Udi Ofer

Definitely not one or the other. Organizing influences litigation and court rulings, and litigation and court rulings influence organizing. It's a symbiotic relationship. And then there is also the role of policymaking in all this.

States Rush to Remove Hurdles Stopping U.S. Agents From Being Sued for Shootings The fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good are driving these state efforts to allow federal officials, including ICE agents, to be held liable for civil-rights abuses.

One of the lasting legacies of Trump 2.0 will be the wake up call that lead states to adopt new laws that allow lawsuits to hold federal law enforcement, including agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, liable for committing civil rights violations. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Amazing. Would love to learn what you find out! Ty.

It makes sense you can't find good data since that would require asking people about their immigration status, which would defeat the point of ITINs for undocumented immigrants. But when I was an immigration attorney, I used to recommend that my clients file their federal taxes, which required ITIN

Historically, ITIN numbers were available to undocumented immigrants to allow them to pay taxes. But these days, while ITINs are still available regardless of status, DHS is seeking data from Treasury on who gets ITINs, which does complicate things. It's currently in litigation.

Amazing

Ends decision with a signature line that includes a photo of Liam Ramos.

Incredible decision by TX federal judge ordering release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, explaining "case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas...even if it requires traumatizing children" storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

New Jersey overdose deaths hit lowest point since the pandemic New Jersey is celebrating a significant drop in overdose deaths, with the latest figures showing a decrease to 1,312 in 2025, emphasizing ongoing education and support.

Fatal overdoses drop in New Jersey to the lowest levels since the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline in deaths is far outpacing the national average as New Jersey overdose deaths fall to five-year low nj1015.com/new-jersey-o...

Opinion | Time for ICE to Pause in Minneapolis Alex Pretti made a mistake, but he wasn’t a ‘domestic terrorist.’

Wall Street Journal editorial board calls for ICE to leave Minnesota. Explain that after the shooting of Renee Good, both Minnesota Democrats and Trump had a chance to calm the furies. But Trump instead sent 1,000 more immigration officers on top of 2,000 already there www.wsj.com/opinion/time...

Few Voters Say Trump’s Second Term Has Made the Country Better, Poll Finds

57 percent of voters think Mr. Trump has been focusing on the wrong issues — including a whopping 69 percent of voters under 30, more than any other age group. Few voters say Trump’s second term has made the country better www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...

ACLU-NJ Celebrates Final Round of Releases Under The Clemency Project - ACLU of New Jersey The ACLU of New Jersey celebrates Governor Murphy’s announcement today of 51 commutations and 97 pardons, including 16 of the ACLU-NJ's Clemency Project clients.

NEW: On his last day in office, @govmurphy.bsky.social announced a final round of clemency for 148 people, including 16 of our Clemency Project clients.

This is the largest day of clemency action in modern New Jersey history.

www.aclu-nj.org/press-releas...

Alarming trends in executions in 2025 raise serious human rights concerns – UN Human Rights GENEVA – While the overall global trend continues to move towards universal abolition of the death penalty, the world has witnessed a sharp hike in the number of executions in 2025, primarily due to a...

While the overall global trend continues to move towards death penalty abolition, the world witnessed a sharp hike in number of executions in 2025. And we don't even know the full story, as countries like China & North Korea shroud the death penalty in secrecy
www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

Demetrius Minor: "That is how we honor Kirk — not with another killing [though the death penalty], but with a commitment to the principles that defined his faith and, I hope, will guide our nation forward." "The death penalty is not justice for Charlie Kirk’s killer" thehill.com/opinion/crim...

Israel and Arab Nations Ask Trump to Refrain From Attacking Iran

As the Pentagon began moving some troops from Qatar in anticipation of a potential US attack against Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel asked President Trump to postpone any plans for an American military attack on Iran www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...

The Iranian Regime Could Fall But a U.S. strike would prop it up.

The recent demonstrations in Iran unite men and women from a range of socioeconomic classes and professions: merchants, public and private employees, students, seminarians, public intellectuals, and moderate Shiite clerics. www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/iranian...

New High of 45% in U.S. Identify as Political Independents A new high of 45% of U.S. adults identified as political independents in 2025.

In recent Gallup poll, an average of 47% of Americans identified as Democrats or said they were independents who lean toward Democratic Party, while 42% identified as Republicans or leaned Republican. This breaks 3-year stretch in which Republicans held an edge news.gallup.com/poll/700499/...

Spent the morning with @govmurphy.bsky.social at New Hope Baptist Church as he signed an executive order allowing people with past felony convictions to serve on juries in NJ, ending a lifetime ban that affected hundreds of thousands of people and restoring dignity to our neighbors, family & friends

DHS policy did state that firearms shall not be discharged solely to disable moving vehicles. But DHS policy didn't include same level of detail as DOJ policy on what to do when there is a legitimate threat. Didn't include the "no other reasonable means" standard & example of an officer moving. 4/4

DHS updated its own policy on February 6, 2023, as mandated by Biden EO but didn't include same exact provision as DOJ. DHS reiterated current deadly force standard under federal constitutional law (reasonable belief subject of such force poses imminent threat of death/serious bodily injury). 3/4

The 2022 DOJ policy made it clear that firearms may not be discharged to disable moving vehicles unless there's a threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer AND no other reasonable means of defense exists, including for officer to move out of the way of the vehicle (section I(B)) 2/4

Some additional context on federal policy:

In 2022, Pres Biden issued Executive Order 14074, which included a requirement that all federal law enforcement agencies adopt clear guidance on use of force standards, and that such policies meet or exceed the minimum standards issued by DOJ in 2022. 1/4

Using imagery online of the shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, we’ve created an animated sequence which highlights the approximate positioning of officers and vehicles at the scene. The red dot represents the agent who fired the shots. Yellow dots are other agents who arrived at the scene.

"Firearms may not be discharged from a moving vehicle except in exigent circumstances. In these situations, officer must have an articulable reason for this use of deadly force."

You can find the policy here: www.justice.gov/archives/ag/... (4/4)

"(2) the vehicle is operated in a manner that threatens to cause death or serious physical injury to the officer or others, and no other objectively reasonable means of defense appear to exist, which includes moving out of path of the vehicle.... (3/4)

"...firearms may not be discharged at a moving vehicle unless: (1) a person in the vehicle is threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means other than the vehicle; or... (2/4)

I worked with the Biden White House and DOJ to develop a policy on when can federal police shoot at a moving vehicle. DOJ adopted it in 2022, and as far as I know, it hasn't been repealed. Here's what it says:

"Firearms may not be discharged solely to disable moving vehicles. Specifically,... (1/4)

Jan. 6, 1959 | Lovings Convicted of Interracial Marriage and Banished From Virginia Learn more about our history of racial injustice.

The other January 6th anniversary: 67 years ago today Richard & Mildred Loving were convicted of interracial marriage & banished from the state of Virginia by court order. They challenged the law and won a SCOTUS ruling striking down all bans on interracial marriage calendar.eji.org/racial-injus...

Just saw the film It Was Just An Accident by Jafar Panahi. I was blown away. It's a must-see for anyone who cares about democracy and human rights. While other films this year yell loudly about revolution, this actually lives it, and asks us all what it means to live by a certain set of values.

Gaza’s New Normal Persistent limited conflict is more likely than peace.

More attention needs to be paid to the importance of establishing an international stabilization force in Gaza. Set aside the politics & work together to build a force that helps build the foundation for future Palestinian state, stops Hamas from returning to power, and helps protect Israel's safety