Beth Williford

Beth Williford

@williford.bsky.social

Sociologist - Qualitative Researcher

322 Followers 821 Following 74 Posts Joined Nov 2024
3 weeks ago

I can't get over this number: in 2007, there were 360,000 newspaper jobs. Now, there are 80,000. "My local paper sucked!" Sure. What sucks even more? The void. "I get all my news from the Guardian!" No, the Guardian doesn't report on your town council, your school board, local cops.

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1 month ago
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Building the camps The warehouseification of detention and initial thoughts on stopping it.

When I got the contract to write a history of concentration camps in 2014, I hoped to keep the US from ending up here. That didn't work out! But now it's critical to understand how much is already in process and the enormity of what's coming. The sooner we act to stop it, the more people we'll save.

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1 month ago
The Board of Governors decided, unilaterally, that no published textbook in the field of sociology could be used in compliance with the law for an Intro to Sociology class. None.
Victor: There's not a single existing textbook on the market that could be used that would qualify under state law?
Zachary: Correct.
Victor: I'm sorry, that's kind of funny. Like, the absurdity of not a single sociology textbook getting past the censors. I mean, it makes me kind of proud of our colleagues, but...

I do want to shout-out my fellow sociologists, who have collectively created a discipline so woke that not a single one of our introductory textbooks can make it past Florida's censors.

Great work everyone.

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1 month ago
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a woman in a black shirt is pointing up at the word this in pink letters ALT: a woman in a black shirt is pointing up at the word this in pink letters
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1 month ago
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Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE 404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, which lets ICE bring up dossiers on individual people and provides a “confidence score” of their address.

A manual for ICE's immigrant-targeting computer system, Palantir ELITE, was leaked today.

Let's look at it, then step back to evaluate how far we've come along a dangerous road and where that road might take us. 🧵

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1 month ago
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Opinion | ICE Took Liam Conejo Ramos. His Classmates Have Something to Say.

ICE Took Liam Conejo Ramos. His Classmates Have Something to Say. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/o...

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1 month ago

This is beautiful.

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1 month ago

I totally get it. 💜

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1 month ago

It’s a lovely thought, but items like that are not allowed in prisons (aka detention centers).

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1 month ago
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three older women are sitting on a couch laughing and dancing . Alt: Blanch, Sofia, and Dorothy from Golden Girls are sitting on a couch laughing and clapping

😆

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1 month ago

This is heartwarming. I bet the reunion and sharing your book with her felt so special.

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1 month ago

Same

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1 month ago

What a delight!

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1 month ago

Thank you for sharing this info.

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1 month ago

Is DHS seeking to pretermit ALL asylum cases or have they devised any rationale for selecting which to export abroad? I’d love to read any investigations or long form reporting on this, if you come across anything.

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1 month ago

Yes, I have been reading and learning more about the ACA - Asylum Cooperative Agreement (Dec 2025) too. My understanding is the Uganda ACA applies to those originally from Africa, whereas applicants from other places are assignrd to Guatemala, Ecuador, or Honduras. It’s absolutely outrageous!!

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1 month ago

ICE actions are not a radical break but an intensification and extension of bipartisan consensus on the need for punitive immigration policy. Since its post-9/11 creation, people have warned that the tools given to ICE would eventually be turned on citizens.

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2 months ago

When you focus on the regular people showing up magnificently in all of their flawed beauty, it helps you to keep going.

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2 months ago

I’m in the middle of this one right now.

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2 months ago

Just added it to my hold list on Libby. Thanks for the recommendation!

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2 months ago

Ouch! That’s one you don’t forget, whew.

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2 months ago
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Immigration Officials Deport Queens 6-Year-Old and Father Who Fled China

NEW: Yuanxin Zheng, the 6-year-old boy from Queens whose separation from his father drew outrage in New York City, has been deported to China with his dad. With @haleaziz.bsky.social

Gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/n...

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3 months ago

Is this the 30L?

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3 months ago
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Same Product, Same Store, but on Instacart, Prices Might Differ

Instacart got caught running real-time price experiments on shoppers — same groceries, different prices.

Workers know this game well: Instacart’s algorithm does the same thing to their pay.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/b...

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3 months ago
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Three-year-old child forced to serve as her own attorney in Tucson immigration court More than a dozen undocumented minors were forced to make their case in front of an immigration judge as the Trump administration ramps up removal proceedings.

There is no sight that more efficiently puts the lie to immigration “court” than the common sight of children “representing themselves.” Children too small to climb into the chair, children in pajamas who don’t know where they are, children not yet old enough to speak.

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3 months ago
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Spotted in Memphis

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3 months ago

Yep. Layaway was the way. Had to go in person to make the weekly payments, too.

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3 months ago
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ICE arrests military spouses during Green Card interviews; families shocked Several foreign-born spouses of US citizens were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while attending green-card interviews in San Diego.

ICE arrested military spouses at green-card interviews. Think about that: people married to U.S. service members, following the legal process, pulled into detention. If even military families aren’t safe, then no one is.

Read: www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/u...

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3 months ago

Oil oil oil, don’t forget that part.

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3 months ago
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ICE Wants to Go After Dissenters as well as Immigrants The Trump administration is being open about its plans to violate Americans’ First and Fourth Amendment rights.

The Trump administration openly says that it will use its domestic spying capabilities to target people who oppose ICE’s actions. And ICE has been bulking up on the latest surveillance technology.

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