Ashwini Vasanthakumar
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ashwinivasantha.bsky.social
Ashwini Vasanthakumar
@ashwinivasantha.bsky.social
2K followers 1.2K following 820 posts
Legal and political theory | migration, authority, obligation, oppression and the ethics of resistance | writing a book on why immigrants should not 'integrate'

www.ashwinivasanthakumar.com
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ashwinivasantha.bsky.social
Ashwini Vasanthakumar @ashwinivasantha.bsky.social · Nov 10
A quick introduction to new followers: I am a political and legal philosopher working on diasporas and transnationalism, the ethics of immigration control, victims' duties, and transitional justice.

My first monograph looked at exile politics,
Cover of book, The Ethics of Exile: a political theory of diaspora, depicting an airdropped aid box in a bombed out city scape. Original artwork by Houssam Alloum.
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
trillingual.bsky.social
Hello, I have a new book out in the spring with Picador and I would love it if you could help me spread the word.

IF WE TOLERATE THIS draws on years of work, to help readers understand why British politics is hurtling rightwards and what to do about it.

Pre-orders: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/if-w...
January 26, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
brizzyc.bsky.social
"A 2-year-old boy was breastfeeding in detention. One 6-year-old boy had leukemia. An 8-year-old girl began wetting the bed. A 14-year-old girl engaged in self-harm." A must read.
February 1, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
egojunk.bsky.social
Probably a day to promote this research from David Cortez. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Abstract Once an exclusively white enterprise, the last forty-five years have witnessed the emergence of a disproportionately Latinx immigration law enforcement workforce. This article addresses the question of why Latinxs elect to work for agencies that have systematically targeted the ethnic communities to which they belong. Where existing scholarship has often implied Latinxs may self-select into immigration law enforcement due to a lack of identification with the immigrant-experience, a dissociation with ethnic identity, and generally restrictionist immigration attitudes, this article finds little empirical evidence to support such an assumption. Analysis of interviews with sixty-one Latinx Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across Arizona, California, and Texas reveals, instead, Latinxs elect to work in immigration law enforcement in service of economic self-interest and survival, with “money,” “a good job,” and “benefits” cited as the primary motivation(s) behind applying for and accepting a job in immigration. This pattern holds irrespective of individual agents’ levels of identification with the immigrant-experience and particular attitudes toward immigration, and suggests a diversity in the demographics of immigration law enforcement agencies that extends beyond mere race and ethnicity, to include a diversity of perspective and potential for empathy.
February 1, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
stephaniecarvin.bsky.social
"Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says he won’t pass judgment on the U.S. crackdown by federal forces in Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of two residents."

The 🇨🇦 government is looking to amend & pass sweeping surveillance legislation. Minister, you might want to have an opinion.
‘Canada is not Minnesota,’ minister says in reaction to U.S. immigration raids
Ottawa removed more than 22,000 people last year "in a compassionate and humane manner," said the public safety minister.
www.thestar.com
February 1, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
henrymance.ft.com
Revealed: one of the members of Donald Trump's Board of Peace "repeatedly corresponded" with Jeffrey Epstein in the 2010s, despite claiming never to have done business with him www.ft.com/content/092d...
Apollo chief Marc Rowan consulted Epstein on firm’s tax affairs
New files reveal extensive talks between disgraced financier and key decision makers at US private capital firm
www.ft.com
February 1, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
hebagowayed.bsky.social
Omg what the fuck is happening
msentropy.bsky.social The Provost / سيدة الفتنة @msentropy.bsky.social · 2d
US Ambassador to Malaysia, y’all.

I’m serious — him, on the other hand…
February 1, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
brian-goldstone.bsky.social
In America today, millions of people are just one medical bill, one missed paycheck, one rent hike away from becoming homeless.

THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US will be out in paperback on March 3.

Preorder here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/645871...
Book cover for There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone. A quote at the top left says, "An exceptional feat of reporting." — The New York Times Book Review. A medallion at the top right reads, "The New York Times Book Review — 10 Best Books of 2025." Text below the cover reads, "In paperback 3.3.26,” with the publisher name Crown.
February 1, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
andycraig.bsky.social
Judge Biery signed the order with a photo of Liam and two bible verses: The first is "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." The second is simply "Jesus wept."

