
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2016, when he served as a congressman for Montana. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)
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Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2016, when he served as a congressman for Montana. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)
Ethics experts as well as environmental and veterans advocates expressed alarm Tuesday over an exclusive Politicoreport that a foundation founded by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke--the man charged with making rules about fossil fuel production on public lands--and now run by his wife is set to benefit from a Montana real estate project funded by the chairman of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil companies.
\u201cA foundation established by Ryan Zinke and headed by his wife is supporting a real-estate deal backed by the chairman of Halliburton. The oil company stands to profit from any of the Interior Department\u2019s decisions to open public lands for oil exploration. https://t.co/D5XILXOtC8\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1529421263
Detailing the Zinke family's involvement with the multimillion-dollar project, which ethics experts say "is rife with conflicts of interest," Politico reports:
A group funded by David Lesar, the Halliburton chairman, is planning a large commercial development on a former industrial site near the center of the Zinkes' hometown of Whitefish, a resort area that has grown increasingly popular with wealthy tourists. The development would include a hotel and retail shops. There also would be a microbrewery--a business first proposed in 2012 by Ryan Zinke and for which he lobbied town officials for half a decade.
...Meanwhile, a foundation created by Ryan Zinke is providing crucial assistance. Lola Zinke pledged in writing to allow the Lesar-backed developer to build a parking lot for the project on land that was donated to the foundation to create a Veterans Peace Park for citizens of Whitefish. The 14-acre plot, which has not been significantly developed as a park, is still owned by the foundation. Lola Zinke is its president, a role her husband gave up when he became interior secretary.
The Zinkes stand to benefit from the project in another way: They own land on the other side of the development, and have long sparred with neighbors about their various plans for it. If the new hotel, retail stores and microbrewery go through, real estate agents say, the Zinke-owned land next door would stand to increase substantially in value.
As Craig Holman, an expert in federal ethics law at the advocacy group Public Citizen, explained to Politico: "Clearly, any substantial development project next to the vacant lot owned by Zinke's foundation would significantly boost the value of the lot. The conflict-of-interest statute would be invoked if even the nonprofit on which Zinke or his spouse serves as an officer, as either paid or unpaid officers, derives a financial benefit."
Garett Reppenhagen, Western states director for the Vet Voice Foundation, concluded, "This is all a perfect encapsulation of how Ryan Zinke has operated at Interior--being deceitful about intent, and always seeing how he can personally benefit."
"The number of #ZinkeScandals in this single story is astounding," tweeted the Sierra Club.
\u201cThe number of #ZinkeScandals in this single story is astounding:\n-Doing business with a company that he regulates (Halliburton)\n-Turning a veterans\u2019 peace park into a parking lot\n-Using a foundation and PAC as slush funds\nMore: https://t.co/KeiuDHTZHZ\u201d— Sierra Club (@Sierra Club) 1529425808
Friends of the Earth connected the report to Zinke's efforts to roll back rules about drilling for fossil fuels on public lands or in U.S. coastal waters.
\u201c.@SecretaryZinke is linked to a real estate deal with the head of the nation's largest oil-services company.\n\nMeanwhile, he is actively working to hand our public lands over to Big Oil. \n\nhttps://t.co/EHF4jXoHYV\u201d— Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action)) 1529425827
"Secretary Zinke's foundation appears to be nothing more than a P.O. Box in Whitefish and now he's apparently using it to help a private developer at our expense," responded Chris Saeger, executive director of the Whitefish-based Western Values Project. "This is just the latest example of Zinke attempting to personally benefit from a resource that should benefit the public. There should be an investigation into this swampy relationship."
\u201cThis is outrageous and unprecedented. @SecretaryZinke must immediately recuse himself from any policy decisions that could impact Halliburton \u2013 including onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling and safety inspections. More: https://t.co/7wxesAmsBm\u201d— Western Values Project (@Western Values Project) 1529440474
Marilyn Glynn, who served as acting director of the Office of Government Ethics under former President George W. Bush, told Politico that Zinke should "recuse himself from anything involving Halliburton," and suggested that such blatant disregard for ethics conflicts is unique to the Trump administration.
