War Talk
Week of June 13-19, 2025
Welcome to TRACKING THE CRISIS, a weekly round-up from The Democracy Collaborative tracking the administrative, legislative, and other actions of the new 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. TDC should not be understood as endorsing or otherwise any of the specific content of the information round-up.
TRUMP TRACKER: Administration actions
Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman assassinated, other lawmakers wounded, targeted by MAGA Christian extremist. In the early hours of Saturday, June 14, Minnesota Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot dead at their home in what appeared to be a ‘political assassination’ by Vince Boelter, a 57-year-old man posing as a police officer. Boelter also shot Democratic representative John Hoffman and his wife at their home, who were critically injured but survived and are recovering from their injuries. Boelter also reportedly visited two other lawmakers’ homes on the night of the shooting. The killings sent shockwaves throughout the nation, as Governor Tim Walz stated in a press conference that the shootings were “politically motivated.” A two-day manhunt for Boelter, the largest in state history, ended in a Sibley County field Sunday night as he was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. GOP Senator Mike Lee was blasted by fellow Senators and the public for implying on social media that the shooter was a leftist, a statement that was soon proven wrong as details of Boelter’s conservative political affiliations began to emerge. Friends of Boelter say he was a deeply religious evangelical conservative active in fringe Christian nationalist movements; footage posted on the Internet showed him speaking in support of MAGA and patriarchal ideologies. As Boelter appeared in federal court Monday, prosecutors divulged more details; police said the shootings were carefully planned and that Boelter had researched and conducted surveillance on the victims before carrying out the shooting. A manifesto and hit list found in his car revealed that he had hoped to ‘inflict fear’ through a killing spree of Democratic politicians, abortion providers, and other civic leaders and apparently also targeted Planned Parenthood clinics. The assassination has set lawmakers on edge, as political violence has surged in recent months; on Tuesday, June 17, Senators on Capitol Hill called for more security funding and resources to protect members of Congress. Trump, for his part, declined to call Gov. Walz after the killings and took to social media mocking Walz, calling Walz “whacked out” and saying that calling the Minnesota governor to send condolences on the assassination would be a “waste of time.” A spokesperson for Walz said that he had hoped Trump would “be a president for all Americans.”
NYC Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested, the latest in a series of ICE arrests of elected officials. On Tuesday, June 17, New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was ‘taken by masked agents and detained by ICE’ while accompanying a migrant at a federal immigration court in Manhattan. Video of the incident posted by Lander’s wife on social media shows him holding on to the migrant, calmly asking ICE agents to show him a judicial warrant as he is dragged through the hallway by masked men. Fellow mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani, Scott Stringer, Adrienne Adams, and Michael Blake appeared outside the federal building later that day calling for Lander’s release with community protestors. Lander was later released with no charges filed. At least five elected officials have been arrested or detained by ICE while protesting or conducting oversight of the Trump Administration’s deportation sweeps; the New York Times has provided a list and details of these arrests. California Senator Alex Padilla, who was handcuffed and detained last week at a press briefing held by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles, took to the Senate floor this week to recount his experience and send a warning to fellow lawmakers and Americans of “how quickly democratic norms can slip away when dissent is silenced and power is unchecked.” Padilla also wrote an op-ed in the New York Times this week blasting the Trump Administration’s abuses of power and called on ‘tens of millions’ of Americans to organize, saying: “If this administration is willing to handcuff a U.S. senator, imagine what it is willing to do to any American who dares to speak up…imagine what is already happening in communities across the country when the cameras are off.” Fellow Democratic lawmakers and at least one Republican spoke out against the arrests, as Republicans and Democrats traded barbs over responsibility for the deteriorating political climate; Rep. Jamie Raskin launched a House probe into Padilla’s ‘disgraceful’ arrest, calling for a formal FBI investigation. The DHS this week released new guidance requiring lawmakers to provide 72 hours’ notice before visiting ICE facilities, as well as barring any photo or video inside facilities; Democratic officials slammed the memo, citing the legal right of Congress, under the current Appropriations Act, to inspect any DHS facility without prior notice. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the Committee for Homeland Security, called the new DHS policy “an affront to the Constitution and federal law.”
