@bordertroubles.bsky.social
Performance studies, citizenship and illegality, and choreography. Assistant Professor of Performing and Media Arts. I think, write, and make performances about borders. I love fall sweaters & scifi, hate wet sandals, & get around on two wheels. #undocusky
The deportation regime is at full speed and not yet at full capacity. We need humanities-focused ways to help us decode how these conditions strip away immigrants' and citizens' sense of mobility at the level of body. Reposting article I published earlier this year www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Choreographing Deportation in David Herrera's TOUCH | Dance Research Journal | Cambridge Core
Choreographing Deportation in David Herrera's TOUCH - Volume 56 Issue 1
www.cambridge.org
November 4, 2025 at 4:21 PM
The deportation regime is at full speed and not yet at full capacity. We need humanities-focused ways to help us decode how these conditions strip away immigrants' and citizens' sense of mobility at the level of body. Reposting article I published earlier this year www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted
ICE has abducted an Iranian mechanical engineering doctoral student at the University of Alabama.
thecrimsonwhite.com/120415/news/...
thecrimsonwhite.com/120415/news/...
![A UA student was reportedly detained by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement early Tuesday morning.
Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student from Iran studying mechanical engineering, was reportedly arrested by ICE officers at around 5 a.m. at his home on Tuesday.
According to a message sent in a group chat that included Iranian students Tuesday, Doroudi entered the U.S. on an F-1 student visa issued by the U.S. Embassy in Oman in January 2023, after clearing all immigration checks. The message said Dourodi had his visa revoked six months after his arrival in the U.S.
“After receiving the revocation notice, Alireza immediately contacted ISSS [International Student and Scholar Services] at the University of Alabama,” the message said. “ISSS replied with confidence, stating that his case was not unusual or problematic and that he could remain in the U.S. legally as long as he maintained his student status.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tgw3d4hvw3x5ijrxax7lg26u/bafkreidsfnjqlyawobeqhlhbe7uqhkjii76bzkcs3ew7ac7wtwruz4tiw4@jpeg)
March 27, 2025 at 12:46 AM
ICE has abducted an Iranian mechanical engineering doctoral student at the University of Alabama.
thecrimsonwhite.com/120415/news/...
thecrimsonwhite.com/120415/news/...
Reposted
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
This isn't how gov't is supposed to work: The acting commissioner of Social Security admitted “I was ticked at the governor of Maine for not being real cordial to the president,” so I ended a program in Maine. www.pressherald.com/2025/03/25/s...
Social Security official ended program for Maine newborns because he was ‘ticked’ at Mills
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said the rationale given by Lee Dudek, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, is 'infuriating and absurd.'
www.pressherald.com
March 25, 2025 at 8:51 PM
This isn't how gov't is supposed to work: The acting commissioner of Social Security admitted “I was ticked at the governor of Maine for not being real cordial to the president,” so I ended a program in Maine. www.pressherald.com/2025/03/25/s...
Reposted
DHS is suspending green card applications for people who are already living in the United States with asylee or refugee status! These applications have insane wait times already, and Trump is freezing them solely to make it easier to deny the applications and deport them for spurious reasons.
March 25, 2025 at 5:43 PM
DHS is suspending green card applications for people who are already living in the United States with asylee or refugee status! These applications have insane wait times already, and Trump is freezing them solely to make it easier to deny the applications and deport them for spurious reasons.
Reposted
Here is the main point I tried to make in my opening statement.
March 25, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Here is the main point I tried to make in my opening statement.
Reposted
Commit the crime. Cover it up. No accountability.
March 24, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Commit the crime. Cover it up. No accountability.
Reposted
Alternative Ways of Seeing Immigration: Visual, Literary, and Creative Approaches
These seven books draw you into the global story of human migration using artistic styles you won't normally find in traditional non-fiction books and articles.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/alternativ...
