Ethan Corey

How Portland’s ICE protests took the national stage In this first episode of the documentary series “The Crackdown," OPB takes a look at the protests in Portland, where nightly demonstrations on a single city block escalated into a test of presidential...

OPB experts doing a series on protests at portland ice building and federal response

“The Crackdown”
Part 1 in doc series now w part 2 in spring

www.opb.org/article/2026...

They Were Convicted of Killing Their Abusers. A New Law Offered a Second Chance at Freedom. An Oklahoma law was supposed to help reduce the sentences of women who killed their abusers. Why are nearly all of them still in prison?

Always, always, always read @pamelacolloff.bsky.social:

DHS axed its civil rights staff—and opened the door to a major lawsuit The agency is now barely pretending to follow disability law. Its former civil rights head says that makes ICE vulnerable.

A recent Congressional letter accuses DHS of not being compliant with a major civil rights law due to the mistreatment of disabled ICE detainees. As I reported for @motherjones.com, this is worsened by the fact DHS' office for civil rights has TWO EMPLOYEES now.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Activists Want the City to Enforce Code Against the Dallas ICE Field Office. Can It Be Done? Cities across the state and nation are finding ways to hold ICE accountable. Will Dallas?

The Dallas ICE field office is the #2 office in terms of arrests. We found the office has routinely violated federal limits on detention, even as that limit has expanded. Family members of detainees have alleged inhumane treatment. Activists want the city to act.

www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/...

...worth noting that the word "gender" doesn't appear once on that page (except in the disclaimer), nor does the EJI dataset include any data on gender or sexuality.

In other words, the disclaimer does not reflect reality and therefore the Administration and this Department ought to reject it!

Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website to its version as of 12:00 AM on January 29, 2025. Information on this page may be modified and/or removed in the future subject to the terms of the court’s order and implemented consistent with applicable law. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from truth. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology due to the harms and divisiveness it causes. This page does not reflect reality and therefore the Administration and this Department reject it.

Fun (?) disclaimer on the CDC's Environmental Justice Index page, which was taken down and later restored after a court order:

"This page does not reflect reality and therefore the Administration and this Department reject it."

spreesheet showing recent LASD in custody death of 65 year old white male at ICU on 2/13/26

LA jails just posted their 10th in-custody death for this year:

How a Planned Disney World Vacation Turned Into Four Months in Immigration Detention A 9-year-old shares her story of being held at the nation’s only operating detention center for immigrant families in Dilley, Texas.

Imagine being a child, thinking you're going to the "Most Magical Place on Earth" ...and instead you and your mom end up in “Dilleylandia”: www.propublica.org/article/ice-...

‘A Different Set of Rules’: Drone Footage Shows AI Power Plant Flouting Clean Air Act A Floodlight visual investigation reports that the xAI gas plant in Southaven, Mississippi, continues to use unpermitted gas turbines.

An investigation by Floodlight News shows xAI's gas plant in Southaven, Mississippi, is still burning gas despite a recent Environmental Protection Agency ruling reiterating that doing so requires a state permit in advance.

www.mississippifreepress.org/a-different-...

In Iowa, Prosecutors Want to Bring Back Court Fees as Bargaining Chips The state’s high court recently ended the practice of making defendants pay fees for charges that get dismissed. Prosecutors are backing legislation to undo the court’s ruling so they can keep using fees as leverage for plea deals.

A subcommittee of Iowa lawmakers has recommended passage of a bill that would once again allow judges and prosecutors to charge defendants court fees in dismissed cases. The practice was ended by a state Supreme Court ruling last month.

A line chart going from Jan 2009 to Jan 2026 showing very few cases until Trump’s second term, where the line takes off nearly vertically, showing more than 6,600 cases in Jan 2026 alone.

Habeas cases filed by immigrants claiming their detention is illegal have taken off to levels we have never seen before. Just look at that chart.

www.propublica.org/article/habe...

Case 1:25-cv-02463-JMC Document 55-1 Filed 02/09/26 Page 2 of 2 Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528 DEPARTMEN Homeland Security MEMORANDUM FOR: FROM: SUBJECT: February 2, 2026 Todd. M. Lyons Acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Rodney Scott Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection James H. Percival Il General Counsel Holly C. Mehringer Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Chief Financial Officer Kristi Noon at ar Secretary of Homelet Security Congressional Access to Alien Detention Facilities - Ratification of Access Policy and Use of Appropriations for Enforcement On January 8, 2026, I issued a new policy directing that requests by Members of Congress to visit an ICE facility be submitted at least seven days in advance of the visit.' On February 2, 2026, in Neguse v. ICE, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia temporarily enjoined DHS from enforcing that policy or otherwise requiring any plaintiff to provide advance notice before conducting oversight visits for a period of 14 days.? The court concluded that DHS's policy remains inconsistent with Section 527(b) of the Department's appropriation. It is odd that the court issued this decision given the appropriation containing Section 527(b) lapsed on January 31, 2026. As a result of the lapse, Section 527 is not currently in effect. Therefore, as of this date, I am issuing this new policy that is identical in substance to the January 8 access policy. The General Counsel will provide further guidance regarding the effective date of this policy in light of the court's order. ' This updated policy-issued as a result of the case against ICE-was directed to ICE. Neither CBP nor its policy has been involved in the case to date. In light of today's decision, however, I am also issuing that policy as to CBP. 2 Neguse v. ICE, No. 25-2463, Memorandum Op. at 9 (D.D.C. Feb. 2, 2026).

