Investigation Underway after 2 Santa Ana Cops Caught on Camera Beating a Defenseless Latino Man in Unprovoked Attack in Front of His Home

Santa Ana city officials have ordered an external probe of two police officers who are shown in a video circulating on social media throwing a suspect to the ground and beating him.

During a Tuesday night City Council meeting, Mayor Valerie Amezcua said the council voted during a nearly two-hour closed-door session to engage an independent investigator to review the officers’ body camera footage. If the investigation determines the officers caused the suspect, 28-year-old Florentino Junior Lopez, great bodily injury as a result of use of force, the city will release the names of the officers and the related camera audio and video.

The occasionally shaky video posted on social media shows the officers holding Lopez against the hood of a police car.

“All of the sudden, things got out of control,” said Lopez’s attorney, John Kremer.

The footage was captured by Lopez’s younger sister who was outside with her brother smoking on their front lawn Thursday night when the two officers arrived and summoned Lopez out into the street.

After Lopez says something to the officers, he is yanked to the ground and punched repeatedly. The incident ended when two other officers arrived to restore order, at which point Lopez was handcuffed, Kremer said Monday evening.

During the Tuesday night meeting, several council members publicly apologized to Lopez and his family for the incident.

“No member of the Santa Ana community should be brutalized by a police officer,” said Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez. [MORE]

Amazon Settles Lawsuit Over Slower Deliveries and Delivery Exclusion to Black Neighborhoods in DC

From [HERE] Amazon Prime customers who experienced slower deliveries because they lived in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, which are majority-Black, will receive millions of dollars in refunds after the company settled a lawsuit brought by the District, the city attorney general’s office said Thursday.

The lawsuit accused Amazon of secretly excluding Ward 7 and Ward 8 Zip codes — 20019 and 20020 — from the company’s own branded delivery services, using third-party carriers such as UPS and the U.S. Postal Service instead, which significantly slowed delivery times, despite charging the same price for Prime memberships.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) said in a statement that the online retailer will refund $7.25 million in membership fees to about 69,000 D.C. customers, pay the District $1 million in penalties, and “reform its practices.”

“No company is above the law, no matter how big or powerful,” Schwalb said. [MORE]

Marjorie Taylor Greene says TrumpStein Shut Down the Release of the Epstein Files

DOJ Golden Retriever Todd Blanche Plays a 'Contempt Game' with a Federal Judge to Prevent the Public Release of 50 Pages of FBI Notes about Trump's Alleged Rape of a Teenager in Hidden Epstein Files

From [HERE] U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to hand over handwritten FBI interview notes detailing a woman's allegations against President Donald Trump. The order stems from an ongoing lawsuit regarding the government's compliance with the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandates public release of records connected to the investigation of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Sullivan ordered Blanche on September 16 to hand over the underlying notes for private review in both redacted and unredacted versions by 11 a.m. on September 24. In a notice of compliance filed Monday at Sullivan's direction, Blanche said the documents were hand-delivered to chambers 17 minutes before that deadline.

However, Blanche failed to turn over the court ordered redacted notes. Said failure makes it impossible for the judge to determine whether the government has grounds to withhold release of the notes to the public. On Friday, the judge ordered Blanche to also turn over the redacted nots.

Judge Sullivan is presiding over Phang v. Blanche, a lawsuit filed by independent journalist Katie Phang seeking the public release of unredacted records related to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

The lawsuit accuses the DOJ under Attorney General Blanche of violating the law by heavily redacting or completely withholding critical components of the Epstein files. This includes eight emails, a draft indictment with hidden co-conspirator names, and handwritten FBI interview notes from a woman alleging that Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump when she was a teenager.

Central to the dispute are handwritten FBI notes taken during four separate interviews in 2019. The notes contain raw information from an interview with a woman who alleged that Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Donald Trump when she was a teenager, and that Trump subsequently assaulted her. The notes are roughly 50 pages for 4 different interviews. Plaintiff Katie Phang said the files contain leads the government chose to ignore. [MORE]

Judge Sullivan has repeatedly ruled against the DOJ's attempts to shield the files. He previously issued a preliminary injunction stating that Blanche effectively "conceded" to violating the law by failing to properly address the lawsuit's allegations

"On each of those pages there's either available information that this administration, this DOJ, this FBI has intentionally refused to chase down," Phang said. Blanche initially refused to release the notes in any form, arguing they were "substantially similar" to the typed FD-302 reports the FBI produced from those interviews. Then at an August hearing, DOJ attorney Andrew Block told U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan the notes were "duplicative."

