Yearly Archives: 2026

Lawsuit Challenges Trump’s Illegal Spying and Retaliation Targeting ICE Monitors

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Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Union del Barrio volunteer Lupe Carrasco Cardona drives while monitoring US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles on September 24, 2025. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

“The federal government cannot build secret dossiers on people because they exercise their First Amendment right to peacefully observe, document, or criticize its actions,” said the head of Democracy Forward.

“The federal government cannot build secret dossiers on people because they exercise their First Amendment right to peacefully observe, document, or criticize its actions,” said the head of Democracy Forward.

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The plaintiffs—the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and legal observers Nicole Cleland, Jacquelyn Ivey, and Anna Walker—argued that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other federal agencies created and maintained databases of people who observed, documented, or protested immigration enforcement activities without providing notification or safeguards, as required under the Privacy Act of 1974.

That law was passed after the exposure of illegal government surveillance, including longtime former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover’s infamous COINTELPRO program, under which the FBI, in addition to conducting unlawful spying, funded and armed murderous far-right militants to terrorize anti-Vietnam War protesters, anti-nuclear weapons activists, civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr., and other leftists.

“The federal government cannot build secret dossiers on people because they exercise their First Amendment right to peacefully observe, document, or criticize its actions,” Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “That is exactly the kind of government surveillance Congress sought to prevent when it enacted the Privacy Act after some of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history.”

The lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of collecting the names, photographs, vehicle information and license plate numbers, social media accounts, and other identifying information about legal observers, volunteers, journalists, clergy, and community members engaged in First Amendment-protected activities during the government’s deadly anti-immigrant crackdown.

“When the Department of Homeland Security dramatically ratcheted up its immigration enforcement, people across the country—of all ages and backgrounds—did what anyone is supposed to do when they disagree with government action: They exercised their First Amendment rights,” the suit states. “They peacefully protested. And, as matters here, they observed and recorded how law enforcement agents acted in public.”

DHS is using facial recognition technology, body cameras, license plates, mobile devices, and other surveillance tools to identify, track, and punish people who legally observe immigration enforcement in public. This is a clear violation of the Privacy Act. We’ll see them in court.

— Democracy Forward (@democracyforward.org) 2026-07-24T17:36:46.803836578Z

“In response, DHS decided to record the Americans who were peacefully observing its agents, adopting a secret Protester Surveillance Policy enabling its agents to first collect records on Americans engaging in First Amendment exercise and then maintain them in DHS systems, where they can be used to retaliate against those Americans,” the complaint continues.

“Beginning sometime in 2025, DHS deployed a dragnet of drones, bodycams, face-scanning apps, license plate scanners, and camera phones to, as one memo instructed, ‘capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form,’” the document notes.

“DHS agents have not been shy about gathering this information or its purpose,” the plaintiffs contended. “In Maine, DHS agents told multiple observers that they were being added to a database of ‘domestic terrorists.’ In Chicago, agents routinely used facial irecognition scans on members of the public.”

“In Minneapolis, observers simply watching agents on public streets have been led by those agents to their own houses, despite never having interacted with an agent—a practice so common that it has been named ‘being driven home by ICE,’” the suit says. “And across the country, DHS agents have approached observers and addressed them by their full names, even though those observers never identified themselves to the agents or showed them any form of identification.”

“As a result of its Protester Surveillance Policy, DHS has recorded and retaliated against each individual plaintiff,” the filing alleges. “It’s bad enough that DHS publicly collected information on Americans engaged in lawful First Amendment exercise. But worse, DHS also decided to maintain the information in one or more of its systems, enabling it to later retaliate against observers and protestors—including by canceling Trusted Traveler status,” which includes Transportation Security Administration Pre-Check and Global Entry.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the DHS surveillance policy unlawful, end it, and ban the agency from continuing to collect and keep records of individuals’ protected First Amendment activities.

“Now more than ever, those of us who have the privilege to speak out have a responsibility to defend the rights of everyone in our communities,” Walker said in a statement. “When people are punished for exercising their First Amendment rights, we begin losing the democratic principles that protect all of us. Every American should be alarmed by retaliatory action against one’s free speech.”

Cleland said: “I believe government accountability starts with transparency. People should be free to peacefully observe and document what their government does in public without worrying they’ll be tracked or retaliated against. This case is about protecting that right for everyone.”

