Andrea Orzoff
@arorzoff.bsky.social
research administrator and independent historian. Opinions are mine, not my employer's. After work: hiker, mom, writer, reader. Brecht: “When the times darken/ Will there be singing even then? /There will be singing even then. /Of how the times darken.”
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
![KABAS: So many comparisons have made between the current state of US immigration terror and Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and I've seen some say that kind of seeks to absolve this country of its own history of racial terror and genocide. In the hearings this week with ICE and CBP and USCIS, you said you have “no respect for inheritors of the Klan hood and the slave patrol.” How did it feel to publicly and explicitly draw that connection?
REP. RAMIREZ: I knew that I was going to make them very uncomfortable. I'm not talking about just the DHS directors there—I meant my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. And I say this often, ‘Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s the willingness to act despite the fear.’ I'm a little scared [in that moment], because if I'm being blunt with you, every time I speak there's a death threat. And yet I thought it was so important, as a daughter of immigrants, as a proud representative of Illinois-3, as someone who has been calling out what they do, to be able to look evil in the eye and call them what they are.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ejihld4sywvvqwe67cdkn4jq/bafkreieyek3u7oka3cei3fdsxn2u7wyxj64s6uxl5kk7dx5zuu3wqr4vue@jpeg)
February 14, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
February 13, 2026 at 7:41 PM
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
All those kids & nurses & mechanics & service workers that we are deporting? It costs us $133,333 a head.
Again: we are spending $133,333 per migrant worker that we deport.
Again: we are spending $133,333 per migrant worker that we deport.
US Spent $133,333 for Each Deportation to Third Party Countries
The figures from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats average out to a cost of roughly $133,333 per person deported. The report outlines the cost of President Donald Trump’s controversial pol...
finance.yahoo.com
February 13, 2026 at 9:58 PM
All those kids & nurses & mechanics & service workers that we are deporting? It costs us $133,333 a head.
Again: we are spending $133,333 per migrant worker that we deport.
Again: we are spending $133,333 per migrant worker that we deport.
🧵
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
February 12, 2026 at 1:59 PM
🧵
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.
February 11, 2026 at 4:46 PM
This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
A sudden 10 day closure of airspace in a major US city like El Paso should be THE STORY, with nothing else getting any air time until at minimum someone within the US government says what’s happening and why.
It barely even registers on CNN’s site. It’s literally the last item before the page ends.
It barely even registers on CNN’s site. It’s literally the last item before the page ends.
The FAA is closing the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days, grounding all flights to and from the airport, for “special security reasons."
The FAA's notice did not provide additional details.
The FAA's notice did not provide additional details.
FAA closes airspace around El Paso, Texas, for 10 days, grounding all flights
The Federal Aviation Administration is closing the airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days, grounding all flights to and from the airport.
bit.ly
February 11, 2026 at 12:57 PM
A sudden 10 day closure of airspace in a major US city like El Paso should be THE STORY, with nothing else getting any air time until at minimum someone within the US government says what’s happening and why.
It barely even registers on CNN’s site. It’s literally the last item before the page ends.
It barely even registers on CNN’s site. It’s literally the last item before the page ends.
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
“the action to close airspace over a major U.S. for security reasons over extended period hasn’t happened since immediately after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001”
El Paso, New Mexico airspace closed by FAA without explanation; flights restricted under national defense noticeWithout explanation, FAA closes El Paso and New Mexico airspace for 10 days, cites natio...
The Federal Aviation Administration has closed airspace over El Paso and parts of southern New Mexico for 10 days under a national defense designation, offering no explanation for the rare move.An une...
elpasomatters.org
February 11, 2026 at 1:07 PM
“the action to close airspace over a major U.S. for security reasons over extended period hasn’t happened since immediately after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001”
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
Notice how the popular media narrative has moved on, while people on the ground in Minneapolis are still struggling and crying out that things are as bad as ever. This is how fascist regimes operate — overreach, recalibration, normalization. Get louder, not quieter.
February 11, 2026 at 3:54 AM
Notice how the popular media narrative has moved on, while people on the ground in Minneapolis are still struggling and crying out that things are as bad as ever. This is how fascist regimes operate — overreach, recalibration, normalization. Get louder, not quieter.
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
February 10, 2026 at 8:18 PM
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
The president is monetizing the presidency & it is basically just background noise at this point
We have concentration camps & it is basically just background noise at this point
We are threatening the sovereignty of our NATO allies & it is basically just background noise at this point
Etc.
We have concentration camps & it is basically just background noise at this point
We are threatening the sovereignty of our NATO allies & it is basically just background noise at this point
Etc.
We are murdering people and it is basically just background noise at this point. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
U.S. Boat Strike Kills 2 in Pacific, With One Survivor
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:07 PM
The president is monetizing the presidency & it is basically just background noise at this point
We have concentration camps & it is basically just background noise at this point
We are threatening the sovereignty of our NATO allies & it is basically just background noise at this point
Etc.
We have concentration camps & it is basically just background noise at this point
We are threatening the sovereignty of our NATO allies & it is basically just background noise at this point
Etc.