These seven books draw you into the global story of human migration using artistic styles you won't normally find in traditional non-fiction books and articles.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/alternativ...
Alternative Ways of Seeing Immigration: Visual, Literary, and Creative Approaches
These seven books draw you into the global story of human migration using artistic styles that you won't normally find in traditional non-fiction books and articles.
austinkocher.substack.com
March 14, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Alternative Ways of Seeing Immigration: Visual, Literary, and Creative Approaches
These seven books draw you into the global story of human migration using artistic styles you won't normally find in traditional non-fiction books and articles.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/alternativ...
These seven books draw you into the global story of human migration using artistic styles you won't normally find in traditional non-fiction books and articles.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/alternativ...
Reposted
Your Introduction to Mahmoud Khalil’s Deportation Case and the Legal Battle Ahead
On the fundamentals of Khalil’s case, including the core legal and ethical questions, why attorneys are already calling it "sloppy", and why this is really about Marco Rubio.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/your-intro...
On the fundamentals of Khalil’s case, including the core legal and ethical questions, why attorneys are already calling it "sloppy", and why this is really about Marco Rubio.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/your-intro...
Your Introduction to Mahmoud Khalil’s Deportation Case and the Legal Battle Ahead
This post focuses on the fundamentals of Mahmoud Khalil’s case, including the core legal and ethical questions, why attorneys are already calling it "sloppy", and why this is really about Marco Rubio.
austinkocher.substack.com
March 13, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Your Introduction to Mahmoud Khalil’s Deportation Case and the Legal Battle Ahead
On the fundamentals of Khalil’s case, including the core legal and ethical questions, why attorneys are already calling it "sloppy", and why this is really about Marco Rubio.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/your-intro...
On the fundamentals of Khalil’s case, including the core legal and ethical questions, why attorneys are already calling it "sloppy", and why this is really about Marco Rubio.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/your-intro...
Deportation practices seen from a dance studies lens gives us new language to make sense of the persistence of what is going on now and how performance can be used as a force to change the order of things. #immigration #undocusky #theater www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Choreographing Deportation in David Herrera's TOUCH | Dance Research Journal | Cambridge Core
Choreographing Deportation in David Herrera's TOUCH - Volume 56 Issue 1
www.cambridge.org
March 14, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Deportation practices seen from a dance studies lens gives us new language to make sense of the persistence of what is going on now and how performance can be used as a force to change the order of things. #immigration #undocusky #theater www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted
More immigrants will die in US custody on Trump's watch, but the Trump administration could try to hide this information from the public. Here's how.
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
How Many Immigrants Will Die in U.S. Custody?
More detentions will lead to more deaths, but the Trump Administration has options to conceal the losses.
www.newyorker.com
March 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
More immigrants will die in US custody on Trump's watch, but the Trump administration could try to hide this information from the public. Here's how.
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted
There's a lot of confusion swirling so it may help to explain that the below is actually fairly normal following an ICE arrest. ICE often transfers people to the deep South where some of the largest detention centers are located, and the ICE Detainee Locator system can take up to 24 hours to update.
Until last night, the ICE detainee locator stated Khalil was at Elizabeth, NJ—even though his wife had been unable to find him there yesterday. This morning, his location has been updated to Jena — a very remote, GEO group-run facility in the middle of rural Louisiana.
March 10, 2025 at 3:09 PM
There's a lot of confusion swirling so it may help to explain that the below is actually fairly normal following an ICE arrest. ICE often transfers people to the deep South where some of the largest detention centers are located, and the ICE Detainee Locator system can take up to 24 hours to update.
Reposted
h/t to Austin for identifying this mistake in ICE's statistical reporting.
In ICE's most recent update, it looks like two columns--one for ICE arrests and one for CBP arrests--were swapped.
In ICE's most recent update, it looks like two columns--one for ICE arrests and one for CBP arrests--were swapped.
