BUCKNACKT'S SORDID TAWDRY BLOG
We should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate, bier or wein in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WHOO-HOO, WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!"
HERE is just a brief note on the work the ACLU is doing to defend our democracy in the courts, the streets, and the halls of Congress from the attacks of the drumpf / trump-musk-vance-administration supported by the gop / greed over people-republican party controlling Congress. Please donate if you can, what you can, no amount is too small. And thank you.
We're in a truly unprecedented moment when it comes to the fight for civil liberties. Since taking office, the Trump administration has attacked immigrants' rights and LGBTQ rights. They've undermined free speech and attempted to deport individuals for their political views.
But here's what gives me hope: Since day one of the new administration, the ACLU has fought in the courts, legislatures, and the streets to defend our civil rights against any attack:
We and our affiliates have joined the legal teams of students and scholars targeted by the government in retaliation for their speech in support of Palestinian rights, including Mahmoud Khalil, Dr. Badar Khan Suri, Rümeysa Öztürk, and Mohsen Mahdawi. We will always fight to protect the First Amendment.
We're suing in response to Trump's threats to slash funding to schools that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and for removing medical research by private doctors from a government website for including the words "LGBTQ" and "trans[gender]."
We're suing the Trump administration to protect gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Next month, the Supreme Court will decide the outcome of our case, U.S. vs. Skrmetti, which could secure the right to health care for transgender youth nationwide.
We're suing the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs for information about DOGE's secretive efforts to access and analyze Americans' sensitive personal information. These lawsuits come after those agencies failed to promptly respond to the Freedom of Information Act requests that we filed with over 40 federal agencies.
We've had 17,000+ people join Know Your Rights trainings on immigrants' rights. Trainings of this kind have been so impactful that Tom Homan, head of border enforcement, complained about how disruptive they have been to planned ICE raids.
All of this work is powered by the support of more than 1.3 million members, including people like you, who continue to support our work and defend civil rights alongside us.
But our work isn't over. In fact, it's just getting started.
THANK God for the ACLU! They have 100+ court cases against NOT MY pres drumpf / trump, NOT MY pres musk, NOT MY vp vance, their various cabinet offices and the gop / greed over people-republican party in the defense of our democratic Republic, our Constitution, our human rights, civil rights and civil liberties. Please participate in their actions and send a donation if you can. My e mail to sec of homeland security fotze kristi noem and fbi director fotze kash patel as well as the e mail by the ACLU to my representative are at the end of this post. My earlier post on the nonprofit killer bill and the e mails I sent to my representative and senators is here.....
From deportations without due process to chilling arrests of public leaders and attacks on civil society, the Trump administration is continuing to abuse its power in dangerously unprecedented ways. But since Day One, the ACLU and our community have fought back. We will never surrender our freedoms to a lawless executive branch.
As a member of our community, we wanted you to have the latest from this ongoing fight against President Trump's blatant abuse of power. Here's what to know heading into the weekend:
On the arrests and ongoing threats to public officials: Last week, Mayor of Newark Ras J. Baraka was arrested by ICE officers after leaving an immigrant detention facility in New Jersey.
Within a day, the administration followed this up by threatening to arrest members of Congress who were at the detention facility to exercise their oversight responsibilities. This is only one of the most recent instances of the president's alarming attacks on officials who refuse to do the administration's bidding. We continue to demand an end to the Trump administration's campaign of intimidation against those who do not toe the line, including mayors, public leaders, and perceived political opponents. Go to the ACLU website then to the Take Action link at the top of the page to send the letter to homeland security and the fbi.
On the unconstitutional attacks on nonprofit organizations and civil society groups: This week, Members of Congress advanced a tax bill that includes a dangerous provision granting the executive branch a new process through which it can effectively shut down any non-profit by accusing them of "supporting terrorism" and suspend their tax-exempt status without any real due process.
This sneaky attack to silence nonprofits and the communities they work with will not keep our country safe. As this bill heads to the floor of the House next week, we must urge our leaders to vote no on this bill. Take action with us.
