Pinned
Laura Barrera
@laurrera.bsky.social
· Nov 20
On Twitter I was @abogada_laura. I used to tweet a lot about immigrant rights, especially concerning children. I have changed practice areas and now specialize in habeas corpus cases for incarcerated people, after a stint as a clinical professor. I’m also a mom to a one year old (and a dog). Hello!
Reposted by Laura Barrera
ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.
October 8, 2025 at 4:30 PM
ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.
Reposted by Laura Barrera
Florida is taking steps to build its own immigration detention center in the Everglades calling it “Alligator Alcatraz."
People will be held in a facility "surrounded by alligators and snakes in dangerous heat with NO oversight," our Policy Director @naynagupta.bsky.social says in @npr.org ⤵️
People will be held in a facility "surrounded by alligators and snakes in dangerous heat with NO oversight," our Policy Director @naynagupta.bsky.social says in @npr.org ⤵️
What to know about 'Alligator Alcatraz,' Florida migrant detention center in progress
Florida's attorney general says the facility is on track to open in early July, at a little-used airfield in the Everglades. Environmental activists hope they can repeat history and stop the project.
www.npr.org
June 24, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Florida is taking steps to build its own immigration detention center in the Everglades calling it “Alligator Alcatraz."
People will be held in a facility "surrounded by alligators and snakes in dangerous heat with NO oversight," our Policy Director @naynagupta.bsky.social says in @npr.org ⤵️
People will be held in a facility "surrounded by alligators and snakes in dangerous heat with NO oversight," our Policy Director @naynagupta.bsky.social says in @npr.org ⤵️
Reposted by Laura Barrera
Pause for a moment to process this; ICE is arresting literally 1,100% more immigrants with no criminal records than in his first term.
New data show that ICE is pulling record numbers of people off the streets who have no criminal convictions of any kind. This is not just a change from the Biden admin. This is a radical tactical shift compared to Trump 1.0. These arrests are up over 1,000% from 2017.
www.cato.org/blog/ice-arr...
www.cato.org/blog/ice-arr...
June 24, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Pause for a moment to process this; ICE is arresting literally 1,100% more immigrants with no criminal records than in his first term.
Reposted by Laura Barrera
This is *extremely* dangerous. ICE detained people, including a family with 3 children, in an office building basement in California without enough food or water. Rampant human rights abuses daily.
Guardian article: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Guardian article: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
June 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
This is *extremely* dangerous. ICE detained people, including a family with 3 children, in an office building basement in California without enough food or water. Rampant human rights abuses daily.
Guardian article: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Guardian article: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Laura Barrera
This is such a good point I'm frustrated I didn't see it. If the gov issues a clearly illegal order that applies to millions and it is losing in every individual case, why would it ever appeal the losses? So what if they can't enforce it as to a dozen people if they can still do it for millions?
Paraphrasing here...
Kagan: Assume this is completely illegal EO. How do the courts actually stop it?
Govt: Certify a class action.
Kagan: You'll argue there's no class to certify under FRCP.
Govt: Yeah true.
Kagan: So how else?
Govt: Have every individual affected sue.
Barrett: Seriously?
Kagan: Assume this is completely illegal EO. How do the courts actually stop it?
Govt: Certify a class action.
Kagan: You'll argue there's no class to certify under FRCP.
Govt: Yeah true.
Kagan: So how else?
Govt: Have every individual affected sue.
Barrett: Seriously?
May 15, 2025 at 4:02 PM
This is such a good point I'm frustrated I didn't see it. If the gov issues a clearly illegal order that applies to millions and it is losing in every individual case, why would it ever appeal the losses? So what if they can't enforce it as to a dozen people if they can still do it for millions?
Reposted by Laura Barrera
once-fringe and still-fringe
i am fascinated by the editorial choice to give the last word to a disbarred charlatan pushing a discredited constitutional theory www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/u...
At Supreme Court, a Once-Fringe Birthright Citizenship Theory Takes the Spotlight
www.nytimes.com
May 15, 2025 at 12:47 AM
once-fringe and still-fringe
Reposted by Laura Barrera
Justice Jackson nails where we are right now:
“Your argument turns our justice system into a catch me if you can kind of regime from the standpoint of the Executive where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights.”
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
“Your argument turns our justice system into a catch me if you can kind of regime from the standpoint of the Executive where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights.”
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
May 15, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Justice Jackson nails where we are right now:
“Your argument turns our justice system into a catch me if you can kind of regime from the standpoint of the Executive where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights.”
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
“Your argument turns our justice system into a catch me if you can kind of regime from the standpoint of the Executive where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights.”
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
Reposted by Laura Barrera
You can't make this up.
ICE left a 12-year-old completely abandoned on the street after abducting the adult he was with.
www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...
ICE left a 12-year-old completely abandoned on the street after abducting the adult he was with.
www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...
May 13, 2025 at 2:49 PM
You can't make this up.
ICE left a 12-year-old completely abandoned on the street after abducting the adult he was with.
www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...
