Purge of ICE leadership

"The Trump administration is restricting the number of refugees it admits annually into the country to 7,500 and they will mostly be White South Africans, a dramatic drop after the United States previously allowed in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and persecution from around the world."
— Associated Press, Trump sets 7,500 annual limit for refugees entering US. It’ll be mostly White South Africans, CNN, Oct 30, 2025

"And as for the purported criminals they’re arresting...? Sixty-five percent of the people arrested by ICE so far this year have no criminal records, per the Cato Institute, and more than 93% have never been convicted of a violent offense."
— Ian Kumamoto, Children Deserve A Fascism-Free Halloween: But, in many cities across the country, it doesn't look like they're going to get it. HuffPost, Oct 31, 2025

---

"ICE leadership is being purged," Andrea Pitzer reminds us. (When bad things get worse: Border Patrol, ICE, and the repetition of grim history. Degenerate Art, October 28, 2025)

She gives us this history:

"ICE and CBP were established under the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, as part of government reorganization in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. They were largely split out of the U.S. Customs Service (along with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, whose responsibilities were given to CBP).

ICE includes ERO, which stands for Enforcement and Removal Operations. CBP operates in theory to protect the borders, though how that border gets defined and how deeply into the mainland CBP gets to operate might surprise you.

For the last eight years, ICE has only had acting directors (none confirmed by the Senate), while Border Patrol "has been managed by acting directors more than half its existence."

"In rising authoritarian regimes, tension usually develops between the more law-and-order squads of the governing party’s goons—the ones who represent a more simple exacerbation of the existing awful system—and those who have embraced more radical forms of detention or extrajudicial violence." An example: "Before Trump took office again, I talked with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, about the threat to immigrants ... if [Tom] Homan gained the upper hand in immigration policy, he would more or less expand the existing U.S. immigration system, putting it on steroids... [whereas Stephen] Miller’s crusade against immigrants risked becoming a much more dangerous project."

The Nazis, too, once they took power, were deciding whether to lean into Lawful Evil or Chaotic Evil. In 1934, Hitler limited arbitrary detention and released thousands of incarcerated people, but Himmler rearrested a thousand of them and convinced Hitler that more camps were needed. "In the months and years that followed, the Nazi concentration camp system devolved again and again into larger and more abominable forms—ones that would have been impossible to imagine in 1934."

Pitzer says:

"I expect that the coming months will bring a rapid expansion of impromptu facilities, more porous categories for apprehension, and more aggressive tactics applied indiscriminately to those who stand up for the rights of anyone targeted.

Maybe you’ve seen this coming all along. But if you had a failure of imagination at the beginning—not knowing how bad it had already gotten or realizing how much worse it might get if we didn’t take action then—don’t let despair over how we got here paralyze you. Don’t let that first failure of imagination lead you into another one: one where you fail to imagine ways that we can get out of this."

Four years ago, Nancy Mace claimed to be LGBTQ-inclusive. Now she opposes all of us.

Check out this evolution

Nancy Mace Claimed for Years to Be Pro-Gay. Now She Says It's "Not Adam and Steve": The politician previously voted for same-sex marriage rights twice. Samantha Riedel, Them, October 30, 2025:

In 2021, Mace presented herself as LGBTQ-inclusive:

"Earlier in her legislative career, Mace sought to cast herself as a gay and lesbian rights advocate who also wanted to preserve religious liberties. In 2021, she co-sponsored the “Fairness for All Act,” a Republican counter to the Equality Act which would have added sexuality and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act’s protections while carving out exceptions for religious leaders and institutions.

“I strongly support LGBTQ rights. No one should be discriminated against,” Mace told the conservative Washington Examiner at the time. “I do believe that religious liberty, the First Amendment, gay rights, and transgender equality can all coexist [....] Having been around gay, lesbian, and transgender people has informed my opinion over my lifetime.”"

