Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
@vaughncrossca.bsky.social
Social Historian, Pre-21c Tech History, American Religious History, History of SexRaceReligion in the US Bible Belt; 6th-Generation Alabamian; Anti-Trump 1989+ “All I have is a voice to undo the folded lie” - WA Auden, “Sept 1, 1939”
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Is this secret? ICE needs the space because they're hiring 10,000 new officers and support staff for them, all of which need physical office space.
NEW: ICE has a plan to lease offices across the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next
ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.
www.wired.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Is this secret? ICE needs the space because they're hiring 10,000 new officers and support staff for them, all of which need physical office space.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
JUST IN: A federal judge in Michigan has rejected the administration's attempt to obtain the state's voter rolls.
Judge Hala Jarbou, a Trump appointee, said the law does not require the state to turn them over.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Judge Hala Jarbou, a Trump appointee, said the law does not require the state to turn them over.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 10, 2026 at 2:37 PM
JUST IN: A federal judge in Michigan has rejected the administration's attempt to obtain the state's voter rolls.
Judge Hala Jarbou, a Trump appointee, said the law does not require the state to turn them over.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Judge Hala Jarbou, a Trump appointee, said the law does not require the state to turn them over.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
The public deserves a clear explanation for the FBI’s unprecedented raid of Fulton County’s election offices. And we should all demand an end to the Trump administration’s campaign to interfere with elections.
bit.ly/45KDIKw
bit.ly/45KDIKw
Trump Administration Escalates Election Meddling by Seizing 2020 Voting Records in Georgia
All who care about election integrity should demand answers about the FBI’s unprecedented raid of Fulton County election offices.
www.brennancenter.org
February 10, 2026 at 4:02 PM
The public deserves a clear explanation for the FBI’s unprecedented raid of Fulton County’s election offices. And we should all demand an end to the Trump administration’s campaign to interfere with elections.
bit.ly/45KDIKw
bit.ly/45KDIKw
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong's latest brief reveals the backstory of her arrest in a footnote. Feds refused to let her self-surrender, taped her arrest at a hotel, and broke a promise not to post it on social media, she says.
The White House then digitally altered it to smear her.
The White House then digitally altered it to smear her.
February 9, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong's latest brief reveals the backstory of her arrest in a footnote. Feds refused to let her self-surrender, taped her arrest at a hotel, and broke a promise not to post it on social media, she says.
The White House then digitally altered it to smear her.
The White House then digitally altered it to smear her.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
I’ve seen a lot of questions on these lines, and the quick answer is that once the federal government purchases the property (including the land the warehouse sits on), local governments cannot regulate them or tax them. They are now federal properties and so the Supremacy Clause applies.
Aren't warehouses usually zoned as 'Commercial/Industrial' properties?
So, then why are they being used as 'Residential'!?
Am I wrong?
So, then why are they being used as 'Residential'!?
Am I wrong?
February 9, 2026 at 9:36 PM
I’ve seen a lot of questions on these lines, and the quick answer is that once the federal government purchases the property (including the land the warehouse sits on), local governments cannot regulate them or tax them. They are now federal properties and so the Supremacy Clause applies.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Crucially, many local governments are furious with ICE over these purchases, because they were not consulted or even told. Because they are federal property now, it's taking a commercial property off the tax rolls while likely imposing dramatic additional infrastructure costs.
February 9, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Crucially, many local governments are furious with ICE over these purchases, because they were not consulted or even told. Because they are federal property now, it's taking a commercial property off the tax rolls while likely imposing dramatic additional infrastructure costs.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in:
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
February 9, 2026 at 6:09 PM
In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in:
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown
This is unprecedented.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Purchasing and converting these warehouse detention camps will cost the U.S. government billions of dollars. So far ICE has purchased at least half a dozen warehouses at a cost of $70-$110 million each. It'll cost billions more to refit them into detention camps, and hire staff.
February 9, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Purchasing and converting these warehouse detention camps will cost the U.S. government billions of dollars. So far ICE has purchased at least half a dozen warehouses at a cost of $70-$110 million each. It'll cost billions more to refit them into detention camps, and hire staff.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
The largest federal prison in the nation is Fort Dix, which has a rated capacity of 4,600 people. The largest of these warehouse camps may hold more than twice that number of people.
The federal government hasn't operated a prison camp inside the United States that large since Japanese Internment.
