Back to the Brink
Week of May 16-22, 2026
Welcome to TRACKING THE CRISIS, a weekly round-up from The Democracy Collaborative tracking the administrative, legislative, and other actions of the Trump Administration as well as the many forms of legal and movement response from across a broad range of social, political, and economic actors. TDC is providing this service for collective informational purposes, as a tool for understanding the times during a period of disorientingly rapid flux and change in the U.S. political economy. This round-up is produced by humans, not by Artificial Intelligence. TDC should not be understood as endorsing or otherwise any of the specific content of the information round-up.
Starting next week, TRACKING THE CRISIS will be published in conjunction with The Nation magazine.
TRUMP TRACKER: Administration actions
‘Summer is coming’: Trump gears up to launch renewed attacks on Iran, stymied by existential conundrum of Gulf States; Iran threatens United States with ‘wider’ conflict as parties continue to close on Pakistan-brokered diplomatic agreement. Tensions in the Persian Gulf are again driving the region to the brink of renewed war as Netanyahu flew to Mar-A-Lago to confer with Trump over last weekend on ‘major military action’ against Iran. As Israeli officials warned that a new wave of strikes on Iran was ‘imminent’, a mysterious explosion in the early hours of Sunday, May 17 rocked a factory near Beit Shemesh owned by Israeli defense company Tomer, which manufactures rocket motors for Israel’s Arrow missile defense system. Commentators and ex-intelligence analysts suspect that the explosion, which was explained by IDF officials to be a ‘pre-planned controlled test’ conducted in coordination with the defense company in the middle of the night with no advance warning to workers or nearby residents, was the result of a fire in the factory’s sodium perchlorate (rocket propellant) storage that may have wiped out a major stockpile of Arrow-3 interceptor missiles, the centerpiece of Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. In the same night, the United Arab Emirates, who had been attempting to urge Saudi Arabia and Qatar into a joint attack on Iran, suffered a blow to its infrastructure after a drone attack scored a direct hit on the UAE’s Barakah nuclear energy plant near Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia also reported intercepting three drones on Sunday as the IAEA warned of potentially catastrophic radioactive risks if either side follow through on threats of strikes on energy infrastructure. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal broke the story of an Iraqi shepherd who was killed upon discovering a secret Israeli base that had been constructed inside Iraq, which prompted Iraqi security forces to commence a major sweep of the country’s western regions for more evidence of secret bases. The UAE confirmed Monday that the three drones that came from over its western border – of which two were downed and the third hitting a power generator at the facility – originated from Iraq, presumably from a pro-Iranian proxy force; experts interpreted the attack as a ‘warning shot’ confirming Iran’s position of escalation dominance in the face of U.S./Israeli threats.
On Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he was calling off a major wave of U.S./Israeli attacks on Iran that had been planned for Tuesday, May 19 “at the request” of Gulf states Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. He said the postponement would also allow for ‘serious negotiations’ brokered by Pakistan to go forward, but that the U.S. military remains ready to resume hostilities “at a moment’s notice” should negotiations fail. Tehran also sent an official response Monday to the latest peace proposal from the United States, detailing its own demands for a lifting of sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian assets held abroad, and control over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said he was ‘not open’ to any concessions, and doubled down on his insistence that Iran promise not to develop nuclear weapons, a concession that Iran had already agreed to in the JCPOA before Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018. Experts noted that the differing priorities for negotiation held by each party to the conflict may be adding to the confusion in peace talks: while Iran has made its priorities clear, promising to further talks on the nuclear programme once initial conditions have been established, the Gulf states are focusing on the reopening of commerce in the Strait of Hormuz while Washington continues to double down on its demands on Iran’s nuclear capability, which some experts say is also influenced by the need for the United States to save face by claiming some sort of victory in negotiations before withdrawing from a hostile position. Iranian officials responded to the U.S. threat of imminent attack in several ways, as reports surfaced of Iranian plans to “continuously fire hundreds of missiles per day at Gulf energy infrastructure, refineries, ports, and water desalination plants as soon as the US resumes strikes.” President Pezeshkian reassured the international community that Iran “enters into dialogue with dignity, authority, and the preservation of the nation’s rights,” while warning that “under no circumstances will it retreat from the legal rights of the people and the country.” Messaging from Foreign Minister Araghchi warned that a resumption of hostilities would “feature many more surprises” from Iran, and the IRGC signaled it had the capability to take the conflict “beyond the region” should the United States and Israel break the ceasefire. Other sources say Trump was warned of the severe ‘reputational damage’ to the United States if it touched off regional hostilities during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which leads up to the Muslim holiday of Eid next week.
