Carl Takei
@carltakei.bsky.social
170 followers 120 following 17 posts
Program Director, Civil Liberties & Community Safety @asianlawcaucus.bsky.social. Formerly @aclu.org. Posts are my own opinions.
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Reposted by Carl Takei
stevevladeck.bsky.social
Since April 4, #SCOTUS has issued 15 rulings on 17 emergency applications filed by Trump (three birthright citizenship apps were consolidated).

It has granted relief to Trump ... in all 15 rulings.

It has written majority opinions in only 3.

Today's order is the 7th with no explanation *at all.*
stevevladeck.bsky.social
Here we go again: Over an acerbic dissenting opinion by Justice Sotomayor (joined in full by Justices Kagan and Jackson), #SCOTUS, with no explanation, grants a stay in the Department of Education RIFs case—effectively clearing the way for the Trump administration to dismantle much of the agency:
www.supremecourt.gov
Reposted by Carl Takei
ruthz.bsky.social
In LA, kids are disrupted at summer camp because of ICE raids.

In MA, school based summer camps may be disrupted because Trump is withholding already committed education funding.

And at a Texas camp, the unthinkable. While the feds argue about who’s at fault.

These are our children, dammit all.
awalkerinla.bsky.social
"It was their summer day camp. They were ushered inside so they didn't get exposed to the troops."

An 8-year-old at the summer camp told her, unprompted, that he was afraid that ICE would take his parents.

Watch here: lacityview.org/live
Reposted by Carl Takei
denshoproject.bsky.social
The Fourth of July was an ironic and bittersweet holiday for Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII. The festivities provided a break from the monotony of life in the camps — but it was also a sharp reminder of the freedoms that had been taken away from them.
ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1...
An American flag waving over barracks at Manazanar concentration camp.
Reposted by Carl Takei
atrupar.com
Trump calls for deporting US citizens: "We also have a lot of bad people that have been here for a long time ... many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here too, if you want to know the truth. So maybe that'll be the next job."
Reposted by Carl Takei
jamalgreene.bsky.social
Worth noting that Erez Reuveni has vigorously defended the government’s immigration policies over the last decade, as it was his job to do. This letter’s allegations are shocking (though not surprising, alas) and should be taken with the utmost seriousness.
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
🚨NEW: Erez Reuveni, the DOJ lawyer fired for his honesty in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, sends Congress a whistleblower letter detailing lawlessness at the DOJ around the CECOT deportations.

He says Emil Bove told the DOJ to respond to likely court orders blocking flights with "fuck you."
Bove then made a remark concerning the possibility that a court order would enjoin those removals before they could be effectuated. Bove stated that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts "fuck you” and ignore any such court order. Mr. Reuveni perceived that others in the room looked stunned, and he observed awkward, nervous glances among people in the room. Silence overtook the room. Mr. Reuveni and others were quickly ushered out of the room. Notwithstanding Bove's directive, Mr. Reuveni left the meeting understanding that DOJ would tell DHS to follow all court orders.21 - Mr. Reuveni was stunned by Bove's statement because, to Mr. Reuveni's knowledge, no one in DOJ leadership - in any Administration – had ever suggested the Department ofJustice could blatantly ignore court orders, especially with a "fuck you.” Mr. Reuveni was in disbelief, because, on the contrary, the Department of Justice consistently advises its clients of their obligation to follow court orders, not to ignore them. Mr. Reuveni knew that it was absurd and unlawful to do otherwise, a proposition that Mr. Reuveni felt even more certain of after a brief conversation with his supervisor, August Flentje, shortly after the meeting.
Reposted by Carl Takei
davidjbier.bsky.social
Miller says he wants to demographically cleanse "huge parts" of Los Angeles until everyone in the city knows each other, and it's not a "society of strangers" anymore. We are talking about dystopian nightmare here. He's the apocalyptic prophet with an army.
Reposted by Carl Takei
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Naturalized citizenship can be taken away through a full federal court trial, at which the government has to meet a fairly high bar to prove that the person procured their citizenship through material fraud. It’s a good thing this bar is high: taking away citizenship should be extremely rare.
carltakei.bsky.social
I'm deeply proud of my work on this brief.

Dozens of Japanese American and other AAPI orgs are urging the courts to remember the lessons of the WWII Japanese American incarceration, and urge them to fulfill their role in our constitutional democracy to check the Trump administration's overreach.
asianlawcaucus.org
On behalf of @jacl-national.bsky.social and 60+ organizations, @asianlawcaucus.org, @aaaj-aajc.bsky.social and the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality filed an amicus brief asking the court to preserve the essential right to due process and ensure judicial review of executive orders.
carltakei.bsky.social
What's important to understand here is that the "criminal illegal immigrant" rhetoric is a poll-tested fig leaf, something that relies on ugly stereotypes to help normalize mass deportations.

