Activism in Action – National News Roundup

Year 10, Weeks 1-2 (January 25–February 7)

February 10, 2026 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Yes, you read that right–we’re now entering our tenth year of this song and dance. Things nobody tells you about your thirties, partial list: That you’ll run a weekly accessible news digest for literally all of them. Adulting, amirite?

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be beginning my tenth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. At this point, NNR summaries will merely toe-dip into other topics, if that–we are committed to a focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news

Chinga La Migra

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Nightmare in Minneapolis Continues. Though Trump announced that 700 ICE officers were leaving Minneapolis during this cycle, there are still thousands of officers there, and stories out of the city continue. A few outlets picked up a story about a man in ICE custody who presented to a local hospital with eight skull fractures on the front, back, and sides of his skull; the ICU staff were understandably extremely dubious when ICE officials claimed he ran into a wall. Public teachers in the city are also suing ICE to keep them out of schools, as their presence is resulting in student disappearances and forced truancy. And, of course, there was that U.S. Attorney who told a judge her job sucks and wanted to be held in contempt so that she could sleep. (Needless to say, she’s not working in Minneapolis anymore.)
Spotlight on ICE. There were a lot of ICE-related stories I wasn’t able to fit into the last cycle’s roundup, and several of them have since grown extra heads. There has rightfully been a lot of attention paid to children in detention this cycle, as Liam Conejo Ramos puts the issue firmly in the public eye. ProPublica ran a heartbreaking feature on children in Dilley Detention Center, many of whom are being illegally held for months on end; the piece details unsafe food and water, insufficient medical care, and gatekept education that only lasts an hour per day even when children do get in. Another ICE facility in Texas was in the news because of allegations that its officers are physically and sexually assaulting underage detainees. Yet another ICE facility in Texas was in the news for deporting witnesses who saw officers murdering a fellow detainee. And in Portland, Oregon–where ICE allegedly withdrew but locals report they are still there–a judge has restrained them from using tear gas for 14 days, because they keep assaulting tenants in nearby buildings and children at memorial services. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of Congressional pushes for accountability right now, and no long-term DHS funding bill has been passed despite another deadline coming up on Friday.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

There’s still a lot going on at DHHS, and all of it sucks. In the wake of his special, very smart “health plan,” Trump released a drug discount website, which literally just gives people coupons and tells them to go buy medications directly from drug companies. (Fun fact: Most of the drugs involved are also available as generics at a rate lower than the website can provide.) Meanwhile, in a truly unforeseeable turn of events, telling people not to vaccinate their kids has led to a massive measles outbreak in South Carolina–in fact, it has become the biggest outbreak we’ve seen since measles were eliminated in 2000. There is concern that a March for Life rally in DC at the end of January may have been a superspreader event, which has prompted head of CMS Mehmet Oz (God I hate typing that phrase) to tell people to vaccinate. This, however, has still not stopped the administration from going after COVID vaccines.

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Establishment vs Press. Former CNN anchor and investigative journalist Don Lemon was arrested for covering a protest at a church in Minnesota earlier this month–even though a magistrate threw out the administration’s attempt to issue misdemeanor charges, Bondi got a grand jury to indict him on nebulous felony charges. For context it’s very rare for a magistrate judge to refuse to issue a misdemeanor charge. In this case, it likely happened due to overwhelming evidence that this famous news person was exercising his First Amendment right to do news things about a developing story. (It turns out, when you’re an investigative journalist covering something, you often film the whole thing, and also tell the camera that you’re there covering something.) Folks, I’m sure many of you reading already know this, but I seriously cannot overstress just how unusual and disturbing this story is.
A Gabbard in Georgia. In other unusual and probably illegal news, the FBI conducted a search and seized records from election headquarters in Fulton, Georgia this week, claiming for the zillionth time that there was somehow election fraud even though literally nothing substantiates this claim. That would be bad enough, but Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was also there during the search because… reasons? Even (perhaps especially) if it’s true that Trump told her to, as she claims, it is both far beyond the Chief of Intelligence’s purview and an egregious abuse of power to have her participate in a domestic investigation like this–which is probably why Democrats Democrats demanded she explain her involvement. Meanwhile, Trump is demanding that Republicans “nationalize” voting and “the federal government should get involved.” Nobody’s really fully sure what that means, but we do know that federal involvement of any type is flagrantly unconstitutional. The running theory is that he’s referring to the SAVE Act, which both doesn’t do that and also is a terrible plan.

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Bad Bunny’s Superbowl Halftime Show. I am genuinely not kidding when I say that Bad Bunny’s Superbowl halftime show will help you push back the abyss for a little while–it was an incredible piece of activism. Yes, his set was entirely in Spanish, but I promise that it’s accessible and moving even if you don’t speak una palabra of the language. (Also, Lady Gaga pops up in the middle to sing some English at you.) It has compassion, it has joy, it even has a couple getting married (for real!) in the middle of it. Seriously, just go watch it. And then look up all of the cultural references that he and his consulting historian managed to squeeze in.

_{‘Discord That’s All Folks’ licensed to the public under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License}

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this daring dear rescue and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 9, Weeks 51-52 (January 11-24)

January 27, 2026January 27, 2026 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Minneapolis has been on most of our minds this month, for good reason. But the stories coming out of there are so big, that it can be hard to see how they interconnect. We’re going to spend some time looking at how this cycle’s stories link together–not because it makes the stories any easier to stomach, but because it’s important to see the bigger picture.