Astonishing thing for a judge to do.
Philadelphia, September 17, 1787: "Well, Dr. Franklin, what do we have?" "A republic, if you can keep it." With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike, It is so ORDERED. SIGNED this 31st day of February, 2026. _________________________________________________ FRED BIERY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE [photo of Liam] Credit: Bystander Matthew 19:14 John 11:35
January 31, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
jbendery.bsky.social
NEW: School hallways are silent. Grandparents patrol outside in shifts. Two more kids taken from Liam Ramos' school.

Trump isn't deescalating ICE at all at MN schools.

“I stopped wearing my high heels to work. I wear my boots to work because I have had to run." www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-mi...
ICE Is Circling Minnesota Schools, Looking For Children to Take
Liam Ramos, 5, isn’t the only child in detention. Teachers and parents describe kids being hunted by federal agents.
www.huffpost.com
January 31, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
aljazeera.com
BREAKING: At least 25 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn, according to medical sources speaking to Al Jazeera.

🔴 LIVE updates: aje.news/yd606g
January 31, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
openmedia.org
Is @hootsuite.com still a B corp, committed to social good? How do they square that with "social listening" contracts with ICE in 2026?

Glad to speak w/CBC's Gloria Macarenko about it: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
© CBC/Radio-Canada 2026. All rights reserved.
www.cbc.ca
January 30, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
lizrenzetti.bsky.social
"Several have active contracts with ICE worth millions of dollars, including technology multinational Thomson Reuters, security company GardaWorld, and Ontario defence manufacturer Roshel."
January 30, 2026 at 2:59 PM
ashwinivasantha.bsky.social
"Life is short and we must not squander it wandering in the psychological wastelands of deeply average people.

The Goodwin story tells us very little about him. But it tells us a lot about how this country operates."

This is, in equal parts, brilliant and troubling.
January 30, 2026 at 2:59 PM
ashwinivasantha.bsky.social
"At 30 minutes, Carney's speech lasted roughly as long as the battle itself."

CBC throwing shade on all parties here.
Post-Davos, Carney’s speech in Quebec is causing an uproar | CBC News
Two days after receiving a standing ovation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Prime Minister Mark Carney made an address in Quebec City that caused an uproar among Quebec's political class.
www.cbc.ca
January 29, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
shayssen.bsky.social
For about a year, I've been digging into the growing number of right-wing funded civic centers teaching "informed patriotism" and "Western civilization" at public universities. Today, @prismreports.org published my investigation. Big thanks to my editor @tinavasquez.bsky.social & the Prism team.
prismreports.org Prism @prismreports.org · 6d
What's behind the right-wing plot to set up taxpayer-funded ‘intellectual freedom centers’ at public universities?

UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Civic Life & Leadership & the University of Florida’s Hamilton School are part of the effort to push conservative ideology, @shayssen.bsky.social reports.
Right-wing plot to set up ‘intellectual freedom centers’ at public universities
UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Florida are part of the effort to push conservative ideology on college students in the guise of civics education
prismreports.org
January 28, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
robertscotthorton.bsky.social
January 29, 2026 at 5:37 AM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
alonghurst.bsky.social
While hospitals are being downsized through government funding decisions, #ONpoli is expanding contracts with for-profit surgical facilities. In December, the government announced four new private surgery facilities as part of a $125m scheme over two years.

www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
In Ontario, it’s a time of plenty for private health care while public hospitals starve - CCPA
Ontario public hospitals face large deficits even as the provincial government doles out more cash to for-profit providers.
www.policyalternatives.ca
January 28, 2026 at 8:09 PM
ashwinivasantha.bsky.social
Only partly reassuring that it’s such a despicable group of halfwits trying to bring this about. Except Trumps admin is also filled with amoral imbeciles…
ayoub.bsky.social elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 8d
The UK version of “Project 2025” by the Reform party includes a British ICE, a concentration camp for 24,000 people, mass surveillance and withdrawing from refugee, anti-torture and anti-trafficking conventions.