The reality is that when ICE comes, they're coming for our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and families.
carltakei.bsky.social
Another sign that the mask is off: Stephen Miller yells at ICE to do whatever they can to meet their arrest quotas -- no matter who they're arresting -- and mocks them for actually believing Homan's rhetoric about targeting "going after criminals."
davidjbier.bsky.social
The Washington Examiner (the conservative news outlet) reports that Stephen Miller screamed at ICE officials: "What do you mean you're going after criminals? Why aren't you at Home Depot? Why aren't you at 7-Eleven?" Kinda blows up the narrative that they care about public safety.
Reposted by Carl Takei
menendez.house.gov
No matter what this Administration tells the American people, the law is very clear: Members of Congress have a legal right to enter any DHS detention facility to conduct oversight without prior notice - something I’ve done twice this year without issue.
carltakei.bsky.social
Almost every detail in this story -- from the U.S. attracting ambitious immigrants to study and work here, to investments in basic research, to naturalization, to international partnerships -- is something that Trump and Musk are trying to destroy.
Ms. Huang grew up in Nanjing, China, where she was in an elementary school program that had her gather environmental data. The program instilled an interest in chemistry and an awareness of the vehicle exhaust and industrial pollution choking Nanjing’s air. She realized, she recalled, that “we need to grow a planet that’s healthier for human beings.”

In a dormitory at Xiamen University on China’s southern coast, where she studied chemistry, she saw an advertisement for a Swedish exchange program. After spending two years there, she and Alex, whom she had known since they were students in China, were both accepted to doctoral programs in Cornell’s chemistry department. She arrived in Ithaca, N.Y., in 2009 with $3,000, which she had managed to save from her Swedish scholarship. They have both since become U.S. citizens.

They were star students, said Héctor Abruña, a professor at Cornell known for his research in electrochemistry. He still has a picture on his office bookshelf of himself with Mr. Yu and Ms. Huang in their commencement robes.

With an idea that grew out of Dr. Abruña’s lab and some seed money from the State of New York, Mr. Yu and Ms. Huang founded the company that later became Factorial while she was still completing her business degree.
carltakei.bsky.social
OMG, I had not been aware of this law review article and am totally bookmarking it!

Re your question: @missionlocal.org has done great reporting on the influence and networks of these tech donors, but I don't think they've done a full post-recall autopsy. Happy to be wrong, though.
carltakei.bsky.social
Densho is a treasure, and its commitment to preserving our community's history -- in all its ugliness and complexity -- is especially crucial when the federal government is trying to censor stories of racism and injustice from the Smithsonian and other institutions.
denshoproject.bsky.social
The stories preserved by Densho are a testament to the care and support of our community, and to our collective refusal to let this history be forgotten. Together, we will keep community history in community hands, and we will not allow these stories to be erased on our watch.
Reposted by Carl Takei
gowder.io
Observe that the one that complied and the one that didn't comply are treated exactly the same way.
maxkozlov.bsky.social
Per source, NIH has been instructed to hold off from issuing ALL awards to Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Brown, and Northwestern (including med schools)

Agency staff have also been instructed to not speak about this funding freeze to grantees and applicants
Reposted by Carl Takei
mjsdc.bsky.social
INCREDIBLE opinion by Wilkinson refusing to stay Judge Xinis's orders in the Abrego Garcia case, condemning DOJ's arguments as "shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear."
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Carl Takei
melissagomez.bsky.social
L.A. Unified's Supt. said the federal officials who tried to enter 2 schools claimed they were there to check on the well-being of students they said were undocumented, and lied when they told school officials that their families had given permission for the contact.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Federal officials arrived, denied entry at L.A. schools amid immigration enforcement fears
L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho said the agents professed they were there to check on the well-being of five undocumented students and that the agents lied when they told school officials that the...
www.latimes.com
Reposted by Carl Takei
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
NEW: @aclu.org obtained ICE's "Alien Enemies Act Validation Guide," confirming all it takes to be sent to rot in prison in El Salvador is being Venezuelan and 1) having a tattoo an ICE officer says is a "gang tattoo" and 2) displaying "logos," "symbols" or clothes an ICE officer says are gang signs.
ALIEN ENEMIES ACT:
ALIEN ENEMY VALIDATION GUIDE
In the case of: ________________________________ A-File No:__________________
1. The person named above is fourteen years or older:
2. The person named above is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United
States:
3. The person named above is a citizen of Venezuela:
If any of these three requirements are not satisfied, the person named above shall not
be ordered removed under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA). In such a case, you should consult
your supervisor and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, and, where applicable, initiate removal proceedings under the
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
4. The person named above is validated as a member of Tren de Aragua (TDA), as
determined by reference to the following evaluation form:
Instructions: Complete the following validation evaluation form for each suspected
alien targeted for removal under the AEA, or, following apprehension, for each alien
potentially subject to an AEA removal.
After accounting for the two comments below, aliens scoring 8 points and higher are
validated as members of TDA; you should proceed with issuing Form AEA-21B, titled, “Notice
and Warrant of Apprehension and Removal under the Alien Enemies Act.” Aliens scoring 6 or
7 points may be validated as members of TDA; you should consult with a supervisor and
OPLA, reviewing the totality of the facts, before making that determination; if you determine
an alien should not be validated at this time as a member of TDA, when available, you should
initiate removal proceedings under the INA. Alien scoring 5 points or less should not be
validated at this time as member of TDA; when available, you should initiate removal
proceedings under the INA. The following alt-text is excerpted of a larger checklist, as the whole page doesn't fit within alt-text character limits.

