Happy April!

Last month’s headlines were difficult to keep track of, as it was a constant whiplash between good, bad, and terrible news. There is no doubt that we are living through times that will be burned into the global memory. Without our community members who serve as trusted journalists, brave activists, and fierce civil rights defenders, this moment in history would be much darker. Skip to Good News.

If you are interested in how I source these newsletters, check out my open source news scraper : )
I built this scraper to help me track the news, especially when it feels like it is coming out of a fire hose. You may find this newsletter a bit clunky-and for that I apologize- however, I am going through positive life changes that have slowed my writing. Even then, this newsletter may be my longest one yet, containing over 170 headlines @_o.

Please use Ctrl +F and the table of contents below to navigate the contents of this letter… or put your attention span to the test by reading it all at once- Est 42 min read time!

With that, I present to you the March Newsletter.

Federal Government

Federal Court Rulings: Online Safety, Child Detention, AI, and Kari Lake

A federal appeals court threw out an injunction that blocked ‌California from enforcing a state law meant to shield children from social media and other online content that could harm them mentally or physically. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the trade group NetChoice was unlikely to prove that the ​California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act was unconstitutional on its face, violating the First Amendment rights of members ( Amazon, Meta, Netflix, and X (Twitter) ) against state censorship.

Federal court agreement sets minimum treatment standards for children in immigration detention as hundreds of children held in Texas ICE detention beyond 20 day limit. The Flores Settlement Agreement 1997 which requires children to be held in the least restrictive setting, which courts typically interpreted as no more than 20 days. The Trump administration has repeatedly failed to overturn the Flores Settlement, which would end court monitoring at facilities like Dilley.

A federal judge is weighing the merits of the Pentagon’s designation of Anthropic as a security threat. The Judge questioned the Pentagon’s motives for labeling Anthropic as a security threat in battle over AI. Anthropic lawyer Michael Mongan argued during Tuesday’s hearing that Anthropic’s reputation already had been stained by the Trump’s administration’s actions, requiring a court order to prevent further damage threatening the company’s future growth.

A federal judge ruled that Kari Lake violated federal law as Voice of America CEO. The ruling invalidated a series of actions she took to cut staff and end many operations in 2025. Trump nominated Sarah B Rogers as Chief Executive Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media, Voice of America’s parent agency. Sarah Rogers is a far-right “free speech” lawyer currently serving as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Sarah, a leads a Trump administration grant making strategy to financially support MAGA-aligned organizations in Europe, including the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). She presented the strategy to promote so-called “American values” abroad, as part of Washington’s 250th anniversary of U.S. Independence and an effort to promote so-called “American values” abroad.

The Trump Administration: Funding the far-right, Using Chat GPT to govern, and scamming students

White House releases AI policy wishlist for Congress. The four-page outline follows an executive order from President Trump last December seeking to limit states’ abilities to regulate AI and push forward efforts to regulate at the federal level.

The FCC approved the Nextar Tegna merger, after waiving a rule preventing single companies from owning TV stations that reach more than 39% of households. The rule waiver is a concerning sign of government sponsored media concentration in the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists warned.

Former DOGE employees give an inside look at the Elon Musk-led agency. As a result of a lawsuit, two employees at DOGE were deposed. The DOGE employees inducted ChatGPT to provide a “yes” or “no” answer with an explanation that was shorter than 120 characters. One claimed that documentaries concerning Black civil rights or a film that focused on Jewish women in the Holocaust would be defunded by DOGE because both would be considered DEI. The government is investigating new claims that DOGE misused Social Security data The Social Security Administration’s inspector general notified the leaders of several House and Senate committees that it is reviewing an anonymous complaint “on matters relating to the potential misuse of SSA data by a former DOGE employee

After laying off 385,000 employees last year, the Trump administration is looking to hire Gen Z workers into Federal roles without career security or workplace protections. OPM launched the Early Career Talent Network, a recruitment push for entry-level workers to join the federal payroll.

The Trump administration announced a three-phase transition that will move significant management of and responsibility for the nation’s Federal student to Treasury, further shrinking the DOE. Education Department (DOE) defended a new rule that would give the Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, the authority to strip student loan forgiveness eligibility from public service employers. If implemented, the initiative could block or delay the ability of borrowers to discharge their federal student loans under the PSLF program. Education Department directs student loan borrowers in SAVE plan to prepare for repayment. More than 7 million student loan borrowers who have been enrolled in a Biden-era repayment plan will receive notices with instructions to seek a new plan to repay their debt. Borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan, which was struck down by a federal court, have been in forbearance since July 2024 as a legal battle played out in courts.