But then, in late 2024, she became anti-trans while pretending to still be pro-gay:

"an exchange between Mace and a trans poster who called her out last November, shortly after Mace introduced a resolution to ban transgender women from women’s restrooms in the Capitol. The user, Boots, wrote to the Congresswoman on November 24, “you’re going to be against gay rights as soon as it becomes socially advantageous,” replying to Mace’s statement that “[g]ay rights have nothing to do with men invading women’s private spaces.” Mace replied minutes later, “Votes for gay marriage twice in fact” — likely referencing her votes for the RFMA. (A month after that back-and-forth, Mace again propped up her RFMA votes, writing that she “voted for gay marriage twice [...] Ppl can dress and modify their bodies however they want, just don’t do it to kids and don’t make the govt pay for it.”)"

Now, on October 28, 2025:

"“Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” Mace wrote on X on Tuesday afternoon, apparently unprompted."

Awesome.

s. baum writes for Erin in the Morning: "To many in the trans community, Mace’s pivot was a mind-numbingly obvious outcome. Of course, the GOP never meant to reserve attacks on human rights to just trans people."

For details, go back to 2024...

If a trans rep is elected, will they be allowed in the building?

1% of the population is trans. there are 435 seats in congress, we don't have a single representative (and if we did, it's not even clear if they'd be allowed in the building). call me back about AGAB privilege when that changes.

— Salty 🇵🇸 🇵🇸 (@nacl.sh) April 6, 2024 at 7:22 PM

It has changed, nearly

There was a time, long ago, where McBride knew how important it was to not comply with bathroom policies.

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— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.bsky.social) November 20, 2024 at 8:57 PM

Nancy Mace: "It is offensive that a man in a skirt thinks that he's my equal. He's forcing his genitals into women's restrooms."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) November 20, 2024 at 9:26 PM

Cis People: This is so stunning and brave! Trans people: We're absolutely fucked. They are already going to push for a national federal bathroom ban and this just greenlit the way. This will not stop Republicans even if it makes cis people feel good.

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— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) November 20, 2024 at 3:28 PM

Nancy Mace's proposed ban would potentially expose trans and nonbinary people to harassment and discrimination at national parks, courthouses, IRS buildings, Social Security offices, some post offices and Native American lands.

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— Truthout (@truthout.org) November 27, 2024 at 4:19 PM

And there it is. Mace already promising to go further.

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— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) November 20, 2024 at 3:36 PM

Don Moynihan: "The trans Democrat is blamed for "sparking" the crisis despite the fact she did nothing beyond be herself. Before she arrived to DC, or made any demands, the GOP preemptively turned her identity into a political issue. So, who is doing identity politics?"

Important note for reporters covering the GOP's effort to ban trans women from bathrooms on Capitol Hill: while Sarah McBride and Nancy Mace both have private bathrooms in their offices, the trans people who are not elected officials who have to work there every day do not.

— Ari Drennen (@aridrennen.bsky.social) November 19, 2024 at 9:07 PM

Note: I was incorrect about this. The transphobic bathroom resolution by Nancy Mace does not apply to visitors / the public HT @aridrennen.bsky.social

— Pablo Manríquez (@pabloreports.bsky.social) November 20, 2024 at 8:22 AM

What's upsetting me most here is this isn't just a story about McBride. It's a story about whether we can be equally heard in the literal halls of power--the people's House. I know transgender attorneys, staffers, reporters, lobbyists, and interns on the Hill, all of whom are now labeled suspect.

— Gillian Branstetter (@gbbranstetter.bsky.social) November 20, 2024 at 6:51 PM

Mike Johnson Calls Extra Press Conference Just To Make Anti-Trans Statement The House Speaker previously ducked a question about whether Sarah McBride, soon to be the first transgender member of Congress, is a man or a woman. Arthur Delaney, HuffPost, Nov 19, 2024

She responded.
Trans Congresswoman Responds To Speaker Johnson's Capitol Hill Bathroom Ban: Delaware's Sarah McBride said she had not been sent to Washington to "fight about bathrooms." Sara Boboltz, HuffPost, Nov 20, 2024

Nancy Mace has introduced a federal bathroom ban which would ban trans people from bathrooms in DCA and Dulles airports, national park bathrooms, museum bathrooms, and all federal building bathrooms.