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be closing out my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not SAMHSA funding!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Nightmares in Minneapolis

‘_{‘RoboKruger’ by Si2productions, released to the public domain by its creator}

Murder Filmed in Broad Daylight. By now, most folks have likely heard about Renee Good, who was shot three times while leaving an ICE encounter in her car, and Alex Pretti, who was shot ten times after trying to help a fellow protester. Both cases are horrifying abuses of power, but it’s also important to note how the federal government is handling the aftermath. Both Good’s and Pretti’s murders were filmed from several angles, and these videos have become widely available–making it easy for Americans to form a clear understanding of events. Despite this, however, the federal government in both instances has issued narrative statements that wildly contradict the video footage, and in both instances there have been issues with federal officials destroying evidence. At least one FBI official resigned in protest because she was being pressured to drop a civil rights investigation into the ICE officer who killed Renee Good. The FBI instead opened an investigation into Good’s widow, because, I don’t know, reasons. (Several U.S. Attorneys resigned over the latter decision as well.) Meanwhile, in correspondence with Governor Walz, Attorney General Pam Bondi straight-up told him to hand over voter rolls if he wanted conditions to improve. And while all this was happening, an autopsy in Texas confirmed witnesses’ reports that a detainee in ICE custody was murdered by guards. It is extremely unlikely that he was the first homicide in custody.
Ongoing ICE Raids. To fully understand the Minneapolis murders, it’s also important to understand the context that Renee Good and Alex Pretti were protesting in the first place. This administration began occupying Minneapolis back in December, but their behavior has escalated badly in that time–and in the wake of Renee Good’s death, things have gotten worse, not better. Reports have come in of ICE kidnapping a five-year-old and using him as bait, harassing and even detaining local Indigenous people, harassing off-duty cops, stopping and dragging citizens out of cars to detain them, shooting people during arrests, and breaking down doors to gain entry to homes they claim they can enter without a warrant. Minnesota is suing the administration, and has already obtained a judicial order protecting peaceful protest–but Trump has responded by threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act and putting 1500 Army troops on standby. Governor Walz has mobilized the National Guard. Today we’re seeing signs that it might deescalate, but it’s still an ugly situation that is only made uglier by a second murder this week.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

Poison Potpourri. There were a lot of toxic odds and ends out of DHHS in the last couple of weeks as well. First Trump announced his “health plan,” which is less a health plan and more six buzzwords in a trench coat. We finalized our withdrawal from the World Health Organization, apparently sticking them with a large bill in the process. The CDC both froze and unfroze about $2B in funding for SAMHSA. And the CDC was also in the news because a high-up official opined that losing measles elimination status was “the cost of doing business,” which is definitely a phrase you want to hear come out of a public health official’s mouth.

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Manifest Fuckery (again, still). In “somehow I am still typing this” news, the fetid orange doubled down again on taking over Greenland during this cycle. After talks with the Danish Foreign Minister got him nowhere, he threatened to impose tariffs in an attempt to get his way. Neither the European Union nor international stock markets were amused by this development. Then just to cap everything off, he told Norway’s Prime Minister that he was doing all of this because he didn’t win a Nobel peace prize.
Targeting Political ‘Enemies’ (Minneapolis Edition). We’ve already discussed this administration’s horrifying occupation of Minneapolis above, but one aspect that doesn’t get as much air time is their ‘investigation’ targeting Tim Walz, the current governor of Minnesota, and Joseph Frey, the current mayor of Minneapolis–which then escalated to a grand jury for several other MN officials. They join a long list of political figures who are being threatened via federal investigation; the list also includes several Congresspeople, Federal reserve chair Jerome Powell, and New York Attorney General Leticia James.

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

5 Calls and Zoom Calls. In the wake of the state terror above, it’s hard to know how to respond. If you, like me, process this type of news through action, one obvious and relatively easy thing we can do is call our Congress people with specific legislative asks. 5 calls has several scripts about taking away ICE’s bloated budget, impeaching Kristi Noem, and investigating both Minneapolis murders. If you have a bit more time, you can also learn how to respond and protect community in dangerous situations with ICE through online trainings. You can also print and distribute Know Your Rights cards, or learn how to be a hotline verifier.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this beaver eating cabbage and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me responses to Out: The Community Survey!

Year 9, Weeks 48-50 (December 14–January 3)

January 6, 2026January 26, 2026 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

For most of the past few weeks, the big story in the news was the release of the Epstein files–or, more accurately, Trump’s obvious involvement therein and the executive reindeer games that kept many files hidden (even after the Congressionally-imposed deadline had passed). By the time that I’m typing this, however, the malignant Cheeto has raided Venezuela and kidnapped its (ostensible) President, and now nobody is really talking about the Epstein files. It’s funny how that works, isn’t it?

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an Epstein file!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Just Reminding You That 47 Is A Criminal. With everything else going on, you would be forgiven for missing anything that wasn’t Epstein or Venezuela. But I’m here to tell you that you should feel particularly blameless about missing that a transcript of prosecutor Jack Smith’s House-mandated testimony was released–on December 31, 2025. (For those of you playing the home game, Jack Smith was the special counsel who indicted Trump for insurrection and illegal possession of documents, and he’s currently under investigation for… doing that.) Unsurprisingly, much of Smith’s testimony boiled down to “yes, I was really really sure that Trump was guilty of things when I did my job and prosecuted him,” and here we all are. And on the subject of spray-tanned criminality, as I noted above, 47 was also in the news for much of the cycle because he pops up in the Epstein files over and over.
Manifest Fuckery. As mentioned above, the big bombshell of the last few days is that our government just done abducted Nicolás Maduro, the extremely sketchy dude who has been running Venezuela for a third term since a questionable election in 2024. There’s little question that the abduction was illegal, and extreme even against the U.S.’s less-than-stellar history in places like Iraq and Panama. Trump also took the unusual step of straight-up saying all the quiet parts out loud, between claiming that the U.S. would ‘run’ Venezuela and noting that the whole thing was about seizing oil–which we had the grace to at least pretend wasn’t true during the Iraq Wars. Now that Maduro is in New York awaiting federal arraignment for narco-terrorism, Trump is also talking about attacking Colombia and stealing Greenland from Denmark (again).
Goodbye, National Guard. One highlight of the current news cycle is that the Supreme Court told Trump, in essence, to get the National Guard out of Dodge. (And by Dodge, I mean Illinois.) Trump has withdrawn troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, and is trying to play it off like he just decided to leave one day, which is hilarious to watch. He’s of course threatening to come back again at some undisclosed later date, and that’s certainly possible, but for now, it’s a win.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

