Under federal #law, people may be denaturalized ONLY IF they committed #fraud while applying for #citizenship, or in a few other narrow circumstances. But the #Trump admin has shown a zeal for using every tool at its disposal to target #legal & illegal #immigrants, leading activists to warn that such a campaign could sweep up people who had made honest mistakes on their citizenship paperwork & sow fear among law-abiding Americans.

#immigration #WhiteSupremacy #WhiteChristianNationalism

…Because the govt must go through a challenging court process, #denaturalization cases have been rare.… #SCOTUS “has repeatedly stated that #citizenship & #naturalization are too precious & fundamental to our #democracy for the government to take it away on their whim. Instead of wasting resources digging through Americans’ files, USCIS should do its job of processing applications, as Congress mandated,” said Amanda Baran, a fmr snr #USCIS ofcl in the Biden admin.

#Trump #law #immigration

#JackSmith tells #House #Judiciary his team developed ‘proof beyond a reasonable doubt’ against #Trump

The fmr #DOJ special counsel told lawmakers in a closed-door interview on Wednesday that the evidence his investigators gathered proved Trump had criminally conspired to overturn the results of the #2020election, acc/to portions of his opening statement obtained by The AP.

#law #SeditiousConspiracy #ElectionInterference #coup
https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-12-17-2025#0000019b-2d07-dfb0-a7ff-7ddf6aa70000

Ugh

#Trump intends to preview his agenda for 2026 & beyond in a live speech from the White House on Wednesday night. His remarks are coming at a crucial time as he tries to rebuild his steadily eroding popularity.

The White House offered few details about what Trump intends to emphasize in the 9PM EST speech. Polling shows most #US adults are frustrated with his handling of the #economy as #inflation picked up after his #tariffs raised prices & #hiring slowed.

#USpol
https://apnews.com/article/trump-address-economy-popularity-midterms-65d3b79a613cfb778432bcc719a313ab

#Trump’s mass #deportations of #immigrants have also proved unpopular even as he is viewed favorably for halting crossings along the US border with Mexico. The public has generally been nonplussed by his income tax cuts & globe-trotting efforts [purportedly] to end conflicts, attacks on suspected drug boats near Venezuela & attempts attract investment dollars to the US.

#USpol

In 2026, #Trump & his party face a referendum on their leadership as the nation heads into the #midterm #elections that will decide control of the #House & #Senate.

Trump has said that he thinks more Americans would back him if they simply heard him describe his track record. Admin ofcls say investment commitments for new factories will reverse the decline in manufacturing #jobs & that consumer activity will improve dramatically as people receive increased tax refunds next year [nope].

#USpol

Speaker #MikeJohnson on Tuesday shut the door on a vote to extend #AffordableCareAct subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year, bucking moderates in his party who had urged action to prevent millions of Americans from facing higher #health care costs starting Jan 1.

#Trump #Republicans #Congress #healthcare #law #policy #HealthInsurance #insurance #ACA #HealthyIfYoureWealthy #affordability #CostOfLiving #CostOfDying
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/us/politics/obamacare-subsidies-house.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Though #MikeJohnson had signaled openness to allowing debate on the proposal, he ultimately rejected a bid to do so by politically vulnerable #Republicans who had hoped for a vote that would, at the very least, allow them to show voters they had tried to avoid rising premiums.

#Trump #House #Congress #healthcare #law #policy #HealthInsurance #insurance #AffordableCareAct #ACA #subsidies #HealthyIfYoureWealthy #affordability #CostOfLiving #CostOfDying

#Trump orders #blockade of 'sanctioned #oil tankers' into #Venezuela, ramping up pressure on #Maduro

The moves comes after the #US last week seized an #OilTanker off Venezuela’s coast, following a buildup of #military forces in the region. In a social media post Tuesday night announcing the blockade, Trump alleged Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking & other crimes & vowed to escalate the military buildup.

#law #WarPowers #piracy #theft #RegimeChange
https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-maduro-oil-tankers-625a7c9a3106e316c97ceb68a42a1cb5?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-12-16-Venezuela

[To clear up any confusion—this is a reversal of the reversal. They were gonna do it, but the backlash caused them to reverse. But now they’ve gone ahead with the new policy anyway.]

The new policy went into effect Monday, acc/to written correspondence that the #CoastGuard provided to #Congress this week, a copy of which was reviewed by WaPo. The manual is posted online & makes clear that its previous version “is cancelled.”