University of Tehran professor and commentator Seyed Mohammad Marandi, who advised the Iranian negotiation team during the JCPOA process and accompanied the team to Islamabad last month, made the rounds on legacy and alternative media this week to explain the context surrounding Trump’s reversal and the current deadlock holding up the resumption of attacks. The elephant in the room, Marandi explained, is the approaching summer heat, amplified by predicted climate-change driven temperature anomalies that will make life in the Gulf ‘impossible’ if civilian power infrastructure is taken out. As Iran has warned since before the conflict began, Marandi says the Iranian military has its finger on the trigger to commence strikes against Gulf states’ infrastructure should theirs be damaged or destroyed by the United States and Israel, which would render those territories ‘uninhabitable’ as temperatures climb over the summer months to levels that, in recent years, have broken planetary heat records. Climate scientists have warned that the ‘strongest El Niño in 140 years’ is currently developing and has been predicted for this coming summer, which would generate surface temperature anomalies estimated at up to +3 degrees Celsius over previous years in the Persian Gulf region. The elevated summer temperatures would also pose problems for the U.S. military in the event of a ground incursion of any size. The request from Gulf states for Trump to hold back on a U.S. attack, therefore, stem from the existential threat posed by Iranian retaliation and a long, hot summer while acknowledging that the United States and Israel ultimately hold responsibility for precipitating such a scenario. Without the capacity to support a workforce, it follows that Gulf states’ production capacity for oil and petroleum-derived products would similarly disappear, which would have global ramifications.
On Tuesday, numerous reports surfaced of a “prolonged, dramatic phone call” between Trump and Netanyahu, who was apparently pushing to resume the war sooner rather than later. After the reportedly “heated” conversation that left the Israeli prime minister’s “hair on fire,” Trump said Netanyahu will “do whatever I want him to do,” and said that he is in “no hurry” to make a deal with Iran. By Wednesday, Pakistan continued to work closely with both sides on high-level negotiations as Trump mused aloud if the United States should “go and finish it up, or are they going to be signing a document?” Iranian chief negotiator Ghalibaf sent a public message directed to the Iranian people, reassuring them that the armed forces have used the ceasefire to “rebuild their strength.” Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, blasted the UN Security Council for failing to stop the U.S./Israeli attack on Iran, saying that Trump’s rhetoric “sets a dangerous precedent” and exhorting that the body “must not remain silent or indifferent to the repeated and daily baseless threats made by the president of the United States against Iran.” Trump told reporters the United States and Iran are “right on the borderline” between reaching a deal or resuming the war, saying: “Hopefully, those people will make a deal that will be great for everybody, but I don’t know …If I can save people from getting killed by waiting a couple of days, I think it is a great thing to do.”
As of Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated “good signs” coming from the mediated peace talks with Iran, but reporting from other sources began to tell a different story, once again sticking on the nuclear question and the U.S. insistence on obtaining Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, which some observers claim is a ‘poison pill’ pushed on the United States by Israel to derail any prospect of peace. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei made an intervention Thursday by issuing a directive that stated unequivocally that Iran’s enriched uranium must stay on Iranian soil, drawing a line in the sand and defying Washington and Tel Aviv’s primary demand in the negotiations. As talks appeared to collapse once again and observed military asset movements in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz indicated mobilization towards a resumption of hostilities, Iranian parliamentary speaker Ghalibaf, who had left the negotiating team to become special envoy to China, was reappointed to the team Thursday as Pakistan’s Field Marshal Munir and a Qatari delegation flew to Tehran in an attempt to recover what was left of the negotiations, as Israeli media began spreading news of a possible ‘surprise attack’ coming from Iran. Ghalibaf outlined the potential human costs of U.S. intransigence on X, where he quoted a passage from JD Vance’s book Hillbilly Elegy in which Vance described “being trapped in two unwinnable wars,” after which Ghalibaf commented: “Hillbilly 2 incoming. America's poor & forgotten will foot the bill for the broligarchs, [Jamie] Dimon the demon, and the beltway war merchants.” Experts say a deal can be within reach if the United States can show some flexibility on the nuclear program.
