Steven Renderos

Aura is among the best investigative reporters so this news excites me. We desperately need to understand what is happening to immigrants, to better understand the political moment we all are in.

Today’s Sunday news shows featured a bunch of people talking about Salvadoreans. Yet, not one of them was Salvy. It’s not for a lack of experts, only a lack of trying. Here are a few names in case you were wondering.

Wait, I thought this was satire

DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data Elon Musk may have run tech companies, but building technology for government is an entirely different beast.

And @stevenrenderos.bsky.social, Executive Director of @mediajustice.bsky.social, shared how the choices of the current presidential administration are wrecking protections around tech infrastructure: www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/14/1...

Kilmar Abrego García and Chris Van Hollen, in a photo posted on social media by Senator Van Hollen.

Kilmar Abrego García, Chris Van Hollen, and an unnamed person (presumably an interpreter), in a photo posted on social media by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.

Van Hollen and Bukele couldn’t be more different, but both get to author the story they want to tell. Abrego, meanwhile, is seen but not heard.

A visit is nice. Coming home is better.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the alleged MS-13 gang member who was wrongly deported to El Salvador’s notorious megaprison last month, held the rank “Chequeo” and the street name “Chele” within the vicious criminal organization, newly released documents revealed.

Chele is a common nickname in El Salvador and one that has nothing to do with gang affiliation. Using that as evidence is like claiming every guy who goes by Tony is in the Mob.

The most enduring image of Salvadoreans is as prop for Kristi Noem propaganda. To be Salvadorean in the US means to be hypervisible yet voiceless. I created this starter pack as a way to remind everyone that we’re real people and that we exist. If you’re Salvadorean reach out so I can add you. 🇸🇻

What alarms me is the level of negligence with which technology is being built and adopted right now. It’s an approach Silicon Valley has grown famous on. “Move fast and break things.”

That might work when you’re building a subpar social media platform but not to build tech for govt.

Govt tech is not flashy, it helps make government more accessible. Some positive examples include:
💰 IRS Direct File System
✒️ SSA’s integration of e-signature

Each of these involved a clear challenge, time to get it right, and a constant feedback loop. All things currently being abandoned by DOGE.

When we think of government and tech, we might jump to the debacle that was the rollout of Healthcare.gov.

You might not know is that the precursor to DOGE (US Digital Service) was born out of this failure. Since then federal techies have worked to make using tech to access govt services easy.

New from me in @mittechreviewbr.bsky.social: DOGE’s “tech bro” approach to building tech for government isn’t just inefficient, it’s dangerous.

www-technologyreview-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.tech...

In less than an hour we’ll be going live with the next webinar in our political education series, WTF: The Rise of the Tech Broligarchy.

I’ll be hosting a conversation alongside some amazing groups talking about what we’re seeing at the intersection of tech and immigration.

Tesla Takedown Global Day of Action - Google My Maps This map shows Tesla's US showrooms. A blue raccoon means a protest is already planned at that location. A gray trash can is a location that still needs a host. Data is updated twice daily. Step up to...

Y'all, you are CRUSHING IT! HUGE energy today, and we're already 40% to our US goal for the March 29 #teslatakedown GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION! Reminder—you can use this map to see where there are locations that still need a host to step up! (This map updates 2x daily) www.google.com/maps/d/edit?...

Check out the latest episode of @citationspod.bsky.social. Who knew talking about tech dystopia could be so fun!

In all seriousness, grateful to Citations Needed for helping us make sense of the current moment we're living in. We talk about the grift of AI and the real harms it enables.

I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired.

It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵

TOMORROW (Friday) I’ll be talking with ALVARO BEDOYA about Trump's (attempted) firing of him and his FTC Commissioner colleague Rebecca Slaughter.

We’ll be going live on MediaJustice’s Instagram page at 4p ET/1p PT.

instagram.com/mediajustice?i…

Hope to see you there!

Not surprising the FTC was targeted. They proactively held unchecked corporate power, particularly in tech, accountable.

Of note, FTC does more than work on tech. They’ve gone after grocery stores that price gouge. Kept medicines low. This will hurt everyday people, including Trump’s core base.

This action should be seen as part of broader efforts at expanding executive power. Trump is doing this by testing the boundaries of what he can get away with.

The FTC is an independent agency. He doesn’t “hire” commissioners and therefore can’t “fire” them either. But he will try.

Sharing Rebecca Slaughter’s statement here.

Two commissioners from the Federal Trade Commission were fired by Trump today.

Alvaro Bedoya ( @bedoyaftc.bsky.social) and Rebecca Slaughter have long been champions for everyday people. They also held corporate power accountable. Sharing Bedoya’s statement here:

Excited to share this news.

For years I've watched Jacinta fight the use of tech by ICE at Mijente. Most recently worked on Take Back Tech together.

Tech opposition is bigger, richer, and more destructive. With Jacinta on board we are better positioned to meet the challenges of this moment.

Let’s be honest, a little DEI could’ve helped here

We must challenge this Tech Broligarchy everywhere. Reject their lie that prosperity for few means freedom for all.

Join @mediajustice.bsky.social for our next "WTF: The Rise of the Tech Broligarchy" webinar on March 5th. Link to sign up: mediajustice.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Let's name what's happening: A tech oligarch is turning an opinion page into propaganda for billionaires.

All while Elon Musk executes a soft coup of the federal government.

The levees in our democracy won't hold against the flood of tech money.

Excited to join this conversation today and speak about @mediajustice.bsky.social work responding to over-policing and tech’s role within it.

Looking to make sense of all the chaos that Trump and his merry band of Tech Bros are causing? @mediajustice.bsky.social has got you. Register for this biweekly webinar series that kicks off on 2/19.

We need more of that Kendrick Lamar performing Not Like Us at halftime of the Super Bowl energy for the rest of 2025

HAPPENING TONIGHT: we’re excited to have our ED @stevenrenderos.bsky.social join @paoramos.bsky.social & Lorena Kourousias at NYU Wagner to discuss the evolving relationship between far-right ideologies and Latinx communities and the role of media and tech throughout ⬇️