Lisa Birk

Lisa Birk

@lisabirk.bsky.social

Reader. Sometime blogger. Fan of chocolate. Stories in @Harvard_Review @Orion_Magazine, Boston Phoenix (RIP) , @BostonGlobe, more. She/Her.

181 followers192 following139 posts

Great questions, @markey.senate.gov. I look forward to your response, @icegov.bsky.social, Director Todd Lyons.

Senator Ed Markey@markey.senate.gov

I am calling on @icegov.bsky.social Director Todd Lyons to immediately confirm or deny the existence of a “domestic terrorist” database. If true, you’re violating the Constitution. If not, maybe talk to your “border czar” to get your stories straight. This isn’t a game–it’s the Constitution.

Lisa Birk reposted

The Consumer Product Safety Commission just scrapped a table saw safety rule that could have prevented amputation injuries and saved over $2B in healthcare costs a year. This comes months after Trump fired all three Democratic CPSC members. "Make America Safe Again."

jacobin.comThe GOP Is Fine With You Getting Your Fingers Chopped OffDonald Trump’s yes-men at the Consumer Product Safety Commission are withdrawing a series of proposed safety rules, incl

Lisa Birk reposted

Replying to @unraveledpress.com

(from the inbox) Bikes were essential to ICE watching and rapid response on the north side today, helping people better locate feds in traffic. In this anonymized video, cyclists tail masked agents in a white Denali with Georgia plates through Rogers Park:

Lisa Birk reposted

I know that there are people outside Chicago who are paying attention and seeing these videos but there are no words for how it feels when the videos show everyday places in your neighborhood, places that are part of your routine. The sense of violation is profound.

Lisa Birk reposted

Lisa Birk reposted

This is some vile stuff. And these aren't teenagers. Many are Republican staffers. At least one works for Trump. "Epithets like “faggot,” “retarded” and “n--ga” appeared more than 251 times combined."

Politico@politico.com

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat. Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

Lisa Birk reposted

"Ari" is working in the poblano chilis in Santa Clara County. He explains how workers harvest the chilis, then take their full buckets over to a conveyor belt & dump them on it. The conveyor belt goes up lifting the chilis & "Ari" then directs them into different bins. #WeFeedYou

Lisa Birk reposted

"A Chicago Heights Catholic priest began a 50-day pilgrimage in support of immigrant children, from Pope Leo’s boyhood home in Dolton, IL to New York ... 'This is not only a physical act of endurance, but a spiritual act of solidarity, a prayer in motion'..." www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/06/c...

chicagotribune.comChicago Heights priest begins walk for immigrant children from Pope Leo’s childhood home in DoltonGary Graf, a Chicago Heights Catholic priest, began a 50-day justice walk from Pope Leo’s boyhood home in Dolton to New York.

Lisa Birk reposted

The Trump administration is escalating its surveillance of tens of millions of *legal* immigrants, forcing them to refrain from expressing opinions that someone might deem “anti-American.” It’s a clear attack on free speech and the First Amendment. bit.ly/4823Brc

brennancenter.org“Continuous Vetting” of All Visa Holders Is Impossible, but the Threat Alone Chills Free SpeechGovernment claims of AI-powered surveillance create an illusion of total oversight that encourages self-censorship without actually improving security.

Lisa Birk reposted

This is the dumbest poll question ever. Try polling the question, "Should the Republicans shut down the government in order to make sure families' insurance premiums go up by 75%?"

Demanding fairness will not get easier or less costly. Trump escalates his cruelty. Now is the time to hold our politicians to account. Stand up on Oct 18. Find a NoKings.org near you.

nokings.orgNo KingsAs the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...
Chris Murphy@chrismurphyct.bsky.social

Just naked and brazen corruption. All states represented by Democrats in the Senate. Time to stiffen our spines and demand that we only fund a government that obeys the law.

Lisa Birk reposted

The President gets no special new powers during a shutdown. He can't eliminate agencies. He can't use federal funds to punish his political opponents. As Trump's illegality grows during the shutdown, Democrats' spines should stiffen to oppose his corruption.

Lisa Birk reposted

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador. Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

Lisa Birk reposted

Here are three more factual statements: 1. 25,000 of Mike Johnson's constituents are about to lose health care 2. 27,000 more are about to have their premiums skyrocket. 3. A 60 year old couple in his district would pay $19,000 more a year.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

STEPHANOPOULOS: The Democratic proposal is designed to prevent millions of Americans from losing their health insurance, losing Medicaid coverage, or paying higher healthcare premiums. Why are you against that? MIKE JOHNSON: That's an absurd statement STEPHANOPOULOS: It's a factual statement

Lisa Birk reposted

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. Except it doesn’t bend on its own—it bends because we pull it in the direction of justice. What keeps me hopeful during times like these is being surrounded by people who are doing just that.

Thank you so much, @jtforward2.bsky.social, for video-ing. Has that man been freed?

JT Scott@jtforward2.bsky.social

Thank you to all the neighbors who were out today trying to keep each other safe. Let's find this man and get him free. @massgovernor.bsky.social , @katjanaballantyne.bsky.social , I want every resource working on finding him - and the 4 other people detained earlier today - and getting them home.

Good view of ICE license plates. Grateful to the videotapers.

Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social

This morning in East Somerville, MA masked agents who told bystanders they were from Homeland Security abducted a man who lives in the neighborhood while he was on his way to do laundry. Video shared directly with me of the moments after he was detained and put in an unmarked vehicle:

Lisa Birk reposted

Pritzker: When did we become a country where it's okay for the president to insist on national television that a state should call him to beg for anything, especially something we don't want? Have we truly lost all sense of sanity in this nation that we treat this as normal?