Ann Wainscott
@annmariewainscott.bsky.social
Political Scientist, interests in authoritarianism, religion and politics, institutions.
https://notes-from-a-political-scientist.ghost.io/
https://notes-from-a-political-scientist.ghost.io/
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old US citizen, was arrested and detained by ICE. She was held for TWO DAYS.
ICE agents handcuffed her, called her a racial slur, and she was knocked to the ground so hard she got a concussion.
This cannot continue happening. ICE needs to leave.
ICE agents handcuffed her, called her a racial slur, and she was knocked to the ground so hard she got a concussion.
This cannot continue happening. ICE needs to leave.
January 22, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old US citizen, was arrested and detained by ICE. She was held for TWO DAYS.
ICE agents handcuffed her, called her a racial slur, and she was knocked to the ground so hard she got a concussion.
This cannot continue happening. ICE needs to leave.
ICE agents handcuffed her, called her a racial slur, and she was knocked to the ground so hard she got a concussion.
This cannot continue happening. ICE needs to leave.
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
1/The law requires a judicial warrant based on probable cause signed by a judge to enter a home or private area in a biz (not an administrative one signed by an “immigration authority” ie a DHS employee). This is clearly unlawful conduct. ICE can’t change the law just because it doesn’t like it.
Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge's warrant, memo says apnews.com/article/ice-...
Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge's warrant, memo says
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press reveals that the agency allows immigration officers to forcibly enter homes to make arrests without a judicial warrant.
apnews.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:04 PM
1/The law requires a judicial warrant based on probable cause signed by a judge to enter a home or private area in a biz (not an administrative one signed by an “immigration authority” ie a DHS employee). This is clearly unlawful conduct. ICE can’t change the law just because it doesn’t like it.
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
From someone on the ground in Lewiston, Maine:
January 22, 2026 at 7:26 PM
From someone on the ground in Lewiston, Maine:
It depends on the executive executing it. That’s why it’s called the executive.
JACK SMITH: “I have seen how the rule of law can erode. My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it.”
January 23, 2026 at 1:00 AM
It depends on the executive executing it. That’s why it’s called the executive.
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
Kristi Noem is telling ICE agents they can forcibly enter your home without a judicial warrant.
That is unconstitutional.
History will judge us if we do not stand up to the lawlessness and cruelty of this administration.
That is unconstitutional.
History will judge us if we do not stand up to the lawlessness and cruelty of this administration.
January 23, 2026 at 12:10 AM
Kristi Noem is telling ICE agents they can forcibly enter your home without a judicial warrant.
That is unconstitutional.
History will judge us if we do not stand up to the lawlessness and cruelty of this administration.
That is unconstitutional.
History will judge us if we do not stand up to the lawlessness and cruelty of this administration.
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
AOC: An agency that is attacking U.S. citizens, kidnapping five-year-olds and using them as bait, and privately circulating the idea that they can violate the rights of Americans by busting down their doors—they deserve to be defunded, and I’ll take any step in that direction.
January 22, 2026 at 11:29 PM
AOC: An agency that is attacking U.S. citizens, kidnapping five-year-olds and using them as bait, and privately circulating the idea that they can violate the rights of Americans by busting down their doors—they deserve to be defunded, and I’ll take any step in that direction.
What we really learned about the conservative justices on #SCOTUS ‘s view of the public interest is that they only consider it when they expect themselves to be affected @mjsdc.bsky.social
Bonus: Fed Up
Podcast Episode · Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts · 01/21/2026 · Bonus · Slate Plus Only · 36m
podcasts.apple.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:59 PM
What we really learned about the conservative justices on #SCOTUS ‘s view of the public interest is that they only consider it when they expect themselves to be affected @mjsdc.bsky.social
@washingtonpost.com help me understand how strangling someone does not imply intent to kill
January 22, 2026 at 12:43 PM
@washingtonpost.com help me understand how strangling someone does not imply intent to kill
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
«The real problem is that this is not a rhetorical conflict. The president is weaponizing the institutions of the state against his perceived political enemies. He can make use of broad authorities and structure put in place to fight the War on Terror »
The War over the definition of terrorism
The rhetorical conflict between anti-ICE protestors and the Trump administration is a conflict that has been ongoing in language for more than two hundred years.
notes-from-a-political-scientist.ghost.io
January 19, 2026 at 11:27 AM
«The real problem is that this is not a rhetorical conflict. The president is weaponizing the institutions of the state against his perceived political enemies. He can make use of broad authorities and structure put in place to fight the War on Terror »
The morning of the Maduro raid I was in the middle of @rosabrooks.bsky.social 2016 book. The rest of the day I kept taking refuge in it, turning to chapters that discuss limits on violence and American hubris. I wanted someone to talk sense when the situation did not make sense. Then I struck gold.
Sunday Soul: Clarifying the vision
What world do you want to create?
notes-from-a-political-scientist.ghost.io
January 17, 2026 at 10:26 PM
The morning of the Maduro raid I was in the middle of @rosabrooks.bsky.social 2016 book. The rest of the day I kept taking refuge in it, turning to chapters that discuss limits on violence and American hubris. I wanted someone to talk sense when the situation did not make sense. Then I struck gold.
"The law is a servant of our society. Its enforcement administration can give more effective meaning to our common goals. Among these common goals are: domestic tranquility, the blessings of liberty, the establishment of justice. These goals do not bring themselves into being." Edward Levi, AG
Edward Levi’s Department of Justice
What a Difference a Half Century Makes
open.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:58 PM
"The law is a servant of our society. Its enforcement administration can give more effective meaning to our common goals. Among these common goals are: domestic tranquility, the blessings of liberty, the establishment of justice. These goals do not bring themselves into being." Edward Levi, AG
24,000 families. in hiding. in one city.
