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  A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Tonight on APEX Express Host Miko Lee speaks with spouses of detained refugees. We hear about the similarities and challenges of Hmong and Nepali speaking Bhutanese refugees. We also speak with Asian Law Caucus' Aisa Villarosa about the ongoing campaigns for freedom that ALC has been leading along with a host of other community based organizations. Join us: November 3, 4pm Pacific time, 7pm Eastern Time, Join us for “We Belong Here, Bhutanese & Hmong Americans in the Struggle Against Statelessness” a live virtual event featuring my three guests tonight, along with performances and conversations. bit.ly/WBH-2025   TAKE ACTION Rising Voices campaign for Lue Yang Mohan Karki's GoFundMe   And please help support these organizations working to support detained and deported folx: Asian Law Caucus Asian Refugees United Ba Lo Project in Vietnam Collective Freedom in Vietnam & Laos Asian Prisoner Support Committee & New Light Wellness in Cambodia November 1–2, people nationwide are joining the Disappeared In America Weekend of Action to stand up for immigrant families and defend due process. Actions include protests at Home Depots, candlelight Freedom Vigils, and Day of the Dead events honoring lives lost to detention.     We Belong! Transcript Miko Lee: Welcome to Apex Express.This is your host, Miko Lee. Today we're talking about detentions and potential deportations and the atrocities that the Trump administration is creating in our communities.We originally recorded this episode a month ago, and today is October 29th. 2025 and I have with me Aisa Villarosa a lawyer with Asian Law Caucus, giving us an update in the cases that we're talking about. Welcome Aisa Apex Express. Aisa Villarosa: Thanks so much, Miko. Miko Lee: Tonight we're gonna be talking with two spouses of detained folks. One is a Nepali speaking Bhutanese community member, and the other is Hmong community member. In the time since we recorded this, there has been a big update with Lue Young's case, and I wonder if you could provide us with that update. Aisa Villarosa: Miko since we last spoke, due to some really hard fought campaigning, both behind the scenes and drawing upon allies across Michigan and really across the country. Lue Yang, received a successful pardon from Governor Gretchen Whitmer. We actually received word shortly before Lue Yang was set to be placed on a very large deportation flight. Once we got word of the pardon, it was off to the races for the legal team to quickly draft some emergency motions for Lue Yang and to realize the power of the pardon before the deportation. Miko Lee: Can we back up for a moment and give for an audience a sense of what that means? Lue Young was incarcerated at a detention facility, which Trump has called the FedEx of detention facilities in, Louisana, and explain to us what happened to him and the other members that were suddenly pulled together onto an airplane. Aisa Villarosa: When these removal flights happen, there's so much confusion, there's so much fear that families undergo, and often it's due to the perseverance of the families that we honestly even know where folks are. Shortly before what we call final staging happens, someone is moved from, in Lue's case, a facility in Michigan to a facility like Alexandria in Louisiana where the planes do take off  from. Families typically look up their loved one on something called the “ice detainee locator.” What's challenging is when final staging starts. Often that person completely disappears from the detainee locator or information gets a bit scrambled. Because ICE has a bit of a sealed box as far as even telling families where, their loved one is. Families are either left to guess or rely on each other. So for Lue Yang and the pardon what is critical for folks to know is that as powerful, as rare as a pardon is, I can't stress how extraordinary this is in these very difficult times. A pardon does not instantly, allow someone to say, walk out of an ice facility. There's, numerous legal filings that need to happen. That is why , the team was so up against the clock. Miko Lee: So let's break this down a little bit around a pardon. What does a pardon mean in our current system? Because as a lay person, you think, oh, they're pardoned. That means they're free and they can go home and be with their family. Tell us a little bit about what a pardon means in our legal system right now. Aisa Villarosa: A pardon is different from a criminal expungement, which folks might be familiar with. In Lue's case, for example, when Lue was younger, he successfully expunged this record, in criminal court. The challenge is that immigration court, is basically the entity that issues something called a “final order of removal.” This document, is basically what powers deportation for folks. An expungement does not get at the final removal order. However, a pardon has that more direct link. The pardon has the weight of what we call “vacating a conviction.” To explain more legalese and hopefully folks can stay with me. A final order of removal is an immigration court order document where , it gives ice the power to do all these deportations We're seeing for the refugee community that Lue Yang belongs to. Often these are quite old orders, and so sometimes a loved one might be detained and they might not even realize that they have a criminal conviction or a final order of removal. Miko Lee: Thank you so much for breaking that down. So we described how he was pulled off the plane that was going for his deportation. Tell us where Lue is at right now. What is happening with his case? Aisa Villarosa: The call to action very much remains what it has been, which is we're calling to bring Lue home. At the moment, Lue is