Well, I guess I missed posting yesterday too. It was a long day involving an in-depth work assignment, staying on top of cooking and cleaning, and going grocery shopping. I wrote some thoughts down but wanted to re-read them today. So I guess today is like two days’ worth of content?

First, though, I must give a shoutout to Kai Ryssdal for mentioning what a “long strange trip it has been” in yesterday’s Marketplace episode (Mon 1/12/26), especially given that Fed Chair Jay Powell is a Deadhead—and especially given my prior post on Bob Weir.

Eventually, I figured I needed to get back to making a political post with all the shit going on. It’s just been on my mind and really fucking with people’s collective mental health, despite my best efforts to set boundaries. Given that my wife and in-laws are immigrants, our dystopian world is fucking with them magnitudes more than it is with me. Usually I stay strong, but even I’m not invincible.

I find a strange comfort in expository, trusted sources—places where I don’t have to compulsively fact-check every claim I hear because they’ve proven themselves to be credible and level-headed, without veering into either false reassurance or fear-mongering. TikTok influencers sometimes have real merit and report on things major publications overlook, and I get that. But with all the fake news and manipulation out there, I still have to take the next step and assess credibility. So I usually start by listening to or reading what I already trust.

I don’t read the news first thing in the morning or before going to bed. I’ve turned off all push notifications from news apps and deleted all social media. I don’t miss targeted ads at all, but I do occasionally miss posts or stories from people I actually know well. I wish more people did blog-style posts like this, because I’d read them regularly. For now, I’ll just ask to see my wife’s Instagram account to follow most people. I highly recommend doing all of the above. It’s worked very well for me, and I’ve stayed mostly well-informed on all the truly important stuff.

Sensationalism and the ill-intended, attention-grabbing, ad hominem provocations from the orange Cheeto—I don’t need constant updates. I just don’t care anymore unless it has an immediate effect on actual public policy. Not Truth Social posts, but things actually going into the Federal Register.

Soon enough, though, we’ll need to inactivate my wife’s social media, as USCIS now preys on immigrants’ free speech rights. The main focus has seemed to be the pretense of “antisemitism” (also known as criticizing Israel and advocating for Palestinian independence, which I guess now somehow makes people Jew-hating Nazis—despite the glaring irony and disturbing parallels between Hitler and Trump, or Nazis and our “ICEstapo,” but I digress). Once the slippery slope of free speech suppression begins, even “normal” mainstream political posts could cause trouble.

I feel like I could write a whole PhD dissertation on why our immigration system is so fucked up to its core—legislatively, administratively, and judicially.

Regarding immigration, it’s overdue for moderates and “mainstream” people to confidently demand that ICE be abolished. It sounds far more radical than it actually is in practice. ICE has proven itself to be a state-sponsored, fascist institution unlike any other agency in the federal government, even within Homeland Security. No other democracy has a functional equivalent of ICE. And now, even white, U.S.-born citizens like myself have reason to worry about exercising supposed First Amendment rights (to the extent they still exist), given the state-sponsored homicide of Renee Good in Minneapolis—walking distance from where George Floyd was intentionally and infamously tortured to death by a violent criminal cop.

Imagine if these brave souls hadn’t filmed either of these needless, tragic deaths. I doubt George Floyd’s murderer would be behind bars. It was bad—but you know what? Even right-wing media really couldn’t defend the police on that one. So they predictably shifted focus to anarchists vandalizing property at Portland protests instead. I lived in downtown Portland about a mile away at the time. There were two blocks of chaos. The rest of the city was struggling because of the virus, not the protests.

Sure, not all of the problem is ICE; underlying immigration legislation has long been shit. But ICE is where the rubber meets the road in this willfully devastating human rights crisis. And our nation’s figurative bald rubber tires don’t exactly grip well in icy conditions (sorry for the pun). Hopefully, one day, things will get better. As Bernie Sanders says, despair is not an option.

