A portion of the crowd of peaceful democracy protectors in Austin, TX today listening to speakers and music as part of #HandsOff.

Next action is May 1st at the State Capitol from 5 pm to 8 pm. Come join the movement against #Trump and #fascists.

#ATX #Austin #AustinTX #Texas #Musk #ElonMusk #DOGE #DueProcess #50501 #FreeSpeech #USConstitution #CivilLiberties

No-Bid #ICE Contract Went to Former ICE Agents Being Sued for Fabricating Criminal Evidence on the Job

The $73 million deal for assisting with deportations went to a company whose executives are accused of retaliating against a fellow ICE worker.

Sam Biddle, April 17 2025

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement just signed a contract worth $73 million with a firm whose executives are accused of taking part in a scheme to manufacture evidence against a co-worker during their time working at the Department of Homeland Security.

"According to a contract document reviewed by The Intercept, federal contractor #UniversalStrategicAdvisors will provide services pertaining to #ICE’s 'non-detained docket,' a master list of millions of #noncitizens believed to be removable from the United States but not yet in the agency’s custody.

"The contract cites President Donald #Trump’s declaration of a #NationalEmergency on the #USMexicoBorder, an overwhelming glut of potential #deportees, and a shortage of officers to process them all as justification for hiring a private vendor to assist with the collection of biometric data, coordinating removals, and monitoring #immigrant populations.

"The document says that with a fleet of new outsourced employees, ICE can reassign hundreds of officers to tasks that better align with Trump’s recent executive orders aimed at maximizing the agency’s detention and deportation operations. With the contractors onboard, the document says at least 675 ICE officers 'will be able to take all appropriate actions to comply with the EO’s by prioritizing conducting at-large arrests, removals, and detention related activities.'

"A former ICE official, who spoke to The Intercept on the condition of anonymity, said they were concerned by this plan to further privatize the agency’s operations at the same time as the Trump administration has dramatically slashed its workforce and gutted important oversight bodies like the Office for #CivilRights and #CivilLiberties, as well as the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. 'I certainly take issue with them firing career feds and demolishing whole offices, just to hire contractors to do the same work, many of them who are former ICE employees now retired,' the official said."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/04/17/ice-deportation-contracts-us-advisors/

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

#WorkerRetaliation #ICEDetention #Deportations #HumanRightsAbuses #USPol #WorldPol #Corporatocracy #CorporateFascism #Fascism #Authoritarianism #Cronyism

US Citizens Don’t Have First Amendment Rights If Noncitizens Don’t

https://www.cato.org/blog/us-citizens-dont-have-first-amendment-rights-noncitizens-dont

#1a #firstamendment #freedomofspeech #freespeech #civilliberties

These are the sort of escalations we need to closely watch. Seems like a clear test of how the public responds to posse comitatus type powers.

Trump announced a plan Friday (4/4) to turn a 60 ft strip along the MX border in CA, AZ & NM into a military installation and transfer authority over the federal border land to Defense Dept... Military patrolling there could then detain migrants for trespassing on a military reservation.

#politics #civilliberties #martiallaw

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/politics/trump-military-border.html

State of Emergency in US #HigherEd

Alan Wald of UMichigan's Faculty and Staff for Justice in #Palestine discusses the climate of #politicalRepression directed at #PalestineSolidarity work and the parallels with earlier periods including the McCarthy and Red Scare eras

https://marxedproject.org/event/state-of-emergency-in-us-higher-education/

#Gaza #GazaSolidarity #StudentProtests #FacultyProtests #USpol #USpolitics #stateRepression #FreeSpeechOnCampus #deportations #civilLiberties #civilRights #censorship #AcademicFreedom @palestine

Pro-#Palestinian protester’s lawyer stopped and searched at US border: ‘They were going to take my device’

Amir Makled says immigration officials questioned him about his phone’s contents. Experts warn fourth amendment rights have been weakened at the border

from #TheGuardian #Guardian
Johana Bhuiyan
Sat 12 Apr 2025 08.00 EDT

"#AmirMakled thought he was being racially profiled. A Lebanese American who was born and raised in Detroit, the attorney was returning home from a family vacation in the Dominican Republic when he said an immigration official at the Detroit Metro airport asked for a “TTRT” agent after scanning his passport on Sunday. Makled said the expression on the agent’s face changed. He felt something “odd” was happening."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/12/amir-makled-phone-search-border-immigration?CMP=share_btn_url

