J Lu

I know I'm a broken record on this, but one part of what is going on is that people have literally no idea what the US immigration system actually is; effectively, that there are no pathways into the country legally for someone who wants to wait in line.

This is how the U.S. is choosing to treat vulnerable children

We must “recognize the evil that is being carried out in our name and fight it…We must recognize that in abandoning the words of Deuteronomy and the Statue of Liberty, we are losing our soul as a nation.” — Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington open.substack.com/pub/lettersf...

There's no forgiving this. No living it down. It's a stain on our humanity. When all this is over, the monsters who did this should be pariahs. And the soulless thugs who cheered it on while dehumanizing Haitian immigrants should be reminded of what they did every day of their lives.

What a despicable act to send these people back to danger

I’ve made a deliberate attempt to stop responding to these pieces of deportation propaganda, in part because their entire point is trolling and they WANT the angry responses. But the same time, we cannot make this stuff normal. It’s deeply wrong; a perversion of good things for fascist purposes.

The new H-1B tax will be announced tomorrow. The original $100K tax was ruled illegal in court. The White House has cooked up its successor: a $103K tax on *all* private sector H-1Bs. Much more drastic than the original: NO EXCEPTION for people already in the US (like grads of US universities)—>

One of many critical 2028 platform planks has to be the shuttering of ICE, and candidates should be explicit in their messaging that the electorate should send them a Congress that will help make this possible, and that if it doesn’t, they will work to abolish ICE through executive avenues

Good @gelliottmorris.com piece showing Trump's deportations are unpopular in *all* the swing states. Key point: Republicans know Trump is deeply vulnerable on the issue, even if pundits refuse to see it. He discusses my piece on Susan Collins/Dems at length: www.gelliottmorris.com/p/even-repub...

A depressing reality as a journalist is that often the most valuable stories are the ones the social media algorithm/people care the least about. One of my worst performing videos for Mother Jones is about a family of asylum seekers who had a father deported by ICE. It is likely my best work.

Notably, FOUR justices would have rewritten the Constitution by fiat. Kavanaugh only concurred because he thinks the law Congress passed in the 1950s granting birthright citizenship governs the case, but he thinks Congress could eliminate birthright citizenship along Trump's lines if they wanted.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote UPHOLDS birthright citizenship, affirming the default rule that all persons born in the United States (with narrow exceptions) are U.S. citizens at birth. A total LOSS for President Trump and the effort to rewrite the 14th Amendment.

Been waiting for this story. ICE deports people to Venezuela three times a week, there are likely many more recent deportees with valid asylum claims in the rubble. Hope that GlobalX crew loses some sleep knowing they flew a planeload of shackled men & women, plus seven children, to their deaths.

IMPORTANT to know that the vast majority of Haitians with TPS entered the country legally at ports of entry, not illegally. The majority have NEVER violated the law. The admin stripped their status by breaking the law, but today SCOTUS says courts can't do anything about that.

And Justice Sotomayor goes there in her Al Otro Lado dissent (where SCOTUS allows the Trump admin to nullify asylum guarantees if they stop people at/outside the border): "The current asylum system developed in response to the international moral reckoning that followed the Holocaust...."

Last October, the Trump administration abruptly stopped paying third-parties for detainee medical care, significantly impacting those who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing, and who relied on this care. thepreamble.com/p/pregnant-w...

there is no progressive way to say 'blood & soil'—we have to just reject the idea that belonging is a birthright. full stop

After ICE deported Wendy Hernandez Reyes, it turned her 3-year-old son Orlin over to her sister’s estranged partner, who tortured Orlin and beat him to death. I can’t say what I think should happen to those responsible without violating this website’s TOS. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Update: he came back and is staying

We are going to savor this one. Our client, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is freed of these outrageous, vindictive charges. It’s a good day.

Hundreds of thousands of TPS holders are helping drive our country’s economy: 🔹$29B in annual contributions 🔹$7.8B in annual taxes paid 🔹$20B to social security over 25 years

The executive director of World Press Photo said this image shows the inconsolable grief of children losing their father in a place built for justice. It is a stark and necessary record of family separation following the U.S. reform policies. n.pr/4d0E5EA

"I can’t explain it, but it’s the weirdest, creepiest number I’ve seen in a long time. You rarely see things like this in immigration data, but it could not be more predictable right now: one immigrant dies in custody every six days."

I have a new piece on why the US is so much better at immigration than Europe. As someone who's lived in and studied both, I've been thinking about it a lot. Anyone who opines on immigration on either side would benefit from acknowledging the complete and total US superiority on the issue.

Philadelphia, you are the best

Just going to note again, because somehow we've all completely retconned this and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, that pound-for-pound Biden had one of the most draconian border security regimes of any U.S. president ever, second only to Trump, *many of whose policies he inherited and kept*

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

This should be front page news. There should be hearings about it.

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

Alex Pretti’s coworkers take a moment of silence this morning

Tomorrow's front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 25, 2026

Minneapolis, agente federale uccide un uomo: “Colpito al petto da distanza ravvicinata”. https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2026/01/24/news/minneapolis_agente_federale_spara_a_un_uomo_immigrati_usa_ice-425116023/?rss

In October, ICE grabbed Maher Tarabishi. He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael. At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk. Wael died on Friday at age 30. ICE caused his death. They didn’t get to say goodbye.

ICE detained a 2-year-old girl in Minneapolis and put the child on a flight to a detention center in Texas, despite a court ordering her release: www.startribune.com/agents-detai...

Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026

This is the ICE agent who murdered a woman by shooting her multiple times in the face.

If 2025 didn't stop you nothing will

I appreciate the people who have been raising attention to this and related issues, and hope this will be of interest to you @carlygoodman.bsky.social @akalhan.bsky.social @unlawfulentries.bsky.social @daralind.bsky.social @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social @immlawachall.bsky.social

As fear of ICE raids descend upon Guadalupe Celebrations (patch.com/illinois/des...), Pope Leo to preside at Mass for Friday’s Feast; ironically, last year Leo celebrated Mass as “Bob” filling in for Francis who was ill — Amid the current crackdown on migrants, Leo’s words bear a close watching.

UNHOLY ESCORT December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe Artist: Katie Jo Suddaby

It’s been two weeks since ICE took Yuanxin Zheng from his father. He is six years old. He’s still not home. This has to end.

“It was enough to turn a man's stomach to see the way they were naturalizing this morning. Wretched, filthy, bestial-looking Italians and Irish, the very scum and dregs of human nature filled the office so completely that I was almost afraid of being poisoned by going in.” — George Templeton Strong