Mark Armstrong

“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...

President Mandela said, "there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."

My colleague got into Trump's sprawling family detention camp, which is full of toddlers, kids, & teens.

- Kids have cut themselves or talked about suicide

-There's worms & mold in food

-300 kids have been held for 30+ days, far longer court settlement allows

www.propublica.org/article/life...

There are multiple arenas for fighting these: corporate, political, municipal, etc. It’s worth reminding politicians of what happened to other concentration camps after the moment passed—will they want to have blessed this for their district when the trials begin?

Exclusive: Detention Center Captives Are Throwing Lotion Bottles Wrapped With Notes to Organizers Outside Otay Mesa Facility ~ L.A. TACO “For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh," an Otay Mesa captive communicated through handwritten note. "We are all in one big room with no doors...

Concentration camps:

“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."

Hey guess what? @ryanjhaas.bsky.social and I are creating our own news outlet to cover the PNW, launching soon.

Please consider subscribing.

Minneapolis now has daily deportation flights. One man has been documenting them A professional airplane enthusiast has been tracking the federally chartered deportation flights out of the Minneapolis airport as DHS sends immigration detainees to other states and, eventually, othe...

www.npr.org/2026/02/06/n...

‘If you have three quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks’ - Nieman Storyboard Soledad O’Brien on documentary storytelling. Plus: The Power of Narrative conference and the principles of plotting

"The news throughout the early weeks of 2026 reminded us that the concept of “both sides” in journalism is a deeply flawed, and even dangerous, way to think about reporting a story — especially when one side is actively trafficking in disinformation."

niemanstoryboard.org/2026/02/06/i...

Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.

NYT confirming MS NOW reporting:

Prosecutors began investigating Renee Good's killing, then Washington told them to stop.

Federal prosecutors had a warrant to collect evidence from Good's vehicle, but Trump leaders said to drop it. About a dozen prosecutors have since departed.

ICE detainees from Maine being held under ‘inhumane’ conditions in Mass. facility, attorneys say An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the allegations of overcrowding and lack of access to lawyers are false.

Concentration camps: stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food.

When the U.S. Supreme Court said that you could detain people based on their race, their accent, or the language they spoke… there is nothing to preclude ICE from doing that while you’re standing in line getting ready to cast a ballot.

Stacey Abrams
Voting-rights expert

Immigrant whose skull was broken in eight places during ICE arrest says beating was unprovoked A Mexican immigrant whose skull was broken during his arrest by immigration officers last month in Minnesota says the beating was unprovoked.

A Mexican immigrant whose skull was broken during his arrest by immigration officers last month in Minnesota says the beating was unprovoked. A judge ruled his arrest was unlawful.

Opinion | This Is Just Who Trump Is

"For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career...cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism." (gift link)

Transplant recipient arrested by federal agents in Rochester needs medicine, state representative says State Rep. Kim Hicks told MPR News she drove to the Whipple Federal Building near Ft. Snelling Thursday night to give the man his medication but authorities wouldn't take it without a doctor's note. S...

A man taken into custody in Rochester Thursday by federal immigration agents and now held at the Whipple Federal Building in the Twin Cities is a recent organ transplant recipient who is without his needed anti-rejection medication, state Rep. Kim Hicks tells MPR News.

The Washington Post just laid off its entire award-winning photo team. They were our eyes in places we'll never see. It's a horrifying loss at a time when lying governments, propaganda and AI slop are on the rise.

But Liam was scared and frequently asked what they had done wrong, where they were and what happened to the little blue knit hat he wore the day he was detained, Conejo said. There wasn’t much he could say to his son, “except hug him and tell him everything would be OK,” Conejo said. Worried about further upsetting his son, Conejo said, he was forced to bite back his own tears.

