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Reining In ICE, Reining In Trump - A Big Week Ahead

On Friday a key inflation gauge - the Producer Price Index - came in above expectations. It's further confirmation of the failure of Trump's economic agenda

Simon Rosenberg

Feb 2

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Morning all. It got lost in all the Trumpian noise, but on Friday, hours before large parts of the US government ran out of money for the second time of Trump’s second term, our addled, corrupt felon-in-chief got one of the worst economic report of the past year - a key gauge of inflation, the Producer Price Index, saw an increase of 0.5% - 6%= on annualized basis. Big yikes!

It’s more confirmation that Trump’s terrible tariffs are raising the prices of just about everything on everybody and doing enormous harm to every day Americans, farmers, small businesses, and our economy as a whole.

Now, let’s move on to three powerful videos.

The first is a NYT report, above, featuring letters from students at Liam Conejo Ramos’s school just outside Minneapolis. These letters from these brave young Americans are written to ICE, something that is a constant presence in their lives now. Get ready. These remarkable kids speak for all of us.

After an intense campaign led by Rep. Joaquin Castro Liam and his father returned home this weekend.

The second is from the Grammys last night. In his remarks after being awared Album of the Year, Superstar Bad Bunny gets a standing ovation when he talks about the need for ICE Out:

The third video is of our friend Garrett Graff testifying in front of the Illinois Accountability Commission (for DHS/ICE actions in the state) last Friday (YouTube link or click on the video below). Get to it when you can. It will be worth your time:

Here is an excerpt from Garrett’s entry in his terrific newsletter, Doomsday Scenerio, that accompanied the release of this video:

On Friday, I testified in front of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s “Illinois Accountability Commission,” the state government body he set up after the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” attack on Chicago last summer and the precursor of the even larger federal occupation of Minneapolis that we’re experiencing now. The body’s goal is to both document what happened to Chicago, with an eye on future prosecutions, understand the role of various Trump officials in this federal occupation, and offer recommendations about how to fix immigration enforcement going forward.
I was called as the commission’s expert witness on the history of problems, corruption, and training within CBP and ICE — a story I’ve covered for more than a dozen years, as regular readers of this newsletter know. To prepare, I spent the last week re-reading and re-familiarizing myself with DHS scandals and waves of corruption and mismanagement — and found myself horrified anew.
It was the first time I’ve ever sat down and tried to organize and explain all of the last twenty-five years of DHS and immigration enforcement since 9/11 and painted a complete picture of what’s gone wrong with ICE and CBP. Overall, the totality of the criminality inside CBP in particular is so much worse than I even realized.
As I told the commission, “US law enforcement has never experienced a scandal as big, as far-reaching, destructive, and as far-lasting as the wave of corruption and criminality that has overtaken CBP and the Border Patrol since 2005. It’s a story that too much of the public still doesn’t know and too many policymakers still don’t understand.”
I also totaled up some new numbers to get at the scale of the problem:
Criminality is so rampant inside CBP that it has seen one of its own agents or officers arrested every 24 to 36 hours since 2005. CBP’s misconduct scandal is so long-running that today it would be old enough to drink.
In total, according to CBP’s own discipline reports, over the 20 years from 2005 to 2024 — the last year numbers are available — at least 4,913 CBP officers and Border Patrol agents have been arrested themselves, some multiple times. (In 2018 alone, a single CBP employee was arrested five times.) To put that number in perspective:
• The population of CBP agents and officers who have been arrested would make it roughly the nation’s fourth largest police department — equal to the size of the entire Philadelphia police.
• Indeed, for much of the 2010s and likely before and since, it appears the crime rate of CBP agents and offices was higher PER CAPITA than the crime rate of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
The experience of sitting through the hearing was searing itself; a University of Chicago professor who specialized in political violence discussed how the administration is using violence and language to legitimize itself and de-legitimize the opposition. “The conditions that historically precede tragedy are now present—even if no one intends tragedy to occur,” Dr. Robert Pape said. He talked extensively about how in a democracy the state’s monopoly on violence is only seen as legitimate if citizens understand it’s being used to protect them and not oppress them. Right now, we’re watching the inverse occur with CBP and ICE.