"You and I don't have to go to law school, and you don't really need a lot of information to be able to glean that there is a material substantive difference between something that is substantially similar and something that is duplicative," Phang said.

"There is no way that those 302s were literally word by word the same d— thing as the handwritten FBI notes," she noted.

"Do you see it's a game?" Phang said. "It's a game that Todd Blanche is playing, and he's yanking a lot of chains, isn't he?"

She also noted the Epstein Files Transparency Act lists specific grounds for withholding records, and duplication isn't one of them.

"Even if they are duplicative, that doesn't bar the release of the handwritten notes," Phang said.

Rep Al Green to Make a Final Attempt to Impeach Trump after being Pushed Out of Office by SNigger Jasmine Crockett and the Israeli Lobby

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas 9) announced plans to file another set of articles of impeachment against President Trump and called on elected officials to stick to their beliefs, even when unpopular, during a Friday talk hosted by the Brown Initiative for Policy.

Green will leave his position in January after losing his primary election earlier this year. The 79-year-old staunch progressive and civil rights advocate has served in Congress since 2005.

The congressman attracted national attention when he was removed from Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress in 2025 after interrupting Trump’s speech, waving his walking cane and declaring the president did not have a mandate to cut Medicaid, before he was escorted out of the House Chamber. 

Green was also removed from Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address after he unfurled a handwritten sign reading “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES!” in protest of a social media post by Trump depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. “Something just came over me,” Green recalled of the 2025 incident to the crowd of about 60 attendees at Friday’s event, jokingly swinging his cane in the air.

“I knew that there would be consequences. But I also know that there are just some things worth standing for. You just have to take a stand,” Green said.

Green is also known for repeatedly filing articles of impeachment against Trump during both of the president’s terms, a maneuver he has undertaken as recently as August. During Friday’s event, Green announced that he plans to file another set of impeachment articles before he leaves Congress. [MORE]

Shenanigger Jasmine Crocket Up to More Shenanigans: Helped Israel First and Crypto Donors Push Al Green Out of Congress to [S]elect Another KneeGrow Puppetician to Support Israeli Genocide and Wars

Congressional Staffers say White Dumbocrat Mary Peltola Referred to Black Veterans as NGHRS and Uses the Term Often in a Derogatory Manner [in the Absence of White Supremacy Niggers would Not Exist]

Two former staffers of former Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) allege the Alaska Democrat repeatedly used the n-word in 2024, according to a report from the Alaska Landmine.

The two former aides worked in the Alaska Democrat’s House office and on her campaign. They spoke to the Landmine on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation. Both described separate episodes in 2024.

One instance allegedly followed an October 25, 2024 dinner honoring the roughly 4,000 African American soldiers who helped build the Alaska-Canada Highway during World War II. The event was promoted by Ed Wesley, an Army veteran, former commander of American Legion Post 34, and former president of the Anchorage NAACP.

Wesley pressured the campaign to buy tables and promised to fill them, according to a former aide. The campaign purchased eight tables at $1,000 each, the staffer said, and an October 18, 2024 FEC filing shows $8,000 paid to Eventbrite for tickets. The tables sat mostly empty. Peltola did not attend. After staff told her about the turnout, the Senate candidate grew angry and called Wesley a “scammer,” the staffer alleged.

“I can’t believe that n****r,” Peltola said, according to the staffer.

The aide told the Landmine they had grown “numb” to such language, alleging they had previously heard Peltola use the slur “faggot” when referring to gay staffers.

A second staffer alleged the Alaska Democrat used the n-word multiple times during a spring 2024 campaign meeting. Staff conducting opposition research had discovered that her son, Job Nelson, ran a YouTube channel featuring self-produced rap music that frequently used the word. The channel was later deleted, the staffers said.

“It shocked everyone in the room,” the second staffer said, adding that no one confronted her out of fear.

