Matthew Blanton
@matthewblanton.bsky.social
Sociologist and demographer. Migration and religion. English and Spanish. @utaustinsoc & @UTPopCenter
https://www.matthewblanton.com/
https://www.matthewblanton.com/
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
The world’s first trillionaire initiated a move that has left more than half a million people dead, most of whom are children.
November 7, 2025 at 7:39 AM
The world’s first trillionaire initiated a move that has left more than half a million people dead, most of whom are children.
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
These big wins will embolden Dems to take on Trump's lawbreaking and show there's a price for GOP enabling of him. Folks hate to hear this, but normal patterns are asserting themselves: Liberalism isn't dead, Rs are likely to lose in 2026, and Trump is really unpopular, not a magical exception.
November 5, 2025 at 1:30 AM
These big wins will embolden Dems to take on Trump's lawbreaking and show there's a price for GOP enabling of him. Folks hate to hear this, but normal patterns are asserting themselves: Liberalism isn't dead, Rs are likely to lose in 2026, and Trump is really unpopular, not a magical exception.
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
ICE Agent, 7-Year-Old Both Wearing Same ‘Military Commando’ Halloween Costume
October 31, 2025 at 9:00 PM
ICE Agent, 7-Year-Old Both Wearing Same ‘Military Commando’ Halloween Costume
Great thread on Bovino court appearance today.
U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino is on the witness stand in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis. He is wearing his typical Border Patrol uniform.
"Good morning, your honor," he says.
"Good morning, your honor," he says.
Ellis is calling Bovino to the witness stand.
Will start a new thread for his testimony.
Will start a new thread for his testimony.
October 28, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Great thread on Bovino court appearance today.
New research brief from my recent study published in Society and Mental Health (@asasmh.bsky.social). How do post-migration stressors affect the mental and physical health of refugees and asylum seekers?
October 27, 2025 at 4:39 PM
New research brief from my recent study published in Society and Mental Health (@asasmh.bsky.social). How do post-migration stressors affect the mental and physical health of refugees and asylum seekers?
Can't wait to read this!
What happens when public servants are asked to betray the values that brought them to service? New research traces how asylum officers under Trump navigated moral crisis and how their ability—or inability—to form with peers a shared aspiration for moral resolution determined who stayed or who left.
Asylum Decision-Making Under Trump: Shared Aspirations for Moral Realignment as a Mechanism of Moral Boundary Work in Times of Crisis | American Journal of Sociology: Vol 0, No ja
www.journals.uchicago.edu
October 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Can't wait to read this!
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
"normies do not care about this thing and so it is no use raising a stink" is imho just an excuse for not doing politics, which is the job of making normies care about something
October 24, 2025 at 2:47 AM
"normies do not care about this thing and so it is no use raising a stink" is imho just an excuse for not doing politics, which is the job of making normies care about something
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
Every weekday on Broadway, undocumented immigrants line up to enter 26 Federal Plaza. They enter harshly lit hallways where ICE agents mill around — waiting to take people away. For our cover story, Stephanie Keith captures the anguished scenes of arrest in downtown Manhattan. buff.ly/N6JNPUP.
October 20, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Every weekday on Broadway, undocumented immigrants line up to enter 26 Federal Plaza. They enter harshly lit hallways where ICE agents mill around — waiting to take people away. For our cover story, Stephanie Keith captures the anguished scenes of arrest in downtown Manhattan. buff.ly/N6JNPUP.
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
Hi, I'm the ProPublica reporter who's been tracking an unusual stat: U.S. citizens grabbed by immigration agents.
I did it because the government isn’t.
This is what I found.
I did it because the government isn’t.
This is what I found.
October 18, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Hi, I'm the ProPublica reporter who's been tracking an unusual stat: U.S. citizens grabbed by immigration agents.
I did it because the government isn’t.
This is what I found.
I did it because the government isn’t.
This is what I found.
Thank you for this reporting!
Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 17, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Thank you for this reporting!
Analysis does not replicate.
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story only someone in your profession would understand:
"Provenance: Anonymous Swiss collection"
🏺
"Provenance: Anonymous Swiss collection"
🏺
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story only someone in your profession would understand
"landowner used an excavator"
"landowner used an excavator"
October 13, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Analysis does not replicate.
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
I have a YouTube channel where you can watch this short video about Trump's murder spree in the Caribbean alongside all my congressional testimony. We recorded the video shortly after the 2nd boat strike... but there have been more already. Like, comment, subscribe
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RUJ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RUJ...
