#manage to evade deportation

[pigeonluvrr96]

[pawseds]

if your best friend got stuck in a snowstorm with parasites, would you get stuck with him, too?

It started with having this AU/American version of Rovin (blonde guy) be my PC for Lover in the Ice. And then I decided to make his friends Elmira and Gavrill (short hair guy) my backups, in that order. And now I have a whole AU. Some context is missing because this branches off canon stuff I haven't shared here, but you can read all about it below!

(Also Elmira isn't in this drawing because at this point, these both have lost contact with her for at least a decade) (I also want to make art just with her)

Story goes, in 2005, Merethel's death shortly after landing in Canada destroys Hroth to the point of being unable to provide financially and emotionally for Hrodwyn and Hygd. School staff reports the neglect to CPS, who take the kids away. Hroth gives up the dream of a good life by being a good citizen and turns to the only thing he's good at: killing people. He begins his career as an hitman/assassin and mercenary.

He gets enough money to begin his search for the only 2 people left that he cares about and who care about him: Elmira and Rovin. He crosses over to the US illegally, continues his dirty work, and eventually finds Rovin first. Desperate for a friend, Hroth meets with Rovin as fast as possible. Rovin is overjoyed -- until he goes home to tell Greg (his husband). Greg immediately recognises Hroth as a renown murder under an employer who keeps evading the law (probably the mercenary company). He tells Rovin to stay away. And when Hroth stalks Rovin to his home to say hi (lmao), Greg yells in Hroth's face. He accuses Hroth of being selfish: even simply knowing Hroth can incriminate Rovin, so if he really cared about Rovin and was really his best friend, he'd do what's best for Rovin -- to stay away forever.

Hroth's more hurt and sad than angry, because he knows Greg is right. When he eventually finds Elmira in Lafontaine, he does not make himself known to her at all. Their only contact is in the form of Hroth's monthly ludicrous donations to the orphanage she manages. The other orphanage staff were extremely against accepting the donation: a fat duffel of likely illegally-obtained cash that was left in their office without a trace. They didn't want their establishment for kids to turn into something of a money launderer. But Elmira convinced them to take it. There's no way to return it, and reporting it to the cops will only make the cops turn the orphanage inside out. Most of all, the cops nor the system care about the children. Only the staff do: they must use what they have.

Time passes and eventually, thanks to NASA's connection with the government, Delta Green get ahold of Rovin (if Rovin's with the Program; else, he just gets approached). I like to imagine that, thanks to his expertise, his first operation was The Last Equation, and that he was this close to learning Consciousness Expansion LMAO

The op leaves him messed up, which worries Greg. So the next time Rovin makes some sorry excuse to disappear to a random corner of the US with no return date, Greg reluctantly contacts Hroth through the dark web (lmao compsci%) to follow and protect Rovin. Hroth does, but not without Delta Green noticing! They threaten him with charges of deportation back to Russia (he never stayed long enough to gain Canadian citizenship), and with potential bans from entering the US or Canada -- the only 2 places with the people he care about. Plus, they'll also get him US citizenship if he joins.

Hroth joins and very quickly proves himself as a ruthlessly efficient agent when it comes to destruction/murder. Hroth recognises this and begins abusing it (smartest thing he has ever done) (works better if he's with the Program). He freely visits Canada often to check on his kids and their adoptive family from afar, and he continues his dirty work knowing that the law is behind him. He knows he's too valuable of an asset to lose, and God forbid the public learns that the government has been keeping him in his back pocket. He knows Delta Green will keep scrubbing his record clean. He just has to give them their return in their investment.

And then we come to current time for Lover in the Ice! If Rovin dies, Elmira crosses X-Cell as she's trying to restore her orphanage and protect the kids inside. If Elmira dies, Hroth learns she's missing (he leaves it in her office; they both know the schedule) as he's making his donation. At the same time, Greg pleas to Hroth to watch over Rovin. So Hroth does, while wondering where Elmira is.

This AU grew even bigger when one of my other friends added to it. Maybe I'll yap about it here one day!

[projectreclaim]

CHRISTMAS EVE APPREHENSION

Mounted Patrol & TX Rangers Special Operations Group (SOG) K9 tracked & apprehended an illegal from Mexico who managed to evade capture for 24 hrs. by traversing through various ranches in Maverick County.

The male illegal admitted to being previously deported by ICE for an assault arrest in San Antonio. Great work by both teams in remaining committed to the apprehension & prevention of a potential gotaway.

[abwwia]

Mirka Mora (1928 – 2018)

Mirka Madeleine Mora (née Zelik; 18 March 1928 – 27 August 2018) was a French-born Australian visual artist and cultural figure who contributed significantly to the development of Australian contemporary art. Her media included drawing, painting, sculpture and mosaic.

Mirka Mora was born on 18 March[citation needed] 1928 in Paris to a Lithuanian Jewish father, Leon Zelik, and a Romanian Jewish mother, Celia Gelbein. She was arrested in 1942 during the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv). Her father, Leon, managed to arrange for her release from the concentration camp at Pithiviers (Loiret) before Mora and her mother were scheduled to be deported to Auschwitz. The family evaded arrest and deportation from 1942 to 1945 by hiding in the forests of France.

After the war, 17-year-old Mirka met a wartime resistance fighter Georges Mora in Paris. They married in 1947.

In an interview in 2004, Mora said: I really wanted to make love to him, because I was very humiliated that he didn't because I was 17, and he said, "I know that you are not happy but we have to wait till we get married." "Ah! Married?" So I agreed to get married to lose my virginity. That's true.

The Vel' d'Hiv' Roundup ( [vel ˈdiv] vell-DEEV; from French: la rafle du Vel' d'Hiv', an abbreviation of la rafle du Vélodrome d'Hiver) was a mass arrest of Jews in Paris on 16–17 July 1942 by Vichy French police at the behest of the German occupational authorities. Occurring during World War II, Jews arrested during the roundup were deported to Nazi Germany and targeted for extermination as part of the Holocaust. all via Wikipedia

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Steve Chapman for The UnPopulist:

Donald Trump has professed that “tariff” is his favorite word, but “deport” can’t be far behind. Since he took office on Jan. 20, his administration has made a gaudy spectacle of finding, detaining, and removing foreigners whose presence he deems intolerable. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has even been given quotas: Each of its 25 field offices is expected to arrest at least 75 people every day, come hell or high water. The president and ICE portray these enforcement actions as a vigorous effort to protect Americans from dangerous criminals who have invaded our country—murderers, rapists, gang members, fentanyl traffickers. But the crackdown has hit the harmless as well as the dangerous, and those who lack legal status and also, most alarmingly, those who have it. Trumpism is synonymous with draconianism. Even then, the deportation campaign manages to stand out: It is indiscriminate, malicious, secretive, and disdainful of the law. Its entire purpose is to rid huge numbers of foreigners living here and instilling fear in all the rest.