The allegations come weeks after the New York Times published a report describing a pattern of angry outbursts, a shove, and slurs across Peltola’s years in office. Peltola is challenging Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in a race that could decide control of the Senate. [MORE]

James Corbett on "Unvandalism" and the Real Reason Federal Authorities Murdered Fred Hampton

The Disparity between Black and White Homeownership (30%) is the Widest Gap in Over a Century - but Not Wide Enough for Trump: Hud StrawBoss Investigates Wells Fargo Over Its Policies to Help Blacks

ACCORDING TO THE FUNKTIONARY:

Straw-Boss – a Sambo who is appointed a certain oversight role for the white power structure Overseer. It is the job of the Straw- Boss to establish a formal organization to effectively and systematically carry out the wishes of the racist white supremacist power matrix while serving his own personal needs and ends through patronage power. 2) a ranking Snigger. 3) Toby. 4) “Safe-House Negro.” 5) responsible (to the white racist supremacist ideology) Negro. 6) the gatekeeper for Black professional positions gained through (acquiesced to) various sexual positions. 7) Pork Chop Boy. (See: McNegro

From [HERE] Donald Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development is waging war on Black homeownership.

Scott Turner, the Christian nationalist former NFL player turned executive tapped by Trump to run the department, has opened an investigation of Wells Fargo over the company’s efforts to boost Black homeownership. And his remarks about the probe, the existence of which was revealed by The Wall Street Journal, underscore that this is fundamentally about conservatives’ racist assault on virtually any program they think falls under the umbrella of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI.

The investigation is being framed as an inquiry into whether Wells Fargo violated the Fair Housing Act with policies meant to boost Black homeownership, policies that came after Wells Fargo reached a massive settlement with the Justice Department in 2012 over allegations of racial discrimination against Black and Hispanic housing loan borrowers. A decade after the settlement, a Bloomberg report suggested that discriminatory behavior had continued at Wells Fargo.

But Turner, who is Black, falsely claimed that Wells Fargo has engaged in wrongdoing merely by considering race.

“Even if Wells Fargo did not violate the law, its practice of dividing Americans based on race is immoral, unethical and un-American,” he’s quoted as saying in the Journal’s report. “Wells Fargo and all of its employees that engaged in race-based decision-making should be ashamed of themselves.”

In deranged MAGA parlance, addressing the impacts of racism amounts to “dividing Americans based on race.” [MORE]

In reality, the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that for nearly three-quarters of non-Hispanic white households in this country, homeownership is a reality. For Black Americans, however, it remains a dream for the majority; only 43 percent of Black households live in a home they own. This homeownership gap—a 30 percentage point difference between non-Hispanic white and Black homeownership rates—is as large as it has been in 120 years. It is also intrinsically linked to the growing wealth gap between Black and white Americans, says Vanessa Perry, a professor at the GW School of Business. White households have a median net worth at least 10 times that of Black households, according to a report she co-authored in 2020 for the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). 

“The wealth gap is really the homeownership gap,” she says. “We’re seeing young Black people who graduate from college and are able to get good jobs but are still falling behind their similarly situated white counterparts because their parents and grandparents weren’t homeowners and didn’t accumulate the same kind of wealth.” [MORE] and [MORE]

'The West [means White] is Obsessed with Iran’s Nuclear Program although it has been inspected more than any other country. Neocons Want to Use It as a Pretext for Destruction of Life'

Iran’s refusal to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back into the country amid ongoing US aggression is understandable, says a US-based author and activist, urging the UN nuclear watchdog to inspect Israeli nuclear facilities as well.

Speaking to the Press TV website, Anthony Donovan, Associate Member of Veterans For Peace, said he supports Iran’s decision not to allow IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and his team into the country while Iran remains under attack by the United States, Western countries and their allies.

“IAEA will be welcome when the threats cease. Perfect good sense. You have good reason to not trust Grossi and the US pushing for this absurd resolution in the UNSC,” Donovan said.

He added that the nuclear watchdog should instead be demanding an end to the attacks and warning about the dangers posed by military action against nuclear facilities.

“The IAEA needs to immediately and strongly demand an end to these bombings and aggressions, express the outrage at the danger this can pose,” Donovan said.

His comments came after the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a politically motivated resolution drafted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany calling on Grossi to report Iran to the UN Security Council and General Assembly. [MORE]

Marco Rubio Sanctions the International Criminal Court for Continuing to Investigate War Crimes Committed by the US and Israel in Effort to Hold Uncontrollable Authorities Accountable

PART TIME SECRETARY OF STATE AND US INSTALLED PUPPET PRESIDENT/MAYOR OF VENEZUELA HAD A MESSAGE FOR THE NON-WHITE WORLD

From [HERE] US Secretary of State Marco Rubio placed full sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday in response to continuing investigations into potential war crimes committed by the US and Israel.

