Five Things for Tuesday, March 31, 2026
“It is a time of peace, a time of reflection,” the pope said, adding, “We constantly make the call for peace, but unfortunately, many people want to promote hatred, violence, war.’’
1. War Day 32 - Trump’s Folly
“This is the equivalent of hundreds of school buses filled with children fleeing for their lives every 24 hours,”Marcoluigi Corsi, UN Representative from Lebanon.
Dead and Injured
Lebanon 1268 dead, 3750+ injured
Palestine 4 dead
Syria 4 dead
Iraq 106 dead, dozens injured
Iran 1937 dead, 24,800 injured (Iran has periodically stoped reporting numbers)
Israel 24 dead, 6239 injured
Jordan 29 injured
Kuwait 7 dead, dozens injured
Bahrain 3 killed, dozens injured
Qatar 16 injured
UAE 12 dead, 188 injured
Saudi Arabia 2 dead, 22 injured
Oman 3 killed, 15 injured
US 7 killed, +1 dead from medical event, + 6 member crew of downed refueler, 300+ injured, 32 remain in hospital
Oil - volatile
Daily oil exports from the Gulf, home to top exporter Saudi Arabia and other major producers, have dropped by at least 60%, leading to prices’ climbing and fears of long-term economic fallout.
End of day Tuesday
Brent Crude settled at $118.35 a barrel, rising sharply by 4.9%
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped by 1.5% to settle at $101.38
At the pump- $4.018-$4.02, according to AAA. $2.98 national average at the end of February.
Diesel $5.45 (3.69 one month a go)
Stocks
By end of day:
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA): +2.49
S&P 500: + 2.91
Nasdaq 100: + 3.83
NYT Shorts
Standing Until the End: Iran’s Most Prominent Human Rights Activist Suffers Heart Attack in Prison; Not taken to Hospital
Narges Mohammadi, Iran’s most prominent human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner was in prison having a heart attack. According to her husband, Taghi Rahmani, she was not sent to hospital. Survived. Still not sent to hospital.
That was last week.
In a phone interview with the Times, he said she is 53 and she collapsed on the floor, unconscious. She was out for an hour. Other inmates wrapped her in a blanket - her body became cold. She did receive basic treatment in the prison clinic. Now her health continues to deteriorate.
“I’m extremely worried about her; she needs to be taken to the hospital immediately,” said Mr. Rahmani. “I want her to be free, but right now I’m worried about her life. The very least the government can do is allow her a proper treatment at a hospital in Tehran.”
He has not told their children, Ali and Kianna. They have not seen their mother since they left Iran as small children to live with him.
He has not been able to speak with her for weeks, due to the war. His requests for an in-person visit have been denied.
Her lawyer was able to speak with her. Her legal team says her health is “critical”.
In February she went on a hunger strike to protest her detention.
She has received threats from inmates who support the Islamic republic.
Ms. Mohammadi has been bold in her advocacy for democracy and has been in prison much of her adult life because of it. She got ten years for ‘threatening national security’ by working for decades to promote human rights, women’s rights and democracy in Iran. She received the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison in 2023, “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
She received surgery in December and was allowed furlough. During that she attended the funeral of a lawyer and civil rights activist. She was jailed again after delivering a speech in which she said,
“We swear by the blood of our comrades, we are standing until the end,” The crowd chanted with her: “Standing until the end.”
Trump Says the Usual Contradictory Things
In the few words Trump said about the war today, he remained contradictory. He said it could be over in two weeks, or three weeks, or “a couple days longer to do the job.”
He said the US needs to “knock out every single thing they have”.
He said “it is possible that we will make a deal before that.
He then said, “it doesn’t matter whether” the Iranians come to the negotiating table or not”
(he’s been saying they have been having good and productive talks.)
He said “when we feel that they are for a long period of time put into the stone ages and will not come up with a nuclear weapon, then we will leave,” “Whether we have a deal or not, it is irrelevant.”
Then he complained about the media war coverage: he said they are minimizing the damage done to Iran, and the fact that they are out of weaponry. He said they “are not even shooting at us.”