#Trump #USCG #WhiteSupremacy #antisemitism
https://media.defense.gov/2025/nov/14/2003820615/-1/-1/0/CI_5350_6A.pdf

Spox for the #CoastGuard & #DHS, which oversees the military service, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The symbols issue is expected to come up at a #House committee hearing Tuesday.

WaPo was first to report on the #USCG’s plan to revise its workplace harassment policy last month.

#Trump #swastikas #nooses #WhiteSupremacy #antisemitism

The #Trump admin called the article “false,” but within hours of its publication the service’s acting commandant, Adm. Kevin Lunday, issued a memo forcefully denouncing symbols such as #swastikas & #nooses, & emphasizing that both remain prohibited.

Lunday said at the time that his Nov 20 memo would supersede any other language.

#USCG #WhiteSupremacy #antisemitism

It was not immediately clear Tuesday why publication of the new harassment policy was not paused so the “potentially divisive” language used to describe #swastikas & #nooses could be removed to align with Lunday’s directive.

#Trump #USCG #WhiteSupremacy #antisemitism

The #CoastGuard’s policy softening the definition of #swastikas — an emblem of #fascism & #WhiteSupremacy inextricably linked to the #Nazis’ extermination of millions of #Jews & the deaths of more than 400,000 #US #troops who died fighting in World War II — comes as #antisemitism is on the rise globally. At least 15 people were killed over the weekend at a Hanukkah celebration in #Australia.

#Trump #USCG

#US #CoastGuard enacts policy calling #swastikas, #nooses ‘potentially divisive’ instead of #HateSymbols

The #USCG has allowed a new workplace harassment policy to take effect that downgrades the definition of swastikas and nooses from overt hate symbols to “potentially divisive” despite an uproar over the new language that forced the service’s top officer to declare that both would remain prohibited.

#Trump #WhiteSupremacy #antisemitism
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/16/coast-guard-swastikas-nooses/

🤬

Senior #BorderPatrol official #GregBovino returns to #Chicago

#Bovino, the face of the #Trump admin’s #immigration crackdown, was photographed Tuesday in the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood of #LittleVillage by the Chicago Sun-Times as neighbors & activists blew whistles & shouted.

#law #judiciary #DueProcess #UseOfForce #PoliceBrutality #CivilRights #HumanRights #AbuseOfPower #MafiaState #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #ICE #CBP #Sturmabteilung #WhiteSupremacy
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/12/16/greg-bovino-chicago-border-patrol-president-donald-trump-deportation-immigration

#Bovino & his team were seen detaining a man near 27th Street & Ridgeway Avenue in #LittleVillage around 10:20 AM. Nearby, neighbors & activists shouted, blew whistles & set up trash cans to try to block a #BorderPatrol caravan.

“All you’re doing in terrorizing us, scaring people. There’s little kids,” one person shouted at Bovino & other agents, blocks from where the arrest happened.

#Trump #Chicago #law #immigration #PoliceBrutality #CivilRights #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #CBP #Sturmabteilung

Other sightings on the Southwest Side & in Cicero were reported earlier Tuesday morning by rapid response teams that track & monitor #immigration *enforcement* activity. #BaltazarEnriquez, president of the #LittleVillage Community Council, said agents had arrested another man who was biking near 26th St & Kedvale Ave around 9:30AM.

It’s unclear how long Bovino & his team will remain in the area, following relatively short stints in Charlotte, NC, & New Orleans.

#Trump #Chicago #law #ICE #CBP

#Bovino & his agents previously traveled to the #Chicago area in Sept, weeks after the #Trump admin launched Operation Midway Blitz, the #deportation campaign that has stoked fear among the city’s immigrant communities & led to thousands of arrests.

That mission was mired in controversy & driven by aggressive tactics, including car chases & the use of chemical munitions, takedowns & chokeholds.

#law #immigration #UseOfForce #PoliceBrutality #CivilRights #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #ICE #CBP

US Dist Judge #SaraEllis blasted the approach, restricted the #UseOfForce & ordered #Bovino to appear before her for daily check-ins. An appellate court later put a hold on those restrictions & called off the daily meetings, & the plaintiffs in the underlying case moved to dismiss it after Bovino & his team left last month.

Tricia McLaughlin, propagandist for #DHS, has insisted that #immigration enforcement efforts aren’t winding down in #Chicago.

#Trump #law #judiciary #PoliceBrutality #CBP