EPIC deputy director John Davisson warned, “When our government compiles secret dossiers on everyday people for exercising their constitutional rights, it sends a chilling message: If you speak up, watch your back.”

“If every protest, every recording, every act of dissent opens us up to surveillance and retribution, privacy and free speech are at risk of collapse,” he added. “But the laws of this nation don’t permit that, and we won’t either.”

Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingLawsuit Challenges Trump’s Illegal Spying and Retaliation Targeting ICE Monitors

Calls for Independent Probe Into Reported US Bombing of Ecuadorian Boats Grow After Murder of Investigator

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Article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

María Mero, 42, holds a photograph of her husband, Gabriel Aladono Mero Delgado, 43, who disappeared as part of the crew aboard the fishing vessel Fiorella, on June 7, 2026 in Jaramijó, Ecuador. (Photo by Johanna Alarcón/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

“How far does the ‘war on drugs’ go?” said a former Ecuadorian official. “Who is held accountable for the lives of Ecuadorian fishermen?”

The recently reported killing of the Ecuadorian prosecutor who had been investigating allegations that three boats from the country had been struck by the US and that dozens of survivors had been abducted and tortured by American forces, was “not a coincidence,” said one congressman Friday as he called for a probe into the bombings.

“For almost a year, the US government has been illegally bombing fishing boats and killing people without evidence of wrongdoing,” said Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.). “And last month, Alexandra Bravo, the Ecuadorian prosecutor investigating boats that were attacked or disappeared, was murdered… There must be an independent investigation.”

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García’s demand came a day after Drop Site News reported on Bravo’s killing in the city of Manta on June 14.

Police say a hitman on a black motorcycle opened fire on Bravo and her sister at 11:00 am as they were leaving a cafe. Both women were killed and the prosecutor’s driver was injured. There was “no sign of the police detail that had been assigned” to protect Bravo, leading the Police Directorate, which operates under the executive branch of President Daniel Noboa, a close ally of President Donald Trump, to investigate whether there had been an “internal security breach.”

Bravo had been investigating the cases of three fishing boats—the Fiorella, the Negra Francisca, and the Don Maca—which were reportedly struck by drones in January and March.

The 36 surviving crew members of the latter two vessels reported that they were captured by US forces and subjected to torture before eventually being returned to Ecuador.

Eight fishermen went missing from the Fiorella, and their family members have reported that Ecuadorian authorities have provided little help to them as they look for answers, with the daughter of one missing fisherman saying an official had suggested the crew was involved in drug trafficking.

The three boats were hit with explosives as the Trump administration carried out “Operation Southern Spear,” its campaign of boat bombings in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. The White House has insisted that the at least 66 strikes that have been carried out by US forces since last September were on boats that were carrying drugs, and the 221 people on board were involved in drug trafficking. Trump has claimed the US is in an armed conflict with Latin American drug cartels, but Congress has not authorized military force in the region.

Legal experts have said that even if the bombed vessels were ferrying illicit substances to the US, military attacks against civilians for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking is against international law.

According to Amnesty International, the Ecuadorian public prosecutor’s office has not submitted a formal request to the US for help with investigating the disappearance of the Fiorella and its crew.

Sources at the police department in Manta and at Human Rights Watch told Drop Site that Bravo had reported facing pressure from the attorney general’s office regarding her investigation, with her superiors telling her to treat the alleged attacks on the boats only as “cases of disappearance” and to “close all lines of inquiry” after the 36 survivors of the Negra Francisca and the Don Maca returned, even though they showed signs of torture.

Meanwhile, as the US maintains it had nothing to do with bombing the three vessels, Drop Site reported that a US Coast Guard boat was detected near the Negra Francisca around the time of the bombing before the Coast Guard boat turned off its signal.

Two survivors of the Fiorella bombing, Christian Flores and Dimas Ignacio Álvarez, “corroborated seeing the Fiorella engulfed in smoke and surrounded by American assets.”

“In their police statements, Flores and Álvarez described two US aircraft flying over the Fiorella on January 18; multiple grey American drones and a US-flagged patrol ship circling the vessel on January 19; and, on January 20—the day their crewmates disappeared—the large US-flagged patrol ship near the smoke,” wrote Camila Lourdes Galarza at Drop Site.