The wicked powers that be want us to be poor, fat, and depressed—because that’s how a few become powerful and rich at the suffering of the rest of us. I strive to be well-off, fit, and happy not just for myself, but also as an act of resistance (conceptual credit due to my wife). We must keep our heads up and keep pushing back.

So needless to say, contrasted with George Floyd, it’s disgusting and inexcusable to see the Department of Homeland Security lie about and even defend Renee Good’s homicide. When are we finally going to hit rock bottom? Immigration lawyer Jim Hacking went on an epic seven-ish minute rant about it and couldn’t have said it better myself: www.youtube.com/watch

If you’re saying, “Well, what about needing to deport the rapists, fentanyl dealers, and violent criminals Trump used to talk about—before he decided to prioritize arbitrarily deporting families instead?” First of all, you don’t need ICE for actual criminals, regardless of immigration status. Regular police can, should, and do take care of that. Criminals go to prison. And if they’re not U.S. citizens—including green card holders—they are automatically deported after serving their sentence. It’s strange that millions of people don’t understand that.

Second, it is not a crime to lack immigration status. It’s a civil violation under statute. But instead of letting people get into line and pay a fine, there is no line to get into and no fine to pay. So to the proverbial Trump supporter who tells immigrants to “get to the back of the line” and do things the “right” way, I ask: get to the back of what line?

Xenophobes talk like there’s one immigration line, despite the myriad divergent visa categories, none of which are administered equitably or fairly. And the system is deteriorating, not improving.

If you must deport non-criminals, here’s how you do it the correct and dignified way: you issue a Notice to Appear (NTA) in immigration court, with reasonable time to defend status (or lack thereof) before a judge. You are not held in detention, because you’re not supposed to be punished. Once all legal options are exhausted and you lose in immigration court, you get a reasonable grace period—several weeks—to make personal arrangements and voluntarily depart. If you refuse, then you’re escorted at a later, set time, without handcuffs unless you’ve already proven uncooperative or dangerous. Only then would escalatory measures be appropriate.

That’s what fair deportations with real due process look like. It’s how it works in many places. Racial profiling and arbitrary workplace raids would never be a thing.

Let me also say this clearly: I support the need for law enforcement in a functioning democratic society with civil rights, rule of law, due process, and innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We need good cops. Policing is often a tough and thankless job—unlike first responders such as firefighters or paramedics, who are (rightfully) widely celebrated.

Living in a completely lawless society—overrun by terrorists, gangs, or violent extremists, like Haiti—would be terrible. We need some level of “protect and serve” that applies to all residents, not just white U.S.-born citizens. Many U.S. police departments are racist and prey on low-hanging-fruit targets like immigrants, weed dealers, and unarmed Black people with functional impunity, instead of focusing on real public safety. This crisis has been going on forever and must be addressed. Otherwise, the potential “good” cops just won’t want the job.

(As a side note: I was torn but reluctantly voted for a local law enforcement levy, largely due to promises to expand resources for violent crime victims and the drug deflection program. I absolutely would not have done so if I lived in a non-sanctuary jurisdiction, or one where simple drug possession automatically meant prison time.)

The other extreme—police states like North Korea—doesn’t seem good either. I’m not sure whether I’d rather live in Haiti or North Korea. Ugh. I don’t even want to consider that.

Seeing recent news of brave Iranians in Tehran protesting after their regime shut down all communications gave me some perspective. I caught myself thinking, “Well, at least the U.S. isn’t quite that far gone yet—and hopefully won’t get that bad.” What a sad state of affairs, using Iran as the metric for the U.S. But it doesn’t feel that crazy anymore, especially after the whole Jimmy Kimmel–Brendan Carr–FCC incident last year. Iran would have been an unthinkable comparison not that long ago.

Iranians are fucked over not only by their own government, but also by the U.S.—with blanket travel bans that disproportionately target citizens of the most unfree and unstable countries. It’s a real shame. I’m sure Iran, like many places, has wonderful people and a rich, fascinating culture. Yet it would never be safe for me to travel there, simply because of my nationality.