Trump Administration losing battles against the truth and law

Senate held an extended debate over SAVE America Act. Despite being unlikely to pass, Trump is pushing Senate Majority Leader John Thune to move ahead with the bill and suggested Republicans eliminate the filibuster or find another workaround to pass it. Thune repeatedly said there isn’t enough support in the Senate. SAVE Act would create significant access barriers for eligible voters. More than 5 million voting-age Americans would have to drive an estimated hour or more to present their citizenship documents to register to vote.

Republicans are considering reductions in federal health spending to help pay for a budget bill containing as much as $200 billion to fund the Iran war and immigration enforcement.

Alien.gov launched by Homeland Security and added to the official government website registry. Donald Trump pledged to release UFO‑related files in the US government’s possession. It also follows on multiple congressional hearings and reports on the issue of UAPs in the last few years, most of which have dismissed evidence of alien activity.

No more Noem: She’s getting away on a horse with our tax dollars!

Trump fires Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary Trump said Noem “has served us well,” will take over a new role called “Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.” He described the position as one that will lead “our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere.” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., fiercely loyal first-term senator, is Trump’s pick to replace her. An administration official told NBC News that Trump decided to fire Noem because of “a culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures including the fallout in Minnesota, the ad campaign, the allegations of infidelity, the mismanagement of her staff, and her constant feuding with the heads of other agencies, including CBP and ICE Democrats Vow to Investigate “Web of Corruption” at DHS.

At an unofficial hearing held by House Homeland Security Committee Democrats denounced a massive contract that the DHS handed to a company owned by a financial supporter of former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as an example of what they called rampant corruption under President Donald Trump. Democrats also pointed to a $220 million ad campaign Noem launched last year. The ads, crafted in part by firms with close ties to the former secretary and to her adviser Corey Lewandowski, were nominally aimed at urging immigrants to self-deport. But they also appeared intended to promote Noem herself, complete with a now infamous spot featuring the former secretary on a horse. CNN reported that the department paid $20,000 to rent the horse for Noem.

States

State pol-ICE : Unsafe conditions, Calls for transparency, and Mega-Centers.

A class action suit filed through the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado claims hundreds of children held past release dates in juvenile detention. The lawsuit cites a lack of community placements and worsening conditions in juvenile centers. The lawsuit was filed by Children’s Rights, the ACLU of Colorado, Disability Law Colorado, the ACLU National Prison Project and Ropes & Gray LLP.

ICE Is Paying salaries and more for Carroll, New Hampshire’s entire Police Force , with a population 820, Carroll received a $122,515 wire transfer from the Department of Homeland Security, making it among the first wave of local governments reaping the financial benefits of the Trump administration’s efforts to build out a network of local officers assisting in federal immigration enforcement through the 287(g) program.

Massachusetts residents now have a centralized website to report sightings of alleged misconduct or illegal activity by ICE in the state. Lawmaker wants California’s detention center to be accountable after 33 people have died in ICE custody. Senator Perez introduced Senate Bill 995 – known as the Masuma Khan Justice Act that would fine immigration detention facilities that fail to meet basic health and safety protocols for detainees. Under the proposal, facilities could face fines of up to $25,000 dollars per day if they fail to correct health and safety problems.

More than 60 data center-related bills were introduced in Virginia’s General Assembly this legislative session. According to a recent report from the Electric Power Research Institute, Virginia is the only state where data centers consume over 20% of electricity.

Maryland House passed bills on ICE detention standards, collection of federal agent data. On a margin of 98-37, the House passed a bill to require the secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to establish minimum mandatory standards for the care, custody and conditions of people held in detention facilities across the state  including the planned 54-acre ICE detention center in Williamsport purchased by the Department of Homeland Security for $102.4 million in January.

ICE documents show plans for proposed immigrant detention “mega-center” in Social Circle Georgia town of Social Circle will be one of the agency’s “mega centers” that would hold up to 10,000 detainees. City leaders have consistently expressed concerns over how the facility may strain its services, pointing to the fact that it would nearly triple the area’s population when fully up and running.

State Rep. Manny Rutinel, D-Commerce City, is demanding transparency and congressional oversight after new report on ICE detention facilities. He attempted to walk into a ICE office in Frederick on , after a recent report of alleged, secret, statewide detention facilities emerged. Data: Nearly 25% of inmates at Alvin S Glenn Detention Center have been jailed for at least a year. New data presented to Richland County leaders showed that the majority of inmates at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Wisconsin are still awaiting trial, many have been jailed for months..

