curated news excerpts & citations
Melissa Sanchez and Jodi S. Cohen @ ProPublica: The Real Story Behind the Midnight Immigration Raid on a Chicago Apartment Building
The Trump administration has claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But new documents make no mention of the gang and reveal federal agents had information about “illegal aliens unlawfully occupying apartments.”
… new documents confirm in the government’s own words that what prompted the raid was more pedestrian: allegations that immigrants were squatting in the complex. And the landlord had given federal officials, who were already targeting immigrants in Chicago, the blessing to search the building.
Arrest records for two of the 37 immigrants detained that September night, included in a motion filed Tuesday that’s tied to an ongoing federal consent decree, provide the clearest picture yet of what led to the controversial and aggressive operation, in which agents descended from a Blackhawk helicopter, broke down doors and zip-tied U.S. citizens and immigrants.
(Melissa Sanchez and Jodi S. Cohen @ ProPublica more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – April 13, 2026
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As a major networking event and ideological trendsetter for the radical right in the United States, CPAC has been instrumental in celebrating Orbán’s Hungary as the center of the effort to destroy the liberal democracy of the United States and Europe in order to replace it with what Orbán called “illiberal democracy,” or “Christian democracy.” …Today Péter Magyar, the man who will replace Orban after winning the election in a blowout, revealed that Orbán was using government money to finance CPAC. Orbán has clearly been working for the benefit of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, and just days before the election, news broke that last October, Orbán told Putin, “In any matter where I can be of assistance, I am at your service.”
So it appears that CPAC was funded by a foreign government that was working closely with Vladimir Putin.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
Jennifer Rubin: NATO and the pope reveal Trump’s isolation and weakness.
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Orbán’s defeat capped a week of failure for Vance and Trump, a sign of Trump’s own diminishing power that may end in a midterm defeat as humiliating as Orbán’s. Trump, despite his bluster, looks smaller and more isolated than ever.As a full-fledged narcissist, Trump expects complete subservience — no matter how badly he treats others. He, therefore, must have been shocked when NATO countries did not rush to aid his disastrous war of choice against Iran. More recently, the White House was likely flabbergasted when its effort to strong-arm Pope Leo (!) triggered another Vatican tongue-lashing, which was leaked. Never in the post-World War II era have so many world leaders shown open contempt for a U.S. president.
(Jennifer Rubin more…)
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Sam Carliner @ truthout: Trump’s Extreme Use of Military Is Stirring a Crisis of Conscience Among Troops
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Marisa Kabas: Whistleblower says Trump officials thought USAID did ‘just abortions,’ asked for ‘Barney-style’ slides before gutting agency, per new book
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James Eagle: America builds more data centres than the rest of the world
(James Eagle more…)
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Borowitz: Vance Scolds Iran: “Trump Made You Rich off the Strait of Hormuz and You Haven’t Said Thank You Once”
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
ICE Accountability Project
ICE deaths 2026 – They deserve remembrance and justice.
- March 16: Royer Perez-Jimenez
- March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
- February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
April 1 – Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz @ AP: Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide - January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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