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We are 60 days from the midterms!
Monday
Flock backlash is spreading in Michigan
Metro Detroit is another example of the growing battle over Flock plate readers, Westland is letting its contract for 10 Flock cameras to expire and bipartisan legislation pending in Michigan that would regulate how license plate reader data is used and disclosed. Ferndale already ended its Flock contract, while the ACLU of Michigan told Axios that grassroots opposition to the cameras has been “exploding” in recent months.
Shoutout to Cedar Springs, Michigan for showing up weekend after weekend and using their signs to get people talking about issues. Check out this heartfelt post by Diane💙
Tuesday
HSI began its election fraud surge
Homeland Security Investigations began a coordinated voter fraud initiative this week across 9 states. Agents have been directed to investigate leads, conduct interviews and help develop cases for federal prosecutors. Additional reporting has shown that USCIS investigators are also assisting with election related work, which is why our Wednesday article focused on how several parts of the federal immigration system are now being pulled into election enforcement less than two months before the midterms.
A Florida police department has been sharing plate data nationwide
Records obtained by the Miami News Times showed that the Hollywood Police Department in Florida shares license plate reader data with 365 law enforcement agencies across the country, as well as federal agencies. Hollywood Police use a combo of license plate reader technology from Flock and other companies. Records show the city bought 60 Flock cameras in 2024, making it another example of how locally collected vehicle data can become accessible beyond the community where the cameras are being installed.
Wednesday
DOJ expanded immigration reporting requirements across state governments
The Justice Department announced a new legal interpretation saying that states participating in TANF and SSI require all parts of state government to report people they know are unlawfully present in the United States to DHS, not just agencies administering these programs. The new opinion withdraws a 1998 Justice Department opinion that interpreted the reporting requirement more narrowly, applying it to only specific state agencies administering TANF or SSI.
Under DOJ’s new interpretation, the requirement in Section 404 of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act applies across the entire state government, which could include agencies like state universities and motor vehicle departments. DOJ says failure to comply could lead to consequences including loss of program funding. This applies going forward and states will not be penalized for relying on the old interpretation.
Danbury Connecticut responded to ICE
After more than 100 immigration arrests were reported across Connecticut, with more than half occurring in Danbury, more than 60 businesses closed on Wednesday for a Day Without an Immigrant and over 1,000 people marched through the city that evening. Local community members of Danbury have been helping families find detained relatives and documenting encounters.
For people in the Greater Danbury area, the Unites for Immigrants has local legal resources, family preparedness information and a rapid response line: 475-237-7351.
Thursday
The White House Launched an Arcade About Trump’s Agenda
This looks like satire at first glace. The White House launched a game arcade Thursday, including “Build the Wall,” which tells players to “Protect the border from the coming horde,” and “Rio Run,” a Snake style game in which a Trump like character moves through the Rio Grande gathering people representing border crossers. Other games promote administration policies involving legislation, school food standards and Trump Accounts.
Do you feel like people you are paying attention to what’s happening right now, or are you having trouble getting friends and family to take it seriously?
Flock is teaching police how its technology could monitor No Kings protests
404 Media published footage Thursday from a Flock training webinar held last year in which company personnel showed law enforcement how FlockOS and real time crime centers could be used to monitor planned events including parades, bike races and protests, using a No Kings peaceful protest as an example. The webinar isn’t new, the disclosure is. It adds evidence that protest surveillance was a capability Flock actively demonstrated to police instead of than merely an unintended use discovered by individual departments.
The mail-ballot battle reached the Supreme Court again
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court Thursday to revive new Postal Service requirements for mail ballots after a federal judge temporarily blocked them, including requirements involving voter lists, ballot envelope designs and unique barcodes. The Supreme Court has not approved the rules. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson requested responses by September 8, while AP reported that the online portal states would need to use was still not operational Thursday.
Shoutout to EmpowHERed in Olney, Maryland for showing up week after week! This is sustained local action, neighbors getting organized, being visible, and getting loud! 💙
Friday
Today is the deadline Trump set for federal State Citizenship Lists
Trump’s March 31 election executive order requires DHS, working with USCIS and the Social Security Administration, to compile State Citizenship Lists from federal citizenship, naturalization, Social Security, SAVE and other government records and transmit updated versions to state election officials at least 60 days before a regularly scheduled federal election, for the November 3 midterms, that deadline is today.
Shoutout to Dancing Todd for bringing heart to the sidewalk with “Show love like Dolly.” Let us stay rooted in compassion.
Is your group plugged into our new 50501 network yet?
Local groups have been doing incredible work, but too many of us have been operating in separate corners. We’re building a new 50501 network so local groups have a clearer way to connect nationally, share information, find support, and coordinate.
It seems that people are so fatigued with the constant barrage of BS this administration throws at us daily, there's not as much open discussion about what to do about it. I'm at a loss as well. I write, I read I vote, I demonstrate. I'm worried sick.
It is like riding a runaway train heading pell mell into a blind curve.