The struggle for state run elections: Seized ballots, voter data,

Minnesota elections office subpoenaed in non-citizen voting probe, ordering ‌it to turn over certain individual voter records as part of a federal investigation into whether non-U.S.-citizens are registered to vote or have unlawfully ​cast ballots.
Georgia’s Fulton County heads to court to argue for return of 2020 ballots seized by FBI. A federal judge plans to hear arguments on a demand by officials in Georgia’s Fulton County that the FBI return seized ballots and other materials from the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee wrote in a scheduling order that the hearing was needed after the two sides failed to reach an agreement in court-ordered mediation.
Ohio shares voter data with DOJ; Kentucky faces lawsuit for refusal Ohio turned over personal information such as social security numbers and drivers license numbers linked to millions of registered voters to the DOJ.
California and a voting rights group filed legal challenges to stop a seizure and recount of more than half a million 2025 election ballots by a Republican county sheriff who is running for governor. The dispute over the ballot seizure in Riverside County escalated as Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta urged the court to step in and Sheriff Chad Bianco doubled down by taking more ballots from a county election office.
GOP-led states are pushing their own SAVE Act inspired legislation A proof-of-citizenship bill is now sitting on the governor’s desk in Florida. South Dakota and Utah just enacted legislation. Those follow similar laws passed in recent years in Louisiana, New Hampshire and Wyoming, according to the Voting Rights Lab, which tracks election policy, and narrower measures in places like Ohio. Election-law changes include a key Trump demand  and may stop some Florida citizens from voting. Voter Suppression laws are hinging on Donald Trumps false claims about the security and integrity of our elections. There is still no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
The DC council voted yes on the DYRS Amendment Act. The bill would require the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS). to make certain data public. It directs the mayor to establish a plan to address overcrowding in the center within 120 days.
Baltimore City Council introduces bill to ban private detention centers Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen introduced a bill to ban private detention centers in the city.The bill aims to enforce the ban through zoning regulations. The proposal comes after five members of Maryland’s Congressional delegation visited the ICE office and holding facility in Baltimore.

Tech Accountability Lawmaking

Ohio lawmakers are attempting to to close loopholes in state’s age verification law for adult websites. The loophole allowed adult websites to bypass the state’s recently passed age verification law. Lawmakers are now trying to ensure porn websites comply by passing a reworked version of House Bill 84, the original legislation added to the state budget. The State AG would have sole enforcement authority over the age check rules.

A bill that would have required South Dakota employers to use a federal website to verify employees’ work eligibility failed in the state Senate.

U.S. District Judge Holly Teeter dismissed a pair of lawsuits against porn sites over Kansas’ age verification requirements due to questions concerning the law’s future enforceability. The porn sites, which are headquartered in Washington state and Canada, didn’t purposefully operate in or have ties to Kansas.

Cyber Rights

The hot new online safety “solution”: Age Verification.

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis filed the PROTECT Act to repeal a federal law that shields social media companies and other online services from liability for what users post on their platforms.
TeamSpeak’s servers reach capacity after Discord users flee age verification policy. The voice chat app is rushing to expand its server capacity after new age verification rules sparked a mass exodus from Discord.

Bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted to advance the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act and Sammys Law.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed House Bill 161, the App Store Accountability Act, into law which would require app stores to introduce age-gating.

California’s new law would make operating systems ask for your age at account setup, requiring every operating system (OS)Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux distributions, and even SteamOSto implement age verification during account setup. The Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), which Governor Newsom signed in 2025, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

Amid wave of kids’ online safety laws, age-checking tech comes of age AI is being used to verify internet users’ ages with more precision and for cheaper. Vendors generally charge under $1 per check for basic machine-only age assurance tools, though for large volumes the price is often as low as single-digit cents. Social media companies now can often confidently guess a person’s age group using digital breadcrumbs like the year an account was established or the type of content it views. Independent evaluations back up executives’ descriptions of rapid progress. According to an ongoing study run by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Youth locked in battle for their rights to privacy and peaceful dissent.

Teens sue Musk’s xAI over Grok’s pornographic images of them. The lawsuit against xAI was filed in a federal California court by three young women whose images and videos were altered by a Grok user without their knowledge to show them nude or in otherwise overtly sexual ways. The teens say the company facilitated child pornography by allowing the creation of sexually explicit images of them.

Suburban Detroit school settles lawsuit with Palestinian student over Pledge of Allegiance dispute. The school district has agreed to give First Amendment training to staff to settle a lawsuit by a teenager who said a teacher humiliated her for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in protest of U.S. support of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Kansas lawmakers propose a budget amendment that includes penalties for student walkouts to protest ICE and more to penalize public schools and students for walkouts, especially anti-ICE protests. Sen. Michael Murphy, a Republican from Sylvia, proposed the restrictions on student walkouts as an amendment to Senate Bill 315. The Senate approved the amendment 21-18 and passed the budget bill 21-19.

Florida schools review student protest rights, rules. The Pasco County school district’s proposal to remove rules for peaceful student assembly from its code of conduct prompted students to protest after classes. The superintendent said, he would change his recommendation to add peaceful assembly to the section in the code of conduct that lists student rights and responsibilities.That list includes, among other things, the right to hear and express divergent points of view, and to decide whether or not to participate in symbolic or religious activities.