BREAKING: On February 2, Sec. Noem issued a memo asserting the lapse in appropriations for DHS meant there is no Sec. 527 — the provision protecting congressional oversight visits to immigration detention facilities — and she was issuing a new (third) policy requiring seven-day notice for visits.

Inside ICE’s Only Contract with a Blue State - Bolts Luis Perez waited 53 and a half years to be freed from prison. When his day finally came, on Jan. 16, 2025, he could practically feel the warmth and quiet... Read More

Massachusetts is the only state run by Democrats that still partners with ICE. I dug into this and found that it’s had profound and very troubling consequences: at least 164 people funneled straight from state prisons to ICE since 2023 alone.

New in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/massachusett...

Trump DOJ Files 9/11-Era Charges Against Leftists Across the Country Across the country, federal prosecutors are upgrading what would have been routine...

The Trump admin has used 2339A—the “material support for terrorism” statute—against Black Lives Matter protesters in Alabama and anti-ICE demonstrators in Texas.

The ex-DOJ prosecutor who pioneered the use of 2339A says he's never seen anything like it.

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-d...

BREAKING: A 5th Circuit panel has backed ICE's mass detention policy, a decision that clears the way for the administration to lock up people who are in immigration proceedings

It's a 2-1 ruling
Majority: Jones (Reagan), Duncan (Trump)
Minority: Douglas (Obama)

s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

UPDATE: The layoffs announcements at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are trickling in. They include:

• Allie Gross, an investigative reporter, and
• Jozsef Papp, a crime and public safety reporter

So far, all of the (publicly) laid-off reporters are women and/or people of color.

ICE-Cold Cash: Private Prison Companies and Executives Have Donated Millions to Members of Congress Find out if your representatives have taken cash from the companies fueling ICE’s mass deportation efforts.

@ethanscorey.bsky.social and I have published a database of congressmembers who take money from GEO Group + CoreCivic. Find out if your reps have taken cash from the companies fueling ICE’s mass deportation efforts. Published in @theappeal.org + @inthesetimes.com. theappeal.org/ice-cold-cas...

cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

State prisons in US grew deadlier and more violent amid guard shortage, review finds The US locks away more people than any other nation, including about 1 million people in state-run prisons. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

DOJ: The death rate among state prisoners increased 47% between 2019 and 2024 ... The deaths include homicides, suicides and violence, and the report concluded that understaffing and high turnover “likely contribute” to the increase

New: Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray and HR Chief Wayne Connell tell employees to stay home for a zoom webinar ahead of “significant actions across the company.” Widely expected layoffs are scheduled to begin today.

In Bay Area, Felony Charges Against Student Protesters Prompt Free Speech Concerns - Bolts German Gonzalez grew up about an hour south of Stanford University, in a dusty California farming town where the apples for Martinelli’s sparkling cider are juiced and packaged. In high... Read More

In the Bay Area, local prosecutors have charged student protesters who participated in pro-Palestine demonstrations with felony-level charges that critics are warning are setting a dangerous template for law enforcement responses.

@psfrench.bsky.social reports on what's going on in this new piece:

Among the batch of newly released emails from Jeffrey Epstein: Epstein telling Peter Thiel he would “gladly share…expenses for the Gawker suit.”

This was sent the day after @rmac.bsky.social and @mattdrange.bsky.social reported in Forbes that Thiel was behind the lawsuit that would bankrupt Gawker

A young poet wrote his way out of prison in the early 1900s It was 1905 and 19-year-old Carter had just started his ten year sentence – arrested for burglarizing the station in Karlstad, MN, while hopping trains westward. He’d taken $24 to buy food and shelter...

Ooops. I left out the link. It's from @mathewingram.com's daily send of serendipities: newsletter.mathewingram.com/a-young-poet...

How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are

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.

Send Us Your Questions on Local and State Responses to ICE How are neighbors jumping into action and what powers do state and local officials have to restrict ICE or hold agents accountable? We want to know what you’re wondering.

NEW in Bolts: How are neighbors jumping into action and what powers do state and local officials have to restrict ICE or hold agents accountable? Send us your questions.

Judge Names Former C.I.A. Officer to Take Control of Rikers

The federal judge overseeing Rikers has finally chosen someone to run NYC's jails, wresting control from the city - a former CIA officer and former head of Vermont Department of Corrections:

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/n...

Keith Rabois has been a Thiel acolyte since they were both at Stanford. Rabois infamously harassed a gay instructor, shouting slurs and telling him to "die of AIDS" outside his home.

(Rabois is also friends with Sam Altman--Altman officiated Rabois's wedding to Jacob Helberg, a Trump tech advisor.)

Post Parting Depression Looming cuts at The Washington Post threaten to decimate key coverage areas as staffers question the motives and commitment of billionaire owner Jeff Bezos.

News: The Washington Post is preparing to slash upwards of 300 staffers, incl sports, metro and foreign desks @nataliekorach.bsky.social reports.

“The newsroom is being punished for absolute incompetence from the owner and publisher,” one staffer told @status.news
www.status.news/p/washington...

A Texas inmate's cat fundraiser went viral. Solitary confinement followed. "Despite what this prison does to me, it's the cats that make me want to be a better person."

NEW: I spoke with the Texas inmate who was put in solitary confinement after a GoFundMe for her sick prison cat went viral. While she's since been returned to regular housing, she and her longtime friend worry that more retaliation could be on the way.
www.chron.com/culture/arti...