Esteban

Esteban

@estebananza.bsky.social

I'm an affordable housing attorney and this is where I post my personal views. Talk to me about trains, cities, and safe, healthy, attainable homes for all. Temple Law/UR Alum | 🏳️‍🌈 he/him | 📍philly :)

139 followers265 following319 posts

Esteban reposted

The U.S. has AGAIN sent people to a foreign country where they get imprisoned. This time, it’s to get around laws barring the deportation of people who face persecution/torture in their home countries. The U.S. gets paper-thin assurances that the below won't happen, which it knows will be ignored.

Emily Bregel@emilybregel.bsky.social

Immigrants confined in a decommissioned hotel in Equatorial Guinea, after the U.S. deported them there without notice/due process, report worsening, dangerous conditions: "We’re living a nightmare." tucson.com/news/local/s...

Esteban reposted

These are some of the people who have been "moved" off of food assistance in the wake of the Republican reconciliation law's unprecedented SNAP cuts. The immense hardship these families are now facing is not, in fact, "a pretty big win." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/u...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Rollins: "For those who love work and celebrate work and want people to work and not be on food stamps, it's a pretty big win when we've moved 5 million people off food stamps, y'all."

Esteban reposted

this is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social

Is everyone aware of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy? In the mid-20th century, auto and oil interests bought up electric streetcar systems across the US and systematically replaced them with bus routes and paved roads, funneling commuters toward private cars.

Esteban reposted

BREAKING: in June 2026, *every single one* of the 1,062 refugees admitted in the U.S. were white South Africans. In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 7,727 white South Africans, three Afghans (back in November), and nobody else. For reference, the U.S. admitted 100,060 refugees in 2024.

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Alex Ip 葉清霖@alexip718.com

BREAKING: in May 2026, *every single one* of the 599 refugees admitted in the U.S. were white South Africans. In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 6,665 white South Africans, three Afghans (back in November 2025), and nobody else. For reference, the U.S. admitted 100,060 refugees in 2024.

Esteban reposted

I understand SCOTUS, know who they are, & by all rational accounts it feels so naive to say: "I can't believe 4 of 9 justices said the Constitution doesn't protect birthright citizenship." And yet, I can't believe 4 of 9 justices just said the Constitution doesn't protect birthright citizenship.

Esteban reposted

Replying to @elienyc.bsky.social

With this ruling, the birthright issue is not going away. The right hasn't really begun *organizing* around getting rid of the citizenship clause. Like Roe, this will be their fight for a generation. And if the Democrats just say "we won" and ignore it, like Roe, the Republicans will eventually win.

Esteban reposted

About Trump v. Barbara: Do not give the Court and the CJ credit for reading and upholding the Constitution. It's a travesty that this is not a unanimous decision... it's also a travesty that the Court let this question percolate for a year, giving credence to a crank theory of citizenship.

Esteban reposted

This passage from Justice Gorsuch is just so revealing of the tortured psychology of the Court's motivations: we have to risk authoritarianism in order to understand the necessity of building a libertarian utopia; there is no alternative between authoritarianism and absolute economic freedom.

Esteban reposted

There's no sugar-coating Slaughter. It's an enormously important ruling (far more important than the other three decisions #SCOTUS handed down today). It's a huge win for Trump/the executive. And it's going to have massive ramifications for the functioning of the government long after Trump is gone.

Esteban reposted

Replying to @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

Justice Kagan, in dissent, emphasizes that Alito and the majority are too cowardly to even print Donald Trump's bigoted statements in their opinion, only giving them summaries which drastically downplay their severity. She is right. The majority is endorsing racism.

Esteban reposted

Replying to @jamellebouie.net

It is abundantly clear from Alito's jurisprudence that he thinks the only real racism is discrimination against white people.

Esteban reposted

Last week, an incredible new art project launched in Philly with a procession to Spruce Street Harbour Park, lead by artist indira allegra. “Sail Through This to That” is a large-scale public artwork that tells a story of freedom, identity, and remembrance. On view now w/ programming through July.