Trump Gives the Undocumented the Terrorist Treatment

Among the most conspicuous illustrations of its ruthlessness is the shipment of 178 Venezuelans to the U.S. detention camp at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, notorious as a prison for suspects in the war on terrorism. According to The Washington Post, three of the Venezuelans sent there “said they were denied calls to lawyers or loved ones after repeated pleas. They said they were subjected to humiliating and invasive strip searches. They described prolonged periods in isolation, with only two one-hour opportunities to go outside over two weeks.” The White House gleefully posted a video of men being handcuffed, shackled, and loaded onto a plane. The post, which was approvingly amplified by Elon Musk, read: “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight.” ASMR stands for “autonomous sensory meridian response,” a category of viral video intended to elicit soothing and relaxing sensations. So, cruelty is intended to be “soothing and relaxing.” The Post could find no criminal record for any of the three, who were treated like al-Qaeda operatives. “These detainees now have less access to counsel than the military detainees who have been held under the laws of war in the aftermath of Sept. 11,” said the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit. Reported The New York Times, “A range of immigration law specialists said they had been scouring federal law for any clear source of governmental authority to detain noncitizens outside the United States for immigration purposes and could not find any.” But respect for the law is not a hallmark of this White House. It found a way to evade judicial review of the Guantánamo detentions by putting most of those it had moved to that facility on a plane to Honduras, where they were forced to board another flight to Venezuela. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that those sent to Gitmo were “mainly child pedophiles” who “were out there trafficking children, trafficking drugs,” offering zero evidence for her assertion. This apparently will be just the first shipment of unauthorized foreigners to be cast into the island’s legal black hole: The administration plans to warehouse some 30,000 detainees there. “By hurrying immigrants off to a remote island cut off from lawyers, family, and the rest of the world,” said the ACLU, “the Trump administration is sending its clearest signal yet that the rule of law means nothing to it.”

Trump Is Coming For Legal Immigrants, Too

Trump’s goal is to get rid of as many foreigners as possible and to prevent as many as possible from coming, illegally or not. That objective became blindingly apparent during the 2024 campaign, when he spread the abominable falsehood that Haitians had overwhelmed Springfield, Ohio, eating residents’ pets and “destroying their way of life.” The Haitians, however, were not illegal immigrants. They were given permission to be here under a federal program known as Temporary Protected Status, created under President George H.W. Bush for people from countries designated unsafe. By the end of the Biden administration, it covered close to 1.2 million people from 22 countries, including Ukraine, Honduras, Afghanistan, and Venezuela. But no matter. Given that those in Springfield were from Haiti—which Trump has called a “shithole”—and Black, he treated them as a vile infestation rather than as what they are: an unfortunate group of human beings who sought a safe haven from the violence of their homelands and became contributing members of society. In response to Trump’s claims, Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine pleaded that the once-depressed city “is having a resurgence in manufacturing and job creation. Some of that is thanks to the dramatic influx of Haitian migrants who have arrived in the city over the past three years to fill jobs. They are there legally. They are there to work.”

[...]

Numeric Lawlessness

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan says the priority is catching undocumented migrants who are criminals and terrorists, but finding 75 of those every day is not so easy. As David Bier has pointed out, “Mass deportation schemes with hard numeric targets will inevitably involve prioritizing the peaceful, because they are easy to capture, over the violent who are more difficult to detain.” That’s exactly what has played out: Thus far, many of the foreigners who have been caught in the ICE dragnet pose no discernible threat. When it made 1,179 arrests on Jan. 26, officials admitted, 566 of the detainees had no criminal records. In the first two weeks of February, NBC News reported, 41% of the 1,800 arrested were non-criminals.

[...]

American Citizenship Is No Guarantee Against Deportation

Worse ones are also inevitable. In 2020, Northwestern University political science professor Jacqueline Stevens, founder of the Deportation Research Clinic, told The Intercept that about one-half of 1% of people deported from the U.S. are American citizens, which amounts to thousands of innocent victims every year. The rate of citizen deportations is only going to rise in the second Trump administration given that it exercises little care in its rushed removals. Indeed, Politico reports that the White House has obtained a proposal from a group including Erik Prince, the former CEO of the private security firm Blackwater, which is infamous for killing 17 Iraqi civilians and wounding 20 in what became known as the Nisour Square massacre. The document argues that the federal government lacks the resources to carry out a deportation campaign on the scale Trump wants and offers the group’s services, in Politico’s words, “to carry out mass deportations through a network of ‘processing camps’ on military bases, a private fleet of 100 planes, and a ‘small army’ of private citizens empowered to make arrests.” It would be human rights disaster in the making. Trump’s punitive campaign is just the beginning. Eager to please him, the GOP-controlled Senate approved a budget blueprint that includes $175 billion in funding for immigration and border enforcement—which amounts to nearly six times what ICE and Customs and Border Protection spend each year. For all Elon Musk’s talk about cutting federal outlays, when it comes to deportations, price is no object. Awash in money, Homan wants a network of camps with room for 100,000 detainees—approaching the number the U.S. held in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II.

The Trump Misadministration's mass deportations campaign is nothing more than mass cruelty.

[gatheringbones]

[“Criminalisation grants the police power over sex workers, and at the same time creates points of leverage which can be exploited by predators. We have both experienced phone calls from people claiming to be clients, asking, ‘Do you work alone then, love?’ and had to gamble, in that moment, with two competing problems. Is he seeking to rob or assault me, in which case I should put him off by telling him I work with a friend? Or is he a cop seeing if he can make a brothel-keeping arrest that day, in which case I should put him off by assuring him that I work alone?

As we see again and again among our friends, two people working together in a flat are powerless in the face of a landlord who can charge extortionate rent – or explicitly blackmail them – under the threat of reporting them to the cops. The same two workers have little defence when a client decides that this culpability is leverage he can use to assault them or to evade justice. A few years ago, two London sex workers (we will call them Lily and Jane) were working together in a flat as a safety measure after one of them was feeling shaken up after a recent incidence of violence. While Lily and Jane were working, a client of Lily’s turned aggressive. Jane came into the room to back Lily up. The client, instead of becoming chastened, became even more confident, telling them, ‘You can’t call the police on me – there’s two girls here! This is a brothel! I’m gonna call the police on you!’ This is the kind of man given power by brothel-keeping laws.

In a collective workplace, all the sex workers risk criminalisation. But a sex worker who works with an agent or manager (in a brothel, massage parlour, walk-up, sauna, or escort agency) is not criminalised – that buck is passed to the boss who organises or facilitates their work. This, along with the safety that comes with having another person on-site, makes employment in brothels and parlours attractive to many sex workers. Thus, the law’s failure to distinguish between these two kinds of set-ups pushes sex workers into the arms of managers. It also allows managers to extract more profit from sex workers’ earnings – some of the manager’s ‘cut’ comes out because they are shouldering the threat of criminalisation.

Being self-employed can be difficult. For sex workers who are carers, parents, or students, it can be a reasonable alternative to hand over some proportion of income to a boss who takes care of the logistical demands of commercial sex: answering the phone or email, running a website, setting up advertising, holding the money during the booking, organising the rental of the premises, providing equipment, and organising the cleaning of the venue. Rather than self-employment swallowing their free time and personal space, they can do one or two shifts a week and leave the job behind as soon as they step out of the door.

While the sex worker isn’t breaking the law when they’re working for a boss, the workplace is still an illegal one. When your workplace is criminalised, there are no employment tribunals, no HR departments, no legal contracts or health and safety inspectors – and therefore extremely limited recourse when your working conditions are bad. Your employer may threaten you with the sack if you decline to provide services to a client. They may fail to stock provisions like condoms, verbally abuse you, arbitrarily dock your wages, coerce you into longer shifts, or subject you to sexual harassment. They may simply be negligent in their obligations to provide basic safety, such as failing to pick up the phone in an emergency or to step into the room when you call for them. You have only two choices: do nothing or make a police report.