The federal government hasn't operated a prison camp inside the United States that large since Japanese Internment.
February 9, 2026 at 5:57 PM
The largest federal prison in the nation is Fort Dix, which has a rated capacity of 4,600 people. The largest of these warehouse camps may hold more than twice that number of people.
The federal government hasn't operated a prison camp inside the United States that large since Japanese Internment.
The federal government hasn't operated a prison camp inside the United States that large since Japanese Internment.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
NEW: An immigration court has terminated removal proceedings against Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, finding that DHS did not meet its burden of establishing that she was removable, her lawyers tell the Second Circuit. live-awp-vermont.pantheonsite.io/app/uploads/...
February 9, 2026 at 11:38 PM
NEW: An immigration court has terminated removal proceedings against Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, finding that DHS did not meet its burden of establishing that she was removable, her lawyers tell the Second Circuit. live-awp-vermont.pantheonsite.io/app/uploads/...
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Okay, so aside from my jacked-on-cold-medicine-coughing collapse there at the end...what a rich conversation w the generous @jamellebouie.net that I wish could have been twice as long.
Three immediate takeaways:
1) "Follow the footnotes." Essential to his process as a writer and thinker. 🤩
Three immediate takeaways:
1) "Follow the footnotes." Essential to his process as a writer and thinker. 🤩
TODAY!
Join us at 5 p.m. EST for a conversation between JCB Library Director Karin Wulf and NYTimes columnist Jamelle Bouie.
For 2026, the JCB is hosting the series Journalism and History When History Is News. More details at jcblibrary.org!
Register here: brown.zoom.us/webinar/regi....
Join us at 5 p.m. EST for a conversation between JCB Library Director Karin Wulf and NYTimes columnist Jamelle Bouie.
For 2026, the JCB is hosting the series Journalism and History When History Is News. More details at jcblibrary.org!
Register here: brown.zoom.us/webinar/regi....
February 9, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Okay, so aside from my jacked-on-cold-medicine-coughing collapse there at the end...what a rich conversation w the generous @jamellebouie.net that I wish could have been twice as long.
Three immediate takeaways:
1) "Follow the footnotes." Essential to his process as a writer and thinker. 🤩
Three immediate takeaways:
1) "Follow the footnotes." Essential to his process as a writer and thinker. 🤩
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
OK, just watched the half-time show and I speak a word of Spanish, but is it just me, or was that the most upbeat, cleanest and family-celebrating half-time show in a long time? No wardrobe malfunctions, anyway. #hatm
February 9, 2026 at 1:35 AM
OK, just watched the half-time show and I speak a word of Spanish, but is it just me, or was that the most upbeat, cleanest and family-celebrating half-time show in a long time? No wardrobe malfunctions, anyway. #hatm
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
The demise of the CIA World Factbook is “part of a broad war on information being waged by the Trump administration,” @dgraham.bsky.social argues in The Atlantic Daily.
The Trump Administration’s War on Data
A series of recent steps have erased the shared facts that help uphold democracy.
bit.ly
February 9, 2026 at 1:15 AM
The demise of the CIA World Factbook is “part of a broad war on information being waged by the Trump administration,” @dgraham.bsky.social argues in The Atlantic Daily.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Judge J.P. Boulee was appointed by Trump in 2019 & confirmed by an 86-11 vote.
February 8, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Judge J.P. Boulee was appointed by Trump in 2019 & confirmed by an 86-11 vote.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Judge orders unsealing of docket in the Fulton County Bd of Election's suit to return documents seized in the search. The search warrant affidavit must be unsealed by Tuesday end-of-business, but "prefera[bly]" before.
February 8, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Judge orders unsealing of docket in the Fulton County Bd of Election's suit to return documents seized in the search. The search warrant affidavit must be unsealed by Tuesday end-of-business, but "prefera[bly]" before.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Concentration camps:
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
Exclusive: Detention Center Captives Are Throwing Lotion Bottles Wrapped With Notes to Organizers Outside Otay Mesa Facility ~ L.A. TACO
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh," an Otay Mesa captive communicated through handwritten note. "We are all in one big room with no doors...
lataco.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:24 AM
Concentration camps:
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
A sweeping boycott has begun — targeting tech giants who participants believe are enabling President Trump and his immigration crackdown.