Trump is ordering people executed
YouTube video by David J. Bier
www.youtube.com
October 9, 2025 at 5:51 PM
I have a YouTube channel where you can watch this short video about Trump's murder spree in the Caribbean alongside all my congressional testimony. We recorded the video shortly after the 2nd boat strike... but there have been more already. Like, comment, subscribe
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RUJ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RUJ...
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting
Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.
trib.al
October 6, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power by the President of the United States.
America is on the brink of martial law.
Do not be silent.
America is on the brink of martial law.
Do not be silent.
This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.
October 6, 2025 at 2:03 AM
This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power by the President of the United States.
America is on the brink of martial law.
Do not be silent.
America is on the brink of martial law.
Do not be silent.
This is the way
The White House is blatantly violating the Constitution, ignoring Congressionally-allocated spending. Approving any budget would put a stamp of approval on the end of checks and balances.
It'll hurt, yes, but it's time for opposition. The political costs will mostly fall on the people in charge.
It'll hurt, yes, but it's time for opposition. The political costs will mostly fall on the people in charge.
Opinion | Democrats shouldn’t bail out Trump as the shutdown drags on
The best time for the opposition to take a stand, rather than settle for untrustworthy promises, is right now.
www.msnbc.com
October 5, 2025 at 8:56 PM
This is the way
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.
October 4, 2025 at 6:10 PM
This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
ICE is running around Chicago harassing people for not being white.
Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.
That’s not making America great again.
Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.
That’s not making America great again.
South Shore Residents Return To Ransacked Apartments After ICE Raid: 'It Looks Like Hell'
A "now renting" sign outside touts granite countertops. Inside, residents are trying to make sense of the raid that made their already neglected building even worse.
blockclubchicago.org
October 2, 2025 at 11:58 PM
ICE is running around Chicago harassing people for not being white.
Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.
That’s not making America great again.
Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.
That’s not making America great again.
"The United States lied in order to expel hundred of Guatemalan children and adolescents." - Good Guatemalan coverage of the outrageous middle-of-the-night attempted deportation of hundreds of kids.
www.plazapublica.com.gt/migracion/in...
www.plazapublica.com.gt/migracion/in...
Efrén Olivares: EE. UU. mintió para expulsar a cientos de niños y adolescentes guatemaltecos | Plaza Pública
«Reunificar es una cosa muy distinta a repatriar, a deportar, a expulsar». Las palabras de Efrén Olivares, vicepresidente del Centro Nacional de Leyes de Inmigración (NILC, del inglés), resumen su pre...
www.plazapublica.com.gt
October 1, 2025 at 2:07 PM
"The United States lied in order to expel hundred of Guatemalan children and adolescents." - Good Guatemalan coverage of the outrageous middle-of-the-night attempted deportation of hundreds of kids.
www.plazapublica.com.gt/migracion/in...
www.plazapublica.com.gt/migracion/in...
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
Absolute all-timer sentence in today's @nytimes.com
September 30, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Absolute all-timer sentence in today's @nytimes.com
Lollll
September 30, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Lollll
Who is actually running the show here?
September 28, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Who is actually running the show here?
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
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 10:23 PM
The agent admits he treats immigrants like "they're animals" and that he tells his kids that they are animals "all the time"
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
This clear declaration that Trump views the DOJ to be an entity designed to impose his political retribution - alongside the clear evidence that it is already being used in this way - is impeachable.
Trump criticizes Pam Bondi for not charging his adversaries quickly enough, in a Truth Social post that looks a lot like a DM. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...
September 21, 2025 at 12:03 PM
This clear declaration that Trump views the DOJ to be an entity designed to impose his political retribution - alongside the clear evidence that it is already being used in this way - is impeachable.
We hear a lot about declining religiosity and the rise of the Nones in the United States and Europe. But, what about Latin America? Is secularization happening there, and if so, what form does it take? I explore this in my new open access article in @sociusjournal.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/46njwpem
tinyurl.com/46njwpem
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
September 19, 2025 at 4:10 PM
We hear a lot about declining religiosity and the rise of the Nones in the United States and Europe. But, what about Latin America? Is secularization happening there, and if so, what form does it take? I explore this in my new open access article in @sociusjournal.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/46njwpem
tinyurl.com/46njwpem
Reposted by Matthew Blanton
Venezuela aprueba un “tratado de asociación estratégica” con Rusia en plena crisis con EE UU - elpais.com/america/2025...
Venezuela aprueba un “tratado de asociación estratégica” con Rusia en plena crisis militar con Estados Unidos
El chavismo también ha exhibido cazas equipados con misiles antibuques
elpais.com
September 19, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Venezuela aprueba un “tratado de asociación estratégica” con Rusia en plena crisis con EE UU - elpais.com/america/2025...