Showing posts with label DHS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DHS. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Three seconds to obedience: when mercy gives way to voltage

A detailed editorial illustration depicts two female ICE officers restraining a distressed young woman on a sunlit suburban American street. The detainee, wearing a white summer dress, is held by both arms as blue electrical discharges emanate from the officers’ black gloves at the points of contact. Her expression conveys fear and physical distress. The officers wear dark tactical uniforms, body armour and equipment marked “ICE”. Behind them, white picket fences, bicycles, flowering gardens, family homes, parked vehicles and concerned neighbours create a deliberately idyllic setting that contrasts starkly with the coercive arrest.
image generated via Grok

ICE to invest up to $20 million in special gloves that deliver electric shocks ‘bringing individuals into compliance in less than three seconds and leaves no burns, marks or scars’. {The Guardian 11 August}

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/11/ice-electric-shock-gloves

A number of possible scenarios involving such devices — in the wrong hands — immediately spring to mind, and none of them is pleasant.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Monday, July 20, 2026

An empty parsonage, an unanswered prayer

A photorealistic wide view depicts a weathered white New England parsonage standing in silence beneath soft afternoon light. An overgrown lawn surrounds the neglected porch, where an open suitcase spills clothing onto the steps beside a discarded clerical collar. In the foreground, a visa application and airline ticket stamped “CANCELLED” are pinned beneath a smooth stone, while a small Nigerian flag pin lies abandoned in the dirt nearby. A distant church steeple rises through the trees, barely visible beyond the house. Long shadows, peeling paint and the abandoned belongings combine to evoke profound loneliness, interrupted vocation and the quiet finality of a life abruptly uprooted.
generated via ChatGPT

‘A beloved 54-year-old Massachusetts priest is said to have died by suicide after being forced to return to his home country of Nigeria’. {Irish Star 20 July}

https://www.irishstar.com/news/boston-news/massachusetts-devastated-after-priest-dies-37451659

Jesus was nowhere to be found for this servant of the Lord. FTA:

Under U.S. Department of Homeland Security regulations, Madu had to leave the country to renew his religious worker visa, known as an R-1 visa, according to church officials. While the department recently eliminated the requirement for R-1 recipients to wait a full year before applying for a renewal, options for the church to keep Madu legally in the U.S. were limited because the federal government has suspended processing of certain immigration cases for 75 countries, including Nigeria.

According to the US-Nigeria Civil Society Coalition, Madu suffered from intense emotional distress regarding his anticipated return to Nigeria, where there has been a rise in the kidnappings and killings of Catholic clergy.

Shortly before he passed away, he told parishioners and stated in a farewell message on the parish website that leaving the country was completely out of his hands. He wrote, "Sincerely, it is not my wish to return home right now, but circumstances beyond my control have warranted that my time in the United States come to an end. My heart is broken, yet my joy remains," he wrote, adding that he'd gladly return to minister and will miss the community.

The Boston Globe reported that Madu received emergency room treatment at a hospital after experiencing a panic attack on the Sunday prior to his death, which occurred as he was driving to celebrate Mass.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Saturday, July 11, 2026

The trial of public service

A dramatic, cinematic illustration depicts a dark-haired woman seated in a wooden chair within a dimly lit office strewn with papers and abandoned desks. She wears a white blouse and dark skirt, while thin wires attached to her wrists, arms, and legs connect her to a nearby polygraph machine. Leaning back in apparent exhaustion and emotional strain, she gazes upward with tears visible on her face, conveying anxiety, defiance, and inner turmoil. The room is illuminated by warm, low lighting that reflects across the polished floor and scattered documents. Through the large windows behind her, an immense image of Saturn dominates the star-filled night sky. The contrast between the intimate human drama, the interrogation equipment, and the vast cosmic backdrop creates an atmosphere of scrutiny, isolation, and psychological pressure.
generated via ChatGPT

Homeland Security overhaul has traumatised staff and migrants alike — did the Stasi ever treat its own people this poorly? #Murica {The Guardian 11 July}

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jul/11/inside-homeland-security-campaign-of-fear

To put this in layman's terms: really f**king scary stuff, straight out of the world of dictatorships and hellholes on earth. If Homeland Security — at least under this regime, though many problems existed under previous administrations as well — cannot be trusted to treat its own people with respect and dignity, then it cannot be trusted to treat others with either, nor can it be trusted to keep the American public safe from genuine threats.