Israel, Iran trade airstrikes; Trump gives two-week deadline for considering U.S. involvement. Thursday, June 19th marked the seventh day of hot conflict between Israel and Iran, as the two countries traded airstrikes that damaged infrastructure and left the world speculating whether the United States would again be actively involved in a Middle Eastern war and/or escalate the war into a wider regional conflict. Israel struck several targets in Iran, including oil refineries, nuclear facilities and Iran’s state TV studio during a live broadcast, and has reportedly ‘hollowed out’ Supreme Leader Khamenei’s inner circle; while Iranian missiles struck several targets in Tel Aviv and Haifa, including one hospital in southern Israel. Reuters has provided a running map of the conflict showing where the various airstrikes are occurring. While Israel condemned Iran’s bombing of the hospital as a violation of international law, others criticized the statement as ‘hypocrisy’ given that Israel has destroyed 36 hospitals in Gaza since October 7, 2023. While Trump initially opposed Israeli strikes on Iran, preferring a diplomatic solution to nuclear armament concerns, he shifted over the week towards support for Israel, signaling that U.S. forces “could get involved” but not committing to any course of action, saying “nobody knows” what he will decide. News outlets reported hints that Trump was considering or had already approved an attack plan against Iran without Congressional approval, as U.S. military assets were quietly shifted to the Middle East, reportedly focusing on the Strait of Hormuz. On Tuesday, June 17, Trump demanded ‘unconditional surrender’ from Iran on social media; but by Thursday appeared to have walked back his more hawkish stance, giving a timeline of two weeks before deciding on U.S. involvement in order to make more time for diplomatic efforts. Trump and Israeli officials insisted that Iran was ‘weeks away’ from developing a nuclear weapon, although previous U.S. intelligence reports found Iran’s capabilities to be ‘years away’ and the IAEA had found ‘no proof’ of a nuclear arms threat in Iran. IAEA head Rafael Grossi warned of the contamination dangers that could result if Israel critically damaged Iranian nuclear power facilities. Amid fears of U.S. involvement in another Iraq-style quagmire, Congressional Democrats were divided on the issue as AIPAC pressured lawmakers to support Israel; Senator Tim Kaine and Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna introduced War Powers resolutions in the Senate and House to block Trump from ‘another endless conflict’ in the Middle East, while House Democrat Brad Sherman faced criticism for introducing a resolution in the lower chamber to support Israeli forces. Iran stated that a potential Trump decision to join Israel’s campaign would be a ‘recipe for all-out war,’ as nuclear-armed Pakistan threatened to retaliate against Israel if Israel used nuclear weapons against Iran. Arab states scrambled to contain the regional fallout from the clash as European leaders planned talks with Iran on Friday, hoping for de-escalation and diplomatic solutions.
G7 Summit overshadowed by tariff, Iran war woes; Trump leaves early. Leaders of the ‘Group of Seven’ advanced capitalist nations met in Canada this week for the G7’s annual summit at what Canadian Prime Minister Carney called a ‘turning point in history’ overshadowed by Trump’s tariff threats and the Israel-Iran conflict. Canadian indigenous leader Steven Crowchild greeted the heads of state, although he said he was ‘full of rage’ and had ‘considered leaving’ before Trump arrived. On Monday, June 17, Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that they had reached a trade deal that would slash tariffs between the United States and Britain. Trump attended the summit for only one day, leaving Canada on Monday night to deal with the Israel-Iran conflict; before leaving, he signed a joint statement from the G7 calling for a ‘de-escalation’ of conflicts’ in the Middle East including a ceasefire in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Trump also used his time on Monday to urge the G7 to consider including China and re-instating Russia to the group. Trump left the summit without meeting with Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum and Ukrainian president Zelenskyy, leaving the G7 without any major official agreements on trade in advance of Trump’s July 8 tariff deadline, nor any official position on Ukraine going into the NATO summit later this month. The Financial Times reported that Trump had apparently left because he did not want to meet with Zelenskyy and was miffed with French president Macron, who had stopped in Greenland before the summit and pledged support against Trump’s aims to take over the island. Macron suggested that Trump had left to negotiate peace between Israel and Iran, which Trump slammed on social media as ‘lies’, calling Macron ‘publicity-seeking’. The six remaining leaders continued to meet on Tuesday without Trump, appearing ‘more natural’ according to some observers who noted that leaders had been ‘walking on eggshells’ around Trump. European leaders announced Tuesday that the EU was ‘close to making a deal’ for defense procurement with Canada, who had been seeking to reduce dependence on American products. The BBC lists five important takeaways to note from the G7 summit; and the Atlantic Council notes the significance of what did not happen as expected.
