Michael D. Baker
@mikebakerlaw.bsky.social
Immigration and Criminal Defense Lawyer | Former Cook County Criminal Prosecutor
Insights on immigration law, criminal defense, and other areas of interest
Following, reposting, and replies do not imply endorsement.
Visit my website: mikebakerlaw.com
Insights on immigration law, criminal defense, and other areas of interest
Following, reposting, and replies do not imply endorsement.
Visit my website: mikebakerlaw.com
Steve Witkoff isn’t a peace envoy; he’s the bagman at the edge of empire, and as Anne Applebaum shows, every whispered word to the Kremlin buys Putin time, dead Ukrainians, and one more chip in Trump’s long game against the very country he leads. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why Does Steve Witkoff Keep Taking Russia’s Side?
Trump’s envoy isn’t promoting peace. His interventions are helping Vladimir Putin.
www.theatlantic.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Steve Witkoff isn’t a peace envoy; he’s the bagman at the edge of empire, and as Anne Applebaum shows, every whispered word to the Kremlin buys Putin time, dead Ukrainians, and one more chip in Trump’s long game against the very country he leads. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
“They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States…
November 27, 2025 at 3:13 PM
“They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States…
Times Analysis Finds Errors in Trump’s Supreme Court Filing That Calls for National Guard in Chicago www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Times Analysis Finds Errors in Trump’s Supreme Court Filing That Calls for National Guard in Chicago
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Times Analysis Finds Errors in Trump’s Supreme Court Filing That Calls for National Guard in Chicago www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
How Trump’s Moscow Mules Gift-Wrapped Ukraine to Putin’s Thugs—A Capitulation So Complete It Will Live in Infamy as the Single Greatest Betrayal in the History of American Statecraft snyder.substack.com/p/russian-un...
Russian Unreality and American Weakness
Notes from a bizarre moment of diplomatic history
snyder.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:52 PM
How Trump’s Moscow Mules Gift-Wrapped Ukraine to Putin’s Thugs—A Capitulation So Complete It Will Live in Infamy as the Single Greatest Betrayal in the History of American Statecraft snyder.substack.com/p/russian-un...
Worst of the Worst? The Government’s Own Numbers Expose the Lie
November 27, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Worst of the Worst? The Government’s Own Numbers Expose the Lie
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
The full transcript of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino's deposition has been released. acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
Adobe Acrobat
acrobat.adobe.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:19 PM
The full transcript of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino's deposition has been released. acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
The actual safeguard against unlawful orders isn’t congressional reminders or presidential declarations—it’s the real-time legal review by military commanders and Judge Advocate General (JAG) lawyers. This is the system designed to ensure orders are lawful before they’re executed.
November 24, 2025 at 3:04 AM
The actual safeguard against unlawful orders isn’t congressional reminders or presidential declarations—it’s the real-time legal review by military commanders and Judge Advocate General (JAG) lawyers. This is the system designed to ensure orders are lawful before they’re executed.
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
-John F. Kennedy
-John F. Kennedy
November 22, 2025 at 7:18 PM
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
-John F. Kennedy
-John F. Kennedy
Reposted by Michael D. Baker
Federal appeals court halts ruling that curbed use of force during immigration campaign
From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Federal appeals court halts ruling that curbed use of force during immigration campaign
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called the Nov. 6 preliminary injunction from Judge Sara Ellis "overbroad," but it also promised a quick appeal process.
chicago.suntimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Federal appeals court halts ruling that curbed use of force during immigration campaign
From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
ICE's Enforcement Blitz in Chicago Shows Familiar Pattern: 78% of Arrests are "Low Risk" According to Government's Own Data. open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
ICE's Enforcement Blitz in Chicago Shows Familiar Pattern: 78% of Arrests are "Low Risk" According to Government's Own Data
New federal disclosures through ongoing Castañon Nava Settlement reveal that Chicago’s immigration crackdown overwhelmingly targeted people who pose little to no public safety risk.
open.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:12 PM
ICE's Enforcement Blitz in Chicago Shows Familiar Pattern: 78% of Arrests are "Low Risk" According to Government's Own Data. open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
EOIR BIA Decision: Matter of B-S-H-, 29 I&N Dec. 313 (BIA 2025). The BIA held that under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(iv)(III), the VAWA extraordinary circumstances/extreme hardship waiver applies only to timing limits—not to the numerical limit on motions to reopen. www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...
Please follow https://ies.ed.gov/blogs/ncee/post/seeking-your-help-in-learning-more-about-what-works-in-distance-education-a-rapid-evidence-synthesis.
go.usa.gov
November 19, 2025 at 6:02 PM
EOIR BIA Decision: Matter of B-S-H-, 29 I&N Dec. 313 (BIA 2025). The BIA held that under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(iv)(III), the VAWA extraordinary circumstances/extreme hardship waiver applies only to timing limits—not to the numerical limit on motions to reopen. www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...
Digital driver's licenses, IDs available to Illinois residents starting Wednesday chicago.suntimes.com/consumer-aff...