ICE left a 12-year-old completely abandoned on the street after abducting the adult he was with.
www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...
Reposted by Laura Barrera
NEW at SCOTUS: Trump deportations to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act returns to the emergency docket
April 18, 2025 at 9:38 PM
NEW at SCOTUS: Trump deportations to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act returns to the emergency docket
Reposted by Laura Barrera
Tonight we learned that it was indeed Andry, the gay man sent to El Salvador because of his “mom” and “dad” tattoos, who an American journalist saw sobbing as guards slapped him repeatedly and shaved his head.
He is an innocent. And Trump sent him to a torture prison.
Bring them back!
He is an innocent. And Trump sent him to a torture prison.
Bring them back!
April 7, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Tonight we learned that it was indeed Andry, the gay man sent to El Salvador because of his “mom” and “dad” tattoos, who an American journalist saw sobbing as guards slapped him repeatedly and shaved his head.
He is an innocent. And Trump sent him to a torture prison.
Bring them back!
He is an innocent. And Trump sent him to a torture prison.
Bring them back!
Reposted by Laura Barrera
I’m out of words for how depraved and chilling their glee for human suffering is
March 28, 2025 at 2:11 PM
I’m out of words for how depraved and chilling their glee for human suffering is
Reposted by Laura Barrera
Why are we now using the words “abducting,” “kidnapping,” and “disappearing” for ICE arrests of educated English speakers? I’m glad to see the brutality called out, but I wish there were the same outrage when Mexican laborers are detained at home in front of their kids.
March 27, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Why are we now using the words “abducting,” “kidnapping,” and “disappearing” for ICE arrests of educated English speakers? I’m glad to see the brutality called out, but I wish there were the same outrage when Mexican laborers are detained at home in front of their kids.
Reposted by Laura Barrera
If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.
March 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM
If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.
Reposted by Laura Barrera
A man slated for deportation has captured conditions inside the Krome Detention Center in Florida. He says some people have been confined like this for up to 30 days.
At least three men have died at Krome in the past five months.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8248mFR/
At least three men have died at Krome in the past five months.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8248mFR/
March 22, 2025 at 2:26 PM
A man slated for deportation has captured conditions inside the Krome Detention Center in Florida. He says some people have been confined like this for up to 30 days.
At least three men have died at Krome in the past five months.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8248mFR/
At least three men have died at Krome in the past five months.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8248mFR/
Reposted by Laura Barrera
“One young man sobbed when a guard pushed him to the floor. He said, ‘I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber.’ I believed him. *** He “began to whimper,” as his head was roughly shaved, “folding his hands in prayer as his hair fell.” He “asked for his mother & cried as he was slapped again.”
What the Venezuelans Deported to El Salvador Experienced
Exclusive photos of the arrival of Venezuelan detainees deported from the U.S.
time.com
March 22, 2025 at 8:52 PM
“One young man sobbed when a guard pushed him to the floor. He said, ‘I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber.’ I believed him. *** He “began to whimper,” as his head was roughly shaved, “folding his hands in prayer as his hair fell.” He “asked for his mother & cried as he was slapped again.”
Reposted by Laura Barrera
The men sent to do hard labor in a Salvadoran prison:
- A tattoo artist seeking asylum who entered legally.
- A teen who got a tattoo in Dallas because he thought it looked cool.
- A 26-year-old whose tattoos his wife says are unrelated to a gang.
- A barber whose family says he has no gang ties.
- A tattoo artist seeking asylum who entered legally.
- A teen who got a tattoo in Dallas because he thought it looked cool.
- A 26-year-old whose tattoos his wife says are unrelated to a gang.
- A barber whose family says he has no gang ties.
March 18, 2025 at 3:32 AM
The men sent to do hard labor in a Salvadoran prison:
- A tattoo artist seeking asylum who entered legally.
- A teen who got a tattoo in Dallas because he thought it looked cool.
- A 26-year-old whose tattoos his wife says are unrelated to a gang.
- A barber whose family says he has no gang ties.
- A tattoo artist seeking asylum who entered legally.
- A teen who got a tattoo in Dallas because he thought it looked cool.
- A 26-year-old whose tattoos his wife says are unrelated to a gang.
- A barber whose family says he has no gang ties.
Reposted by Laura Barrera
Can I just say that I love these mass booings so much.
Even more than money these fascists want the fearful respect of the people who have historically disrespected them.
Refusing them that respect is a meaningful show of resistance, especially in places that traditionally fetishize decorum
Even more than money these fascists want the fearful respect of the people who have historically disrespected them.
Refusing them that respect is a meaningful show of resistance, especially in places that traditionally fetishize decorum
Lmao at the one single person heroically clapping trying to counteract an entire concert hall of boos
Watch: Moment JD Vance gets booed at Kennedy Center
In February, President Trump named himself chairman of the venue replacing some board members with his own appointees including the vice president's wife, Usha Vance.
www.bbc.com
March 14, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Can I just say that I love these mass booings so much.
Even more than money these fascists want the fearful respect of the people who have historically disrespected them.
