Yemile Bucay

“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.

For the first time since she was freed from an immigration prison, Rümeysa Öztürk speaks. And she does so by ... writing:

"Writing is the heart of freedom of expression. Unbelievably, this single opinion piece, published in our student newspaper, would lead to my arrest and detention."

Summer Heat in Prison: Just How Hot Are Our Nation’s Prisons? Prison writers from across the U.S. describe how hot their prisons get in the summer. One prison reached 117 degrees.

Just How Hot Are Our Nation’s Prisons?

Human Trafficking’s Newest Abuse: Forcing Victims Into Cyberscamming Tens of thousands of people from across Asia have been coerced into defrauding people in America and around the world out of millions of dollars. Those who resist face beatings, food deprivation or…

Tens of thousands of people from across Asia have been coerced into defrauding people in America and around the world out of millions of dollars.

Those who resist face beatings, food deprivation or worse.

(Published 2022)

11 key allegations made in Erez Reuveni's whistleblower disclosure about DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche attacked the claims as "falsehoods," but many of the fired longtime DOJ lawyer's allegations are already backed up by public facts.

The claim that Emil Bove told DOJ lawyers they might have to say "fuck you" to court orders rightfully shocked people. The full scope of lawyer Erez Reuveni's claims, however, paints an even more damning picture.

At Law Dork, here are 11 key allegations from the whistleblower disclosure —>

The Minnesota shooter apparently used data broker websites to find the home addresses of the people he shot and murdered.

Congress has had years to do something about data brokers and they've sided with the tech lobby over and over again.

Their inaction is deadly.

161. The Court's Disastrous Ruling in the Third-Country Removal Case The majority did not just greenlight an especially odious immigration policy without any explanation; it did so in a case in which the government defied the district court—twice—with no consequence.

Today’s unsigned, unexplained #SCOTUS ruling clearing the way for removals of migrants to third countries without any additional process is a disaster—not just on the merits, but because of the government misbehavior that it not only refuses to punish, but effectively rewards.

Me, via “One First”:

I have reviewed the Declaration of David T. Wesling. In my 16 years of practice, I have not seen or even heard of an ICE detainee arrested in Massachusetts being booked and repeatedly moved in the manner described in that declaration. I have never seen or even heard of an ICE detainee arrested in Massachusetts being moved to Methuen, Massachusetts, then Lebanon, New Hampshire, then St. Albans, Vermont, within a matter of hours. The conduct described in Mr. Wesling's declaration is, in short, highly irregular. Executed on April 2, 2025, in Boston, MA. Stefanie Fisher-Pinkert

13. I have reviewed the Declaration of David Wesling. The procedures described therein for Ms. Ozturk are not consistent with anything I have ever observed in my 17 years of immigration practice. I have never seen or even heard of an immigrant booked in 14 minutes. I have never seen a client transferred twice in the same day. The fastest transfer I recall seeing was 24 hours after initial placement. I do not recall ever seeing a client arrested in Massachusetts be detained in St. Albans, Vermont. I have never seen an F-1 revocation where the noncitizen was arrested and detained on the street, by masked men, with no prior notice that the visa had been revoked. To the best of my memory, in each of the F-1 revocations I have seen, the noncitizens' alleged actions leading to the visa revocation would (if true) have been clearly in violation of the terms of the visa (e.g., the immigrant was no longer attending the listed school, the immigrant had overstayed the visa). I have never before seen an F-1 visa revoked, and the student arrested without prior notice of the revocation, based on an op-ed published in a school newspaper. Executed on April 2, 2025, in Boston, MA. Heather Yountz

6. CCJ provides our clinic with daily data concerning, among other things, the number of civil immigration detainees housed in its facility. Paragraphs 7-11 below summarize voluminous writings that cannot be conveniently examined in court, in part because they contain personally identifying information concerning certain persons housed in CCJ. 7. On March 7, 2025, records indicated that approximately 27 civil immigration detainees were housed in Pod C3 at CCJ. Pod C3 is the female housing unit. 8. On March 7, 2025, records indicated that approximately 62 total female detainees, including civil immigration detainees, were housed at CCJ. 9. On March 25, 2025, records indicated that approximately 19 civil immigration detainees were housed in Pod C3 (the female housing unit) at CCJ. 10. On March 26, 2025, records indicated that approximately 18 civil immigration detainees were housed in Pod C3 (the female housing unit) at CCJ. 11. On March 26, 2025, records indicated that approximately 46 total female detainees, including civil immigration detainees, were housed at CCJ. 12. Based on my review of these records, and my extensive experience working with CCJ and detainees at CCJ over more than a decade, I conclude that there were at least 16 open beds to house additional female detainees at CCJ on March 25 & 26, 2025. 13. Throughout my years of experience working with the immigrant population in northern New England, I have never heard of an ICE detainee being arrested in Massachusetts and being transferred to Methuen, MA, Lebanon, NH, and then St. Albans, VT in a matter of hours. Executed on April 2, 2025, in Boston, MA. Anna R. Welch

6. The St. Albans Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office serves as a subordinate office to the ICE Boston Field Office and is where ICE conducts Enforcement and Removal Operations including supervision. It is a small administrative office that has been staffed by visiting officers on secondment from southern districts for several years since marked attrition over 2020 and 2021. In my years of practice in Vermont, I have only ever seen or heard of people being detained at the St. Albans office upon initial arrest in Vermont. I have never previously seen or heard of people from other states being transferred into the St. Albans Office for detention. 7. Last year, ICE Boston Field Office and St. Albans Sub-Office leadership called a meeting with Vermont immigration legal services providers in Burlington, Vermont to introduce us to new management who would be permanently staffing the office. There, I had the chance to personally meet with Boston and St. Albans ICE leadership, solicit their practice and prosecutorial discretion priorities, exchange contact information to facilitate more efficient resolution of represented parties' immigration custody and removal proceedings. I understood from this engagement and have heard confirmed by numerous and pro bonos I supervise, that the St. Albans office is a small, simple administrative office not suitable for long-term custody and detention. 8. Moreover, in my seven years of practicing in Vermont and serving as a local expert on immigration matters, I have never once encountered the case of a detained person who is being transferred into Vermont for the purposes of continued ICE detention. I have only encountered individuals being held in Vermont who were initially detained in Vermont and being held temporarily on their way to longer term detention in nearby over-72-hour facilities. It is even more extraordinary for a person to be transferred into the St. Albans ICE office, which is a government office and not a det…