Esteban reposted

BREAKING: in May 2026, *every single one* of the 599 refugees admitted in the U.S. were white South Africans. In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 6,665 white South Africans, three Afghans (back in November 2025), and nobody else. For reference, the U.S. admitted 100,060 refugees in 2024.

rpc.state.govrpc.state.gov
Alex Ip 葉清霖@alexip718.com

BREAKING: in April 2026, *every single one* of the 1,570 refugees admitted in the United States were white South Africans. In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 6,066 white South Africans, three Afghans (back in November 2025), and nobody else.

Esteban reposted

This heinous ruling confirms a worst-case-scenario reading of Callais as an all-purpose shield for racist lawmakers who want to gerrymander Black communities into electoral oblivion. And it’s outrageously partisan—a totally unprincipled gift to the GOP. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

Chris Geidner@chrisgeidner.bsky.social

BREAKING: In an unsigned, per curiam opinion on the shadow docket, the SCOTUS conservatives allow Alabama to use a congressional map held repeatedly by a lower court to have been enacted with discriminatory intent.

Esteban reposted

Esteban reposted

NEW: Trump's gross Aliens.gov site claims to map where immigrants have been taken into custody, but it includes more 83 spots where Americans alone were arrested. Over 700 locations include citizen arrests. The counter is fake. The music was ripped. And Puerto Rico is listed as a foreign country.

wired.comThe White House’s Aliens.gov Site Brags That ICE Arrested More Than 700 US CitizensThe website, which compares human beings to extraterrestrials, touts arrest numbers from the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown. But some of its details are really out there.

Esteban reposted

Replying to @chrisgeidner.bsky.social

Unfathomable levels of corruption.

Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social

FLASH: DOJ expands settlement in Trump-IRS leak suit to cover audits of all tax returns filed by Trump, family members, companies and trusts. Waiver of IRS' claims contained in addendum signed by AAG Blanche that was not in agreement released Monday www.politico.com/news/2026/05...

Esteban reposted

Esteban reposted

This is absolutely outrageous. SCOTUS reinstated Texas gerrymander 15 weeks before primary because they claimed it was too close to election to block it but now allowing Alabama to gerrymander one week before primary after trial court found map was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters

Steve Vladeck@stevevladeck.bsky.social

#BREAKING: Over dissents from the three Democratic appointees, #SCOTUS issues “GVRs” in the Alabama cases—vacating district court injunctions & remanding for further proceedings in light of Callais. In practice, this means Alabama can now redraw its congressional districts in time for the midterms:

Esteban reposted

In December, SCOTUS stayed a district court ruling blocking TX from using its new maps because the lower court ruled "on the eve of an election." That district court ruling was issued 15 weeks before the TX primaries. Callais was issued *17 days* before the LA primaries.

The Downballot@the-downballot.com

This is partisanship at its rawest. SCOTUS has clamped down on lower courts for rulings that could alter maps many *months* before an election—even when those maps have been judged illegal. Here, it's rushing to let the Louisiana GOP change a map *while an election is underway.*

Esteban reposted

This week, the Supreme Court finally killed off the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I've spent the past decade studying the VRA and the attacks on it, so I thought I would offer some historical perspective, and where I think we're headed. This will be a long thread; buckle up.

Esteban reposted

Tennessee’s Republican senator, who is the overwhelming favorite this year to become the next governor, calls for eliminating the only majority-Black and safely Democratic congressional district

Stephen Wolf@stephenwolf.bsky.social

NEW: The Supreme Court just gutted the Voting Rights Act, enabling the GOP to erase countless districts drawn to protect voters of color at the congressional, state, & local levels. We detailed each Dem VRA congressional seat that the GOP could target by 2028: www.the-downballot.com/p/with-the-v...

Esteban reposted

Alito flatly ignoring congressional intent in Callais — Congress specifically clarified that you do not need to prove racial intent when bringing a racial vote dilution claim because it's so hard to do. If the effects of the map are discriminatory, that used to be enough. No longer