Not Evidence Based (Again, Still). We remain in vaccine hell as I type this, and boy howdy am I tired of telling you that. The new exciting ramification of vaccine rates falling below herd immunity levels is more whooping cough in small children. Naturally, this administration didn’t let that stop them from slashing vaccine recommendations for said children just today, from 17 mandated vaccinations down to 11. The vaccines no longer required are those that cover flu, hepatitis A, rotavirus and meningococcal disease. For funsies, they’re deciding this as flu-like illness reaches an all-time high, thanks to a new variant called Subclade K. (In case you are someone who needs to hear this, by the way, yes, the flu shot is still worth something against new variants like this.)

Ways to Weather This

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Stay Human, Shape Tomorrow. This isn’t the first time I’ve pointed folks towards Paul Shattuck‘s excellent writings on what he calls Strategic Humanism, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. This particular cycle, I want to draw attention to a recent post about what he calls “circuit-breakers” for doom scrolling–a useful skill for basically all of us when something bombastic like this past news cycle happens. HIs post has a good amount of more specific information, but in essence, he talks about a combination of ways to take breaks with intentionality and ways to ground yourself in your current place and time. If you’re in a hurry, here are some concrete suggestions he gives:

Look away from your screen and name five objects in the room.
Turn off your phone and put it in a drawer for one hour.
Set a 3-minute timer and step away.
Pick one corner of your physical space and restore it for two minutes.
Text someone.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and the wait did not improve anything. For making it through, you deserve Minion’s opinions and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my org’s handy-dandy survey measuring health throughout 2025 will be live until 1/31, and it only takes a half hour of your time to make the science go. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me responses to Out: The Community Survey!

Year 9, Weeks 46-47 (November 23–December 6)

December 11, 2025 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

I’m going to be honest, I found this cycle particularly nightmarish. Granted, I’m a public health professional, and our health system took a real beating this week–but the other stories aren’t a whole lot better. Caveat emptor, and I’m sorry in advance.

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a healthcare subsidy!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

Subdued Subsidies. The Senate is ostensibly gearing up to vote on healthcare subsidies, but nobody is particularly optimistic that this will save ACA subsidies as we knew them. The White House quietly circulated a plan behind closed doors that would have accomplished this, with some concessions. But after Republicans balked, they backed down from announcing it pretty quickly, preferring instead to let the GOP duke it out. Now, several different Dem bills are in play, but literally none of them are expected to get the numbers they need to pass. Meanwhile, the things that Republicans are floating are less “health plans” and more “medical debt in flimsy trench coats”–some Republican plans involve $7K deductibles, while others are based on Health Savings Accounts and/or limited to catastrophic coverage. Needless to say, this is not great for Americans, and frankly it’s not great for the GOP either, since Dem narratives about the GOP wrecking affordability are gaining increasing traction with voters. That said, “this is good for nobody and yet here we are” has more-or-less become the MAGA calling card, and so, well…here we are.
Kangaroo Courtside. This was a real banner cycle for court cases. The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case about whether people born here have U.S. citizenship, despite the fact that, you know, the Constitution literally says that all persons born here have U.S. citizenship. For an encore, they heard oral arguments on a case about whether Trump should be able to fire the head of the FTC on account of it’s Tuesday–and shock of shocks, the six conservative justices appeared persuaded even though we have 90 years of precedent otherwise. But in slightly more positive judicial news, at least a court ordered the release of another cache of Epstein documents.

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

Not Evidence Based (Again, Still). After the last news cycle, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that we’re already seeing vaccines on the chopping block–but somehow, I still am. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices decided a few days ago to nix a thirty-year recommendation of giving infants Hep B vaccination at birth, apparently persuaded by RFK’s pet anti-vax lawyer. Needless to say, people who practice actual medicine are not best pleased, with the American Association of Immunologists urging the CDC head to ignore the recommendations and Senate Health Committee chair Bill Cassidy calling the entire committee “totally discredited.” In response, Trump ordered RFK and acting CDC director Jim O’Neill to axe more childhood vaccinations. Meanwhile, a leaked FDA memo used the very small risk of COVID vaccine-induced myocarditis to argue for stricter regulation of vaccine approvals, despite the fact that, you know, myocarditis is way more common as a long COVID symptom. The memo comes as yet another FDA official walks after only three weeks on the job, citing the new FDA head’s mismanagement of policy as his reason. So all of that is… not great.

Chinga La Migra

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Immigration Rundown. Immigration, ho boy, where do I start… We really saved the worst for last on this one. Here are the lowlights from this cycle:

Hegseth Horrorshow – News came out this cycle that the order given by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth regarding the strike on a Venezuelan vessel was “kill everybody,” and a second strike was fired at two survivors to comply with that order. This is, unsurprisingly, pretty illegal, and officials are giving garbled explanations while Democrats are calling for a hearing. Trump initially agreed to release a video of the strike, and then walked that back within a week, saying “Whatever Hegseth wants to do is OK with me.”
Grave National Guard Gestalt – Two National Guard members in West Virginia were shot, one of them fatally, at the top of this news cycle. After the shooter turned out to be an Afghan refugee, the Trump administration announced that it would no longer process asylum, citizenship, or green card applications from nineteen different countries. They also dramatically shortened work permit windows for asylum holders and are reportedly considering a travel ban for 30 different countries. Several ideas floated by various MAGA sociopaths are even more extreme, ranging from mass denaturalization to a permanent end of all asylum applications to ending TPS as a concept.
Deportation Pipeline Press – There was, unsurprisingly, also a lot of news about various abuses of the deportation process. Democrats are trying to get standards imposed for who can serve as an immigration judge, since Trump keeps firing judges who actually judge. Federal immigration raids–excuse me, “operations”–are also beginning in New Orleans and Minneapolis, the latter being part of a weird hate-on that Trump has for Somali people. This news comes at the same time as reports that nearly 1,000 migrants arrested in DC–making up about 80% of total arrests during the “crackdown”–had no criminal record whatsoever. The ACLU is alleging that detained Cuban migrants were beaten for refusing removal to Mexico. Finally, there was a baffling story this cycle about this administration bringing a woman to the U.S. to face charges after years of extradition efforts, and then starting deportation proceedings against her on the theory that she was present in the U.S. illegally. It’s like the plot of Brazil, except instead we’re trying to deport people there.

