Michael Sall
@msalamander.bsky.social
"Wait, what was I furious about before? It was good."
Co-Director of Democratic Clubs for @dpoc.bsky.social
Co-Director of Democratic Clubs for @dpoc.bsky.social
Reposted by Michael Sall
"It's not just about always being on alert, but sometimes, if [employers] hire us, they threaten us with ICE so they don't have to pay us," a laborer named José says in Spanish.
The full story: lataco.com/laborers-sca...
By Janette Villafana
The full story: lataco.com/laborers-sca...
By Janette Villafana
January 21, 2026 at 1:11 AM
"It's not just about always being on alert, but sometimes, if [employers] hire us, they threaten us with ICE so they don't have to pay us," a laborer named José says in Spanish.
The full story: lataco.com/laborers-sca...
By Janette Villafana
The full story: lataco.com/laborers-sca...
By Janette Villafana
Reposted by Michael Sall
Reposted by Michael Sall
Hiltzik: Uber is trying to snow voters with a supposedly pro-consumer ballot initiative. Don't buy it
Commentary: Uber is trying to snow voters with a supposedly pro-consumer ballot initiative. Don't buy it
Uber says its proposed ballot initiative will save consumers money. It's really designed to save Uber money, at its passengers' expense.
www.latimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Hiltzik: Uber is trying to snow voters with a supposedly pro-consumer ballot initiative. Don't buy it
Reposted by Michael Sall
this is a rollicking great read
it's a story of a bunch of tenured idealists who believed that they were building a university dedicated to free speech and free inquiry, but then lost control of their project to... the right-wing megadonors who funded the university
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
it's a story of a bunch of tenured idealists who believed that they were building a university dedicated to free speech and free inquiry, but then lost control of their project to... the right-wing megadonors who funded the university
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
They Wanted a University Without Cancel Culture. Then Dissenters Were Ousted.
Inside the civil war at the anti-woke university backed by Bari Weiss.
www.politico.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:28 PM
this is a rollicking great read
it's a story of a bunch of tenured idealists who believed that they were building a university dedicated to free speech and free inquiry, but then lost control of their project to... the right-wing megadonors who funded the university
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
it's a story of a bunch of tenured idealists who believed that they were building a university dedicated to free speech and free inquiry, but then lost control of their project to... the right-wing megadonors who funded the university
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Reposted by Michael Sall
We’re here to do the job Republicans won’t do: conduct oversight, demand accountability, and confront the outrageous violence and lawlessness of ICE head-on. What is happening in Minnesota right now is evil, it is un-American, and it is completely illegal.
January 16, 2026 at 4:02 PM
We’re here to do the job Republicans won’t do: conduct oversight, demand accountability, and confront the outrageous violence and lawlessness of ICE head-on. What is happening in Minnesota right now is evil, it is un-American, and it is completely illegal.
ICE is younger than my amazon.com order history.
ICE is younger than my blog
ICE is younger than my email address
ICE is younger than at least one of my ukuleles
ICE is younger than my email address
ICE is younger than at least one of my ukuleles
I'm just going to point out that ICE is about 23 years old. It was formed as part of the response to 9/11 and was reactionary, performative, and racist from the start.
Its not eternal. This is not a thousand-year Reich.
Its not eternal. This is not a thousand-year Reich.
January 16, 2026 at 3:48 PM
ICE is younger than my amazon.com order history.
Reposted by Michael Sall
The NY Times concludes that the ICE agent who shot Renee Good was NOT hit by her car
“the visual evidence shows no indication that..Jonathan Ross, had been run over..It also establishes-millisecond by millisecond-how Mr. Ross put himself in a dangerous position near her vehicle in the first place”
“the visual evidence shows no indication that..Jonathan Ross, had been run over..It also establishes-millisecond by millisecond-how Mr. Ross put himself in a dangerous position near her vehicle in the first place”
January 16, 2026 at 5:57 AM
The NY Times concludes that the ICE agent who shot Renee Good was NOT hit by her car
“the visual evidence shows no indication that..Jonathan Ross, had been run over..It also establishes-millisecond by millisecond-how Mr. Ross put himself in a dangerous position near her vehicle in the first place”
“the visual evidence shows no indication that..Jonathan Ross, had been run over..It also establishes-millisecond by millisecond-how Mr. Ross put himself in a dangerous position near her vehicle in the first place”
Reposted by Michael Sall
If ICE and genocide and grift and tyranny weren’t enough, this alone should have fire running down every street in America.
