AltUSCustoms

13 June

Hi all. It’s been awhile, I know. I had to step away for a bit for my own sanity, and I can’t promise I’ll be here nearly as much as I was before. With that said, I do want to write a thread about something I’m sure is near and dear to all of us: Our wallets and bank accounts. (Long thread ahead)

AltUSCustoms reposted

Julian Sanchez

@normative.bsky.social

18h

The vile attacks on Amy Acton need to be seen in the context of a party that *needs* people to believe women fabricating sexual assaults is common as rainwater. Because it’s pretty much the only way to evade the conclusion that the president is a rapist.

Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social

Beyond disgusted by even more rape allegations against the President of the United States. "In total, more than 25 different women...have independently accused Donald Trump of rape, sexual assault, or other sexual misconduct." Report w/ new details: democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

15h

Now can we do enough good with that power that people see a reason to vote for Democrats rather than merely against Republicans (and MAGA)?

TrumpsTaxes@trumpstaxes.com

“I’m just stunned…at the degree to which Republicans are in trouble.” - Larry Sabato, after reviewing both public and private polls and at minimum foreseeing a blue wave.

propublica.orgThe Small-Town Cop Who Helped ICE Deport His NeighborsIngram, Texas, was just rebuilding from a devastating flood when its tiny police department enrolled in ICE’s 287(g) deportation program. Within a year, cops would hand over the equivalent of 10% of t...

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

I maintain that immigration reform must shift away from broad enforcement against undocumented immigrants and towards targeted investigation and intelligence-gathering similar to what the FBI does. Why? To ACTUALLY find violent criminals and deport them.

When it comes to “get them out because they broke the law coming in here,” no. This needs to stop. It’s inhumane, it’s ineffective, and it’s a waste of our resources to keep this up. Even Obama and Biden kept it up. It needs to end. /end

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

Clinton and others have lauded these laws as closing loopholes in our immigration laws and making it less likely for people to want to come here illegally. However, it’s done virtually nothing to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants here.

It HAS succeeded in creating fear among all our immigrant populations and fueled racist tendencies in law enforcement, though.

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

6) It gave the Attorney General broad latitude to authorize construction of physical barriers along the southern border. That’s why Trump can construct his stupid wall wherever he wants and damn whoever and whatever it destroys.

There’s a lot more, and things like the Anti-Drug Abuse Act and several other immigration laws enacted around the same time as the IIRIRA have also led to this.

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

This also led the courts ruling and upholding “reason to believe” as equivalent to “probable cause.” Probable cause can be defined. You can create a set of criteria that must be met before you can justify probable cause.

That’s not true of reasonable belief. What criteria can you lay out that defines reasonable belief in such a way that it’s hard to abuse and won’t stand up in court if it is abused? There are some things you can lay down as guidelines, sure, but it’s been shown to be REALLY hard to legally define.

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

There are two provisions where it’s not necessary. One is where the officer sees the person in question trying to enter illegally (caught crossing the border without documents, between checkpoints, etc.)

And the other is when the officer believes the person in question is here illegally and is likely to flee before a warrant can be obtained. You can deduce that any immigrant would be afraid enough of ICE to flee, therefore you don’t need any kind of a warrant because it’ll take too long.

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

4) It granted the Attorney General the authority to detain immigrants facing deportation. Look what that’s gotten us. The words “immigration” and “detention” should be sufficient to know where that led.

5) It put the practice of using non-judicial administrative warrants to conduct enforcement activities into law. These are now known as “ICE warrants.” But that’s not all. ICE officers are supposed to have either an administrative or judicial warrant, yes, BUT…

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

…or had committed fraud. However, as we’ve all seen, expedited removal has been expanded to deny pretty much everyone subject to deportation the opportunity of a court hearing. I know I know, the immigration courts had a terrible backlog.

Someone should have looked at the situation and asked “Is it really going to serve the public good if we get rid of all these people even faster,” before deciding to expand expedited removal.

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

So don’t overstay your visa. Easy peasy. There are a zillion situations under which someone might overstay their visa that have nothing to do with laziness or trying to game the system. This was designed to deter overstays, and measuring its success or failure is damn near impossible.

