Nate Holdren
@nhold.bsky.social
Hey bluesky. Historian. In decline. Views expressed here are those of a future insightful majority.
Pinned
Nate Holdren
@nhold.bsky.social
· May 29
harrumph. harrumph, I say!
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Update: They succeeded: www.mississippifreepress.org/byhalia-ice-...
February 7, 2026 at 12:54 AM
Update: They succeeded: www.mississippifreepress.org/byhalia-ice-...
This is incredibly awful, heartbreaking stuff. I also think it's very important that the response to this be long lasting. Our response to conditions worsening for immigrants under Trump should be to raise our standards for today and in perpetuity.
This is Maria, a 6-year-old detained by ICE last year.
She began to unravel soon after arriving at a detention center in Texas, wetting the bed after years without accidents, crying through the night and begging to breastfeed again.
Most of all, she wanted to be reunited with her cat, Milo. 1/
She began to unravel soon after arriving at a detention center in Texas, wetting the bed after years without accidents, crying through the night and begging to breastfeed again.
Most of all, she wanted to be reunited with her cat, Milo. 1/
February 6, 2026 at 9:28 PM
This is incredibly awful, heartbreaking stuff. I also think it's very important that the response to this be long lasting. Our response to conditions worsening for immigrants under Trump should be to raise our standards for today and in perpetuity.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
I wrote about the strangeness of following events in Minneapolis—where I'm from—and watching a citizenship naturalization ceremony in St. Louis, which is my home now. Not sure if anyone wants or needs more words about these things, but here are mine.
jeffmanuel.com/blog-1/2026/...
jeffmanuel.com/blog-1/2026/...
Reflections on Minneapolis While Watching a Citizenship Naturalization Ceremony – Jeff Manuel
jeffmanuel.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:04 PM
I wrote about the strangeness of following events in Minneapolis—where I'm from—and watching a citizenship naturalization ceremony in St. Louis, which is my home now. Not sure if anyone wants or needs more words about these things, but here are mine.
jeffmanuel.com/blog-1/2026/...
jeffmanuel.com/blog-1/2026/...
Reposted by Nate Holdren
BREAKING: 4 students at the University of Minnesota are currently chained to Morrill Hall, demanding that their school end all cooperations with ICE and establish itself as a sanctuary campus.
February 6, 2026 at 8:08 PM
BREAKING: 4 students at the University of Minnesota are currently chained to Morrill Hall, demanding that their school end all cooperations with ICE and establish itself as a sanctuary campus.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
always read nate (i'm dangling this in front of my face like a carrot as inducement to write a particularly unpleasant email right now)
Since there's been some conversation about historical analogies for the present stuff with ICE, I figured I'd share this. In it I argue the similarity between (opposition to) border enforcement and (the effort to abolish) slavery.
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
Against The Border Power
As I’ve mentioned while back I wrote a letter to Little Village saying deportation as such is wrong, that we should think of it as something like slavery and...
buttondown.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:32 PM
always read nate (i'm dangling this in front of my face like a carrot as inducement to write a particularly unpleasant email right now)
Reposted by Nate Holdren
There *is* a danger that we end up thinking - in these vulgar times - that this is the *necessary* way in which all this stuff works.
Like the thing with the - tired and boring - Miliband/Poulantzas fake-debate, is that obviously the most vulgar form of Milibandism could be empicially true ...
Like the thing with the - tired and boring - Miliband/Poulantzas fake-debate, is that obviously the most vulgar form of Milibandism could be empicially true ...
the real conspiracy is the one to convince us that the most vulgar, caricatured version of Milibandite state theory is true.
February 2, 2026 at 4:54 PM
There *is* a danger that we end up thinking - in these vulgar times - that this is the *necessary* way in which all this stuff works.
Like the thing with the - tired and boring - Miliband/Poulantzas fake-debate, is that obviously the most vulgar form of Milibandism could be empicially true ...
Like the thing with the - tired and boring - Miliband/Poulantzas fake-debate, is that obviously the most vulgar form of Milibandism could be empicially true ...