Liam has since been reunited with his hat and continues to wear it, even inside the house, his dad said Thursday. Asked how he might one day explain to Liam everything that has happened, Conejo said he would tell his son that he had become the face of hope and change. "He was the global figure who did all this so that the voices of the people demanding freedom would be heard, especially those of the children who are still locked up," Conejo said. “I would tell him he was very brave and that I am very proud of him.”

welp, this destroyed me first thing upon waking up

Free Speech in Deep Freeze - Nieman Reports On the ground in Minnesota, where journalists are working to tell the truth about government-sanctioned violence and spin

My friends at Niemanreports.org asked me to write about the experience of being a journalist on the ground in Minneapolis right now. I knew I wanted to tell reporters elsewhere how even this most hopeless of times has been clarifying and, in some ways, energizing. (1) share.google/ms1wKDQZmgep...

‘If you have three quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks’ - Nieman Storyboard Soledad O’Brien on documentary storytelling. Plus: The Power of Narrative conference and the principles of plotting

My latest newsletter for @niemanstoryboard.org: Featuring @soledadobrien.bsky.social with @cmtapper.bsky.social on documentary storytelling and the Oscar-nominated "The Devil Is Busy," plus links from @thelincoln.bsky.social and @lizkellynelson.com

niemanstoryboard.org/2026/02/06/i...

Free Speech in Deep Freeze - Nieman Reports On the ground in Minnesota, where journalists are working to tell the truth about government-sanctioned violence and spin

"The responses we’ve received from the public about our coverage make it clear that people want and appreciate journalists who hold power to account instead of cozying up to it." @jcollins.bsky.social @niemanreports.org

niemanreports.org/minneapolis-...

Soledad O’Brien on character-driven storytelling in documentaries, and the power of being a witness - Nieman Storyboard The veteran journalist and documentarian shares how her late mother’s act of defiance is a practice we should all embody

On the latest @niemanstoryboard.org podcast, Christina M. Tapper speaks to Soledad O'Brien about character-driven storytelling in documentaries, and an early lesson from her mother in bearing witness.

niemanstoryboard.org/2026/02/05/s...

#journalism #podcasts #longreads

“Something I will be most proud of when I’m 90”: How Jeff Bezos used to talk about The Washington Post, and what’s changed Jeff Bezos used to talk about The Washington Post with real curiosity, and the things he said were interesting and specific. Over time, that changed.

from curiousity at acquisiton to the "democracy dies in darkness" days to "a complexifier for me" to mandates for the opinion section. @laurahazardowen.bsky.social made a timeline of Bezos statements about @washingtonpost.com. www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/some...

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

Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund

We at the @postguild.bsky.social are raising money for the hundreds of journalists the Post just laid off. This goes to the people who are hurting, not the Post. Or if you'd rather, go subscribe to an independent journalist. Support is hugely appreciated.

www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...

I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.

On the latest episode of the @niemanstoryboard.org podcast, journalists Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas join Editor @markarms.bsky.social to discuss the final season of their serialized podcast “Hush."

🎧: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2026/01/22/leah-sottile-ryan-haas-true-crime-podcasting-journalism/

Donate to Support for Matt and the Kids After Regan's Tragic Loss, organized by Carter Fondon Regan Cole-Graham was tragically killed on January 31, 2026 whil… Carter Fondon needs your support for Support for Matt and the Kids After Regan's Tragic Loss

My friend Matt Graham and his family have suffered an unthinkable tragedy. Regan was an amazing person. Here's how you can help support them.

www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...

this particular line is maybe the best statement of purpose i have seen for those of us who want a more militant opposition to this administration

Source: Measles outbreak reported at ICE's Dilley family detention facility DPS troopers stand guard in front of the Dilley detention center during a protest last weekend. After a week of public outcry over the South Texas Family

What a nightmare. “After a week of public outcry over the South Texas Family Residential Center’s treatment of young children behind its walls, the Dilley facility is experiencing a measles outbreak, according to immigration attorney Eric Lee.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

I understand it's hard for some to use the term concentration camp, even for those horrified by what's happening. And there are settings (e.g., court) where it may not be helpful today. The key thing to realize is that there's an arc of how detention regimes tend to go, and we're recognizably on it.

They want to tell you a kid with a Spider-Man backpack is evil Liam Ramos' innocence, like the innocence of all kids, is unimpeachable. The visuals of his arrest are excruciating.

At least 3,800 kids, including 20 infants, have been detained since Donald Trump returned to office.