Brandon Roché
@rocheimmigration.bsky.social
Immigration Lawyer, Returned Peace Corps Vol, Colorado Girl Dad; I wear my politics on my business card 🇺🇸
Reposted by Brandon Roché
BREAKING: Colorado voters approved a ballot measure that would raise state income taxes on higher-earning households to fund free meals for all public school students.
Follow AP for live updates.
Follow AP for live updates.
Live updates: US voters head to the polls in first general election since Trump's return to power
One year after Donald Trump retook the presidency, 2025 Election Day includes closely watched races for New York City mayor, New Jersey governor and California's Proposition 50.
bit.ly
November 5, 2025 at 3:33 AM
BREAKING: Colorado voters approved a ballot measure that would raise state income taxes on higher-earning households to fund free meals for all public school students.
Follow AP for live updates.
Follow AP for live updates.
When incompetency and indifference are fueled by intransigence…
ICE officers mistook Durango father for someone else, official says, but arrested him and children anyway
trib.al/k31PUiW
trib.al/k31PUiW
ICE officers mistook Durango father for someone else, official says, but arrested him and children anyway
“It’s my understanding that the father was mistaken for somebody else when (ICE) encountered him,” testified Gregory Davies, Denver’s third-ranking ICE official, in court Fr…
trib.al
October 31, 2025 at 7:54 PM
When incompetency and indifference are fueled by intransigence…
Reposted by Brandon Roché
🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
October 28, 2025 at 12:27 AM
🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Reposted by Brandon Roché
NEW: The Trump Administration's numerous asylum policy changes over the past year have made it harder for individuals to access lifesaving protections. Read AILA's latest policy brief on consequences of these changes and possible reforms. https://bit.ly/4q8hw5y
Policy Brief: Chaotic Policy Changes Are Ending Access to Asylum in America
The Trump Administration's numerous asylum policy changes over the past year have made it harder for individuals to access lifesaving protections. This brief overviews the consequences of these policy...
www.aila.org
October 9, 2025 at 7:13 PM
NEW: The Trump Administration's numerous asylum policy changes over the past year have made it harder for individuals to access lifesaving protections. Read AILA's latest policy brief on consequences of these changes and possible reforms. https://bit.ly/4q8hw5y
Reposted by Brandon Roché
NEW
Immigration judge denies Kilmar Abrego García’s request to reopen case
The judge, who works for DOJ, found “insufficient evidence” that the Trump administration would send Abrego to Uganda.
DHS had said “He will be processed for removal to Uganda.”
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Immigration judge denies Kilmar Abrego García’s request to reopen case
The judge, who works for DOJ, found “insufficient evidence” that the Trump administration would send Abrego to Uganda.
DHS had said “He will be processed for removal to Uganda.”
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Immigration judge denies Kilmar Abrego García’s request to reopen case
The judge found “insufficient evidence” to show that the Trump administration would send Abrego to Uganda, according to a copy of the decision reviewed by The Washington Post.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 2, 2025 at 12:54 AM
NEW
Immigration judge denies Kilmar Abrego García’s request to reopen case
The judge, who works for DOJ, found “insufficient evidence” that the Trump administration would send Abrego to Uganda.
DHS had said “He will be processed for removal to Uganda.”
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Immigration judge denies Kilmar Abrego García’s request to reopen case
The judge, who works for DOJ, found “insufficient evidence” that the Trump administration would send Abrego to Uganda.
DHS had said “He will be processed for removal to Uganda.”
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Reposted by Brandon Roché
WOW. This entire story is HORRIFIC. This is FOIA of a body cam from the raid in upstate New York the same day as the Hyundai plant. It catches a Border Patrol agent on camera only bragging about denying medical care to migrants detained at the border under Biden — who he says are all "animals."
1/3
1/3
The agent admits he treats immigrants like "they're animals" and that he tells his kids that they are animals "all the time"
September 27, 2025 at 10:57 PM
WOW. This entire story is HORRIFIC. This is FOIA of a body cam from the raid in upstate New York the same day as the Hyundai plant. It catches a Border Patrol agent on camera only bragging about denying medical care to migrants detained at the border under Biden — who he says are all "animals."
1/3
1/3
Highly recommend; she had an amazing life and it’s worth it for this line alone:
“(Expletive) Trump” she blurted out. Those were among her last coherent words before she let go Sunday morning at the Intermountain Health Hospice in Wheat Ridge.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/23/v...
“(Expletive) Trump” she blurted out. Those were among her last coherent words before she let go Sunday morning at the Intermountain Health Hospice in Wheat Ridge.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/23/v...
Longtime Denver Post reporter Virginia Culver dies
For 44 years, Culver covered religion and reported obituaries yet remained intensely private on the matter of her own mortality.
www.denverpost.com
September 23, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Highly recommend; she had an amazing life and it’s worth it for this line alone:
“(Expletive) Trump” she blurted out. Those were among her last coherent words before she let go Sunday morning at the Intermountain Health Hospice in Wheat Ridge.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/23/v...
