Scott Nicol

“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...

You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants.

We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.

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

Wow! A new low for Ken Paxton. His deranged press release claims that there cannot be any legitimate purpose for legal defense for people facing deportation — effectively saying that removal defense is not legitimate and only “radicals” would want people to have lawyers.

Horrid stuff from him.

"The legislative language would uniquely benefit 8 Rep. senators who were recently found to have had their phone records (not the contents) accessed as a part of the investigation that led to former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe of the Jan.6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol."

Senate Democrats apple pie recipe:

- Make crust, cut apples, add sugar, butter, cinnamon
- Place top crust and put in oven at 375
- When nearly golden brown and exuding delicious aroma: remove pie from oven and throw in garbage

a group of skeletons are dancing together in a cemetery . Alt: dancing skeletons

What a way to throw away a week of wins, Dems. Retire so we can vote in folx with spines.

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

I'm sure that the CBS "news" article that lauds Trump based solely on a smattering of social media posts completely divorced from reality that could have been quickly debunked has nothing to do with CBS "news" now being run by Bari Weiss. Nothing at all. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gieT...

CBS News (under new management) quotes a White House social media claim that there were ZERO border crossings for 6 months. If they had checked with @wola-org.bsky.social or even Customs and Border Protection - you know, basic journalism - they would know that isn't true. www.cbp.gov/newsroom/sta...

The @apnews.com confirms: the "boat strikes" are the equivalent of straight-up massacring 16-year-old drug dealers on US street corners.

It satisfies some people's anger or bloodlust, but hitting the poorest and most replaceable links in the trafficking chain does nothing to affect drug supplies.

What was Trump saying about acing his cognitive tests?

It is clearly deeply annoying for a sociopath when a human collapses nearby and distracts attention from him.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.

Texas Turns Its Sprawling State Police Force Into Immigration Agents for Trump The notorious 287(g) task force program has finally reached DPS, raising fears of widespread racial profiling.

NEW: The notorious 287(g) task force program has finally reached the Texas Department of Public Safety, raising fears of widespread racial profiling.

In other words: Texas is deputizing some of its state officers to act as roving ICE agents.

www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-28...

FBI Warns of Criminals Posing as ICE, Urges Agents to ID Themselves In a bulletin to law enforcement agencies, the FBI said criminal impersonators are exploiting ICE’s image and urged nationwide coordination to distinguish real operations from fakes.

Criminals posing as US immigration officers have carried out robberies, kidnappings and sexual assaults in several states, warns an FBI bulletin to law enforcement agencies issued last month.

The bulletin urged nationwide coordination to distinguish real operations from fakes.

As of October 28, the known death toll from lethal U.S. strikes on civilian vessels is 57. Notification Date Number Reported Killed Approximate Location Notification URL September 2, 2025 11 “in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility” (later revealed as between Sucre, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago) View September 15, 2025 3 “in International Waters… in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility”; Colombian president claimed it was a fishing boat in Colombian waters View September 19, 2025 3 “in international waters… in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility” near the Dominican Republic View October 3, 2025 4 “in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela” View October 14, 2025 6 “in International Waters… just off the Coast of Venezuela” View October 16, 2025 2; 2 reported survivors “in the Caribbean” View October 17, 2025 3 “in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility” View October 21, 2025 2 “in the Eastern Pacific” View October 22, 2025 3 “in the Eastern Pacific” View October 23, 2025 6 “in the Caribbean Sea” View October 27, 2025 8 * “in the Eastern Pacific” View October 27, 2025 4 * “in the Eastern Pacific” View October 27, 2025 3 * “in the Eastern Pacific” View * One individual survived these three attacks; the U.S. government has not reported which of the three attacks included the survivor.

57 now dead in 13 attacks.

Fact sheet now updated at www.wola.org/analysis/fac...

Ethics Watchdog Group Seeks Investigation Into Border Czar and Contracts Following ProPublica Report The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center has called on the Homeland Security inspector general to investigate potential conflicts of interest and ethics violations by border czar Tom Homan and his senior...

Border czar Tom Homan has said repeatedly that he recused himself from all contracting matters.

But ProPublica reported he has been involved in conversations with industry players about government contracts.

ICE's use of full-body restraints during deportations raises concerns over inhumane treatment U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been using a full-body restraint device called the WRAP during deportations.