3) It established expedited removal, giving certain immigration officers the power to summarily deport immigrants without the benefit of the courts. The original intent of this under the IIRIRA was to avoid flooding the courts with people who had no documents…

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

So when you talk about immigrants who have committed an aggravated felony, it creates fear of immigrants. It makes them sound more violent than the rest of us. I have zero doubt that was part of the intent.

2) It changed the laws surrounding visa overstays. Prior to the IIRIRA, people who overstayed their visas paid a fine and were still able to apply for a green card if they wished. Now, they’re barred from renewing their visas and given a three, five, ten year, or lifetime ban from re-entry.

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

So what did the IIRIRA actually do? 1) It expanded the definition of aggravated felony. Before, murder, drug trafficking, and trafficking of illegal firearms. Now, as it pertains to immigrants, any crime that comes with a prison sentence of one-year or longer is an aggravated felony.

Any immigrant convicted of an aggravated felony are subject to deportation proceedings and BARRED from most forms of appeal and relief. The term “aggravated felony” is loaded. It conjures up the image Hollywood tends to give their antagonists in crime thrillers, times 1,000.

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

What happens when you take that away? You get businesses that are suddenly struggling not just because of a lack of workers, but also in a sudden, significant drop in business. Okay, so do it gradually. That’ll blunt the shock and remove the worst part of it, right?

Maybe. But then you have to put in place an entire, brand-new system to determine who goes and who gets to stay a little while longer. And if you want to do something about the inhumanity you also have to create an investigative body tasked with justifying deporting this person but not that person.

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

…all in the name of the rule of law. Aside from the inhumanity it promotes (cruel arrest and detention procedures and facilities, tearing families apart and leaving kids without their parents, etc.), there’s a lot that law, and the people who support enforcing it, don’t understand.

You can’t just remove 14 million people from this country and call it a day. It doesn’t matter where they’re from or why they’re undocumented. They live here, they work here, they run businesses here, they build and contribute to their communities in a very meaningful way.

No, don’t abolish ICE. Or rather, don’t ONLY abolish ICE. Repeal every last fucking letter of IIRIRA. And a bunch of other laws as well. 🧵🧵🧵 www.propublica.org/article/depo...

The IIRIRA, or Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 is what most people believe the Immigration and Nationalization Act is (the INA was first enacted in 1952). THIS is the law that everyone seizes on when talking about undocumented immigrants.

Bill Clinton claimed this law would strengthen our existing immigration and asylum laws without harming the rest of us. Which, of course, is horseshit. The IIRIRA led directly to this, to militarizing the physical land borders, to the raids and sweeps that were common under W. and Obama…

npr.orgBlanche defends DOJ lawsuit blocking Alaska Senate results if Republican losesAttorney General Todd Blanche defended the Justice Department's suit over Alaska's Senate race in an interview on CNN.

They’re getting desperate in their attempts to sow enough doubt about the legitimacy of this election to justify nullifying it. This and the court case in CA are two of the more egregious examples. www.npr.org/2026/10/25/n...

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AltSpaceForce 🚀🇺🇲

@altspaceforce.altgov.info

The Fourth Amendment protects your home like a castle moat. Unless police have a warrant, explicit permission, or an active emergency (like chasing a fleeing felon or hearing cries for help), they must stay outside. Otherwise, it’s an illegal search, and any evidence found gets tossed!

I’ve never heard anyone speak those exact words in that exact order when it comes to capitalism, but I have heard many, many, MANY pro-capitalists say that in other ways.

Chris Smith@ledredman.bsky.social

I have never heard that line. Capitalism simply means that a good or service will be priced on the basis of whatever people are willing to pay for it. "Justly rewards" simply doesn't come into at all. Capitalism is generally more efficient than a planned economy, although much more brutal.

washingtonpost.comTrump shares plan to overhaul East Potomac golf course amid court fight over landThe historic public facility will close for about 15 months, he said. Government attorneys have stressed in court that the president’s broader redevelopment remained conceptual.