ICE released new detention data that shows an ongoing trend in focusing on non-criminals, despite the administration’s rhetoric. I break down these findings as well as ICE’s sloppy mistakes and misleading claims.
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
Immigration Data Literacy Skills to Help You Survive a New Wave of ICE Confusion
In this issue: ICE's latest detention data contains errors, growth of non-criminal detainees continues, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's inadequate claims about ICE arrests.
open.substack.com
February 28, 2025 at 9:47 PM
h/t to Austin for identifying this mistake in ICE's statistical reporting.
In ICE's most recent update, it looks like two columns--one for ICE arrests and one for CBP arrests--were swapped.
In ICE's most recent update, it looks like two columns--one for ICE arrests and one for CBP arrests--were swapped.
Reposted
*sigh* this is, of course, against a great many tax privacy laws, some of which were passed by Republicans after they got mad Trump's taxes got leaked
**Major** update to this story, and something I'll continue reporting on through the weekend:
🚨 The new acting IRS commissioner has indicated she plans to comply with DHS's request for the addresses of 700,000 suspected undocumented immigrants. 🚨
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
🚨 The new acting IRS commissioner has indicated she plans to comply with DHS's request for the addresses of 700,000 suspected undocumented immigrants. 🚨
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
March 1, 2025 at 6:20 AM
*sigh* this is, of course, against a great many tax privacy laws, some of which were passed by Republicans after they got mad Trump's taxes got leaked
Reposted
The largest growth in immigrants in detention during the first month of the Trump administration, based on ICE's own snapshot data, comes from immigrants with no criminal convictions or charges. To understand the data and ICE's data errors this week...
March 1, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The largest growth in immigrants in detention during the first month of the Trump administration, based on ICE's own snapshot data, comes from immigrants with no criminal convictions or charges. To understand the data and ICE's data errors this week...
Reposted
In case you missed this webinar, The Historical Contours of Migration and Forced Removal, please find the recording on our website within the next 48 hours: www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/20242025/the...
The Historical Contours of Migration and Forced Removal [Webinar] — The Latinx Project at NYU
Join this online panel with scholars Laura Gutierrez (Pacific), Ana Minian (Stanford), Ariana Valle (UC Davis), and Irvin Ibarguen (NYU) on Tuesday, February 25 at 6:00pm EST via Zoom. This panel will...
www.latinxproject.nyu.edu
February 25, 2025 at 11:54 PM
In case you missed this webinar, The Historical Contours of Migration and Forced Removal, please find the recording on our website within the next 48 hours: www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/20242025/the...
Reposted
Important to note that the US govt. already prosecutes unaccompanied immigrant children for deportation
At any given time, there are tens of thousands of kids facing removal proceedings in immigration court
Judges even order thousands removed in their absence every year
At any given time, there are tens of thousands of kids facing removal proceedings in immigration court
Judges even order thousands removed in their absence every year
Over the weekend, Reuters reported on a new ICE initiative aiming to go after unaccompanied migrant children. Given the concerns, I think it's worth breaking down why the Trump admin may be doing this, and in the process shed some light on right-wing conspiracy theory about "missing children."
ICE's Next Deportation Target Is Unaccompanied Migrant Children
The Trump administration sent a memo directing ICE to target migrant children who came to the U.S. without their parents for deportation.
www.rollingstone.com
February 24, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Important to note that the US govt. already prosecutes unaccompanied immigrant children for deportation
At any given time, there are tens of thousands of kids facing removal proceedings in immigration court
Judges even order thousands removed in their absence every year
At any given time, there are tens of thousands of kids facing removal proceedings in immigration court
Judges even order thousands removed in their absence every year
Reposted
The article cites a memo from earlier this month about setting this up at Fort Bliss. But that’s already where deportation flights are originating so I wouldn’t be surprised if this has already happened in some fashion there.
The Trump administration is developing plans to build immigration detention facilities on bases nationwide, a step that could significantly expand the military's role in immigration enforcement.
