Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Anna Oakes @annaoakes.bsky.social · 4d

Federal authorities are using immigration law to limit the First Amendment rights of noncitizens. Legal experts warn that this extension of executive power can be used to censor citizens’ speech, too.

My latest for @documentedny.bsky.social:
t.co/ySnyXiLrpl

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Reposted by Anna Oakes

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · Sep 8

ICE reactivated its contract with spyware manufacturer Paragon Solutions. You can read more about it here, but what does that mean for using encrypted chat apps like Signal? 🧵(1/8)

EFF Statement on ICE Use of Paragon Solutions Malware

This statement can be attributed to EFF Senior Staff Technologist Cooper QuintinIt was recently reported by Jack Poulson on Substack that ICE has reactivated its 2 million dollar contract with Paragon...

www.eff.org

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Juwan IS THE DRAMA 🚨 @juwanthecurator.blacksky.app · Aug 21

Being a NYC government official and trying to bribe Katie Honan is like being an affiliate of a Gotham crime syndicate and trying to bribe Batman. This is comically dumb as hell

THE CITY @thecity.nyc · Aug 20

BREAKING: Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips

www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...

Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips

THE CITY reported the incident to law enforcement and was promptly contacted by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office.

www.thecity.nyc

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Nicholas Dawes @nicdawes.bsky.social · Aug 14

“If we didn’t have international graduates ... we could not stay open — because what do you do if you miss 80 to 90% of your doctors? You’re done.” @annaoakes.bsky.social spent time at a struggling Brooklyn hospital, and documented how the closing of America is rattling its workforce.

Visa Whiplash Threatens Foreign Doctors Who Keep This Brooklyn Hospital Running

Residents at Brookdale Hospital mostly come from overseas, working in jobs American medical students overlook.

www.thecity.nyc

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Alyssa Katz @alykatzz.bsky.social · Aug 20

What a way to end my work day: arranging for law enforcement to pick up a potato chip bag stuffed with cash.

THE CITY @thecity.nyc · Aug 20

BREAKING: Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips

www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...

Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips

THE CITY reported the incident to law enforcement and was promptly contacted by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office.

www.thecity.nyc

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Reuven Blau @reuvenblau.bsky.social · Aug 14

"For months, the international medical residents who make up a significant number of the Brookdale physician staff, have been caught up in a whirlwind of restrictions and regulations regarding their visa and travel status." — @annaoakes.bsky.social reports
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/14/b...

Visa Whiplash Threatens Foreign Doctors Who Keep This Brooklyn Hospital Running

Residents at Brookdale Hospital mostly come from overseas, working in jobs American medical students overlook.

www.thecity.nyc

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Reposted by Anna Oakes

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · Aug 10

Barely an hour ago, Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif warned us all:

“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”

Israel just killed him.

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Ahmed Zidan @zidan.bsky.social · Aug 7

@columbiauniversity.bsky.social’s President Claire Shipman said the school retained full independence, “but it gave in to virtually all of Trump's demands.”

@meghnadbose.bsky.social and @annaoakes.bsky.social write for the @theintercept.com about how Columbia “refashioned [itself] in Trump’s image”

How Columbia’s Leadership Refashioned the University in Trump’s Image

Columbia University President Claire Shipman said the school retained full independence, but it gave in to virtually all of Trump's demands.

theintercept.com

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Anna Oakes @annaoakes.bsky.social · Aug 7

Much of what the Trump administration has demanded, Columbia has conceded – though they insist otherwise.

@meghnadbose.bsky.social and I tracked months of government demands and secretive Columbia rule changes, for @theintercept.com.

theintercept.com/2025/08/07/c...

How Columbia’s Leadership Refashioned the University in Trump’s Image

Columbia University President Claire Shipman said the school retained full independence, but it gave in to virtually all of Trump's demands.

theintercept.com

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Aug 7

🚨DHS asks the Supreme Court to halt an injunction restricting the ability of ICE and Border Patrol to stop and question people based on factors such as speaking Spanish, being Latino, doing day labor, or being in certain areas.

Hard not to read this as a request for a license to racially profile.

Needless to say, no one thinks that speaking Spanish or working in construction always creates reasonable suspicion. Nor does anyone suggest those are the only factors federal agents ever consider. But in many situations, such factors—alone or in combination—can heighten the likelihood that someone is unlawfully present in the United States, above and beyond the 1-in-10 baseline odds in the District. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are entitled to rely on these factors when ramping up enforcement of immigration laws in the District

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Rachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · Aug 4

just wild that there was basically a $17 million heist last month using the city’s youth job program — and it barely registered

Summer Jobs Program Heist Likely Had Hacker Help, Say ATM Experts

A scheme that gave young people earning minimum wage cash for their government-issued debit cards extracted $17 million in repeat withdrawals still under investigation by the NYPD.

www.thecity.nyc

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Alyssa Katz @alykatzz.bsky.social · Aug 4

The NYPD and summer youth program agency are not saying much about the heist that pulled $17 million from payment debit cards through repeat withdrawals. But reports abounded of schemes to pay kids for cards, and ATM industry insiders told @annaoakes.bsky.social they see signs of a network hack.

Summer Jobs Program Heist Likely Had Hacker Help, Say ATM Experts

A scheme that gave young people earning minimum wage cash for their government-issued debit cards extracted $17 million in repeat withdrawals still under investigation by the NYPD.

www.thecity.nyc

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Reposted by Anna Oakes

THE CITY @thecity.nyc · Aug 4

A scheme that gave young people earning minimum wage cash for their government-issued debit cards extracted $17 million in repeat withdrawals still under investigation by the NYPD.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/04/s...

