Ben D’Avanzo

Ben D’Avanzo

@bendavanzo.bsky.social

Senior Strategist at the National Immigration Law Center. Health and immigration policy issues mostly, with a focus on Congress and politics. Also neighborhood and housing issues as a hobby. Dad of 2 cute wild kids.

1.6K followers433 following807 posts

DHS is apparently illegally leaking asylum applications to friendly reporters in retaliation for the applicants speaking to the media. This administration spits on the concept of privacy laws

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

I'm not sure how much more blatant it can get that these guys are looting the federal government and then pointing over there and saying "look what THOSE BLACK PEOPLE ARE GETTING AWAY WITH!!!" bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Stephen Miller claims Somali-Americans in Minnesota are "buying Mercedes, buying BMWs, they buy a nice house, all their kids fly first class all over the world" (This is a lie!)

One in four kids living in the U.S. has an immigrant parent. The trauma ICE is inflicting on children will be reflected in society for many many years

Martin Austermuhle@maustermuhle.bsky.social

A new report on truancy in D.C. says that some Latino students are truant because the increased presence of ICE, other federal agents, and National Guard had "negative impact on their families." One kid said he was "genuinely afraid to step outside" after his dad was deported.

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

Under previous admins, a green card holder reentering the US who had a flag for a possible fraud issue re: an arrest which occurred TWO DECADES in the past would have, in most cases, been released with a Notice to Appear. But the Trump admin mandates detention. So a man is dead.

Taniel@taniel.bsky.social

ICE arrested a 56-year old green card holder, i.e. a lawful permanent resident, and detained him in the Rio Grande Processing Center, where he died. www.texastribune.org/2026/10/19/t...

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

Trying to say somebody who founded and ran a food pantry that serves thousands of people a month is a bad person that America would be better off without - this should earn you everlasting shame from all around you. This is ICE.

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I hope Democrats who are still living in November of 2024, in terms of their views on immigration policy, read this poll

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social

New Marist poll of Texas finds 61% say undocumented immigrants should stay in US if meet certain requirements. Only 35% say they should leave. A majority of noncollege white men (Trump base) says stay. Supports my case (see piece/thread below) that Trump opened way for new pro-immigrant consensus

She started as the annual Green Party board candidate in Arlington in 2011. In 2018, her campaign was about opposing a high school removing Robert E Lee from their name. She ran on opposing new housing in 2022. This year, she's run on opposing immigrants, and then this happened.

Most people accused of a crime get a bond hearing. Under Trump's reasoning, many people accused of civil immigration offenses don't. I thought our country had agreed that locking people up indefinitely harms society? Remember when Congress passed the First Step Act and Trump signed it?

Kyle Cheney@kyledcheney.bsky.social

BREAKING: The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the legality of ICE's mandatory detention policy, weighing in on an issue that has been ovewhelmingly rejected by district and appeals courts but has nevertheless roiled the justice system nationwide. www.politico.com/news/2026/10...

Under Trump, every single federal agency seems to be complicit with ICE horrors. This now officially includes the Forest Service, which is apparently putting resources into collaborating with ICE instead of stopping wildfires www.fox13seattle.com/news/us-fore...

fox13seattle.comUS Forest Service confirms it works with ICE after camping trip raidFive men were arrested by federal immigration authorities during a camping trip over Labor Day weekend at Mount Baker, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

This means eligible voters will be wrongly labeled non-citizens due to faulty and unreliable data and be purged from the rolls

Chris Geidner@chrisgeidner.bsky.social

BREAKING: SCOTUS allows DHS to use its Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database with Social Security info, staying a district court order that had vacated the new policy. Justice Jackson dissents for the three Dem appointees. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

Trump's illegal pocket rescission fact sheet has lie after lie about immigrant serving organizations, claiming all manner of things around welfare for immigrants with no tether to reality. Yet agai immigrants and trans people are being used to move forward an authoritarian government's takeover

whitehouse.govPresident Trump Takes Historic Action to Eliminate Wasteful and Harmful SpendingPresident Trump is committed to utilizing all possible tools to cut wasteful and harmful government spending that does not benefit American citizens. Last

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

💯 "So let’s lay down a marker: If Democrats take over the House and/or the Senate, they should make it their business next year to ensure that this agency faces truly withering scrutiny. As many Americans as possible should know what their government is doing in their name."

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social

Many thanks to @theunpopulist.net for reposting my piece on Stephen Miller’s Office of Remigration, which really needs more attention. This agency announces right in its name that white nationalism is the basis for US immigration policy: www.theunpopulist.net/p/stephen-mi...

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

From 16,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada Fizzle. "The state sent a strongly worded rebuke to the federal government: Every single person on the list was a lawful citizen."

nytimes.comFrom 15,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada FizzleIt was the Trump administration’s latest stumble in its effort to find proof of widespread noncitizen voting, despite decades of evidence that it is extremely rare.