NEW: Rümeysa Öztürk's latest filings include a strong set of declarations from a number of experienced immigration lawyers in MA, NH, VT, and ME who say the way Öztürk was rapidly shuttled out of state and then from place to place was highly unusual, illogical, and (by all appearances) unnecessary.

Two-thirds of both houses of Congress could undo this whenever they want by passing a bill over Trump's veto taking all power to set tariff rates away from him. Tariffs are set by law. The Constitution gives the president no power over tariffs--only our current laws do that.

If more Americans realized just how fundamentally bad at business Trump always has been, then maybe we wouldn’t be in the mess. But the media at large—news, publishing, TV, social—has always upheld this myth. It’s part of the myth of capitalism itself

CNN got one right

This guy is in one of the worst prisons in the world with no way out and may spend the rest of his life there because, it appears, he has an autism awareness tattoo in honor of his little brother.

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

Exactly.

The Argentinian organizers we spoke with tonight spoke about this kind of violence (there and here) as a form of communication.

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

Dozens more pregnant and postpartum women have died in Texas hospitals since the state banned abortion, our analysis shows.

As the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, it rose in Texas by 33%.

Why Bukele opened his infamous prison to Trump Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has sharply reduced violence but is criticized for his authoritarian style and harsh crackdown on gangs.

WHAT DOES BUKELE GET FOR TAKING IN VENEZUELANS DEPORTED BY THE UNITED STATES? Cash, a U.S. seal of approval for his human rights-challenged prisons and gang leaders who might otherwise have testified against him in U.S. courts Mary Beth Sheridan reports
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

When civil society institutions — big law firms, Ivy League institutions — cave to Trump rather than fight what appear to be illegal demands, do they expect him to be satisfied and stop? Do they believe others should step in and fight where they have not?

As a Jewish Columbia alum, disgusted to see this capitulation of the university to a fascist regime under the pretense of fighting antisemitism

Vichy Columbia

Amidst an increasingly hostile environment, the Helpline has been extended through the first 100 days of the Trump administration. U.S. journalists and news outlets concerned about their safety can email urgentcare[at]electionsos[dot]org with “SAFETY” in the subject line for safety consults. (2/3)

I think this is our future unless someone stops him. Musk’s plan for X has been for it to replace the entire banking system. His keen interest in seizing control of Treasury payments (and its tech) may forebode an intention to have such payments go through X www.theverge.com/2023/10/26/2...

We're witnessing the wholesale hijacking of the federal government by a single billionaire. Struggling to think of a parallel in American history.

I hope people see how truly alarming this is:

1. Musk's team, who may not even be US govt employees yet, have complete access to OPM's databases of PII on federal employees and have locked out career employees

2. Musk's people trying to do same with THE US TREASURY MASTER PAYMENT SYSTEM 🚨

So if I’m understanding today correctly, the world’s richest person Elon Musk, whom no one elected, is taking over federal payment systems and employee data while the federal employees who investigate and prosecute public corruption are being fired en masse.

Edmonds School District cancels immigrant rights event after threats On social media, commenters threatened to take pictures and use the meeting to help immigration officers with enforcement.

Let’s talk about what the authoritarian aggression we know is coming will look like. Built on an existing system of political harassment, it’s already taking shape, as it did this week in my neck of the woods. Thread. 1/26

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Long shot ask: Anyone know what state is of the Al Faranj synagogue in the old Jewish Quarter in Damascus (very near Talisman Hotel)? The elderly people who took care of it all passed away in the past few years. (Last synagogue in Syria after Assad destroyed the one in Jobar in 2013)

#damascus

Tears of joy and sadness as ‘disappeared’ Syrians emerge from Assad’s prisons Men, women and children, many jailed for speaking out against regime, reunite with their families

“Raghad al-Tatary, a pilot who refused to bomb the city of Hama during the uprising against Hafez al-Assad in the 1980s, was freed after 43 years; Tal al-Mallouhi, 19 when she was arrested in 2009 for a blogpost criticising state corruption, was found alive.”
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

The red ropes seen in the video were used for daily executions in Sednaya Prison. They should stand as one of the symbols of the dark era Syria endured under the rule of the Assad family and their prisons.

So, that was it. Oral arguments in US vs Skrmetti is now in the history books, though the judgement won't come until June.

I haven't read other commentary. Not yet. I wanted to write a thread of my impressions first, and see what the experts are saying afterwards. 🧵

We have to hire armed guards for the high holidays. A couple of randos yelled "fucking kikes" at my kids out of a car window last year. There have been *multiple* high profile antisemitic murders over the past several years. But don't worry, this goyish lady is here to tell us it's NBD, really.

the frenzy over the hunter biden pardon is a good reminder that the press knows how to make something a scandal and has decided that nothing trump does is truly deserving of that treatment

The helpline provides one-on-one support for digital, physical, psychosocial & legal concerns like threats, arrests & doxing. Created by Knight Election Hub, PEN America, @jejem.bsky.social @yemile.bsky.social Ramy Ghaly & a team of safety organizations @freedom.press @pressfreedom.bsky.social (3/3)