Running government agencies on fear and propaganda is driving competent and humane people out across the board, and rebuilding all of this — if, not when, these lunatics are finally removed from power — is going to be a gargantuan undertaking. And one that the former United States may not be able to fully afford.

Some agencies and institutions may never completely recover. Others may never recover at all. Millions of lives ruined.

What y'all voted for.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Thursday, June 11, 2026

Daughters of Persia, exiled far from home

Delicate watercolour-style illustration depicting two young women embracing in a barren, dreamlike landscape. One woman wears a patterned headscarf in muted green and blue tones, while the other has long flowing brown hair that trails softly in the wind. Their eyes are closed and their foreheads touch, conveying intimacy, comfort, and mutual support. Both are dressed in flowing cream-coloured robes accented with subtle floral and geometric motifs, the fabric drifting gracefully around them. The background is rendered in pale washes of beige, blue, and grey, suggesting distant cities, bridges, winding roads, and mountains without sharply defined detail. The subdued palette and gentle brushwork create an atmosphere of melancholy, tenderness, displacement, and resilience. The composition centres upon human connection, presenting the two figures as companions drawing strength from one another amid uncertainty and separation from familiar surroundings.
generated via Gemini

Trump regime to deport non-dangerous Iranian, Afghan, and Syrian migrants to the Central African Republic despite court orders. {NYT 11 June; image generated via Gemini}

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/world/africa/deportations-central-african-republic-migrants-iran-women.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pVA.KYvI.IK_4ZmFy7KYT&smid=url-share

Add to this regime’s list of crimes the forcing of already vulnerable migrants (mostly women) into a completely unfamiliar place in deepest, darkest Africa: one of the world’s poorest and most fragile states, where humanitarian organisations have spent years documenting violence, displacement, weak institutions, chronic insecurity, and persistent human-rights concerns.

These folks have already fled upheaval, war, persecution, economic collapse, or some combination thereof. They will have crossed borders, navigated bureaucracies, endured uncertainty, and invested what little hope remained in the belief that they had finally reached a place of relative safety.

Imagine believing that the years of instability were finally behind you.

Imagine believing that, after all the turmoil, a measure of permanence had at last been secured.

Then imagine discovering that everything is once again thrown into doubt, to put this particular situation extremely mildly.

From a position of relative comfort and security, it is difficult fully to comprehend the anxiety such circumstances produce. The uncertainty alone must be exhausting. Every conversation, every official notice, every news report becomes a potential source of dread. One’s future ceases to be a plan and instead becomes a question mark.

A civilised society should at least be capable of recognising the profound human consequences attached to such decisions. Policies may be debated. Governments may change course. Laws may be rewritten.

Fear, however, is experienced one person at a time.

Many of these migrants may well die in their new ‘home’. I do not believe it would be outlandish to argue that the government of the former United States of America, under its orange-hued and lawless leader, bears responsibility for the foreseeable human consequences of these actions. Put plainly: committing genocide. Would not be the first time, of course, but we thought ourselves beyond such cruelty in the America I grew up in. No longer the case.

What ‘y’all’ voted for, #Murica.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

DHS issues memo to government and law enforcement agencies warning that violent threats against gays, lesbians, and transsexuals are on the rise

AI image generated via Hotpot API

America has never really been the ‘live and let live’ country most of us would like to believe that we are. Perhaps some of us are seeing this truism more clearly now, in this post-COVID, post-Trump, and post-truth hellscape we are navigating; where large portions of our fellow Americans are violently rejecting liberal democracy, and liberal democratic values. A renewed moral panic has been whipped up against the LBGTQ community, and I would have to advise that many of us who are not in that community will nonetheless be targeted (or already have been) by extremist homophobes. Think of the witchcraft hysteria that my Puritan ancestors shamefully engaged in during the 17th century (a great-grandmother of mine was actually hung in early Hartford, CT, after accused of being a ‘witch’ because the community did not approve of her remarrying at age 72; her husband was also hung right alongside of her.) #Cult45 is eager to punish anybody not standing with them, and I have a feeling a lot of us are about to be deemed ‘witches’ of sorts (or ‘groomers,’ or any number of aspersions) in our new 1692. {ABC News 5/15}