Zinke, in a statement to Politico, declined to address questions about the microbrewery or Lesar's involvement with the project, but said, "The mission remains to provide a children's sledding park and community open space in a setting that recognizes the contributions of the railroad and the veterans to the community." He added that although his wife has been in contact with the developer about building a parking lot, "no formal proposal or documents have been submitted or agreed upon."
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Ethics experts as well as environmental and veterans advocates expressed alarm Tuesday over an exclusive Politicoreport that a foundation founded by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke--the man charged with making rules about fossil fuel production on public lands--and now run by his wife is set to benefit from a Montana real estate project funded by the chairman of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil companies.
\u201cA foundation established by Ryan Zinke and headed by his wife is supporting a real-estate deal backed by the chairman of Halliburton. The oil company stands to profit from any of the Interior Department\u2019s decisions to open public lands for oil exploration. https://t.co/D5XILXOtC8\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1529421263
Detailing the Zinke family's involvement with the multimillion-dollar project, which ethics experts say "is rife with conflicts of interest," Politico reports:
A group funded by David Lesar, the Halliburton chairman, is planning a large commercial development on a former industrial site near the center of the Zinkes' hometown of Whitefish, a resort area that has grown increasingly popular with wealthy tourists. The development would include a hotel and retail shops. There also would be a microbrewery--a business first proposed in 2012 by Ryan Zinke and for which he lobbied town officials for half a decade.
...Meanwhile, a foundation created by Ryan Zinke is providing crucial assistance. Lola Zinke pledged in writing to allow the Lesar-backed developer to build a parking lot for the project on land that was donated to the foundation to create a Veterans Peace Park for citizens of Whitefish. The 14-acre plot, which has not been significantly developed as a park, is still owned by the foundation. Lola Zinke is its president, a role her husband gave up when he became interior secretary.
The Zinkes stand to benefit from the project in another way: They own land on the other side of the development, and have long sparred with neighbors about their various plans for it. If the new hotel, retail stores and microbrewery go through, real estate agents say, the Zinke-owned land next door would stand to increase substantially in value.
As Craig Holman, an expert in federal ethics law at the advocacy group Public Citizen, explained to Politico: "Clearly, any substantial development project next to the vacant lot owned by Zinke's foundation would significantly boost the value of the lot. The conflict-of-interest statute would be invoked if even the nonprofit on which Zinke or his spouse serves as an officer, as either paid or unpaid officers, derives a financial benefit."
Garett Reppenhagen, Western states director for the Vet Voice Foundation, concluded, "This is all a perfect encapsulation of how Ryan Zinke has operated at Interior--being deceitful about intent, and always seeing how he can personally benefit."
"The number of #ZinkeScandals in this single story is astounding," tweeted the Sierra Club.
\u201cThe number of #ZinkeScandals in this single story is astounding:\n-Doing business with a company that he regulates (Halliburton)\n-Turning a veterans\u2019 peace park into a parking lot\n-Using a foundation and PAC as slush funds\nMore: https://t.co/KeiuDHTZHZ\u201d— Sierra Club (@Sierra Club) 1529425808
Friends of the Earth connected the report to Zinke's efforts to roll back rules about drilling for fossil fuels on public lands or in U.S. coastal waters.
\u201c.@SecretaryZinke is linked to a real estate deal with the head of the nation's largest oil-services company.\n\nMeanwhile, he is actively working to hand our public lands over to Big Oil. \n\nhttps://t.co/EHF4jXoHYV\u201d— Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action)) 1529425827
"Secretary Zinke's foundation appears to be nothing more than a P.O. Box in Whitefish and now he's apparently using it to help a private developer at our expense," responded Chris Saeger, executive director of the Whitefish-based Western Values Project. "This is just the latest example of Zinke attempting to personally benefit from a resource that should benefit the public. There should be an investigation into this swampy relationship."