ACLU files lawsuits against Ball State after the school tried to place limitations placed on student protests. The suits target a BSU policy that prohibits protests and demonstrations within 50 feet of most buildings on the Muncie campus.

Rapper Afroman know for his viral song “Lemon Pound Cake” won music video defamation suit after a brief but viral trial. He started making music videos and social media posts mocking the law enforcement officers who conducted a heavy-handed raid on his Ohio home. He posted memes and sold merchandise satirizing the incident and the people involved.The seven law enforcement officers sued him for defamation and invasion of privacy, saying his unauthorized use of their likenesses hurt their reputations and made it harder to do their jobs. They sought $3.9 million in damages.

Corporation Watch

The Money powering 2026 Midterm conspiracy theories, smear campaigns, and age verification laws.

Outside groups spend $5M to unseat GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky after Trump called him a disaster during a speech.

Smartmatic says it’s a target of vindictive prosecution by Trump the voting technology company that is suing Fox News and supporters of President Donald Trump for defamation, asserted in court that the federal indictment was a politically motivated counterattack

New allegations of Hidden Lobbying Efforts by Meta for age verification laws. Through an extensive network of nonprofit organizations touching at least 45 states, Meta has been shaping age verification laws across the United States. Rather than engaging in direct political donations that are subject to disclosure rules, the strategy allegedly relies on nonprofit groups. The Digital Childhood Alliance became active in pushing for regulatory measures. Estimates cited in the report indicate that tens of millions of dollars—around $70 million—may have been deployed.

Utah Republican petition to repeal redistricting law fails after signature removal campaign. A signature removal campaign by supporters of Proposition 4 resulted in roughly 7,000 removed signatures.This means that the repeal of Prop 4 will not appear on the ballot despite $4.35 million spent on professional signature gathering, involvement from Turning Point Action and an endorsement from President Donald Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr

$Buy any means necessary: ICE facilities & Data Centers.

DHS is paying higher prices for warehouse detention centers to compel developers to sell their properties despite local opposition to data center construction. To do this, the agency has begun buying up commercial warehouses that it intends to retrofit into sprawling detention facilities, some of which would hold up to 10,000 undocumented immigrants slated for deportation. The warehouse spending is funded by Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill Act, which set aside $38.3 billion to boost ICEs detention capacity.

Target Hospitality, the company behind ICE detention camps including the Dilley Detention Center, has signed $132 million worth in government contracts to build and operate Data Center Company Towns. The towns could house more than 1,000 workers needed for the construction of a 1.6-gigawatt data center in Dickens County, Texas.

ICE buys a Salt Lake City warehouse with plans for a new detention center. A Delaware company, RREEF CPIF 6020 W 300 S, LLC, (best imagined as the smallest in a series of Russian nesting dolls), finalized the S145.4 million deal. The largest doll is the multinational Deutsche Bank, known for its former ties to President Donald Trump and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

ICE has entered into an agreement with KVG LLC to repurpose a warehouse in Western Maryland as a detention center that could hold more than half the town’s population.

During its February quarterly earnings call, CoreCivic celebrated a more than 100% rise in ICE revenue, year over year. CFO David Garfinkle announced, “we believe there are numerous opportunities to activate additional idle facilities we own”

Surprise ICE facility faces bipartisan opposition from congressman and residents criticized the federal government’s plan to open an ICE facility in Surprise Arizona. DHS awarded private security firm GardaWorld tied to Florida’s controversial “”Alligator Alcatraz”” detention center a one-year, $313.4 million contract to prepare the 418,400-square-foot warehouse in Surprise for planned use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Hungry Hungry Capitalists – Mergers and Missiles.

Anduril to acquire space surveillance firm ExoAnalytic a national security company specializing in space sensing and awareness and missile defense. The purchase comes as the firm positions itself ​for a role President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile ​defense project, an initiative to build a space-based shield capable ⁠of intercepting ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles.

Nexstar says it has acquired Tegna as state AGs push to block the merger. Nexstar says it has completed its acquisition of Tegna, uniting two of the largest TV station ownership groups in the United States. The merger threatens closure for newsrooms across the country. 8 states, including California and New York, sue to block $6.2B Nexstar-Tegna merger arguing the tie-up violates federal antitrust laws.

David Ellison’s Paramount to acquire Warner Bros Discovery in Merger Agreement. The proposed merger is a $110 billion deal which has been unanimously approved by both companies’ boards and is expected to close. The deal will be backed by a $54 billion debt commitment from Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citi, and Apollo Global Management, as well as $45.7 billion in equity from Larry Ellison. NFL and Paramount are discussing media deal where the NFL gets rid of its 2029-30 opt-out clause in exchange for an increase on TV rights that could push CBS to pay more than $3 billion a year. CBS currently pays around $2.1 billion a year, on average, for its Sunday afternoon games. Here’s everything Larry and David Ellison would control If Paramount Buys Warner Bros.

