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Reposted by Chris Gelardi

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 15h

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Reposted by Chris Gelardi

New York Focus @nysfocus.bsky.social · 2d

The ICE detention center near Buffalo has banned book deliveries, New York Focus has learned.
One advocate says almost all the material at the facility is in English.
nysfocus.com/2025/10/08/b...

New York’s Biggest ICE Detention Center Bans Book Deliveries

Rejected books include a Spanish-English dictionary, a Spanish translation of a George R.R. Martin novel, and "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage…

nysfocus.com

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Reposted by Chris Gelardi

southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 8d

Still thinking about this by the way paragraph in the Sun Times piece on the apartment building raid. Full story: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

A similar raid was carried out in suburban Elgin, when agents led by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem rode in a military vehicle and blew down the front door of a home where they detained six people, including two U.S. citizens.

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Reposted by Chris Gelardi

alex arriaga @alexarriaga.bsky.social · 10d

My friend who owns a tortillería in Chicago

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · 11d

New York state helped hundreds of asylum seeker families leave crowded NYC shelters to find housing and jobs upstate. Now, some of them have been swept up in Trump’s deportation dragnet.

New from Isabelle Taft in @nysfocus.bsky.social:

nysfocus.com/2025/09/29/m...

New York Spent Millions to Resettle Them. Trump Is Deporting Them.

The Migrant Relocation Assistance Program helped families leave crowded shelters and put down roots. Trump’s immigration crackdown is upending that.

nysfocus.com

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · 15d

New York’s jails and prisons are facing numerous crises. Someone should tell the State Commission of Correction.
nysfocus.com/2025/09/25/s...

Five Sleepy Minutes With New York’s Jail Watchdog

Jails and prisons across the state are facing many crises. Someone should tell the Commission of Correction.

nysfocus.com

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Reposted by Chris Gelardi

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 15d

130 immigration judges have been fired or forced out since Trump took office, a figure which doesn't even include the count of those who have retired or quit (quite a few). The Trump admin is systematically moving to kill a fair day in court for immigrants facing removal.

Kathleen Bush-Joseph @kathleenbush.bsky.social · 15d

Union Says Trump Has Fired More Immigration Judges

From @law360.bsky.social

The govt has fired at least 16 judges without cause in recent days, adding to the dozens of judges who have left or been fired

"The firings bring up to 130 the number of immigration judges that have been fired...

Union Says Trump Has Fired More Immigration Judges - Law360

The union that represents the judges who hear immigration cases said the government has fired at least 16 judges without cause in recent days, adding to the dozens of judges who have left or been fire...

www.law360.com

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · 17d

Guy stopped at the light watching from his car literally did one of these

a close up of a man with a mustache

ALT: a close up of a man with a mustache

media.tenor.com

Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · 17d

It finally happened. I stepped on a rat while running.

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · 21d

"Where is our governor?"

Eleven state legislators were arrested at a Manhattan federal building while protesting ICE. The legislature ended this year's session without taking up flagship immigration protection bills.

From Isabelle Taft:
nysfocus.com/2025/09/19/l...

‘We Must Escalate’: Arrested Legislators Call Out ICE and Albany

Three months after the state legislature ended session without passing immigration protections, 15 elected officials faced down arrest to protest ICE and…

nysfocus.com

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · 24d

New York doens't allow private immigration detention, and the state has only one ICE-run detention center, so the feds are seeking to expand their use of county jails. Sheriffs are obliging.

From @juliarock.bsky.social and Isabelle Taft:
nysfocus.com/2025/09/16/i...

ICE Detentions in New York County Jails Have Exploded

So far this year, the state's county jails have held six times more people for federal immigration authorities than they did in all of 2024.

nysfocus.com

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Reposted by Chris Gelardi

Brian PJ Cronin @brianpjcronin.bsky.social · Sep 6

Anyway are we gonna keep talking about how we found out today that Trump sent Navy SEALS to North Korea to plant a listening device but instead they panicked and murdered a bunch of random fishermen or is that just gonna get memory holed

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Sep 4

i mean yeah..