I wonder if that initiative is going to backfire. 😂

RogueResistanceKnitter 🥄🐸@rogueresistknitter.bsky.social

I'd like to lodge a complaint about all the fraud that's taking place in the White House. Can anyone advise me on how to go about doing that?

AltUSCustoms reposted

Alt USAID/ USAID Forever

@altusaid.altgov.info

It's not just a golf course it's a public park. Paid for by us, the taxpayers. We meet and play and have picnics there - we did, until now.

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social

Breaking: Trump says he'll close East Potomac golf course Nov 15 and begin his overhaul. "The current Course is old, broken, dilapidated, and of no further use or effect," Trump wrote. Officials didn't immediately respond to Qs about cost and other parts of project. More with Rick Maese →

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The Tennessee Holler

@thetnholler.bsky.social

Fair Q

cnn.comAbdul El-Sayed disavows Muslim Brotherhood and criticizes implications that he has ‘dual loyalty’ | CNN PoliticsMichigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Saturday disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political movement, during a heated exchange at a town hall.

Yes! www.cnn.com/2026/10/17/p...

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Angry

@angrystaffer.bsky.social

This is pathetic. Ukraine tested Starlink speed restrictions in Europe and had no issues - the restrictions only exist in Ukraine. The Trump administration is actively helping Russia kill Ukrainians - and risking the lives of US and NATO advisors in Ukraine.

AltUSCustoms reposted

Alt USAID/ USAID Forever

@altusaid.altgov.info

This is how it's done, folks. And Brazilian activists are in full organizing mode as they prepare for the upcoming Lula v. Zuckerberg runoff on Oct 25. #NoKings

Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu

The president of Brazil has won a court case against Meta, after accusing them of restricting his posts and algorithmically favoring his opponent, Flavio Bolsonaro www.nbcnews.com/world/south-...

nbcnews.comBrazil’s Lula wins electoral court challenge against Meta for alleged pro-Bolsonaro algorithm biasA judge ruled that the tech company must adopt measures to immediately secure equal treatment of the two presidential candidates ahead of an Oct. 25 runoff.

theatlantic.comA Lab-Leak Story You Haven’t HeardRobert F. Kennedy Jr. believes that RSV originated in a government science experiment.

Is he serious with this? www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...

I have to listen to the orange grifter today for work and my ears are bleeding, my brain is liquifying, and my head is killing me.

Huh?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump: "I just left Alaska where we have a real bad thing. They have the ranked choice voting, where you go into I guess some sort of test tube or something and they pick whoever they hell they want."

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Ossoff: "In my view, based upon the evidence I've seen thus far, the president's misconduct, abuse of power, and corruption, already exceed any prior standard for impeachment."

And Susan Collins helped enable this, so.

AltUSCustoms@altuscustoms.altgov.info

And because of that, too many violent white-nationalist nutjobs were hired. Not saying that violent white-nationalist nutjobs wouldn’t have gotten through anyway, but a metric fuckton of them wouldn’t have because violent white-nationalist nutjobs often seem to have records that disqualify them.

RogueResistanceKnitter 🥄🐸

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Susan Collins: "I think what happened is far too many ICE officers were hired and deployed without adequate vetting and training"

AltUSCustoms reposted

@rogueresistknitter.bsky.social

Interesting. It would appear that members of the National Guard have been posted at ballot drop-off boxes. This is how you suppress the vote. I've seen a few pictures like this posted, so I'm going to assume they are real.

DC Council@councilofdc.bsky.social

This is clearly not acceptable

AltUSCustoms reposted

cindys636363.bsky.social

@cindys636363.bsky.social

@schumer.senate.gov @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social

AltUSCustoms@altuscustoms.altgov.info

DEMOCRATS TAKE NOTE: Ossoff and El-Sayed are kicking ass and taking names. THIS IS WHAT THE ENTIRE COUNTRY NEEDS FROM ALL OF YOU!!! And it’s what your base ACTUALLY wants from you!!

DEMOCRATS TAKE NOTE: Ossoff and El-Sayed are kicking ass and taking names. THIS IS WHAT THE ENTIRE COUNTRY NEEDS FROM ALL OF YOU!!! And it’s what your base ACTUALLY wants from you!!