Assuming that you need the money, this presents a conundrum. If you call the police, the response will be a raid – resulting in the closure of your entire workplace, a lost job for you and every other worker there, and potentially deportations. A raid poses other risks, too, like the confiscation of money, belongings, or drugs. Many managers or agency owners firmly discourage reporting sexual violence to the police and emphasise to their employees that raising the alarm on a rapist will put everybody out of work. Almost all sex workers are in the job because they need the money. When made to pick between their income and making bad bosses or rapists accountable, the sex worker often has no choice but to tolerate bad conditions. Sex workers effectively protect their abusers in the same way some survivors of domestic violence have to protect partners upon whom they are financially dependent when police are called out. As grassroots feminist groups have noted, a heavy-handed police response is, in some cases, worse for survivors than nothing at all.

In these ways, ‘pimping’ laws limit victims’ responses to abusive managers. Yet people who would be willing to decriminalise the selling (or even buying) of sex often still wish for penalties against third parties. The idea that a third party should be involved in the transaction strikes people as intuitively wrong – exploitative at a fundamental level.

Such an assumption can only survive by obscuring the mundane realities of sex workers’ everyday lives. A spouse or partner who helps answer emails or schedule appointments, a receptionist who works the phones for tips in a brothel, or a sex worker who sublets her flat to a friend in times of illness or injury are all vulnerable to pimping laws. This means that should something happen – for example, if your workplace is robbed by armed men – you will probably hesitate to call the police for help, for fear of endangering others.”]

molly smith, juno mac, from revolting prostitutes: the fight for sex workers’ rights, 2018

[libraryofcirclaria]

1149

Combria: 1100-1125

Between the years 1100 and 1125, Combria achieved unprecedented population growth and economic prosperity, as an additional trade alliance was formed with neighboring Jurango.

President William Jeson was descended from the Kontacet family; however, pressure from the Leon family, from whom his wife, Maria, was descended, led Jeson to enact a few somewhat "sketchy" deeds, i.e. tax exemptions. The epitome of such came with the arrival of Arthur Chadwick in 1127.

Arthur Chadwick: The Early Years

Very soon after his arrival in Combria, the young Arthur Chadwick was appointed one of the Combrian National Councillors. Although favored greatly by the Leons, Chadwick's mysterious past alarmed the Kontacets. Nors Braedon, an assistant to Jeson in the mission against Taeac, ventured to Skanbraif, Chadwick's city of birth. Here, Braedon discovered that Chadwick had attempted the rape and murder of a significant noblewoman. Upon return to Jestopole, Braedon filed formal charges against Chadwick. On trial, Chadwick was convicted in the presence of plausible evidence; and Jeson ordered his removal from office as deportation back to the Great North.

Chadwick arrived back in the Great North in 1129, and was due to be arrested for his crimes; however, an anonymous family member bailed him out, privileging him from such an arrest. It was at this point that Chadwick saw his opportunity to return to Combria and regain his status.

Chadwick Seizes Power

In 1131, President Jeson developed an illness and became bedridden. Anticipating his death, he appointed George Mateon to succeed him, a move approved unanimously by the Council.

However, there was trouble within the Combrian population, as rural communities were increasingly unhappy with Jeson's open policies on diplomacy, primarily with the Wannonians and Jurangans. Chadwick began rallying these dissidents, vowing to stage a coup to overthrow the Combrian establishment and make himself President of Combria, and promising to, as President, revoke Jeson's rules. Between 1131 and 1132, numerous shootings and lynchings ensued, as President Jeson issued an order for Chadwick's arrest. However, Chadwick managed to evade the authorities. In December 1132, President Jeson died and was succeeded by Mateon. Within that month, Chadwick and his forces launched a coordinated attack on the capital city Jestopole, during which President Mateon was killed and the Kontacet establishment defeated. Promptly, Chadwick swore himself in as the new President of Combria.

In the year that followed, President Chadwick revoked the diplomatic trade policies with Wannonia, ordered the construction of a wall at the Wannonian border, and imposed tariffs on goods between Combria and Jurango.

1135: The Conquering of Jurango

By the end of 1133, Jurango was already beginning to suffer economically as a result of the tariffs. To dispel popular grievances against him, Chadwick authorized the continuation of the Bridge over the St. Eschel River, a project started by President Jeson years earlier. In 1135, the Bridge was nearing completion, but Chadwick witheld workers' paychecks until Jurango would surrender sovereignty of an island in the River further West. As a result, the Jurangan laborers rebelled and began tearing apart the Bridge, prompting Chadwick to deploy the Combrian Armed Forces. Jurango considered Chadwick's response to be an act of war and dispatched its own military forces, thus beginning the Combria-Jurango War. As the war was unfolding, Chadwick came forward with public determination to conquer Jurango and claim it for Combria.

Before long, the War came to a gridlock status; and Chadwick called upon Wannonia for assistance, promising to restore diplomacy with them as an exchange. Wannonia agreed only upon the condition that a portion of Jurangan territory was handed to them. By November 1135, the combined forces defeated the Jurangans and brought the Jurangan capital to utter ruin.

After the war, the Bridge project was continued by Combrian workers, and was completed in 1142. And that very same year, it was named Bridgetown. All Jurangan territories were now under the sole control of Combria, as Chadwick rolled back on his promises made to Wannonia. This would lead to diplomatic friction between the two nations in the years to come.

The Formation of the Federation of Kitalos

On 9 December 1121, King Andrew of the Great North gave the Southern portion of Pimdanian territories to Mikant. The local population in this region had been demonstrating public grievances over high taxes, lack of representation (as only Great Northerners could vote in Parliamentary elections), and the restriction of trade to Great Northern markets. As a result of this, the Kitalan nationality began to resurface. And thus, King Andrew's 1121 deal with Mikant would divide the population by constructing a wall between Great Northern and Mikanian claims, as Kitalans were made to build it, themselves, while the population would not be granted freedom of travel between the two regions.

Morstoros Imalan was a notable Kitalan who believed in Kitalan unity. As he was made to work on the wall, he began secretly recruiting rebelling forces. On 2 April 1124, these forces attacked, utilizing the mastered art of guerilla warfare via spellfire concealment and quiet gliders which served as an effective air force. The results were catastrophic for the Great North, as the conflict led to heavy casualties and the loss of Kitalos and surrounding territories. On 3 May, the threat of a coup in Linbrae prompted King Andrew, fearing further contempt by the humiliating costs of the war, withdrew Great Northern forces from the region and signed a peace treaty with the Kitalans.

The Mikanian Acquisition of Arukas, Abetz, and Yticsanve

In 1125, heroic stories stemming from the revolution in Kitalos inspired dissidents to overthrow the ruling power in nearby Arukas. In place of the overthrown Monarchy was established a federation. But by 1126, this democratic government was bankrupt; and, in a desperate financial deal, said government signed a deal to sell all of its territories to Mikant. Later that year, Mikant signed a deal with the Kitalan Federation to acquire Kitalan land between the two territories.

In 1127, Abetz and Yticsanve experienced coups in a similar way. Both of these territories, however, fell under relatively disorganized systems of martial law, against which dissidents in Abetz fought, in their nation respectively, leading to a brief civil conflict. In the ensuing chaos, Mikant bought and acquired both territories.

[glorioustidalwavedefendor]

SOS: Migrants held in Texas fear notorious El Salvador prison

Venezuelan detainees in Texas fear the Trump administration will send them to El Salvador's notorious CECOT maximum security prison.