MORE

Russian authorities will launch construction of a village outside Moscow for conservative-minded Americans and Canadians next year, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday.’ {The Moscow Times 5/11}

David Smith: As Trump’s lies and scandals deepen, the GOP responds as usual - with silence. {The Guardian 5/13}

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman delivered a sobering account of ways artificial intelligence could “cause significant harm to the world” during his first congressional testimony, expressing a willingness to work with nervous lawmakers to address the risks presented by his company’s ChatGPT and other AI tools.’ {WP 5/16}

Copyright 2023, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on TWITTER, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, and POST - @arthurnewhook.

Friday, February 11, 2022

The White House puts the screws to weakling Justin Trudeau, demands Canada crackdown on trucker blockades at the border

Cole Burston/Getty Images

Disrupting the lives of ordinary citizens is not a legitimate form of protest. Rather, it is terrorism, and these truckers ought to be treated as terrorists. But pretty boy Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has his thumb up his ass, sitting back and doing nothing. These petulant bullies are already causing great harm to the economies of both Canada and the United States, and they are beginning to inspire copycat protests in the U.S. and around the world. It has to be stopped. -  

The Canadian government is coming under increasing pressure from the United States to resolve anti-vaccine mandate protests that are impacting the economy in both countries with border blockades, including a 5-day shutdown of the vital Ambassador Bridge. 

The “Freedom Convoy” by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, mirrored by the U.S. government, began with the occupation of the Canadian capital, Ottawa. The truckers then blocked the Ambassador Bridge earlier this week, and shut down two other smaller border crossings. 

The closure of the bridge, North America’s busiest international land border crossing and a key supply route for Detroit’s carmakers, has halted some auto output and left officials scrambling to limit economic damage. (Read more)

Copyright 2022, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here. DONATIONS - click here.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Trump's madness knows no boundaries, as he calls for his own VP to be investigated for the crime of following the law

AFP/Getty Images

Trump knows it is a lie – the Big Lie. ‘Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth,’ as Joseph Goebbels is reputed to have said, and absolutely put into practice in Nazi Germany. Trump knew Vice-President Pence did not have the constitutional authority to overturn the results of a presidential election, but will go to any lengths to keep the Big Lie going and rally the people to his cause. His cause being declared President for Life. How much further is this going to be allowed to go before this would-be dictator is locked up? The White House better have a damn good plan in place to contain the certain revolt of Trump’s most dangerous supporters when/if justice is finally served. Know this much: America – if it even survives, a big 'if’ - will be severely divided for at least a generation or two to come, in large part because of one power-hungry cult leader and the madness he has inflicted upon a country that really was not doing so great before he came along. The American people and their media overlords have only made it too easy for this evil man to take over. Trump now says he wants Mike Pence investigated for not sending back votes -  

President Donald Trump on Tuesday resumed his criticism of former Vice President Mike Pence for failing to 'overturn' the election results – and is now saying his former VP should be probed for failing to 'send back' votes in states where Trump was claiming fraud. 

Trump fired off comment in a statement from his Save America PAC – a day after a stunning statement where Trump wrote that Pence 'did have the right to change the outcome' and added 'he could have overturned the Election!' 

Now, a day after it was revealed that Pence's former chief of staff Marc Short testified before the House Jan. 6th Committee, Trump is calling for an investigation of Pence as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who accuses of failing to protect the Capitol.    

'So pathetic to watch the Unselect Committee of political hacks, liars, and traitors work so feverishly to alter the Electoral College Act so that a Vice President cannot ensure the honest results of the election, when just one year ago they said that “the Vice President has absolutely no right to ensure the true outcome or results of an election,” wrote Trump. He was referencing the Electoral Count Act, the subject of election reform negotiations. (Read more)

Copyright 2022, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here. DONATIONS - click here.