in a facility in Louisiana. Our hope is that Lue can return to Michigan. There is also a call to release Lue on a supervised release. The other component of the legal journey for Lue is something called a motion to reopen. Basically this is how the full weight of the pardon is realized. The motion to reopen calls on the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen Lue's case, because years ago he got that final removal order, so when someone gets that order, typically their immigration case is closed. This petition says, Hey, he got a pardon. Please reopen Lue's case because the underlying conviction that led to the final removal order. Has been pardoned, right? We are hoping that this motion to reopen will be heard in front of the Board of Immigration Appeals, that we can get a great result and that as the campaign calls for that, Lue can come home. Miko Lee: I know lawyers like you are doing incredible work around the scenes. You did not sleep for two days, filing paperwork to be able to make sure that Lue was pulled off that plane. But what can regular people, what can our audience do to get involved right now? Aisa Villarosa: There's myriad actions along this really terrible deportation pipeline. We're seeing that folks who might not have, any deep knowledge of the immigration system can still be so impactful. We have partners in LA in the faith community and they've started working with community organizations to do things like accompaniment, which is, joining community members like Lue, who often have these ice check-ins. As folks have seen on the news, these check-ins can be really risky because that is where ice arrests can happen. If someone misses their ice check-in, typically that means that a warrant is issued, that immigration forces can come after you. In these cases, community members, particularly folks who are US citizens, accompaniment can be a great way to dig in to show up for our immigrant and refugee siblings. Miko Lee: Thank you so much for breaking down how folks can get involved. It's so important right now in a time where we feel so utterly helpless to be able to make change. Now we're gonna go back to listen to our interview that is with the two spouses, Tika, Basnet, and Ann Vue, and also our current guest, Aisa Villarosa Tika and Ann they're part of a horrible club, which is both of their spouses are currently in detention from our immigration system. I just wanna start on a real personal note in a way that I often do with my guests. Anne, I just would love to hear from you, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you? Ann Vue: Thank you again, Miko and Isa, for having me on. We are Hmong. We helped Americans during the Vietnam War. In Laos, a lot of our pilots needed a communication. Because we're indigenous and we are in the mountains they were able to speak with us and use us. Our Hmong, helped a lot of the pilots rescued a lot, like thousands and thousands of Americans, so that they can make it back home. That is our contribution to the American people. When we were brought to America, was to resettle because of humanitarian purpose. Our legacy of helping Americans with the war. that is who we are and what we bring to America. That's who I am. I'm actually the first generation Hmong American. I was born right here in the capital of Lansing, Michigan. Miko Lee: Thanks so much ann. Tika, can you share who are your people and what legacy you carry with you? Tika Basnet: Hi, my name is Tika Basnet. I am Bhutanese Nepali community. My parents and all the Bhutanese, they ran away from Bhutan in 1990 due to the ethnic cleansing. They came to Nepal, seeking for asylum, and that is where we born. I was born in Nepal, in refugee camp. Even though I was born in Nepal, Nepal never gave us identity. They never give us citizenship. We were known as Bhutanese Nepali, but as known as Stateless. My husband also born in Nepal in a refugee camp. Miko Lee: Thank you. Aisa, I'm gonna ask the same question for you Aisa, that works at Asian Law Caucus. Who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you? Aisa Villarosa: So much love to you, Miko and to you Ann and Tika for being here today. I just am, I'm so honored. My name is Aisa and I carry the love and, Maki Baka spirit of Filipino Americans both in my family across the diaspora. A little bit about the Filipino American story. We came to the United States as part of the colonial machine. The first Filipinos were brought as part of the Spanish Gallian trade. We made California home, parts of Lueisiana home, and it's quite a contrast to a lot of the sort of model minority seduction that many of my people, and myself as a younger person tended to fall into that if we kept our heads down, if we were quiet, we would be left alone. I'm struck because at this moment of just unprecedented government attacks, so many of our communities have this story where someone somewhere said to us, yeah, just keep your head down and it'll be fine. We're seeing the exact opposite, that this is the time to really use our voices, both individually and as one. I'm also an artist and try to infuse that into my work in fighting government systems. Miko Lee: Thank you Aisa. I will say I'm Miko. I am fifth generation Chinese American. I grew up knowing that my family was full of fighters that built the railroads, worked in the gold mines in laundromats and restaurants, and my parents walked with Dr. King and Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, and I was raised in a family of social justice activists. I feel like our legacy is to continue that work and to fight for the rights of our peoples. I'm so honored to have both of all three of you powerful women join me today. As I was saying in the beginning, Tika and Anne are sadly a part of this club nobody wants to be a