House Speaker Mike Johnson abruptly cancels Iran War Powers Resolution vote, takes House into recess as Republican defections threaten to curb Trump’s war momentum. After seven failed attempts to use Congress’ War Powers to curb Trump’s military hostilities against Iran, the Senate voted 50-47 on Tuesday to advance a War Powers resolution to stop the U.S./Israel war against Iran, after four Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats on the issue. A key defection that made the vote possible was that of Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who had just lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger. The other Republicans who flipped sides to advance the resolution were Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has opposed the war on Iran from the start. Democrat Sen. John Fetterman voted with most Republicans to oppose the measure; his chief of staff, Cabelle St. John, submitted her resignation shortly after the vote, the third to resign since 2023 as the controversial senator has struggled to retain staff. St John’s departure also comes just before a major New York Magazine expose on the senator’s deepening ties with Israel. Republican Senators John Cornyn, Thom Tillis and Tommy Tuberville sat out the vote, which allowed the measure to pass; Cornyn was in Texas fighting his own primary battle against Trump-backed Ken Paxton, and Tillis, who is set to retire this year, said he would not vote for the War Powers resolution but also elected not to participate in the vote, which some commentators say was a quiet revolt against the Trump Administration, with whom Tillis has clashed on several issues in recent months. Commentators say the fateful Senate vote reflects a growing frustration in Republican support for the Trump agenda and a rebuke against Trump for the war, which is widely opposed by a majority of American voters across the political spectrum. Others say Majority Leader Thune ‘allowed’ the vote to pass in a quiet rebuke to Trump for the president’s failure to back John Cornyn’s re-election bid in Texas, which points to other internal schisms within the GOP that have been influencing the process.
As the War Powers resolution was scheduled to hit the House floor on Thursday, House Republican leaders abruptly canceled the vote after it became clear that the GOP pro-war camp lacked the votes to defeat the measure. Speaker Johnson gaveled the House into an early Memorial Day recess to avoid a “political embarrassment for Trump,” thus punting advancement of the war powers measure into June. According to the New York Times, the decision to shelve the vote was made after House Republicans “lost control of the floor during an earlier unrelated vote, with several of their members defecting and several more absent.” With the House in chaos, “leaders wary of risking another public defeat on a far more politically consequential vote abruptly scrapped the Iran war measure.” The margin of error on the House war powers vote has gradually been narrowing over the last few attempts, with a defeat last week barely squeaking by on a dead heat; Democrat Rep. Jared Golden voted against the measure then, but indicated he would not repeat the same vote the next time it came up. CBS News reports that for several House Republicans, the question of Congressional authority to declare war has become a paramount issue as the 60-day time limit for executive action has expired. The Trump Administration asserts that the days under ceasefire do not count towards the 60-day total, and has prepared to treat any renewed attacks as a new operation in order to skirt the War Powers time requirement. Arizona veterans rallied Wednesday to urge Congressional Republicans to vote for the measure as its Democratic sponsor, Rep. Gregory Meeks, confirmed that he had the votes from Republicans to pass the measure; however, he declined to specify who had committed to cross the aisle to vote yes, saying “who knows what kind of threats or whatever they may get while we’re on this recess… I don’t trust the Republican leadership.”
House Democrats erupted after the cancellation of the vote; Rep. Jim McGovern put his objection on record as he asked on the House floor, “what has happened with the Iran War Powers Resolution? (...) Are we not voting on it because the American people are sick and tired of this illegal war that is costing tens of billions of dollars?” and rebuked his Republican colleagues for not having the “guts” to put the resolution to a vote. Meeks reported that “we had the votes without question and they knew it, and as a result they’re playing a political game.” Three leaders of the Democratic Caucus, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Reps. Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar, released a statement calling the decision to punt the vote “cowardly,” decrying the Republican-controlled House as a “wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trump Administration.” Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick told Politico that “the next time they bring [the War Powers measure], it’s passing.” Another Republican expected to vote for the measure is Rep. Don Bacon, a normally pro-interventionist centrist who feels compelled to vote because “the constitution and Article One authorities” of Congress should be preserved. The Republican turnabouts also appear as a continued embarrassment for Speaker Johnson, who is increasingly coming under fire for continuing to act as an uncritical ‘yes man’ for the Trump Administration. When the House returns to session next week, the War Powers vote is but one hurdle for Johnson, as funding for Trump’s ballroom and an ethics resolution on Congressional misconduct are also set for a vote.
