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Michael Zigismund

@michaelzigismund.bsky.social

50 followers 35 following 300 posts

I practice immigration law and criminal defense, and I love avocados. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelzigismund/

www.linkedin.com

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Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · Jun 28

I was recently on a podcast talking shop with a fellow immigration attorney. It was fun! Check it out here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIPL...

🎙️ Attorneys Discuss: IMMIGRATION x CRIMINAL LAW: Detentions and Deportations ⚖️🚨

YouTube video by Darian Immigration Law

www.youtube.com

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Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 1d

This is beautiful.

The writers here – one Muslim, one Jewish – present a vision of interfaith dialogue centering universal empathy over tribalism.

I look forward to the fruits of their partnership.

The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 1d

Today, on October 7, a rabbi and a Muslim scholar discuss the role that empathy will have to play for the cycle of hostility to be broken. Don't miss this thoughtful exchange.

Can Each Side's Faith Break the Cycle of Mutually Assured Destruction for Israelis and Palestinians?

An epistolary exchange between an Islamic scholar and a rabbi points to the concept of universal empathy in their traditions as the key

www.theunpopulist.net

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 1d

Who could have foreseen that this crime-focused administration would not prioritize arresting criminal aliens?

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 3d

Your latest dispatch from the Golden Age of America

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 3d

NOTES:
- They also differ on Palestine, which isn't relevant to the mayoralty. And Trump can be very critical of Israel.
- I use a broad definition of “socialism” that most would understand.
- Trump has often been happy to “defund” police (cities) when their politics are not his.

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 3d

I get that Trump’s defund-the-FBI is not Mamdani’s defund-the-police. And their socialisms are different.

But they’re more similar than generally acknowledged.

Where they really diverge politically is immigration. MAGA simply can’t allow pro-immigrant politics to succeed.

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Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 3d

Last week, I did a consultation with a U.S. citizen originally from Europe.

She said that, on her way from vacation, a CBP agent said he could detain her solely on the basis of her accent.

I immediately thought of this recent lawsuit against DHS over their profiling practices.

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Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 3d

Wow, I’m not religious. But this piece by Rabbi Michael Holzman makes me want to join his synagogue.

He argues this government’s erasure of history obstructs the search for truth that is necessary for repentance, a core Jewish value.

The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 6d

Don't miss this Yom Kippur reflection why President Trump's attempts to erase America's past sins is so troubling on a deep philosophical and spiritual level.

Political Triumphalism Is Contrary to the Spirit of Yom Kippur

The Jewish holiday’s emphasis on repentance requires confronting our past sins, not burying them

www.theunpopulist.net

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Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 4d

Just checking in on my Republican friends: How's that campaign against violent rhetoric going? 🧵

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Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 4d

An eyebrow-raising line from “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” (2008), a Holocaust drama:

“It’s only horrible for them [Jewish concentration camp inmates], Bruno. We should be prouder of Dad [the camp commandant] now more than ever before.

He’s making the country great again.”

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 8d

Source: “Here's the latest on Washington, D.C.'s crime numbers 30 days after National Guard deployment,” KCRA3 (Sep 10, 2025)

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 8d

Trump said DC was “crime free” after his takeover. He said DC made up crimes, like “a little fight with the wife”(!), to make it seem like crime still existed.

But by the last day of the federal takeover, crime was still (a) far from zero & (b) declining on trend from 2023.

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Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 10d

Trump’s FBI director just contradicted his boss.

There isn’t anything new about this purported “bombshell” other than the exact number of FBI agents who responded to J6, and that some of them complained about their role.

I can’t find what Wray is supposed to have lied about.

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 11d

Wow, I missed this one. Trump on Fox & Friends (9/12/2025) excuses right-wing “radicals” because he likes their politics, as opposed to left-wing “radicals.”

He was answering a question about bringing the country together after Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 11d

Megan McArdle says in 3 short excerpts what would take me pages to explain. Here, she invokes Charlie Kirk’s widow and the shooter’s parents to teach us how to protect principles like freedom of speech. Beautiful writing!

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 14d

www.cato.org/blog/ice-has...

ICE Has Diverted Over 25,000 Officers from Their Jobs

New data highlight how widespread this misuse of government personnel and resources is. Congress should prevent this diversion of appropriated funds in the next government spending bill.

www.cato.org

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 14d

How is the ongoing diversion of law enforcement for immigration enforcement not bigger news?

Just this past week we learned:
1. CBP diversion has opened border checkpoints to increased cocaine smuggling
2. human trafficking and child exploitation efforts have been gutted

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Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 14d

I found this FAQ from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists helpful regarding the alleged Tylenol-during-pregnancy / autism connection

www.acog.org/clinical-inf...

Acetaminophen in Pregnancy

Frequently Asked Questions about acetaminophen in pregnancy for health care professionals.

www.acog.org

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 15d

Trump defending his tariffs: “We have deficits with almost every country... and we’re going to change it. “

Dallas Fed (9/4/2025): there is no relationship between tariffs and trade deficits

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 16d

On the irony of the right's attack on the left's liberties in Kirk's name

(from Tangle, 9/15/2025)

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 17d

“For 35 years, it was a vicious war. Nine million people were killed with machetes. I stopped it. ... I got it stopped and saved lots of lives.”

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 17d

With this administration, John Yoo, the author of modern expansive executive power, has finally found its limit

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 18d

Writing for a unanimous Supreme Court last year in favor of the NRA against government censorship

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 18d

When "97% of the stories are bad about a person that’s no longer free speech." It is, in fact.

Btw, he didn't once mention #CharlieKirk in his 2.5-minute answer here.

In case you were wondering whether the assault on speech has anything to do with wrongthink about Kirk.

Michael Zigismund @michaelzigismund.bsky.social · 18d

Another entrenched conservative talking sense. Whatever “hell” Ted Cruz is talking about, it’s frozen over.