DHS memo lays out plans to detain migrants at Fort Bliss and other U.S. bases
The Trump administration is developing plans to build immigration detention facilities on bases nationwide, a step that could significantly expand the military's role in immigration enforcement.
www.npr.org
February 24, 2025 at 11:00 PM
The article cites a memo from earlier this month about setting this up at Fort Bliss. But that’s already where deportation flights are originating so I wouldn’t be surprised if this has already happened in some fashion there.
Reposted
The southern border is now fortified by 16,500 border agents, 3,600 active-duty soldiers, 4,500 Tex. National Guard & 2,200 Natl Guard deployed under Biden. With just 29,000 migrant arrests in Jan., that equates to about one migrant per agent/soldier per month, Adam Isacson of WOLA said. @tucson.com
Trump 'emergency' declaration clashes with reality of quiet border
SÁSABE, Ariz. — At a volunteer-run migrant-aid camp, about 22 miles east of the Sásabe port of entry, the only action on this quiet Wednesday afternoon was the rustle of
tucson.com
February 23, 2025 at 6:08 PM
The southern border is now fortified by 16,500 border agents, 3,600 active-duty soldiers, 4,500 Tex. National Guard & 2,200 Natl Guard deployed under Biden. With just 29,000 migrant arrests in Jan., that equates to about one migrant per agent/soldier per month, Adam Isacson of WOLA said. @tucson.com
Reposted
UPDATE: @POTUS rescinded the stop-work order that halted legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children. We'll continue to work to ensure that kids are not deprived of their constitutional right to due process & legal counsel. Read our updated stmt:
Update: Trump administration rescinds stop-work order that halted legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children
Update: On February 21, 2025, the Trump administration rescinded, without explanation, the stop-work order that had abruptly cut funding for lawyers working with unaccompanied immigrant children. Nati...
immigrantjustice.org
February 23, 2025 at 7:15 PM
UPDATE: @POTUS rescinded the stop-work order that halted legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children. We'll continue to work to ensure that kids are not deprived of their constitutional right to due process & legal counsel. Read our updated stmt:
Reposted
This is an excellent legal analysis by Katherine Yon Ebright and @lizagoitein.bsky.social of Trump's unlawful border "invasion" declaration.
Turns out Abraham Lincoln once led a campaign to censure James Polk for falsely invoking the Invasion Clause, which sparked the Mexican-American War.
Turns out Abraham Lincoln once led a campaign to censure James Polk for falsely invoking the Invasion Clause, which sparked the Mexican-American War.
Trump’s Doubly Flawed "Invasion" Theory
How Trump's migration-as-invasion theory might serve as a pretext for claiming vast presidential powers and upending constitutional norms.
www.justsecurity.org
February 23, 2025 at 1:38 AM
This is an excellent legal analysis by Katherine Yon Ebright and @lizagoitein.bsky.social of Trump's unlawful border "invasion" declaration.
Turns out Abraham Lincoln once led a campaign to censure James Polk for falsely invoking the Invasion Clause, which sparked the Mexican-American War.
Turns out Abraham Lincoln once led a campaign to censure James Polk for falsely invoking the Invasion Clause, which sparked the Mexican-American War.
Reposted
Happy Valentine's Day! Immigration is not just a political topic, it's deeply personal. Read my review of Anna Lekas Miller's new book "Love Across Borders" which tells the stories of international couples fighting to stay together – including her own.
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
"What does it mean to fall in love in a world divided by passports?"
Anna Lekas Miller's new book "Love Across Borders" tells the stories of international couples fighting to stay together – including her own.
open.substack.com
February 14, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Happy Valentine's Day! Immigration is not just a political topic, it's deeply personal. Read my review of Anna Lekas Miller's new book "Love Across Borders" which tells the stories of international couples fighting to stay together – including her own.
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...
open.substack.com/pub/austinko...