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Chop Wood, Carry Water. I was recently pointed towards Jess Craven’s Chop Wood, Carry Water by the inimitable Tegan Kehoe, who featured the substack in a recent Links and Things from Tegan (alongside the NNR, which I greatly appreciated!). As Kehoe notes, Craven sends a brief newsletter every weekday with some information about recent national news. That said, I’m featuring Chop Wood, Carry Water here because she also includes tools for taking action about those stories, such as scripts for calling your reps and information about upcoming events. Like me, Craven is a full-time activist and advocate, and so far I have really appreciated her work.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, a day late but only $0.25 short. For making it through, you deserve this raccoon’s self-care regimen and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me responses to Out: The Community Survey!

Year 9, Weeks 44-45 (November 9-22)

November 25, 2025November 25, 2025 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This cycle was a weird one, y’all–even setting aside the weird Epstein file about-face and MTG’s mud-slinging resignation, there’s a lot to unpack here. The news felt a bit like living in 2017, if 2017 involved more overt death threats. Ah, memories.

Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an indictment!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Spills in Aisle 47

_{‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com}

The Prosecution Rests (on Nothing). James Comey had a good time this week, and honestly, I love that for him. First on Wednesday, the Justice Department admitted that the grand jury never saw the final version of the indictment they allegedly approved. That’s a prosecutorial no-no and probably grounds for dismissal all by itself (though the judge on the case didn’t agree). But then just today, a different federal judge dismissed the criminal charges against both Comey and Leticia James on the incredible grounds that the lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was not a valid U.S. attorney in the first place. It was a dismissal without prejudice, so I’m sure we haven’t heard the end of this, but let’s enjoy dunking on Lindsey Halligan while we can.
Death Threats and Deployments. This story, ye gods. Okay, so, several sitting Democrats with military and intelligence experience made a video last week and posted it on Facebook. The video reminded current military and intelligence personnel that they can, and should, refuse illegal orders. Trump, meanwhile, immediately illustrated why they needed to make said video, by going on Truth social and yelling that making the video was–and I quote here–“punishable by death.” Now several of said reps are requesting a police investigation into our current President, on account of he made unhinged posts threatening to hang them. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is going after another of the six, Senator Mark Kelly, who is the only one still subject to potential court martial as a retired officer. As if underlining the point, while all of this was going on, a D.C judge granted an injunction to make Trump stop deploying the National Guard there because–shock of shocks–it’s probably illegal. And the Coast Guard was in the news for deciding that swastikas and nooses were not hate symbols anymore (though in fairness, the Coast Guard did walk that one back pretty quick after everybody rightfully got in their face about it).

From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice

_{Image unnamed and in the public domain}

Not Evidence Based. The CDC was back in the news this week for suggesting in its official publications that vaccines can cause autism, despite the giant pile of evidence that says otherwise. Just today, RFK announced that this was done on his direct order, and I know personally I am shocked–just shocked!–by this unforeseeable information. Needless to say, this dramatically undermines what credibility the CDC still had left, and could potentially forecast less access to vaccines in the future. I recommend you hug the public health professionals in your life, friends, because despite being a predictable turn of events, it’s still a deeply disturbing thing to watch unfold.

Chinga La Migra

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

Swept Up in Violence. It was a real banner time for immigration news this cycle. The likely illegal strikes on alleged drug vessels are still ongoing, with 82 people killed in 21 strikes at the time that I type this–and increasing evidence that at least some of those casualties were civilians. The administration also announced that they want to expand penalties faced by immigrants for using life-saving benefits like Medicaid and SNAP. And to cap everything off, raids in Charlotte swept up 370 people over a 5-day period, which naturally included U.S. citizens, because of course it did.

Ways to Weather This

_{Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License}

OUT: The Community Survey. Some of you have heard me talk about this effort before, but I’m really excited to say more about it here–I’m leading international volunteer work right now that I really believe will help LGBTQIA+ lives long-term. A week and change ago, my organization officially launched a study to get more info on how queer people’s lives have changed since the U.S. Inauguration, and what the current levels of oppression are doing to our health and safety. Right now, and for ten more weeks, we’re hosting an anonymous community survey to measure that.

It’s open to everyone fifteen and older who identifies as LGBTQIA+ or loves someone who does, throughout the entire world. There is no payment or personal benefit of any kind connected to this survey, and we plan to make the results publicly available. It’s rooted in the simple idea that if we know what people need, we know how to advocate and how to meet this moment for our communities. I mention this under the ‘Ways to Weather This’ section because I truly believe that it’s a form of resilience to share what you are going through and to connect with others about your health and emotional safety. But also, we want it to reach as many people as possible, and we’re relying on volunteer partners and word-of-mouth to get the word out.

If you’re reading this, I urge you to share how this moment is affecting you by taking the survey; we’re also still looking to partner with people and groups who have interest in spreading the word. Please feel empowered to forward the link and these materials, and if you have any interest in partnering, give me a quick ping and we’ll make that happen.