Trump’s involvement in Israel-Iran war creates major fissure in MAGA base; Tulsi Gabbard falls out of favor. As Trump weighs the prospect of U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, his openness to potentially committing the military to yet another Middle East conflict has caused a furor among a large segment of his ‘America First’ MAGA base, many of whom are ‘dead set’ against any war with Iran. Several pro-Trump pundits have lashed out against war with Iran, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Charlie Kirk, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon, and media personality Tucker Carlson, who confronted Sen. Ted Cruz on his show over his knowledge of Iran; Trump later called Carlson ‘kooky’ for his views. The Daily Beast reports that upon Trump’s early departure from the G7 summit, the White House has been ‘in overdrive’ to assuage the concerns of his anti-war base, which looks poised for an internal ‘civil war’ between traditional Republican hawks and MAGA isolationists over the issue. Time Magazine outlines the five major groups pressuring Trump in different directions regarding the war, and Al Jazeera provides a timeline of Trump’s shifting positions on war; while Truthout’s Schulyer Mitchell notes that Trump’s antiwar positions may have been a myth all along. Semafor reveals dissent within the Navy’s ranks as military assets are moved to the Middle East; Defense Secretary Hegseth demurred from taking a position during a Congressional hearing held earlier this week. Trump notably left Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard out of Iran planning meetings at Camp David, relying instead on more traditional war hawks. The apparent snub fueled speculation that Gabbard – whose antiwar views were briefly embraced by sectors of the progressive movement before her association with Trump – was ‘falling out of favor’ with the Trump regime. The Atlantic reports in-depth on Gabbard’s increasing distance from the Trump Administration for her stance against U.S. interventionism. Sources told CNN that Gabbard was considered ‘off message’ on foreign policy after she posted a video on June 10 warning against nuclear ‘warmongers’; and one White House official disclosed that Trump appeared “just kind of down on her in general” and is considering closing Gabbard’s entire Cabinet-level office, transferring the DNI’s responsibilities to the CIA.
Senate Republicans’ version of ‘Big, Beautiful’ tax bill unveiled, setting up conflict with House GOP. On Monday, June 16, the Senate Finance Committee released its set of proposed changes to the budget bill passed by the House in May, including several highly controversial measures that will garner stiff opposition from House GOP lawmakers; including a lowering of the proposed cap on the SALT (State and Local Tax) deduction to current levels, raising the debt limit by $5 trillion instead of $4 trillion in the House version, and over $100 billion of additional cuts to Medicaid – which, according to the Yale School of Public Health, would cost at least 51,000 lives per year. CNN has published a summary of the Senate’s major revisions. The Senate version of the bill would expand work requirements for Medicaid that would throw at least 11 million people off of healthcare benefits, and sharply limit provider taxes for states, crushing a major source of financial solvency for state budgets and rural hospitals. Senate Republicans are weighing a compromise proposal to create a ‘fund’ for state hospitals that they hope can sway party moderates with concerns over Medicaid cuts. The Senate version also provides OMB with a $100 million ‘war chest’ that would give the Trump Administration ‘carte blanche’ to pursue layoffs and reorganize federal departments without Congressional approval, and all but eliminate the estate tax. Like the House version, the Senate bill will also eliminate clean energy credits, but along a longer timeline. The Congressional Budget Office released a revision to its initial review of the House bill on Tuesday, June 17, projecting that the bill would raise the federal deficit by as much as $2.8-3.4 trillion, surpassing its initial estimate of $2.4 trillion in May. The CBO also concluded that the bill will make poor households poorer by approximately $1,600 per year, while making the rich richer by at least $12,000 per year. Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott (R-SC) blasted the CBO in a social media video filled with factual errors and embarrassing misrepresentations. While the reconciliation process eliminates Democrats’ pathway to opposition through the filibuster, some Senate Dems still hope to use procedural rules to try to revise or eliminate some of the bill’s most egregious provisions. The bill’s passage along party lines before the GOP’s ambitious July 4 deadline is still far from guaranteed, as the Senate’s changes have angered some House Republicans and alienated moderates. Semafor reports that Senators have been furiously lobbying Finance Chair Mike Crapo to make deals so the bill can pass to markup by early next week.