\u201cThis is outrageous and unprecedented. @SecretaryZinke must immediately recuse himself from any policy decisions that could impact Halliburton \u2013 including onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling and safety inspections. More: https://t.co/7wxesAmsBm\u201d— Western Values Project (@Western Values Project) 1529440474
Marilyn Glynn, who served as acting director of the Office of Government Ethics under former President George W. Bush, told Politico that Zinke should "recuse himself from anything involving Halliburton," and suggested that such blatant disregard for ethics conflicts is unique to the Trump administration.
Zinke, in a statement to Politico, declined to address questions about the microbrewery or Lesar's involvement with the project, but said, "The mission remains to provide a children's sledding park and community open space in a setting that recognizes the contributions of the railroad and the veterans to the community." He added that although his wife has been in contact with the developer about building a parking lot, "no formal proposal or documents have been submitted or agreed upon."
Ethics experts as well as environmental and veterans advocates expressed alarm Tuesday over an exclusive Politicoreport that a foundation founded by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke--the man charged with making rules about fossil fuel production on public lands--and now run by his wife is set to benefit from a Montana real estate project funded by the chairman of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil companies.
\u201cA foundation established by Ryan Zinke and headed by his wife is supporting a real-estate deal backed by the chairman of Halliburton. The oil company stands to profit from any of the Interior Department\u2019s decisions to open public lands for oil exploration. https://t.co/D5XILXOtC8\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1529421263
Detailing the Zinke family's involvement with the multimillion-dollar project, which ethics experts say "is rife with conflicts of interest," Politico reports:
A group funded by David Lesar, the Halliburton chairman, is planning a large commercial development on a former industrial site near the center of the Zinkes' hometown of Whitefish, a resort area that has grown increasingly popular with wealthy tourists. The development would include a hotel and retail shops. There also would be a microbrewery--a business first proposed in 2012 by Ryan Zinke and for which he lobbied town officials for half a decade.
...Meanwhile, a foundation created by Ryan Zinke is providing crucial assistance. Lola Zinke pledged in writing to allow the Lesar-backed developer to build a parking lot for the project on land that was donated to the foundation to create a Veterans Peace Park for citizens of Whitefish. The 14-acre plot, which has not been significantly developed as a park, is still owned by the foundation. Lola Zinke is its president, a role her husband gave up when he became interior secretary.
The Zinkes stand to benefit from the project in another way: They own land on the other side of the development, and have long sparred with neighbors about their various plans for it. If the new hotel, retail stores and microbrewery go through, real estate agents say, the Zinke-owned land next door would stand to increase substantially in value.
As Craig Holman, an expert in federal ethics law at the advocacy group Public Citizen, explained to Politico: "Clearly, any substantial development project next to the vacant lot owned by Zinke's foundation would significantly boost the value of the lot. The conflict-of-interest statute would be invoked if even the nonprofit on which Zinke or his spouse serves as an officer, as either paid or unpaid officers, derives a financial benefit."
Garett Reppenhagen, Western states director for the Vet Voice Foundation, concluded, "This is all a perfect encapsulation of how Ryan Zinke has operated at Interior--being deceitful about intent, and always seeing how he can personally benefit."
"The number of #ZinkeScandals in this single story is astounding," tweeted the Sierra Club.
\u201cThe number of #ZinkeScandals in this single story is astounding:\n-Doing business with a company that he regulates (Halliburton)\n-Turning a veterans\u2019 peace park into a parking lot\n-Using a foundation and PAC as slush funds\nMore: https://t.co/KeiuDHTZHZ\u201d— Sierra Club (@Sierra Club) 1529425808
Friends of the Earth connected the report to Zinke's efforts to roll back rules about drilling for fossil fuels on public lands or in U.S. coastal waters.