So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and boo on this cycle for making me kind of miss 2017. For making it through, you deserve this pupper’s learning journey and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out sustainability, and I would love feedback in the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Some brief thoughts about our current moment, society, and celebrity deaths

September 11, 2025 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Hi, folks. I intend to write a much longer post in the near future about what is happening with this site, why I have been paused on the NNR for so long, and where we go from here. But in the meantime, because I truly believe we are living through a pivotal moment right now, I want to talk about Charlie Kirk’s shooting yesterday.

He was literally in the middle of advocating hateful policies to punish people for being trans while he was shot. Policies, I might add, that contradict his stated goal of freedom to bear arms, because his desire to hate trumped his desire for policy consistency. (Though the latter goal about owning guns is unquestionably more related to his death than the former.)

This man laid all the seeds of his own destruction. He was hateful and prejudiced until the very moment he died. He has been quoted as saying that mass shootings were “worth” it “so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights” – a statement he obviously didn’t even believe, since he was in the middle of advocating for a gun ban for trans people when he died. He has also been quoted as saying that empathy “does a lot of damage.” This man was actively harmful to the fabric of our society. We are learning a lot, I think, by seeing Vance skip NYC today to go to Salt Lake City; by seeing 47 propose he be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. For being shot in the middle of spewing hate.

9/11 means less because of these actions. The Presidential Medal of Freedom certainly means less because of these actions. We’re watching a degradation of our understanding of civil society in real time, both because these things matter less and because who dies matters more. Regardless of how you are personally feeling right now, these things matter.

Do I want people shot at rallies routinely? No. But Charlie Kirk did. Charlie Kirk died in the world he wanted. And the rest of us all have to live in it.

Tiny Troubleshooting Manual: Safely Voting in the 2020 General Elections Edition

November 3, 2020November 3, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Hi folks! Welcome to the follow-up installment of the Tiny Troubleshooting Manual, a series I made up in 2018 and we still need in 2020. I do a lot of social troubleshooting in my day-to-day work as an advocate, and though my ordinary bag is social determinants of health, civic engagement is more important now than ever! Obviously I cannot fix all forms of voter suppression or all issues created by the pandemic, but I wanted to take the time to address some of the more common fixable problems people encounter while voting.

(Note: This guide is not intended to be legal advice; rather, it is a resource compilation designed to point people towards appropriate entities for assistance.)

If your trouble is…

Needing to identify your polling place or nearest voting drop box: You can check that by going to 866 Our Vote’s election protection website at 866ourvote.org and clicking on your state or by going to Headcount.org.
Needing to check if you’re registered to vote: You can check that at vote.org or by selecting your state on the 866 Our Vote election protection website.
Needing a mask, PPE, or other health-related accommodation to stand in line: Some programs, like the Election Defender program I’m volunteering with this year, will provide masks, hand sanitizers, and other pandemic-related supports to people on the line at polling locations. Look for people wearing gold outside of your polling location.
People are engaging in illegal voter intimidation or electioneering outside of your polling place: This is another issue that the Election Defender program has sent volunteers to address. Look for people wearing gold outside of your polling location. Poll workers can also assist with these issues if they’re made aware that they are happening.
Needing info on who and what’s on your ballot: You can get good, detailed information on your specific ballot at BallotReady.org or at HeadCount.org.
A technical issue at your polling place: Call the Election Protection Hotline run by 866 Our Vote (which, conveniently, is 1-866-OUR-VOTE) to document the issue and see if it can be addressed today in real time. You may also be able to work with staff at your polling location to get it addressed.
Needing time off from work to vote: Thirty different states require an hour or more of leave time be provided on request on Election Day; you can learn more about your state’s rights at WorkplaceFairness.org and get assistance in exercising your rights by contacting the Voting Rights branch of your local ACLU or 866 Our Vote.
Needing an absentee or mail-in ballot: You may have missed the boat on this, but 866 Our Vote will have information on your state’s deadline if you click on your specific state. Many states have more expansive remote voting programs this year due to the pandemic, and most drop box locations are accepting ballots today. DO NOT MAIL IN YOUR BALLOT TODAY if you still have one; please drop it off at an official election drop box, which you can confirm online at 866 Our Vote’s site.
Something else went wrong with your registration: Check whether your state will permit same-day registration; fourteen states and the District of Columbia do!
Election protection information generally: Check out the resources at 866 Our Vote’s site. You may be noting a trend here–they are an excellent resource!

If you have an additional question, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to me directly! I’ll try to keep this a living document or at least point people in the right direction.

How Concerned Americans Can Help with Immigration Crises: An Evergreen Primer

June 24, 2019October 21, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Oren Rozen [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

(This is the googolplexth installment of a series of articles unpacking the many horrifying immigration implications created by the Trump administration. Though I am not an immigration specialist, I am a legal generalist working with indigent populations professionally full-time. This article is not intended to form an attorney-client relationship or constitute legal advice, though it is my hope that it will help people feel equipped to take action.)

As all of us living in America watch the immigration enforcement machine churn, it can be hard to know how to best help — if you’re not an immigration lawyer and not personally involved, direct action can feel elusive. But there are definitely things that help slow this hydra down, and most of us can take many of these actions in our day-to-day!

Before we start, some disclaimers: This primer is intended for folks who want to help non-professionally and are not themselves a primary target for detention or deportation— it assumes no cultural or professional ties to immigrant populations, which impacts the nature of the suggestions. Some suggestions may be difficult for government workers, but I tried to include a broad range so that even folks who can’t lobby or donate have things they can do. Okay, onward to the suggestions!

1. Know and Support the Major Players

Immigration law is quite a rabbit hole, and sub-specialization is very common — folks who do asylum work full-time may look at changes to public charge and think, “Whoa, that’s not my burrow.” But for each common issue, some credible orgs will come up over and over again. It’s a good idea to get to know these organization names, because this first step will make every other suggestion easier to do long-term.