"In the first day, 2,000 families registered. Now, they have more than 24,000 families registered and there is a waitlist. Amezcua said less than one percent of the families they serve are part of the church.
“They need help,” said Amezcua. “We still have a lot to do.” "
“They need help,” said Amezcua. “We still have a lot to do.” "
Minneapolis church has delivered more than 12,000 boxes of groceries to families in hiding
DHH church has hundreds of volunteers packing and delivering groceries to families who have been too scared to leave their homes during the immigration operation.
www.mprnews.org
January 16, 2026 at 6:48 PM
24,000 families. in hiding. in one city.
This piece by competitive authoritarianism scholars Levitsky & Way + @dziblatt.bsky.social warns that we have entered "an authoritarian moment" but reminds us "The playing field might be uneven, but the game is still played." Keep playing.
January 16, 2026 at 6:27 PM
This piece by competitive authoritarianism scholars Levitsky & Way + @dziblatt.bsky.social warns that we have entered "an authoritarian moment" but reminds us "The playing field might be uneven, but the game is still played." Keep playing.
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
✋🏾 Hey, Gen Z,
if you are 18 years old by November 3, and register to vote, you can vote in the midterm election for Congress and for governors in 36 states. 🗳️👇🏾
if you are 18 years old by November 3, and register to vote, you can vote in the midterm election for Congress and for governors in 36 states. 🗳️👇🏾
The unemployment rate in December among people aged 20 to 24 was 8.2%. For Gen Z, that hit at the beginning of a career could go on to impact their whole life.
To be young and dreaming of a 9 to 5
The low-fire, low-hire job market is making it hard for young people to enter the workforce.
www.marketplace.org
January 16, 2026 at 4:24 PM
✋🏾 Hey, Gen Z,
if you are 18 years old by November 3, and register to vote, you can vote in the midterm election for Congress and for governors in 36 states. 🗳️👇🏾
if you are 18 years old by November 3, and register to vote, you can vote in the midterm election for Congress and for governors in 36 states. 🗳️👇🏾
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
So she had a pulse. That’s what the doctor on the scene wanted to check. She wasn’t breathing, but she had a pulse. He could have started CPR right away.
Instead ICE barred the doctor from attending her and waited 15 mins for EMT to get to her.
Instead ICE barred the doctor from attending her and waited 15 mins for EMT to get to her.
January 16, 2026 at 3:03 PM
So she had a pulse. That’s what the doctor on the scene wanted to check. She wasn’t breathing, but she had a pulse. He could have started CPR right away.
Instead ICE barred the doctor from attending her and waited 15 mins for EMT to get to her.
Instead ICE barred the doctor from attending her and waited 15 mins for EMT to get to her.
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
During a hearing about the detentions of pro-Palestinian students, a federal judge said President Trump and top officials have a “fearful approach” to freedom of speech that would seek to “exclude from participation everyone who doesn’t agree with them.”
Trump cabinet secretaries conspired to violate Constitution, judge says
“The cabinet secretaries and ostensibly, the president of the United States, are not honoring the First Amendment,” U.S. District Judge William Young declared.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 16, 2026 at 1:30 AM
During a hearing about the detentions of pro-Palestinian students, a federal judge said President Trump and top officials have a “fearful approach” to freedom of speech that would seek to “exclude from participation everyone who doesn’t agree with them.”
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
Opinion | They Were Ordinary Germans. We Are Ordinary Americans.
www.nytimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
My god, I did not expect from the headline (which was bad enough on its face) just *how* bad this situation actually was. You have to read the article to realize it.
Couple Says ICE Agents Gassed Them as They Drove With 6 Children
www.nytimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:10 AM
My god, I did not expect from the headline (which was bad enough on its face) just *how* bad this situation actually was. You have to read the article to realize it.
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
(🚨) MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: ICE Kills Another Person, This Time in Texas; White House Has Not Yet Said Whether Choking a Detainee to Death Is "Following [ICE] Training"
Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says
A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards at the ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:03 AM
(🚨) MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: ICE Kills Another Person, This Time in Texas; White House Has Not Yet Said Whether Choking a Detainee to Death Is "Following [ICE] Training"
spectacular @nytimes.com "If Trump’s candidacy was a sustained attack on the idea of civic nationalism, his second presidency has very quickly become a clarification of what the alternative looks like... a masked federal agent shooting a woman in the face through the windshield of her own car."
Trump’s Fight With Minnesota Is About More Than Immigration
www.nytimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 11:22 AM
spectacular @nytimes.com "If Trump’s candidacy was a sustained attack on the idea of civic nationalism, his second presidency has very quickly become a clarification of what the alternative looks like... a masked federal agent shooting a woman in the face through the windshield of her own car."
Who would give up their holiday allowance?!
Rights Greenlanders would lose if they became Americans
It's a long list
On Friday evening, the leaders of five Greenlandic political parties released a joint statement asserting, “We do not wish to be Americans.” Their statement comes in the midst of inc...
notes-from-a-political-scientist.ghost.io
January 15, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Who would give up their holiday allowance?!
But we will do nothing when our Secretary of « War » discusses war plans on Signal with a journalist.
Bondi statement on FBI search at Washington Post reporter’s home:
January 14, 2026 at 4:25 PM
But we will do nothing when our Secretary of « War » discusses war plans on Signal with a journalist.
Reposted by Ann Wainscott
And here we are: the entire transatlantic alliance is now talking about Greenland, instead of talking about ending the war in Ukraine.
January 14, 2026 at 1:36 PM
And here we are: the entire transatlantic alliance is now talking about Greenland, instead of talking about ending the war in Ukraine.
Can government agencies be « victimized? »
F.B.I. Searches Home of Washington Post Journalist for Classified Material
www.nytimes.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Can government agencies be « victimized? »