It’s on their website. That’s how comfortable fascists are in the UK today.
The Legislation Upon winning a general election, a Reform government under Prime Minister Nigel Farage will: 1) Leave the ECHR 2.) Repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights. 3.) Pass The Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill: This Bill will: Create a legal duty to remove illegal migrants for the Home Secretary The Bill opens with a blunt obligation for the Home Secretary: "The Secretary of State shall ensure the removal from the United Kingdom of each person who does not have extant leave to remain and is not an Irish citizen or otherwise protected by regulations made under this Act." The following parts of the legislation are introduced on an emergency basis, with an in-built sunset clause after 5 years: Disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture, the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention (ECAT) Derogation is justified under the Vienna Convention doctrine of state of necessity: Britain faces a national emergency in which uncontrolled illegal migration undermines public order. These treaties will otherwise be used by activist judges to frustrate deportations, even after the repeals of the HRA and ECHR. Create Detention Power Without Hardial Singh Constraints This means illegal migrants can be detained until they are deported. Activist lawyers routinely use Hardial Singh to secure their client's bail, after which the client absconds. If you came to the UK illegally, you are ineligible for asylum. End of story All asylum claims will become inadmissible if made by a person within the Act's scope. If you came to the country illegally, you are ineligible for asylum in the UK. This strips the Home Office, the immigration tribunals and the higher courts of jurisdiction to even consider claims. A claim that cannot be considered cannot suspend removal and therefore, cannot delay a flight. Re-entering after deportation and destroying ID becomes a serious criminal offence Re-entry after deportation will be… The Operational Plan We will create an enforcement unit called UK Deportation Command, including an Illegal Migrant Identification Centre - harnessing cutting edge data fusion A Reform government will create a cutting edge enforcement data centre to relentlessly identify and detain all illegal migrants in the UK. Using powers granted by the new legislation, it will automatically share data between the Home Office, NHS, HMRC, DVLA, banks and the police. It will power bulk warrants, including mandatory biometric capture during any police encounter. Each power addresses a failure mode observed over the past decade - for example, banks and GP surgeries unaware of a customer's status, or overstayers slipping through because a warrant covered only a single property. Secure Immigration Removal Centres (SIRC) will be built rapidly to detain up to 24,000 Detention capacity for up to 24,000 will be created within 18 months. The Home Office will build Secure Immigration Removal Centres. This will be modular accommodation built in remote parts of the country. Conditions are basic but not punitive: prefabricated two-person rooms, canteen catering, on-site medical suites. Robust perimeters and internal movement controls prevent escapes. This enables detention-on-arrest: no more bail. This capacity would allow for up to 24,000 illegal migrants to be deported per month. Initial Voluntary Return Window A six-month Assisted Voluntary Return window precedes large-scale raids. Illegal migrants will be offered a financial incentive to self-deport. An app will be launched to facilitate this. The Deportation Flights The Home Office will scale up charters to 5 flights per day. To guard against last-minute aircraft unserviceability, the RAF will keep one Voyager aircraft on six-hour 'hot-spare' readiness. If a commercial charter breaks down, detainees can still be flown out that night, preserving operational integrity. The legal reset will mean activist lawyers will no longer be able preven…
January 28, 2026 at 6:25 AM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
jamellebouie.net
it is the same playbook everywhere. “vote for us! we will make you great again by punishing the people you hate! do not pay attention to the fact that we’re also shoveling your money into the pockets of the uber wealthy and building a giant boot to step on your face too (preferably forever)”
ayoub.bsky.social elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 8d
The UK version of “Project 2025” by the Reform party includes a British ICE, a concentration camp for 24,000 people, mass surveillance and withdrawing from refugee, anti-torture and anti-trafficking conventions.

