J. David McSwane

Live Updates: Israel Says It has Launched an Attack on Iran

Live Updates: U.S. and Israel Conduct Strikes on Iran www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...

911 calls capture kids burning with fever, struggling to breathe at ICE detention center EMS crews were called to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas at least 11 times since September for children in medical distress, records show.

NEW: We obtained 911 audio from the Texas detention center housing hundreds of immigrant kids and their parents.

Since mid-September, EMS crews have been dispatched to Dilley at least 11 times to treat children in medical distress.

Burning fevers. Low oxygen. Seizures. A broken leg.

My report:

Blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol dies in Buffalo. A nearly blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol miles from his home dies in Buffalo after having been missing for nearly a week.

“Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Rohingya refugee from Burma, was nearly blind and spoke no English. He was dropped off by agents in Buffalo on the other side of town from his home.”

ICE Agents Keep Accidentally Shooting Themselves

Three ICE agents accidentally shot themselves in the leg during routine training exercises within two days last year.

Tony Gonzales had affair with aide who set herself on fire, ex-staffer says Months before her death, Regina Santos-Aviles texted a fellow Gonzales staffer saying she had an affair with the congressman. He has ducked questions about it.

U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales had affair with aide who set herself on fire, ex-staffer says www.expressnews.com/news/article...

This year, for Lent, I'm giving up.

Kyle Cheney is really doing the work out here.

How a Planned Disney World Vacation Turned Into Four Months in Immigration Detention A 9-year-old shares her story of being held at the nation’s only operating detention center for immigrant families in Dilley, Texas.

NEW: How a Planned Disney World Vacation Turned Into Four Months in Immigration Detention

9-year-old Maria Antonia begged her mom to take her to the park’s annual Halloween celebration. But as soon as she arrived at Miami International Airport, everything started going wrong.

A line chart going from Jan 2009 to Jan 2026 showing very few cases until Trump’s second term, where the line takes off nearly vertically, showing more than 6,600 cases in Jan 2026 alone.

Habeas cases filed by immigrants claiming their detention is illegal have taken off to levels we have never seen before. Just look at that chart.

www.propublica.org/article/habe...

ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.

NEW: ICE has a plan to lease offices across the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign.

Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.

Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.

That was an artful middle finger.

Will Lewis steps down as Washington Post publisher and CEO after job cuts British journalist’s tenure was controversial after being appointed by Jeff Bezos to turn around the newspaper

In my 30 years in journalism, I don't believe I've seen anyone beclown himself as thoroughly and as profoundly as Will Lewis has. Good riddance.

www.ft.com/content/5fa6...

Halibut that? 🥁

Two tuberculosis cases detected at Camp East Montana ICE facility Eighteen cases of COVID-19 were also identified. U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar on Friday visited the 5,000-bed tent facility on the Fort Bliss Army base and said she saw many "chronic issues."

TB and Covid active in a troubled El Paso immigrant tent camp where 3 people have died over a 6 week period ( including one ruled a homicide) & following a measles outbreak at the Dilley family detention center. Reach out if you have info on Dilley/ East Montana

www.texastribune.org/2026/02/07/i...

Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.

Federal prosecutors had a warrant to collect evidence from Renee Good’s vehicle after an immigration agent fatally shot her, but Trump administration officials ordered them to stop investigating. About a dozen prosecutors have since resigned, leaving the Minnesota U.S. attorney’s office in turmoil.

Children trapped in Texas immigration facility recount nightmares, inedible food, no school A photo of Liam Conejo Ramos, a scared 5-year-old, drew attention to a detention center in Dilley, Texas. Advocates say his experience reflects what hundreds of children have endured out of public vie...

Maria is one of hundreds of children, who — like Liam Ramos — have been held at a Texas detention facility where parents say children languish as they’re served contaminated food, receive little education and struggle to obtain basic medical care.

Here's our attempt at telling their stories. 2/

‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’

Hand-made signs with cut-out letters. One says "We [heart] Post Reporters". The other uses the print newspaper section heds to write: "METRO, SPORTS, STYLE, THE WORLD PROTECT THE WASHINGTON POST"

A large crowd rallies in front of a building. A sign reads "Democracy cries in darkness".

Our members joined the #SaveThePost rally in D.C. today to protest the mass layoffs at the Washington Post. We stand in solidarity with @postguild.bsky.social. Support laid off workers: www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t... + www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo... ✊

“You’re Not Going to Investigate a Federal Officer” It doesn’t happen often, but local law enforcement can arrest and charge federal agents. Legal experts say there’s a moral obligation to at least try to hold federal immigration officers accountable w...

In almost every instance, President Donald Trump’s administration blamed the injured and dead for the shooting within hours of the incident, raising questions about whether federal officials can fairly and objectively investigate their own.

I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but every Somali I represent in immigration court currently (8 of them) have today had their hearings cancelled and their judges reassigned. They're now all assigned to a video judge from Louisiana and scheduled for court hearing in one month. 🧵

Washington Post Begins Sweeping Layoffs

NEWS: The cuts were so severe that at least one department head asked to leave The Post rather than be included in the planning.

Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...

Mass layoffs at Washington Post; hundreds of journalists cut as Bezos gives millions to Melania Trump | The NewsGuild - TNG-CWA The Washington Post on Wednesday announced a devastating number of layoffs to journalists, decimating one of the most important newsrooms in the country.

Jeff Bezos gave $75 million to support Melania Trump's vanity film, but he doesn't have the money for the hundreds of journalists he laid off at The Post today.

Democracy dies with Bezos – unless we fight back. Here's how you can help:

newsguild.org/mass-layoffs...

Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests

Many people who think they can get news anywhere still care about sports, and sports fans want coverage focused on *their* team. For local and regional outlets, fans mean subscriptions, clicks, shares. Killing the sports desk cuts revenue and makes you just another national outlet in a sea of them.

the $75 million Jeff Bezos set on fire for that Melania propaganda piece could have funded most independent newsrooms for literally decades

A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."

The Real Story Behind the Midnight Immigration Raid on a Chicago Apartment Building The Trump administration has claimed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But new documents make no mention of the gang and reveal federal agents had information about “ille...

BREAKING: The Trump administration repeatedly said the aggressive apartment raid in Chicago last fall was prompted by intel on a gang takeover.

New docs show the real motivation was to get alleged squatters. And the landlord and manager helped them.

www.propublica.org/article/chic...

Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.

This is absolutely insane: DHS claims the right to subpoena your emails and to send investigators to your house. In this case, because a retiree sent the mildest possible criticism to a prosecutor. No judges involved.
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...