During a signing ceremony for his EO on mail in voting he remarked that he had stopped Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and “we have regime change.”
He suggested it happened twice.
“We knocked out one regime. Then we knocked out a second regime,” Trump said. “Now we have a group of people that is very different and much more reasonable, much less radicalized. We have had regime change.”
Some media reports and some pundits say he talked more today about the ballroom and the elaborate safe space being built under it that will include a hospital, than he talked about the war.
Shipping Goes Around Cape of Good Hope to Avoid Middle East Conflict
It’s a very old shipping route, the passage around the tip of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope. It’s still in constant use. During times of war, its use may increase. And that is happening now.
In an effort to avoid the Middle East war, the world’s largest shipping operators are suspending Gulf transit and redirecting their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.
Maritime economist based in Cape Town, Brian Ingpen, estimates traffic will almost double.
“It’s really the Houthi rebel situation that has, again, forced a lot of shipowners to redirect to the Cape, and if traffic builds up like it did a year ago, as many as 150 ships a day, including regular traffic, should now be passing around the Cape,”
When Washington bombed Iran last June, and before the ceasefire in the war in Gaza there was a strain on global shipping. Much of it sought out older routes, increasing traffic around the Cape of Good Hope.
Doing so raises shipping costs. According to estimates, by 30 to 70 percent.
Ingpen said that offshore services are benefiting from the increased shipping.
“They provide critical support, crew changes, urgent spares and supplies delivery, medical evacuation allowing vessels to avoid unnecessary port calls and reducing downtime,” he said.
Congressional Republicans Call Hegseth Before Them – To Talk About the Budget
Republicans have not called Trump administration officials to testify about the war in Iran.
Now, however, they will summon Defense Secretary Hegseth - to talk about the budget on April 29.
Coincidentally? It will be exactly 60 days since Trump began the war. That’s the end of the days during which he can avoid seeking congressional authorization for his “hostilities”.
Hegseth will be speaking to the House Armed Services Committee and this will be the required annual budget hearing for the Pentagon. It’s routine. A chance for him to speak about the Pentagon’s financial needs for the next year.
And it will be an opportunity for Democrats to ask questions, demand answers, about the war. They are not satisfied that that will be enough.
27 of them wrote a letter to chairman of the committee Mike Rogers (R - Alabama).
“Given the complexity and gravity of this conflict, it is imperative that it receive its own hearing, separate and apart” from the annual budget hearing. They complained about the “ever-shifting strategic and operational objectives of the conflict and lack of clarity” on the possible deployment of ground troops.
Republicans, for the most part support the attacks, however, some would like the administration to seek congressional authorization, at least as the war approaches the 60-day mark. So they ignore the Democrats in their quest for senior members of the administration to testify under oath on the war. They ignore statements and accusations of haphazard war planning and keep them in the dark about timelines and costs, ground troops and a plan for the end of the war.
A few Republicans are ‘growing concerned’. .
.Pentagon Holds First Public Hearing on the War
The usual drivel.
Hegseth says the US is “closer than ever before to winning”. At least he admitted that Iran could still retaliate. The media believe he made up some story about the war in which he had a soldier on the ground asking for more bombs, sir. The word ‘sir’ was used several times, which has become a famous Trump tell, when he uses it in his stories, it means its a made up story.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine said the US was flying B-52 bombers over Iran for the first time in the war.
On social media Trump hollered about US allies. He did not consult them before attacking Iran, and now can’t understand why they are not helping. He told them to “get your own oil” and to “start learning how to fight for yourself.” (The Strait of Hormuz was open to all before Trump attacked. It’s closed now to the US and allies due to Trump.)
“The U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” he said on social media.
Iran: The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, continued is still saying there are no negotiations to end the war underway. Contrary to reporting, he told Al Jazeera that Iran has not responded to the US 15 point plan nor have they issued one of their own.
Lebanon: The Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, said that Israel was going to demolish border towns in Lebanon in order to establish a buffer zone and hundreds of thousands of now displaced Lebanese will not be able to return home. Foreign ministers of European countries and the European Union’s foreign policy chief urged Israel not to widen the conflict.
