Vik Malhotra
@vmalhotra.bsky.social
Senior adviser to social justice organizations and philanthropic initiatives. Former Ford Foundation and ACLU.
Pinned
Vik Malhotra
@vmalhotra.bsky.social
· Mar 20
“The future is going to be worse than the past if we do not let the people who represent us know that it is our country… We can change the government, and we will.” ✊🏽 James Baldwin, offering both a warning & a hope in 1963. Photos from New York Public Library collection, on display now.
TURN THE VOLUME UP!!! 🙌🏽🗽
November 5, 2025 at 4:37 AM
TURN THE VOLUME UP!!! 🙌🏽🗽
“No more will New York be a city in which you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election!” ✊🏽
November 5, 2025 at 4:36 AM
“No more will New York be a city in which you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election!” ✊🏽
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
Happening this Wednesday at SCOTUS ahead of oral argument in Callais.
October 12, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Happening this Wednesday at SCOTUS ahead of oral argument in Callais.
Black and Brown refugees need not apply. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/w...
Trump Officials Seek to Bring First White Afrikaner Refugees to U.S. Next Week
www.nytimes.com
May 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Black and Brown refugees need not apply. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/w...
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
🚨UPDATE: New evidence filed by the ACLU last night shows that the Trump administration is going forward with more Alien Enemies Act deportations in seeming violation of the Supreme Court's clear command that people be provided a "meaningful" opportunity to seek judicial review.
April 18, 2025 at 12:49 PM
🚨UPDATE: New evidence filed by the ACLU last night shows that the Trump administration is going forward with more Alien Enemies Act deportations in seeming violation of the Supreme Court's clear command that people be provided a "meaningful" opportunity to seek judicial review.
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
WOW. One of the Venezuelans whom Kristi Noem tried to render to El Salvador's slave prison managed to avoid removal and was able to make it to immigration court, and you'll never guess what happened: THE GOVERNMENT GAVE NO EVIDENCE OF HIS GANG MEMBERSHIP. Due process ftw
April 17, 2025 at 4:48 PM
WOW. One of the Venezuelans whom Kristi Noem tried to render to El Salvador's slave prison managed to avoid removal and was able to make it to immigration court, and you'll never guess what happened: THE GOVERNMENT GAVE NO EVIDENCE OF HIS GANG MEMBERSHIP. Due process ftw
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
Today @vanhollen.senate.gov was denied entry to the same prison.
We've reached the point where Republicans are flying to El Salvador to visit one of the most vicious prisons in the world to have photo ops so they can prove their loyalty to the President of the United States.
April 16, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Today @vanhollen.senate.gov was denied entry to the same prison.
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
“How can I return an innocent man to the United States when I don’t have the ability to feel empathy or compassion?” said Nayib Bukele
theonion.com/salvado...
theonion.com/salvado...
Salvadoran President Claims He Lacks Humanity To Return Wrongly Deported Man
WASHINGTON—During a visit with President Donald Trump at the White House, El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele claimed Monday that he “lacks the humanity” to return wrongly deported legal U.S. resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to America. “How can I return an innocent man to the United States when I don’t have the ability to feel […]
theonion.com
April 15, 2025 at 12:00 AM
“How can I return an innocent man to the United States when I don’t have the ability to feel empathy or compassion?” said Nayib Bukele
theonion.com/salvado...
theonion.com/salvado...
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
Basically: I don’t think people understand that 36 hours from now it’s possible that America will have a formalized system for abducting enemies of the regime and stashing them in foreign gulags, indefinitely.
www.thebulwark.com/p/bukele-abr...
www.thebulwark.com/p/bukele-abr...
Bukele, Abrego Garcia, and Red Lines
Emergency Triad: Are we now a country of political prisoners and gulags?
www.thebulwark.com
April 14, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Basically: I don’t think people understand that 36 hours from now it’s possible that America will have a formalized system for abducting enemies of the regime and stashing them in foreign gulags, indefinitely.
www.thebulwark.com/p/bukele-abr...
www.thebulwark.com/p/bukele-abr...
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
BIG UPDATE TODAY: This afternoon, the ACLU filed a new "class action habeas" lawsuit in New York challenging the Alien Enemies Act removals. They are seeking a temporary restraining order which would basically replicate the same thing they previously had with Judge Boasberg's order.
NY judge will hold a hearing tomorrow at 10am on the ACLU's new lawsuit challenging Alien Enemies Act deportations of people located in that state
Judge ordered that the named plaintiffs not be removed or transferred out of his district before then
Judge ordered that the named plaintiffs not be removed or transferred out of his district before then
April 8, 2025 at 8:33 PM
BIG UPDATE TODAY: This afternoon, the ACLU filed a new "class action habeas" lawsuit in New York challenging the Alien Enemies Act removals. They are seeking a temporary restraining order which would basically replicate the same thing they previously had with Judge Boasberg's order.
