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There’s a lot of news right now, and the media is fixated on reporting about itself. Donald Trump has banned CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House, and it’s created a tremendous stir. I get it. A president trying to decide which reporters get to cover him is dangerous, and it deserves attention.
But I’m not convinced it’s the biggest story in the country right now. This morning I’m spending my time and energy on something else: the renewed attacks by Donald Trump’s ICE against immigrant communities across this country.
In Evanston, just north of Chicago, a United States citizen was arrested and, based on the reporting, very clearly beaten by ICE agents. Over the weekend, a Venezuelan DoorDash driver in Texas was shot by ICE. A man out delivering food to make a living, shot.
We get so wrapped up in everything else happening in this country, the collapse of the American economy for the working and middle class, the staggering corruption of the Trump administration, this illegal war in Iran, and so much more, that too many of us forget our immigrant brothers and sisters are still being terrorized every single day by a paramilitary force the president of the United States built for himself.
I bring this up first because I want to stand in solidarity, as best I can, with so many people who do not deserve to be treated this way. They deserve the same rights and the same dignity I have as an American. And let’s be clear: being an American citizen doesn’t protect you either. If they decide you’re a target because of the color of your skin, or any other reason, they will absolutely come after you. We know that. Then they’ll lie about why they did it, and it will take months to find out what actually happened. It’s obnoxious and it’s disgusting. It will probably be a decade before we fully understand how many lives Donald Trump’s ICE has ruined.
But I also bring it up because of the coming election.
Republicans are running for their lives. They are scared to death of what’s coming for them in the midterms, when the American people finally get a chance to make their voices heard. And Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to use ICE, his personal paramilitary force, to influence the outcome, insinuating he would station ICE agents outside polling places. Where do you think those agents are going to show up? My guess is heavily Latino neighborhoods.
Because if you look at the polling, Trump’s and the Republican Party’s numbers with Latino voters are catastrophic, especially in Texas. If you’re sitting at home wondering how James Talarico is beating Ken Paxton, a big part of the answer is that Hispanic voters are furious at Donald Trump. They’re furious about the economy, and they’re furious about the harassment they and their families face.
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Those chickens are coming home to roost. Maybe Republicans had a point at one time about keeping the border secure. But they’ve burned every ounce of goodwill they had on immigration through these ridiculous, illegal raids. Now they’re fully underwater on the issue, and the way they’ve targeted and attacked people is going to be a big reason they lose.
And here’s the part I can’t stop thinking about: They gerrymandered Texas to try to steal the House of Representatives from Democrats in this election. That gerrymander was built on the Latino vote from 2024. Now that those voters have turned on them, the map they drew to save themselves actually puts more Republican seats at risk than before. They have royally screwed this up.
And because they’ve screwed it up, they’re going to cheat even more.
So this morning I’m holding a lot of rage in my heart, in my mind. Rage at hearing, once again, about communities across this country that are hurting because their neighbors have been shot, harassed, or attacked by ICE. And it is happening right here at home. ICE is active in Chicago, and they’re likely out harassing people in my city as you read this.
But I’m also holding that rage, that anger, that frustration, for what I know is coming next: a blatant attempt to steal this election.
My friend Stephanie Miller says it all the time, and she’s right: There aren’t a bunch of different scandals in America. There is one scandal in America. It’s a lawless president who will use every ounce of his power to hurt people and bend this country to his will, and a Republican Congress that refuses to do a damn thing about it.
The raids, the shootings, the threats at the polls, the gerrymanders, the attacks on the press, it’s all the same story. It’s one man and one party trying to hold on to power by any means necessary.
Which is why our job is so clear. We have to make sure the wave coming for them in November is too big to rig. Too big for their cheating. Too big for their lying. Too big for all the bullshit TV ads bankrolled by big tech trillionaires like Elon Musk. We need so many Americans rising up to take our country back that none of it works.
If we do that, we get a measure of power and common sense back in this country. We get a Congress that can stymie the worst of Donald Trump’s instincts over his final two years. And we set ourselves up for the real opportunity to take this country back in the next presidential election.
That’s what I’m thinking about this morning. The people in Evanston. The DoorDash driver shot in Texas. The families in my city who are afraid to leave their homes today. And the fight that’s right in front of us.
I’m going to go find ways to be useful today. I hope you do too.
With urgency,
—Mike
These ICE agents are NOT Properly trained , & you don’t shoot someone in the back, even if they are running, after all , he didn’t rob a bank or put their own lives in danger, he was driving for door dash,, guess Austin won’t be doing door dash long, who’s gonna want to drive for them with ICE IDIOTS, oops I mean agents shooting drivers in the back ! Really? You fucks !
If the orange shithead had actually done something FOR THE PEOPLE, he wouldn’t probably be in the mess he’s in w/elections coming up. Stupid is as stupid does. And he does a lot of stupid. Nothing but shit for the people. Why the hell would anyone but dummies vote for you?