Detainees at the Bluebonnet immigrant detention center in the small city of Anson, Texas, sent the outside world a message this week: S-O-S.

With a Reuters drone flying nearby, 31 men formed the letters in the dirt yard of the facility on Monday.

Ten days earlier, dozens of Venezuelan detainees at the center were given notices by immigration officialsthat alleged they were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and subject to deportation under a wartime law,according to documents shown to Reuters, recorded video calls and court proceedings.

The families of seven detainees interviewed by Reuters said they were not gang members and that they refused to sign the document.

Nevertheless, hours later on Friday, April 18, they were loaded onto a bus bound for nearby Abilene Regional Airport, according to the American Civil Liberties Union and family members, before the bus was turned around and sent back to the detention center.

That night, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked their deportations. The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the halted deportations.

It was a reprieve for the group of Venezuelans detained at Bluebonnet, who still face being potentially sent to CECOT, the notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration has sent at least 137 Venezuelans under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, if the Supreme Court lifts the block.

The Bluebonnet facility, located 200 miles (322 km) west of Dallas, is privately run by the Management and Training Corporation under a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Named after the state flower of Texas, it has held an average of 846 detainees a day in fiscal year 2025, according to ICE detention data.

Denied access to the Bluebonnet facility by ICE, Reuters flew a small plane over the center last week as well as a drone nearby on April 28 to gather aerial images of the detainees being held there. Some of the detainees photographed by Reuters were wearing red jumpsuits designating them as high-risk.

An aerial view shows Diover Millan of Venezuela, top left, and other detainees at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility, where Venezuelans at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling are held, in Anson, Texas, U.S., April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole

Reuters photographed Diover Millan, 24, as he walked with four other men in the detention center’s yard. Another Venezuelan, Jeferson Escalona, 19, was photographed playing soccer. Reuters identified three others by showing their photos to family members.

Millan was moved to Bluebonnet in mid-April from the Stewart detention center in Lumpkin, Georgia, where he had been held since he was arrested by immigration agents in the Atlanta suburbs on March 12, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official. Reuters could not find a criminal record for Millan, who had been working in construction. The DHS official said Millan was a "documented" member of Tren de Aragua, but provided no evidence.

The DHS official said ICE detained Escalona in January 2025, after he was arrested by local Texas police for evading arrest in a vehicle. He arrived at Bluebonnet after he was returned from the U.S. migrant detention facility in Guantanamo Bay in February.

The DHS official said Escalona was a "self-admitted" Tren de Aragua member but did not provide evidence of the claim.

During a phone interview from Bluebonnet, Escalona said he had no ties to Tren de Aragua or any gang. He was a police officer in Venezuela, he said. When they detained him, U.S. authorities took his phone and he suspects they saw photos of him making hand gestures that he said were common in Venezuela.

"They're making false accusations about me," he said. "I don't belong to any gang."

Escalona said that he has asked to return voluntarily to Venezuela but was denied.

"I fear for my life here," he said. "I want to go to Venezuela."

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have come to the United States over the past few years, fleeing economic collapse and what critics call an authoritarian crackdown under President Nicolas Maduro.

Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, many were given temporary humanitarian protections that the Trump administration is trying to revoke.

“HE IS DESPERATE”

Since their aborted deportation, the men have been on edge, their families say.

In Millan's dorm, he and some of the other Venezuelan men take turns sleeping so that they can alert family members if immigration officers come to deport them, according to Millan's wife, who asked not to be named for fear of being targeted by immigration officials.

One day last week, he told her the men in the dorm refused to go out into the yard because they were worried they would be put on another bus and sent to El Salvador.

“He is desperate,” Millan’s wife said. “He told me that when he walked out onto the field, he sat down and looked at the sky and asked God to get him out of there soon.”

In one recent video call, Millan told his wife that they haven't been given much food, and he tries to sleep more so that he is not so hungry, she said, something that other detainees' relatives echoed.

A spokesperson for Management and Training Corporation, which runs the facility, said "all detainees housed at Bluebonnet receive meals based on a menu that has been approved by a certified dietitian, ensuring the recommended daily caloric intake is met."

In a statement, DHS said it "uses multiple strategies to manage capacity while maintaining compliance with federal standards and our commitment to humane treatment."

If I don’t have a criminal record in the three countries in which I have lived in, how are they going to send me to El Salvador?

On Saturday, April 26, animmigration official visited Escalona’s dorm and answered some of the detainees’ questions, according to an audio recording of the visit obtained by Reuters.

The men, talking over each other frantically, wanted to know why the government was trying to send them to El Salvador and what was happening with their immigration court dates.

The official explained that the U.S. had tried to remove them under the Alien Enemies Act, which was a separate process from their scheduled immigration court hearings.

“If he gets removed under the Alien Enemies Act, then that court date doesn't exist, he'll never have that court date,” the official said in English to someone who was translating.

Several of the men wanted to know how it was possible for them to be classified as “alien enemies” when they were not gang members and had committed no crime.

“If I don't have a criminal record in the three countries in which I have lived in, how are they going to send me to El Salvador?” one of the men in the recording asked. Reuters was not immediately able to establish his identity.

The official said he was not involved in the intelligence gathering.

Several of the men had court hearings in their immigration cases last week and advocates scrambled to find lawyers for them.

Millan has a pending asylum case and his next hearing is scheduled for May 1.

Unless he is sent to El Salvador before then.

[beardedmrbean]

German prosecutors on Thursday charged the suspect behind a fatal knife attack at a local festival in the western German city of Solingen.

The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Issa Al H., was charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and membership in the "Islamic State" (IS) terror group.

The Solingen knife attack and a series of similar incidents shook Germany and fueled the heated political debate about migration and deportation in the months leading up to last week's federal election.

What happened in Solingen?

On the evening of August 23, 2024, three people were killed and 10 others injured at an outdoor festival celebrating Solingen's 650th anniversary.

The suspect, a Syrian citizen, is accused of deliberately stabbing festival visitors with a knife.

Issa Al H. was arrested after a day-long manhunt. He has remained in custody ever since.

Within days of the stabbing rampage, prosecutors said they believed the attacker had radical Islamist beliefs and tried to kill as many people as possible because he considered them non-believers.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

Who do we know about the Solingen knife attack suspect?

Issa Al H. had been slated for deportation from Germany to Bulgaria in 2023 under EU rules known as the Dublin regulation.

But he evaded law enforcement and managed to remain in the country. No further effort to deport him was made.

A committee of inquiry in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia is investigating why the deportation to Bulgaria, which had been planned long before the attack, did not take place.

Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and urges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.

[bllsbailey]

WATCH: Border Czar Tom Homan Ratchets Up Feud With AOC, Anoints Her ‘Dumbest Congresswoman Ever’

Tom Homan took his feud with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to new heights Monday, declaring that she is officially the "dumbest congresswoman ever."

That's quite the lofty title when you consider the breadth of non-talent offered by Congressional members on the left side of the aisle. Yet somehow, she has managed to stick out to President Trump's border czar.

The two have gone to battle numerous times in the past, but things have picked up of late, as RedState reporter Ward Clark has noted. Things came to a head when AOC recently advised her followers to “resist” and “create friction” in an attempt to disrupt efforts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Seems awful insurrection-y.

Her office later hosted a "Know Your Rights with ICE" event, prompting Homan to contact the deputy attorney general and inquire whether her actions would count as an effort to disrupt the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, something he has warned would lead to prosecution.