In my recent posts (here, here, here) I talked about how we should this coming fight over reining in ICE as a single - and deeply consequential - moment in a much larger effort to rein in Trump and his regime this year. I’ve argued that Congressional Democrats must learn from our European allies and learn how to organize ourselves differently to aggregate more power to provide a much more meaningful check on Trump’s escalating authoritarianism. Our leaders should not accept that legislating is the only tool available to them now and “come together” with free state Governors, AGs, and mayors to forge a unified, national front against Trump’s increasingly out of control and dangerous behavior in at least two areas:

Rule of law must be re-established in America, ICE must be reined in, and Trump’s outrageous plunder and corruption must end
That he must back off his illegal and destructive territorial ambitions, end all these ridiculous tariffs, and re-commit to the Trans-Atlantic Alliance

For we are much stronger together than apart.

Here’s an example of how we should be thinking now. Last night, incredibly, Trump announced an escalation in his ongoing desecration of national monuments and our Capital. He announced he was closing the Kennedy Center for two years and rebuilding it. Here is what I wrote on Bluesky:

Leaders Schumer and Jeffries could create bicameral workings groups of a small number of members to more forcefully contest Trump’s outrageous flouting of the law and selling out of our interests across many fronts - the tariffs, his appeasement of Putin, his unprecedented corruption, his assault on the integrity of our elections, etc. We can use shadow hearings, daily statements, alliances with the states and even foreign nations to contest, degrade, expose and fight 24/7/365. The success of the Epstein project, driven by House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, can be a model, as can his bicameral work on ICE’s abuses with Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut.

One of these working groups should be focused on stopping his desecration of our national monuments, global symbols of democracy and the great American fight for freedom. For this isn’t about real estate, or rapaciousness, it is about a direct attack on the rule of law and powerful symbols of what Trump views as an ancien regime - America as a democracy, where rule of law still reigned. And like everything with Trump if we do not contest when he breaks laws he will view it as a permission structure to proceed, and will then proceed, escalate, and further accelerate democracy’s decline.

His gilded ballroom should not be built. He should not destroy the Kennedy Center just a few years after it completed a massive renovation. He should not be able to seize three public golf courses in DC, including one adjacent to The Mall, or another parcel of land he is attempting to seize on The Mall itself. There are laws governing these matters and he should be forced to follow them. For we cannot accept any instance of lawlessness or lawbreaking - for when we do he reads it as a green light to keep going, and thus we become complicit in the crimes themselves.

This thing we hear from DC insiders is that we must be practice “message discipline” and pivot back to kitchen table issues - and not contest things like the illegal seizing of a national monument to one of our Party’s most inspirational Presidents - has been wrong and ruinous counsel. It’s a misunderstanding of how autocrats work, and what’s required in new and unprecedented circumstances here in the US today. It is a “zombie” strategy that may have been relevant once but is no longer relevant or effective today. For as we’ve seen Trump continues to escalate, continues to do enormous damage to the nation and to our rights and liberties, and simply, my friends, we have not been fighting hard enough to stop the damage he is doing. For while we talk about affordability and health care he keeps executing against his primary mission - making himself a King not a President - uncontested.

That’s why these next few weeks matter so much. In 2026 our leaders must find a higher gear, one that allows them to organize themselves differently to meet this moment, letting go of strategies and practices from a different time. It begins with this fight to rein in ICE, a necessary and consequential fight, and one we must be all in on every day until we do what is required now.

So, today, tomorrow, and every day until we have new law - make your calls, contact your reps, call your governors - just make as much as noise as you can. Be loud and proud. Fight with everything you got, and let’s rein in ICE, together. For we are Americans for f-ck’s sake, and fighting for freedom and democracy is who we are, what we do. And we need to get on with it……

Now……

Yes, My Friends There Is Much We Must Do This Week!!!

Keep contacting your Congressional reps and demand they rein in ICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Big week ahead!

Fired up about our big win in Texas Saturday night? Contribute to our Audacious Expansion Fund which has already poured $70,000 into the Texas Democratic Party to help fuel this victory; fund the Texas Dems directly; watch my recent discussion with Kendall Scudder, the dynamic new Chair of the Texas Democratic Party discussing their ambitious 2026 plans.