Immigration raids sweep Southern California as Trump targets Democratic cities, about-faces on raids in certain industries. While large mass protests against ICE have largely subsided in Los Angeles, community members continue to document, warn neighbors and confront ICE raids sweeping through large parts of the LA metro area, as undocumented community members are advised to stay off the streets. Many of LA’s street vendors have been taken, and in Hacienda Heights, ICE surrounded an apartment complex of 400 families who were afraid to go outside to work or buy food. Despite sanctuary policies mandating non-cooperation with ICE, reports are surfacing that local police departments are enabling mass deportations; LAist reports that California police departments are illegally sharing license plate data with ICE and Border Patrol. ICE has also reportedly detained Latino U.S. citizens in Southern California, raising concerns of racial profiling; videos posted on social media show ICE interrogating citizen Brian Gravidia at his workplace in Montebello, and citizen Adrian Andrew Martinez was taken into CBP custody after peacefully protesting a raid in Pico Rivera, with no further information on his whereabouts. U.S. Marines deployed in Los Angeles also briefly detained Marcos Leao, an Army veteran and naturalized U.S. citizen, in the first known detention of a civilian by military personnel. After this past weekend’s massive ‘No Kings’ protest rallies, Trump appears to be targeting Democratic cities that hosted the largest protests, ordering ICE to expand mass detention operations in Chicago and New York. The Pentagon deployed 700 additional troops to Florida, Louisiana, and Texas to assist ICE in processing detained migrants; 84 people were detained at a Louisiana racetrack this week, and roughly half of employees at an Omaha meatpacking plant were detained in the largest workplace raid in the city’s history. As ICE steps up workplace raids, businesses in the agricultural, construction and service sectors have sounded the alarm, with some companies warning the SEC of grave impacts. Having heard concerns from top donors, Trump on Monday ordered a temporary pause on workplace raids at farms and hotels, but reversed that guidance a day later, allowing raids in those industries to resume. On Thursday, June 19, an appeals court allowed the Trump Administration to retain control of the National Guard in Los Angeles, which has been deployed at a cost of $134 million. California Governor Gavin Newsom, in an interview with KCRA News, said that National Guard members were being pulled from critical wildfire disaster support to stand by on immigration raids as fire season begins in California; on Wednesday, Trump reiterated his threat to withhold billions in wildfire disaster relief to California and Los Angeles, which is still awaiting disaster recovery funding for the wildfires that destroyed Altadena and Pacific Palisades in January.
State Department to require review of international students’ social media, as Trump considers adding 36 countries to travel ban. The State Department restarted its visa application program for international students with stricter guidelines for social media; including a requirement that students make their social media profiles public to allow for State Department review and vetting. The new guidance, sent to foreign embassies on Wednesday, June 18, was condemned by civil liberties advocates who denounced the policy as an ‘attack on free speech’ and an ‘ideological purity test’ for those who wish to study in the United States. Many international students still inside the U.S. have canceled trips home in fear of being detained or interrogated upon re-entry; still others have begun to self-censor their public posts, chilling the exercise of free speech. Australian journalist Alistair Kitchen reported on social media that he was denied entry, detained and deported from the U.S. this week for his reporting on the Columbia student protests. Press advocacy organizations denounced the incident; PEN America issued a strong statement expressing grave concern over the issue, and the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterated that foreign journalists operating on U.S. soil are protected by First Amendment rights. The Washington Post this week published advice for foreign visitors on how to ‘lock down’ their phones and other devices before traveling to the United States. The Trump Administration also issued a memo this week with recommendations to add 36 more countries to the travel ban list; the policy outlines a 60-day deadline for countries to ‘conform with certain requirements’ or face a full or partial entry ban. The memo also states some ‘requirements’ can be mitigated if the country agrees to hold third-party migrants deported from the United States. The New York Times reported this week on the acute shortfall of medical personnel faced by hundreds of hospitals around the country due to the travel ban, which currently affects 19 countries; and Forbes weighs the impact of a travel ban from up to 48 countries on tourism for global events such as the World Cup and Olympics, which are both set to be hosted in the United States during Trump’s term.
