John Light
@johnalight.bsky.social
I’m an editor at TPM.
signal: johnalight.99
email: johnalight@protonmail.com
signal: johnalight.99
email: johnalight@protonmail.com
An Ode to Corruption: Announcing 2025’s Golden Duke Winners
An Ode to Corruption: Announcing 2025’s Golden Duke Winners
The lawless no man’s land between the holidays and the New Year...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:44 PM
An Ode to Corruption: Announcing 2025’s Golden Duke Winners
Reposted by John Light
You could say that agreeing to do this story is itself a high-stakes gamble
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/m...
He Was a Supreme Court Lawyer. Then His Double Life Caught Up With Him.
www.nytimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 1:06 PM
You could say that agreeing to do this story is itself a high-stakes gamble
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/m...
Reposted by John Light
The people who profited most from the cancel culture/free speech panic were less interested in actual freedom of speech than establishing their own control over public discourse. You don't even have to take my word for it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 6:17 PM
The people who profited most from the cancel culture/free speech panic were less interested in actual freedom of speech than establishing their own control over public discourse. You don't even have to take my word for it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
NYC's immigration courthouses have loomed large in our reporting on ICE. Routine hearings now inspire terror for immigrants, who might be aggressively detained in the halls. However, I didn’t realize, until TPM spoke to him, that Mamdani’s father was there this spring for a citizenship interview.
December 23, 2025 at 4:06 PM
NYC's immigration courthouses have loomed large in our reporting on ICE. Routine hearings now inspire terror for immigrants, who might be aggressively detained in the halls. However, I didn’t realize, until TPM spoke to him, that Mamdani’s father was there this spring for a citizenship interview.
“If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient,” Alfonsi wrote in her email.
Bari Weiss Spikes 60 Minutes Segment at Last Minute
Black Rock Crumbles In an unprecedented last-minute intervention, rookie CBS News editor-in-chief...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
“If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient,” Alfonsi wrote in her email.
One wild thing that's probably not gotten enough attention this year is the administration refusing to let members of Congress inspect immigration detention facilities, a violation of the law. This story has some details on how that's played out. talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/how-...
December 22, 2025 at 1:57 AM
One wild thing that's probably not gotten enough attention this year is the administration refusing to let members of Congress inspect immigration detention facilities, a violation of the law. This story has some details on how that's played out. talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/how-...
Reposted by John Light
Some of these redactions are almost like modern art
December 19, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Some of these redactions are almost like modern art
Wild.
ICE arrests a woman, won't accept proof she was born in the U.S., not Mexico, including a Maryland birth certificate.
ICE arrests a woman, won't accept proof she was born in the U.S., not Mexico, including a Maryland birth certificate.
Trump Administration Says Maryland Woman's Birth Certificate Is Fake In Dystopian Move
Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales was arrested on Sunday. ICE won’t release her despite extensive documentation of her citizenship, her attorneys told HuffPost.
www.huffpost.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Wild.
ICE arrests a woman, won't accept proof she was born in the U.S., not Mexico, including a Maryland birth certificate.
ICE arrests a woman, won't accept proof she was born in the U.S., not Mexico, including a Maryland birth certificate.
Reposted by John Light
Advocates have created a system with @repdangoldman.bsky.social to fight "unjust detention."
While they are scoring victories and freeing detainees, they are left wondering how many others are being wrongly held without access to similar help. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-a-h...
While they are scoring victories and freeing detainees, they are left wondering how many others are being wrongly held without access to similar help. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-a-h...
How a ‘Habeas Machine’ Reunited One Family That Was Pulled Apart by ICE
The agents were on the hunt, but as they staked out the...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Advocates have created a system with @repdangoldman.bsky.social to fight "unjust detention."
While they are scoring victories and freeing detainees, they are left wondering how many others are being wrongly held without access to similar help. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-a-h...
While they are scoring victories and freeing detainees, they are left wondering how many others are being wrongly held without access to similar help. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-a-h...
@hunterw.bsky.social follows a Venezuelan family from the point when their son is taken from them by federal agents in the halls of immigration court to when he is freed, days later, through the work of activists and a member of Congress.