"Detainees said ICE officers used the restraints on them after they had been shackled. They said this was done to intimidate or punish them for asking to speak to their attorneys or expressing fear at being deported, often to places they fled due to violence and torture."

At the same time that the GOP claims that there is no money for health care, they've given Trump $46.5 billion for hundreds of miles of new border walls.

Here is one of the existing border walls this morning, accumulating ladders just as it has since the day it went up.

New ICE recruiting methods have resulted in half of this group of absolute winners failing AN OPEN BOOK TEST

READ THIS ARTICLE
👉👉👉"I’ve made three trips to Africa to report on children dying as a result of Trump slashing humanitarian aid programs — his most lethal policy. In village after village I’ve found children perishing for want of $2 anti-malaria mosquito nets or 12-cent-a-day AIDS medicines."

Known Lethal U.S. Attacks on Civilian Vessels in the Caribbean Total reported killed: 34 people Notification Date Number Reported Killed Approximate Location Notification URL September 2, 2025 11 “in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility” (later revealed as between Sucre, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago) View September 15, 2025 3 “in International Waters… in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility”; Colombian president claimed it was a fishing boat in Colombian waters View September 19, 2025 3 “in international waters… in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility” near the Dominican Republic View October 3, 2025 4 “in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela” View October 14, 2025 6 “in International Waters… just off the Coast of Venezuela” View October 16, 2025 2; 2 reported survivors “in the Caribbean” View October 17, 2025 3 “in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility” View October 21, 2025 2 “in the Eastern Pacific” View

34 people killed in 50 days. Their guilt or innocence unknown, for an alleged crime that doesn't carry a death sentence. That's a lot of death.

adamisacson.com/boat-strikes/

Smart Wall Map Securing America's Borders

Trump's plans for the $46.5 billion that the GOP gave him for border militarization:

628 miles of new border wall in places that have never been walled.
115 miles of border wall replacing older walls.
538 miles of murder buoys in the Rio Grande.

And much much more.

www.cbp.gov/border-secur...

CBP Rio Grande buoy map

The Trump admin. recently awarded more than $4 billion in border militarization contracts, incl. 17 miles of buoys at Brownsville. The green line on CBP's map shows more: 59 miles of buoys in the Rio Grande running from Brownsville to the Gulf of Mexico.

www.cbp.gov/border-secur...

Smart Wall Map Securing America's Borders

Trump's plans for the $46.5 billion that the GOP gave him for border militarization:

628 miles of new border wall in places that have never been walled.
115 miles of border wall replacing older walls.
538 miles of murder buoys in the Rio Grande.

And much much more.

www.cbp.gov/border-secur...

Trump Considers Overhaul of Refugee System That Would Favor White People

In "no surprise at all, the Trump administration is racist" news.

"The Trump administration is considering a radical overhaul of the US refugee system that would slash the program to its bare bones while giving preference to English speakers, white South Africans & Europeans who oppose migration."

The official government account for DHS appears to be run by far-right trolls deliberately trying to provoke a response by using a term openly associated with ethnic cleansing. They will attack anyone who points this out and express faux outrage at the suggestion. They know what they are doing.

US awards $4.5 billion in border wall contracts, DHS says The federal government has awarded 10 construction contracts worth $4.5 billion that will add 230 miles of barrier along the southwest U.S. border, the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday.

In a total coincidence, DHS recently announced $4.5 billion worth of border infrastructure contracts in the same locations as their waiver of contracting laws.

www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...

Federal Register Documents Currently on Public Inspection The following are a preview of unpublished Federal Register documents currenly on Public Inspection and scheduled to be published on the dates listed.

Tomorrow DHS will waive laws that cover the awarding of federal contracts for border wall construction.

In other news, the Trump administration quashed an FBI investigation of Border Czar Tom Homan, who took a bag of cash for help with contracts.

www.federalregister.gov/public-inspe...

No one in high school had a phone book. You either memorized a number or it was scrawled on some scrap of paper tossed in a corner and you had to take an educated guess as to which number was for who.

PORTLAND: “The frogs are multiplying”

(#NotAWarZone Noem Matter what Kristi says)

Draw a Venn Diagram of racism, fascism, and corruption and every last person in the Trump administration occupies the center.

What's in the bag, Tom?