Supreme Court partially upholds ban on gender-affirming care; Trump Administration announces shutdown of LGBTQ+ suicide hotline effective July 17. LGBTQIA+ youth in the U.S. suffered a double blow this week as the Supreme Court issued the landmark ruling now known as the ‘Skrmetti Decision’ that upholds state legislation banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors as constitutional. The ruling was made in response to a Tennessee lawsuit challenging the state’s policy, but now allows gender-affirming care bans in at least 25 states to continue. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 6-3 majority, acknowledged the ‘fierce scientific and policy debates’ around gender-affirming care but left decision-making to ‘elected representatives’, while Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion decried that the ruling ‘abandons transgender children and their families to political whims.’ Teen Vogue interviews families of transgender youth to illustrate what is at stake for parents and children affected by the ruling, and the New Republic considers the wider implications of the ruling for transgender adults, intersex people, and medical researchers and providers. While many Democratic lawmakers condemned the decision, most in party leadership stayed silent on the issue, signaling a retreat from prioritizing protection of the trans community. On Tuesday, June 17, the Trump Administration announced that it would be shutting down the LGBTQIA+ youth-focused unit of the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, cutting off access to specialized counseling for gay and trans youth experiencing crises. The Trevor Project, who currently runs the hotline, received a stop-work order from the Administration effective July 17. A statement from HHS said the hotline will “focus on serving all help seekers” and “no longer silo LGB+ youth services,” notably omitting the markers referring to transgender and queer individuals. The announcement was widely condemned by mental health professionals and LGBTQIA+ advocates; the Trevor Project launched an online petition protesting the closure that has collected over 31,000 signatures as of this writing.
Tracking the Money: crypto, corruption and the Trump Phone. A new report from the Center for Popular Democracy in Action details the specific ways in which billionaires and the oligarchic elite benefit from Trump policies – namely through profiteering from the Trump Administration’s deportation and surveillance regime. The report focuses on how the “top beneficiaries of Trump's assault on social services and his xenophobic, pro-corporate, anti-science policies are cashing in” while the majority of Americans face a harder struggle for basic needs and services such as adequate wages, healthcare, and Social Security. The New Republic released an in-depth historical analysis of the oligarchic capture of U.S. society and government; and the Guardian outlines the ‘extraordinary conflicts of interest’ that have characterized Trump’s second term. As war in the Middle East heats up and European nations pursue a massive rearmament push to reduce security dependence on the U.S., Lockheed Martin has tapped former Trump spokesperson Jalen Drummond as their new Vice President of corporate affairs as the company boasts projections of a “3- to 5-year surge in defense spending.” As the Trump Administration pushes its new Treasury-backed bitcoin registration program through the SEC, scrutiny has continued over Trump’s embrace of crypto deals, in what the Guardian calls an unprecedented example of ‘open corruption’. Politico details how Trump is building a crypto empire ‘out of thin air,’ and Forbes reports that crypto now comprises the majority of Trump’s personal fortune. In his latest financial disclosure report released this week, Trump raked in over $600 million in crypto, golf, and licensing fees in the 2024 fiscal year, with over $57 million revenue in crypto alone through his World Liberty Financial group. Trump’s sons this week unveiled a new crypto mining venture called American Bitcoin, with Eric Trump admitting outright that his father’s policies will give his company a “competitive advantage.” On Tuesday, June 17, the Senate passed the GENIUS Act, which creates a regulatory framework for digital assets known as stablecoins; economist Barry Eichengreen details in the New York Times how this legislation effectively unleashes economic chaos by opening a new ‘Wild West’ for a volatile crypto industry beset by crashes, crises, and gangland-style violence. Trump’s sons also announced the launch of the new ‘Trump Phone’ service this week, offering gold-tinted smartphones with wireless service contracts priced at $47.45 per month. The venture was soundly denounced by critics as ‘Trump family profiteering’ without limit, and raised conflict of interest concerns as the Trump Administration controls the FCC, which regulates wireless services. Shira Ovide of the Washington Post details her exasperating experience attempting to sign up for Trump Phone service; and though Trump touts the phones as being ‘American-made,’ the CEO of the sole American smartphone manufacturing company disputes the claim as ‘impossible’ given the global supply chain for materials. Analyst Mark Cuban speculates that the new Trump Phone may be a conduit for generating crypto fees, bringing the Trump corruption-and-profiteering system full circle.
