Walker Grooms

"the policy could burden already overwhelmed hospitals if immigrants skip preventive care b/c they lack health ins. & end up in the emer room. [Health pol. experts & imm. rights advocates] also predict it'll make it harder to control both outbreaks of infectious diseases & chronic health conditions"

Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough • Kentucky Lantern A third unvaccinated infant in Kentucky has died of pertussis as public health officials urge Kentuckians to get vaccinated against the disease.

"Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough"

" The best way to prevent whooping cough is by receiving the Tdap or DTaP vaccine, which protects against three bacterial infections — diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, say public health experts." kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...

British mum detained by ICE agents in California as six-month old baby and stunned husband watch on | LBC Katie Paul, 33, was in the process of applying for a green card when she was ambushed by immigration agents

ICE arrests, detains British woman with US husband and newborn when she shows up for her green card interview. She’s now in a detention center, separated from her 6-month-old. No criminal record. She had overstayed her visa.

www.lbc.co.uk/article/brit...

At least seven faith leaders arrested at Broadview ICE facility protest (RNS) — 'I've got bruises all over my body,' the Rev. Michael Woolf, who was thrown to the ground and arrested by police, told RNS.

Organizers told me that at least 7 faith leaders were among those arrested on Friday.

In a statement posted on X, DHS referred to demonstrators as "imbeciles" who need to "get a job."

One pastor told me "this is our job," adding, "to advocate for the oppressed. religionnews.com/2025/11/15/a...

‘You can't eat if you're dead’: Dems eye RFK Jr. as their 2026 boogeyman Inside Democrats’ effort to attack RFK Jr.’s vaccine moves without angering his base.

Republicans see RFK Jr. as an asset for the midterms.

Democrats -- looking at recent polling on his vaccine moves as measles outbreaks proliferate -- are confident he'll be a liability.

My latest -->

WETA to cut staff, cancel ‘PBS News Weekend’ and close News Hour West bureau The restructuring includes the elimination of 34 positions, following another round of cuts made in September.

PBS NEWS WEEKEND has been cancelled and 34 jobs will be cut at WETA in Washington D.C.

The NEWS HOUR West Coast bureau will also close and the updated daily West Coast broadcast will end.

“We cannot fully compensate for the scope of the federal funding loss.”

current.org/2025/11/weta... #PBS

We'll keep a (metaphorical, because there will be cats that like to knock over things) flame lit for ya at the watch party our friends are hosting...

ICE Air’s Sloppy, Dangerous Deportation Flights - The American Prospect Poor planning, mechanical issues, serious safety lapses, and the shutdown are taking a toll on Avelo, America’s most famous deportation airline, internal documents show.

Avelo is an ICE Air charter, transporting shackled detainees on deportation flights. You'll not be shocked to learn that the flights are a fiasco: loss of cabin pressure, slow evacuations, dangerous cargo onboard, no safety checks, long tarmack delays.
Great piece by Gillian Brockell:

Alabama is about to lose PBS! Alabama Public Television's board is meeting to decide whether to stop carrying PBS. APT is projecting millions of dollars in lost donations if they lose PBS. This could kill public TV in Alabama. This meeting is open to the public. Tuesday November 18 at 10am 2112 11th Ave S. #400 Birmingham Al 35205 Or watch it live at aptv.org

I know fewer local people on here but if you live in Alabama and in particular are in driving distance to Birmingham, the APT board of directors is meeting to decide whether to cut PBS, if you can make it out on Tuesday to show them how important PBS is to you it would be very helpful.

Extremely minimally hopeful that, w/ things like the Mamdani win, hagiographic garbage like this is on its way out. Bush-Cheney set us on the course toward the Tr*mo nightmare & Obama/Biden didn’t do nearly enough to break w/ it. Show me Joe’s tweet a/b what a great family man Darth Vader was next.

ICE is hiring dozens of health workers as lawsuits, deaths in custody mount Nearly as many migrants have died in detention so far this year than over the four years of the Biden administration.

Capt. White, who oversaw detention of unaccompanied minors during Trump's 1st term, told me that the ICE's current dragnet and plans for a massive expansion of detention "cannot be made humane or healthy or safe no matter how many people you throw at it.” www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

“The lack of medical staffing is a consistent theme..Specialist care is denied. People are transferred from place to place before they’re able to actually get their care. People are not given medication.”
Eunice Cho, @aclu.org

Human rights groups are also concerned that deaths may be undercounted."