Learn The National Rockstar Orgs. Between the zero tolerance crisis that happened last year and current reports of detention conditions, there are a lot of great compilation articles on folks doing good work down at the border. Many entities on these lists (e.g. the ACLU, KIND, ASAP) have a national presence, and do excellent work everywhere. Others (e.g. RAICES, the Florence Project, No More Deaths) do localized work with a national infrastructure, and can use our support.
Learn Your Local Policy Actors. Though immigration is a national issue, many states have more localized coalition or coordinated grassroots efforts. It’s worth learning who does this in your area! Many places have groups that will come up if you Google terms like “immigration,” “network,” and/or “coalition” with a state name. And if all else fails, the Immigration Advocates Network has a database of state legal resources that includes many local actors. (That said, if you live here in Massachusetts, I can just tell you to check out the Mass Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy coalition; they do great work.)
Where to Go to Learn More. When in doubt, Google is your friend here, but many entities take pains to make this information easy to find. Some groups in particular (e.g. National Immigrant Law Center, Informed Immigrant, #StandWithImmigrants) issue a lot of updates and news bulletins to keep people informed. That makes them a great place to start if you’re looking to learn what’s going on! As I’ll talk about below, credible information sources are really, really valuable — and likely to remain so as we move forward.

2. Talk to Your Government

This is the veggie consumption everybody is told will help grow strong civics but nobody feels does anything. The good news is, much like eating vegetables, efforts do result in healthy growth over time!

Federal Calls. Reps who support immigrants respond to calls thanking them for action because it helps them gauge their constituents. Reps who don’t will still sometimes respond to pressures, and if nothing else it can help you feel better to vent your spleen. You can learn who your House rep is here, and search for Senator contact info here. I also really strongly recommend connecting to Celeste P’s newsletter — she’s a former Congressional staffer who keeps close track of government movement on this issue and will email you info and scripts.
State Calls. Your state reps may be considering legislation that impacts immigrants locally — here in Massachusetts, there are currently multiple bills kicking around the Statehouse. Your local organizations and research entities like CLINIC and NCSL can help you learn more about what’s going on where you are!
Public Comments. This administration likes to do stuff that requires a public comment period by law. Groups like Protect Immigrant Families often organize comment drives, and there are three still happening as I type this. Leaving a public comment is a great way to help create real change, and it’s not as scary as it sounds — you don’t need to be an expert, your comment likely won’t take more than an hour or two to draft tops. And because the administration has to review and respond to every single unique comment they receive, it can be really effective at slowing down hateful policy.

3. Donate Your (Culturally Competent) Time

It may not feel like it, but there are things that even a person with no professional or cultural ties can do to donate time to immigration issues. This can be a great way to feel more involved and make a concrete difference with results you can see. Just remember to center your work around the people you’re trying to help — they’re the experts on their lived experience, and this is a really rough time for immigrant populations. Folks deserve empathy and understanding if you work with them directly!

Interior Efforts. Many locations have accompaniment networks or bail efforts that help make sure people held by ICE are able to make it to immigration court properly, get bail granted, and receive access to appropriate conditions while held. (Here in Massachusetts, Beyond Bond runs the main accompaniment network I know of.)
Asylum Efforts. Many asylum networks take volunteers of all stripes, for everything from medical evaluation to ESL classes to translation services. It’s a bit easier to do direct work if you have specialized training, but many places provide general or specialized training as an initial step.
General Efforts. Finally, general organizations like #StandWithImmigrants have more general volunteer programs, covering everything from court observation to ESL classes to legal services intake. This can be a great way to give a more general hand as people get situated.

4. Donate Your Dollars

Everyone in this field is spread very thin right now, because the immigration crisis manages to be everywhere at once. Providing monetary support can help increase resources in a variety of different ways.

Sections 1, 3, and 5 Make a Great List! Unfortunately, such a multi-pronged crisis leaves a lack of universal, centralized lists to direct efforts. But most of the groups referenced above and below have links to accept donations. All my recommendations can be considered reasonable places to send money.
Some General Suggestions: For widespread support, national legal organizations are often a safe bet; a lot of the traction we’ve gained has come from a combination of publicity and legal work. (For localized issues such as the border crisis, obviously, a local organization may be better.) If all else fails, or you just need a quick one-stop suggestion, Charity Navigator lists reputable organizations doing good work.

5. Support Information Dissemination

This administration does a truly unprecedented amount to obfuscate information and limit the range of our free press, especially around immigration issues. The good news is, there is a lot that the average citizen can be doing to counter this, on social media and otherwise:

Uphold a Free Press through Sharing Links and Resources. One major way we learn about atrocities is responsible journalism — in particular, outlets like the Associated Press, the New York Times, the New Yorker, Reuters, and the Washington Post all have broken major stories on the subject since 2017. I know a lot of the major players run obnoxious op eds, and their reporting isn’t always optimal. But these news outlets spotlight 45’s worst practices; we need them to stay functional and working with advocacy organizations. Please consider disseminating links and providing financial support for their efforts!
Myth-Bust. MAGA minds tend to use the same false talking points about immigration over and over and over again. This garbage Groundhog Day practice does have an upside, because predictable myths have predictable counters — and many of them are relatively straightforward and simple. I compiled a list of greatest hits about six months ago, during the Obnoxious “Immigrants are Criminals” Campaign of ’18, but Snopes, PolitiFact, and other fact-checking institutions definitely have your back on new issues as they occur. Engaging with fascists on the Internet in 2019 is its own art, but it can do a lot to spread accurate information to bystanders. You really are doing something helpful by correcting common misconceptions!

6. …but Don’t Spread Panic.