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Since there's been some conversation about historical analogies for the present stuff with ICE, I figured I'd share this. In it I argue the similarity between (opposition to) border enforcement and (the effort to abolish) slavery.
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
Against The Border Power
As I’ve mentioned while back I wrote a letter to Little Village saying deportation as such is wrong, that we should think of it as something like slavery and...
buttondown.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:57 AM
Since there's been some conversation about historical analogies for the present stuff with ICE, I figured I'd share this. In it I argue the similarity between (opposition to) border enforcement and (the effort to abolish) slavery.
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
Reposted by Nate Holdren
In today’s episode, @nhold.bsky.social returns to discuss how deportation is unjustifiable state violence no matter one’s immigration status or citizenship, and how that violence is naturalized when demands are framed around who or what is “legal”
on.soundcloud.com/HjCstFKypwOY...
on.soundcloud.com/HjCstFKypwOY...
Deportation Is State Violence w/ Nate Holdren (Unlocked)
This episode was originally released December 1st for Death Panel patrons and is being unlocked today for the first time. To support the show and help make episodes like this one possible, become a pa
soundcloud.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:54 PM
In today’s episode, @nhold.bsky.social returns to discuss how deportation is unjustifiable state violence no matter one’s immigration status or citizenship, and how that violence is naturalized when demands are framed around who or what is “legal”
on.soundcloud.com/HjCstFKypwOY...
on.soundcloud.com/HjCstFKypwOY...
Reposted by Nate Holdren
free them all
February 6, 2026 at 4:39 AM
free them all
Reposted by Nate Holdren
This is my friends’ 73-year-old dad. He was protesting against DHS’s murder of Alex Pretti when ICE goons broke his jaw in three places with a flashbang grenade.
“I wanted to go [back to protest] this morning. … they need to be told that what they’re doing ain’t going to happen here.”
“I wanted to go [back to protest] this morning. … they need to be told that what they’re doing ain’t going to happen here.”
February 6, 2026 at 3:39 AM
This is my friends’ 73-year-old dad. He was protesting against DHS’s murder of Alex Pretti when ICE goons broke his jaw in three places with a flashbang grenade.
“I wanted to go [back to protest] this morning. … they need to be told that what they’re doing ain’t going to happen here.”
“I wanted to go [back to protest] this morning. … they need to be told that what they’re doing ain’t going to happen here.”
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Living in Minnesota right now means getting your heart broken every day, multiple times a day. Some days it also means having your faith in humanity restored. Please keep watching Minnesota, if you live elsewhere. Things are still dire.
February 6, 2026 at 3:34 AM
Living in Minnesota right now means getting your heart broken every day, multiple times a day. Some days it also means having your faith in humanity restored. Please keep watching Minnesota, if you live elsewhere. Things are still dire.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
TRIGGER WARNING, because here is a US Marshal from Trump‘s Gestapo Force in Memphis kicking a puppy today in the Whitehaven neighborhood and breaking its rib. They were serving a warrant and I guess BIG MAN got scared of the schnauzer.
(I didn’t take the video, the dog’s person did)
(I didn’t take the video, the dog’s person did)
February 6, 2026 at 4:20 AM
TRIGGER WARNING, because here is a US Marshal from Trump‘s Gestapo Force in Memphis kicking a puppy today in the Whitehaven neighborhood and breaking its rib. They were serving a warrant and I guess BIG MAN got scared of the schnauzer.
(I didn’t take the video, the dog’s person did)
(I didn’t take the video, the dog’s person did)
Reposted by Nate Holdren
BREAKING: The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
DHS has requested expedited deportation proceedings against family of Liam Conejo Ramos
The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
www.mprnews.org
February 6, 2026 at 2:17 AM
BREAKING: The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
2000 agents are still here. Woke up this morning to horns and whistles down my street -- panic jumped out of bed ready to run outside, but the cars were being pursued. ICE is still kidnapping people, still getting stymied at every turn, still brutalizing observers because they know they're losing.
The headline should be, "DHS to keep 2,000 immigration officers in Minnesota."