“(Expletive) Trump” she blurted out. Those were among her last coherent words before she let go Sunday morning at the Intermountain Health Hospice in Wheat Ridge.
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/23/v...
Reposted by Brandon Roché
Under the plain terms of Trump's "Gold Card" EO, an 18-year-old who inherits a million dollars from their parents, who has never held a job in their life, is permitted to buy one of a limited number of visas available each year for people with "exceptional ability."
Seriously.
Seriously.
September 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Under the plain terms of Trump's "Gold Card" EO, an 18-year-old who inherits a million dollars from their parents, who has never held a job in their life, is permitted to buy one of a limited number of visas available each year for people with "exceptional ability."
Seriously.
Seriously.
Reposted by Brandon Roché
Finally reading the full Gold Card EO and wow is it wild. The order says that any person who pays $1 million is, by definition, a person of "exceptional business ability" and therefore qualified for an EB-2 visa.
Does anything better sum up the Trump ethos than "all rich people are exceptional."?
Does anything better sum up the Trump ethos than "all rich people are exceptional."?
September 23, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Finally reading the full Gold Card EO and wow is it wild. The order says that any person who pays $1 million is, by definition, a person of "exceptional business ability" and therefore qualified for an EB-2 visa.
Does anything better sum up the Trump ethos than "all rich people are exceptional."?
Does anything better sum up the Trump ethos than "all rich people are exceptional."?
Shady actors taking advantage of desperate people is a problem I see everyday. Use an @aila.org attorney, and if the advice/solution offered by whomever you’re talking to sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Colorado immigrants are desperately seeking legal help. They often run into fake lawyers and other scams. trib.al/iNs2vLZ
Colorado immigrants are desperately seeking legal help. They often run into fake lawyers and other scams.
Kathia Blanco unwittingly joined a growing number of Colorado immigrants who have been scammed by people impersonating lawyers.
trib.al
September 22, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Shady actors taking advantage of desperate people is a problem I see everyday. Use an @aila.org attorney, and if the advice/solution offered by whomever you’re talking to sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Reposted by Brandon Roché
Will ICE send guys to Boston looking for red hair and listening for brogues? Or stake out delis in Chicago to see who buys a kielbasa?
No. This is about profiling people by skin color and language.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
No. This is about profiling people by skin color and language.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
The Government Wants to See Your Papers
And the Supreme Court decides that the Fourth Amendment might not be for everyone.
www.theatlantic.com
September 10, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Will ICE send guys to Boston looking for red hair and listening for brogues? Or stake out delis in Chicago to see who buys a kielbasa?
No. This is about profiling people by skin color and language.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
No. This is about profiling people by skin color and language.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Reposted by Brandon Roché
"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."
September 9, 2025 at 4:44 PM
"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."
Reposted by Brandon Roché
“This Supreme Court decision upends the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee that all Americans will be free from arbitrary targeting by law enforcement” @ailaexecdir.bsky.social responds to the SCOTUS order temporarily allowing indiscriminate immigration enforcement in LA.
AILA Executive Director: SCOTUS Allows Indiscriminate Immigration Enforcement for Now
AILA ED Ben Johnson responds to the SCOTUS order temporarily allowing the Trump Administration to continue its indiscriminate immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, noting that "Every American should...
www.aila.org
September 9, 2025 at 6:47 PM
“This Supreme Court decision upends the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee that all Americans will be free from arbitrary targeting by law enforcement” @ailaexecdir.bsky.social responds to the SCOTUS order temporarily allowing indiscriminate immigration enforcement in LA.
Reposted by Brandon Roché
It's not the most important part of the issue but Kavanaugh saying "well they should just sue if they're the victims of excessive force from ICE" when he himself has previously voted to bar lawsuits against federal officers for violations of the 4th Amendment in immigration cases takes chutzpah.
September 8, 2025 at 5:06 PM
It's not the most important part of the issue but Kavanaugh saying "well they should just sue if they're the victims of excessive force from ICE" when he himself has previously voted to bar lawsuits against federal officers for violations of the 4th Amendment in immigration cases takes chutzpah.
Reposted by Brandon Roché
When historians write the story of this era, I think it is quite possible that today's Supreme Court decision will appear clearly as a decisive moment, a fork in the road, or at least an available exit not taken. Remember Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo. Many bad things will likely come from it.
September 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
When historians write the story of this era, I think it is quite possible that today's Supreme Court decision will appear clearly as a decisive moment, a fork in the road, or at least an available exit not taken. Remember Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo. Many bad things will likely come from it.
