Graeme Blair
graemeblair.com
Graeme Blair
@graemeblair.com
Professor of Political Science at UCLA

Deportation Data Project (deportationdata.org)

Organizer at UCLA Faculty Association (AAUP+AFT)

Posts do not represent the positions of any of these organizations

🇵🇸
Reposted by Graeme Blair
Christmas morning 2025.

ICE loading abductees in chains on a plane headed to a concentration camp.
December 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
Today, 1.25 million kids will spend the holiday without their parent because of mass incarceration.
December 25, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
In their approach to higher education, Trump and Newsom shared one thing in common this year: reducing funding for colleges and universities. bit.ly/4jadlD4

📸 Adriana Heldiz
December 25, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
The number of people not showing up to court + being ordered deported skyrocketed, according to our early analysis of the data. Lawyers cite a few reasons: fear of being detained, DOJ sending notices to wrong places, other hiccups in delivery.

My latest: www.npr.org/2025/12/22/n...
NPR analysis shows skyrocketing number of 'no-shows' in immigration court
More immigrants are not showing up for their mandatory immigration court hearings compared to prior years, an NPR analysis shows, allowing the government to order their immediate deportation.
www.npr.org
December 22, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
"Her family has now been told she has been deported, despite US District Judge Brendan Hurson ruling Thursday that she could not be deported pending a hearing...attorneys said Monday that they have...confirm[ed] with the hospital she was born in Maryland." https://bit.ly/3MMdJvz
ICE detains woman whose lawyer insists is US citizen. DHS says she isn't
Federal agents arrested Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales on her way home in Baltimore, Maryland.
bit.ly
December 23, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
Imagine interviewing a victim of torture and independently confirming the details of his torture and then being told you can’t broadcast it because the people who ordered the torture wouldn’t give their side of the story.
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
Excellent visualizations in this NY Times article on the Trump Ethnic Cleansing Machine (paywall free link) ⤵️
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The Complex Deportation Network Behind Trump’s Immigration Crackdown (Gift Article)
An analysis of data on every ICE arrest, detention stay and deportation reveals the complexity and reach of President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
We tracked around 1,600 people detained in "Operation Midway Blitz" - the Chicago-area ICE raids that took place this fall. Here's where they ended up. @themarshallproject.org @geoffhing.bsky.social @shannonheffernan.bsky.social
ICE Data Reveals What Happened to 1,600 People Arrested During Chicago’s Blitz
Most of those arrested were swiftly shuttled to a sprawling array of detention centers in 13 states, many with reports of troubling conditions.
www.themarshallproject.org
December 18, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
Where have immigrants arrested during the so-called "Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago ended up? New data reveals the privately-run detention facilities and local jails where ICE is holding people. @geoffhing.bsky.social @jillcastellano.bsky.social

www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/18/i...
ICE Data Reveals What Happened to 1,600 People Arrested During Chicago’s Blitz
Most of those arrested were swiftly shuttled to a sprawling array of detention centers in 13 states, many with reports of troubling conditions.
www.themarshallproject.org
December 18, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
Trump's new executive order will ban, over the next three years, more than 140,000 spouses, fiancés, and minor children of US citizens and legal permanent residents. Nearly 100,000 nuclear family of US citizens. Unconscionable
December 18, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
As Greg Bovino returns to Chicago, this story looks at children detained by ICE, including one 5-year-old swept up in Operation Midway Blitz earlier this year.

“We didn’t eat anything for days. They didn’t even give us water to drink,” the mother said.

www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/17/c...
ICE Threw Thousands of Kids in Detention, Many For Longer Than Court-Prescribed Limit
Former immigration staffers argue ICE is choosing to detain families for prolonged periods to speed deportations and compel them to leave.
www.themarshallproject.org
December 17, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
Here is a map of the affected countries (excluding Tonga), to give you a sense of how much this new ban restricts immigration from Africa in particular.