I cannot overstate what a time of fear this is — the administration terrorizes people repeatedly, trying to create a chilling effect on access to rights and services. Unfortunately, studies show that’s been pretty successful, at least on some issues, and we don’t want to do DHS’s work for them. So Section 5 has a couple of important caveats:

Check Your Sources. News outlets in Section 5 are generally reputable sources of information, and the organizations listed in Section 1 definitely are. Whenever possible, please check information against sources, because misinformation spreads like wildfire during times of high stress and crisis. The good news is, this is another issue where Snopes, PolitiFact, and other fact-checking institutions have your back, and they’re worth taking a few minutes to review. Try to double-check social media news especially, for obvious reason!
Account for Vicarious Trauma. If you’re reading this, it’s likely that the atrocities going on are impacting you too — even with no direct ties, it’s really hard to stomach kids in camps. People experiencing secondary or vicarious trauma are more likely to share information in ways that panic others, so it’s important to learn what you need to recenter and stay on your game. (And, obviously, it’s also helpful to you and other activists — we’ve got to look out for each other!) I’ve written a resilience roadmap on this topic which compiles suggestions much like this piece does, but there are a lot of great resources out there in general. I promise it’s worth the time — a lot of folks can run on empty for a time, but why do it when you don’t need to and it may hurt the folks you’re trying to help?

So there you have it! Six concrete suggestions for ways you can help with the current immigration horrorscape. Please feel free to link to this essay, take links from it, or otherwise use it to keep fighting the good fight — it’s rough out there, and I’m happy to help if I can.

Tiny Troubleshooting Manual: Voting in the 2018 Midterm Elections Edition

November 6, 2018June 7, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Hi folks! Welcome to the first installment of the Tiny Troubleshooting Manual, a series I just made up because it’s Election Day in 2018 (and let’s face it, we’re likely to need it). I do a lot of social troubleshooting in my day-to-day work as an advocate, and though my ordinary bag is social determinants of health, civic engagement is more important now than ever! Obviously I cannot fix all forms of voter suppression, but I wanted to take the time to address some of the more common fixable voting problems people encounter.

(Note: This guide is not intended to be legal advice; rather, it is a resource compilation designed to point people towards appropriate entities for assistance.)

If your trouble is…

Needing to identify your polling place: You can check that through chat or text via Resistbot or by going to Headcount.org.
Needing to check if you’re registered to vote: You can check that at vote.org or by the same Resistbot program.
Needing a ride to your polling place: Several ride sharing programs will have free or reduced-price rides to polling locations all day today.
Needing info on who and what’s on your ballot: You can get good, detailed information on your specific ballot at BallotReady.org or at HeadCount.org.
A technical issue at your polling place: Call the hotline run by 866 Our Vote (which, conveniently, is 866-VOTE-OUT) to document the issue and see if it can be addressed today. You may also be able to work with staff at your polling location to get it addressed.
Needing time off from work: Thirty different states require an hour or more of leave time be provided on request on Election Day; you can learn more about your state’s rights at WorkplaceFairness.org and get assistance in exercising your rights by contacting the Voting Rights branch of your local ACLU or 866 Our Vote.
Needing an absentee ballot: You may have missed the boat on this, but Resistbot can connect you to info on your local process.
You’ve encountering obstacles due to the “Exact Match” rules in Georgia: This issue was just addressed by court order; your legal right to vote by providing proof of identity can be protected by contacting the Voting Rights branch of your local ACLU, the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, or the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP.
You’re encountering obstacles due to the address/ID requirement in North Dakota: Several programs are helping connect voters with IDs to counter the recently-upheld address requirement; contact the Lakota People’s Law Project or the Four Directions nonprofit for assistance.
Something else went wrong with your registration: Check whether your state will permit same-day registration; fourteen states and the District of Columbia do!

If you have an additional question, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to me directly! I’ll try to keep this a living document or at least point people in the right direction. 🙂

Aurgh, Stop Saying That: Debunking the Anti-Immigration Greatest Hits

November 6, 2018October 20, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

“Internet Troll velu ill artlibre jnl,” by JNL (User created) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

(This is the zillionth installment of a series of articles unpacking the many horrifying immigration implications created by the Trump administration. Though I am not an immigration specialist, I am a legal generalist working with indigent populations professionally full-time. This article is not intended to form an attorney-client relationship or constitute legal advice, though it is my hope that it will help people understand what is going on.)

Hi there! If you’re reading this, you’ve either expressed an interest in learning more about common immigration myths in 2018, or somebody arguing with you on the Internet sure wishes you would. Either way, you’re here now! So while I’ve got your attention, let’s talk about how a lot of the most common far-right talking points are blatantly factually untrue, as well as being incredibly recurrent. Because let’s face it, life’s too short to have these arguments over and over.

Myth 1: “My grandparents came here legally; why don’t they just get in line like my grandparents did?”

This one’s always a fun one — for some reason, people who love to brag about how their Great Uncle Joe made a killing with his bathtub moonshine in the 1920s also love to talk about how the same Great Uncle Joe came here totally legally. And just for extra confusion, both of those facts are probably true!

This is because illegal immigration is a relatively new concept in our history, and did not exist two generations ago. Similarly, most people who stood in a line at Ellis Island would be considered undocumented immigrants today, and “the line” to enter — commonly understood these days to refer to family sponsorship, though there are a handful of other routes to lawful permanent residency — can be more than ten years long.

Myth 2: “Immigrants are criminals who hurt U.S. citizens.”

At the time that I write this list, this myth is making a big ole’ comeback because President Trump just aired a campaign ad that essentially writes it in neon letters. But as a point of order, immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than citizens as a general statistical rule. And this makes sense, because the risk of deportation created by getting caught up in the criminal justice system is a powerful deterrent. If you’ve got more to lose, you’re less likely to break laws; that’s just how human psychology works. Though people may like to claim otherwise, most immigrants — even most of those who are being deported in Trumpian America — have no criminal record.

Myth 3: “Okay, well, just being here is illegal, so they’re really all criminals as soon as they get here!”

This little gem comes up way too often for my taste, and we can probably thank the common practice of using the i-word as a noun for that. And it’s deeply obnoxious, because actually, just being here isn’t illegal.