Tech losers losing- Thank you Judges, ladies, & gentlemen of the Jury

Elon Musk lost his lawsuit alleging that advertisers violated antitrust law by colluding on an ad boycott after he took over Twitter, gutted content moderation teams, and disbanded the Trust and Safety Council. In her opinion, US District Judge Jane Boyle wrote that the lawsuit was dismissed because Musk failed to state a claim. His arguments that advertisers acted against their own best interests by avoiding advertising on his platform, now called X, did not plead facts showing that consumers were harmed. Without consumer harm, there can be no antitrust violation, the judge wrote, deeming the ad boycott perfectly legal.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI failed to convince a California federal ‌court to temporarily block the state’s law ‌requiring companies to disclose information about the data they use to train ​AI models. Nielsen’s Gracenote sues OpenAI over use of metadata in AI training. Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher sues tech companies over AI training in California federal court for allegedly misusing its content to train their ​artificial intelligence systems. The publisher said,Apple, Google, Nvidia, Meta Platforms, OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity ‌AI and Elon Musk’s xAI used pirated copies of its books to teach their chatbots to respond to human prompts.

U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn US judge rules that Meta must face an antitrust suit from shuttered app Phhhoto. The suit claims that Meta used its monopoly power to put the app out of business, a ​federal judge ruled. Phhhoto plausibly alleged ‌that Meta suppressed the visibility of the app’s animated photographs on Facebook and Instagram. Meta’s stock drops almost 8% after 2 court defeats where jurors in Santa Fe determined that Meta must pay $375 million in damages for misleading users about the safety of its social apps when it comes to children being targeted by online predators. Jurors in L.A. determined that Meta and YouTube will be required to pay a total of $6 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages, with Meta covering 70% of the amount. Meta is laying off hundreds of employees across multiple teams the cuts would affect Meta’s Reality Labs division responsible for the Metaverse, social media teams and recruiting ​operations.

OpenAI indefinitely pauses plans to release erotic chatbot and ‌has ⁠also abruptly canceled Sora and backed out of a $1Bn dollar Disney deal. Employees and investors have raised concerns about the ​effect of sexualized AI ​content on society.

Online privacy- not from data brokers, the cops, or the government

Apple will hide your email address from apps and websites, but not from the cops. According to court records, the FBI requested records from Apple earlier this month as part of an investigation into an email allegedly threatening Alexis Wilkins, the girlfriend of FBI director Kash Patel. Apple provided federal agents with the real identities of at least two customers who used one of the company’s privacy features designed to mask their email addresses from apps and websites.

Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester. A court record shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the FBI.

Your data is everywhere. The government is buying it without a warrant. At a Senate hearing ahead of Section 702 FISA reauthorization Sen. Ron Wyden asked FBI Director Kash Patel if he would commit to not buying Americans’ location data, which is usually obtained from cell phones. Patel declined to do so, instead saying the FBI “uses all tools” and “we do purchase commercially available information that’s consistent with the Constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us.”

Senate investigation led by Maggie Hassan forces 4 major companies to remove code that blocked consumers from finding privacy controls. The investigation revealed major data brokers allegedly hid opt-out pages from search engines, making it harder for consumers to stop data sales.

Weather Report

Democracy dying in the dark and in detention centers.

Public dashboards tracking how many people are held in ICE detention, and how many have died in custody, have gone several weeks without updates.

Hinds County sheriff, MDPS face lawsuit by Southern Poverty Law Center. The Southern Poverty Law Center has sued the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office for failing to release records on inmate deaths that have occurred at the Raymond Detention Center.

The Number of Families Being Held at Dilley Detention Center Has Plummeted. The population at Dilley dropped to 100 people, compared with over 900 in January. The shift follows weeks of mounting public pressure generated in part by the widespread publication of letters written by detained children.

Most of the state’s measles cases reported so far this year are inside the West Texas Detention Facility where four infected El Paso residents worked. This year, DSHS (Texas State Department Health) has reported 170 measles cases. Most were in federal facilities: 130 cases in WTDF, 15 cases in Camp East Montana and two cases in the South Texas Family Residential Center, the country’s only ICE facility holding children and their parents, in Dilley.

Data obtained by the Deportation Data Project via Freedom of Information Act request, shows many more detention facilities in Colorado than previously thought, including small, nondescript holding facilities like the one in a strip mall in Glenwood Springs.