“Our message is clear: the United States and its people are not subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC,” Rubio said in a statement. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”

The sanctions permit the federal government to seize ICC assets in the US or controlled by “US persons.” There are some specially licensed exceptions, including 180-day grace period licenses giving the ICC and its state parties to address US concerns.

The ICC issued a response statement in which it condemned the action and accused the US of undermining international justice. The court wrote:

This measure targets an independent judicial institution, created by treaty and entrusted by 125 States Parties with investigating and prosecuting genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. It is an attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to prevent the Court from doing what it was created to do. It is an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order which strikes at the simple principle that no one stands above the law.

The announcement came on the same day that South African jurist Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize for her decades-long work in international justice. The former UN human rights chief, Pillay also served as an ICC judge and led a UN-sponsored commission that in September 2025 determined that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza during its military campaign in the territory following the October 7, 2023 attacks.

The sanctions follow from US President Donald Trump’s February 2025 executive order, “Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court.” The order came in response to ICC warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as an ICC investigation into possible US war crimes in Afghanistan. Trump primarily relied on sections of the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act of 2002, which seeks to protect US military personnel from ICC prosecution when such personnel act to “protect the national interests of the United States.” [MORE]

TrumpStein Intentionally Blew Up a School in Iran Filled with Human Beings, Murdering at Least 156, Massa Media Barely Talks About It (while Pretending to be an Adverse and Independent Media)

What happened that day will go down in history as one of the single worst massacres committed by the U.S. government since the Vietnam War. Multiple direct air strikes, including with Tomahawk cruise missiles, hit a school packed with children and teachers. The attacks killed at least 156 people; 120 of the victims were children and 26 were teachers—all women, including one who was pregnant. Among the dead were also parents who had come to pick up their children.

“The killing of pupils in a place dedicated to learning constitutes a grave violation of the protection afforded to schools under international humanitarian law,” the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said in a statement a day after the bombing.

“I was absolutely horrified,” recalled Hala Rharrit, a career U.S. Foreign Service officer who spent 17 years at the State Department, primarily focused on the Middle East, before she resigned in 2024. “Knowing the capabilities of our military, knowing how careful the review is for targets, I was horrified. How, how could this have happened? How could this have happened on Day One of the war?”

“I Saw Doomsday”

According to the Iranian government, from 10:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., a total of nine missiles hit the school and the surrounding area. Witnesses described multiple distinct strikes within a short period of time. An additional four missiles struck the area between 1-2 p.m., hitting a medical clinic, as well as a nearby car wash and other small businesses in a small commercial district close to the campus. “These were not double-tap attacks. It was more than that. They were triple-taps,” said Iran’s Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi, in an interview with Drop Site. “The type of attack was the most serious type of war crime, which indicates a direct and heinous criminal intent.”

In the aftermath of the Minab strikes, the Trump administration unleashed a flurry of contradictory statements and justifications. “The ​Department of War would be investigating that if that was our strike,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 2. “The United States would not deliberately target a school.” Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon suggested that Iran itself had bombed the school. “Some reports show that it was actually IRGC attack that targeted this school,” he said. The talking point was swiftly adopted by President Donald Trump.

“In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump said on March 7. “We think it was done by Iran, because they’re very inaccurate with their munitions, they have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran.” Trump offered no evidence for his claim.

Drop Site obtained a set of high-resolution photos of the missile fragments and components taken by Iranian investigators at the scene of the strike. “These all appear to be remnants of Tomahawk missiles,” said Trevor Ball, a weapons technical analyst at Armament Research Services, who reviewed the images. The CAGE code—a five-character identifier used by the U.S. government to identify companies and organizations that do business with the Department of Defense—is that of Raytheon, the primary contractor for the Tomahawk missile, Ball observed. “The images show at least two different turbofan engines, which would indicate remnants of at least two Tomahawk missiles,” Ball added. “The proximity between all the struck buildings makes it very likely that remnants from different strikes could be intermixed, depending on where the remnants were specifically found. Any remnants found buried under the rubble of the school would be from the munition that hit the school.”