Note: I think they already have.
Iraq: American journalist Shelly Kittleson, has been kidnapped. Iraqi Security forces have managed to arrest one suspect who is a member of the Iranian-allied Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful militia. They claim responsibility for an attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Kuwait: The owner of a Kuwaiti oil tanker claims that an Iranian drone attack hit the tanker. No one was injured. No oil leaked.
Second Deadly Attack on UN Peacekeepers
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Laroix to the UN Security Council said that
A second attack on UN peace keepers killed two Indonesians and injured two others
“the situation has dangerously deteriorated with the ongoing escalation between Hezbollah and Israel across the Blue Line and beyond,” he said.
Note the ‘blue line’ refers to the demarcation line that divides Israel and Lebanon and the Golan Heights.
There is now a “worrying increase in denials of freedom of movement and aggressive behavior.”
An earlier attack killed three Indonesians and wounded others. Indonesia’s ambassador to the council, Umar Hadi said that they were in their 20’s. His nation feels grief, anger and frustration.
“These peacekeepers fell and were wounded while carrying out a mandate entrusted to them by this very Council.”
He blamed Israel whom he said were the cause of hostilities in south Lebanon resulted from Israeli “repeated incursions by the Israeli military into the territory of Lebanon.”
Israel’s ambassador, Danny Danon said Hezbollah was to blame for both incidents.
Pope Leo XIV Calls for Peace
During this holy week he said,
. “I’m told that President Trump has recently stated that he would like to end the war,’’ he said. “I hope that he’s looking for an off-ramp.’’
“It is a time of peace, a time of reflection,” the pope said, adding, “We constantly make the call for peace, but unfortunately, many people want to promote hatred, violence, war.’’
A Second Attack on Steel Complex
Per Iranian state media, the Mobarakeh Steel complex in Isfahan was struck for the second time Tuesday. The first strike was on March 27.
The semi-official news agency, Fars, said airstrikes also hit Sefid Dasht, a subsidiary of the Mobarakeh Steel Group, and damaged a civilian radar site at the meteorological facilities in Bushehr Province.
Two Attacks Near WHO Office in Tehran
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of the World Health Organization, said for two nights now attacks have struck near the organization’s office in Tehran. There were no injuries but the damage to the health agency premises and others “cannot be tolerated and must be avoided at all costs.”
Iranian Nationals Can No Longer Enter or Transit UAE
Iranian nationals are not allowed to enter or transit through the UAE.
State Department Warns US Citizens in Saudi Arabia
The US State Department issued a new warning to American citizens in Saudi Arabia: “We are tracking reports of threats against locations where American citizens gather. We advise U.S. citizens that hotels and other gathering points including U.S. businesses and U.S. educational institutions may be potential targets.”
Israel Dismantels Hezbollah Launchers in Lebanon
The Israeli military said it dismantled launchers in Southern Lebanon that were used recently to launch missiles at Israel.
Buffer Zone in Lebanon
Netanyahu said Israel established a wide buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
He said that missiles from Iran and Israel’s other enemies “no longer” threaten Israel’s existence.
What is Regime Change?
“Regime change is the forced or voluntary replacement of one government or political system with another, often involving radical changes in leadership, structure, and policies. It can result from external intervention (like foreign military action), internal revolutions, or coups. “ AI summary
On Monday Secretary of State Rubio expressed to ABC News his doubt if anything had changed in Iran.
He said,
“The people who lead them, this clerical regime, that is the problem,” “And if there are new people now in charge who have a more reasonable vision of the future, that would be good news for us, for them, for the entire world. But we also have to be prepared for the possibility, maybe even the probability, that that is not the case.”
But to Al Jazeera he said the new regime, as Mr. Hegseth puts it – is an adversary.
And, that “our objectives here from the very beginning had nothing to do with the leadership.”
Note: Trump said early on it was, in fact he called on the Iranian people to rise up and take over.