MOVEMENT TRACKER
‘No Kings’ protests draw a total of 4-6 million people in one of the largest one-day actions in U.S. history. On Saturday, June 14, the ‘No Kings’ day of action brought huge crowds onto the streets in over 2,100 locations across the United States and overseas. Data guru G. Elliott Morris estimates that between 4 to 6 million people attended the protests in total, involving approximately 1-2% of the total U.S. population. By the numbers, the protest was potentially the largest in recent U.S. history, eclipsing the Women’s March of 2017. Wikipedia lists the ‘No Kings’ protest as the third largest ever in the United States, behind Earth Day in 1970 and the multi-day George Floyd protest wave in 2020. The turnout was bolstered by last week’s uprising in Los Angeles against sweeping ICE raids, which galvanized the American public against the Trump Administration’s deployment of U.S. military troops on domestic soil. More than 1 million people turned out on Boston Common for a single No Kings protest, and an estimated 10 percent of Seattle’s entire population came out on the streets for the protest. Some protests were met with small numbers of MAGA counterprotestors; in Atlanta, a group of Proud Boys was drowned out by a brass band playing the antifascist anthem “Bella Ciao.” The vast majority of the protests were peaceful, though one protestor was shot and killed in Salt Lake City by a security volunteer after they saw a fellow protestor adjusting his rifle and mistakenly perceived him as a threat. Various photo compilations of the protests were published on The Guardian, New Republic, AP, CNN, and on social media. The protests certainly dwarfed, by orders of magnitude, the attendance at Trump’s military parade, which was estimated by the White House at 250,000; other figures dispute the claim, putting the count at between 80,000 and 100,000. Trump’s parade was mocked by commentators for its lackluster turnout and appearance, with videos of tanks squeaking past a silent crowd; some veteran observers interpreted Army troops’ lack of marching precision as a subtle form of protest. Trump supposedly ‘reamed’ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for the underwhelming display. The massive ‘No Kings’ protest follows a near-constant wave of protest actions around the country that dwarf the number of protests at the same point during the first Trump Administration; blogger L.A. Kaufmann discusses the ubiquity of peaceful protests throughout the country and why it matters. Harvard scholars at the Crowd Counting Consortium discuss the current protest wave and how the nonviolent protest movement is accelerating in the United States.
Los Angeles Dodgers, community protestors drive ICE out of Dodger Stadium. On Thursday, June 19, ICE and CBP vehicles and agents were spotted staging at the Dodger Stadium parking lot in Los Angeles as crowds gathered at the stadium’s Gate E to protest. The official Dodgers social media account stated that the team had been contacted by ICE requesting permission to access the stadium parking lot, and was denied entry by the team’s organizing body. LAPD officers at the scene confirmed the presence of ICE and said “the Dodgers don’t want them in,” and later escorted the federal agents off of the stadium grounds. ICE officially denied that agents were at the stadium, although much documentation had already been posted online confirming their presence. The action came days after Nezza, a Latina singer, sang the national anthem in Spanish at a Dodger game despite the team’s objections; she had originally planned to sing in both Spanish and English, then decided to sing in only Spanish as she felt it was ‘the right thing to do’ in light of the anti-immigrant sweeps being conducted in the city. Immigrant rights activist Roberto Lovato published an account and analysis of the Los Angeles raids and protest wave of the last two weeks; Heat Wave magazine situates the protests within the proud and storied history of radical LA movements; and Chicana scholar Maga Miranda reframes the LA uprising not as an issue of ‘law and order,’ but as “righteous resistance to defend the sovereignty – and the soul – of Los Angeles.”