At Camp East Montana in Texas, the nation’s largest ICE detention facility 911 calls reveal dangerous conditions in El Paso ICE detention center. The calls to 911 poured in from staff at a rate of nearly one a day for five months, each its own tale of pain and despair. Army base Fort Bliss, once the site of an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. DHS said it is re-evaluating the future of Camp East Montana just seven months after it opened at the Fort Bliss army base outside El Paso, Texas. The Fort Bliss facility was built and has been operated by Acquisition Logistics, a small government contractor out of Richmond, Virginia, that won the $1.2 billion ICE contract in July. The detention center houses almost 3,000 immigrants as of mid-February and the vast majority, 82%, have no criminal histories according to ICE data.

Dissent. Tax boycotts, and “Antifa”

Trial of nine people accused of orchestrating an attack on the immigration detention center in Alvarado. Assistant U.S. attorney Shawn Smith said the group followed Antifa tactics, including communicating through the encrypted Signal messaging app and wearing all black.

Some Americans are protesting the Trump administration by deliberately not paying their taxes. Refusing to pay federal taxes is illegal and can result in severe penalties, including fines and imprisonment. The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, an organization that supports efforts to withhold taxes that fund wars offer different methods of resistance, including a protest letter with your 1040 tax form and sending copies of that letter to elected officials if you are seeking an alternative to withholding tax payments.

Comedian Druski draws conservative backlash after dressing up as Erika Kirk in latest parody video titled: “How Conservative Women in America act.” Druski wears similar prosthetics and make-up, only this time appearing as a white woman. He portrays the character holding a mock press conference about the war in Iran, being interviewed while clutching a Bible, participating in a pilates class and ordering a “sweet cream foam chai iced matcha” at a drive-through.

Data Breeches: Secrets, Anonymous submissions, and dating profiles

Match Group settles FTC claims after it ‌gave an outside company unauthorized access to personal data including nearly 3 ​million photos, demographic information and location ​data belonging to millions of users ​of the OkCupid dating app. The data was be shared in 2014 with Clarifai, a facial recognition technology company, contrary to ​OkCupid’s privacy policies.

A new security report on AI companion apps found hardcoded cloud credentials, script injection into chat interfaces, and file theft. Aura breach and AI companion app flaws sharpen privacy fears
of vulnerabilities in apps where users share sexual content, relationship secrets, and emotional
disclosures.

Millions of Anonymous Student and Crime Tips Exposed in Major Data Breach A hacker group calling itself “Internet Yiff Machine” says it breached systems linked to P3 Global Intel, a platform widely used by law enforcement, schools, and government agencies to collect confidential tips. The group claims it stole more than 8 million submissions, amounting to roughly 93 gigabytes of data. The data spans from February 1987 to November 2025.

Stranded, Delayed, Unpaid: Partial Government Shutdown

DHS shutdown hurts families’ access to detention facilities, Democrat says families are reporting difficulty contacting detained family members and lawyers said both shutdowns have made it harder for them to reach or track their clients, or getting response from the agency to requests like for a temporary release.

Trump deployed ICE agents to the nation’s airports amid staffing shortages caused by the partial government shutdown. White House border czar Tom Homan is in charge of the new program on Fox News’ Hannity, Homan made it clear that targeting criminal activity was indeed a core component of ICE’s airport presence. “We’re doing a security function at the airports. We’re going to arrest criminals going through the airport. We’re going to arrest criminals going through this airport. We’re going to look for human trafficking, sex trafficking, money smuggling,” he said. Hundreds of flights delayed at O’Hare Airport due to ‘equipment outage’ from high winds.

Travelers faced the longest TSA wait times in history, after funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed last month, Transportation Security Administration TSA employees have been left to work without pay. Since then, more than 480 agents have quit, according to TSA’s deputy administrator, Ha Nguyen McNeill, and thousands more have called out of work each day.
Tyler Perry gives TSA workers $250K in Visa cards after cash tip fails. The ATL director tried to hand cash to TSA employees at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but was turned down due to federal rules. He later worked with the Transportation Security Administration to find another way to support them during the DHS shutdown. And so the actor and filmmaker ended up donating $250,000 worth of Visa gift cards to TSA workers at the Atlanta airport.

The current state of gender, racial hate and extremism

Planned Parenthood closing 2 Indianapolis clinics, citing changes to federal funding, including the loss of Medicaid reimbursements, Planned Parenthood estimated in 2024 that about half of patients receive care paid through either Medicaid or the Title X family planning program, which covers contraception and STI screening for low-income Americans. The Trump administration has moved to block the organization from receiving money from both streams.

Former Alex Jones producer exposed the production of false claims and conspiracy theories. Josh Owens spent four years in his 20s as a video editor and field producer for Jones and his media company. “In Jones’ world, it was all about making things look cinematic,” Owens says. “We would go out there, we would shoot videos and almost like Vice News — like, we were in the weeds, we were showing what was really going on. … But it was nonsense, it was lies.”