Summer Jobs Program Heist Likely Had Hacker Help, Say ATM Experts

A scheme that gave young people earning minimum wage cash for their government-issued debit cards extracted $17 million in repeat withdrawals still under investigation by the NYPD.

www.thecity.nyc

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Reposted by Anna Oakes

Nicholas Dawes @nicdawes.bsky.social · Jul 21

"Without intervention, the remaining journalists in Gaza will die... Since AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and prisoners in our ranks, but none of us remembers seeing a colleague die of hunger."

Agence France-Presse @afp.com · Jul 21

⚫️ La Direction de l’AFP partage l’angoisse exprimée par la SDJ quant à la situation effroyable de ses collaborateurs dans la bande de Gaza ⬇️

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Molly Crane-Newman @mollycranenewman.bsky.social · Jul 23

The clerks where I get my lunch said a man came in last week and asked them where the public entrance to 26 Federal Plaza was. He locked his bike outside, and it’s been there since.

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Gwynne Hogan @gwynnefitz.bsky.social · Jul 22

‘Like Dogs in Here’ — Videos Expose ICE Lock-up Inside 26 Federal Plaza www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/22/v...

‘Like Dogs in Here’ — Videos Expose ICE Lock-up Inside 26 Federal Plaza

An analysis of ICE data by THE CITY shows that dozens of people have packed into locked rooms and increasingly held for days inside a Manhattan building the feds say isn’t a detention site.

www.thecity.nyc

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Eduardo Cuevas @cuevasreports.bsky.social · Jul 18

'Family Reunions for Mexican Immigrants Persist in the Shadow of Immigration Enforcement,' by @annaoakes.bsky.social, @documentedny.bsky.social, @thecity.nyc

Mexican Relatives Kept Apart for Years Meet Again in NYC, Despite ICE Crackdowns

The reunions, held away from view and not publicly advertised, bring together undocumented immigrants with family they haven’t seen in decades.

www.thecity.nyc

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Alyssa Katz @alykatzz.bsky.social · Jul 18

Transnational groups persist in flying in relatives for reunions with undocumented Mexicans living in the U.S. after decades of separation because what else can anyone do? A poignant portrait by @annaoakes.bsky.social.

Mexican Relatives Kept Apart for Years Meet Again in NYC, Despite ICE Crackdowns

The reunions, held away from view and not publicly advertised, bring together undocumented immigrants with family they haven’t seen in decades.

www.thecity.nyc

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Samantha Maldonado @smaldo.bsky.social · Jul 18

FDNY helped NYPD identify a pro-Palestinian protestor using the facial recognition tech, Clearview AI — which the NYPD isn’t allowed to use. Manhattan DA used the ID to charge a hate crime.

A judge dismissed the case & warned about government surveillance:

www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/18/n...

NYPD Bypassed Facial Recognition Ban to ID Pro-Palestinian Student Protester

Barred from using Clearview AI, NYC police relied on a marshal in the fire department to run a search that turned up photos of the student at his high school graduation.

www.thecity.nyc

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Gwynne Hogan @gwynnefitz.bsky.social · Jul 14

New data from the Deportation Data Project confirms what we've seen on the ground in NYC for the past few weeks -- immigration arrests are spiking, while the # of people arrested w/ no criminal history is also shooting through the roof.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/14/i...

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Gwynne Hogan @gwynnefitz.bsky.social · Jul 16

Early this morning, a high school student from Queens was reunited with her family after three weeks in ICE detention, some of which she spent in Louisiana.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/16/q...

‘It’s a Miracle’: Queens High Schooler Detained for Weeks in Louisiana After ICE Courthouse Arrest Reunites with Family

Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema, 20, arrived at the Port Authority bus terminal early Wednesday morning after a federal judge ordered her release from ICE custody.

www.thecity.nyc

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Reuven Blau @reuvenblau.bsky.social · Jul 3

At least ten people arrive at the hotel every day seeking shelter, a 20-year hotel employee said. Some with young kids and babies. "They look lost. They all got the same scared look,” a hotel staffer told @annaoakes.bsky.social
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/02/r...

Mayor Adams Closed NYC’s Migrant ‘Welcome Center.’ More Arrive Every Day.

Mayor Eric Adams celebrated the Roosevelt Hotel’s closure and the city’s handling of the migrant crisis. A mother who spent a year there offered her own mixed assessment.

www.thecity.nyc

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Jose Martinez @jmartineznyc.bsky.social · Jun 24

You want quotable New Yorkers? We got 'em!

The words of voters "whose options included a pack of career politicians, a former governor who resigned in the face of sexual harassment allegations — and a heap of uncertainty."

Check it out, check it out in @thecity.nyc www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/24/m...

Heat, Joy and Shrugs as Voters Hit Polls

Voters across New York turned out for an election day that was literally the hottest day of the year.

www.thecity.nyc

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Gwynne Hogan @gwynnefitz.bsky.social · Jun 17

Here's a longer video of Brad Lander's detention just now inside 26 Federal Plaza as he tried to walk a man out of immigration court, by masked federal agents.

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Aditya Mukerjee 🦦 🏳️‍🌈 @chimeracoder.bsky.social · Jun 15

Yesterday, Cuomo's campaign set up tents outside the poll sites in Parkchester - a predominantly Muslim neighborhood, with an additional Hindu minority - with a BBQ giving away free hot dogs.

In case you were wondering how much he understands - or cares about - his Muslim constituents.

A small crowd outside two tents in the park, one which is a cotton candy/popcorn stand.

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