thinks-you-need-to-know/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">canceled</a>&nbsp;Now. Moyers’ brand of independent journalism has been in short supply on&nbsp;PBS&nbsp;ever since.</p>
  3218.  
  3219.  
  3220.  
  3221. <p>Moyers diagnosed the problem in an appearance on <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/8/bill_moyers_on_his_legendary_journalism" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Democracy Now!</a>:</p>
  3222.  
  3223.  
  3224.  
  3225. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  3226. <p>Sometimes self-censorship occurs because you’re looking over your shoulder and you think, well, if I do this story or that story, it will hurt public broadcasting. Public broadcasting has suffered often for my sins, reporting stories the officials don’t want reported. And today, only … a very small percentage of funding for NPR and PBS comes from the government. But that accounts for a concentration of pressure and self-censorship. And only when we get a trust fund, only when the public figures out how to support us independently of a federal treasury, will we flourish as an independent medium.</p>
  3227. </blockquote>
  3228.  
  3229.  
  3230.  
  3231. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘Real change comes from outside the consensus’</h3>
  3232.  
  3233.  
  3234.  
  3235. <p>Moyers shared FAIR’s critique of corporate media. On <a href="https://fair.org/uncategorized/bill-moyers-and-tavis-smiley-on-public-tvs-elite-bias/" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">Tavis Smiley</a>, he spoke about the elite bias in the media:</p>
  3236.  
  3237.  
  3238.  
  3239. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  3240. <p>Television, including public television, rarely gives a venue to people who have refused to buy into the ruling ideology of Washington. The ruling ideology of Washington is we have two parties, they do their job, they do their job pretty well. The differences between them limit the terms of the debate. But we know that real change comes from outside the consensus. Real change comes from people making history, challenging history, dissenting, protesting, agitating, organizing.</p>
  3241.  
  3242.  
  3243.  
  3244. <p>Those voices that challenge the ruling ideology — two parties, the best of all worlds, do a pretty good job — those voices get constantly pushed back to the areas of the stage you can’t see or hear.</p>
  3245. </blockquote>
  3246.  
  3247.  
  3248.  
  3249. <p>Jeff Cohen, FAIR’s founder, remembered Moyers’ impact on FAIR:</p>
  3250.  
  3251.  
  3252.  
  3253. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  3254. <p>He was very supportive of FAIR from Day One, and always offered encouragement to our staff. He was especially supportive of our studies of who gets to speak on PBS and NPR, and who doesn’t. He helped FAIR find funding for quarter-page advertorials on the New York Times op-ed page, which was then crucial and well-read media real estate, on various issues of corporate media bias or censorship. And he helped us find funding as well for a full-page ad in USA Today, exposing the distortions and lies of Rush Limbaugh.</p>
  3255. </blockquote>
  3256.  
  3257.  
  3258.  
  3259. <p>Already some in corporate media are trying to push Moyers’ dissenting voice to the shadows. The New York Times, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/business/media/bill-moyers-dead.html" rel="nofollow external" target="_blank">in a lengthy obituary</a> devoted mostly to Moyers’ time working with LBJ, found no room to mention Moyers’ Iran/Contra work, or his repeated clashes with and criticisms of PBS. It did, however, find space to quote far-right website FrontPageMag.com, which in 2004 called Moyers a “sweater-wearing pundit who delivered socialist and neo-Marxist propaganda with a soft Texas accent.”</p>
  3260. <p>The post <a href="https://www.truthdig.com/articles/farewell-to-bill-moyers/">Farewell To Bill Moyers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.truthdig.com">Truthdig</a>.</p>
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