Blonde AI Army influencer is building audiences on TikTok, Instagram and X, where thousands of commenters have offered responses suggesting she is real. The fake influencer is named Jessica Foster and posts feature it in camouflage in the desert and walked a tarmac with President Donald Trump on the first day of the strikes on Iran. This is only the most high profile of a series of accounts showing AI-generated women masquerading as Trump-supporting soldiers, truckers and police officers. Hundreds of AI-generated videos showing Iranian female soldiers and pilots cheering on Iran’s military have proliferated online. Iran bans women from combat roles.

A coordinated bot and influencer campaign is targeting pop singer Chappell Roan with backlash content designed to attack her character. The original claims were false, yet a study that analyzed 100,030 posts generated by 54,334 unique users across seven platforms found that 4.21 percent of the activity originated from “non-typical” users who behave as “outlier, influencer, facilitator or hybrid types.”

Republicans gathered in Dallas on Saturday for the final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) the annual event known for high-profile appearances from the most prominent figures in the MAGA movement. Trump skipped CPAC this year for the first time in a decade. Prominent conservative figures like Matt Gaetz criticized the war in Iran, highlighting a rift in the party. Other high profile conservative activists such as: former British Prime Minister Liz Struss and Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, Former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, and CEO of My Pillow Mike Lindell were speakers at the event. Lindell who a federal judge in Minnesota ruled defamed an election technology company with his false claims of voter fraud, was served with what appeared to be legal documents on live tv.

Trump and Hegseth committing War crimes on America’s dime: Iran

The war escalates, despite 56% of Americans opposing U.S. military action in Iran. The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog chief says he does not believe the war in Iran can entirely eliminate the nation’s nuclear program, even if the main facilities are heavily damaged. Gulf allies privately make case to keep fighting led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are urging President Donald Trump to continue prosecuting the war against Iran, arguing that Tehran hasn’t been weakened enough by the monthlong U.S.-led bombing campaign

Trump threatens to ‘blow up’ desalination plants in Iran if no deal reached in a move that would threaten the water source for millions of people and that experts say would be illegal.
Iran names Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father as supreme leader. Khamenei is believed to hold views that are even more hard-line than his late father, and is now in charge of Iran’s armed forces and any decision regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. Political figures within Iran criticized the idea of handing over the supreme leader’s title based on heredity and thereby creating a clerical version of the rule of the shah, who was toppled during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran rejects Trump’s proposal to end the war and lays out 5 conditions and vowed to continue fighting until a list of Iran’s own conditions are met. Iran’s demands include war reparation payments and recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran calls US proposal to end war ‘maximalist, unreasonable’ Iran denies Trump’s claim that the U.S. is in talks with Iran to end the war Iran’s Foreign Ministry said, “There is no dialogue between Tehran and Washington.” China and Pakistan presented a new Iran deal: Ceasefire for opening Hormuz. The International Energy Agency recommended a massive release of strategic reserves to dampen one of the ​worst oil shocks since the 1970s. Iran tells world to get ready for oil at $200 a barrel as it fires on merchant ships.

Hackers join U.S. and Israel’s fight with Iran US medical device firm Stryker confirmed that it experienced a global network disruption to their Microsoft environment. Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 reported that dozens of pro-Iran hacktivist groups say they launched several cyberattacks, mostly targeting critical infrastructure. NoName057 teamed up with Iranian hacktivists on March 2 to target Israeli defense and municipal organizations, including defense contractor Elbit Systems. Israel hacked a popular Iranian prayer app to send notifications to potentially millions of phones last month, urging the country’s military personnel to defect from the regime.
A U.S. journalist is kidnapped in Iraq. Shelly Kittleson American freelance reporter for Al-Monitorwas kidnapped in Baghdad after threats by Iran-backed militias in the region against American citizens.

Good News

Resistance to Authoritarian Agenda reaches all 7 continents

Cuba received a shipment of humanitarian aid from the Nuestra America Convoy, a global coalition including nearly 300 organizations from more than 30 ​countries, among them non-governmental groups, unions, political parties and lawmakers. Cuba reported a nationwide power outage following a total electrical grid collapse. The shipment was organized to show global solidarity and circumvent the U.S. sanctions severely restricting shipments of ‌fuel and other goods to the island.

Trump tries to shrug off No Kings protests but the scale of the turnout is historic. Millions of American across all 50 states rallied against President Donald Trump and his authoritarian agenda during nationwide No Kings protests. Protesters were seen demonstrating outside Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. Organizers expected more than 9 million people to attend the events nationwide. Organizers said the first two events held in June and October of last year drew roughly 5 million and 7 million people, respectively.