Winning The Midterms - Support Our Candidates

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $101,200 raised, $250,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Donate to all four endorsed House challengers with one click | Learn More | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10). Friends, we’ve hit $100,000 - thank you all!
Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $26,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and learn more. Amazing start everyone!
Winning Ohio - $47,600 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party. Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue! | Watch my conversation with David Pepper, who does a great overview of the opportunities we have in Ohio this year. Note a generous donor has sent $21,000 worth of Hopium-infused contributions directly to the candidates which are not included in on-line goal tracker.
Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $72,000 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper and a new, terrific one with NC Dem Party Chair Anderson Clayton
Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $118,000 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Expanding The Senate and Electoral College Maps, Winning In Red States and Red Places (2026-2032)

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $346,200 raised, $500,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas. Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties

3 Campaigns Where We’ve Hit Our Goals, But Are Still Active - We have three campaigns where we’ve hit our goals but that folks can still participate in - Ken Martin’s New DNC, Anderson Clayton and the North Carolina Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party of Minnesota (DFL).

We got the following note from Cynthia this week. She is one of the 3,000 Hopium subscribers in Minnesota:

I am a Minnesotan and cannot adequately express the depth of my gratitude to Simon for this conversation with Richard and organizing this fundraiser and to each person that donated. My heart is full and tears are running down my face. Thank you to everyone who has supported and spoke up for Minnesota in any way and pushed back against ICE and DHS anywhere.
This is the absolutely the most unsafe I’ve ever felt where I live. It far exceeds anything I’ve experienced, and I am white. It affects my decisions every time I go outside. I continue to call my reps and work with my friends and my partner to offer mutual aid, get training, and help others. My neighborhood has been quiet and we’re looking for more ways to help others in more affected areas. We are attending the Solidarity Mobilizations this coming Tues and next: https://www.mobilize.us/surj/event/885616/
I attended an excellent online event with Indivisible this week about the caucuses, plan to attend myself, and have gotten 2 more people to go already, with more on my call list.
I went to the annual art sled rally this weekend. It is one of my favorite events of the year! So much laughter, fun, and delight. Thankfully, there wasn’t ICE presence during the event that I’m aware of. Look for the Minnesota 2026 art sled rally on YouTube if you haven’t seen it yet!

Why We Must Invest Early, Now, And Not Wait - In three new essays (here, here, here) I discuss how one of the ways we win the 2026 midterms is by providing early support to our candidates and parties to allow them to staff up, be loud, define the terms of the debate now, before the inevitable onslaught on AI slop, Russian disinfo, and Trumpian lies funded through bribes and corruption wash across the land.

The midterms could be won or lost in these next few months - not in the fall of 2026 - and we need be fighting now with everything we got.

Winning The Big Arguments With Trump, Defend Our Democracy

1 - Call Your Senators and Member Of The House And Demand They Act Upon Our Five-Part Agenda - We need to be loud people, very, very loud and make the case for our now five part agenda:

Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia; demand Congress rebuke/issue a no confidence vote on his new threats to seize Greenland and his new, dangerous European tariffs;
Congress must stand forcefully for rule of law in the Caribbean and the Pacific - these illegal strikes must end; no war can be waged without Congressional approval; there must accountability for those who have broken the law, and the US must withdraw from Venezuela and cease other threats to violate the UN Charter and the sovereignty of other nations
Roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses and farmers, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world. To put America on a sounder fiscal course due to the enormous deficits brought by Trump’s 2025 tax cuts we should reverse the cuts to the wealthy and corporations
Defend our democracy, rule of law, and our liberties by blocking the expansion of ICE; restoring due process for immigrants across the country; vigorously defending the 1st Amendment; warring against his outrageous targeting of his domestic political opponents; ending the use of the military on our streets and the dangerous occupation of our cities; stopping the unprecedented regime corruption; and by forcing the Administration to finally comply with Congress end the rancid cover up of the Epstein crimes.
Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse - not delay - the cuts to the ACA, Medicaid and our clean energy investments; support and co-sponsor the Stand Up For Science/Rep. Haley Stevens effort to remove Robert Kennedy from HHS.

Keep working hard all. The momentum is with us, and we need to keep fighting as hard as we can - Simon