Border Czar Homan Takes AOC to School After Her Office Hosts Anti-ICE Webinar

Tom Homan 'Working With' DOJ to Determine If AOC's Anti-ICE Webinar Is Breaking the Law

In an interview with Newsmax on Monday, Homan explained that AOC had achieved a new honorific.

“She’s the dumbest congresswoman ever elected to Congress, and she proves that every day," he rightly pointed out to host Rob Finnerty. 

The man who has worked as a border enforcement official under both Donald Trump and Barack Obama went on to assert that it's hard to believe any American, regardless of political affiliation, "would want to educate criminal illegal aliens ... convicted of a violent crime" on how to evade law enforcement.

But then, that's your modern-day Democrat party in a nutshell, isn't it? Always on the side of the lawbreakers, rarely on the side of the American people.

Homan went on to explain how AOC achieved the new title - even above your Elizabeth Warren's, Jasmine Crockett's, or Ayana Pressley's - by prioritizing illegal aliens over her constituents.

“She’s out there telling people how to evade enforcement, how to evade ICE arrests, and, again, the most dangerous of the illegal aliens in the country, giving them heads up, and I’ll say it again," he said. "I hope she’s not educating the next murderer of a college nursing student or not educating the next illegal alien who’s gonna burn a woman alive on a subway.”

The former is a reference to the brutal slaying of Laken Riley at the hands of a violent illegal from Venezuela. The latter is a reference to a NYC subway murder perpetrated by a Guatemalan illegal alien. 

Those are the types of people AOC and her office are advising.

“We outnumber them — authoritarians are like the Wizard of Oz, they rely on their PERCEIVED power, not their actual power. You can resist,” she advised illegals in a TikTok video.

A call to mob violence.

There has been evidence for some time that people in Ocasio-Cortez's district have been fed-up with her pro-illegal stance while ignoring their needs.

She was loudly heckled during a press conference with fellow Democrat lawmakers outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan in 2023. Shouts of “Close the border!” and “Respect the constitution, AOC!” rained down upon her and her colleagues.

Despite turning the 14th Congressional District in New York into a breeding ground for crime, AOC easily won reelection in 2024. Maybe it's not her; maybe it's the voters in that district that have the questionable intellect.

[mightyflamethrower]

EL PASO, TX — As part of a genius plot to avoid President Trump's deportation efforts, a local immigrant has avoided murdering, stealing, or entering the country illegally.

Sources reported Trump was outraged to learn about the immigrant successfully evading his grasp by completely following all applicable laws and regulations.

"Yeah, I just, you know, obey the law and stuff," said immigrant Julio Gonzaga, who has thus far managed to cleverly escape Trump's ruthless deportation squads. "And I came here legally and all that, so Trump can't touch me."

Legal experts in Trump's inner circle warned that this little-known loophole of following the laws of the nation could be exploited by thousands of immigrants who may successfully immigrate by following the laws of the nation. "These immigrants are smarter than we thought," said one anonymous source in the White House. "Truly diabolical."

Democrats also warned that this dangerous trend may encourage more wanton law-obeying by thousands more people looking to immigrate into the U.S. "Just imagine all the law and order," said one Democrat immigration lawyer. "It's too horrible to even think about it."

At publishing time, Democrats had found themselves even more horrified to learn Julio Gonzaga had registered to vote as a Republican.

[onenettvchannel]

#OneNETnewsInvestigates: Australian Teenager's Solo Escapade Issue in Bali, turned into an inspiration of a Hollywood Movie?

(Written by Anne Savisa Boonchuy, Jackie Lynn Thomas, Clyde Marcus McBride and Stella Zhau / Group Investigative Reporters of Disney XD News & Nickelodeon Action News)

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA -- In a story that reads like a real-life version of Home Alone, with its similarity of 'Kevin McCallister', a 12 y/o boy from 'Dapto, New South Wales' in Australia managed to flee his home after an argument with his mother and travel alone to 'Bali, Indonesia'. The escapade has raised profound concerns about child safety, airport security and parental challenges. An in-depth look at how "Michael", now at the age of 18, managed to execute his audacious escape, what came next, and how his adventure was received globally. This meets no introduction as our joint investigation of 'Disney XD News' and 'Nickelodeon Action News' for OneNETnews, with team coverage on the double from Indonesia and Australia.

The adventure began in mid-March 2018, as reported by the local Australian news station '9 News: Perth' via public affairs news programme 'A Current Affair', when Michael had a heated disagreement with his mother and was subsequently grounded. Frustrated, he devised an intricate plan to leave his home country. Using his mother's credit card and tricking his grandmother into providing his passport, Michael made his way from Dapto to Perth via train transport. From there, he booked a low-cost flight on Jetstar Airways (which under the parent company 'Qantas'), bypassing multiple security checks with ease.

Remarkably, Michael evaded detection by customs and security officials, despite being flagged for previous runaway attempts. Armed with his mother's passport, a secondary school student ID, and his paid boarding ticket, he checked in via a self-service kiosk and passed through the security gates without any questions from the airport staff or the Australian Federal Police (AFP). He then boarded the 4-hour flight to Bali undisturbed.

Upon landing in Denpasar City, Michael seamlessly passed through Indonesian immigration. Local airport officials, apparently unaware of his age, stamped his passport without hesitation. His journey continued with a Go-Jek motorbike ride to the 'All Seasons Hotel' (ASH), now known today as Ibis Styles, where he posed as an independent tourist. Unexpectedly from our joint-investigative news team of our media colleagues for OneNETnews, his parent's mom supposedly lived in Bali and waiting outside to pay a visit to spend 4 days at a hotel room. Renting a motorbike without a license, as well with the helmets on, and even trying alcoholic beer for the first time, which way below the age limit requirement in the Indonesia law.

Michael's days were filled with sightseeing, shopping, and swimming in the hotel pool, particularly at the beach. He was mostly just relaxing there, without any troubles. '9 News: Perth' obtained the exclusive video on social media, Michael self-posted the video of his antics in the hotel pool before silently turning them over to the local police in Bali and officials of the 'Indonesian National Police' (INP).

All of the sudden, the Bali police nabbed Michael at the 'All Seasons Hotel'. Police have yet to deport him back to his home country. The local police in Bali were eventually alerted by the AFP after Michael's family tracked him through his phone on social media via Facebook (before transitioned to 'Meta Platforms Inc.' [MPi] in late-October 2021). Nyoman Wirajaya, who is a Chief Police Commissioner in Bali, recounted the moment authorities found Michael in Room 115 of the ASH: "We had been waiting like a couple of hours in the hotel, together with the IFE, and also the Consular General, then he came back from the beach. When I came to the hotel (at 'All Seasons Hotel'), and he smile, very nice and cute, as usual as a kid you know. I keep him in a special room in my staff room. He is not in the jail because, he is a teenager. We are not allowed to arrest, nor committing crimes also in Indonesia", Wirajaya stated.

Michael's family, anxiously worried and rushed to Bali to take him home. His parents had to face the son's doings, as well as international legalities that were now thrust upon them. The ASH, under pressure from the authorities, permanently evicted Michael from the hotel premises. The family later checked into the 'Melasti Beach Resort and Spa' (MBRS) to reconcile and prepare for their return to its home country in Australia.

The case was severely criticizing 'Jetstar Airways' and breaching securities at Australian airports. Therefore, Jetstar revised the policy on handling unaccompanied minors, in order to prevent similar issues. Similarly, The Indonesian National Police (INP) also revised their process of checking for minors traveling alone. In spite of irresponsible and unlawful acts, Michael opened up a very big gap in international security systems while traveling.