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
BREAKING: A federal court ordered Mahmoud Khalil's lawsuit should proceed in New Jersey instead of Louisiana, 1,500 miles from his family.
This is an important step towards justice.
This is an important step towards justice.
April 1, 2025 at 9:49 PM
BREAKING: A federal court ordered Mahmoud Khalil's lawsuit should proceed in New Jersey instead of Louisiana, 1,500 miles from his family.
This is an important step towards justice.
This is an important step towards justice.
Like millions of others, my family’s story in America began when the US ended racist immigration quotas in 1965. That’s how my parents were able to immigrate here from India in the late 1960s and I was born soon after. Sixty years later, we are returning to an official policy of white supremacy.
‘Mission South Africa’: How Trump Is Offering White Afrikaners Refugee Status
The United States has banned most refugees, including 20,000 people who were already ready to travel to the United States before President Trump took office. But Mr. Trump is making one exception.
www.nytimes.com
March 31, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Like millions of others, my family’s story in America began when the US ended racist immigration quotas in 1965. That’s how my parents were able to immigrate here from India in the late 1960s and I was born soon after. Sixty years later, we are returning to an official policy of white supremacy.
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
Our first post is a big one...Statement from Keker, Van Nest & Peters on Trump’s Latest Executive Order “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court.”
March 22, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Our first post is a big one...Statement from Keker, Van Nest & Peters on Trump’s Latest Executive Order “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court.”
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
“One young man sobbed when a guard pushed him to the floor. He said, ‘I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber.’ I believed him. *** He “began to whimper,” as his head was roughly shaved, “folding his hands in prayer as his hair fell.” He “asked for his mother & cried as he was slapped again.”
What the Venezuelans Deported to El Salvador Experienced
Exclusive photos of the arrival of Venezuelan detainees deported from the U.S.
time.com
March 22, 2025 at 8:52 PM
“One young man sobbed when a guard pushed him to the floor. He said, ‘I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber.’ I believed him. *** He “began to whimper,” as his head was roughly shaved, “folding his hands in prayer as his hair fell.” He “asked for his mother & cried as he was slapped again.”
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
Columbia’s capitulation is so disappointing. No statute authorized the Trump administration to make these demands, and many of them implicate or encroach on the constitutional freedoms of students, faculty, and the University itself. 1/ www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/n...
Columbia Agrees to Trump’s Demands After Federal Funds Are Stripped
The administration has moved to cut $400 million in federal funding to the university without changes to its policies and rules.
www.nytimes.com
March 22, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Columbia’s capitulation is so disappointing. No statute authorized the Trump administration to make these demands, and many of them implicate or encroach on the constitutional freedoms of students, faculty, and the University itself. 1/ www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/n...
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
Paul Weiss and Columbia are taking exactly the wrong actions in acceding to Trump, and they are among the entities most well-positioned to fight back.
These are legacy-shaming decisions by the leadership of both, and those far less powerful will now, and surely in short order, pay the price.
These are legacy-shaming decisions by the leadership of both, and those far less powerful will now, and surely in short order, pay the price.
March 21, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Paul Weiss and Columbia are taking exactly the wrong actions in acceding to Trump, and they are among the entities most well-positioned to fight back.
These are legacy-shaming decisions by the leadership of both, and those far less powerful will now, and surely in short order, pay the price.
These are legacy-shaming decisions by the leadership of both, and those far less powerful will now, and surely in short order, pay the price.
SCOTUS alert: Next Monday, the Court will hear argument on whether Louisiana’s congressional maps, drawn to comply with the VRA, run afoul of the Equal Protection Clause. The latest chapter in a protracted effort by Black voters to fight for fair representation in the state. wedrawthelinesla.org
We Draw The Lines Louisiana – Fair Maps. Fair Representation
wedrawthelinesla.org
March 21, 2025 at 2:46 PM
SCOTUS alert: Next Monday, the Court will hear argument on whether Louisiana’s congressional maps, drawn to comply with the VRA, run afoul of the Equal Protection Clause. The latest chapter in a protracted effort by Black voters to fight for fair representation in the state. wedrawthelinesla.org
Pathetic.
March 21, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Pathetic.
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
The government must be transparent about whether it complied with a judge's order blocking the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants without due process.
President Trump cannot bypass the Constitution.
President Trump cannot bypass the Constitution.
Administration’s Details on Deportation Flights ‘Woefully Insufficient,’ Judge Says
In an angry order, the judge, James E. Boasberg, told the Trump administration to explain why he should not find that officials had violated his instructions for the flights to return to the United St...
www.nytimes.com
March 20, 2025 at 11:03 PM
The government must be transparent about whether it complied with a judge's order blocking the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants without due process.
President Trump cannot bypass the Constitution.
President Trump cannot bypass the Constitution.
Shoot first, think later? 🤔 How much longer before swing-district Republicans stop worshipping at the House of Elon?⌛️
Rep. Lawler has been cheering on DOGE's wilding spree and now his constituents are paying the price.