Of the newly-added country, Nigeria faces the largest impact, with tens of thousands of visas issued every year to Nigerians.
December 16, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
I keep going back and forth about whether I want to pitch a piece on this but there’s something super sinister about the fallacy of the good immigrant/ Muslim/ refugee — one that feeds into racist tropes by exceptionalizing “good” acts done by minoritized people as though they’re surprises 1/
December 16, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
What's the difference between states like Florida, where ICE arrests are sky-high, and states like Illinois with much lower rates of arrests? It's all about police & jails.

Arrest rates out of homes, workplaces, etc are similar – but reining in sheriffs makes all the difference.
December 15, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
Guantánamo is again holding detained migrants.
An ICE Air flight carried migrants from Alexandria, LA, to the US Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay today—the first migrants held at GTMO since October 17.
December 15, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
““The political appointees ..determined the outcome almost before the investigation had even started,” said Swedish, referring to Trump administration officials who declared publicly that punishing colleges for antisemitism would be a priority. She resigned in May.”

www.latimes.com/california/s...
Times Investigation: Ex-Trump DOJ lawyers say 'fraudulent' UC antisemitism probes led them to quit
The Times spoke to nine former Department of Justice civil rights attorneys tasked with investigating antisemitism complaints at the University of California. They all resigned during their invetigati...
www.latimes.com
December 13, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
We documented dozens of cases of brutality — including physical and sexual abuse from guards — that show a humanitarian disaster unfolding at the Fort Bliss military base, where ICE is operating its largest detention center.

President Trump’s mass detention expansion is inhumane and dangerous.
Immigrants Detained at Fort Bliss in Texas Report Abuse and Inhumane Conditions
Detained people at largest immigration detention facility in the country report accounts of physical and sexual abuse.
www.aclu.org
December 13, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
NEW: A major shift in underway in recent months kicked into gear this week, with ICE trial attorneys around the country asking immigration "judges" to toss out *nearly all* asylum applications on the grounds of "safe third country" agreements with Uganda, Honduras, Ecuador, and Guatemala.
December 12, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
From @prisonpolicy.org: New analysis of government data from ICE via the Deportation Data Project shows federal agents reliant on local jails and police to reach their arrest numbers.
December 11, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
I’ve heard from immigration attorneys that clients say ICE guards lay out the WRAP device (essentially a full-body straitjacket) on the tarmac as a threat — “do what we say or you’re getting the WRAP on the whole flight.”

And here’s proof, from Seattle livestream today via @lalabote.bsky.social.
December 11, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
New: Pregnant immigrant women are showing up to deliver their babies w/ surveillance smart watches on their wrists as part of an ICE monitoring program. They’re too afraid of being detained to have the watch cut off even when it’s medically necessary. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
ICE is tracking pregnant women all the way to the delivery room: ‘She was so afraid they would take her baby’
Pregnant immigrants in ICE monitoring programs are avoiding care, fearing detention during labour and delivery
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
"Limited access to potable water"

Migrant families paint grim picture of life in Texas ICE detention facility, new court documents show
Exclusive: Migrant families paint grim picture of life in Texas ICE detention facility, new court documents show | CNN Politics
Immigrant families held at a detention facility in Texas describe prolonged stays, despondent children, limited access to potable water and agents offering money for families to voluntarily leave the ...
www.cnn.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
Immigration Enforcement Dashboard Updated: New Arrest Data, Refined Design, Better Performance

Updates to the immigration enforcement dashboard include options to download summary data, performance enhancements, and a fresh coat of paint.

austinkocher.substack.com/p/immigratio...
Immigration Enforcement Dashboard Updated: New Arrest Data, Refined Design, Better Performance
Updates to the immigration enforcement dashboard include options to download summary data, performance enhancements, and a fresh coat of paint that looks good on desktop and mobile.
austinkocher.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Graeme Blair
The @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social suspended a unit 18 lecturer for making a critical statement about Israel at the end of one of his classes last year, after it was over, and for mentioning his hunger strike this year.

We need a new free speech movement.

www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
UC Berkeley suspends lecturer Peyrin Kao for pro-Palestinian speech in the classroom
UC Berkeley administration has suspended lecturer Peyrin Kao for the spring 2026 semester without pay for pro-Palestinian speech.
www.dailycal.org
December 9, 2025 at 4:09 AM