It is true that illegal entry at the border is a misdemeanor crime — the first offense is punishable by a maximum of six months in jail; you can think of it as trespassing on the U.S.’s front lawn. But many people arrive in the United States with a legal immigration status and then overstay that status, leaving them undocumented without having ever committed a criminal act. They were invited in the front door, so it’s not trespassing, and our laws reflect that; this is a civil violation, not a crime.

Myth 4: “The Constitution doesn’t protect non-citizens.”

I honestly don’t know where we first got the xenophobic idea that the Constitution doesn’t apply to people who live here, because in addition to being wrong it just makes no freaking sense. But this myth has been coming up a lot anyway, especially as we grapple with Trump’s recent announcement that he wants to end birthright citizenship (but more on that below).

Both the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments apply due process to “persons,” which courts have interpreted to refer to all immigrants (including undocumented people). And while I’m on the subject, the same exact amendment outlines birthright citizenship, as well, so ending it wouldn’t be constitutional either.

Myth 5: “Asylum seekers enter illegally, so they deserve what they get at the border.”

I’ve had several fights about this one since we entered Caravan Rhetoric Country a week or two ago, and I don’t mind telling you, I’m tired of arguing about it. Seeking asylum is not illegal; it’s a human right that has been protected by international law for over sixty years. And in fact, it’s not even trespassing on the U.S. lawn when people just show up to claim it, because that’s how you’re supposed to seek asylum. There’s a reason for that; it’s designed to help people who will be badly hurt or killed if they return home, and in emergency situations, a person may have pretty limited ability to wait around for paperwork or even pack.

Because these people are fleeing an emergency, incidentally, it should go without saying that it’s poor form to send in 15,000 troops and give them instructions to shoot anyone who throws a rock. I’m beyond disgusted that I have to say it anyway.

Basically, asylum is the immigration equivalent of banging on a stranger’s door at 3AM when there’s someone with a Jason mask and a dripping knife on your heels— you didn’t call ahead, and you may have shown up at a weird time, because there’s a guy who wants to kill you right behind you. When someone shows up at our door in crisis, we don’t respond by shooting them. What, these rules are good enough for fictional people in horror movies but not for real people in real life?

Myth 6: “We’re the only country that someone comes in and has a baby and then that baby is a citizen.”

This one’s a relative newcomer, probably because it wasn’t a Greatest Hit until Trump made it one this past week. We’re definitely not the only country that does this; thirty-three different countries have birthright citizenship and several more have a conditional form of it. Those countries, by the way, include every single country in North America (and all but two in South America, for that matter). It’s not common among European countries, but we’re not in any way unusual for honoring birthright citizenship as a country in the Americas.

Myth 7: “Arresting and detaining everyone found crossing the border (the ’Zero Tolerance’ policy) is necessary because the Democrats passed a law requiring it in 1996.”

This one is kind of a Wrong Inception, in that it has many different layers of wrong happening at once. I wrote a whole essay about this already, but suffice to say: Nope, nope, and for extra measure, nope. First layer: It’s not necessary to arrest and detain everyone at the border, and CBP and police were only doing it because Sessions told them to. Second layer: Democrats never passed a law on this topic — it was codified by something called the Flores settlement, which was actually a court action, so no legislation exists on this at all. Third layer: The underlying cause of action began in the 1980s, when Reagan was President, so there wasn’t even a Dem President responsible for the original policy. Three strikes, please stop saying this.

Myth 8: “Immigrants take jobs away from citizens.”

Migrant workers tend to do jobs that U.S. citizens don’t want, and those jobs tend to be service jobs — while disappearing jobs in our modern economy tend to be manufacturing jobs. To this point, increased detention rates mean that some industries — again, mostly service industries — are having a tough time finding workers. This wouldn’t be true if native workers and migrant workers were truly interchangeable, because unemployed native workers would take those jobs.

Also, countless studies have shown that immigration leads to economic growth on a national scale, which means immigration ultimately creates more jobs for all markets. So instead of saying that immigrants are taking your jobs away, you should probably try thanking them for helping create economic stability. (Immigrants: They get the jobs done.)

Myth 9: “Immigrants just want a government handout.”

Most immigrants cannot qualify for most benefits for at least five years after arriving in the United States and living as lawful permanent residents, and undocumented immigrants cannot qualify for the vast majority of government benefits at all, ever, unless their status changes. And on top of those restrictions, this administration is making people afraid to lawfully access the benefits they are allowed to have, because it might have consequences for their immigration applications. This is probably one of many reasons why — as I noted above — immigrants tend to take jobs American citizens don’t want.

Note that this didn’t stop the Internet from claiming Trump ended government handouts for immigrants, but if that were actually true, wouldn’t that also mean that immigrants don’t get benefits? (Sometimes I don’t think people listen to their own arguments all the way through.)

Myth 10: “ Immigrants don’t pay taxes.”

Immigrants authorized to work are required to pay taxes; there is literally nothing about being a noncitizen that makes you exempt from paying. (Authorized workers also contribute to Social Security, in case anyone was curious.) There’s no evidence that authorized workers commit tax fraud with any greater frequency than the average population, and in fact since tax fraud has immigration consequences, it’s likely they commit tax fraud far less often than our sitting President.

But perhaps more to the point, undocumented workers can pay taxes under an Individual Tax Identification Number without having any legal status. As a result, many undocumented immigrants working under the table pay taxes and contribute to Social Security even though they’ll never see any benefits from it. This is sort of like the “taking our jobs” thing; actually, immigrants support citizens in this regard.

So there you have it! Ten myths, ten corrections, and hopefully we all learned something today. (I learned that it takes a looooong time to correct all the myths you see on the Internet.) I’ll be adding to it as we gain Greatest Hits, which I’m sure will continue to happen. Please feel free to link to this essay, take links from it, or otherwise use it in the Quest to Fight Propaganda. And good luck out there!