DVDs and public transit: Boycott drives people to ditch Big Tech to protest ICE
A sweeping boycott has begun — targeting tech giants who participants believe are enabling President Trump and his immigration crackdown.
n.pr
February 8, 2026 at 6:48 AM
A sweeping boycott has begun — targeting tech giants who participants believe are enabling President Trump and his immigration crackdown.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
"you might stumble over a whole collective of people resisting in ways you didn't think of. There's a crew of carpenters just going around fixing kicked-in doors. There are tow truck drivers taking cars of detained people away for free...."
February 8, 2026 at 2:12 PM
"you might stumble over a whole collective of people resisting in ways you didn't think of. There's a crew of carpenters just going around fixing kicked-in doors. There are tow truck drivers taking cars of detained people away for free...."
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
This looks to be an extraordinary overperformance for Dems. With more than three-fourth of the vote in, the Dem leads by more than 20%.
February 8, 2026 at 2:57 AM
This looks to be an extraordinary overperformance for Dems. With more than three-fourth of the vote in, the Dem leads by more than 20%.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said he had "limited interactions" with Jeffrey Epstein, but documents show they were in business together as recently as 2014.
www.cbsnews.com/news/howard-...
www.cbsnews.com/news/howard-...
Lutnick and Epstein were in business together, Epstein files show
Though the commerce secretary has called his interactions with Epstein as "limited," the two were in business together four years after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea.
www.cbsnews.com
February 7, 2026 at 7:30 PM
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said he had "limited interactions" with Jeffrey Epstein, but documents show they were in business together as recently as 2014.
www.cbsnews.com/news/howard-...
www.cbsnews.com/news/howard-...
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Early warnings. Safety in numbers. Cameras everywhere.
Anti-ICE protests in the U.S. mirror the nonviolent survival strategies civilians use in war zones around the world.
buff.ly/URyd0CC
Anti-ICE protests in the U.S. mirror the nonviolent survival strategies civilians use in war zones around the world.
buff.ly/URyd0CC
Anti-ICE protesters are following same nonviolent playbook used by people in war zones across the world to fight threats to their communities
Americans are learning and doing the kind of work that civilians in war zones worldwide have done for decades: dealing with threats by organizing to help protect their neighbors and communities.
buff.ly
February 6, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Early warnings. Safety in numbers. Cameras everywhere.
Anti-ICE protests in the U.S. mirror the nonviolent survival strategies civilians use in war zones around the world.
buff.ly/URyd0CC
Anti-ICE protests in the U.S. mirror the nonviolent survival strategies civilians use in war zones around the world.
buff.ly/URyd0CC
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina condemned Trump’s post. “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” he wrote on social media. “The President should remove it.”
The White House defended the president.
on.wsj.com/45O0Zev
The White House defended the president.
on.wsj.com/45O0Zev
Trump Posts Video Online Depicting Obamas as Apes
Sen. Tim Scott calls it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”
on.wsj.com
February 6, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina condemned Trump’s post. “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” he wrote on social media. “The President should remove it.”
The White House defended the president.
on.wsj.com/45O0Zev
The White House defended the president.
on.wsj.com/45O0Zev
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
US Marshals, acting on behalf of the DOJ in Memphis, TN, kicked a dog during an arrest, leaving it with a broken rib.
February 6, 2026 at 3:28 PM
US Marshals, acting on behalf of the DOJ in Memphis, TN, kicked a dog during an arrest, leaving it with a broken rib.
Reposted by Carol Ann VaughnCross, Ph.D.
What is happening at the local and state levels is more important now than ever. Local governments will be the bulwark that protects democracy. @taniel.bsky.social and the team at @boltsmag.org are doing super important reporting. You should follow both.
2 elections on my radar tomorrow:
—A legislative special in Louisiana; the GOP is aiming for first seat flip since 2024.
—A mayoral election in Leander, Texas, where a Dem-endorsed candidate faces two candidates with GOP affiliations.
Details in my guide: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...
—A legislative special in Louisiana; the GOP is aiming for first seat flip since 2024.
—A mayoral election in Leander, Texas, where a Dem-endorsed candidate faces two candidates with GOP affiliations.
Details in my guide: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...
February 6, 2026 at 4:32 PM
What is happening at the local and state levels is more important now than ever. Local governments will be the bulwark that protects democracy. @taniel.bsky.social and the team at @boltsmag.org are doing super important reporting. You should follow both.