Michael's story garnered international media attention, including right here in the Philippines, and his life story will soon debuting a new Hollywood film in the United States of America (U.S.A.). Paramount Pictures secured the rights to his tale, with plans to release the film 'Runaway' around 2030 or so. With the coming out of Coronavirus Disease-19 pandemic (CoViD-19), which already back to normal worldwide, production was held back a bit, but it was still looked forward to widely.

The escapade cost Michael's family approximately AUD8,000 (or nearly PHP296,000). Paramount Pictures has pledged to cover these expenses through trust funds tied to the film's gross production by the legal age of 21 in 2027. This silver lining to them affords a worst case, but still life-changing moment for them.

Michael's journey from a 12 y/o boy to an unintentional symbol of child autonomy and security measures broke its laws, has been in the imagination of viewers everywhere. His actions were surely irresponsible, but they threw light on systemic weaknesses and prompted serious discussions about safeguarding children.

With 'Runaway' finally hitting to debut in theaters worldwide, much still in development, Michael's journey comes off as a thriller, and at the same time brings up the issue of how parents and institutions are held responsible in safeguarding the lives of the Australians.

STOCK PHOTO COURTESY for REPRESENTATION: Google Images BACKGROUND PROVIDED BY: Tegna

SOURCE: *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YO-2JsF-4M *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCfsl-AhmJw *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STW *https://www.9news.com.au/national/bali-boy-borrows-credit-card-books-own-flight/b8076712-aa82-4282-8e00-259db6c59151 *https://www.9news.com.au/national/runaway-rascal-boy-steals-family-credit-card-for-bali-flight/9892371a-b017-4d2b-8958-b13bec13ff91 *https://www.9news.com.au/national/runaway-boy-stole-credit-card-bali-mum/e507ea9c-fdb9-46ba-9143-c0d7f2c756f4 *https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/12-year-old-who-flew-alone-to-bali-alone-stunning-family-and-authorities-latest-escapade/5ea74006-32b7-4e6d-86b3-7a28be3427c1 *https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-43875266 *https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/how-did-a-12-year-old-australian-boy-manage-to-fly-to-bali-by-himself/rrqigu7nc *https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/04/24/a-12-year-old-in-australia-had-a-fight-with-his-mom-and-ran-away-to-a-resort-in-bali/ *https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/warnings/boy-borrows-parents-credit-card-to-embark-on-fourday-holiday-to-bali-by-himself/news-story/849359a4fe18292b6334bd383952e98a and *https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/28/sydney-how-12-year-old-ran-away-to-bali

Henry Robertson contributed this news story for OneNETnews under 'Horrid Henry' of the now-defunct CITV, now part for ITV News.

-- OneNETnews Online Publication Team

[warningsine]

https://www.reuters.com/world/israels-pm-aware-very-violent-incident-against-israelis-amsterdam-his-office-2024-11-08/

AMSTERDAM, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Amsterdam banned demonstrations for three days from Friday after overnight attacks on Israeli soccer supporters by what the mayor called "antisemitic hit-and-run squads", and Israel said it would fly many fans home.

Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi fans had been "attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks" around the city, and that riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels. At least five people were treated in hospital.

Videos on social media showed riot police in action, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs. Some footage also showed Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans before Thursday evening's match.

"We saw a lot of demonstrations, a lot of people running. It was really, really terrifying," said Joni Pogrebetsy, an Israeli soccer fan in Amsterdam for the match.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel was sending planes to the Netherlands to bring fans home.

Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas group on Oct. 7, 2023, with many Jewish organisations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.

Amsterdam banned demonstrations through the weekend and gave police emergency stop-and-search powers in response to unrest that exposed deep anger over the Gaza-Israel conflict.

Over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed, 102,000 others injured and millions displaced in Israel's military offensive on Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave, after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israel.

Halsema said city police had been taken by surprise after security services failed to flag the match against Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club, as high-risk. "Antisemitic hit-and-run squads" had managed to evade a force of around 200 officers, she said.

Security was tightened in the city, where a service was planned at a Jewish monument on Saturday. On Thursday, hundreds had gathered to remember Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany on Nov. 9-10, 1938.

NETHERLANDS PROMISES TO PUNISH ATTACKERS

One video verified by Reuters showed a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and assaulting other men, as police sirens sounded.

Another verified video showed Maccabi fans setting off flares and chanting "Ole, ole, let the IDF win, we will fuck the Arabs”, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was "horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens" and had assured Netanyahu by phone that "the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted".

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, who he said had "expressed deep horror and shock".

Herzog quoted the king as saying the Netherlands had failed its Jewish community during World War Two - under Nazi occupation and persecution - and again on Thursday night.

Herzog's opening of a new Holocaust museum in Amsterdam in March led to angry protests by pro-Palestinian activists, and there was violence in May at student-led pro-Palestinian protests in the city.

Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, head of the largest party in the government, said he was "ashamed that this can happen in the Netherlands".

In a vitriolic post on the social media platform X, he blamed "criminal Muslims" and said they should be deported.

Police said there had been incidents before the game, for which 3,000 Maccabi supporters travelled to Amsterdam.

ISRAEL SAYS VIOLENCE RECALLS EUROPEAN POGROMS

The Israeli embassy in The Hague said mobs had chanted anti-Israel slogans and shared videos of their violence on social media, "kicking, beating, even running over Israeli citizens".

"On the eve of Kristallnacht — when Jews in Nazi Germany faced brutal attacks — it is horrifying to witness antisemitic violence on the streets of Europe once again," it said.

Police said 62 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Arena, even though the city had forbidden a protest there. Ten remained in custody on Friday.

They said fans had left the stadium without incident after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, but that clashes erupted overnight in the city centre.

Herzog was among senior Israeli politicians who said the violence recalled the attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen last year as well as attacks on European Jews in the pogroms of previous centuries.

"We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam," he wrote on X.

The Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia announced five flights to Amsterdam and Brussels.

The Gaza war has sparked protests in support of both sides across Europe and the United States, and both Jews and Arabs have been attacked.

[thxnews]

ERO Washington D.C. Extradites Honduran Homicide Suspect

The Comprehensive Extradition of Rojer Mauricio Sarmiento-Gutierres

Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C. has achieved a significant milestone in international law enforcement and public safety by successfully executing the removal of Rojer Mauricio Sarmiento-Gutierres, a 45-year-old Honduran noncitizen wanted for homicide. This operation is a prime example of ERO's commitment to upholding U.S. immigration laws and protecting communities. The removal highlights the ongoing efforts of ERO Washington D.C. to address serious criminal threats posed by noncitizens residing unlawfully within the United States.   Collaborative Efforts with Local Law Enforcement The successful extradition was a result of the collaborative efforts between ERO Washington, D.C., and local law enforcement agencies. Assistant Field Office Director Daniel Nichols emphasized the significant danger Sarmiento-Gutierres posed to communities in Virginia, highlighting the importance of local law enforcement collaboration in enforcing immigration laws and ensuring community safety and security. This partnership exemplifies the critical role of coordinated efforts in maintaining public order and safeguarding citizens.  