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
*Green card application in process and work permit, married to US citizen
*Lived in US for 20 years, no criminal record
*In detention for five months with no charge, despite judge approving release
*He disputes ICE claim that he signed forms agreeing to deportation
*Lived in US for 20 years, no criminal record
*In detention for five months with no charge, despite judge approving release
*He disputes ICE claim that he signed forms agreeing to deportation
And here is my story: ‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record
www.irishtimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:29 PM
*Green card application in process and work permit, married to US citizen
*Lived in US for 20 years, no criminal record
*In detention for five months with no charge, despite judge approving release
*He disputes ICE claim that he signed forms agreeing to deportation
*Lived in US for 20 years, no criminal record
*In detention for five months with no charge, despite judge approving release
*He disputes ICE claim that he signed forms agreeing to deportation
🧵
To reject the US as a fundamentally American country with a deep shared history and commonality with the rest of the Americas, including that Spanish has long been our de facto national second language, is on a deep level anti-American. It's hating actual American culture and history and tradition.
February 9, 2026 at 5:18 AM
🧵
I hear there’s a Bad Bunny concert on TV today?
February 8, 2026 at 11:58 PM
I hear there’s a Bad Bunny concert on TV today?
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
As @andreapitzer.bsky.social has said, the correct response to Dachau was not better training for the guards
Trump’s concentration camps don’t need “reforms”—they need to be shut down
Trump’s concentration camps don’t need “reforms”—they need to be shut down
Concentration camps:
"I saw people lying in feces, throwing up, and sleeping in urine."
"I saw people lying in feces, throwing up, and sleeping in urine."
Former ICE Facility Worker 'saw people laying in feces' at Baltimore Detention Center
Whistleblower provides internal documents alleging severe overcrowding, mistreatment months before viral video sparked national outrage
www.wusa9.com
February 8, 2026 at 11:38 PM
As @andreapitzer.bsky.social has said, the correct response to Dachau was not better training for the guards
Trump’s concentration camps don’t need “reforms”—they need to be shut down
Trump’s concentration camps don’t need “reforms”—they need to be shut down
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
The violence against immigrants, protesters and civilian observers in Minneapolis has sparked renewed calls for oversight of the Border Patrol. It is a pattern abuse with a long history in Mexican American communities on the border, icymi from me and Eileen Sullivan. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/u...
Pretti Shooting Thrusts Border Patrol’s History of Aggressive Tactics Into View
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:27 PM
The violence against immigrants, protesters and civilian observers in Minneapolis has sparked renewed calls for oversight of the Border Patrol. It is a pattern abuse with a long history in Mexican American communities on the border, icymi from me and Eileen Sullivan. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/u...
I may or may not have read this thread a couple hundred times
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
February 7, 2026 at 5:49 PM
I may or may not have read this thread a couple hundred times
🧵, with the reminder that the pessimists have been more accurate than anyone else so far
So while I have not wanted to say "here's what's coming next" in part because who wants to give these guys ideas, I think you can see in the actions of ICE a series of experiments that are terrifying in their implications and should have everyone in the streets everywhere. 2/
February 6, 2026 at 8:42 PM
🧵, with the reminder that the pessimists have been more accurate than anyone else so far
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
You know, a true opposition party could non-cynically make hay out of this, if so inclined.
Three-time Trump voter: I'm looking at this awful picture of the Obamas. What an embarrassment to our country. He is not worthy of the presidency. He takes bribes blatantly, and now he's being a racist blatantly. He's pathetic as a president, and I want to apologize for supporting this rotten man.
February 6, 2026 at 5:29 PM
You know, a true opposition party could non-cynically make hay out of this, if so inclined.
They’re trying to create their own nomenklatura. Lenin would approve.
New, from me: Trump finalized his Schedule F policy, allowing him to remove job protections from career civil servants.
The new rule is dishonest and unmoored from reality in its effort to formalize the politicization of the federal government 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trumps-sch...
The new rule is dishonest and unmoored from reality in its effort to formalize the politicization of the federal government 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trumps-sch...
Trump's Schedule F Rule Finalized
A bizarro rule formally justifies politicizing public services
donmoynihan.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:03 PM
They’re trying to create their own nomenklatura. Lenin would approve.
Reassuring
Russia and the United States are no longer bound by any limits on the size of their strategic nuclear arsenals after their last arms control treaty expired on February 5 with no agreement between them on what should come next reut.rs/4aekQVk
February 5, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Reassuring
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.
February 5, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.
🧵
Some people are asking what I want Schumer to do. He should be screaming over medical care and access to facilities. He should be going to detention facilities himself and putting his body on the line, as he did at the border in 2019. He should lean into stories about New Yorkers in detention. [1/4]
February 4, 2026 at 3:38 PM
🧵
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
what is the actual solution for media when oligarchs buy up the private, corporate media and the government they control also de-funds the public media?
February 4, 2026 at 2:36 PM
what is the actual solution for media when oligarchs buy up the private, corporate media and the government they control also de-funds the public media?
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
Please don't report this as a straightforward business story; it's a story about coercive social transformation being imposed by people so rich they've ceased to see the rest of us as legitimate stakeholders in our own lives
February 4, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Please don't report this as a straightforward business story; it's a story about coercive social transformation being imposed by people so rich they've ceased to see the rest of us as legitimate stakeholders in our own lives
Reposted by Andrea Orzoff
ICE now confirming that there is a measles outbreak at the Texas concentration camp where young Liam was held.
February 2, 2026 at 12:08 AM
ICE now confirming that there is a measles outbreak at the Texas concentration camp where young Liam was held.