part of with the sudden, unexpected, harmful detentions of both of your husbands. I wonder if you can each just share the story about what happened and how you first found out about your husband being detained. Let's start with you Tika. Tika Basnet: My husband got his removal in 2014 when he was just 17 years old, high school student going from school to home. He's a teenager and with his friend, they were playing around and they wanna go home really fast. They just cross from private property. That is where someone saw and call 9 1 1. We came from the culture that we love to go people home , walking around, playing around. My husband came here in 2011. The incident happened on 2013. He just, came here without knowing culture, without knowing languages, So he has no idea. So when somebody called 9 1 1, he could not explain what happened. First of all, English is his second language, he was barely here without knowing rules and regulation, without knowing culture. The police took him to jail, gave a lot of charges. My husband doesn't know what are those charges? At that time, nobody explained, this is the three charges you got, and this could lead to deportation. He feel guilty without knowing those charges. He trusts [00:14:00] Nepali translate guy, and he told my husband, if you don't say I'm guilty, you will end up in prison for 20 to 25 years, but if you say I'm guilty, you'll go home. My husband said, guilty. At that time, neither criminal lawyer told my husband, if you say I'm guilty, you'll end up getting deport. Deport to the country that you are you never born. Deport To the country, you doesn't even speak their language. The lawyer did not explain my husband you will not gonna get your green card. You cannot apply your citizenship in your life. If those things the lawyer told my husband at that time, he will never gonna say, I am guilty to the crime that he did not even commit. When they tried to deport my husband back then, Bhutan say, he's not my citizenship, he's not from my country, We don't know this guy. He's not belongs to here. When US Embassy reach out to, Nepal, do you know this guy? They told, ICE no, we don't know this guy, like he's not belongs here. The ICE officer, told my husband, we can let you go, you need to come here, like order of supervision every three months, every six months, whenever we call you. It been 11 years. My husband is following rules and regulation. He never did any violation after that. He got married, he has a life, he pay taxes. He was taking care of his family and in 11 years he was doing everything. In 2025 for the first time they target Bhutanese Nepali community. I knew that this is the last time I'm gonna see my husband. I broke down. When they detained my husband in April 8, I was eight months pregnant. We dream a lot of things we are gonna take care of our daughter. We are gonna buy home, we are gonna work, we are gonna give her the life that we, I'm sorry. Miko Lee: Totally. Okay. Tika Basnet: I never thought like Bhutanese community can, like deport. Like my parent already go through this trauma, when Bhutan throw them away due to ethnic cleansing and same thing happening to us. It is unbelievable. I cannot believe that, we're going through this again and I don't know when this gonna be stopped. I don't know whether like my husband gonna come home. It is been five month and I really want my husband back. My daughter is, three month old. She need her dad in life 'cause I cannot provide everything by myself. My husband is the main provider for her aging parent. 'cause even now they cannot pay bills. I'm fighting for my husband case and I want my husband back. He deserve second chance because if you see his record is clean, like for one incident that happened like 12 years ago, that cannot define my husband. I cannot believe that my husband is able to get deport to the country that doesn't even accept. I don't know whether he gonna get killed. Whether he gonna disappear, I don't know what will happen to him. I don't know if it is last time I'm gonna see him. Miko Lee: Tika, thank you so much for sharing your story. Just to recap really briefly, your husband, Mohan Karki when he was a teenager, newly arrived in the country, was leaving high school, walked with his friends through a backyard and was racially profiled. The neighbor called police because he was trespassing on property. He was born at a refugee camp. Is that right? Tika Basnet: Yes. Miko Lee: There was not property that was like person's property on that refugee camp. So that whole concept of walking across somebody's land was something he was not aware of. He had an interpreter that did not give correct information. And so he signed something, including a deportation order, that he wasn't even aware of until recently when he was put into detention. Is that right? Tika Basnet: Yes. Yes. Miko Lee: Right now he's in detention. You live in Ohio, but he's in detention in Michigan, right? Tika Basnet: Yes. Miko Lee: Okay, Tika, let's talk about Mohans case and what's happening. He's held in detention right now in a detention facility in Michigan. What is going on with his case? Tika Basnet: His criminal attorney file, a Motion to Redeem asking BIA to send that, case back to Georgia. His case, that happened in 2013. Our attorney just submit documentation where he's asking to release my husband because it'd been five month. He's not risk to the community. He's not risk to the flight 'cause he doesn't have no one in Bhutan. He doesn't have no one in Nepal. All family is in here. His community love him ,he has family that loves him. We also get lot of documentations as a proof telling ICE that my husband is not risk to the community or to the flight. Miko Lee: Thank you. He has a a four month old baby that he has yet to meet. So that is a powerful