Monday, November 15, 2021

President Biden signs Executive Order directing cabinet agencies to address ‘crisis of violence’ against Native Americans

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. (photo c/o debforcongress.com)

The Tribal Nations Summit: A thoroughly decent, yet necessary, act by the Biden administration. Why, in the year 2021, are Native American communities still in such dire shape and neglected by the population at large? At least the White House is doing something to address them, but few Americans will notice or care and the media will not bring attention to it. -

(CNN) - President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday directing federal agencies, including the departments of Justice, Interior and Homeland Security, to create a strategy addressing what the President called a "crisis of violence" against Native Americans. 

"Today, I'm directing federal officials to work with tribal nations on a strategy to improve public safety and advanced justice," Biden said at the White House's first-ever Tribal Leaders Summit. 

The President continued: "This builds on the work we did together on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, when we granted authority to tribes to exercise jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders who commit violence on tribal lands." 

"We're going to reauthorize that again, we're going to expand the jurisdiction to include other offenses like sex trafficking, sexual assault and child abuse," Biden said. 

First lady Jill Biden, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland -- the country's first Native American Cabinet Secretary -- Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stood next to Biden as he signed the order. 

The order "tasks DOJ, Interior and Homeland Security to address and create a strategy in 240 days for specific law enforcement issues and to provide tribal nations with support in implementing tribally centered responses as well," to combat violence against Native communities, an administration official said Sunday. The Department of Health and Human Services will also be charged with developing plans for violence prevention and victim support. (Read more)

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.

Friday, November 12, 2021

DHS issues holiday alert warning of domestic terrorism threat

Alex Wong/Getty Images

In addition to the continuing threat global Jihadists pose, the Department of Homeland Security is showing increasing concern about homegrown terrorism. Considering we had a genuine homegrown terrorist attack on the United States Capitol this past January 6, it is no longer hyperbole to say our own people are now more of a threat to the homeland than foreign actors. And what a sad commentary that is -

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. faces a “heightened threat environment” from domestic extremists and people inspired by foreign terrorist groups with the approach of the holiday season, the Department of Homeland Security warned Wednesday.

While DHS said it had no credible information on a specific threat, the agency warns in its latest national terrorism advisory bulletin that mass gatherings for the upcoming religious holidays could be potential targets, including from people and organizations seeking to exploit resentment over pandemic lockdowns and recent events such as the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“The Homeland continues to face a diverse and challenging threat environment,” it said.

This is the fourth time this year the agency has issued a bulletin, highlighting the perceived danger from a volatile mix of domestic extremists, often motivated by racially or ethnically motivated hate, and homegrown extremists inspired by overseas groups. It reflects a shift from the focus on al-Qaida and other organizations following the creation of DHS after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

It also comes in an environment that has been super-charged by online propaganda and conspiracy theories as well as anger over the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic. DHS warned that extremists will pose a “significant threat” at least into 2022.

Timothy Langan, the assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, made similar points last week in an appearance before the House intelligence committee. He said the threat from domestic terrorism has “significantly increased” in the last 18 months, with the agency currently conducting about 2,700 investigations on violent domestic extremists. (Read more)

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.

Monday, August 9, 2021

The White House cracks down on the border as migrant arrests soar to 21-year-high and the Delta variant surges

Photo: Getty Images

The pro-migrant lobby will balk, the other side will only continue to claim that the president is allowing illegal aliens to enter in a conspiracy to destroy America. The opinions of malcontents and ideologues be damned, we’re in a national emergency and have to do what is necessary. CBS News

The Biden administration is ramping up deportations and prosecutions of migrants crossing the southern border illegally amid a 21-year high in migrant arrests and concerns about the rapid spread of the coronavirus Delta variant.

U.S. authorities are now flying Central American migrants deep into the Mexican interior using a Trump-era public health order that was extended indefinitely last week, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, who said the expulsions are meant to curb repeat border crossings and the spread of the coronavirus.

The Biden administration has also restarted "expedited removal" flights for some migrant families who can't be expelled to Mexico under the public health authority, known as Title 42. Since the end of July, the U.S. has carried out six expedited removal flights to Central America, deporting 242 migrant parents and children under the procedure, DHS officials said. (Read more)

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.