How a ‘Habeas Machine’ Reunited One Family That Was Pulled Apart by ICE
The agents were on the hunt, but as they staked out the...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:10 PM
@hunterw.bsky.social follows a Venezuelan family from the point when their son is taken from them by federal agents in the halls of immigration court to when he is freed, days later, through the work of activists and a member of Congress.
Reposted by John Light
how in the fuck is this shit real
While wearing a custom sequined jacket, Education Secretary Linda McMahon repeatedly refers to FAFSA as "FAFA."
December 17, 2025 at 9:54 PM
how in the fuck is this shit real
Reposted by John Light
This whole thread, man, you should be following Josh anyway, but this whole thread documenting derangement in real time
“We can defeat the left by outbreeding them,” Johnson says, “we’re the only ones that anyone wants to have sex with. Have you met a lib? They’re hideous”
December 14, 2025 at 3:35 AM
This whole thread, man, you should be following Josh anyway, but this whole thread documenting derangement in real time
Reposted by John Light
In late 2020 a Chinese man called Guan Heng travelled to Xinjiang with our BuzzFeed map of detention facilities to provide ground truth for our work - he provided the first corroborating evidence for many sites.
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
ICE Holding Chinese Man Who Documented Uyghur Camps
Heng Guan is awaiting an immigration hearing on Monday that could lead to his removal from the U.S. and ultimately land him back in China, according to his lawyer and a New York-based activist group.
www.wsj.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:17 PM
In late 2020 a Chinese man called Guan Heng travelled to Xinjiang with our BuzzFeed map of detention facilities to provide ground truth for our work - he provided the first corroborating evidence for many sites.
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
Reposted by John Light
Currently at the New York Young Republican’s annual gala, where the MC is 18-year-old streamer Matan Even.
Introduced as a “landlord activist,” he is singing the SpongeBob theme and bombing, to boos
Introduced as a “landlord activist,” he is singing the SpongeBob theme and bombing, to boos
December 14, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Currently at the New York Young Republican’s annual gala, where the MC is 18-year-old streamer Matan Even.
Introduced as a “landlord activist,” he is singing the SpongeBob theme and bombing, to boos
Introduced as a “landlord activist,” he is singing the SpongeBob theme and bombing, to boos
A deep look at the comings and goings inside of Manhattan’s immigration courts, where individuals and sometimes whole families are, now notoriously, surrounded by ICE and removed from the halls, often with little notice. Observers then rush to set them free.
The Undocumented Underground Is Fighting Back Inside New York’s Notorious Immigration Court
One day last month, a Peruvian mother and her daughter went into...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:26 PM
A deep look at the comings and goings inside of Manhattan’s immigration courts, where individuals and sometimes whole families are, now notoriously, surrounded by ICE and removed from the halls, often with little notice. Observers then rush to set them free.
Fetterman drafted a letter to Israel's president asking him to grant Netanyahu's request for a pardon.
Fetterman Writes Letter Asking Israel’s President to Pardon Netanyahu
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) prepared a letter in recent days asking Israel’s...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Fetterman drafted a letter to Israel's president asking him to grant Netanyahu's request for a pardon.
Reposted by John Light
Via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: CBP posted a pic of two detained Iranians, saying, “No fun in the sun when you are unlawfully present.”
According to their Episcopal priest, they’re Christian converts seeking asylum, and deporting them may be a death sentence religionnews.com/2025/12/09/b...
According to their Episcopal priest, they’re Christian converts seeking asylum, and deporting them may be a death sentence religionnews.com/2025/12/09/b...
Priest says sisters slated for deportation are Christians who could face persecution by Iran
WASHINGTON (RNS) — ‘We all feel a wound in our body of Christ, knowing what’s happening to them,’ said the Rev. Fran Gardner-Smith.
religionnews.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: CBP posted a pic of two detained Iranians, saying, “No fun in the sun when you are unlawfully present.”
According to their Episcopal priest, they’re Christian converts seeking asylum, and deporting them may be a death sentence religionnews.com/2025/12/09/b...
According to their Episcopal priest, they’re Christian converts seeking asylum, and deporting them may be a death sentence religionnews.com/2025/12/09/b...
Following the Canal Street raid earlier this year, @hunterw.bsky.social spent weeks embedded with an underground network of New Yorkers helping immigrants to stay safe amid Trump’s constantly shifting deportation regime.
We’ll be publishing several stories highlighting what he saw.