Strait Dealings: Nations quietly approach Iran to make deals for passage through the Strait of Hormuz as Iran seeks international legitimacy for its control over the critical chokepoint. On Monday, May 18, the Islamic Republic of Iran officially announced the formation of a new agency, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, in a bid to regularize traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and gain international legitimacy for its claim of territorial sovereignty over the critical waterway. The announcement comes a little more than ten days after Foreign Minister Araghchi declared the Strait was open to all vessels willing to work with the Iranian navy for passage, with the exception of vessels belonging to nations currently at war with Iran. The IRGC released a map on May 4 defining the ‘controlled maritime zone’ over which it asserts control, which extends from the western tip of Qeshm Island in the west to Mount Mobarak in the east, and southward to points near the Emirati ports of Fujairah and Umm al-Quwain. Iran also issued guidelines for coordinating and obtaining authorization for passage through the maritime zone through an official “Vessel Information Declaration” application sent via email correspondence to info@pgsa.ir. Applicant vessels who pass the screening will now receive an email with instructions with “mandatory transit instructions and ‘safe passage’ rules that must be followed to enter the strait.” The agency also established an official X account through which it plans to share “real‑time updates on the #Hormuz_Strait operations and latest developments.” The agency is also reportedly implementing a multi-tiered system of fees for transit, to be paid in Chinese yuan or digital currencies. To be in compliance with international law, the PGSA charges the fees as a ‘security service’ to ensure authorized ships pass safely through the waterway; all others attempting to traverse the strait without authorization “will be considered illegal.” The IRGC released footage of drone strikes on a tanker that was ordered as a ‘punishment’ for not obeying the new rules of the ‘controlled maritime zone’. All Israeli-linked vessels are banned, and U.S. ships are severely restricted under the new authority. Iranian officials have also said that it maintains an additional restriction on “enemy” military equipment being conveyed through the Strait.
Despite Trump’s claim this week that the U.S. blockade maintains a “steel wall” around the Strait of Hormuz, several vessels have successfully traversed the Strait under the new PGSA authority, including at least three Qatari LNG tankers headed for China and three supertankers carrying at least 6 million barrels of oil headed for Asian markets. On Wednesday, May 20, the IRGC announced that it had safely escorted at least 26 vessels using the new guidelines in the preceding 24 hours, including a Chinese-flagged tanker that had filled up with 2 million barrels of oil the day before the war broke out on February 28. By Friday, the IRGC reported that 35 vessels successfully navigated the Strait in a 24-hour period between Thursday and Friday, including ships from South Korea, China, Russia, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, all of whom have secured bilateral passage agreements or exemptions. On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that the all-Filipino crew of a Greek vessel that attempted to traverse the Strait without permission was met with a ‘hail of bullets’ from small Iranian speedboats. Iran is also reportedly in talks with Oman to partner on a tolling system where revenue would be shared between the two countries. Iranian news agency Fars also reported that Tehran is also planning to offer insurance for maritime cargoes traversing the strait in coordination with the PGSA, with payments settled in cryptocurrency.
The United States, which continues to maintain its blockade of the blockade around 200 miles afield of the Strait itself in the Sea of Oman and Arabian Sea, has rejected the idea of Iran’s authority over the new maritime zone. Trump told reporters on Thursday that the United States maintains “total control” over the waterway, saying that “we want it open. We want it free. We don’t want tolls. It’s international. It’s an international waterway.” Marco Rubio also issued a warning against legitimizing the Iranian tolling system this week, saying that imposing tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz is “unacceptable” and a “threat to the world,”and called for a “Plan B” for re-opening the Strait, saying he has been in talks with NATO about a possible mission to escort ships still stranded if the waterway is not fully opened by July.NATO chief Mark Rutte has decried the new Iranian system as a “direct assault on freedom of navigation,” although it is in part modeled after the Egyptian-controlled state tolling system that presides over the man-made Suez Canal. The European Union has amended its sanctions framework to allow for possible sanctions against Iran for “undermining the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, notes that despite the saber rattling from Europe, Iran has been in discussions with several countries on bilateral agreements, including European countries, and that it “may be that more and more countries are going to reluctantly react to the facts on the ground,”especially given that China has “basically signalled” its willingness to pay the administrative fee; he concluded that if China “signs up for this, then that would be significant, and you could get a kind of domino effect.”
