Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
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Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
@smothurston.bsky.social
290 followers 280 following 100 posts
professor of ethics, religion, & politics. focus on democratic practices, citizenship, public schools, abolition, & borders | standard disclaimers

stephaniemotathurston.com
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Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
prisonpolicy.org
What's the difference between states like Florida, where ICE arrests are sky-high, and states like Illinois with much lower rates of arrests? It's all about police & jails.

Arrest rates out of homes, workplaces, etc are similar – but reining in sheriffs makes all the difference.
Graph showing that policies blocking ICE access to jails have kept immigration arrest rates lower in some states.
December 15, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
prisonpolicy.org
ICE's deportation agenda is not possible without state & local collaboration. Learn more from our latest briefing 👇

www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/12...
December 15, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
joshuaholland.bsky.social
My electrician is a green card holder who's been here since he was a kid. He got married to a citizen, applied for citizenship, went to court for the papers and when he got there ICE kidnapped him and he's been locked up for a month.
December 15, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
judithweisenfeld.com
VAP Trinity University Department of Religion specializing in Islam. Deadline February 1, 2026.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion - Islam
Job Family Group: Faculty Time Type: Full time Department/Office: Religion Exemption Status: Exempt Job Description: Trinity University seeks applications for a one-year Visiting Assistant Professor (...
trinity.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
unlawfulentries.bsky.social
US legal citizenship is a complex topic. Here's what I hope my book helps people understand. 1. Before the 14th Amendment included birthright citizenship, one's access to rights/privileges/protections was not based on legal citizenship--it was based on race, gender, social class, membership in 1/
December 15, 2025 at 12:38 PM
smothurston.bsky.social
I would like to see a coordinated deluge of baseless student complaints for every faculty member so they can see how administratively ridiculous this policy is. Just shut down instruction with paid faculty suspensions
charlottegarden.bsky.social Charlotte Garden @charlottegarden.bsky.social · 4d
From the Oklahoma U student paper: the school is now saying it will automatically suspend faculty (with pay) in response to student complaints
www.oudaily.com/news/ou-poli...
“During the course of the debate, it was disclosed that it is now policy of the university to suspend any faculty member with pay against whom a student has lodged a complaint. The faculty member is suspended under the Title IX program,” Schmeltzer wrote. “This was new information to everyone in attendance.”
December 14, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
mattseybold.bsky.social
This is nothing but a handout. Nobody cares what the curricular implementation looks like, because the sole purpose is lock-in contracts for EdTech companies (all AI companies are EdTech companies now).
biblioracle.bsky.social John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 3d
It's hard to overstate how impossible this demand is from Purdue's administration to implement these AI requirements by next fall. We are nowhere close to understanding what AI proficiency means or what it looks like in education.
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
December 14, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
boltsmag.org
Assigned to a prison job paying $0.13 per hour, Abron Arrington refused to work, figuring his time could be better spent learning physics.

The Colorado DOC punished him with bouts of solitary confinement.
Forced Labor Continues in Colorado, Years After Vote to End Prison Slavery 
Coloradans voted in 2018 to amend their state constitution to ban forced labor in prison. Years later, incarcerated people are still being punished for refusing work assignments.
boltsmag.org
December 14, 2025 at 3:29 PM
smothurston.bsky.social
just getting around to reading this and one of the things i really loved in this piece is the idea that requiring students to engage in close reading requires them to take themselves seriously and believe that they have the capacity to make a claim and build an argument....
johannawinant.bsky.social Johanna Winant @johannawinant.bsky.social · 6d
I'm honored to share that just in the past two weeks since it came out, my essay "The Claims of Close Reading" became the fourth-most read piece of the year at
@bostonreview.bsky.social