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— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.bsky.social) November 20, 2024 at 11:20 AM

I hope it’s remembered that the first trans female member of Congress was almost instantly targeted individually by half of Congress and then abandoned by the other half. This is life for trans women even in one of the highest offices in the world! This is standard transmisogyny!

— May Peterson 🦄 (@goddessblade.bsky.social) November 21, 2024 at 9:14 AM

Much emphasis has fallen on her reaction to this, but what stands out most to me is how quickly and thorough this issue came to the fore the moment we had a trans woman in Congress!

— May Peterson 🦄 (@goddessblade.bsky.social) November 21, 2024 at 9:16 AM

Her response shows me her attunement to the Democratic Party and the spirit in which they defend trans women—which is to say, almost not at all.

— May Peterson 🦄 (@goddessblade.bsky.social) November 21, 2024 at 9:20 AM

None of this is to say I agree with McBride’s response—I’m also willing to cede there were some better responses from some Democrats than I was aware of. My main point is that aggressive transmisogyny immediately became a sticking point as soon a trans woman took the office.

— May Peterson 🦄 (@goddessblade.bsky.social) November 21, 2024 at 10:23 AM

with the standing caveat that i don't cover politics and am not an expert -- i feel like dems could do worse than running AOC in 28. my takeaway from trump beating kamala is that "safe" candidates are overrated and voters vibe with (perceived) authenticity far more than focus-grouped policy stances

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— Will Oremus (@oremus.bsky.social) November 21, 2024 at 10:47 AM

I absolutely agree with this assessment. Republicans spent an insane amount of money on anti-trans bullying messaging, and Democrats spent nothing to counter it. What did this show? That we can't stand up to bullies. That we won't go to bat for the little guy. Who would vote for that?

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— Kelly Barnhill (@kellybarnhill.bsky.social) November 21, 2024 at 11:06 AM

Sarah McBride: "It is an attempt to distract ... Every single time we hear them say the word 'trans,' look what they're doing with their right hand. Look at what they're doing to pick the pocket of American workers, to fleece seniors by privatizing Social Security and Medicare."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) November 24, 2024 at 11:31 AM

Fox News Host Misgenders Trans Lawmaker As Nancy Mace Continues Bathroom Ban Crusade, HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sarah-mcbride-anti-trans-attacks-nancy-mace-gop_n_67440464e4b03c8ec6f8ec02

Representative Sarah McBride's argument that adhering to the rules will allow her to focus on legislation is dog crap. The House, Senate, Presidency, AND Supreme Court are all fascist. They're not going to let her pass any damn bill anyway.

— Bijhan Agha (@bijhan.bsky.social) December 4, 2024 at 1:32 PM

The person who supposedly “assaulted Nancy Mace” was just a foster youth advocate who literally did nothing more than shake her hand. Wow. imprintnews.org/top-stories/...

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— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 11, 2024 at 9:30 AM

Read: Lauren Boebert Calls Security On Nonexistent 'Guy' In Women's Bathroom: The Colorado congresswoman reportedly thought the person was Rep. Sarah McBride, Congress' only transgender lawmaker. She later apologized. Nina Golgowski, HuffPost, Jan 24, 2025

I wrote about it: Delighting in Dragging People Out of Bathrooms and Out of Court In which Rep. Nancy Mace tells us what her favorite YouTube is, Tucker Lieberman (4 min read) Jul 28, 2025

CONNOLLY: The gentlelady has used a phrase that is considered a slur in the LGBTQ community NANCY MACE: Tranny tranny tranny, I don't really care, you want penises in women's bathrooms

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 5, 2025 at 11:13 AM

Sarah McBride is selling out trans people, negotiating away rights with Democrats to avoid alienating the cis people.