This isn’t the way to live.
We do not have to live this way.
This isn’t the way to live.
We do not have to live this way.
Quoted in this Marketplace piece on modern price discrimination. www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...
Different customers, different prices: Companies use data for personalized pricing
Between surveillance pricing and discounting, it's harder than ever to figure out if you're getting the best price.
www.marketplace.org
January 15, 2026 at 9:11 PM
If ICE and genocide and grift and tyranny weren’t enough, this alone should have fire running down every street in America.
This isn’t the way to live.
We do not have to live this way.
This isn’t the way to live.
We do not have to live this way.
Reposted by Michael Sall
This is important and, also, not not new. There were reports of this in LA, Portland, and Chicago, at least, as well.
Just so people outside of MN know - a lot of the US citizens getting “arrested” by ICE never get processed at Whipple. They are roughed up during the arrest and then often dropped off miles from where they were picked up. It means we don’t know the true scale of what ICE is doing based on ICE stats
January 15, 2026 at 7:04 PM
This is important and, also, not not new. There were reports of this in LA, Portland, and Chicago, at least, as well.
Reposted by Michael Sall
It is, unfortunately, time to re-up my April 2025 post on the Insurrection Act and the broader history of domestic uses of the military for law enforcement purposes:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/142-five-q...
www.stevevladeck.com/p/142-five-q...
142. Five Questions About Domestic Use of the Military
The federal government's authorities to use the military for domestic law enforcement are old, broad, and vague. They may soon become far more relevant than they've been for quite a long time.
www.stevevladeck.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:52 PM
It is, unfortunately, time to re-up my April 2025 post on the Insurrection Act and the broader history of domestic uses of the military for law enforcement purposes:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/142-five-q...
www.stevevladeck.com/p/142-five-q...
Reposted by Michael Sall
Why is the Capistrano Unified School District inviting ICE into our schools?
![Text message from the Capistrano Unified School District promoting an event with ICE. Text message reads:
Clarence Lobo elementary is hosting a parent workshop on Cyber Security tonight from 6:30-7:30 p.m. This is an opportunity for parents and guardians to learn more about online threats and how to keep children safe in the digital world.
Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the Office of Immigration Enforcement, is presenting tonights [sic] workshop. You can find more details about the program here: https://www.ice.gov/about-ice/hsi/igu](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:phmlprvs6k7j2q6vmax6ucgj/bafkreigqcmhnlqzwueenwfdrywz44ur3fd36nvfmxchbdzxfwnuwwqusva@jpeg)
January 14, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Why is the Capistrano Unified School District inviting ICE into our schools?
Reposted by Michael Sall
over the course of 1871, congress held seven months of hearings on ku klux klan and other white vigilante violence in the south, they took detailed testimony from hundreds of black men and women attesting to klan terror. (1/?)
January 14, 2026 at 2:06 AM
over the course of 1871, congress held seven months of hearings on ku klux klan and other white vigilante violence in the south, they took detailed testimony from hundreds of black men and women attesting to klan terror. (1/?)
Reposted by Michael Sall
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'
![You’ve got super fans pausing and zooming in on individuals frames of your documentary. One allegedly shows one of the Duffers with a ChatGPT tab open on their computer. In your presence, what did they use ChatGPT for?
I mean, are we even sure they had ChatGPT open?
I’m personally not, but the internet seems sure.
Well, there’s a lot of chatter where [social media users] are like, “We don’t really know, but we’re assuming.” But to me it’s like, doesn’t everybody have it open, to just do quick research?
I do.
How can you possibly write a storyline with 19 characters and use ChatGPT, I don’t even understand.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7t2urmt3i33jl6tjgiolio6g/bafkreidw2tmcr2ayq74oqmjm5pn2tdox6hlxnpqevhuqqj6oa7nsslx3oi@jpeg)
January 13, 2026 at 8:45 PM
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'
Reposted by Michael Sall
These peaceful observers I spoke to had ICE show up at their homes in what they see as attempts at intimidation. ICE has somehow been accessing Minnesotans' private data in likely violation of state law, according to privacy advocates.
share.google/J00lpWzPzOu2...
share.google/J00lpWzPzOu2...
Privacy advocates: ICE using private data to intimidate observers and activists
MPR News has looked into reports that federal agents have accessed private data to track and intimidate anti-ICE activists since the immigration crackdown surged in Minnesota in December. Privacy advo...
share.google
January 13, 2026 at 1:02 PM
These peaceful observers I spoke to had ICE show up at their homes in what they see as attempts at intimidation. ICE has somehow been accessing Minnesotans' private data in likely violation of state law, according to privacy advocates.
share.google/J00lpWzPzOu2...
share.google/J00lpWzPzOu2...
