🔐 Immigrants facing horrible conditions at Guantanamo

Trump’s administration held almost 180 immigrants at its Guantanamo Bay detention facility for weeks before deporting them to Venezuela on Thursday. The Washington Post ran a report on the terrible conditions that people endured which included humiliating searches, prolonged isolation from others, and multiple instances of self-harm.

📍Why is Trump holding immigrants at Guantanamo?

Donald Trump announced in January that he had plans to use Guantanamo Bay to house undocumented immigrants who were awaiting trial, with goals to expand the facility to hold 30,000 people. Of course, this was a huge red flag for attorneys and advocacy groups who worried that oversight and access to these detained immigrants would be basically impossible to secure. He claimed that only the most dangerous criminals would be held there, but that doesn’t appear to be true according to the detained people that were interviewed for the report.

This is only one step of Trump’s plan to increase ICE arrests and terrorize immigrants. This week, his administration also announced plans to detain people on military bases throughout the country since ICE’s current facilities are full with over 40,000 people currently in custody.

📍What are the detainees dealing with?

A former detainee, Diuvar Uzcátegui, who was interviewed for the report, said that he was only let outside twice for short periods, and only while shackled in a cage. He said they did not treat him like a human being, leaving him in a dark, windowless prison cell with only a bucket to use as a restroom. He said that he could only hear screams of pain and terror from other prisoners, as well as threats of self-harm and suicide.

When asked about the details of the report, Trump’s press secretary stood by the administration’s treatment of these people. Without actually denying the conditions at Guantanamo, Karoline Leavitt said, “it's a promise the President campaigned on, that if you invade our nation's borders, if you break our country's laws, and if then you further commit heinous, brutal crimes in the interior of our country... you are going to be deported from this country, and you may be held at Guantanamo Bay… These are criminals we are talking about — don't forget that.”

💰DOGE’s troubles are piling up

This week, a federal judge ordered a DOGE employee to testify and provide documents in a case against the Trump administration. This is the first time an employee answers questions under oath about what DOGE is actually doing. Also, 21 other DOGE employees quit in protest saying that they could not bear to use their skills to access American citizens’ private information and defund these vital programs.

📍What is happening with the lawsuit?

Elon Musk and DOGE are actually facing more than 20 lawsuits, including one that outright accuses it of violating federal transparency laws. This specific lawsuit was raised by the American Federation of Labor and other unions to block DOGE from accessing records at the Department of Labor. The groups say that the Labor Department’s data includes highly-sensitive information like medical records for every federal employee with worker compensation, as well as the identities of anyone who has ever used the department for protection against wage theft or other workplace disputes.

The judge said that Elon Musk and DOGE have been “opaque” in their operations, and requested information that would include identities, dates, and names of systems that could be key to figuring out exactly what DOGE has been doing since January. He also granted the unions’ request to hold four depositions with employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Labor Department and DOGE.

📍Why did the 21 employees quit?

The employees were all part of the United States Digital Service, which was absorbed into DOGE. The office was originally created by Barack Obama after the healthcare.gov rollout went so poorly, and they have worked to modernize the systems used for Social Security, veterans’ services, tax filing, health care, disaster relief, student aid, and more. They were all former employees of Amazon and Google, and wrote in their resignation letter that they’d initially joined the federal government to be public servants.

“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” they wrote. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”

🪖 Trump bans trans soldiers from the military

During his first term, Trump banned new trans soldiers from joining the military. This time, he ramped things up and announced that existing transgender service members will be removed from the military within 60 days.

📍Who is included in the ban?

The memo states that any service member or recruit who has been diagnosed with or treated for gender dysphoria is disqualified from serving unless they can prove they meet a specific war-fighting need and follow severe restrictions on their daily behavior. It also directs the military to identify transgender service members within 30 days, and begin separation proceedings within another 30 days.

The memo argues that “service by these individuals is not in the best interests of the Military Services and is not clearly consistent with the interests of national security,” but a 2016 study commissioned by the Pentagon found that allowing trans people to serve had no negative impacts on unit cohesion or combat readiness.

📍What might happen next?

This executive memo is already in front of a federal judge who questioned its motives. Judge Ana Reyes, who was appointed by Biden, said that it shows “unadulterated animus,” towards trans Americans. Six transgender active-duty service members and two people who are trying to join the military sued to block the Trump administration from enforcing the order. In a court filing, their lawyers said that Trump’s order openly expresses unconstitutional “hostility” toward transgender people.

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