Hard Pass

I knew she was Tolkien in her sleep

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/47775454

In the first years after birth, the human brain develops at a remarkable pace. Every second, more than a million new neural connections spring into being, shaping a person’s physical and emotional health for the rest of their life. 

Since the Trump administration entered the White House last year, at least 500 babies and toddlers have spent some of that pivotal time in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE has dramatically increased detentions of children aged 3 and under, holding 25 of them in custody on an average day between January 2025 and March of this year, according to a new analysis by The Marshall Project and MS NOW of records obtained by the Deportation Data Project, a group of academics and lawyers who collect and share federal immigration data. That number is 10 times higher than it was in the previous 12 months under former President Joe Biden. Back then, on an average day, fewer than three babies and toddlers were held at facilities across the country.

Parents in ICE detention have complained of substandard conditions that frequently left their young children sick, isolated and regressing in their physical and intellectual development. 

ICE did not respond to a request for comment about the increase in detained young children. But in an emailed statement, an agency spokesperson said families with children receive appropriate food, water and medical care. In a separate statement, CoreCivic — the private company that operates the primary ICE facility used to detain families — echoed that its facilities were safe for infants and toddlers.

Marsha Griffin, a pediatrics professor and co-founder of the executive committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Immigrant Child and Family Health, called the period of infancy and toddlerhood “probably the most harmful time of their lives to have them in detention.”

“Our immigration system is breaking children,” she said.

Stores of a few of the children can be found within the article.

She asked if I'd eat yesterday's leftovers. I said yes.

She told me to come back tomorrow.

Public schools spend $700 billion a year. Tech companies, private equity, and Wall Street all want a cut.

They get it through revolving-door relationships with school administrators, and kids pay the price. We dug into it.

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/47775117

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit released today said evidence was destroyed or went missing regarding the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a federal immigration detainee whose death a medical examiner later ruled a homicide by asphyxiation.

The GAO reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed a "discrepancy report" in February noting that the private contractor that previously operated the Camp East Montana detention facility in Texas had failed to provide the agency with use-of-force and death reports regarding a January death of a detainee by use of force. The GAO report does not name the detainee, but the details match Lunas Campos, who died on January 3 after an altercation with guards at the camp.

"In addition, evidence associated with the incident was missing or destroyed," the GAO report said.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially claimed that Lunas Campos had attempted to commit suicide and died during a struggle in which "guards were trying to save him." However, the El Paso Medical Examiner's Office ruled his death a homicide by asphyxiation. Multiple detainee witnesses told news outlets that guards choked Lunas Campos to death after he refused to stop asking for his medication.

"The officers entered, grabbed him," one detainee told Zeteo, "and the last thing we could hear him say was: 'They are choking me, they are choking me.'"

A bill to provide nearly $70 billion for immigration enforcement narrowly passed the House on Tuesday and now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature, bolstering the administration’s deportation agenda for the remainder of his time in the White House.

Republicans used their majority to get the bill over the finish line, funding a pair of Homeland Security agencies through the next three years. The bill passed by a vote of 214-212, over the objections of Democrats. Trump is expected to sign it into law on Wednesday.

The White House says the bill will provide $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, $26 billion for the Border Patrol and another $5 billion to cover unforeseen costs. It frontloads routine annual funding, ensuring a virtually uninterrupted flow of money as the Trump administration seeks to deport some 1 million people per year.