Thank you for reading it. This is truly amazing company to find myself in.
Our Most-Loved Pieces of 2025 - Boston Review
Revisit the writing from this year that readers turned to the most.
www.bostonreview.net
December 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
smothurston.bsky.social
I'm sorry, but in this picture with Bannon did they redact the face of a cat or dog?!!?
December 12, 2025 at 6:56 PM
smothurston.bsky.social
so trump traded a fake prize for this?
robertscotthorton.bsky.social Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 7d
We now learn that Fifa had a very specific "ask" in exchange for its "Peace Award" to Trump, with loads of gold trinkets, and that was dismissal of a criminal corruption case against senior Fifa officials. And Trump granted it. Another corrupt bargain, barely noticed (and ignored by US media).
December 11, 2025 at 9:42 PM
smothurston.bsky.social
NOBODY WANTS THIS!!!
katienotopoulos.bsky.social Katie Notopoulos @katienotopoulos.bsky.social · 6d
"Iger said the deal also fulfills a longtime desire by Disney to put user-generated content on its Disney+ streaming platform. Disney initially plans to put select videos created on Sora onto Disney+ to increase engagement with users, especially younger ones." www.businessinsider.com/disney-bob-i...
Disney CEO Bob Iger explains why he just did a blockbuster OpenAI deal
Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company's licensing deal with OpenAI will let it capitalize on a fast-growing technology and engage younger audiences.
www.businessinsider.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:25 PM
smothurston.bsky.social
my god!
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 6d
🚨Judge Xinis finds that, incredibly, Mr. Abrego Garcia was never ordered deported in 2019. She notes that every since this saga began all the way back in March, the government has NEVER been able to produce any evidence that the immigration judge actually issued a removal order.
B. No Order of Removal Exists for Abrego Garcia No such order of removal exists for Abrego Garcia. When Abrego Garcia was first wrongly expelled to El Salvador, the Court struggled to understand the legal authority for even seizing him in the first place. At the first hearing in Abrego I, the Court inquired of Respondents’ counsel: The Court: I want to ask, though, the very specific question, if there is a final order of removal, what . . . document got this process started? There is no warrant for his arrest by an order of removal. There is no statement of probable cause. There’s no charge. There’s no report that says that anyone saw Mr. Abrego Garcia doing anything illegal or criminal. So what is the actual document that gave these officers the authority to start this process? Counsel: That is not in the record, and the government has not put that into the record. And that’s the best I can do. Abrego I, ECF No. 33 at 21:11–22. The Court continued to press counsel about the existence of a removal order and was told plainly that none can be found: The Court: Okay. So if there’s a Title 8 removal order, there would be an order of removal that’s being executed, and we don’t have one for Mr. Abrego Garcia, right? . . . Do you have that order? . . . Is it in the record? Counsel: I do not have that order. It is not in the record. Id. at 23:7–24:4. Since that time, Respondents have never produced an order of removal despite Abrego Garcia hinging much of his jurisdictional and legal arguments on its non-existence. ECF No. 1 ¶¶ 68–69; ECF No. 32 at 10, 15–17, 27; ECF No. 87 at 11–12. Indeed, Respondents twice sponsored the testimony of ICE officials whose job it is to effectuate removal orders, and who candidly admitted to having never seen one for Abrego Garcia. See ECF No. 107 at 30:16–22 (testimony of Cantú) (“Q: Based upon your many years of experience you described to us, you know what a final order of removal looks like, right, sir? Cantú: I do. Q: And have you seen a final order of removal in regard to Mr. Abrego Garcia? Cantú: I have not.”). See also Abrego I, ECF No. 234 at 46:6–12 (testimony of interim Assistant Director for ICE Removal Operations, Thomas Giles (“Giles”)) (“Q: You have not seen the final order of removal, have you, sir? Giles: What do you mean by that? Q: I mean, you have not seen a piece of paper that represents the final order of removal vis-a-vis Mr. Abrego Garcia, correct? Giles: No, I have not.”).15 Based on this, the Court concludes that no order of removal exists.
December 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
boltsmag.org
A citizen journalist joined the Massey Commission to address what he saw as a pattern of disrespect from local police. “I signed up to be on the commission because my thought process is that we have to change things right now for the future generation.”
A Police Killing Drew National Protests. At Home, a Commission Struggles with How to Make a Difference. 
More than a year after Sonya Massey was killed by police in Illinois, a namesake commission has wrestled over changes that would prevent future tragedies.
boltsmag.org
December 10, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
haymarketbooks.org
Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program
Books Not Bars For The Holidays
Haymarket Books is committed to making our books available for free to people who are incarcerated. In an effort to support those inside who are dealing with the immense violence of the prison syste...
haymarketbooks.app.neoncrm.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
taniel.bsky.social
my obligatory Election Night post: if you enjoy the coverage we bring you at @boltsmag.org, and you see its unique value, consider supporting us or becoming a monthly member!

this is our end-of-year fundraising push, and you can do so in a few moments: boltsmag.org/donate
December 10, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
npr.org
Legal challenges put SAVE borrowers in limbo for months, a time during which they were not required to make payments on their loans. That would change if the proposed settlement is approved. n.pr/4a2diXu
Millions of borrowers in Biden's SAVE plan would start paying under new settlement
Legal challenges put SAVE borrowers in limbo for months, a time during which they were not required to make payments on their loans. That would change if the proposed settlement is approved.
n.pr
December 9, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Everything is old is new again. Back in the day, Theodore Roosevelt called white women going to college "race suicide."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The rise of pronatalism: why Musk, Vance and the right want women to have more babies
The movement unites ‘family values’ conservatives and tech bro rightwingers. Will this incoherent coalition hold?
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
propublica.org
Pastor Jorge Bautista was telling a Border Patrol agent "we come in peace" when the agent fired toxic powder at him, leaving him struggling to breathe.