\u201c.@SecretaryZinke is linked to a real estate deal with the head of the nation's largest oil-services company.\n\nMeanwhile, he is actively working to hand our public lands over to Big Oil. \n\nhttps://t.co/EHF4jXoHYV\u201d— Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action)) 1529425827
"Secretary Zinke's foundation appears to be nothing more than a P.O. Box in Whitefish and now he's apparently using it to help a private developer at our expense," responded Chris Saeger, executive director of the Whitefish-based Western Values Project. "This is just the latest example of Zinke attempting to personally benefit from a resource that should benefit the public. There should be an investigation into this swampy relationship."
\u201cThis is outrageous and unprecedented. @SecretaryZinke must immediately recuse himself from any policy decisions that could impact Halliburton \u2013 including onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling and safety inspections. More: https://t.co/7wxesAmsBm\u201d— Western Values Project (@Western Values Project) 1529440474
Marilyn Glynn, who served as acting director of the Office of Government Ethics under former President George W. Bush, told Politico that Zinke should "recuse himself from anything involving Halliburton," and suggested that such blatant disregard for ethics conflicts is unique to the Trump administration.
Zinke, in a statement to Politico, declined to address questions about the microbrewery or Lesar's involvement with the project, but said, "The mission remains to provide a children's sledding park and community open space in a setting that recognizes the contributions of the railroad and the veterans to the community." He added that although his wife has been in contact with the developer about building a parking lot, "no formal proposal or documents have been submitted or agreed upon."
"We reject this lawless escalation against an immigration judge who appears to be showing a commonsense and humane approach to immigrants, and stands for due process for all," said one campaigner.
Hundreds of people rallied in Wisconsin's largest city on Saturday to protest the Trump administration's arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan on what critics called "baseless" charges of felony obstruction after she allegedly helped an undocumented immigrant evade arrest during an appearance in her courtroom.
FBI agents arrested Dugan, 65, on Friday following an investigation, accusing her of escorting an undocumented man and his attorney through her courtroom's jury door after learning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents showed up to arrest him.
Protesters chanted slogans including, "No ICE, No KKK, No Fascist USA!" and "No Hate, No Fear, Immigrants Are Welcome Here!" They held signs with messages like "Liberty and Justice for All" and "Resist Fascism!"
HAPPENING NOW: A HUGE crowd of protesters march through the streets outside an FBI office in Milwaukee in support of Judge Hannah Dugan (Video: @unraveledpress.com)
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— Marco Foster ( @marcofoster.bsky.social) April 26, 2025 at 3:05 PM
"I have never heard of a state court judge being arrested by the federal government because she chose to control her own courtroom. This is unprecedented," Sara Dady, an immigration attorney who traveled more than 90 miles from Rockford, Illinois to attend the demonstration outside the FBI field office in Milwaukee, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Wisconsin state Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-19) told the crowd: "The judiciary acts as a check to unchecked executive power. And functioning democracies do not lock up judges."
"I hope that we can all be as brave as Judge Dugan was," Clancy added.
Janan Najeeb, one of the leaders of the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine, told rallygoers: "The courtroom is not a hunting ground for ICE. It is a sanctuary. When our government turns our courtrooms into traps, they are betraying the very laws that they claim to defend."
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights director Angelica Salas said in a statement that "in an unprecedented move against members of the judicial branch, the Trump administration is exercising authoritarianism to degrees that should alarm us all."
"We reject this lawless escalation against an immigration judge who appears to be showing a commonsense and humane approach to immigrants, and stands for due process for all, and against wanton disregard for our Constitution," Salas added.
Critics have called Dugan's arrest part and parcel of President Donald Trump's attacks on immigrants, the nation's system of checks and balances, and the rule of law.
"The Trump administration deserves zero benefit of the doubt here. It has evinced utter contempt for due process and the rule of law since inauguration day," Ryan Cooper, managing editor of The American Prospect, wrote on Friday. "It has deported numerous legal residents, most notably Kilmar Abrego García, to an El Salvador torture dungeon, and is openly disobeying a 9-0 Supreme Court decision to bring García back."
"The ongoing mass layoffs of federal workers and outright dismantling of legislatively mandated agencies being carried out by Elon Musk and DOGE is blatantly unconstitutional," Cooper added, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency.