Craig, we are not going to allow anybody to trample on our constitutional rights, whether it's the rights of immigrants, our rights to free speech, the right to due process, or any other constitutional right that we have at the core of our democracy.
Together, in the courts, in our communities, and in the streets, we will keep fighting to realize the promise of a free and democratic nation. Thank you for being a part of this urgent work and we will continue to keep you posted in the days and weeks to come.
MY E MAIL TO SEC OF HOMELAND SECURITY FOTZE KRISTI NOEM AND FBI DIRECTOR FOTZE KASH PATEL
Arresting political opponents threatens our democracy
I urge you to stop your agency from impeding congressional oversight and targeting the Trump administration's political opponents.
In America, we do not arrest political opponents over disagreements. The arrest of Mayor Ras Baraka, threats against the members of the New Jersey congressional delegation, and other unfounded arrests and investigations of judges and other public leaders is a shameful escalation of the Trump administration's campaign against those who don't do their bidding.
Your responsibility is to serve the public interest, not to consolidate the president's power against those who seek to legally check it. The American people are determined to reject the fascist authoritarian theocratic oligarchy NOT MY pres drumpf / trump, NOT MY pres musk, NOT MY vp vance, their cabinet ( including you ) and the gop / greed over people-republican party are trying to impose on us. Defend freedom, defend our democratic Republic or do the country a big favor and resign and leave.
It is your responsibility to reject President Trump's unlawful demands. Arrests as intimidation are not a legitimate political tool, and your actions could deteriorate our system of checks and balances – and democracy – for years to come.
Sincerely,
Craig Schwanke
THE E MAIL BY THE ACLU SENT TO MY REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
Protect Free Speech: Remove Nonprofit Attack From Tax Bill
I'm writing as your constituent today urging you to remove nonprofit attacks from the House Committee of Ways and Means tax bill. This provision would enable current and future presidential administrations to stifle free speech, target political opponents, and punish disfavored groups across the political spectrum. We cannot allow that to happen.
This dangerous provision gives the executive branch authority to effectively shut down any nonprofit – including religious organizations, schools, and advocacy groups – by suspending their tax-exempt status based on an unproven accusation of supporting terrorism.
The broad, vague language is an open invitation for abuse and the supposed "safeguards" are a façade of due process. They would provide no practical protection against an executive branch intent on exploiting this authority to effectively shut down organizations it disagrees with.
It isn't a stretch to imagine how this bill could be used to pressure universities to shut down student groups and scare human rights organizations away from working with vulnerable communities.
The facts are clear: This sneaky attack to silence nonprofits and the communities they work with will not keep our country safe. I'm urging you to protect our right to due process and free speech by cutting this dangerous provision from the tax bill before it goes to the floor.
NOTHING screams fascist authoritarian oppression like illegal arrest of citizens and legal resident aliens. Here is a perfect example from the Washington Post. Mohsen Mahdawi was at an ice facility for his final interview to become an American citizen when he was arrested by ice. He has not done anything illegal, he did participate in non-violent protest at Columbia University against Israel's war on Gaza. A habeas motion for Mahdawi has been filed by his lawyers, now the court has to decide what to do. The NOT MY pres drumpf / trump-vance administration does not seem to be inclined to follow the courts rulings against most of their executive orders and deportations so actual rule of law has yet to be determined. More and more I see a reich court in our future...
Mohsen Mahdawi, who has been a green-card holder for 10 years, was detained at an ICE field center in Vermont while appearing for a naturalization test.
Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi walked into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Colchester, Vermont, on Monday morning for a naturalization interview — a key step on the path to U.S. citizenship.
Instead, Mahdawi — who has been a green-card holder for 10 years — was arrested by ICE officials.
According to court documents and video posted online of his arrest, he was scheduled to appear at an ICE field center for the interview at about 11 a.m. Eastern time. Roughly an hour later, he was handcuffed and escorted by ICE officials toward a motorcade of vehicles, to be detained at an undisclosed location.
Mahdawi, who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp, was a prominent activist in the protests at Columbia over Israel’s war in Gaza. His lawyers said his detention was in retaliation for his advocacy.