Trump said on Sunday on Air Force One,
“We’ve had regime change, if you look, already because the one regime was decimated, destroyed. They’re all dead,” “The next regime is mostly dead. And the third regime, we’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change.”
“Regime change is an imperative, but I think we have it automatically.”
Scholar of Iran at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Karim Sadjadpour,
“There has been personnel change in Iran, not regime change,’ “Different men with the same ideology.”
2. Trump Shorts
Judge Halts Ballroom Construction - NYT
Judge Richard J. Leon wrote that Trump likely did not have the authority to replace entire sections of the White House without consulting Congress.
He also had concerns about the shifting and questionable accounts of who was in charge and under what authority private donations could be accepted to fund it.
“Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!” he wrote. “But here is the good news. It is not too late for Congress to authorize the continued construction of the ballroom project.”
His preliminary injunction bars further construction while litigation continues. Judge Leon paused his order for two weeks to allow the government to appeal and that has been filed.
“Congressional approval is not necessary to put up a ballroom,” Mr. Trump said at an event later at the White House.
The Times adds an interesting note, that Public Citizen reported in November that 2/3rds of the identified donors had received government contracts valued at more than $275 billion.
Trump to Attend Birth Right Citizenship Supreme Court Hearing - NYT
Trump said he’s going to attend. He said he was going to the tariff’s oral argument but chickened out.
Breaking: He did go, left after when US solicitor general Sauer sat down and the ACLU lawyer began to speak.
Trump Will Get List of Jews at Penn
Philadelphia Federal District Court Judge Gerald J. Pappert approved the governments subpoena for the records and gave Penn until May 1 to comply.
The subpoena asked for a list of Jews (name and phone number) at Penn so it could interview them about any antisemitism they experienced at the college. It also asked for information on groups “related to the Jewish religion.”
Many people at Penn had objected, most saying they were worried how the list would be used and that it had not turned out well for the Jewish people when the government started compiling a list of Jews. Some drew parallels between the government’s approach and methods deployed in Nazi Germany.
The government had just said it was seeking potential victims and witnesses.
Penn said in a statement it would appeal the ruling and was “committed to confronting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.”
“While we acknowledge the important role of the E.E.O.C. to investigate discrimination, we also have an obligation to protect the rights of our employees,” the university said. “We continue to believe that requiring Penn to create lists of Jewish faculty and staff, and to provide personal contact information, raises serious privacy and First Amendment concerns.” It also said it did not “maintain employee lists by religion.”
It did not have“possession, custody or control” of membership lists of Jewish groups on campus.
“Judge Pappert said the university would… not have to reveal an employee’s connection to ‘a specific Jewish -related organization.’
Executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund Norm L. Eisen opposed the subpoena on behalf Penn organizations,
“The court acknowledged that the subpoena sought information pertaining to people’s faith, making its request more intrusive and calling for greater sensitivity,” “the core problem remains: forcing disclosure of individuals’ religious affiliations conflicts with the First Amendment.”
He may appeal as well.
Trump Wants $10 Billion From the IRS
He wants payback since the leak of his personal tax forms years ago.
The Justice Department doesn’t seem to know how to respond to Trump suing a federal agency that he oversees. It’s an ethical situation. How do administration officials defend against a lawsuit filed by a president?
If they assign a lawyer to contest the suit, there would be a conflict as that person ultimately works for the president.
And there is an executive order that binds government lawyers to the president’s interpretation of the law.
Perhaps the judge, Judge Kathleen M. Williams could appoint an independent counsel to defend the case instead of the Justice Department.
In another claim he asked the Justice Department to pay him $220 million as compensation for the investigations into him.
Charles Duffy, former employee in the tax division of the Justice Department,
“It’s outrageous that the head of the executive would shake down an agency like this,”
Trump administration shuts down social media accounts tied to Bovino - The Hill
Bovino, a former Border Patrol official known for leading brutal raids to arrest immigrants and throwing tear gas at peaceful protesters spent a lot of effort using government social media accounts to promote himself. After he retired he refused to give control of the accounts back to the government. He argued that his “followers” (850,000) expected him to keep in touch with them.
