Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 6h

Yikes indeed. After multiple quarters of success in bringing down backlogs, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is taking a turn for the worse.

The latest data shows that in the first six months of 2025, total net backlogs rose 26%, up by 1.1 million pending applications (of all kinds).

A bar chart showing Total Net USCIS Immigration Application Backlog by quarter, Fiscal Year 2023 Q4 through Fiscal Year 2025 Q3. The chart shows that total applications pending dropped from a bit over 4 million in FY 2023 Q4 to 3.8 million in FY 2024 Q4. In FY 2025, every quarter there has been an increase, with the sharpest increase from Q1 to Q2 and then a smaller but still significant increase from Q2 to Q3, peaking at 5.4 million pending cases.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 6h

Two big GOP activists from Oregon were in DC last month for meetings with Trump admin officials. On their podcast they talk about a plan they discussed to nullify the results of Oregon's 2026 federal elections. Pass federal voter ID law, then refuse to seat OR delegation because OR didn't comply.

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
Also, we proposed a idea how to do a end run on vote by mail. Concept is based on what Trump proposed. When you vote, you check everyone's citizenship as well as voter ID.
In a vote by mail state, you might be able to check citizenship during voter registration. You can send copies of your passport and your birth certificate in.
How in the world are you going to check our voters?
Voter ID, right? Vote by mail. So that creates a problem for Oregon.
But if federal government new requirement is to check both, and if Oregon can comply with the requirements, what would happen to our election result? I'm talking about the entire federal delegation.
For federal elections, we're talking about only federal elections.
COMMON SENSE
Vascluar

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
So entire federal delegation, congressmen and senators could be challenged, could be unseated because you didn't follow federal requirements to elect them. So I said the trade-off is worth it. You know why?
Democrats control two Senate seats out of six congressional seats. We only control one. They control five.
You talk about trade-off, right?
COMMON SENSE
Sanctuany

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 7h

John Fetterman, ladies and gentlemen

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 7h

Trump has been illegally bombing boats off the coast of Venezuela.

Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff forced a vote on reasserting Congress's role over war powers and ending this reckless
warmongering.

It failed 48-51.

Murkowski and Paul voted yes.

Fetterman voted no.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7h

Schiff: "If a president in secret can put names on a list and kill them, then there is no war power still retained by Congress, and there's no check on an executive who may drag us into another war."

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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 11h

Jack collaborated with neo-Nazi twins to make a documentary. He was a fan of white supremacist Richard Spencer. He has tweeted 1488, the alphanumeric code for Heil Hitler. He wrote an unreadable anti-antifa book. Last year he wrote a book abt the left called “Unhumans.” That he’s now speaking here…

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 12h

From Donald Trump's Roundtable on Antifa just now —
"Antifa has been around in various iterations for almost 100 years in some instances, going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany."
— special guest Jack Posobiec

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Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · 12h

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 11h

genuinely think they are feeding him AI videos

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12h

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

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MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 @maks23.bsky.social · 11h

😵‍💫 Putin arrived in Tajikistan for a three-day visit to participate in the Russia-Central Asia summit.

At Dushanbe Airport, he was greeted with a red carpet and two parallel flowerbeds.

❗️Tajikistan recognizes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 13h

when you are worried that THIS supreme court will rule against you on invoking the insurrection act, a statute that famously gives enormous deference to the president ... maybe that's a sign that your military deployments are pretty baseless

Alex Koppelman @alexkoppelman.bsky.social · 13h

Exclusive from @nbcnews.com: Trump administration officials seriously discussing invoking Insurrection Act, sources say www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

Trump administration officials seriously discussing invoking Insurrection Act, sources say

A decision is not expected to be imminent, one source said, but debate within the administration has shifted recently to more deeply exploring how and when the act might be invoked.

www.nbcnews.com

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 13h

what

niki grayson @nikigrayson.com · 15h

the city of los angeles burned in january in part because of a man who couldn’t stop generating images of burning cities on ChatGPT, and then after he lit the fire he asked if the fire he started was his fault

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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 13h

Elon Musk said he was going to cut spending by $2 trillion dollars, but instead spending is higher this year than we thought it would be before Trump took office. Truly incredible stuff.

Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 13h

CBO fy2025 projections for deficit/spending/etc are out

Some issues make simple comparisons apples-to-oranges, so I'll do apples-to-apples & explain in the thread

Relative to pre-Trump projections:
-Primary deficits ⬆️ $34 bn
-program spending ⬆️ $97 bn
-revenues ⬆️ $63 bn
www.cbo.gov/publication/...

2025 (January estimate, adjusted to fix issues) 2025 CBO estimate (remove student loan one-time revaluation) 2025 (adjusted for student loans) vs. 2025 projection (adjusted to fix issues)
Spending 7061 7166 105
Program spending 6108 6205 97
Interest 953 961 9
Revenue 5163 5226 63
Primary deficit 945 979 34
Total deficit 1898 1940 42

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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 13h

Does this include Laura Loomer who deleted her tweet accusing Charlie Kirk of stabbing Trump in the back?

We all want to know.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Hegseth’s sprawling hunt for Charlie Kirk critics spans nearly 300 investigations

The inquiry, resulting in a smattering of disciplinary action so far, follows an extraordinary directive aimed at silencing criticism of the slain activist and Trump supporter.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Nick (derogatory) ✨ @slothropsmap.bsky.social · 13h

They picked the right guy

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 13h

"El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, who attended the meeting, said Chicago-born Pope Leo was visibly moved after being handed dozens of letters from immigrants describing their fears of arrest and separation under Trump’s enforcement policies..."

www.thedailybeast.com/pope-leo-ram...