Experts warn Cuba invasion imminent as federal indictment issued against Raul Castro. The United States escalated its rhetoric towards Cuba this week as 94-year-old Raul Castro was indicted in a Miami courtroom this week on charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft, stemming from a 1996 incident in which the Cuban military shot down two civilian aircraft operating in the Florida Straits. Castro was Cuba’s Defense Minister at the time of the incident. Officials and observers note that the indictment may be setting up the United States for an imminent Maduro-style abduction and regime change attempt on the island in the coming days or weeks, with the indictment used as a pretext for military action. The Guardian reports widespread outrage in Havana at the indictment and the implied threat of military action against Cuba, despite prior divisions among the population in regards to the current regime. Democracy Now! reports growing anger at Washington among Cuban residents as a result of the intensified fuel blockade that has been imposed since early in the year, seen as a “collective punishment of a population, particularly targeting poor communities, pregnant women, children and the elderly.” If the indictment was meant on the part of the United States government to destabilize the regime, Cuban officials countered by rallying around Castro in a flurry of articles and social media posts depicting Castro’s life and contribution to the revolutionary process in Cuba. On May 1, Castro was presented with a book containing over 6 million signatures – over two-thirds of the Cuban population – demonstrating popular will to defend the country against a U.S. invasion.
Indicators of imminent military action are growing as the USS Nimitz carrier strike group entered the Caribbean this week and more U.S. military jets and drones have been tracked operating near Cuban airspace. Some analysts argue that Cuba is not altogether helpless against a U.S. invasion, citing long-standing social arrangements that are being revived as the population girds for a possible attack. Axios also reports that military intelligence sources say Cuba has acquired at least 300 drones that may be utilized in a retaliatory attack on the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay. Rubio doubled down on the military pretext rhetoric this week, saying that Cuba presents a “national security threat” to the United States, saying to reporters Thursday that while diplomacy “remains our preference with Cuba,” he cautioned, “I’m just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we’re dealing with right now, is not high.” Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez accused Rubio of “lies,” saying that the island nation has “never posed a threat to the U.S.” and disputed Rubio’s Iran-esque contention that Cuba is “one of the leading sponsors of terrorism in the entire region.” In a post on X, Rodriguez said Rubio and the Trump Administration is trying to “instigate a military aggression” and accused the U.S. government of “ruthlessly and systematically” attacking his country. Since the total fuel blockade was imposed on Cuba earlier this year, the population has struggled with rolling blackouts, food shortages, and lack of access to vital medicine.
MOVEMENT TRACKER
Israeli interception, mistreatment of Global Sumud Flotilla activists sparks major international incident, as patience with Israeli tactics wears thin. Israeli military forces intercepted all 50 boats associated with the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla off the coast of Cyprus this week, taking into custody 430 activists, including delegations from 56 countries who sailed on the mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians behind the Israeli blockade. Most of the activists were deported to Turkiye on Thursday after several days in Israeli custody, as Ankara arranged for doctors and ambulances to treat participants. Over the week, horror stories emerged of the activists’ mistreatment in Israeli custody, which included physical and psychological abuse. 53 activists arrived in Turkiye with injuries, with 14 remaining in Turkish hospitals as of Friday. U.S. activist Alex Colton told Democracy Now! that “in one of the prison boats, 35 people suffered fractures to their ribs. People said there was at least 12 sexual assaults that took place. People were tased. Me personally, I was kept in cuffs, where I can’t feel my hands anymore. I was kicked in the ribs multiple times.” At least 15 activists reported having suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Israeli forces. Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir drew universal condemnation, including from within the Israeli government, for a viral video showing him and other far-right supporters abusing handcuffed activists, who were forced to kneel face-down on the ground with their hands bound as their Israeli captors taunted them by shoving them, shouting in their faces, poking them with flagpoles, and subjected them to other abusive behaviors. Even Prime Minister Netanyahu was forced to distance himself from Ben-Gvir’s behavior, insisting that Ben-Gvir’s actions were “not in line with Israeli values and norms,” although many commentators note that sentiments similar to Ben-Gvir’s are widespread among the Israeli political class.
Eleven countries have summoned their Israeli ambassadors over the treatment depicted in the video, including the UK, Italy, Poland, Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Israel’s Prison Service defended their treatment of the prisoners, saying that prison staff “acted by procedure” in regards to the abducted activists. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the activists’ mistreatment “abominable,” and said that officials will “demand assurances regarding the safety and security of Canadians involved.” Mass protests broke out around the world in response to the interception of the flotilla and the abduction and treatment of activists, including across Europe. In Italy, a nationwide general strike took place on Monday in solidarity with the activists, with unions reporting involvement of 70-100% of their rank and file. Italy has demanded an official apology from Israel, as Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani contacted European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, requesting that sanctions against Ben-Gvir be discussed at the bloc’s next meeting of foreign ministers. In contrast, the United States issued sanctions against four of the Flotilla’s organizers on Tuesday, accusing them without evidence of trying to reach the Palestinian territory “in support of Hamas.” The UK’s Foreign Office broke its longstanding silence on the issue of Gaza with a brief statement to families of activists, saying: “We are closely engaging with Israeli authorities with the expectation that the situation will be resolved safely and in line with international law.” It added that “efforts to deliver aid by sea highlight the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. Israel must do more to allow sufficient aid into Gaza in line with agreed minimum targets set out in the 20-point plan.”