"-Earlier this year, DHS tried to to eliminate its offices that investigate complaints of discrimination, neglect & mistreatment of detainees..
-After human rights groups sued, the offices were restored in May, but 100s of..staff were laid off a few months later..
-Trump also fired..independent IGs"

“The larger problem is that this is a system to abduct & detain people w/o meaningful due process. That is inherently harmful & can't be made humane or healthy or safe no matter how many ppl you throw at it.”
CDR Jonathan White, oversaw detention of undocumented, unaccompanied minors-1st Trump admin

"the admin isn't having conversations a/b offering subsidies to companies that provide fertility benefits to employees, according to another senior official, & no employer will be required to offer [them]..
..new policies also don’t directly address [IVF cost] other than the 1 pricey fertility drug"

"“If you’re a researcher..conducting research w/ ppl seeking abortion care, even ppl seeking maternal health care, & you provide them w/ details a/b abortion services, are you aiding & abetting..? There’s a lot of confusion. There’s a lot of fear.”

The FDA did not respond to a request for comment."

Big protest from immigrant organizers in the Wilson Building today demanding an end to MPD cooperation with ICE. A spicy banner, too.

Some video from earlier, multiple journalists bloodied in the scrum. This is just 90 seconds of over 10 minutes of extremely aggressive LAPD response tonight

"Health policy experts and patient advocates who expressed relief that the Trump administration opted to defend Obamacare remain concerned that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other officials will now deploy that power to reshape what services must be covered by insurance without copays."

Group suing over Trump’s birthright order seeks to convert case to a class action lawsuit It’s among several of the workarounds that Trump adversaries are poised to seize on after the justices’ Friday ruling.

An group representing immigrants fighting President Trump’s birthright citizenship order has already launched a workaround legal strategy after their Supreme Court setback: Convert the case into a class action lawsuit.

Cruelty & undoing
"The Trump admin is simultaneously ramping up enforcement, including in formerly off-limits spaces like hospitals & clinics..causing immigrants & their citizen relatives to avoid all kinds of medical care — ..driving up costs for taxpayers & threatening public health more broadly."

Understanding this admin's war on us:
DHS Ass. Sec.: saying senior care relies on immigrant labor is "grossly false & lazy."

Pure projection.

"When asked specifically a/b workers w/ TPS & humanitarian parole — who entered the country legally after being vetted & sponsored — [DHS] did not respond."

Exclusive: FEMA cuts emergency training as hurricane season looms — Reuters The U.S. federal disaster agency FEMA has sharply reduced training for state and local emergency managers ahead of the start of the hurricane season on June 1, according to current and former official...

FEMA cuts emergency training as hurricane season looms - Reuters apple.news/AOlxt5_QtSka...

More #ConstitutionalCrisis:

“If the law requires u, the executive, to do this work, u have..thumbed your nose at Congress by firing the ppl who are actually necessary to get that work done. The exec. branch is supposed to execute..It doesn’t have the right to determine where..& how much $ is spent”

The DOGE plan that could cost millions

Reminder as House Republicans propose defunding Planned Parenthood as part of financing their sweeping tax bill — it would cost a lot more money than it saved, primarily because a lot of low-income people would lose access to contraception. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

"The gov’s stance..that the states lack standing also comes as the admin is fending off challenges from CA & other Dem-led states, & could set a beneficial precedent in those..

The ACLU said Mon, that the DOJ “shouldn't get a gold star”.., noting that the admin could still move to restrict access"

"..indicates an emerging pattern in his admin’s legal strategy, following the DOJ’s move earlier this year to defend a core ACA provision.
..both surprised many by backing policies favored by Dems, but @ [base] are about preserving exec. power & preventing courts from 2nd-guessing agency decisions"

Or you might instead follow and support the work of reporters who broke stories like this (and this one specifically) years ago.

Another tidbit from @alicemiranda.bsky.social: the CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG) warned groups on the call not to misrepresent the recent paper from a right-wing org, noting that it is “not a study in the traditional sense” and “not conclusive proof of anything.” 👀

"Brittni Frederiksen, the associate director for Women’s Health Policy at the nonpartisan health care think tank KFF, is among those skeptical of the groups’ findings.
...
“There’s just so many things wrong with it and so many red flags..I can’t imagine any medical journal that would accept this.”"