#DefendAcademicFreedom
#ReleaseMahmoudKhalil
#repression
#CivilLiberties
#DefendFreeSpeech
#ProtestIsNotACrime
#DefendStudentProtesters
#NeverStopTalkingAboutPalestine
#USA #US #USPolitics #Trump
#news #press @palestine

I haven't done a #FollowFriday list in a while. Here are some of my favorite #HumanRights accounts (in alphabetical order):

@404mediaco
404 Media is a journalist-founded digital media company exploring the ways technology is shaping–and is shaped by–our world. We're focused on investigative reports, longform features, blogs, and scoops about topics including: hacking, cybersecurity, cybercrime, sex, artificial intelligence, consumer rights, surveillance, privacy, and the democratization of the internet.

@AIF_Massachusetts
American Iron Front in Massachusetts: standing against Nazis, the alt-right, and fascists of all stripes in Massachusetts and the greater New England area.

@BLKNewsNow
News blog covering stories for Black America, the Black diaspora, and allies from all backgrounds.

@CrimethInc
CrimethInc. is a rebel alliance—a decentralized network pledged to anonymous collective action—a breakout from the prisons of our age. We strive to reinvent our lives and our world according to the principles of self-determination and mutual aid.

@DemocracyNow_Headlines_rss
Automated toots from Democracy Now's Headlines RSS feed. This account is not affiliated with #DemocracyNow.

@EndIsraeliApartheid
The UN report, entitled "Anatomy of a #Genocide", says Israel has violated three of the five acts listed in the UN Genocide Convention. The UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as rapidly as possible”.

@Freedom_Press
An independent, radical co-op controlled by its volunteers, Freedom runs Britain’s oldest anarchist press and its largest bookshop.

@humanrightswatch
This is the international organization #HumanRightsWatch.

@igd_news
In search of new forms of life. A digital community center and media platform featuring news, opinion, podcasts, and reporting on autonomous social movements and revolt across so-called North America from an #anarchist perspective.

@indybay
San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center • Anti-Oppression Anti-Capitalist Open Publishing Since 2000 Make media • Make trouble!

@MikeDunnAuthor
Working Class Historical Fiction from the not so gilded age. Labor History. Social justice. An injury to one is an injury to all!

@mondoweiss
We cover the movements, activists and policymakers who affect the struggle for freedom in #Palestine. We are now on Peertube! Watch our videos in the fediverse and follow us there for updated video content: https://video.mondoweiss.net

@MusiqueNow
#Music #Musique #Musica #Musik #pouetradio #WeAreTheRadio and #news. #SolidarityWithPalestineRadio
#TransAndNonBinaryrRightsAreHumanRights #QueersBashBACK #NEVERAGAINforANYONE

@PoliceStateUK
Tracking politics, policing and #CivilLiberties in the UK.

@RadicalGraffiti
Just sharing pics of #AntiCapitalist, Anti-#authoritarian and #AntiColonial graffiti, stickers and street art seen around the world.

@Resister
MSW, RSW • She/Her • Settler • #Activist • #Vegan • Critical Consciousness Raiser •
Creator of - https://radicalsocial.work/about

@rmblaber1956
I am a retired academic, with an MA & PhD in Social Policy & Administration from the Universities of York & Kent respectively. I am disabled, & am deeply concerned about human, gay and disability rights, the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis. I was politically homeless, but am increasingly favouring the Green Party. I like films, classical music, jazz & reading.

@Sherifazuhur
Research prof. (UCLA PhD - MIT, American Univ. In Cairo, CSU, UCB, SSI-US Army War College, Fulbright scholar, Syria) #MiddleEastNorthAfrican #history, #politics, #defense, #IslamicStudies, #arts, #thought, #education Toots on MENA current news.

@ThailandWatch
Posts about human rights and conflict related to Thailand. Posts by @peacemakers_ca

@UnicornRiot
Independent media amplifying stories from the frontlines of social and environmental struggles. Bookmark our website: https://unicornriot.ninja/

@USAJusticeWatch
Focus on the USA with emphasis on human rights and conflict. Please send a direct message for information about the curator of this account, who watches the US from another country. Messages deleted from time to time.

@YourAnonNews
We are Anonymous, we are legion, we do not forgive, we do not forget. Expect us. Prepared to go forward w/it. Here live. Not a cat. #Anonymous #HackThePlanet

#FridayFollows #FollowFridays #HumanRightsDefenders #HumanRightsNews #HumanRightsList