Navigating Immigration Laws and Procedures

Challenges and Responses to Illegal Entry and Capture Sarmiento-Gutierres's case underscores the ongoing challenges faced by ICE operational directorates in monitoring and addressing instances of illegal entry and capture within U.S. borders. Despite the complexities of tracking individuals who evade official immigration procedures, ERO Washington D.C. demonstrated its capacity to effectively manage such situations, contributing significantly to the integrity of U.S. immigration enforcement.   Judicial Decisions and Deportation Processes The deportation of Sarmiento-Gutierres involved comprehensive legal proceedings, including the involvement of a DOJ immigration judge. The judge's decision to order his removal, in line with the Immigration and Nationality Act, showcases the rigorous and fair legal process undertaken in deportation cases. This action reflects the United States' commitment to enforcing its immigration laws while ensuring due process for all individuals.  

The Broader Impact of ERO's Actions

ERO's Integral Role in National and International Security ERO Washington D.C.'s removal of the Honduran noncitizen extends beyond the confines of national security, demonstrating the United States' capability and commitment to international law enforcement cooperation. By successfully extraditing individuals wanted for serious crimes like homicide, ERO enhances both national and international safety, reinforcing the global efforts to combat crime and protect communities.   Ensuring Public Safety and Upholding Legal Integrity The operation carried out by ERO Washington, D.C. is a crucial measure in maintaining community safety and security, highlighting the agency's dedication to protecting U.S. residents from international crime threats. The removal of Sarmiento-Gutierres also emphasizes the importance of upholding the rule of law and the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.  

Upholding Justice and Ensuring Community Safety

The extradition of Sarmiento-Gutierres is a notable achievement for ERO Washington, D.C., reinforcing their pivotal role in national security and international law enforcement cooperation. This operation is a clear testament to the United States' unwavering commitment to enforcing its immigration laws and ensuring the safety and security of its communities.   Sources: THX News & U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Read the full article

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Biden to Visit Israel as Gaza’s Crisis Worsens Under Siege (NYT) President Biden plans to visit Israel on Wednesday, an extraordinary trip to the grieving nation as it prepares to invade the neighboring Gaza Strip, which has fallen into a desperate humanitarian crisis with two million people trapped and critical supplies dwindling. The trip by Mr. Biden on the eve of a potential escalation of the conflict in the Middle East will be a remarkable gamble less than two weeks after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,400 people in southern Israel. His acceptance of the Israeli invitation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demonstrates American solidarity with Israel, signaling to its rivals like Iran, Syria and Hezbollah that it has the power of the United States behind it at a time of increasing anxiety about a regional war. But it also ties Mr. Biden, and the United States, to the bloodshed in Gaza.

Trump pledges to expel immigrants who support Hamas, ban Muslims from the U.S. (Reuters) Donald Trump promised on Monday that if elected president again he will bar immigrants who support Hamas from entering the U.S. and send officers to pro-Hamas protests to arrest and deport immigrants who publicly support the Palestinian militant group. Trump, president from 2017-2021, said that if elected to a second White House term he will ban entry to the U.S. of anybody who does not believe in Israel’s right to exist, and revoke the visas of foreign students who are “antisemitic.” He also vowed to step up travel bans from “terror-plagued countries.” He did not explain how he would enforce his demands, including the one requiring immigrants to support Israel’s right to exist under what he called “strong ideological screening.” Trump also read a poem that he used to liken immigrants to deadly snakes.

Americans want US to help get Gaza civilians out of harm's way—poll (Reuters) A bipartisan majority of Americans wants the U.S. to help get Palestinian civilians out of harm's way in Gaza amid Israel's war against Hamas militants, but the American public's support for Israel in the conflict appears stronger than in the past, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The results of the two-day poll, which closed on Friday, showed 78% of respondents—including 94% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans—agreed with a statement that "American diplomats should actively be working on a plan to allow civilians fleeing fighting in Gaza to move to a safe country." U.S. and global media have been awash with images of massacred Israelis, including graphic accounts of Hamas atrocities, as well as Palestinians in the Gaza Strip searching for survivors after Israeli airstrikes leveled neighborhoods. Forty-one percent of respondents in the new poll, which closed as Israel, Washington's closest Middle East ally, was preparing a ground invasion into Gaza, said they agreed with a statement that "the U.S. should support Israel" in its conflict with Hamas, while 2% said "the U.S. should support the Palestinians."

Mexican Sinaloa Cartel’s Message to Members: Stop Making Fentanyl or Die (WSJ) The Sinaloa cartel, the leading exporter of fentanyl to the U.S., is prohibiting the production and trafficking of the illegal opioid in its territory after coming under increasing pressure from U.S. law enforcement, cartel members say. The order comes from the “Chapitos,” the group led by the four sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who transformed the Sinaloa cartel into a global empire managing the supply of narcotics, from Mexican heroin to Colombian cocaine and fentanyl made with precursors from Asia. The directive from the most powerful faction within the criminal group aims to evade pressure from U.S. law enforcement, operatives say. U.S. deaths from fentanyl have become an American political issue, with some Republicans, including lawmakers and others running for president, advocating to send the U.S. military into Mexico to fight criminal groups trafficking fentanyl. For the many people in this northwestern Mexican region who make a living producing and smuggling an opioid that has killed tens of thousands of Americans, the message was clear: stop or die.

Restart of Venezuela, opposition talks could lead to US sanction relief (Reuters) Venezuela’s government and opposition will resume long-suspended talks on Tuesday that President Nicolas Maduro said would benefit the upcoming 2024 election, a move that could lead to Washington easing sanctions, multiple sources said on Monday. The U.S. has long said it would lift some of its sanctions in exchange for democratic concessions from Maduro, but the announcement on Monday offered the first concrete schedule in nearly a year for talks between the government and opposition. President Joe Biden’s administration has been shifting toward increasing U.S. engagement with Caracas on issues from energy to immigration to political reform.

EU parliamentarians make accidental stop at Disneyland (BBC/Foreign Policy) Hundreds of members and staff of the European Parliament had a surprise when their train from Brussels to the French city of Strasbourg ended up at Disneyland Paris instead. The special train is chartered once a month to get MEPs between parliament's seats in Brussels and Strasbourg. But a signalling error on Monday meant their train made an unplanned 45-minute stop at the Disneyland Paris station. Their constituents can rest assured, though; the hardworking politicians somehow managed to resist the temptation to take a quick ride on Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain or Peter Pan’s Flight during the brief delay. “We are NOT a Mickey Mouse parliament,” German lawmaker Daniel Freund said.

Police shoot dead gunman in Brussels attack that killed two Swedes (Washington Post) A 45-year-old Tunisian man suspected of killing two Swedish soccer fans in Brussels has been shot dead by police in a cafe on Tuesday. The suspect, armed with an automatic rifle, fled the scene after the shooting as a soccer match between Belgium and Sweden was about to start on Monday evening, triggering a massive manhunt. The gunman published a video online saying he had killed people in the name of God.

Putin visits China (Washington Post) Russian President Vladimir Putin is flying to Beijing to meet his strongest, most crucial ally: Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both leaders are each hobbled by crises of their own making: Russia’s disastrous war on Ukraine; and China’s economic stumbles, which have frayed confidence in Xi’s management. But their meeting at China’s third Belt and Road summit is also an opportunity to showcase their partnership against the United States and other Western nations at a moment of global tumult.