Former Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs Guillaume Long said Thursday that US military presence in Ecuador as the two countries deepen their military partnership is “a clear violation of our people’s sovereignty and popular will.”

“Meanwhile, the families of Manta and Jaramijó wait for answers,” said Long. “Eight families deserve truth and justice. How far does the ‘war on drugs’ go? Who is held accountable for the lives of Ecuadorian fishermen?”

Article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

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Continue ReadingCalls for Independent Probe Into Reported US Bombing of Ecuadorian Boats Grow After Murder of Investigator

Trump Unveils Sweeping New Tariffs Expected to Cost Americans $100 Billion a Year

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Article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on July 22, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“These new tariffs are more of the same: a nationwide sales tax that will make life even harder for families already struggling under the costs of Trump’s reckless war in Iran.”

President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled a new package of tariffs targeting 60 countries that account for over 99% of US imports, a move that—if upheld in court—would cost Americans an estimated $100 billion per year in the form of higher costs.

The duties, ranging from 10% to 12.5%, were announced as part of the president’s effort to maneuver around repeated court rulings against his sweeping tariffs, including by the conservative-dominated US Supreme Court. Jamieson Greer, the Trump administration’s top trade official, pointed to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to justify the new tariffs, introduced with the purported goal of penalizing countries “for their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”

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Observers questioned the administration’s pretext. “Magically, the US tariff probe on forced labor practices is done perfectly in time to replace the generalized but expiring Section 122 tariffs,” noted Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove, referring to the legal authority Trump cited for earlier tariffs.

Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) acknowledged that “Section 301 is a law Congress passed,” but added, “What was passed in 1974 was authority to respond to specific unfair trade practices after investigation.”

“What is being done with it now is a tariff on 99% of American trade, set by Trump, with no expiration, no vote, and no ceiling,” said Levin. “If a delegation that broad is lawful, then the tariff power in Article I means very little. The Supreme Court struck down the last version of this policy in February. The response was to avoid Congress and find a different statute and rebuild substantially the same tariffs, effective the same minute the old ones lapsed.”

The list of countries targeted by the Section 301 tariffs includes Canada, Australia, Brazil, China, Mexico, Russia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

Between the start of his second administration and January 2026, Trump’s tariffs cost American families $1,700 each on average as importers passed burdens onto consumers in the form of higher prices. The tariffs have also hammered small businesses, increased hardship for farmers, and failed to arrest the decline of American manufacturing jobs.

The Progressive Policy Institute said Thursday that the new tariffs would “likely cost Americans $100 billion a year” collectively—though the group’s trade director, Ed Gresser, said the administration’s order “looks vulnerable to challenge, and courts would have good reason to strike it down.”

“Its vague claims about forced labor abroad do not hold up,” said Gresser. “Constitutionally, it is likely impermissible as an attempt to use a law designed for problem-solving abroad to impose a general tariff increase. And legally, Section 301 requires administrations to demonstrate ‘unreasonable acts, policies, or practices’ which impose a burden on US commerce, which this executive order fails to do. While making emotive claims about forced labor, it neither presents evidence that the listed countries are buying goods made with the use of forced labor, nor demonstrates that if they were, this would impose the statutorily required ‘burden on US commerce.’”

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said in a statement that “these new tariffs are more of the same: a nationwide sales tax that will make life even harder for families already struggling under the costs of Trump’s reckless war in Iran.”

Article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

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Continue ReadingTrump Unveils Sweeping New Tariffs Expected to Cost Americans $100 Billion a Year

‘An Abuse of the USGS, the Environment, and Our Intellects’: Trump Admin Uses Public Lands Report to Push Coal

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Article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Mill Creek Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant in Louisville, Kentucky, is seen on February 14, 2026 in Elizabeth, Indiana. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

One critic of the president recently said that he’s “forcing higher power bills” on Americans while “fattening the wallets of his cronies—all with billions of our tax dollars.”

President Donald Trump’s administration has dedicated over $1 billion to boosting the coal industry, and on Thursday announced a report about reserves beneath federally managed public lands, with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum claiming that the polluting fossil fuel “is more important than ever to the production of electricity.”