Among those pushing back against Dugan's arrest are Wisconsin Circuit Judge Monica Isham, who wrote in an email to other judges: "Enough is enough. I no longer feel protected or respected as a judge in this administration. If there is no guidance for us and no support for us, I will refuse to hold court."
"I have no intention of allowing anyone to be taken out of my courtroom by ICE and sent to a concentration camp, especially without due process as BOTH of the constitutions we swore to support require," Isham added. "If this costs me my job or gets me arrested, then at least I know I did the right thing."
"There's no Alien Enemies Act exception to the Fourth Amendment," said one law professor.
The U.S. Department of Justice dubiously invoked a centuries-old law in directing immigration agents to carry out home invasion searches without warrants, an internal memo revealed.
USA Today—which obtained a copy of the March 14 memo issued by the office of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi—reported Friday that the Trump administration ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to pursue suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua into homes, sometimes without warrants, under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
The 1798 law has been invoked to deport hundreds of undocumented immigrants—the majority of whom have no criminal records in the United States—many of whom have been sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a notorious super-maximum security prison in El Salvador, regardless of their nationality.
According to the memo:
As much as practicable, officers should follow the proactive procedures above—and have an executed warrant of apprehension and removal—before contacting an alien enemy. However, that will not always be realistic or effective in swiftly identifying and removing alien enemies... An officer may encounter a suspected alien enemy in the natural course of the officer's enforcement activity, such as when apprehending other validated members of Tren de Aragua. Given the dynamic nature of enforcement operations, officers in the field are authorized to apprehend aliens upon a reasonable belief that the alien meets all four requirements to be validated as an alien enemy. This authority includes entering an alien enemy's residence to make an AEA apprehension where circumstances render it impracticable to first obtain a signed notice and warrant of apprehension and removal.
The Trump administration's controversially broad interpretation of the AEA and questionable criteria for targeting immigrants has led to the arrest and wrongful deportation of individuals including makeup artist Andry José Hernández Romero and Kilmar Abrego García, both of whom were sent to CECOT. The Trump administration is defying a U.S. Supreme Court order to facilitate Abrego García's return to the United States.
Earlier this month, the ACLU and allied groups sued to block the Trump administration's AEA deportations, arguing that "no one should face the horrifying prospect of lifelong imprisonment without a fair hearing, let alone in another country."
On Friday, U.S. District Judge David Briones ordered ICE to free a Venezuelan couple detained in El Paso under the AEA, finding that the government "has not demonstrated they have any lawful basis to continue detaining" the pair. Briones also warned ICE to not deport anyone else it is holding as an alleged "alien enemy" in West Texas.
Lee Gelernt, the ACLU's lead counsel in cases challenging use of the AEA, told USA Today: "The administration's unprecedented use of a wartime authority during peacetime was bad enough. Now we find out the Justice Department was authorizing officers to ignore the most bedrock principle of the Fourth Amendment by authorizing officers to enter homes without a judicial warrant."
Monique Sherman, an attorney at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, expressed alarm over the DOJ memo.
"The home under all constitutional law is the most sacred place where you have a right to privacy," Sherman told USA Today. "By this standard, spurious allegations of gang affiliation means the government can knock down your door."
As Georgetown University Law Center professor Steve Vladeck
said, "There's no Alien Enemies Act exception to the Fourth Amendment."
A Trump-appointed judge ordered a hearing in the case of a 2-year-old girl based on his "strong suspicion that the government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process."
Federal immigration authorities deported three U.S. citizen children on Friday—including one with cancer who was reportedly expelled without medication—in a move that critics and one judge appointed by President Donald Trump said was carried out without due process.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) New Orleans field office deported the American children—ages 2, 4, and 7—along with their undocumented mothers, one of whom is pregnant. The ACLU said that both families were held incommunicado following their arrests, and that ICE agents refused or failed to respond to efforts by attorneys and relatives who were trying to contact them.