“No one should be assaulted for being out there protesting,” he says.

With @frontlinepbs.bsky.social
Trump’s Immigration Forces Deploy “Less Lethal” Weapons in Dangerous Ways, Skirting Rules and Maiming Protesters
Civil rights and weapons experts cite the consequences of federal agents’ use of crowd control weapons: religious leaders shot with pepper balls and noxious chemicals. A nurse nearly blinded by tear g...
www.propublica.org
December 2, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
jbendery.bsky.social
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) says Pete Hegseth should "resign immediately" if it's true he gave a directive to “kill everybody” in a strike on boats in the Caribbean, including a second strike to kill survivors of the first strike.

“If the reports are true, Pete Hegseth likely committed a war crime."
December 1, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
sbworkersunited.org
no contract? NO COFFEE 🗣️ don’t cross a picket line while we’re on ULP strike, and DON’T BUY STARBUCKS at all while our union is still out here! #NoContractNoCoffee
December 1, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
daniellaurison.bsky.social
Lower-income people are less likely to vote than higher-income people, across racial groups - and that gap has been growing.

That’s a real problem for the future of US democracy.

It’s not apathy or ignorance - for many, it’s a sense that politics is not for or about them.

In a report out in Jan +
Chart with Turnout on the Y axis & election year (2016, 2020, and 2024) on the X axis. 6 lines, 3 for White, Black, and Hispanic in households making over $100k/year, 3 for the same groups in households making under $30k/year. Overall you can see turnout increasing among higher-income people in all three racial groups, and declining (White and Black) or staying flat (Hispanic) among low-income people; the turnout gap by income is much larger in 2024 than in 2020 or 2016. from 2016 -> 2024: - White $100k turnout goes from 65% to 78% while white under $30k turnout goes from 55% to 49% - Black over $100k turnout goes from 51% to 64% while Black under $30k turnout goes from 48% to 33% - Hispanic over $100k turnout goes from 52% to 67% while Hispanic under $30k turnout stays flat at about 36% (higher in 2020 at 42%). Caption: "Our analysis, Cooperative Election Survey Data, Validated Votes." image of a report cover, with a US flag in the background, and the text "The Political Disconnect: Working-Class and Low-Income People on What Politics Means to Them and How They Might be Mobilized”
December 1, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
sbworkersunited.org
ICYMI: Yesterday, our ULP strike expanded to even MORE cities. Thousands of baristas are striking in 85 cities, and we're just getting started.

Sign the No Contract No Coffee pledge to get updates and local calls to action in your area: nocontractnocoffee.org
No Contract, No Coffee | Starbucks Workers United
Starbucks baristas brewing change. Join the movement for fair contracts, better wages, and worker protections.
nocontractnocoffee.org
November 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
lethalityjane.bsky.social
chat are we cooked
r/Teachers 37m ago TheOne4Figures Being in College for Education right now is Horrifying Another AI / ChatGPT Post 🤖 I am a student observer (I student teach next fall) for high school history ed. Right now in college, we have a full class dedicated to using technology in the classroom. However the entire semester was almost fully dedicated to using ai in the classroom. Using ai to make lessons, being told it’s ok to write research papers with them, being told ChatGPT IS a valid source TO CITE, being told to create our college lesson plans using ai, basically being told to use ai for everything. On top of this, our professor has told us she uses ai all the time, including for writing research papers and making our assignments. Every time we pointed out the mistakes ai makes, she would tell us how ai isn’t perfect so just double check it. Oh yea, our professor? She’s our DEAN OF EDUCATION AT OUR COLLEGE. It’s just so infuriating to see. For those asking, SIUC, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
November 29, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Stephanie Mota Thurston, Ph.D.
gravelinfluencer.bsky.social
The Boston Globe identified the companies in Massachusetts that employ the most SNAP recipients. A key stat: "In Massachusetts, 74% of working-age recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are employed, half of them full-time."

Full article: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
Number of SNAP recipients Amazon 2,456 Walmart 2,318 Uber 1,799 DoorDash 1,462 Tempus Unlimited 1,425 Stop & Shop 989 Mass General Brigham 956 Dollar Tree 952 Albertsons Companies, Inc. 896 Bayada Home Health 887
November 29, 2025 at 3:55 PM