China Bet It All on Real Estate. Now Its Economy Is Paying the Price. (NYT) When China’s housing boom seemed like a one-way bet, Gary Meng’s parents bought an apartment from China Evergrande, the country’s biggest developer. Soon the company called with another pitch: to manage their wealth. It was a good deal with little risk, the family thought. Evergrande had global recognition and was a politically important company at the heart of China’s growing economy. They invested all their savings. Then the unthinkable happened. In 2021, Evergrande defaulted, representing the start of a real estate meltdown that has shaken China’s economy, felled some of its biggest companies and left home buyers waiting on more than a million apartments. Last week, another embattled real estate company, Country Garden, said it had run out of cash, signaling that the worst may be yet to come. The companies have a combined $500 billion in debt and face critical hurdles in the coming weeks. Beijing’s ability to slow the collapse is now in doubt as consumers continue to show a lack of interest in buying real estate, even during a recent Golden Week holiday, usually a bumper period for sales. The housing crisis has presented an acute challenge for China’s political leadership: It is trying to wean the country off its decades-long dependence on real estate to drive economic growth, but doing so is deepening a crisis of confidence. Financial markets are questioning the future of China’s economic miracle, and households are abandoning their faith in the Chinese Communist Party’s promise of a better economic future.

Palestinian medics in Gaza struggle to save lives (AP) For hours and hours, Moen Abu Aish digs through the rubble of demolished homes to find survivors of Israeli airstrikes, toiling in a vast and desperate search complicated by the shortage of critical supplies and the sheer scope of destruction across the Gaza Strip. Even as rescue worker Abu Aish, 58, and his colleagues struggle to pry lifeless bodies from the concrete and twisted metal where residential towers once stood, the death toll keeps rising. Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported that Israel’s bombardment—launched after Hamas mounted a bloody, unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7—has killed more than 2,700 Palestinians, many of them women and children. But far more Palestinians have been killed than have been officially reported, with 1,200 people, among them some 500 minors, believed to be trapped under the rubble awaiting rescue, or recovery, health authorities said. They based their estimates on distress calls they received. The untold scores of victims buried beneath destroyed buildings shed light on the struggles of rescue teams in Gaza trying to save lives, while cut off from the internet and mobile networks, running out of fuel and exposed to unceasing airstrikes.

Deadly Hospital Blast (Foreign Policy) Hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a blast at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The exact death toll is currently unclear, with Gaza officials providing conflicting numbers ranging from 200 to 500 people. Hamas accused Israel of being behind the strike, calling it a “horrific massacre.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), however, said in a statement that an initial analysis indicates the blast was from a failed rocket launched toward Israel by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Gaza-based Islamist militant group.

Electrical grids aren’t keeping up (AP) Stalled spending on electrical grids worldwide is slowing the rollout of renewable energy, the International Energy Agency said. The Paris-based organization said in the report Tuesday that the capacity to connect to and transmit electricity is not keeping pace with the rapid growth of clean energy technologies such as solar and wind power, electric cars and heat pumps. The IEA assessment of electricity grids around the globe found that achieving the climate goals set by the world’s governments would require adding or refurbishing 80 million kilometers (50 million miles) of power lines by 2040—an amount equal to the existing global grid in less than two decades. Annual investment needs to double to more than $600 billion a year by 2030, the agency said.

Farm to school lessons (NPR) Farm to school events are happening all over the country this month aimed at bringing fresh food to students’ plates. And, after a decline in nutrition education in U.S. schools in recent decades, there’s new momentum, to weave food and cooking into the curriculum again. Remember the hands-on cooking in home economics class, which was a staple in U.S. schools for decades? At Watkins Elementary, in Washington, D.C., students grow vegetables in their school garden. They also roll up their sleeves in the school’s kitchen to participate in a FRESHFARM FoodPrints class, which integrates cooking and nutrition education. On the day we visited, 5th graders sauteed onions and collard greens. “I’m whisking,” one student says as they review a lesson on whole grains. “I’ve learned whole wheat has more nutrition, because it has the germ and the outer layer,” of the wheat kernel he says, as he rolls out the dough with a rolling pin.

[sonofcoulson]

1959 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series 2

S.H.I.E.L.D. has been running pretty smoothly for some time now. But a pair of terrible twins are about to disrupt things for the team…Fenris! They are older (77) in 1959 (their age is related to where The Gifted is in this timeline) and some of their story will be told in flashback.

They have been setting up Hellfire Club chapters around the world, trying to manipulate world events in the club's favour. They create terrorist incidents and blame them on other factions, plant misinformation etc. They have also been finding or rescuing promising mutants then enticing/forcing them to join.

Nathaniel Essex is referred to as "our employer" but never by name. No one has been able to work out how the bombs were planted in these incidents, but Howard works out that Fenris are the bomb, managing to link these incidents together and build up a profile for the now elderly Von Struckers. 

In a slight rework from the original The Gifted timeline, the London incident should be 1915 and it's the Police in pursuit, Rio should be 1930 with SSR investigating and pursuing. They manage to evade capture until this series. 

They chase them across the world after the latest incident in Plac Zamkovy, which kills hundreds. They can't figure out what gives them this power (no one knows about mutants, except Otto Strucker). They finally catch up with them and Andrea is killed before they can detonate. Andreas flees to grieve and consider his next move.

They have embedded themselves in Hydra to disguise their true allegiance.

Peggy, Howard, the Howling Commandos, Brian and Jacqueline Falsworth are all present but Adam Brashear is now off world and Sousa 'died' in 1955 as per original AoS s7 continuity. James Braddock (actor tbc) is more prominent here after being a background character previously, also he had "mystically given" powers, but kept them secret from all but a select few, also a great scientist. Very useful for S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.T.R.I.K.E.

As a second arc in this series Howard and Anton Vanko finalise their prototype for the arc reactor. Howard wants to keep developing it in secret, with a view to sharing it when he is sure it can't be copied or duplicated without them both. He has learned his lesson from season 1 of Agent Carter where some of his technology was dangerously flawed or misappropriated. He doesn't want the arc reactor rushed. He doesn't want the technology to fall into the wrong hands. Vanko wants to patent it and start selling the idea straight away. 

Vanko: It's too important not to share it right now.

Stark: I see that it could help the world right now, but I am not prepared to compromise on safety or security. If we rush out a design that could be reverse engineered relatively easily it could start another world war.

V: You just don't want to share the technology with Russia, do you? You think Russia is Leviathan? You think I am with Leviathan? I have known you 13 years Howard…

S: Now Anton, it's not like that, I just need to put in some checks and bal-

V: You want to take all the credit! Where is the proof I was involved in the design if there is no patent?

S: Now wait a minute Anton-

V: You want all the profit too?

S (scoffs): This shouldn't be about money.

V: This is easy for you to say. You live in America like a billionaire,  I live here like a Russian immigrant.

S: I pay you well enough Anton…Let's just…let's just cool off…talk about this in the morning. We can work this out.

V (tersely): Good night, Mr Stark.

By the next morning, Vanko has gone and so have the blueprints. S.H.I.E.L.D. tracks him down and recover the blueprints and hand him over to the company lawyers who have him charged and deported. Howard is too angry to object to the industrial espionage charges or the deportation. He does, however, offer to pay Vanko his share of any profits their design makes. Vanko refuses, arrogantly thinking he can recreate the designs on his own in Russia. He cannot and ends up drunk and destitute setting up Iron Man 2.

Post credits:-

With the Fenris bomb duo out of the picture, we see Sebastian Shaw at the Las Vegas chapter of the Hellfire Club taking a phone call from his employer saying he "would be delighted to be the new black king". After he hangs up he says "now to find myself a queen".