The US Geological Survey (USGS) publication, titled Coal Beneath Federal Lands in the United States—Mines, Reserves, and Resources, says that “in 2024, the 34 coal mines on Federal lands produced more than 261 million short tons of coal.” A short ton, the standard unit of measurement for coal in the United States, is equal to 2,000 lbs.

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“These 34 coal mines control more than 4.2 billion short tons of reported coal reserves. Most of the coal mines (31) and more than 98% of the reported coal reserves are on federal lands west of the Mississippi River,” according to the report. “Of all the states, Wyoming has the most coal mines on federal lands (14) and produces the most coal from federal lands.”

“The USGS estimates that more than 355 billion short tons of available coal resources remain beneath federal lands in the conterminous United States,” the document details. “Alaska contains substantial quantities of coal resources. The USGS estimates that Alaska has at least 140 billion short tons of identified available coal resources but may ultimately have as much as 5.5 trillion short tons of coal resources.”

A US Department of the Interior statement announcing the report highlights that if the reserves accounted for in the document were produced, “that would be enough coal to supply all the nation’s needs for at least 600 years at the current rate of consumption.”

Scientists have long argued that the international community must stop burning coal—plus oil and gas—to prevent a worst-case scenario future as the planet’s inhabitants already face a fossil fuel-driven climate emergency and its related extreme weather.

However, climate crisis-denying Trump—who returned to the White House backed by Big Oil’s campaign cash—and his Cabinet have spent his second term pushing polluting sources of energy, particularly as his illegal war on Iran drives up global prices, with oil surpassing $100 per barrel on Thursday.

Staying on message, Burgum declared in Interior’s Thursday statement that “American Energy Dominance is more important than ever, and so is beautiful clean coal’s role in the production of electricity needed to fuel our future prosperity.”

“Thanks to the USGS’s rigorous and independent assessment, we’re better equipped to manage America’s vast public lands responsibly while supporting energy security and economic opportunity,” he continued.

Sharing the statement on the social media platform Bluesky Thursday, science journalist Emily Willingham said, “What an abuse of the USGS, the environment, and our intellects.”

An ore deposit geologist named Elizabeth also ripped the statement on Bluesky, writing: “There is a lot messed up with this press release, but the thing that bothers me the most is how poorly it is written. What an embarrassment!”

The USGS report came just two days after the Energy and Labor departments signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) creating a framework to accelerate the deployment of artificial intelligence, automation, and other emerging technologies in the mining sector.

Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said, “It is our commitment to you that this MOU will further President Trump’s promise to restore coal as a key driver of America’s energy supply chain and American coal will again be the envy of the world for generations to come.”

While attacking clean energy initiatives, including offshore wind projects, the administration “has bolstered coal, the dirtiest and most expensive fossil fuel,” The Guardian reported earlier this month.

According to the newspaper:

In September, the Department of Energy announced it would spend $625 million to “expand and extend the life of” coal-fired power plants, allocating $350 million to “modernize” coal plants, $175 million to fund coal projects powering rural communities, and $50 million to upgrade wastewater management systems to extend coal plants’ lifespans.

Last month, the agency also set aside up to $500 million from the Defense Production Act to “expand and reinvigorate” the capacity of 13 coal plants, and to help build a coal export terminal in Oakland, California. A week later, the department announced an additional $3.6 million to “refurbish or retrofit” nine existing coal plants.

Former Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a climate advocate and Trump critic, told the paper that the president is “forcing higher power bills” on Americans “by blocking clean energy, then he’s fattening the wallets of his cronies—all with billions of our tax dollars.”

“We pay more,” he said, “Republicans rubber-stamp it, and Trump’s donors walk off with the bag.”

Explainer by dizzy: Coal is regarded as an unnecessary, particularly highly-polluting fossil-fuel

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Continue Reading‘An Abuse of the USGS, the Environment, and Our Intellects’: Trump Admin Uses Public Lands Report to Push Coal

World Famine Authorities Warn Most Gazans Still Suffering ‘Crisis’-Level Hunger

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Article by Brett Wilkins republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Issam Fadi Nabiyye, a 1-year-old Palestinian who lives with his family in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, is seen suffering from severe malnutrition in this July 6, 2026 photo. (Photo by Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The October 2025 ceasefire has led to measurable gains in humanitarian access and overall conditions across the Gaza Strip. However, the situation remains deeply fragile.”