The Trump administration then shut the social media account down.
“‘Chief Patrol Agent Bovino has retired from federal service and no longer has access to official government social media accounts,’ a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson told The Hill in a statement. “
Helicopter Pilots Buzzed Kid Rock; Suspended; Unsuspended - AP
Two helicopters hovered near Kid Rock’s home during a training run. He clapped and saluted.
The Army suspended them from flying pending an investigation.
Kid Rock said “I think they’re going to be all right. My buddy’s the commander in chief.”
Defense Secretary Hegseth lifted their suspension.
“No punishment. No Investigation. Carry on, patriots,” Hegseth said in a social media post.
Trump’s Ellipse Speech was NOT a presidential Act! - Politico
The lawsuit by the Capitol Police, joined by congressional members, is the last remaining legal case against Trump for his actions for the violence on January 6, 2021.
Today US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled evidence indicated that Trump’s speech at the Ellipse on January 6, 2021 was political, and therefore not subject to the Supreme court immunity order.
“President Trump has not shown that the Speech reasonably can be understood as falling within the outer perimeter of his Presidential duties,” Mehta wrote. “The content of the Ellipse Speech confirms that it is not covered by official-acts immunity.”
The case can proceed.
And it will most likely not be finished for years more. It has been estimated that a trial might be in the spring of 2028, more than seven years after the event.
Joseph Sellers, an attorney for Democratic lawmakers suing Trump,
“We’re very pleased that the court recognized that President Trump cannot avoid accountability for his conduct on Jan. 6, 2021,” the lawyer said in an interview. “This decision, if it holds up, is going to pave the way to a trial in federal district court on these claims.”
Trump’s legal team does not agree with the judge.
“The facts show that on January 6, 2021, President Trump was acting on behalf of the American people, carrying out his official duties as President of the United States,” the statement said. “President Trump will continue to fight back against the Democrat Witch Hoaxes and keep delivering historic results for the American People.”
This case may be the first to challenge the immunity ruling and help to define what exactly the distinctions are between private decisions of a president vs. his official duties.
“The court’s decision today is not a final pronouncement on immunity for any particular act,” the judge wrote. “President Trump remains free to reassert official-acts immunity as a defense at trial.”
3. Executive Order on Elections - NBC
The order asks the Department of Homeland Security to create a federal list of citizens from federal citizenship and naturalization records, social security records and other federal databases.
The lists would be sent to states to be used to verify their voter rolls.
The US Postal Service would only transmit ballots to those on the list.
The US Constitution says states run elections, setting rules for the purpose. Congress has the ability to set some regulations. The president has no role in elections.
Election experts believe that the EO is unconstitutional and overturned by the courts.
Founder of the nonpartisan center or Election Innovation & Research David Becker,
“This will be blocked by the federal courts before the ink is dry,” “The Constitution clearly gives the power to regulate these issues related to mail ballots to the states,” “The president has been excluded by the framers from dictating election policy to the states.”
Last March’s Trump EO on voting, did not do so well. Courts have blocked many of its provisions.
- NYT
Trump denounced “rogue judges” who blocked many of his policies. He even proposed a crime bill that would go after them as they are criminals.
He opposes mail-in voting but uses it himself.
Statistically Democrats use mail in voting more, data from the M.I.T. Election Data and Science lab says that it’s now nearly a 2 to 1 ratio. Still, many Republicans use it.
While voting fraud is a miniscule part of voting, and is very very rare, Trump still claims that it is a huge problem and “cheating among mail in voting is legendary.” Though he has tried to prove that it is a very large problem, he has failed.
Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, “The states run these elections,” Lutnick said. “If they want to use the U.S. Postal service, they are going to get a code, a barcode from the U.S. Postal service, and they are going to put that on the envelope, and we will have one envelope per vote.”
Note: not sure what he means by one envelope per vote as a new thing, as currently only one ballot is sent in an envelope, and only one ballot may be returned in the envelope provided for the purpose.