Comment 2: For purposes of validating an alien as a member of TDA, at least one
scoring category must involve conduct occurring, or information received, within the past five
years.
Valuation Explanation
Category Definition Explanation Points
Judicial
Outcomes and
Official
Documents
a. Subject has been convicted of violating Title 18, United States Code,
Section 521 or any other federal or state law criminalizing or imposing
civil penalties for activity related to TDA
10
b. Court records (e.g., indictments, criminal complaints, sentencing
memorandums) identifying the subject as a member of TDA, describing
specific activity of TDA
5
Self-Admission
a. Subject self-identifies as a member or associate of TDA verbally or in
writing to law enforcement officer, even if that self identification to a
law enforcement officer is unwitting, e.g., through lawful interception of
communications.
10
Criminal
Conduct and
Information
a. Subject participates in criminal activity (e.g., narcotics trafficking,
human smuggling, etc.) with other members of TDA, including
preparatory meetings and significant incidents directly attributed to TDA
6
b. Law enforcement or intelligence reporting identifying subject as a
member of TDA, to include Bureau of Prisons validations and reliable
foreign partner information.
4
c. Credible testimonies/statements from victims, community members, or
informants that affirm the subject’s membership in or allegiance to TDA. 3
d. Detailed open-source media (e.g., newspapers, investigative journalism
reports) that describe arrest, prosecution, or operations of a subject as a
member of TDA
2
e. Subject conducts and/or facilitates business with TDA (e.g., money
laundering, mule, service provider) 2
Documents and
Communications
Final page: Association
a. Surveillance documentation that a subject is frequently observed closely
associating with known leaders and members of TDA 2
b. Subject part of group photos with two or more known members of TDA 2
c. Subject presently resides with known members of TDA 2
Total Points
VALIDATION DETERMINATION
Note: If any of the four requirements are not satisfied, do not
complete this validation determination.
Based on the validation guide and instructions above, including Comments 1 and 2, I find
that the person named above, _______________________________________________:
1. Is fourteen years or older;
2. Is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States;
3. Is a citizen of Venezuela; and
4. Is a member of Tren de Aragua.
Accordingly, the above-named person is validated as an Alien Enemy.
 _____________________ _________________________ __________________
 Name of Agent/officer Signature of agent/officer Date
 completing the form completing the form
 ______________________ _________________________ ____________________
 Name of Supervisor Signature of Supervisor Date
carltakei.bsky.social
I’m proud to see the dean of my law school (BC Law) is one of the signatories. And deeply disappointed that the dean of the school across the river is absent.
ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social
Dean Chemerinsky and other #lawschool deans "speak as legal educators, responsible for training the next generation of lawyers, in condemning any government efforts to punish lawyers or their firms based on the identity of their clients or for their zealous lawful and ethical advocacy."
Reposted by Carl Takei
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
WOW: @miamiherald.com reveals that a person imprisoned in El Salvador had LEGAL REFUGEE STATUS.

He entered the USA legally in January and was detained because of his tattoos, EVEN THOUGH he had previously passed a full background check.

Without warning, he was sent to El Salvador on March 15.
On Jan. 8, after they were finally granted the coveted refugee status, E.M., 29, and his girlfriend, Daniela Palma, 30, finally arrived in the United States, flying into Houston. Upon arrival, an immigration officer asked the young man the question that changed his life in moments. “Do you have any tattoos?” He had already been asked that by U.S. authorities in Colombia as part of an extensive background check, and he now gave the same answer
Reposted by Carl Takei
mjsdc.bsky.social
The Justice Department instructing Judge Boasberg to yield to “the mandate of the electorate” and stop asking questions about defiance of his court order is honestly one of the most demented and disturbing things I’ve ever seen in a legal filing. It comes pretty close to a claim of divine right.