Immigrant solidarity and anti-ICE actions remain a strong grassroots bulwark against the Trump Administration’s mass deportation agenda. The recent spate of ICE raids and protests in Los Angeles has prompted communities across the country to step up direct grassroots community defense of immigrants at risk of being detained by ICE. Immigration courts have become a locus of both protest and community defense; NYC comptroller Brad Lander’s arrest as he accompanied a migrant at court is just one high-profile instance of community defense at immigration courts in major cities. In Chicago, solidarity contingents are organizing to show up daily to immigration courts, in some cases blocking ICE agents’ vans from leaving with detainees. Protestors gathered over the weekend at Atlanta immigration courts following the No Kings protest; and in Arizona, organizers are holding ‘Rush Hour Resistance’ rallies weekly outside Phoenix’s immigration court. In one instance, two brothers who are National Guard members showed up in uniform to accompany their mother to immigration court. At the University of Southern California, student and faculty volunteers at the Agents of Change Civil Rights Advocacy Center have established a hotline to assist migrants facing pending court dates with requests to move their court appointments online, allowing them to avoid potential arrest by ICE agents. Mother Jones reports on Fuerza, a rapid response network organized in Waltham, Massachusetts to protect their neighbors from ICE raids. Northern California group NorCal Resist is holding regular in-person and online bystander/observer trainings as well as know-your-rights workshops for at-risk migrants. In New York, ICE agents stalking an elementary school were faced down by angry residents, forcing ICE to make a hasty retreat which resulted in a car crash. A Los Angeles health clinic described their close encounter resisting ICE agents; and in Portland, hundreds of protestors have continuously protested at ICE facilities since June 11th. Even previously apolitical TikTok style accounts have taken up the cause; one fashion vlogger explained why it is important to protest the masking of ICE agents, as California lawmakers introduced legislation to ban law enforcement from wearing face coverings to conceal their identities. Senators Warren and Markey called for a Senate probe into the ‘escalating aggression’ of ICE agents conducting immigration raids; and a federal judge this week upheld migrants’ habeas corpus rights, requiring the Trump Administration to give a 21-day notice for migrants before proceeding with deportation.
Democrats in disarray as two labor union leaders resign from the DNC. Schisms within the Democratic Party deepened this week as two prominent labor leaders, representing over 3.2 million workers – Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, and Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – resigned from the Democratic National Committee this week, citing differences with DNC chair Ken Martin’s traditional insider approach at a time when, as Saunders said, “we must evolve to meet the urgency of this moment.” Martin’s ‘weak’ and ‘invisible’ leadership has been under siege for several weeks as donations have been dwindling, and especially since former DNC vice-chair David Hogg was forced out after raising over $20 million to unseat incumbent Democrats that are not perceived as doing enough to stand up to Trump. Bernie Sanders and seven Democratic senators have called for the DNC to ‘clean house’ and make a sharp break with the party’s wealthy donor base by banning SuperPAC and ‘dark money’ contributions from Democratic primaries, citing the outsized influence of corporate money and special interest groups in distorting the party’s mission. Progressives and the Democratic rank and file have been urging party leadership to get more confrontational against the Trump regime, including showing up to protest and potentially get arrested like Sen. Padilla or Newark mayor Ras Baraka. Dozens of Democrats have broken with party leadership in strongly opposing the war with Iran, which is opposed by 60% of the American electorate. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week indicates that 62% of Democratic voters want new leadership and see a deep disconnect between party priorities and the needs of the voting base. Many eyes are on the New York mayoral race between Andrew Cuomo and socialist challenger Zohran Mamdani as indicative of the struggle over the Democratic Party’s future.
Artists stand up with protest art, statements of resistance; NAACP declines to invite Trump in historic first. Amid the surge of protests against ICE raids, Teen Vogue profiles several celebrities that have spoken out against ICE, including Sabrina Carpenter, Jenna Ortega, Olivia Rodrigo, and more. Many celebrities also showed up in the streets this week to join the ‘No Kings’ and anti-ICE protests. ‘Sex and the City’ star and New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon spoke to Zeteo this week about her and her son’s participation in the Jewish Fast for Gaza hunger strike, as European dockworkers refused to load munitions shipments headed for Israel. Heart’s Nancy Wilson took to social media this week to slam Trump over the use of the song ‘Barracuda’ at his military parade without permission, saying that the song – which the band has characterized as a ‘rebuke of predatory men’ – is a “powerful piece of music that was never intended for political use.” Many of the songs played at Trump’s parade were instrumental versions of classic rock songs that artists have refused to give permission to use, including the classic antiwar anthem ‘Fortunate Son.’ On Monday, June 16, an eight-foot-tall protest statue titled “Dictator Approved” appeared on the National Mall; and rock climbers at California’s Tahoe Summit discovered an upside-down flag planted on the mountain in a sign of distress. The NAACP refused to invite Trump to its national convention, breaking a 116-year tradition of inviting sitting presidents to the annual gathering. NAACP President Derrick Johnson cited Trump’s policies, which have ‘set back civil rights’ and “continually undermines every pillar of our democracy.”