Reposted by Brandon Roché
🚨NEW: Declarations filed in the lawsuit against the rushed attempt to deport 600 Guatemalan children reveals the chaotic way the Trump admin carried out the operation.
Children were taken out of bed after midnight to be rushed onto planes. One girl "was so scared she vomited."
Children were taken out of bed after midnight to be rushed onto planes. One girl "was so scared she vomited."
September 3, 2025 at 5:39 PM
🚨NEW: Declarations filed in the lawsuit against the rushed attempt to deport 600 Guatemalan children reveals the chaotic way the Trump admin carried out the operation.
Children were taken out of bed after midnight to be rushed onto planes. One girl "was so scared she vomited."
Children were taken out of bed after midnight to be rushed onto planes. One girl "was so scared she vomited."
Reposted by Brandon Roché
Catherine is right about this; a lot of the biggest changes to immigration will take years to manifest, including mass deportations. The price shocks are not going to be sudden.
I'm often asked why dire predictions about how Trump would destroy economy haven't (yet) come to pass.
Part of the answer is that he's paused/delayed/reversed some things (e.g., TACO on tariffs).
But part of the answer is about actions like this, on student visas...
Part of the answer is that he's paused/delayed/reversed some things (e.g., TACO on tariffs).
But part of the answer is about actions like this, on student visas...
Trump admin planning to change student visas from lasting for duration of academic program to fixed 4-yr term, and then much harder to renew
Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.
Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.
August 29, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Catherine is right about this; a lot of the biggest changes to immigration will take years to manifest, including mass deportations. The price shocks are not going to be sudden.
Here’s the email headline direct from the horse’s mouth:
August 19, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Here’s the email headline direct from the horse’s mouth:
Reposted by Brandon Roché
This is so much worse than it sounds even on first read when you know that the Department of State's human rigthts reports are *the* authoritative source for immigration judges and USCIS officers in assessing country conditions for asylum claims
This craven asshole used the Pulse massacre as his excuse to get back into 2016 Senate race after his failed presidential run. Now this. Beneath contempt:
via @jonathanlarsen.bsky.social:
Rubio Drops LGBTQ+ Death Penalty from Report on Human-Rights Abuses
open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...
via @jonathanlarsen.bsky.social:
Rubio Drops LGBTQ+ Death Penalty from Report on Human-Rights Abuses
open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...
Rubio Drops LGBTQ+ Death Penalty from Report on Human-Rights Abuses
The annual State Department report on human rights dropped all mentions of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act
open.substack.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:07 AM
This is so much worse than it sounds even on first read when you know that the Department of State's human rigthts reports are *the* authoritative source for immigration judges and USCIS officers in assessing country conditions for asylum claims
Reposted by Brandon Roché
Here’s the thing about this: if you don’t know who is prosecuting your (or your client’s) case, you don’t know who to communicate with about the case. theintercept.com/2025/07/15/i... +
ICE Lawyers Are Hiding Their Names in Immigration Court
ICE attorneys fighting to deport immigrants are able to obscure their identities — no masks required.
theintercept.com
July 15, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Here’s the thing about this: if you don’t know who is prosecuting your (or your client’s) case, you don’t know who to communicate with about the case. theintercept.com/2025/07/15/i... +
Reposted by Brandon Roché
There is no legal mechanism by which the government can strip away citizenship for a natural born American citizen.
To even consider such retaliation against a fellow American for daring to exercise her 1st Amendment right to free speech should in itself headline every chyron & headline.
To even consider such retaliation against a fellow American for daring to exercise her 1st Amendment right to free speech should in itself headline every chyron & headline.
July 12, 2025 at 4:52 PM
There is no legal mechanism by which the government can strip away citizenship for a natural born American citizen.
To even consider such retaliation against a fellow American for daring to exercise her 1st Amendment right to free speech should in itself headline every chyron & headline.
To even consider such retaliation against a fellow American for daring to exercise her 1st Amendment right to free speech should in itself headline every chyron & headline.
Reposted by Brandon Roché
Birthright citizenship is a "longstanding custom" in the same way that freedom of speech is a longstanding custom (they are both explicitly guaranteed by the text of the Constitution)
not to be the flyspeck nyt copy as if it's the most important thing guy, but seriously wtf is this?
July 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Birthright citizenship is a "longstanding custom" in the same way that freedom of speech is a longstanding custom (they are both explicitly guaranteed by the text of the Constitution)
Reposted by Brandon Roché
Trump Official Suggests Replacing Deported Farm Workers with Medicaid Enrollees talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...
Trump Official Suggests Replacing Deported Farm Workers with Medicaid Enrollees
There are several layers to my conclusion that today’s remarks from President...
talkingpointsmemo.com
July 8, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Trump Official Suggests Replacing Deported Farm Workers with Medicaid Enrollees talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...
Reposted by Brandon Roché
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
June 28, 2025 at 10:07 PM
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.