Hunger Strike underway at California’s Adelanto ICE detention facility, protesting dire conditions at ICE facilities found nationwide. Immigrant rights groups, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), announced Wednesday at a press conference that a group of detained migrants have begun a hunger strike at the Desert View Annex adjacent to Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California’s Mojave Desert, owned and operated by private for-profit prison company Geo Group. Per an LAist report, the hunger strikers’ demands include: remediation of mold and repair of water infrastructure; clean water and functioning facilities; timely medical appointments, “appropriate treatment for chronic conditions” and “substantive mental health support”; a “diet that sustains basic physical health”; accountability for detainee deaths, including a man who died shortly after being released; and “the ability to meet collectively, speak with outside advocates, and communicate with family and the public without interference or retaliation.” Earlier this year, CHIRLA, along with a coalition of immigrant advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit on behalf of detainees asking for conditions at Adelanto to be improved. The strike comes shortly after California State Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a fifth report last week on conditions inside California ICE detention facilities, where he decried the conditions in the facilities as “cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable.” In the report, California’s Department of Justice “identified multiple violations of ICE’s own detention standards relating to conditions of confinement and basic medical health care at all seven active facilities in 2025,” including “inadequate medical care, delay in medical treatment, overcrowding, inadequate food, excessive use of force by detention facility guards, and inadequate clothing, violating standards such as those guaranteeing nutritious meals, an adequate environment, reasonable uses of force, and adequate medical care.”
The Adelanto facility has a long history of detainee hunger strikes over detainee conditions, as reported on by the LA Times in 2015 and 2017, and the Desert Sun in 2020. Six people have died in ICE detention facilities in California so far this year; four were at Adelanto. The facility is currently at the center of a federal class action lawsuit filed in January, alleging similarly miserable conditions described by hunger strikers. LAist reported earlier this month on conditions at Adelanto, highlighting detainee allegations of excessive and retaliatory use of solitary confinement as a punishment. In April, LAist reported that the Adelanto facility’s use of solitary confinement was among the 10 highest in U.S. facilities. Detainees at Adelanto were quoted as saying that staff have put up posters inviting detainees to self-deport. Nationwide, conditions at ICE facilities are similarly deteriorating, as suicides reported at facilities are on the rise and documented 911 calls from ICE facilities indicate rising rates of serious self-harm among detainees. When asked for comment on the hunger strike by the LA Times, a spokesperson for DHS claimed there is no hunger strike at Adelanto, adding that “In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”
Federal charges dropped against Chicago’s ‘Broadview 6’ activists. All remaining charges have been abruptly dropped against the “Broadview 6,” a group of protesters arrested in Chicago during last year’s ICE “Midway Blitz” campaign, just days before the case was set to go to trial. The dismissal came following a closed-door hearing Thursday morning to review federal prosecutors’ redaction of previous grand jury transcripts, which “revealed that an initial grand jury refused to indict the defendants, and the case was later presented again after prosecutors kicked out certain grand jury members who disagreed with the case.” U.S. District Judge April Perry minced no words with the prosecutors as she handed down her opinion in dismissing the charges, saying she was “incredibly shocked” by the federal government’s redactions, and added that she had never seen the “types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts.” Two days after the dismissal, Judge Perry demanded the appearance in her courtroom of “any prosecutor who participated in the decision to redact portions” of the transcript, “whether on the trial team or at the supervisory level.” Judge Perry dismissed the charges with prejudice, meaning that they cannot be refiled; she is also considering holding a hearing on possible sanctions for the U.S. attorney’s office over the actions of the prosecutors involved. Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros declined to dispute the charges in a rare admission of “significant errors” on the part of federal prosecutors, and said Friday that his office will be reviewing grand jury presentations of similar charges against protestors for other incidents of misconduct. The Broadview Six, which included former Congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, were initially charged with felony conspiracy charges carrying a maximum sentence of six years in prison after they surrounded an ICE agent’s car in the Chicago suburb of Broadview in September in an attempt to slow it down. It was alleged the protesters “pushed and scratched and otherwise damaged” the vehicle, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