Refusing them that respect is a meaningful show of resistance, especially in places that traditionally fetishize decorum
Even more than money these fascists want the fearful respect of the people who have historically disrespected them.
Refusing them that respect is a meaningful show of resistance, especially in places that traditionally fetishize decorum
Reposted by Laura Barrera
"illegal" wasn't about legal status, it was about a narrow, nativist vision of US society, and we built a deportation machine that the public has largely tolerated and imagined as "fair" to help accomplish it
In this clip, Vance explicitly says that, *more* than being about national security, this is about "who do *we,* as an American public, decide gets to join our national community." Not to be Influence of Soros on this but this is antithetical to an open society
www.foxnews.com/video/636998...
www.foxnews.com/video/636998...
JD Vance reveals whether more deportations of green card holders are coming | Fox News Video
Sneak peek: Vice President JD Vance discusses the rights of green card holders in an 'Ingraham Angle' exclusive.
www.foxnews.com
March 14, 2025 at 2:02 PM
"illegal" wasn't about legal status, it was about a narrow, nativist vision of US society, and we built a deportation machine that the public has largely tolerated and imagined as "fair" to help accomplish it
Reposted by Laura Barrera
🚨This is utterly unprecedented. As far as anyone can tell, no one in the last 100 years has EVER been charged with misdemeanor improper entry under 8 USC 1325 years after they entered the country, and certain never for asylum seekers who have legal permission to be here (Temporary Protected Status).
Venezuelan couple is arrested and charged with illegal entry — two years after crossing into the U.S.
The couple, who live in Washington, D.C., have temporary deportation protections and pending asylum claims. Advocates say the case could set legal precedent.
www.latimes.com
March 12, 2025 at 7:40 PM
🚨This is utterly unprecedented. As far as anyone can tell, no one in the last 100 years has EVER been charged with misdemeanor improper entry under 8 USC 1325 years after they entered the country, and certain never for asylum seekers who have legal permission to be here (Temporary Protected Status).
Reposted by Laura Barrera
Damon Hininger, CEO of private prison giant Core Civic, just told investors: " I've worked at CoreCivic for 32 years, and this is truly one of the most exciting periods in my career ... we're anticipating .. the most significant growth in our company's history."
theintercept.com/2025/02/11/c...
theintercept.com/2025/02/11/c...
Private Prison CEO on Trump Deportation Surge: “One of the Most Exciting Periods in My Career”
CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger could barely contain his excitement about the Laken Riley Act and Trump’s anti-immigration executive orders.
theintercept.com
February 13, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Damon Hininger, CEO of private prison giant Core Civic, just told investors: " I've worked at CoreCivic for 32 years, and this is truly one of the most exciting periods in my career ... we're anticipating .. the most significant growth in our company's history."
theintercept.com/2025/02/11/c...
theintercept.com/2025/02/11/c...
Reposted by Laura Barrera
A federal judge tonight blocked Donald Trump’s executive order transferring transgender women in federal prisons into men’s facilities. www.politico.com/news/2025/02...
Judge blocks Trump’s executive order on transgender prisoners
A small number of transgender women in women’s facilities cannot be transferred to men’s prisons, the judge ruled.
www.politico.com
February 5, 2025 at 3:32 AM
A federal judge tonight blocked Donald Trump’s executive order transferring transgender women in federal prisons into men’s facilities. www.politico.com/news/2025/02...
Reposted by Laura Barrera
things are changing quickly on the immigration beat. don't forget @propublica.org is still investigating the immigration system
Right now, I'm looking for info on citizens & others w/legal status caught up in raids & workplace enforcement issues
Contact info here: www.propublica.org/people/nicol...
Right now, I'm looking for info on citizens & others w/legal status caught up in raids & workplace enforcement issues
Contact info here: www.propublica.org/people/nicol...
Help ProPublica Reporters Investigate the Immigration System
We need your help to find productive ways to examine the country’s immigration system — what’s working and what isn’t. We especially want to hear from federal workers, attorneys, employers, labor advo...
www.propublica.org
February 4, 2025 at 6:17 PM
things are changing quickly on the immigration beat. don't forget @propublica.org is still investigating the immigration system
Right now, I'm looking for info on citizens & others w/legal status caught up in raids & workplace enforcement issues
Contact info here: www.propublica.org/people/nicol...
Right now, I'm looking for info on citizens & others w/legal status caught up in raids & workplace enforcement issues
Contact info here: www.propublica.org/people/nicol...
Reposted by Laura Barrera
We need to know who exactly these “migrants” are and how they came into custody to begin with. Makes a world of difference legally.
Reuters - The first U.S. military aircraft carrying detained migrants to Guantanamo Bay is expected to depart on Tuesday, U.S. officials said, as President Donald Trump's administration prepares to potentially house tens of thousands of migrants at the naval base in Cuba.
February 4, 2025 at 6:09 PM
We need to know who exactly these “migrants” are and how they came into custody to begin with. Makes a world of difference legally.