Reposted by Michael Sall
Protester blinded, skull fractured by DHS agent during Santa Ana demonstration, family says
Protester blinded, skull fractured by DHS agent during Santa Ana demonstration, family says
A young protester narrowly avoided being killed but was left permanently blind after a Department of Homeland Security agent fired a nonlethal round at close range during a Santa Ana protest last week, according to family of the victim.
www.latimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Protester blinded, skull fractured by DHS agent during Santa Ana demonstration, family says
Reposted by Michael Sall
Last January, one plane forced to reroute because of a SpaceX explosion was running low on fuel, prompting the pilot to declare an emergency and fly the jet and its 283 passengers through a designated debris zone to reach an airport.
“We’re Too Close to the Debris”: How SpaceX Rockets Put Passenger Planes at Risk
The FAA predicted Elon Musk’s Starship would cause “minor or minimal” disruption. Then the rockets exploded twice in three months over busy airspace. Flight data reveals how many planes scrambled to p...
www.propublica.org
January 13, 2026 at 4:00 AM
Last January, one plane forced to reroute because of a SpaceX explosion was running low on fuel, prompting the pilot to declare an emergency and fly the jet and its 283 passengers through a designated debris zone to reach an airport.
Reposted by Michael Sall
NEW: Top DOJ officials quit after their division refused to probe Minnesota ICE shooting - At least four leaders of the Civil Rights Division resigned because the section's head, Harmeet Dhillon, decided not to investigate shooting of Renee Good.
www.ms.now/news/doj-civ...
www.ms.now/news/doj-civ...
A new spate of Justice Department officials quit because their section didn't want to probe Renee Good's shooting
At least four leaders of the Civil Rights Division resigned because the section's head, Harmeet Dhillon, decided not to investigate shooting of Renee Good.
www.ms.now
January 13, 2026 at 4:15 AM
NEW: Top DOJ officials quit after their division refused to probe Minnesota ICE shooting - At least four leaders of the Civil Rights Division resigned because the section's head, Harmeet Dhillon, decided not to investigate shooting of Renee Good.
www.ms.now/news/doj-civ...
www.ms.now/news/doj-civ...
Reposted by Michael Sall
I wrote all of this up (including how we got to this point doctrinally) in a recent issue of my newsletter. Here's the non-paywalled version:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-182-...
www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-182-...
Bonus 182: Damages as a (Missing) Deterrent
It's worth reflecting on how different things might look right now if federal officers—or the federal government itself—faced a meaningful specter of monetary liability for constitutional violations.
www.stevevladeck.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:00 PM
I wrote all of this up (including how we got to this point doctrinally) in a recent issue of my newsletter. Here's the non-paywalled version:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-182-...
www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-182-...
Reposted by Michael Sall
It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face.
If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
January 12, 2026 at 10:56 PM
It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face.
If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
Reposted by Michael Sall
semi-regular reminder that ICE was only created in 2003
when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out
when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out
January 12, 2026 at 8:04 PM
semi-regular reminder that ICE was only created in 2003
when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out
when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out
Reposted by Michael Sall
"The freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state."
—William J. Brennan Jr., joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens, & Marshall, Houston v. Hill, 1987
—William J. Brennan Jr., joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens, & Marshall, Houston v. Hill, 1987
Q: "Do you believe that deadly force was necessary?"
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
January 12, 2026 at 3:26 AM
"The freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state."
—William J. Brennan Jr., joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens, & Marshall, Houston v. Hill, 1987
—William J. Brennan Jr., joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens, & Marshall, Houston v. Hill, 1987
Reposted by Michael Sall
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Jerome Powell: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."
January 12, 2026 at 1:45 AM
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Reposted by Michael Sall
DHS Releases Watchlist Of Mothers Driving Cars https://theonion.com/dhs-releases-watchlist-of-mothers-driving-cars/
January 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
DHS Releases Watchlist Of Mothers Driving Cars https://theonion.com/dhs-releases-watchlist-of-mothers-driving-cars/
Reposted by Michael Sall
Number shot JUST IN CARS: 9 www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
January 8, 2026 at 10:32 PM
Number shot JUST IN CARS: 9 www.motherjones.com/politics/202...