March 20, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Shoot first, think later? 🤔 How much longer before swing-district Republicans stop worshipping at the House of Elon?⌛️
“The future is going to be worse than the past if we do not let the people who represent us know that it is our country… We can change the government, and we will.” ✊🏽 James Baldwin, offering both a warning & a hope in 1963. Photos from New York Public Library collection, on display now.
March 20, 2025 at 9:04 PM
“The future is going to be worse than the past if we do not let the people who represent us know that it is our country… We can change the government, and we will.” ✊🏽 James Baldwin, offering both a warning & a hope in 1963. Photos from New York Public Library collection, on display now.
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
NEW: Judge Subramanian orders Columbia not to provide any student names or disciplinary records related to pro-Palestinian campus protests to a GOP-led US House committee while the court considers a temporary restraining order. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
March 20, 2025 at 7:21 PM
NEW: Judge Subramanian orders Columbia not to provide any student names or disciplinary records related to pro-Palestinian campus protests to a GOP-led US House committee while the court considers a temporary restraining order. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
NEW! Sworn declarations filed last night confirm the Trump admin sent INNOCENT people to rot in prison El Salvador, including a professional soccer player jailed and tortured by the Maduro regime, who entered this country LEGALLY to seek asylum, and who has NO CRIMINAL RECORD in either country.
![I am the immigration attorney for Jerce Reyes Barrios, born in January 16, 1989 in Venezuela. 2. In February and March 2024, Mr. Reyes Barrios marched in two demonstrations in Venezuela protesting the authoritarian rule of Maduro. At the second demonstration, he was detained and taken to a clandestine building where he was tortured (electric shocks and suffocation) along with other demonstrators. 3. Shortly after his release, he fled Venezuela for the United States. He registered with CBP One in Mexico, then presented himself to CBP officials on the day of his appointment. He was taken into custody and detained at Otay Mesa Detention Facility in September 2024. 4. We applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection in December 2024. His final individual hearing is set for April 17, 2025 before Judge Robinson at the Otay Mesa Immigration Court. 5. On March 15, 2025, Mr. Reyes Barrios was deported to El Salvador with no notice to counsel or family. It was not until March 18, 2025 that counsel was able to reach an ICE official and learn that he had in fact been deported. 6. Mr. Reyes Barrios was/is a professional soccer player in Venezuela. He has never been arrested or charged with a crime. He has a steady employment record as a soccer player, as well as a soccer coach for children and youth. 7. Initially, Mr. Reyes Barrios was placed in maximum security at Otay Mesa and accused of being a Tren de Aragua gang member. The accusation is based on two things. First, he has a tattoo on his arm of a crown sitting atop a soccer ball with a rosary and the word "Dies." OHS alleges that this tattoo is proof of gang membership. In reality, he chose this tattoo, because it is similar to the logo for his favorite soccer team Real Madrid. See logo below. [pictures of the tattoo and the pictures of the logo]. 8. Second, OHS reviewed his social media posts and found a photo of Mr. Reyes Barrios making a hand gesture that they allege is proof of gang membership.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreifncv2sfxob3h7ozdkoymku3wfpbknlroa6bric46v5y7asbrzrim@jpeg)
March 20, 2025 at 12:40 PM
NEW! Sworn declarations filed last night confirm the Trump admin sent INNOCENT people to rot in prison El Salvador, including a professional soccer player jailed and tortured by the Maduro regime, who entered this country LEGALLY to seek asylum, and who has NO CRIMINAL RECORD in either country.
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
Early voting begins today in pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court race
Elon Musk spending $13 million to flip court & elect MAGA judge. After buying Washington he now wants to buy the states
"This race is first referendum on Musk-ism” says @benwikler.bsky.social
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Elon Musk spending $13 million to flip court & elect MAGA judge. After buying Washington he now wants to buy the states
"This race is first referendum on Musk-ism” says @benwikler.bsky.social
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election is a referendum on Elon Musk
“We'll find out whether Musk's millions are more powerful than the fury that Musk provokes among voters.”
www.motherjones.com
March 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Early voting begins today in pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court race
Elon Musk spending $13 million to flip court & elect MAGA judge. After buying Washington he now wants to buy the states
"This race is first referendum on Musk-ism” says @benwikler.bsky.social
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Elon Musk spending $13 million to flip court & elect MAGA judge. After buying Washington he now wants to buy the states
"This race is first referendum on Musk-ism” says @benwikler.bsky.social
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Vik Malhotra
NEW today from @miamiherald.com: more men sent to El Salvador on Saturday have been identified by their families, including a 27-year-old who entered legally at a port of entry in 2023 through the CBP One app and a 29-year-old father of a baby born here last year. Neither have any criminal record.
March 18, 2025 at 1:29 PM
NEW today from @miamiherald.com: more men sent to El Salvador on Saturday have been identified by their families, including a 27-year-old who entered legally at a port of entry in 2023 through the CBP One app and a 29-year-old father of a baby born here last year. Neither have any criminal record.