@lukethomas.bsky.social
Combat sports analyst. One half of @MorningKombat. Occasional learner.
13.02.2026 15:08 — 👍 214 🔁 40 💬 5 📌 1
Someone should cut a promo on his gross ass sportswashing.
11.02.2026 20:08 — 👍 27 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0!["On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1
More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/bafkreicrroq5taft777rmau2ffjlsphbcatlxnwwigf2yekoke533yycim@jpeg)
"On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1 More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet].
So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination). Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) ¶ 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. ¶ 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. ¶ 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. ¶ 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. ¶ 5. They claim that Secretary Noem’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law. Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary’s decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI. Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem
![has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up,
twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite
country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of
suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified
Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that
she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8
U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all.
See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here
illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section
IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she
ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id.
The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary
unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes,
the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary,
Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to
replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A.
As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS
holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/bafkreid3cmawech25ummuj2tjvgxsrvufma2kmrijlfpglalwddd3qkikq@jpeg)
has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up, twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all. See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id. The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes, the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary, Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A. As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot]
Dkt. 100 (§ 705 Reply) at 20–21.4 “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason” does not exactly scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return. And so, the Government studiously does not argue that Plaintiffs will suffer no harm if removed to Haiti. Instead, it argues Plaintiffs will not certainly suffer irreparable harm because DHS might not remove them. But this fails to take Secretary Noem at her word: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” See Section IV.B.2.b. Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959 lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of them. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.
Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.
It's a tour de force:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
I spoke to @attackerman.bsky.social about how ICE and their tyranny, methods, extra-legal justifications and ethnic cleansing campaign can't be understood properly without realizing ICE is our inheritance from the war on terror.
Truly illuminating from Spencer:
lthomas.substack.com/p/war-on-ter...
A Minnesota woman observing ICE agents in her car was cornered on one-way streets. An agent approached, called her by name—citing facial recognition. Days later, her Global Entry and TSA privileges were revoked, with no explanation.
30.01.2026 11:55 — 👍 16435 🔁 10032 💬 842 📌 1363Weird that hiring away a few checked-out Tory alcoholics from British dailies and emphasizing op eds about Why Your Boss Deserves A Tax Cut didn't deliver better results but what can you do? What, at the end of the day, can you do?
26.01.2026 20:43 — 👍 2307 🔁 367 💬 54 📌 9
As strange and alarming images come out of Minneapolis, I’ve been thinking again about this article @tomscocca.bsky.social published after January 6th 🧵
18.01.2026 15:58 — 👍 242 🔁 54 💬 1 📌 1
To understand ICE's violence mandate, you have to understand Trump has for years claimed policing is too kind, stop-and-frisk was good and that police should have immunity from prosecution. For Trump, ICE is violent because, to him, *that is authentic policing*.
New video: youtu.be/JVa66a3PeIY?...
Markey seems a bit confused here. Qualified immunity applies to state and local police. Feds have almost complete immunity (from civil liability, *not* criminal). It looks like his bill would basically strip any sort of immunity from all of them.
Which is sensible, but definitely won’t pass.
To understand ICE's violence mandate, you have to understand Trump has for years claimed policing is too kind, stop-and-frisk was good and that police should have immunity from prosecution. For Trump, ICE is violent because, to him, *that is authentic policing*.
New video: youtu.be/JVa66a3PeIY?...
New & free Punch-Out on @wrestlingobserver.bsky.social as the inimitable @lukethomas.bsky.social makes his show debut for an extended talk.
We talk about the next stage of Morning Kombat, the evolution of his career, TKO taking over combat sports & lots more.
Links below:
My understanding is that this is for immigrant visas, like the kind for residency and green cards. This is not for tourist visas.
14.01.2026 18:37 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Some tried to turn the lady’s encouragement as a sign she didn’t have legit media chops. She does. And it’s a kind sentiment that people appreciated.
But this chumminess between sports org and media within combat sports has been a total cancer and is part of the reason CS media no longer functions.
There is a crisis of impunity. The Musk/Grok stuff is just one f many examples of people who are counting on there never being any consequences. And it all makes me just incandescently mad.
14.01.2026 00:27 — 👍 4119 🔁 1170 💬 79 📌 86ICE is now behaving in such a way that even Tucker Carlson’s favorite Holocaust minimizing, Hitler-apologist “historian” is like “hey now guys, this is getting a little out of hand.”
12.01.2026 22:06 — 👍 3958 🔁 1460 💬 108 📌 86TKO might try to use their resources to boost Rahm’s political fortunes, but he has no juice with the Dem base. Zero. None. They could parade Rahm at every WWE and UFC event and it would do nothing. He’s the opposite of what the Dem base says they want and what they are voting for currently.
11.01.2026 23:35 — 👍 28 🔁 1 💬 3 📌 0
A few thoughts on the role ICE plays in a larger project of right-wing dominion: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI3j...
09.01.2026 16:56 — 👍 30 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0
A few thoughts on the role ICE plays in a larger project of right-wing dominion: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI3j...
09.01.2026 16:56 — 👍 30 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0Luke is correct. I've been immersed in the MMA ecosystem since the 1st time I skipped school to watch a UFC event on VHS. Until I voluntarily removed myself from it 1 yr ago, this was my life. It is different now. The UFC got what it wanted: An ignorant, compliant audience. Perfect for recruitment.
09.01.2026 15:42 — 👍 20 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 0We've removed the paywall from this guide so everyone can access it. 👇 Stay safe.
08.01.2026 18:35 — 👍 14757 🔁 10283 💬 102 📌 101this was also consensus opinion for center-right types after george floyd’s murder five years ago. the state media apparatus will be working overtime the next few weeks to reprogram them
08.01.2026 00:17 — 👍 6812 🔁 1321 💬 56 📌 12
ICE agent kills woman, DHS tells obvious, insane lies about it: defector.com/ice-agent-ki...
07.01.2026 20:47 — 👍 1435 🔁 470 💬 30 📌 35Every video showing ICE agents is them acting without restraint. Pinning a pregnant woman to the ground, pointing weapons at bystanders unprovoked. Those who want you to not believe your lying eyes today also want you to not believe anything you've ever seen about ICE agents.
07.01.2026 20:44 — 👍 71 🔁 16 💬 0 📌 0
ICE is recruiting UFC fans to be deportation officers, further proof that MMA and the UFC are a vector for right-wing politics in the U.S.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwpV...
It has never been more important in my lifetime to support independent media than right now.
05.01.2026 12:09 — 👍 48 🔁 11 💬 2 📌 1
RIP absolute legend
deadline.com/2025/12/isia...
Exclusive: A year after Tenet Media was busted for funneling Russian money to MAGA pundits like Benny Johnson and Tim Pool, a Trump administration effort involving State and the FBI has welcomed Tenet's founders back into the US. @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/lauren-che...
30.12.2025 01:23 — 👍 1478 🔁 868 💬 65 📌 114Maybe you good folks can help me.
I’ve cancelled my subs to WaPo and NYT (Gaza coverage, oligarch takeover, etc). I subscribe to many Substacks and indie media outlets, but I don’t really have a place to go for what we would consider traditional news reporting.
Is there a solution to this?
These mf'ers will say this and then without a shred of irony claim the left has gotten extreme and the right has stayed the same.
26.12.2025 05:00 — 👍 32 🔁 10 💬 2 📌 0