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Sep 4

sadly no, but i told her someone asked.

at the other place: x.com/IsabelleTaft

Isabelle Taft (@IsabelleTaft) / X

x.com

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Sep 4

I'm incredibly excited to welcome Isabelle Taft as @nysfocus.bsky.social's immigration reporter. She's a dogged journalist who is going to rock it during these dark, eventful times.

Her first piece is up today, give it a read:
nysfocus.com/2025/09/04/t...

And send tips: [email protected]

Young New York Immigrants at Risk After Trump Ends Protections

New Yorkers are suing to reverse a Trump administration policy change that has upended the futures of tens of thousands of young immigrants.

nysfocus.com

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Reposted by Chris Gelardi

Colin Kinniburgh @colinreports.bsky.social · Sep 3

More crucial work from @chrisgelardi.bsky.social on the fallout from prison guards’ wildcat strike in the spring. As staffing woes continue, local jails are holding thousands of people meant to be in prison — 10x the level at the beginning of this year. nysfocus.com/2025/09/02/c...

CHART: The State-Ready Jail Backlog

[Across all jails, shows the number of “state-ready” people in local jails increase from 234 in January to 2473 in June, then decrease slightly in July to 2234]

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Sep 3

New in @nysfocus.bsky.social: The New York state prison system's crisis, ongoing since a guard strike earlier this year, has been trickling down to local jails. The backlog of "state ready" incarceratd people was up some 700 percent in July.
nysfocus.com/2025/09/02/c...

Prison Staffing Woes Leave Thousands Stuck in County Jails

After a strike led state prisons to stop accepting new prisoners, local jails have been left holding thousands of extra people.

nysfocus.com

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Reposted by Chris Gelardi

Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · Sep 2

Trump Boasts of Strike on “Drug-Carrying Boat” from Venezuela

The U.S. military carried out an attack on a "drug vessel" in the Caribbean. It could mark the first shots of a new war.

theintercept.com/2025/09/02/t...

Trump Boasts of Strike on “Drug-Carrying Boat” from Venezuela

The U.S. military carried out an attack on a "drug vessel" in the Caribbean. It could mark the first shots of a new war.

theintercept.com

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Sep 2

"Marco Rubio said on X that the vessel was being operated by a 'designated narco-terrorist organization.'"

This is what happens when Congress spends three decades allowing presidents to use made up "designations" to justify unchecked military power.
apnews.com/article/vene...

Trump says US has carried out strike against drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela

President Donald Trump says the U.S. has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela.

apnews.com

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Reposted by Chris Gelardi

Its ruaa @itsmeio.bsky.social · Aug 29

Look!!!!!

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Aug 28

Everything that civil liberties advocates have spent years warning about is coming true under the second Trump admin.

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Aug 28

theintercept.com/2025/08/21/i...

ICE Hunts Down Immigrants by Spying on Their Wire Transfers

Investigators traced the remittances an immigrant was sending from Hawaii to Mexico to figure out his location.

theintercept.com

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Aug 28

theintercept.com/2025/04/14/i...

The Unusual Nonprofit That Helps ICE Spy on Wire Transfers

TRAC, a little-known database, logs hundreds of millions of wire transfers sent to or from Mexico, Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.

theintercept.com

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Aug 28

Arizona uses a shady nonprofit and sus lawsuits for a surveillance tool that tracks innocent ppl's remittances and other wire transfers.

ICE is a top user. Now, there's proof that ICE uses it to track those accused of basic immigration violations.

Stories by @shawnmusgrave.bsky.social ⬇️

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Chris Gelardi @chrisgelardi.bsky.social · Aug 26

🗣️ New york did not eliminate cash bail

🗣️ Bail reform has not led to increases in crime or recidivism

🗣️ Pretrial detention increases likelihood of rearrest

Trump Targets Bail Reform in Latest Threat to New York’s Federal Funding
nysfocus.com/2025/08/26/t...

Trump Targets Bail Reform in Latest Threat to New York’s Federal…

New York’s bail reform law didn’t eliminate cash bail and hasn’t led to increased crime or recidivism. The Trump administration is still targeting it.

nysfocus.com

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