The ACLU said that one of the children has a rare form of metastatic cancer and was deported without medication or consultation with their treating physician, despite ICE being notified about the child's urgent condition. This follows last month's ICE deportation of a family including a 10-year-old American citizen with brain cancer.
Disappearing mothers and toddlers, denying them access to lawyers, deporting them without due process - this is not what a democracy does to its citizens and families and to their kids.
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— Vanessa Cardenas (@vcardenas.bsky.social) April 25, 2025 at 6:48 PM
According to court documents, the 2-year-old New Orleans native—identified as V.M.L.—was brought by her mother, Jenny Carolina Lopez Villela, to a routine immigration appointment in the Louisiana city on Tuesday when they were arrested.
A habeas petition filed on Thursday states that ICE New Orleans Field Office Director Mellissa Harper told V.M.L.'s desperate father on a phone call that he could try to pick the girl up but would likely be arrested, as he is undocumented. The petition argues that Harper was detaining V.M.L. "in order to induce her father to turn himself in to immigration authorities."
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty—a Trump nominee—ordered a May 16 hearing in Monroe, Louisiana based on his "strong suspicion that the government just deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process."
"It is illegal and unconstitutional to deport, detain for deportation, or recommend deportation of a U.S. citizen," Doughty wrote, citing relevant case law. "The government contends that this is all OK because the mother wishes that the child be deported with her. But the court doesn't know that."
The ACLU argued that ICE's actions "represent a shocking—although increasingly common—abuse of power," adding that the agency "has inflicted harm and jeopardized the lives and health of vulnerable children and a pregnant woman. The cruelty and deliberate denial of legal and medical access are not only unlawful, but inhumane."
When historians reflect on this regime, cruelty will be the word most often used to define it. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/u...
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— Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) April 26, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Teresa Reyes-Flores of the Southeast Dignity not Detention Coalition said in a statement Friday: "ICE's actions show a blatant violation of due process and basic human rights. The families were disappeared, cut off from their lawyers and loved ones, and rushed to be deported, stripping their parents of the chance to protect their U.S. citizen children."
Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy legal director Homero López Jr. said that "these deplorable actions demonstrate ICE's increasing willingness to violate all protections for immigrants as well as those of their children."
"These types of disappearances are reminiscent of the darkest eras in our country's history and put everyone, regardless of immigration status, at risk," he added.
The Trump administration—whose first-term immigration policies and practices included separating children from their parents and imprisonment in concentration camps—is once again under fire for its anti-immigrant agenda.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked the deportation of undocumented Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and has also ordered the administration to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported to a notorious prison in his native country. On Wednesday, a Trump-appointed judge ordered the administration to take action to return another Salvadoran deported to the same prison.
In a scathing ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge David Briones ordered ICE to free a Venezuelan couple dubiously held in El Paso under the Alien Enemies Act, finding that the government "has not demonstrated they have any lawful basis to continue detaining" the pair. Briones also warned ICE to not deport anyone else it is holding as an alleged "alien enemy" in West Texas.
ICE overreach and abuses—which include wrongful detention of U.S. citizens, arrests of green-card holders who defend Palestine, and warrantless home searches—have fueled renewed calls for the agency's defunding.
ICE abducted a man with a learning disability leaving a hospital after a medical emergency asking for help. They didn’t care that he was a U.S. citizen. They just lied and said he wasn’t. This isn’t “border security.” It’s white supremacy. popular.info/p/us-citizen...
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— Melanie D’Arrigo (@darrigomelanie.bsky.social) April 23, 2025 at 4:38 AM
"A government agency that sequesters and deports vulnerable mothers with their U.S. citizen children without due process must be defunded, not rewarded with an additional $45 billion to continue at taxpayers' expense," Mich P. González, a founding partner of Sanctuary of the South—which provides legal aid to immigrants—said Friday.
"These families were lawfully complying with ICE's orders and for this they suffered cruel and traumatic separation," González added. "If this is what the Trump administration is orchestrating just three months in, we should all be terrified of what the next four years will bring."