All 7 Continents Hosted No Kings Protest small group of demonstrators holding a “No Kings” protest in Antarctica has gone viral on social media, fueling claims that opposition rallies against President Donald Trump’s policies took place on all seven continents.
May Day protests planned in LA following ‘No Kings’ demonstrations. Organizers “No Kings” protests that drew large crowds in downtown Los Angeles — and led to multiple arrests – were planning another round of demonstrations May 1 at MacArthur Park as part of a nationwide “Workers Over Billionaires” day of action. A coalition of labor and community groups, including the 50501 Movement, is organizing the event as part of what organizers describe as a coordinated show of economic and political protest.

Immigrants fight ICE detention in federal court and increasingly win. Freedom for Immigrants launches interactive map to track U.S. detention centers and connect families to resources. The new tool compiles information about ICE facilities and offices, resource providers, and news and updates sourced from the larger community. The map, created by Freedom for Immigrants, launched March 12 and compiles information about immigration detention facilities, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field offices, resource providers, and companies that profit from immigration detention.

Faith leaders push for access to ICE detention centers during Lent and Ramadan. Clergy are pushing for more access at detention centers, especially during the ongoing holy seasons of Lent and Ramadan.

A big step in the right direction: Reparations, Affirming Care, and believing victims

The U.S. Supreme Court overturns Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy in an 8–1 decision, ruling that it infringed on the First Amendment, thereby invalidating similar bans in 22 other states.

UN votes to recognise enslavement of Africans as ‘gravest crime against humanity’. a move advocates hope will pave the way for healing and justice. The proposal was adopted with 123 votes in favour and three against – the United States, Israel and Argentina. 52 countries abstained, including the UK and EU member states. The resolution – proposed by Ghana – called for this designation, while also urging UN member states to consider apologising for the slave trade and contributing to a reparations fund. The resolution also calls for cultural artefacts stolen during the colonial era to be returned to their countries of origin.

Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta said in a statement that Chavez, her co-founder of what became the United Farm Workers, coerced her into having sex with him once and, on another occasion, she was raped. Huerta, 95, said in her statement that she kept it “a secret” because she believed “exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.” Despite the fact that many consider Chavez to be a civil rights hero and a symbol of the longtime struggle for equality for Mexican Americans, several communities canceled Cesar Chavez Day activities to stand by his victims.

A U.S. civic court finds entertainer Bill Cosby liable for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 1972. The woman is awarded $59.25 million.

Building trust through transparency and community participation

Philly hosts initial Election Academy session to offer transparency to voters at the City Commissioner’s Elections Warehouse, where people were offered the opportunity to “tour the warehouse facility where voting machines, electronic poll books, and other critical election materials are prepared and stored.” Election officials also provided how the Election Day process unfolds, and how protocols are followed.

New voting machines ready for the primary elections after the voter is finished with selecting candidates and questions, they will be asked to print their ballot which will then be fed into a vote center scanner.The new process involves paper ballots, voters will have more confidence as they will cast their ballot themselves.

St. Louis County opens satellite voting sites for absentee voters for registered voters to cast an absentee ballot.

Oconto County hosts public voting test ahead of spring election giving voters a behind-the-scenes look at how ballots are counted and secured ahead of next week’s spring election. RightCount, a center-right election integrity group, joined with city officials as they ran a public test of their tabulators. The city clerk said state law requires these tests and they run different ballot scenarios to make sure the machines read votes the same way they will on election day.

Airport Security Wait Times cut as TSA workers finally receive paychecks for backpay for work during the government shutdown, which surpassed 45 days and has now broken the record set by last year’s funding lapse. Airports that reported four-hour lines are now experiencing wait times of 10 minutes or less.

Scientists captured first of its kind footage of female sperm whales working together during a birth to protect the calf Maalouf et alused high-density drone imaging and advanced network analyses to reveal the dynamics of a sperm whale birth in the Caribbean. They found that other females assisted the mother. Such assisted births have thus far only been seen in primates. This observation confirms the suspected social complexity of whales.

Actress and activist Jane Fonda joined journalists, musicians and writers outside Washington’s John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, urging US citizens to “stand tall against authoritarianism”. At a rally hosted by Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment, around a hundred invited guests gathered to hear speakers and singers rail against book bans, political censorship and other threats to free speech under Donald Trump. I personally left the event feeling re-energized to continue the fight against censorship and surveillance even bolder and with more conviction.

Horoscope

The month began with a Full Moon in Libra on the 1st. This lunation brings closure to relationships, legal issues, and creative projects. Mars moves into Aries on April 9th, bringing fiery energy. The New Moon on the 17th will also be in Aries. Shortly after on the 19th, the Sun moves into Taurus, bringing calm energy. Near the end of the month on the 24th, Venus moves into Gemini position signaling themes of fun, frivolity, and variety in your romantic life. Take this as your sign from the moon and the stars to pace yourself, be open to a positive shift in your romantic life, and use your fiery energy for good.

Until next month,
<3 Raelyn