It’s on their website. That’s how comfortable fascists are in the UK today.
The Legislation Upon winning a general election, a Reform government under Prime Minister Nigel Farage will: 1) Leave the ECHR 2.) Repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights. 3.) Pass The Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill: This Bill will: Create a legal duty to remove illegal migrants for the Home Secretary The Bill opens with a blunt obligation for the Home Secretary: "The Secretary of State shall ensure the removal from the United Kingdom of each person who does not have extant leave to remain and is not an Irish citizen or otherwise protected by regulations made under this Act." The following parts of the legislation are introduced on an emergency basis, with an in-built sunset clause after 5 years: Disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture, the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention (ECAT) Derogation is justified under the Vienna Convention doctrine of state of necessity: Britain faces a national emergency in which uncontrolled illegal migration undermines public order. These treaties will otherwise be used by activist judges to frustrate deportations, even after the repeals of the HRA and ECHR. Create Detention Power Without Hardial Singh Constraints This means illegal migrants can be detained until they are deported. Activist lawyers routinely use Hardial Singh to secure their client's bail, after which the client absconds. If you came to the UK illegally, you are ineligible for asylum. End of story All asylum claims will become inadmissible if made by a person within the Act's scope. If you came to the country illegally, you are ineligible for asylum in the UK. This strips the Home Office, the immigration tribunals and the higher courts of jurisdiction to even consider claims. A claim that cannot be considered cannot suspend removal and therefore, cannot delay a flight. Re-entering after deportation and destroying ID becomes a serious criminal offence Re-entry after deportation will be… The Operational Plan We will create an enforcement unit called UK Deportation Command, including an Illegal Migrant Identification Centre - harnessing cutting edge data fusion A Reform government will create a cutting edge enforcement data centre to relentlessly identify and detain all illegal migrants in the UK. Using powers granted by the new legislation, it will automatically share data between the Home Office, NHS, HMRC, DVLA, banks and the police. It will power bulk warrants, including mandatory biometric capture during any police encounter. Each power addresses a failure mode observed over the past decade - for example, banks and GP surgeries unaware of a customer's status, or overstayers slipping through because a warrant covered only a single property. Secure Immigration Removal Centres (SIRC) will be built rapidly to detain up to 24,000 Detention capacity for up to 24,000 will be created within 18 months. The Home Office will build Secure Immigration Removal Centres. This will be modular accommodation built in remote parts of the country. Conditions are basic but not punitive: prefabricated two-person rooms, canteen catering, on-site medical suites. Robust perimeters and internal movement controls prevent escapes. This enables detention-on-arrest: no more bail. This capacity would allow for up to 24,000 illegal migrants to be deported per month. Initial Voluntary Return Window A six-month Assisted Voluntary Return window precedes large-scale raids. Illegal migrants will be offered a financial incentive to self-deport. An app will be launched to facilitate this. The Deportation Flights The Home Office will scale up charters to 5 flights per day. To guard against last-minute aircraft unserviceability, the RAF will keep one Voyager aircraft on six-hour 'hot-spare' readiness. If a commercial charter breaks down, detainees can still be flown out that night, preserving operational integrity. The legal reset will mean activist lawyers will no longer be able preven…
January 28, 2026 at 12:23 AM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
publichealthguy1.bsky.social
how the fuck you gonna reform a children’s concentration camp asshole
durbin.senate.gov Senator Dick Durbin @durbin.senate.gov · 7d
Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez died in government custody.

She had sickle cell and congenital heart disease but couldn’t access timely and adequate medical care.

We need to reform immigration detention.
January 28, 2026 at 5:30 AM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
I will say that I like seeing this from this senator.
sahilkapur.bsky.social Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 6d
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., rolls out his demand for supporting a DHS appropriations bill: fire Stephen Miller
January 28, 2026 at 3:41 AM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
lemon8bylaura.bsky.social
These budget decisions look like something dreamed up south of the border. Canada needs to do better.
January 28, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
nytpitchbot.bsky.social
Brave protesters in Minnesota stopped the country's slide into fascism. So now I can go back to attacking the illiberal left for its woke excesses.
January 28, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
unburntwitch.com
finally a good dating app
dbrauer.net David Brauer @dbrauer.net · 7d
TOM HOMAN: “We’re going to create a database where those people that are arrested for interference, impeding and assault, we’re going to make them famous. We’re going to put their face on TV. We’re going to let their employers, in their neighborhoods, in their schools, know who these people are.”
January 27, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Ashwini Vasanthakumar
drugdatadecoded.ca
Hootsuite's abilities go beyond "sentiment analysis" or "social listening."

The company it partnered with in ~2022 then bought out in 2024, Talkwalker, uses AI to identify PEOPLE in photos and videos pulled from social media.

I.e., facial recognition. 1/
drugdatadecoded.ca/calgary-poli...
Calgary police "image recognition" software identifies individuals in photos & videos posted online
Documents show that two years after being caught using Clearview AI facial recognition software, Calgary police signed contracts for AI software that scours photos and videos for individuals. Have pol...
drugdatadecoded.ca
January 27, 2026 at 7:03 PM