"The family also claims that when they showed up at the hospital, they were not allowed to see Cabrera-Gomez, who reportedly told them his leg and spine are broken." This is an awful trend where ICE is forcing hospitals to deny families and lawyers access to the people harmed by their agents

Disappearing people from the ICE tracker means their loved ones will have no idea where they are. ICE has routinely been moving people around, causing confusion, hardship, and potential due process denial People convicted and jailed with felonies aren't treated like this

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

NEW: @apnews.com confirms that ICE has begun electronically "disappearing" people in the agency's custody who have final orders of removal. As of last week, anyone jailed by ICE with a final order of removal will NOT appear in the ICE Online Detainee Locator System, making them effectively vanish.

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

While ICE agents were shooting Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin on Sunday, their colleagues were violently detaining a US citizen in Evanston, IL who "resembled" a person they were seeking. The victim reported "injuries to his head, neck and teeth":

evanstonnow.comFederal agents detained U.S. citizen Sunday morning - Evanston NowPolice chief says officers responded to a man with injuries to head, neck and teeth on Howard and made contact with agents involved.

For an administration that claims to be forcing race-blind civil rights onto the country they sure are encouraging a lot of life-changing decision making based purely on ethnicity

Brad Heath@bradheath.bsky.social

Interesting window into immigration enforcement: An ICE supervisor in upstate New York stopped at Walmart to use the bathroom and instead ended up surveilling a group of Spanish-speakers he saw in the toy aisle. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

If people were really being asked to be put into these cages like DHS claims, than imagine the horrors they were trying to escape elsewhere in this wasteful failed gulag

Rachel Maddow@maddow.bsky.social

their line was that people **asked** to be put in these cages, that it was what they wanted: "facility staff said... detainees asked to spend time in the enclosures." www.cnn.com/2026/09/14/p...

This type of amateur hour data work is pure DOGE-era nonsense yet this administration keeps doing it. Because developing spurious accusations, not accuracy, is the whole mission of the Trump DHS

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

🚨BREAKING: A whistleblower is alleging that immigration agency USCIS directed officers to misrepresent themselves to access state voter records, then label people "unlawful voters" — including U.S. citizens — using unreliable data. Story to come.

This money going to bribe local police departments into spending their time locking up immigrant families instead of addressing real crime was paid for by slush funds Congress created last year, offset by cutting Medicaid and SNAP.

Will Bunch@willbunch.bsky.social

How is ICE making record arrests? I found the answer in Pa. coal country, where cops lured by a promise of federal $$$ have embraced ICE's 287(g) and are throwing up checkpoints, raiding job sites, arresting 100s, and terrorizing their communities My special report www.inquirer.com/opinion/penn...

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

Over 170,00 Salvadorans were set to lose TPS today, a status they've had for 25 years. But DHS hasn't made any announcement about termination or extension. Now this vague comment was given to reporters, the only public info. A shocking level of callousness over a decision which affects so many.

This is good news. It's absurd Trump made the IRS share private taxpayer information with ICE after doing everything possible to keep his own tax fillings in shadow. No one should have to worry they'll be arrested by ICE because they followed the law and filed their taxes.

This is likely not actually happening and would be a really bad idea, given impersonating a law enforcement officer is a crime Our solidarity guide offers some more practical ideas of how to resist these jerks www.nilc.org/resources/so...

Patton Oswalt@pattonoswalt.bsky.social

Apparently people are sharing this far and wide on social media, which I think is horrible. This could cripple ICE operations. PLEASE do not share this.

At some point, the phrase death camps has to come to mind

NPR@npr.org

Lianyong Wei's death marks the 57th death of an immigrant detainee held in the care of the government since the start of President Trump's second term. Twenty-four of those have occurred since Jan. 1. n.pr/3UzCLBQ

Started off my career over 18 years ago interning for this guy. He already was a progressive institution then. Glad my home state is still electing him!

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com

Sen. Ed Markey, the oldest Senate Democrat running for re-election this year, fended off a primary challenge in Massachusetts from Rep. Seth Moulton, who argued that the party needs “a new generation of leadership.”

Quite literally. These robots are funded by the $240 billion for immigration enforcement from Congress, which at the same time has done $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts.

Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social

This is why you can't have healthcare. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/ice-buy-robot-dogs-immigration-enforcement-rcna594897

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

so far today, the United States government has deported an Army wife and a five year old Texan who should be in kindergarten.

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Ben D’Avanzo reposted

This morning in Danbury, ICE was arresting parents at school bus stops. But it’s more sinister. ICE waited until the kids were on the bus so when they are dropped off at the end of the day, they are alone, scared to death they can’t find their parents. I’m heading to Danbury.

Ben D’Avanzo reposted

As we call it, Steven Miller and co have an "at all costs" approach to immigration. Damaging our economy is very much worth it to them.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Bessent on the latest bad jobs report: "After the deportations that we've seen and the closing of the border, we don't need to produce as many jobs"