Democracy Docket
“‘Cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible,’ Trump said while signing the order. ‘Democrats want to use it for cheating.’”
Election officials around the country consistently find mail-in voting to be “secure and reliable.”
The EO orders ‘secure ballot envelopes” using unique barcodes for tracking.
Note: Many states have their own tracking systems based on information required on the outside of the ballot envelope.
It sets a schedule to provide an updated mail voter list for at least 60 days before federal elections and the attorney general can prioritize investigations into cases where ballots are sent to ineligible voters.
States that do not comply with new requirements can lose federal funding.
His previous EO’s on voting (proof-of-citizenship requirements and federal control over the voter registration process) have been blocked by the courts. The courts ruled that a president cannot unilaterally rewrite election law.
“I don’t know how it can be challenged. They’ll probably challenge it. You may find a rogue judge,” Trump added. “A lot of rogue judges. Very bad, bad people. A lot of bad judges.”
Founder of Democracy Docket, Mark Elias,
“This is a massive and unconstitutional voter suppression effort aimed at giving Trump the power to create a list of who is allowed to vote by mail,” “We know where this will go — the targeting of Democrats for mass disenfranchisement. We will sue and we will win.”
Election law expert David Becker told Democracy Docket,
“It’s obvious the president didn’t learn anything from his first failed executive order,” “This is unconstitutional on its face. The Constitution clearly gives the president no power over elections.”
“I expect that this will be blocked by multiple federal courts in a very short period of time and have no legal effect whatsoever,” he said.
And on the creation of a national voter list he said,
“After the Department of Justice has been telling courts they’re not creating a national voter list, this appears to confirm exactly what courts were concerned about,”
4. Threats to Call ICE - Migrant Insider
Note: This story has been disputed. It alleges that a woman employed men to fix her roof and then called ICE just as they were completing the job. Details reported later question it. It shows how the telling of a story can have supporting video and contradicting facts. For example the men in the story are said to be close to finishing, while the city manager and another company hired to complete the job report that only about 15% of the job was done before the ICE raid. It also reminds that just because multiple reports exist in social media, and a reputable source reports on the incident, doesn’t mean that all that you are hearing is true, nor false, just that its information and more information is needed to find the truth.
First reported.
Six Guatemalan men were almost done installing a new roof for Karen Trevino in Maryland.
And then, ICE arrived. They were ordered down from the roof, and taken.
“She Said She Would Call ICE”
One of the men, a Dominican and permanent US resident, Brian Polanco was on the roof. He was not arrested. He watched, and he livestreamed it from the jobsite on March 23.
He caught it all, the agents arriving, workers coming down from the roof, a calm confrontation.
He told witnesses Trevino had threatened to report the workers to ICE if anyone came to the property to finish the job or collect payment.
Trevino told the Baltimore Sun that the accusations were false and she feared for her families safety
The video is no longer on Polanco’s facebook account.
Court filings in Maryland show Karen Jeanette Trevino appeared as a defendant in a “Contract - Large Claims” case seven days before the ICE raid - March 16.
Note: There is no reporting that shows this is the Karen Trevino in the story.
She was already in debt litigation. A new bill for the roof would be problematic. Not having to pay for it? Might be a solution.
ICE
ICE said it was a “targeted enforcement” and the workers had final orders of removal.
ICE gets around 15,000 anonymous tips per month on a public reporting line. Migrant Insider says legal observers think the timing, that ICE appeared close to the finishing of the job, might be because ICE was tipped off.
ICE denies that.
Status
The six men are in federal custody. Trevino has a new roof. She has not been charged.
Local reporting cites sources who say there are talks about a possible felon-level fraud case.
Maryland’s section 3-701 says that the labor of a human is not free if they are undocumented.
Legal expert Aaron Reighlin-Melnick of American Immigration Council, and others, say that the alleged conduct in Cambridge fits the statute.
A sentence of up to 15 years and a $15,000 fine is possible.