Instead, it seems the entirety of the traditional media went with, "DHS to withdraw 700 immigration officers from Minnesota."
This presser worked like a charm.
Instead, it seems the entirety of the traditional media went with, "DHS to withdraw 700 immigration officers from Minnesota."
This presser worked like a charm.
Homan in Minneapolis: "Effective immediately, we will draw down 700 people effective today."
February 4, 2026 at 4:35 PM
2000 agents are still here. Woke up this morning to horns and whistles down my street -- panic jumped out of bed ready to run outside, but the cars were being pursued. ICE is still kidnapping people, still getting stymied at every turn, still brutalizing observers because they know they're losing.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
My book is now available for pre-order!
Beneath The Wage: Tips, Tasks, and Gigs in the Age of Service Work - Zone Books
Zone Books
www.zonebooks.org
February 5, 2026 at 10:16 PM
My book is now available for pre-order!
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Iowa closing the African American studies major during Black history month is diabolical.
This article is from 4 days ago, but it is now official. The minor will continue.
This article is from 4 days ago, but it is now official. The minor will continue.
Iowa universities reviewing low-enrollment majors, could close or merge programs
The University of Iowa is reviewing undergraduate majors with low enrollment – like African American studies and gender, women's, and sexuality studies – after the Board of Regents last year mandated ...
www.thegazette.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Iowa closing the African American studies major during Black history month is diabolical.
This article is from 4 days ago, but it is now official. The minor will continue.
This article is from 4 days ago, but it is now official. The minor will continue.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
For those looking at Tom Homan's offer to MN sheriffs -- it's called a Basic Ordering Agreement. In essence, to skirt state law, DHS pays $50 in exchange for sheriffs to hold people 48 hours past their release date. It's not really a contract; it's like a warehousing agreement for bodies.
February 5, 2026 at 3:51 PM
For those looking at Tom Homan's offer to MN sheriffs -- it's called a Basic Ordering Agreement. In essence, to skirt state law, DHS pays $50 in exchange for sheriffs to hold people 48 hours past their release date. It's not really a contract; it's like a warehousing agreement for bodies.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
feeling angry or depressed? why not fix yourself a cup of tea? then you can be angry and depressed while also holding a cup of tea
February 5, 2026 at 7:12 PM
feeling angry or depressed? why not fix yourself a cup of tea? then you can be angry and depressed while also holding a cup of tea
Reposted by Nate Holdren
I'd been writing (and one thing is in press) about racism, logistics and supply chains in relation to the provision of health care, and ... I didn't expect to see such an egregious rehearsal of that relationship/those arguments in the news today
The banality of evil is shocking. An ex-Big Lots warehouse for cheap consumer junk is bought by ICE to ship as many as 7,500 handcuffed human beings, as the Trump regime builds a U.S. gulag archipelago
The unthinkable comes to Pa. coal country. My special report www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
The unthinkable comes to Pa. coal country. My special report www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
From Big Lots to warehousing humans: ICE plan sparks fear in Schuylkill County | Will Bunch
A massive warehouse in Tremont. Pa. that once moved cheap goods will now detain migrants in an $119 million ICE deal.
www.inquirer.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:28 PM
I'd been writing (and one thing is in press) about racism, logistics and supply chains in relation to the provision of health care, and ... I didn't expect to see such an egregious rehearsal of that relationship/those arguments in the news today
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Immigration agents have shot a dozen people since Sept--yet police are often skipping any investigation. After agents near Chicago killed a man, an officer asked if chief who would investigate. The answer: “You’re not going to investigate a federal officer”
“You’re Not Going to Investigate a Federal Officer”
It doesn’t happen often, but local law enforcement can arrest and charge federal agents. Legal experts say there’s a moral obligation to at least try to hold federal immigration officers accountable w...
www.propublica.org
February 5, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Immigration agents have shot a dozen people since Sept--yet police are often skipping any investigation. After agents near Chicago killed a man, an officer asked if chief who would investigate. The answer: “You’re not going to investigate a federal officer”
Reposted by Nate Holdren
“Today, the United States appears to be entering a new phase of expanded border policing—similar to the Operation Gatekeeper deterrence of the 1990s or the sweeping powers and massive budgets that followed 9/11.”