“He was clearly eligible for naturalization. He met all the requirements for citizenship, and he had applied for it last year, and he was scheduled for an interview, and he should have been naturalized,” Cyrus Mehta, one of the attorneys representing Mahdawi, told The Washington Post. “There’s no need to detain a lawful permanent resident incommunicado.”
Lawyers representing Mahdawi immediately filed a writ of habeas corpus and petition for a temporary restraining order, noting “the government’s retaliatory and targeted detention and attempted removal of Mr. Mahdawi for his constitutionally protected speech.”
A district judge in Vermont on Monday temporarily ordered that Mahdawi not be deported from the United States or moved out of the state.
A spokesperson for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reason for his arrest or where he is being held.
Mohsen Mahdawi, center, participates in a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University on Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)
After Mahdawi was detained Monday, legal experts said the arrest of a lawful permanent resident who has not been charged with a crime, at a naturalization interview, is highly unusual.
“The arrest sends a chilling message — no one is safe, and non-U.S. citizens must be silenced,” said Elora Mukherjee, a professor and the director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School.
“The First Amendment is supposed to protect all people on U.S. soil, regardless of immigration status. But the executive branch is pushing its authority well beyond the system of checks and balances set up by the U.S. Constitution, testing the rule of law, risking our constitutional democracy and pushing our nation toward authoritarianism.”
In a joint statement, Vermont senators Bernie Sanders (I) and Peter Welch (D) as well as Rep. Becca Balint (D) called the circumstances of Mahdawi’s arrest “immoral, inhumane, and illegal,” and demanded his immediate release.
The Trump administration’s crackdown on alleged antisemitism on college campuses is increasingly targeting international students who have been critical of Israel or participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Students and instructors say President Donald Trump is trying to outlaw criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza and bend universities to his will, The Post reported.
The administration in March detained Mahmoud Khalil, a green-card holder and a Palestinian student activist at Columbia. An immigration judge in Louisiana this month ruled that Khalil is eligible for deportation, setting an April 23 deadline for Khalil’s legal team to apply for a waiver. A separate legal challenge against his detention continues in New Jersey.
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Khalil's arrest was filmed by his wife, Noor Abdalla. (Video: Noor Abdalla)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a memo that the presence in the U.S. of Khalil and another student, whose name was redacted, would “undermine U.S. policy to combat antisemitism around the world and in the United States” — accusations vigorously rejected by Khalil’s legal team.
Some pro-Palestinian students have been targeted by right-wing Zionist groupsthat are seeking their detention and deportation. One of those groups, Betar US, told The Post in March that Mahdawi was on a shortlist of three people that it was encouraging the Trump administration to deport under its executive order on antisemitism.
The group said at the time that it had provided unnamed administration contacts with dossiers on the activism and immigration status of Mahdawi, Cornell student Momodou Taal and another academic. Taal had his visa revoked weeks later and left the U.S. earlier this month, saying on social media that he had “lost faith that I could walk the streets without being abducted.”
The Department of Homeland Security denied that ICE was working with Betar.
According to court documents filed by Mahdawi’s lawyers, he is expected to graduate in May and has been admitted to a Masters program at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in the fall.
His upbringing at a refugee camp compelled him to advocate for Palestinian human rights, the documents say. They add that he is a Buddhist who believes in nonviolence and, during the campus protests, advocated for a peaceful political solution to the conflict in the Middle East.
During an interview on “60 Minutes” in December 2023, Mahdawi described watching an Israeli soldier kill his best friend at the age of 10 while living in the occupied West Bank — and how his views on the conflict have evolved.
“The fight for the freedom of Palestine and the fight against antisemitism go hand-in-hand, because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” he said in the interview.
Will Oremus contributed to this report.
Pushback in the courts:Advocacy groups and others have filed lawsuits over many of Trump’s new policies. Officials in 22 states, plus D.C. and San Francisco, have sued over Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order. Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Immigrant Justice Center and others have challenged the Trump administration’s claim that there isan “invasion” on the borderto justify summarily expelling migrants without giving them a chance to apply for asylum.