SCOOP: Sarah McBride and other Dems have discussed how the party must accept Ds with differing stances on trans rights to not alienate people “We have to create more space in our tent,” she told me An inside look at Dems’ reshuffling on trans issues: www.notus.org/congress/tra...

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— Oriana González (@oriana.bsky.social) March 21, 2025 at 7:45 AM

Read: "Republican Nancy Mace says she likes to watch videos of ICE detaining people: Congresswoman says she ‘can think of nothing more American’ than Ice dragging people out of court." Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Guardian, July 28, 2025

I interviewed @MarcyRheintgen, the trans woman arrested in Florida for using a bathroom. We talked about her being a Centrist and a Catholic, and why she “loves” Nancy Mace and Matt Walsh. Live now: youtu.be/dG9pcMecvlo?...

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— dead domain 🐐🏳️‍⚧️ (@domaindead.bsky.social) April 10, 2025 at 1:58 PM

Three new U.S. federal rules toward ending trans healthcare for youth

In the Trump regime's quest to ban trans healthcare for people under 19, says Erin Reed today, it's been "threatening and subpoenaing providers for trans youths’ medical records, attempting to pull federal grants from hospitals and universities that offer gender-affirming care, and issuing vague guidance that’s driven even longtime allies into overcompliance. Now the administration is escalating with a blitz of three new rules that could effectively end most transgender youth care nationwide if enacted..."

Today, they finalized a federal rule (PSLF rule (full text)) to "bar nonprofits from qualifying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness" if any minor gets trans healthcare there. It will take effect July 1, 2026. "The change would punish entire institutions: doctors, nurses, and staff at any hospital, university, or nonprofit that provides gender-affirming care to minors would lose access to loan forgiveness, effectively coercing organizations to abandon care or risk their employees’ financial security."

Two more (see the first and second) are expected very soon. "One would prohibit federal Medicaid reimbursement for gender-affirming care provided to anyone under 19. The other would go even further, barring hospitals that treat transgender minors from receiving any Medicaid funds at all — a measure that would effectively eliminate access to such care nationwide, except at the few private clinics able to forgo Medicaid entirely, a rarity in transgender youth medicine."

It's about the federal shutdown too, Reed says:

"The new rules echo the negotiations over the FY26 appropriations bills tied to the ongoing shutdown fight, where House Republicans are similarly pushing to ban federal funding for gender-affirming care nationwide. As the shutdown drags on, transgender advocates and trans Americans are watching closely to see whether any of those provisions slip into law. Though the shutdown has primarily centered around a clean continuing resolution without those provisions, there has been some shift towards negotiation of the full appropriations bills, which could be a mechanism for anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ provisions to enter into federal law. If Trump gains access to even a fraction of the restrictions embedded in those House bills, it would further streamline his administration’s efforts to dismantle trans health care across the country."

It's not just for kids. Trans adults' healthcare is also threatened. Katelyn Burns said several days ago:

"...a federal judge in Mississippi overturned an Obama era rule mandating that health care providers and insurers can not deny trans people gender affirming care if that same care would be available to cisgender people for reasons other than transitioning their sex.

The court's ruling is incoherent, and essentially establishes trans people as a disfavored class of American citizen, with fewer rights than everyone else. If you're cis, you can walk into a doctor's office tomorrow and ask for a breast augmentation or reduction and they will do it, no questions asked. But if you are trans, no such luck.

If you are cis, and you want testosterone so you can feel horny again, that's fine as long as you're cis. Go pound rocks if you're trans. If you want estrogen for your perimenopause, go ahead. Fuck you if you're trans."

Please also read:

Informed Consent Doesn't Go Far Enough: The Case for Hormones Over-the-Counter. Jane Migliara Brigham, Assigned Media, Oct 23, 2025

TWIBS: University of Virginia Rolls Over, Shows Soft Underbelly to Trump, Aly Gibbs, Assigned Media, Oct 24, 2025

"DOJ tried to subpoena an online trans health care provider. A judge quashed it."
Seattle-based U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead says DOJ’s demand serves an “improper purpose” of executing Trump’s orders targeting gender-affirming care. Josh Gerstein, Politico, October 29, 2025

Image: Toilette - Frau vor Spiegel (Woman in front of a mirror). Art by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) © public domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Degraded info quality leads to authoritarianism

Today, "I Peeked at Grokipedia", and it's as horrible as you might imagine. A fake encyclopedia, deliberately rightwing.