On March 12, the New York Times reported that an “ongoing military investigation has determined that the United States is responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school.” Citing sources briefed on preliminary findings, the Times wrote: “The ‘target coding’ provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the military intelligence agency that helps develop targets, labeled the school building as a military target when it was passed to Central Command, the military headquarters overseeing the war.” [MORE]

Barbaric Israeli Authorities Weaponize Survival (Food, Water, Shelter and Fuel) in Genocide of Palestinians, Media MythCounts True Death Toll

Barbaric Israeli Authorities Demolished over 11,000 Palestinian-Owned Residential Buildings and Structures During Its Ongoing Genocide

From [HERE] A Palestinian advocacy group says the Israeli military has demolished at least 11,620 Palestinian-owned residential buildings and structures in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds between the beginning of the Israeli genocidal war against the Gaza Strip in early October 2023 and October 7 this year.

The Palestine Information Center (Moata), in a report published on Sunday, stated that the demolition operations targeted 2,143 homes as well as 9,477 structures and facilities.

The figures come amid ongoing Israeli military assaults that have resulted in extensive devastation throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly affecting refugee settlements located in the northern flank of the West Bank.

According to a report released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on September 4, Israeli military forces forcibly relocated inhabitants from the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps throughout January and February 2025, with restrictions on their repatriation in effect up to the present day.

The UN report noted that hundreds of residential structures were demolished, and substantial harm was caused to transportation networks and essential service infrastructure. [MORE]

Bi-partisan Tyranny: The American Public Has Turned on Israel but It Doesn’t Matter b/c Puppeticians Primarily Represent Elites in a Demockery

For decades, American support for Israel was a bipartisan consensus. It was believed that only fringe figures, kooks, or antisemites would question the close bond between the two nations, and that this was a relationship forged on the grounds of mutual geopolitical interests.

Well, after years of Israel conducting a mass slaughter of innocent civilians in Gaza, and after having successfully convinced President Donald Trump to launch a disastrous war in Iran, American public opinion has taken a turn. According to a Marquette Law School survey from September 2026, 59 percent of American adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, compared to only 29 percent who say they have a favorable view of the country. This is a shocking collapse from where Israel’s support was just years ago.

The policy emanating from the U.S. government, however, has not reflected this change. In fact, our political leaders and media figures have decided that now is the time to showcase their undying loyalty to Israel in a very transparent fashion.

On September 29, the Senate voted on a resolution introduced by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), that sought to force the State Department to report to Congress on the killing of U.S. citizens by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. The resolution was rejected with a 47-51 vote, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) being the only member of the GOP to buck party lines and support the resolution.

Besides Paul, every Senate Republican – as well as Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) – voted against transparency on the issue of American citizens being killed overseas by violent settlers. What could the possible justification be for such a vote? [MORE]

US Military Staging for Cuba Invasion Contingency

From [HERE] CBS News reported on Saturday that the US Military has been working to establish “the groundwork for potential action around Cuba.”

According to the report, CBS reviewed an internal US Army Reserve message sent to subordinate commands. The message requested an assessment on the feasibility of providing several types of units to US Southern Command within 90 to 120 days.

The message did not mention Cuba, but CBS said it spoke to US officials who said the assessment request is centered on the beleaguered Caribbean island nation off the coast of Florida. Southern Command’s “area of responsibility” comprises “31 countries and 12 dependencies and areas of special sovereignty” in Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.

The assessment request seeks to determine how quickly a combat sustainment support battalion, an engineer battalion, an expeditionary sustainment command, a medical brigade, a forward resuscitative and surgical detachment, and a military police brigade could be stood up. Together, these units would check a lot of invasion boxes, including logistics, transportation, maintenance, fuel and supplies, engineering, medical treatment, emergency surgery, security, detention, and law-enforcement support. [MORE]

Arresting People without Evidence: US Forces Destroy Ecuadorian Fishing boats, Detain over 140 Crew Based on Factually Unsupportable Drug Claims

From [HERE] Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Friday that US forces intercepted and destroyed eight Ecuadorian fishing vessels between August 28 and September 16, detaining more than 140 of the 160 crew members aboard and allegedly subjecting some of them to abuse.

Juanita Goebertus, HRW’s Americas director, said the operations cannot justify arresting people without evidence:

Intercepting fuel trafficking at sea may be an important step to stop criminal groups, but that doesn’t allow security forces to arrest people without evidence, destroy their vessels, or abuse them. Ecuador and the United States should disclose the legal basis for these operations, clarify the criteria used to intercept and destroy vessels, and establish robust safeguards to prevent further abuse.

