Citing #FirstAmendment, federal judge blocks Trump order to end funding for #NPR and #PBS

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Updated 4:37 PM EDT, March 31, 2026
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WASHINGTON (AP) — "Citing the First Amendment, a federal judge on Tuesday agreed to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, two media entities that the White House has said are counterproductive to American priorities.

"The operational impact of U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss’ decision was not immediately clear — both because it will likely be appealed and because too much damage to the public-broadcasting system has already been done, both by the president and Congress.

"Moss ruled that President Donald Trump’s executive order to cease funding for NPR and PBS is unlawful and unenforceable. The judge said the First Amendment right to free speech 'does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.' "

Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-npr-pbs-funding-executive-order-fbd9500e5f7400deab84ead188c35694

Fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (#CPB), not #CBP! #DefundICE #FundPBS
#USPol

How to Keep ICE Agents Out of Your Phone at the Airport

If you’re traveling, follow these digital security practices to keep federal authorities from getting into your phone.

Nikita Mazurov
March 25 2026

"With Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deployed to more than a dozen airports across the U.S. and border device searches growing increasingly common, it’s more important than ever to consider your digital security before you travel.

"The risks are real. Customs and Border Protection agents have the authority to examine travelers’ devices. In June, for instance, federal agents denied a Norwegian tourist entry to the U.S. after looking through his phone. (Authorities claim they turned him away for admitted drug use; he says it was over a meme depicting Vice President JD Vance as a bald baby.)

"Immigration and Customs Enforcement have already started targeting travelers, with agents in plain clothes forcefully detaining a mother in front of her young daughter at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday after a tip from the Transportation Security Administration.

"If you’re flying, take these steps to reduce the likelihood that your sensitive information is compromised at the airport."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/25/ice-airports-phone-security-privacy-safety/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/1M5qw

#USPol #Airports #ICESucks #DefundICE #AbolishICE #AbolishDHS #TravelSafely

#Palantir Will No Longer Profit Off of New Yorkers’ Health Data

After #TheIntercept exposed Palantir’s deal with #NYC public hospitals, the health care system didn’t renew the contract.

by Sam Biddle, March 24 2026

"A controversial multimillion-dollar deal between New York City’s public hospital system and military contractor Palantir, first reported by The Intercept, is coming to an end, according to recent testimony before the city council.

"The Intercept reported in February that the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, which operates a network of public health care facilities across the city, had paid Palantir almost $4 million since 2023 for data analysis services. #NYCHH says it used Palantir’s software to boost its efficiency in billing Medicaid and other public benefits, which included the automated scanning of patient health notes.

"The contract prompted #protests from #activists and local organizers who objected to the hospital system’s use of software from a company whose technology has facilitated lethal airstrike targeting, wide-reaching surveillance of American citizens, and deportation raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/24/palantir-new-york-city-hospitals-contract/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/CRzWy

#USPol #DefundICE #DefundDHS #ICEOut

#ICEAgents at US airports? Will they help or hinder?

Let's separate TSA and #CBP out of #DHS, then get rid of DHS and #ICE!

ICE agents deployed to more than a dozen US airports amid staffing gaps

By David Shepardson
March 23, 2026

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - "U.S. immigration agents ​began deploying at more than a dozen U.S. airports on Monday to aid security screening as staffing ‌absences by unpaid airport security officers have caused massive delays.

"The Homeland Security Department confirmed it had begun deploying hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to assist in security at airports facing significant staffing issues."

[...]

"For now, ICE personnel will not be deployed in areas behind airport security checkpoints because they lack the specific clearance needed, ‌sources told ⁠Reuters."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ice-agents-begin-deploying-some-us-airports-2026-03-23/

#USPol #DefundICE #AbolishDHS

😡 FFS! So, now the city has decided to close the shelter?!! Will they open it in a more central location? Or just let unhoused folks freeze to death!!! Way to go, #Maine's biggest city!!! Oh, and the asylum seekers are too afraid to stay there! #FuckICE!!!

'Numbers have certainly declined': #PortlandME to close shelter for #AsylumSeekers [and homeless people who need shelter during freezing temperatures]

by Max Williams, WGME
Wed, March 18, 2026

Excerpt: "The city also needs to develop a gameplan for a #WarmingShelter by next winter, as this location served as the city’s only #OvernightShelter.

"Allicia Santamore has been living on the streets of Portland for eight years and considers the shelter to be a lifeline.

" 'The warming shelter is awesome for people to sit when its six o'clock in the morning and you got no place to go. You can't stay in your tent no more, it’s f------ freezing,' Santamore said.

"The city says they are talking with Maine DHHS about what to do, but they say it all comes down to funding."

Full article:
https://wgme.com/news/local/maine-housing-crisis-numbers-have-certainly-declined-portland-to-close-shelter-for-asylum-seekers-immigration-warming-homelessness

cc: @bob , @sr_rss

#Homeless #MainePol #Houseless #ICESucks #DefundICE

Attempted suicides, fights, pain: 911 calls reveal misery at #ICE’s largest #DetentionFacility

The emergency calls from a #Texas #immigration #DetentionCenter included repeated suicide attempts by detainees, seizures, injuries from fights and a pregnant woman in pain. Data from more than a hundred 911 calls, interviews with detainees and court filings offer a portrait of overcrowding, medical neglect, malnutrition and emotional distress.

By MORGAN LEE, RYAN J. FOLEY and MICHAEL BIESECKER
Updated 1:18 PM EST, March 6, 2026

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — "The calls to 911 poured in from staff at #CampEastMontana in Texas, the nation’s largest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, at a rate of nearly one a day for five months, each its own tale of pain and despair."

Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/suicide-ice-detention-centers-b2d1cb0e4b579e0d89caabd00aa04e34

#USPol #HumanRightsViolations #Immigrants #AcquisitionLogics #KenWagner #DefundICE #DefundDHS #AbolishICE #WeKnowWhereYouLive #Fascism