Rachel Levinson-Waldman

Last July, we warned that the administration’s policy against “woke AI” would heap pressure on the tech industry to quash dissent.

Today, it is pressuring industry to roll back safeguards aimed at preventing the mass surveillance of Americans, and lethal targeting without human oversight.

Such a treat to have this conversation with Mary C Curtis!

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

This is astonishing. A must read. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The SAVE Act could block millions of Americans from voting. It is not common sense. If passed, it would be the first time in history Congress passed a vote suppression law. #SOTU

The Bad Voting Bill that Refuses to Die The SAVE Act would stop millions of eligible Americans from voting.

The SAVE Act would make voting harder for millions of Americans. It’s based on the lie that noncitizens routinely vote in our elections — the truth is that noncitizen voting is already illegal and vanishingly rare. bit.ly/4qS8wBr

Interested in Anthropic v DOD? Important thread below from expert on military use of AI 👇👇👇

How ICE Will Spy On Protesters, And How You Can Protect Your Privacy Jake Laperruque explains how ICE’s expanding surveillance tools can track protesters through phones, faces, and vehicles.

Great piece by @jakelaperruque.bsky.social about how ICE is spying on observers and protesters and what Congress and state and local legislatures should do to stop it. www.techpolicy.press/how-ice-will...

And this is why ICE reform needs to include halting its intensifying surveillance of people exercising their First Amendment rights. Per @rlevinsonwaldman.bsky.social and colleagues.

Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision; Arrival and Departure Record (Form I-94) and Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review an...

CBP wants to collect social media handles from the roughly 14.5 million travelers visiting annually from countries deemed our “close allies.”

This proposal comes after the administration has openly declared its intent to use social media to screen people for speech it doesn’t like. 1/

Let’s be clear: This isn’t just about antifa. It’s about criminalizing speech the administration doesn’t like. Today's trial in Texas is a test case. If these charges stick, the precedent will outlast this administration. 9/fin

Antifa members indicted in Texas ICE facility riot, attempted murder of officer The Justice Department indicted nine Antifa members and charged seven more in a Texas ICE facility attack that left a police officer wounded.

This framework is now driving indictments. In November, AG Pam Bondi told Fox News: "Expect similar cases to come as we dismantle antifa." That's not law enforcement. It’s political targeting. And it's outrageous and un-American. 8/ www.foxnews.com/us/antifa-me...

Trump’s Version of “Domestic Terrorism” vs. the First Amendment The administration has given itself permission to prosecute people and organizations for their political views.

The range of suspect "ideologies" is breathtakingly broad. It includes "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity" and "extremism on migration, race, and gender.” The practical effect would be to criminalize dissent. 7/ www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

How NSPM-7 Seeks to Use "Domestic Terrorism" to Target Nonprofits and Activists | ACLU What President Donald Trump’s latest memorandum targeting civil society does, does not, and cannot do.

These designations have no basis in fact or in law. Antifa is not a group or an organization; it’s a decentralized movement. And the president has no legal or constitutional authority to designate a group as a domestic terrorist organization. 6/ www.aclu.org/news/nationa...

Trump’s Orders Targeting Anti-Fascism Aim to Criminalize Opposition Purporting to go after “domestic terrorism,” the president presents an imagined left-wing conspiracy and authorizes punishments for even tenuous connections to speech the administration doesn’t like.

The Trump administration laid the groundwork for these domestic terrorism prosecutions in two orders last fall, designating “antifa” as a “domestic terrorism organization” and listing a range of vague “ideologies” purportedly motivating terrorism. 5/ www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

The Feds Want to Make It Illegal to Even Possess an Anarchist Zine Daniel Sanchez is facing federal charges for what free speech advocates say is a clear attack on the First Amendment.

Some of the people charged weren't even at the demonstration. And some of them are being punished literally for having a box of magazines. Publishing and sharing speech is at the heart of the First Amendment – even speech that feels radical to some. 4/ theintercept.com/2025/11/23/p...

But prosecutors are calling the incident an “antifa attack” on the fed govt. And DOJ is stretching a statute criminalizing "material support” for terrorism—typically used against people aiding foreign terrorist groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda—to apply it to U.S. citizens protesting on American soil. 3/

The public facts of the case: Activists gathered at the Prairieland, TX ICE facility. Some set off fireworks or spray-painted cars. The protest escalated. A police officer was shot and injured. That is extremely serious - and whoever shot the officer should be held accountable under the law. 2/

Trump wants to prosecute anti-fascists as terrorists. This Texas trial will test his power. A July 4 shooting at an ICE detention center could change the way the federal government prosecutes activists.

A federal trial starts today in N. Texas, & every American who cares about the First Amendment should be watching. Nine protesters face charges — incl. "providing material support" to terrorists — related to a demonstration outside an ICE detention facility on July 4. 1/ www.ms.now/news/antifa-...

Read Brandy's whole piece - it is such an important deep dive into what this trial means. www.ms.now/news/antifa-...

Trump wants to prosecute anti-fascists as terrorists. This Texas trial will test his power. A July 4 shooting at an ICE detention center could change the way the federal government prosecutes activists.

Federal prosecutors in Texas are seeking to convict protesters on "domestic terrorism"-related charges. The chilling implication: anything that feels "at odds with this administration’s policies could be considered domestic terrorism," says @rlevinsonwaldman.bsky.social.

This is truly breathtaking.

What. On. Earth.

As the past two months have shown, anyone can be called a domestic terrorist - even victims of state violence. Congress & the public must continue to push on this, to demand answers, and to say clearly that calling your opponents domestic terrorists is not consistent with a robust democracy.

Revealed: how the FBI targeted environmental activists in domestic terror investigations Protesters were characterized as a threat to national security in what one calls an attempt to criminalize their actions

Unfortunately this is not unprecedented; the FBI has a history of targeting climate activists & other progressive domestic advocacy groups. But that doesn't make it normal, and whatever checks previously existed - however inadequate - have likely been erased. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019...

FBI Counterterrorism Agents Spent Weeks Seeking a Climate Activist — Then Showed Up at His Door The visit suggests a possible FBI probe into Extinction Rebellion NYC as the Trump administration increases surveillance of activist groups.

We're seeing it play out in real time. The Intercept recently reported that in early Feb., a climate activist was visited at his home by FBI agents, including one w/ a joint terrorism task force, which Trump and Bondi have tasked w/ investigating domestic terrorism. theintercept.com/2026/02/12/f...

Trump’s Version of “Domestic Terrorism” vs. the First Amendment The administration has given itself permission to prosecute people and organizations for their political views.

Trump backed off calling Renee Good & Alex Pretti domestic terrorists because people didn't like it. But as I wrote, the admin is still doubling down on the use of domestic terrorism investigations to scare Americans away from using their First Amendment rights. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Wine glass sitting on top of barbells.

It has been a week. I wanted to work out. I also wanted some wine. I decided to combine them. Everything is fine.

IT HAS BEEN A WEEK

Opinion | Trump Says He Wants to Cancel Elections, but Here Is the Real Threat

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/o...
👇👇👇

“But more to the point, it’s election subversion, not cancellation, that is the real authoritarian move. The goal is to keep elections going but without unseating those in power.”

Yesterday we learned that the Department of Justice is monitoring and tracking members of Congress’s searches of the Epstein files. There’s no sugar coating it: the administration is spying on lawmakers as they exercise their constitutional oversight responsibilities. 1/10