We’ll be publishing several stories highlighting what he saw.
A lot of people are wondering where and when the resistance to Trump will happen.
When I dug in, I realized it is all around us.
Regular people are fighting back to defend their communities. talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/life...
When I dug in, I realized it is all around us.
Regular people are fighting back to defend their communities. talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/life...
Life Inside the Undocumented Underground
During President Donald Trump’s second term, dramatic raids staged by the Immigration...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Following the Canal Street raid earlier this year, @hunterw.bsky.social spent weeks embedded with an underground network of New Yorkers helping immigrants to stay safe amid Trump’s constantly shifting deportation regime.
We’ll be publishing several stories highlighting what he saw.
We’ll be publishing several stories highlighting what he saw.
Reposted by John Light
Sotomayor quoted RBG's famous "umbrella" line today, from her dissent in a case that hobbled the Voting Rights Act. it was an appropriate linkage, as the Roberts Court's destruction of voting rights and campaign finance regulations alike form the foundation of its profoundly anti-democratic legacy
December 9, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Sotomayor quoted RBG's famous "umbrella" line today, from her dissent in a case that hobbled the Voting Rights Act. it was an appropriate linkage, as the Roberts Court's destruction of voting rights and campaign finance regulations alike form the foundation of its profoundly anti-democratic legacy
Reposted by John Light
1 welcome center in NYC began in 2023, when Abbott + DeSantis started sending busloads of undocumented migrants to blue cities
Under Trump's ICE crackdown, it's serving mostly young West African immigrant men, most of whom are orphaned or fleeing abuse at home
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/insi...
Under Trump's ICE crackdown, it's serving mostly young West African immigrant men, most of whom are orphaned or fleeing abuse at home
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/insi...
Inside the Secret Network Offering Sanctuary to Immigrants Amid Trump’s ICE Onslaught
They call them the “forgotten migrants.” Of the approximately 11 million undocumented...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:42 PM
1 welcome center in NYC began in 2023, when Abbott + DeSantis started sending busloads of undocumented migrants to blue cities
Under Trump's ICE crackdown, it's serving mostly young West African immigrant men, most of whom are orphaned or fleeing abuse at home
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/insi...
Under Trump's ICE crackdown, it's serving mostly young West African immigrant men, most of whom are orphaned or fleeing abuse at home
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/insi...
Reposted by John Light
Some of the same churches that are part of the Undocumented Underground in New York played key roles in the fight against slavery.
They are springing back into action to defend migrants.
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/insi...
They are springing back into action to defend migrants.
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/insi...
Inside the Secret Network Offering Sanctuary to Immigrants Amid Trump’s ICE Onslaught
They call them the “forgotten migrants.” Of the approximately 11 million undocumented...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Some of the same churches that are part of the Undocumented Underground in New York played key roles in the fight against slavery.
They are springing back into action to defend migrants.
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/insi...
They are springing back into action to defend migrants.
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/insi...
Reposted by John Light
Since October, I have been reporting on the effects of Trump's mass deportation agenda in NYC.
I have found heavy ICE machinery and a resistance network full of regular people defending migrants
Our series on the "Undocumented Underground" kicks off today and I hope you will give it a read.
I have found heavy ICE machinery and a resistance network full of regular people defending migrants
Our series on the "Undocumented Underground" kicks off today and I hope you will give it a read.
TPM has spent nearly two months on the front lines of Trump's mass deportation push in New York. We found masked agents, chaos in the courts, and a quietly growing movement that's fighting back.
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/life...
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/life...
Life Inside the Undocumented Underground
During President Donald Trump’s second term, dramatic raids staged by the Immigration...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Since October, I have been reporting on the effects of Trump's mass deportation agenda in NYC.
I have found heavy ICE machinery and a resistance network full of regular people defending migrants
Our series on the "Undocumented Underground" kicks off today and I hope you will give it a read.
I have found heavy ICE machinery and a resistance network full of regular people defending migrants
Our series on the "Undocumented Underground" kicks off today and I hope you will give it a read.
Republicans try to remember a world in which not all policy came from Trump.
It’s Time to Govern, and Republicans in Congress Can’t Remember How
Republicans Try to Remember a World in Which Not All Policy Came...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Republicans try to remember a world in which not all policy came from Trump.