Online resistance gains steam through guides, coordinated and spontaneous actions. As more and more people are becoming involved in protest movements for the first time, organizations are responding with various ways to participate online as well as offline, as well as producing guides for first-time activists. While traditional ‘armchair’ actions such as writing lawmakers to oppose provisions in the budget bill and petitions for impeachment are being circulated, activists are also urging people to resist in their offline lives through protest as well as mutual aid and community support. General Strike US has published a print-ready ‘Beginner’s Guide to Neighborhood Mutual Aid and Defense’, part of a growing revival of zine culture in the face of social media surveillance. This week, Wired published a guide to online forms of resistance titled ‘How to Win a Fight’, while L.A. Taco offered an anti-surveillance makeup tutorial amid heavy law enforcement presence at LA’s anti-ICE protests. #Alt-Gov social media accounts are posting guides to legal help for federal employees facing cuts and layoffs, and uplifting activists’ recent use of ‘glitter-bomb’ tactics to cover ICE agents with glitter, which holds on tenaciously to clothing and can identify them for days afterward. Teen Vogue reports that kids are staging ICE raids and anti-ICE protests in the online multiplayer game Roblox as a sort of ‘emergent civic theatre’ for kids online. Transgender advocacy website Them.us has posted a list of mental health and mutual aid resources for trans youth navigating the aftermath of this week’s Skrmetti decision.
Upcoming protests and events.
Saturday, June 21: An emergency protest has been called in Los Angeles to demand the U.S. military out of Iran and LA, starting at 3pm in Pershing Square. More information can be found at https://tinyurl.com/EndorseLAOCIE
Saturday, June 21: DSA and Socialist Alternative have called for a rally at the Massachusetts State House to protect trans rights in the wake of the Skrmetti Decision. More information can be found here on the protest flyer.
Wednesday, June 25: #AltCDC has called for a ‘Parade of Preventable Diseases’ in front of CDC headquarters to protest the anti-vaxxers that have been appointed to the ACIP advisory committee. Participants are encouraged to wear infectious disease organism costumes. More information can be found on the protest flyer on Bluesky.
Saturday, June 28: #TeslaTakedown has called for a ‘Musk Must Fall’ day of action to protest Elon Musk on his birthday. More information and a map of local actions can be found at this link.
Saturday, June 28: The Mayday Coalition Project has called for a rally at Cincinnati’s Ziegler Park in support of LGBTQIA+ rights on the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. More information can be found at MayDayCoalitionProject.com.
Friday, July 4: The 50501 Movement has called for a ‘Free America’ Day of Action on Independence Day. More information and a list of local actions can be found at https://action.womensmarch.com/calendars/free-america-weekend .
Thursday, July 17: The No Kings coalition has called for a ‘Good Trouble Lives On’ Day of Action on the anniversary of John Lewis’ passing. More information and a map of local actions can be found at https://goodtroubleliveson.org/ .
Summer 2025: Stand Up for Science has called for organizing a variety of local actions as part of its Summer Fight for Science in America. More information, an organizer toolkit and a map of local actions can be found at https://act.standupforscience.net/event_campaigns/summer-fight .
Lawsuit updates.
The Supreme Court is expected to make several decisions on key Trump Administration policy cases before the end of its term on June 30. The Washington Post has published a tracker of SCOTUS cases for updates as they arise.
A federal judge in Massachusetts has blocked parts of Trump’s executive order requiring proof of citizenship for federal voter registration, via a preliminary injunction for a lawsuit filed against the order by 19 state Attorneys General. Trump issued the executive order after the SAVE act failed to pass the Senate last year.
In the first lawsuit against the Trump Administration to go to trial, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that several NIH grant terminations ordered by the Trump Administration are “void” and “illegal” in a victory for public health researchers.
The Los Angeles Press Club has filed suit against the LAPD for attacking journalists with ‘less-lethal munitions’ during the recent anti-ICE protests, alleging that LAPD used ‘excessive force’ against journalists exercising their First Amendment rights.
The American Bar Association sued the Trump Administration against its "executive orders designed to severely damage particular law firms and intimidate other firms and lawyers," in what the ABA described as Trump’s “law firm intimidation policy.”
U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued a preliminary injunction this week blocking the Trump Administration’s use of federal funds impoundment to force states and cities to comply with ICE operations. The suit was brought on behalf of 20 states against DOT Secretary Sean Duffy in May for threatening to cut funds to states who refuse to cooperate with ICE.