Digital driver's licenses, IDs available to Illinois residents starting Wednesday
The Illinois General Assembly passed a law last year allowing for people to carry their IDs on their cellphones.
chicago.suntimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Digital driver's licenses, IDs available to Illinois residents starting Wednesday chicago.suntimes.com/consumer-aff...
apnews.com/article/trum... tosses DOJ lawsuit challenging a New York law barring immigration agents from state courts
Judge tosses DOJ lawsuit challenging a New York law barring immigration agents from state courts
A judge has dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit challenging New York's policies that block immigration officials from making arrests at state courthouses. U.S.
apnews.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:30 AM
apnews.com/article/trum... tosses DOJ lawsuit challenging a New York law barring immigration agents from state courts
“A serious life only happens when we face and choose between the fundamental polarities that define existence— mikebakerlaw.com/blog/2025/05...
The Principled Man: Ancient Sacrifice, Modern Privilege, and the Lost Art of Choosing Between Opposites - Law Offices of Michael D. Baker Law Offices of Michael D. Baker
An exploration of the privilege of principled living, ancient sacrifice, and the challenge of upholding honor and truth in modern American society.
mikebakerlaw.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:53 PM
“A serious life only happens when we face and choose between the fundamental polarities that define existence— mikebakerlaw.com/blog/2025/05...
Homeland Security Missions Falter Amid Focus on Deportations www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
Homeland Security Missions Falter Amid Focus on Deportations
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Homeland Security Missions Falter Amid Focus on Deportations www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
Reporting one incident to police, without further police harm or proof of broad police complicity, is not enough to prove government protection failure for asylum. Matter of K-S-H-, 29 I&N Dec. 307 (BIA 2025), www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...
www.justice.gov
November 17, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Reporting one incident to police, without further police harm or proof of broad police complicity, is not enough to prove government protection failure for asylum. Matter of K-S-H-, 29 I&N Dec. 307 (BIA 2025), www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...
What did Benjamin Franklin see in a timber rattlesnake that the Founders couldn’t see in themselves? Thirteen distinct voices, never surrendering, forever united. Ken Burns tells the story of how America learned to speak as one—tonight on PBS.
November 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM
What did Benjamin Franklin see in a timber rattlesnake that the Founders couldn’t see in themselves? Thirteen distinct voices, never surrendering, forever united. Ken Burns tells the story of how America learned to speak as one—tonight on PBS.
Winning ugly but winning. Anytime beating the VikeQueens it is good.
November 16, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Winning ugly but winning. Anytime beating the VikeQueens it is good.
Latino US citizens racially profiled by federal immigration agents in Chicago: ‘I felt like a piece of trash’ www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/l...
Latino US citizens racially profiled by federal immigration agents in Chicago: ‘I felt like a piece of trash’
The Tribune spoke to U.S. citizens and green card holders who have either been questioned or detained during Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Latino US citizens racially profiled by federal immigration agents in Chicago: ‘I felt like a piece of trash’ www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/l...
This is what authoritarianism looks like on your block. Secret police. Defied court orders. Militarized raids in residential neighborhoods. Aphyr warns that democracy itself is downstream of this moment—and that silence is complicity.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
I Want You to Understand Chicago
aphyr.com
November 16, 2025 at 6:44 AM
This is what authoritarianism looks like on your block. Secret police. Defied court orders. Militarized raids in residential neighborhoods. Aphyr warns that democracy itself is downstream of this moment—and that silence is complicity.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings declared: “It is highly unlikely any of them are criminal gang members, drug traffickers or assorted ne’er-do-wells who fall under the category of what ICE has called ‘the worst of the worst.’”
DEVELOPING: The DOJs own data, provided as part of an ongoing lawsuit, appeared to show only about 2.5% of 614 people arrested by ICE on immigration violations in the Chicago area before Oct. 7 had criminal histories
Story here:
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/14/o...
Story here:
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/14/o...
Only 2.5% on list of 614 ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ arrestees had criminal histories, DOJ records show
Meanwhile, the other 598 people on the list had no listed criminal history at all.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:07 PM
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings declared: “It is highly unlikely any of them are criminal gang members, drug traffickers or assorted ne’er-do-wells who fall under the category of what ICE has called ‘the worst of the worst.’”
A 300-agent raid called a terrorist victory. Zero criminal charges. ProPublica found the feds arrested a taco restaurant worker with a pending asylum application and a construction worker with only a traffic ticket. www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
www.propublica.org
November 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
A 300-agent raid called a terrorist victory. Zero criminal charges. ProPublica found the feds arrested a taco restaurant worker with a pending asylum application and a construction worker with only a traffic ticket. www.propublica.org/article/chic...
What's The Matter With Lozada: How The Board Of Immigration Appeals Coerces Immigration Lawyers To Breach Legal Ethics papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
What's The Matter With Lozada: How The Board Of Immigration Appeals Coerces Immigration Lawyers To Breach Legal Ethics
In general, if an attorney makes a mistake, they can cure it by notifying the forum and filing the appropriate remedy. Immigration law, by contrast, stands alon
papers.ssrn.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:38 PM
What's The Matter With Lozada: How The Board Of Immigration Appeals Coerces Immigration Lawyers To Breach Legal Ethics papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Masked ICE agents blur the line between accountability and anonymity amid Trump’s crackdown—Nick Miroff lays bare the new face of American immigration enforcement. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Why They Mask
Veteran ICE officers know face coverings are a bad look. But they’re not coming off anytime soon.
www.theatlantic.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Masked ICE agents blur the line between accountability and anonymity amid Trump’s crackdown—Nick Miroff lays bare the new face of American immigration enforcement. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...