I retreated to read one of my subscriptions, written by a human. Brian Klaas in the Garden of Forking Paths ("Brain Food," Oct 23, 2025):

"Now, Fukuyama is out with a new essay (on Substack) in which he reaches the same conclusion that I’ve been pushing for years: the rise of authoritarian populism, across the globe, at around the same time, isn’t primarily due to material or economic backlash, but rather to the breakdown of information systems, facilitated by the rise of the internet and the spread of social media.

* * *

Of course, monocausal explanations for complex phenomena are silly; there’s not just one reason why Trump emerged at the same time as all the other would-be despots of his ilk. But Fukuyama, like me, has concluded that the most salient cause—the biggest driver—is the breakdown of information pipelines."

Relatedly, Avram Alpert writes ("What we misunderstand in the debate over free speech," The Guardian, Oct 23, 2025):

"Most defenders of “free speech” only seem to care about the freedom to express themselves. They fight for the right to say anything, not whether the speech itself comes from a position of freedom.

...free speech, properly conceived, is not just about the right to say what one wants. It is also about being the kind of person who has been so conscientious in their thinking, learning and discussion that they have become a free subject whose speech is directed toward the pursuit of truth.

* * *

There are many factors – both benign and malign – that have incredible power to influence our thinking. Our minds, for example, tend to overemphasize negative and frightful information through what psychologists call “affect heuristics” and “availability heuristics” – shortcuts in our thinking bequeathed by evolution so that we quickly recall information and react immediately to danger.

But these same shortcuts can make us susceptible to manipulation – even when we know we’re being manipulated. That’s what makes a false idea like “immigrant crime” so powerful. Even though statistics show that migrants commit far less crime than others, these heuristics trick our minds into recalling recent news stories and becoming afraid. So when someone insists on their right to demonize immigrants, that is not free speech – it is fear speech. Again, we neither can nor should make fear speech illegal, but we can create cultural norms that promote genuine free speech.

This includes an open and engaged public sphere, an educational and scientific research system that expands knowledge, active public venues that encourage people to learn about each other’s points of view, and public labors to produce and circulate factual information and counter propaganda and misinformation."

"Trump — in an unhinged Truth Social post over the weekend — claimed that [comedian Seth] Meyers “endlessly” discussed electric catapults (or part of a carrier used to help aircraft achieve faster takeoff speeds) during his Thursday monologue before calling the host “100% ANTI TRUMP, WHICH IS PROBABLY ILLEGAL!!!” (HuffPost, Nov 3, 2025)

ALL of today's climate change is human-caused?

Volcanic CO2 was, even at the time of this 2009 article, not even 1% of human-caused CO2. As the article further explains, SO2's role is complex and its net effect may be cooling rather than warming.

"Are Volcanoes or Humans Harder on the Atmosphere?": Does one major volcanic eruption generate more climate-altering gas than that produced by humans in their entire history?, Scientific American, February 11, 2009

So, given ‘Off-the-charts records’: has humanity finally broken the climate? Damian Carrington, Nina Lakhani, Oliver Milman, Adam Morton, Ajit Niranjan and Jonathan Watts, in The Guardian, 28 Aug 2023

Analysis: Why scientists think 100% of global warming is due to humans | @hausfath.bsky.social #CBarchive Read here: bit.ly/3g1vEtL

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— Carbon Brief (@carbonbrief.org) October 28, 2025 at 11:42 AM

Tonoccus McClain: Congress only 'looks alive from the outside'

USA: Is the federal government done?

Tonoccus McClain wrote on Facebook on October 22:

"No Speaker of the House who seriously wants to end this government shutdown would disband Congress with no firm date to return. Period.

