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J. Cardella

@cardellaj.bsky.social

600 followers 1.8K following 630 posts

I have a background in immigration & sociology and in my spare time I focus on the legal and social dimensions of citizenship. Posting in a personal capacity.

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · Nov 27

The cornerstone of American citizenship is equality before the law. Trump's vision of citizenship is hierarchical. From immigrant to immunity, this is my attempt at unpacking the law and sociology of Trump's project. citizenshipbrief.substack.com/p/from-immig...

From Immigrant to Immunity: A Trumpian Theory of Citizenship

A dizzying split-screen unfolded on April 25th when Donald Trump’s attorney argued before the Supreme Court that he had “absolute immunity” to break the law as president, while Trump himself sat in a ...

citizenshipbrief.substack.com

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Reposted by J. Cardella

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 48m

Pope Leo in new letter to Catholic Charities USA: Migrants are "living witnesses of hope" with an "intrinsic human dignity" who should be "invited to participate fully in community life."

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 45m

Not to minimize what’s already happened, but one of my core beliefs for Trump II is that Stephen Miller has genocidal intent. He’s going to push in that direction with whatever power he has. That’s his end goal.

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1h

Stephen Miller’s entire life has been building to the ecstatic moment where he gets to press a button and have some political dissident murdered. The ultimate power fantasy. He cannot be dissuaded from it, because he will always find his way back to it; it has the same magnetism as any other fetish.

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 3h

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 1h

Fantastic news

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 3h

The judge finds that because "defendants' conduct likely violates the First Amendnent," factors weigh in favor of entering a restraining order against them.

She will not limit the order to the Broadview facility, but will limit it to the northern (court) district of Illinois.

Reposted by J. Cardella

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 4h

Imagine the sadism necessary to be an armed federal agent, under no threat whatsoever, willing to shoot a priest in the head.

ICE is “a portrait of an authoritarian secret police that seems set to model itself on history’s worst fascist enforcers.” www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/welcome-to...

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 6h

The propaganda apparatus is a necessary part of large scale crimes against humanity. The means are entering the digital age but the dynamic is very old.

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 7h

ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.

Reposted by J. Cardella

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 9h

news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/g...

Grand Jury Declines to Indict Two Chicago-Area ICE Protesters (1)

A federal grand jury declined to indict two people charged with assaulting law enforcement agents outside a suburban Chicago ICE facility, an attorney for one of the defendants said.

news.bloomberglaw.com

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 10h

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for jailing Chicago's mayor and the governor of Illinois, both Democrats, as his administration prepared to deploy military troops to the streets of the third-largest U.S. city. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

www.reuters.com

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 1d

This is a pretty concise summary of Trump’s conception of government: black letter law doesn’t matter, I’ll take care of the people I like and punish the people I don’t.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

“.. we’re going to take care of our people,” Trump added. “There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of. And we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

@thehill.com
thehill.com/homenews/adm...

Reposted by J. Cardella

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 1d

Breaking news: Furloughed federal workers are not entitled to automatic back pay after the government shutdown ends, the Trump administration argues, adding that a law Trump signed guaranteeing back pay to furloughed workers in 2019 does no such thing.

Federal workers not entitled to back pay after shutdown, budget office says

Federal workers may not be entitled to backpay after the government shutdown ends, the Trump administration’s budget office wrote in a new draft memo obtained by The Washington Post, ratcheting up ten...

wapo.st

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 1d

I would bet against impoundment at the moment but I think Vought absolutely wants to do it. The difference between today and January/February is there’s confirmed cabinet and subcabinet officials in place who actually need their workforce.

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 1d

I’d be curious whether any of those law firms that caved earlier this year are getting pressured to render some pro bono assistance.

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 1d

An update: Former FBI director and Trump antagonist James Comey is scheduled be arraigned tomorrow morning in federal court in Alexandria, Va. And still no career DOJ attorneys have entered an appearance in the case.

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 1d

I’ve been cautiously pessimistic that furlough back pay is a target for impoundment.
www.govexec.com/pay-benefits...

OMB deletes reference to law guaranteeing backpay to furloughed feds from shutdown guidance

An Office of Management and Budget FAQ document now states that only excepted employees forced to work without pay are guaranteed backpay at the conclusion of a lapse in appropriations.

www.govexec.com

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Reposted by J. Cardella

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 2d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

For as much as particular courts (including SCOTUS) allow Trump to act lawlessly, state bars and professional bar associations have been very strong bulwarks.

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 2d

It's a pretty big deal that the NYC Bar Association--one of the most prominent and respected bar associations in the country--is accusing the President of ordering the "unlawful summary execution," i.e. murder--of civilians in violation of US and international law. www.nycbar.org/press-releas...

Reposted by J. Cardella

Chibdm @chibdm.bsky.social · 2d

Robin Williams' daughter has some quality thoughts on AI slop

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

For what it’s worth, when I was at the Broadview detention facility a week ago, an ICE agent parked his car right in front of me, leisurely put on his mask, and then walked through the sparsely attended protest zone to report to work.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Stephen Miller claims that in Portland "ICE officers have to street battles against antifa, hand to hand combat every night, to come and go from their building"

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

The electoral college, the filibuster, and scotus were accelerants to our democratic collapse. They enabled the war on terror and Trump I, the muted response to the financial crisis, and the rush of corporate money into elections, respectively. This feeds into the current popularity of autocracy.

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

This is true of any political system. But it certainly hasn’t helped that the U.S. has so many anti-democratic choke points that sabotaged all kinds of progress from 2000-2016 and fed into the nihilism that is driving things today.

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

The repeated use of “Journalism that” has me lunging for my red pen.

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

I have to say thank you so much for attaching the primary documents to this story!!!

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 2d

President Donald Trump's administration is preparing to set a refugee admissions cap at 7,500 people this fiscal year, a record low that prioritizes white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity, three people familiar with the matter said.

Trump administration planning 7,500-person refugee ceiling, sources say

reut.rs

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

They keep winning before scotus so there’s no need to cross that line yet.

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 3d

Unless something changes the trajectory, this ends with the U.S. military gunning down American citizens with impunity.

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 3d

An important subplot of wild wild country turns on how the processes of local government were co-opted by a cult until the government itself was run entirely by the cult.

Reposted by J. Cardella

Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 3d

I appreciate Ernst Fraenkel’s concept of the “dual state,” wherein a fascist regime (in his example, the Nazis) will observe set rules and regulations when confronting some actors—what he calls the “normative state”—and will use arbitrary, unchecked violence towards others—the “prerogative state.”

Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 3d

If we were living under fascism, none of you would be here daring to post things. You'd be erasing your social media accounts and keeping your head down; you'd know that peacocking your faux-bravery on a network would expose you to being disappeared.
You have no idea what "fascism" really means.

shane @mouthfulofcavities.bsky.social · 3d

the regime is zip tying toddlers and ripping them away from their mothers unclothed... calling it fascism upsets this neo-con.

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