Although the Gaza Strip is no longer officially enduring famine, a majority of Palestinians there are suffering “crisis or worse” levels of hunger in an emergency that is expected to worsen in the coming months if Israel’s bombardment and siege—which many experts say is a key component of an ongoing genocide—continue.

The Integrated Phase Food Security Classification—which ranks food security levels on a scale of 1 to 5—on Thursday published an analysis showing that from mid-April to the end of June, more than 1.2 million people, or 59% of Gaza’s population, were experiencing IPC Phase 3 (crisis) or worse levels of food insecurity. This included about 212,000 people in IPC Phase 4 (emergency). All five Gaza governorates were classified as being in Phase 3.

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“After two years of conflict, the October 2025 ceasefire has led to measurable gains in humanitarian access and overall conditions across the Gaza Strip,” IPC said in a statement. “However, the situation remains deeply fragile, with civilians continuing to endure harsh conditions.”

#Gaza Strip The Oct 2025 ceasefire has led to measurable gains in humanitarian access & conditions across the Gaza Strip, yet the situation remains deeply fragile. 1.4 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity through Dec 2026. More: www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-webs…

— The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (@theipcinfo.bsky.social) 2026-07-23T12:42:50.143Z

This marks an improvement from a year ago, when a “worst-case scenario” was developing into a Phase 5 (catastrophe) famine that was formally declared by the IPC in August 2025. At least hundreds of Palestinians, many of them children, have died from malnutrition since Israel launched its US-backed war on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023.

The IPC declared last December that while Gaza was no longer in a famine, the situation remained critical for the war-ravaged Palestinians there. The new IPC report warns that two-thirds of Gaza’s population are projected to face Phase 3 crisis conditions by the end of the year.

The organization also said that 74,200 Palestinian children under the age of 5 in Gaza will likely need treatment for acute malnutrition through next April.

(Image by Integrated Phase Food Security Classification)

Responding to the new IPC data, United Nations Children’s Fund Executive Director Catherine Russell said Thursday that “acute malnutrition has fallen, but many children are still going hungry, and some children may never fully recover from prolonged lack of proper nutrition.”

“This progress shows that when humanitarian access improves and aid gets through, children can be pulled back from the brink,” she added. “But it rests on a supplementary feeding program that doesn’t reach all children, and where funding is running out.”

Israeli forces have killed or wounded more than 250,000 Palestinians since then, and forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened over 2 million others since then, resulting in worldwide allegations of genocide embodied in an International Court of Justice case filed by South Africa at the end of 2023 and now formally supported by nearly 20 nations.

Leading global famine experts accused Israel of deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza. The International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued in late 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister who ordered the “complete siege” of Gaza, accuse the pair of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder and forced starvation.

Like many members of their public, Israeli and US officials under both the Biden and Trump administrations initially denied that Israel was starving Gazans. However, Israeli officials warned in private that Gaza was facing starvation, while US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other administration figures have acknowledged that Palestinians were starving to death in the strip. That did not stop them from continuing to give billions of dollars in US armed aid to Israel.

In response to the new IPC report, acting United Nations World Food Program Executive Director Carl Skau said that “there is progress on food security in Gaza, but it is fragile and can easily be reversed.”

“The overall humanitarian situation remains brutal: Families lack water, sanitation, and medicine,” Skau added. “We need sustained access, funding, and stability so people of Gaza can begin recovery.”

The heads of various United Nations agencies concurred that a lasting peace—which Israel is not allowing as it continues bombing and besieging Gaza despite a nominal nine-month ceasefire—is imperative for that recovery.

“Food security in Gaza cannot recover unless local food production starts again and farmers, herders, fishers, and other producers can rebuild their livelihoods,” UN Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu said on Thursday. “Producers need access to farmland and the sea, and to seeds, tools, livestock supplies, and other agricultural inputs, as well as technical support.”

“Restrictions on agricultural imports and humanitarian supplies must be lifted,” Qu added. “Without these essentials, food production, and security will remain a pressing situation.”

The IPC said that “recent gains remain fragile,” and that “advancing peace plans is essential to support recovery, enable the safe return of displaced populations, and help households rebuild their livelihoods.”

Article by Brett Wilkins republished form Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Continue ReadingWorld Famine Authorities Warn Most Gazans Still Suffering ‘Crisis’-Level Hunger