Kent County News, reports as well. They add some additional information.
https://www.myeasternshoremd.com/kent_county_news/news/ice-refutes-viral-claims-cambridge-woman-tipped-them-off-to-make-arrests/article_189bcafa-d7e3-468a-83ea-16891fe3dd7b.html
They say that in the video, men can be heard saying in Spanish, “She called the damn law on us and now we’re totally screwed.” During the encounter, Polanco, the videographer, can be heard calmly asserting his right to film.
“I have every right to record,” he tells an immigration agent. “I’m not doing anything wrong either.”
Also “In the video, the homeowner, Trevino’s father, can be heard saying, ‘first of all, I’m pro-ICE. I don’t think illegal people should be here,’ he said. ‘I think they should come in properly. I’m a retired Marine, I’ve been to combat, I’ve fought to protect our rights.’
Cambridge City Manager Glenn Steckman “identified the company as Allied Remodeling, who obtained the roofing and siding permit for the home. Steckman noted that only about 15% of the job had been completed at the time of the arrests.”
The Democrat Star
https://www.stardem.com/news/dorchester/ice-refutes-viral-claims-cambridge-woman-tipped-them-off-to-make-arrests/article_aa5db8a5-e4a3-4060-9e19-a68ea5e45de5.html
“On Saturday, Cambridge Police Chief Justin Todd wrote in a press release that business owners completing construction work on the property later in the week confirmed only around 15% of the old roof had been removed — not the 90% completion mark alleged in widespread social media posts.”
Note: There are many, many cases where shady things happen and later are proved to be true. Others are proved to be false. Jumping forward and following social media fury does not help as the next wrong thing that happens is often said to be just imaginary. In a world where it seems officials are leaping to conclusions and stirring the pot, we can do better. What is true here is not yet agreed upon.
5. Congressional Scrutiny of Warehouse Detention Centers - Project Salt Box
Democratic lawmakers have opened an investigation into the private companies that are helping to build the federal government’s expanded detention facilities.
CoreCivic and the Geo Group are currently the largest private prison operators.
Newcomers are KVG LLC and Garda World who are retrofitting warehouses to make them detention facilities.
PNK LLC, sold the Social Circle, Ga. warehouse
theGosin Group represented Newmark affiliated properties in Oklahoma City.
Financial Beneficiaries
According to the Salt Box project, federal real estate records, contracting data and government financial disclosures provide the names of additional companies who are benefiting. Commercial real estate investment vehicles, industrial property funds, holding companies that sold warehouses to the federal government at higher prices that previously recorded values for the properties.
ICE paid prices for more than a dozen warehouses that exceed property valuations and recent market comparables.
Salt Lake City, paid $145 million for one valued at $97 million.
Social Circle, GA paid $129 million for one valued at $29 million.
Socorro, TX paid $123 million for one carried on the books at $11 million.
So for El Paso Logistics II LLC, got an estimated profit of more than 1,000 percent on the Socorrow warehouse.
CRP/AI Oakwood Owner LLC gained 16,900 percent.
The Rockerfeller Group realized roughly 49%.
The Congressional investigation was brought by 52 Democrats.
Judiciary Committee
Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are in the lead.
This new investigation seeks to determine if government contractors, real estate brokers and property owners are corruptly profiting from the White House fast tracked expansion of inhuman warehouse-based immigration detention facilities.
The investigation begins with asking the companies to provide information, clarity into the deals. In letters to the companies lawmakers wrote,
“These warehouses were built to hold products, not people…Given the public’s grave concerns about this warehouse system, we request prompt answers to questions about your involvement in the system,
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is working at breakneck speed to implement its “Detention Reengineering Initiative,” a warehouse system to hold nearly 100,000 people by November 2026. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has described the vision as “(Amazon) Prime, but with human beings.”
The Trump administration plans to spend $38.3 billion on the warehouse based system. ICE is going around the normal contracting, competitive bidding process. Instead they are using a Navy contracting program to do so. It also helps them avoid disclosing contract details that would normally be made public.
That raises concerns about unnecessary cost and corruption.
Those buildings that were bought for much much more than it appears they are worth? Why?
Note: Previously reporting revealed alleged potential self-dealing by Corey Lewandowski, former Secretary of DHS Noem’s assistant. Two companies allege he was taking money for contracts.