Pope Leo Ramps Up His Trump Feud With Order to American Bishops

The Chicago-born pontiff has sharpened his criticism of the Trump administration and reportedly decided to take action.

www.thedailybeast.com

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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 13h

Russian propagandist Solovyev:
"Putin gave us back our Motherland."

In reality,under Putin's regime:
◾️Russia started the bloodiest war on the European continent since WWII;
◾️Russia has been kicked out of G8;
◾️Putin is under a search warrant from the ICC for war crimes;

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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 13h

Pritzker is meeting the moment and if he stands up for the people, stands up against Trump's rein of terror, holds ICE accountable, he can elevate himself as a front runner for Dem leadership.

Now is the moment for leaders, not cowards.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15h

Pritzker: "He wants to militarize major cities because he wants us to get used to the idea of troops on the streets. I believe he's gonna post people outside of polling places and if he needs to in order to control those elections, he'll assume control of the ballot boxes & count the votes himself"

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 13h

Obviously there is minority support for Trump here...but this is also shockingly low opposition for the idea that the President can turn the military on American cities on a whim.

70% of Republicans think the President should be able to send troops into a city even if the Governor objects!

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 14h

58% of Americans - including half of Republicans - think the president should send armed troops only to face external threats, a sign of unease as President Donald Trump increasingly deploys National Guard troops to police American cities, a @reuters.com poll found.

www.reuters.com/world/us/mos...

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FactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · 13h

Gov. Pritzker: He said he was going after the worst of the worst. It's not going after the worst of the worst when you're literally stopping children who happen to be brown and asking them for papers as if they will have proof they are a US citizen

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Jonathan V. Last @jvl.bsky.social · 14h

This is capitulation. It is not the "Department of War." If CNN concedes on this point, they'll concede on any point.

Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · 14h

CNN is now using the Trump preferred “Department of War” name in its official statements

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 13h

Oh — new reporting on Pope Leo from El Paso Matters, citing footage they have of yesterday's meeting.

Sounds like the pope was even *more* forceful in urging U.S. bishops to speak out about immigration than first reported.

I mean, that's…not subtle. elpasomatters.org/2025/10/08/e...

“I was struck at the beginning (of the video), it talks about the feeling of powerlessness, which I think is so much. I think it’s so important that we as a church give a message of hope in the midst of these horrible struggles, what’s going on in so many cities in the United States right now. At least the church cannot be silent,” the pope told the El Pasoans, according to a video of the meeting provided to El Paso Matters by Hope Border Institute.

Seitz responded: “You’ve spoken very strongly. We’re trying to do the same in our country and yet not get into the political fray the best that we can.”

Pope Leo told Seitz that he’d like to see the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops become more vocal on immigration issues.

“I mean, even within the conference, there are challenges. That’s one place they should be … I wish they were stronger in their own voice,” Leo said, adding that Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the conference, should speak out more on immigration.

“There’s been some good movement in that sense, but I certainly intend to continue to encourage” U.S. bishops to address immigration, Leo said.

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Jacqueline Sweet @jsweetli.bsky.social · 18h

NEW: A MAGA X account often shared by Senator Mike Lee and House Republicans like Nancy Mace--that often alleges Democrats encourage voting fraud-- is run by a man who not only has never stepped foot in the US, he also illegally donated to an American campaign.

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

The Viral MAGA Accounts Run by a Man Who Has Never Been to America

Two influential MAGA social media accounts are run by Rumen Naumovski, a Macedonian who may have illegally donated to a U.S. election.

www.rollingstone.com

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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 13h

This is a key talking points that should be echoed everyday by Democrats and ties directly to the Epstein Files, which is Trump's Achillese Cankle.

Why aren't Republicans swearing Rep Grijalva???

Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 13h

Jeffries says Dems "have made clear privately and publicly" to Mike Johnson that Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) must be sworn in.

"Why the delay?" he asks. "Does it have anything to do with Republicans continuing effort to hide the Epstein files from the American people?"

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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 16h

there is a government shutdown with no end in sight and it’s not even really the lead story rn because the president can’t stop invading American cities for no reason other than spite

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 15h

Maybe it's because I'm a parent, but avoidable harm to kids really gets to me. My kids can be difficult when they don't get an afternoon snack at the usual time. I'm sure various parents and teachers can say the same. Watching a kid starve to death? And the US govt did it on purpose?
Unconscionable.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 18h

The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."

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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 15h

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine has released data on 178 Ukrainian cultural artifacts stolen by Russians.

Most of them - 140 artifacts - were stolen during illegal excavations in Crimea, in particular in Tauric Chersonese, at the Kadykivske hillfort, and in the Church of St. John the Baptist.

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Zoomer Antimillenarian ♨️ @surcomplicated.bsky.social · 15h

Hate speech rules are dangerous precisely because the powerful will insist on classifying criticism of them as 'hate speech'.

Felipe De La Hoz @felipedlh.bsky.social · 16h

You cannot be fucking serious

SCOOP: Apple Quietly Made ICE Agents a Protected Class

Internal emails show tech giant used anti-hate-speech rules meant for minorities to block an app documenting immigration enforcement.

migrantinsider.com

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