HRW went on to say that the US and Ecuadorian governments should disclose the legal basis for the operations and investigate the alleged mistreatment of the detained crew members.

US military forces alleged that the vessels served as floating refueling stations for drug-trafficking operations tied to Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian criminal organization. Neither the US government nor the Ecuadorian government has publicly produced evidence linking individual crew members to a crime. Of the 160 detained, 90 now face criminal investigation in Ecuador. However, Ecuadorian judges have ruled that 56 of the arrests were unlawful, and found that 14 were never brought before a judge at all.

HRW interviewed 27 people, including captains, crew members, relatives of detainees, and defense lawyers, in addition to reviewing photographs, videos, Ecuadorian Judicial Police reports, and court records, however the organization said they could not independently verify whether any of the vessels were used for fuel trafficking. HRW also noted that the destruction of the boats themselves may have eliminated evidence that could have clarified what happened.

The first interception of the vessel Los Tres Hermanos on August 28 set the pattern HRW says has recurred across multiple operations. According to the captain and the crew, armed US forces ordered them to lie face down and restrained them with zip ties without explanation, then transferred them to the USS San Antonio, where they were then placed in metal handcuffs and crew members had their eyes and ears covered while biometric data was collected. [MORE]

Court Blocks the Blight House's Attempt to fine Non-White Immigrants who fail to willingly Deport After Crossing the Border to Obtain Food, Jobs, Housing and Clean Water

US District Judge George O’Toole in Boston on Monday issued a ruling blocking the Trump administration from assessing and collecting fines of up to $1.8 million on migrants who fail to willingly leave the US after receiving final deportation orders.

O’Toole resolved the class action suit against the administration by granting a motion to stay the proceedings in favor of the plaintiffs, two affected individuals from the class and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC). He held that the plaintiff’s claim that the administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by failing to provide a notice-and-comment period for their rule imposing the fines was likely to succeed, and that the balance of equities rules heavily in the plaintiff’s favor.

“The plaintiffs here face assessment and possible collection of enormous fines well beyond their capacity to pay,” said O’Toole. “Given the amount of the fines, the plaintiffs face the possibility of garnishment of wages and bank accounts, seized assets such as vehicles and homes, IRS reports, federal collection suits, and adverse future admissibility determinations.”

The class action lawsuit challenges a January 2025 Executive Order (EO) titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take all appropriate action to assess and collect fines from individuals who were unlawfully present in the US. DHS responded in June 2025 by promulgating a rule amending the process for assessing civil monetary penalties to allow the agency to impose civil fines more efficiently and on a larger scale. [MORE]

Human Rights Watch Condemns TrumpStein's Policy of Sending Non-White Immigrants to African Countries They Have No Connection to

From [HERE] Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday condemned the Trump administration’s “third-country removal” policy, which has sent people primarily to African countries where they have no connection:

Between January 20, 2025, and August 5, 2026, according to ICE data, the “third-country” deportation program transferred nearly 28,000 people to more than 50 countries that are neither their country of citizenship nor habitual residence, of whom 536 were sent to countries in Africa.

HRW reported that third-country removals to Africa rose from 103 to 536 from January 20, 2025 to August 5, 2026. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) adopted Resolution 645, aimed at eliminating migration partnerships that risk human rights violations, but many individuals still face human rights violations after removal to a third country. 

HRW urged the US Department of State to stop negotiating removal policies with countries that use arbitrary detainment or commit human rights violations. It also argued that the US Department of State should not coerce governments through the use of tariffs or visa issuance. Moreover, HRW recommended that the US Department of Homeland Security should bring third country nationals back to the US who had a deferral of removal to their home countries based on likelihood of torture or persecution. The US Department of Homeland security should also comply with § 241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which outlines removal procedures, according to the organization.

President Trump signed Executive Order 14159 in January 2025, which allows removal proceedings to third countries against people who “present significant threats to national security and public safety” or commit acts like “economic espionage.” However, there is no clear methodology for whom is removed under the policy—for instance, people entering the US at borders, people detained after criminal offenses, and undocumented people living in the United States have all been removed.

In February 2026, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts held that people need “meaningful notice” before removal proceedings. The First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the order, and the US Supreme Court stayed the order. The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the third-country removal policy on December 9, 2026.