Some other senior Trump officials have close ties to immigration contractors that could profit. David Venturella, formerly of Geo Group, recently joined ICE and is leading its division overseeing detention contracts. Geo Group is competing for those warehouse contracts. AG Bondi is a former lobbyist for the GEO Group. Tom Homan, Border Czar reportedly helped contractors secure contracts.
Rest of the Story
American journalist Shelly Kittleson kidnapped in Baghdad - Washington Post
Kittleson has reported extensively from the Middle East as a freelancer, writing for Al-Monitor, Foreign Policy, Politico and the BBC.
Iraq’s interior ministry said it had arrested one suspect, seized a car and was looking for accomplices.
“We are deeply alarmed by the kidnapping of Al-Monitor contributor Shelly Kittleson in Iraq on Tuesday,” Al-Monitor said in a statement. “We call for her safe and immediate release. We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work.”
Sara Qudah, director for the Middle east and North Africa, “ The Committee to Protect Journalists ‘calls on Iraqi authorities to do everything in their power to locate Shelley Kittleson, ensure her immediate and safe release, and hold those responsible to account,’”
DACA Recipient Returns to U.S.; Judge Found Her Unlawfully Deported - Washington Post
ICE is targeting Dreamers. These immigrants were children when their parents brought them to the US. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program empowered them to achieve legal status.
Maria de Jesus Estarda Jaurez was detained while applying for residency after her daughter, a U.S. citizen, filed a petition on her behalf. She was then deported back to Mexico.
U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins ruled “that Estrada had suffered ‘extreme’ harm and that officers deported her ‘in flagrant violation’ of DACA regulations and her constitutional right to due process. The judge gave DHS seven days to facilitate her return to the U.S.”
Others are not so lucky.
“This has been one of the most painful experiences of my life,” Estrada said after arriving in California. “I followed the rules. I trusted the system. And for that, I was ripped away from my daughter, Damaris, without warning. I’m home now — but what happened to me is wrong, and it should never happen to anyone.”
Former DHS Secretary Noem said that most of the DACA individuals who were arrested were criminals.
To get in the program DACA recipients have to clear a background check. They pay hundreds in fees. They then are promised to be shielded from deportation. To remain in the program, DACA members must renew every two years and they cannot commit a crime.
As DACA recipients they can obtain driver’s licenses , work legally, pay resident tuition at state colleges. Many obtain advanced degrees, become lawyers, doctors, software engineers and teachers, They buy houses, start families.
No one knows how many DACA recipients have been arrested by ICE. Noem said 270 were arrested in 2025. In two different letters to House and Senate Democrats on deportations she gave two different numbers, 86 and 174.
GOP Sheriff Pauses Election Investigation -ABC
A Republican Californaia Sheriff who is running for governor seized more than ½ a million 2025 election ballots in an attempt to discover if a group claiming election fraud was right.
He has paused his probe after legal challenges from the state attorney general and a voting rights group. They claim he has no authority over election materials.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a statement he put it on hold “because of politically motivated lawsuits and court filings.”
State’s AG Bonta is continuing the case.
“Our focus is on what the Sheriff does, not what he says,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
The UCLA Voting Rights Project, is “asking the state Supreme Court to order Bianco to return the ballots while the case plays out.”
A statement from their attorney said,
“Our election law is clear that voted ballots are to remain in the custody of election officials, and nothing the sheriff has presented changes that basic rule,”
Democracy Dockett
They say that Bianco used “non-existant’ quotes in legal defense of his ballot seizures.
The UCLA Voting Rights Project brief filed Monday says that BIanco and his attorney incorrectly cited a quotation in his brief in opposition to their lawsuit.
They said that the quotation “appears nowhere in the opinion” and there were more cases cited that were real but the quotes cited do not exist and the holdings said to be a part of the case are made-up.
In the recent past such non-existant quotes and misunderstood rulings have been the results of lawyers using AI to draft their arguments.
It is not known how they appeared in Bianco’s brief.