It is simply impossible to navigate negotiations of any kind and also not be at work. In fact, not only do the actions of the Speaker more closely align with those of a person not planning to reopen the federal government anytime soon, his actions suggest he isn’t planning to reopen it at all."

Further, "by failing to publish a calendar or set a date of return, the Speaker of the House caused the House of Representatives to cease to exist as an active governing body." Johnson's "48-hour recall rule is actually a death note of paralysis dressed up as flexibility. Members are told to stay 'on standby,' ready to return to Washington within two days of notice," which is burdensome since "members juggle hundreds of staff, district obligations, and fixed travel windows. A published schedule lets them plan hearings, show up for votes, and coordinate oversight. Without that schedule, they’re forced into immobility, for fear of missing a vote entirely."

And:

"By withholding the public legislative calendar, the Speaker sealed the only real window the people have into how their government works. Without a predictable schedule to anchor responsibility, nobody knows when the government is failing in its promises or whom to blame.

When the public can’t see Congress work, they lose their most basic tool of oversight: knowing when government business happens. The House calendar decides when members must be in Washington, when votes will be held, and when committees meet. It is the frame that keeps the window clear. When a Speaker hides or shifts that calendar unpredictably, transparency vanishes, and the public can’t tell when—or even if—their representatives are working. Reporters can’t pinpoint when a missed vote, broken promise, or delayed bill should have been handled. Constituents can’t say, “You failed to vote on X last week,” because there was no published “last week.”

No votes can occur. There’s no mechanism to restart proceedings or challenge the Speaker’s schedule. The Speaker becomes the sole decider of when government acts, making criticism easy to deflect. Skipping a voicemail is far easier than facing an enraged constituent outside the Capitol."

Congress only "looks alive from the outside — members still going on CNN and FOX News, staff still answering phones and dodging constituent questions." As the shutdown wears on, "the return of what we once took for granted grows less likely, and the idea of a permanently diminished Congress begins to feel normal."

"The government isn’t “waiting to reopen.” It’s been locked shut, deliberately and indefinitely," as a "containment strategy."

Incidentally, Trump's building a new bunker

"The bunker under the East Wing will also be upgraded, sources told CBS News. The White House Military Office is handling the renovation of the bunker, which is known as the President's Emergency Operations Center." (CBS News, Oct 22)

"An action that would almost certainly have met with condemnation [the destruction of the East Wing] if suggested to Trump voters in October 2024 is, in October 2025, viewed positively for little more reason than that Trump did it." Philip Bump, "Yes, most Americans oppose the East Wing demolition. But…" October 30, 2025

My essay

Why we feel sad about the East Wing of the White House

No deal on maritime carbon emissions

Six months ago: All Authors Working on Flagship U.S. Climate Report Are Dismissed: The Trump administration told researchers it was “releasing” them from their roles. It puts the future of the assessment, which is required by Congress, in doubt. (New York Times, April 28):

"On Monday, researchers around the country who had begun work on the sixth national climate assessment, planned for early 2028, received an email informing them that the scope of the report “is currently being re-evaluated” and that all contributors were being dismissed."

Essentially, that cancels the assessment going forward.

Today, the Financial Times wrote this editorial: "Trump’s victory for fossil fuels in shipping: US pressure has derailed a landmark deal to curb maritime carbon emissions":

"Since Donald Trump came to office in January, he has fought a remorseless battle against any move to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Some of his efforts have hit home in the US, where large solar projects have been pointlessly cancelled and important weather and data services gutted. Cuts to US foreign aid have hurt climate programmes in developing countries.

But last week’s regrettable derailment of a landmark global deal to cut shipping emissions is one of Trump’s most successful attempts yet to force all countries, rich and poor, to back his push to prolong the era of fossil fuels.

The decision to defer adoption of the deal for a year is likely to have immediate effects on an industry that has long escaped internationally co-ordinated climate measures even though it accounts for around 3 per cent of global emissions, roughly the same as Japan. That share is forecast to rise sharply without action."