New Podcast Episode🎙️: Melissa del Bosque & Todd Miller on why abolishing just ICE misses the point. Border Patrol's extraconstitutional powers are expanding nationwide, the border can be anywhere, guns pointed at anyone. But people have had enough.
Full Podcast Episode🦂🔗:
Full Podcast Episode🦂🔗:
Abolishing Just ICE Misses the Point: A Podcast with Melissa and Todd
In the spirit of broadening the analysis beyond ICE, Border Chronicle cofounders Melissa del Bosque and Todd Miller discuss the leading role the U.S. Border Patrol has played in violent operations acr...
www.theborderchronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:42 PM
“Today, the United States appears to be entering a new phase of expanded border policing—similar to the Operation Gatekeeper deterrence of the 1990s or the sweeping powers and massive budgets that followed 9/11.”
imho we're due, and deserve, an International Noise Conspiracy comeback
theinternationalnoiseconspiracy.bandcamp.com/track/ever-f...
theinternationalnoiseconspiracy.bandcamp.com/track/ever-f...
Ever felt cheated, by The (International) Noise Conspiracy
from the album Live at Oslo jazz festival (featuring Jonas Kullhammar & Sven-Eric Dahlberg)
theinternationalnoiseconspiracy.bandcamp.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:43 PM
imho we're due, and deserve, an International Noise Conspiracy comeback
theinternationalnoiseconspiracy.bandcamp.com/track/ever-f...
theinternationalnoiseconspiracy.bandcamp.com/track/ever-f...
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Recently the @historians.org Council vetoed member resolutions that would have committed AHA to defense of academic freedom. In doing so, the org relayed their stance that its federal underwriters-not historians themselves-determine our discipline's limits. 🔗⬇️
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Historians Must Reclaim AHA (opinion)
Two recent vetoes by the association’s governing council raise the question of who defines what counts as “history.”
www.insidehighered.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Recently the @historians.org Council vetoed member resolutions that would have committed AHA to defense of academic freedom. In doing so, the org relayed their stance that its federal underwriters-not historians themselves-determine our discipline's limits. 🔗⬇️
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Reposted by Nate Holdren
New Q poll: ICE approval 34%-63%, down from 40%-57% on Jan. 13. 60% think ICE should withdraw from Minneapolis, while 36% think ICE should continue its operations in Minneapolis.
poll.qu.edu/poll-release...
poll.qu.edu/poll-release...
61% Of Voters Think The Trump Administration Has Not Given An
Honest Account Of The Fatal Shooting Of Alex Pretti,
Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds;
58% Of Voters Think DHS Secretary Kris...
"We need more facts and an independent investigation is the way to get them, say voters who cast doubt on the honesty of the account of how Alex Pretti ended up dead on a Minneapolis street," said Qui...
poll.qu.edu
February 4, 2026 at 9:25 PM
New Q poll: ICE approval 34%-63%, down from 40%-57% on Jan. 13. 60% think ICE should withdraw from Minneapolis, while 36% think ICE should continue its operations in Minneapolis.
poll.qu.edu/poll-release...
poll.qu.edu/poll-release...
Reposted by Nate Holdren
This change is likely putting trans/nonbinary kids and their parents in a panic right now. Gender affirming-care improves mental and helps reduce suicide risk for these kids.
Children’s Minnesota is suspending gender-affirming care in response to threats by the Trump administration to cut off millions of dollars in federal funding that keep its pediatric clinics and hospitals running.
Children’s suspends gender-affirming care amid Trump funding threats
Trump administration move would cut Medicaid, Medicare funding to health care systems that continue to provide surgeries, medications that support gender transitions.
bit.ly
February 5, 2026 at 4:16 PM
This change is likely putting trans/nonbinary kids and their parents in a panic right now. Gender affirming-care improves mental and helps reduce suicide risk for these kids.