reason to stay. As Tikas pointing out, the lawyer just submitted documentation along with 50 letters of support from the community from employers, from family members, all saying why he should stay in this country. Thank you so much for sharing. Anne, i'm wondering if you could share about what happened to your husband. He was also born in a refugee camp, right? Ann Vue: Lue was born in Nangkai, Thailand refugee camp in 1978. In1979 his parents and him and his older brother Granted urgent humanitarian reasons for or for public benefit. They made it to America right before Halloween. The early nineties, me even being the first generation American here, racism played a lot. We all went through that piece and our parents not speaking English at the same time, they were going to school themselves so that they can learn our English language, . They weren't able to teach us growing up. We had to fend for ourselves. I would say my husband he went out with some friends. He did not commit the crime. But of course now that is brought back to him, he understood about his particular case is second attempt, home invasion. Nobody was harmed. He was in the vehicle, in the backseat when he was caught. He didn't wanna partake, but he didn't wanna stop them either 'cause to him it was like, if I don't partake, then I have nothing to do with it. . Because if I do, then they might not be my friends anymore. It's just a part of growing up as a youth. Because he was there, and then would receive a court appointed attorney, and then provide it very similar to Tika's too. Had an interpreter, that was explaining to them, was provided bad legal advice. He had no knowledge about how this would impact his immigration status. It was advised by their attorney, take the plea it's easier, and you probably serve less than a year. You'll be out, you'll only be in the county jail anyways 'cause you didn't really commit the crime and technically it should have been a misdemeanor. But because you're an accomplice, that kind of falls under this category. So he took the plea, he served 10 months in a county jail. He actually was released for good behavior. He even finished his probation soon because he paid all of his stuff off. He even finished a youth advocate program for anybody that committed crimes between the age of 18 to 21. I just saw this form the other day and I was reading it and it talks about, the one thing about our parents, experiencing the war and coming to America, they don't talk about it. A lot of us are from communist countries. We are very afraid to voice our voices, because someone can take action. Our parents never talked about it. I read what he wrote to his, youth coordinator, he felt so bad about what he did. He created disappointment for his parents and he understands, there are sacrifices that got us here to America. He literally wrote all of this down, i'm going to be a better person. I'm going to make my parents proud now that I understand their sacrifices. They asked him, ” what was your upbringing like?” He wrote, “poor” and the coordinator wrote on the bottom of his comments said, “Lue is remorseful for what has happened and he wants to be a better person. I have no other questions. The training is complete.” He doesn't need any further, support and believes that he will move forward to be a better person. That's literally what they wrote on the document. Then fast forwarding to 1999 that's when, immigration showed up at his house. Him and I would meet in 2000, and then we'd be married in 2001. We'd celebrate. Almost 24 and a half years of marriage. We did appeal his case in the humanitarian piece of what this meant for Lue during the time where we all fled the country. Once the monks were declared enemy of the state by the LDR in Laos, we fled. It's well documented that there was a little bit over 400,000 of us there right after the genocide and the killings of the Hmong there was probably less than 45,000 of us left. Once we understood a lot of that, we wanted to do better. We wanted to really service our community. We appealed the case. The case was then denied in his appeal letters, general Vink Powell, which led the Hmongs during the war, even had a letter where he, also pled why Hmongs need to stay here in America. And why we need to bring the rest of our people to this country. The reality is our whole family, Lue's whole family was wiped out. We don't have anybody, Lue doesn't have anyone. That goes to Tika's thing too. There's nobody there. Going back to the case once it was denied in 2002. He then was forced to reach out to the embassy and was denied, entry into Thailand 'cause that's where he was born. We're stateless too, just like Tikas husband. We were denied by Thailand. We were denied by Laos stating that we are not a citizen of theirs. They do not allow or welcome any sort of entry. In 2006, they actually took his green card and then we again were denied. In 2008 we were denied a third time and that's when his immigration officer was like, just move on and start your life. Laos and Thailand, will never sign a repatriation act with America because of you guys, because of the Hmong people, what you guys have done to their country, making it the most bombed country during the war without even being a part of the war. They will never allow you guys back. So we were like, okay. So we moved forward. Then in 2014, this immigration officer, which we was doing yearly checkups at this time, was like, Hey go get your citizenship, get your green card. They're like you're doing so good. You probably could have a chance to get it. We moved forward to apply for citizenship and for the green card. We were denied in 2015 and we know how expensive this is. You pay $10,000 outright, you don't get that money back. You just have to go at it again. We decided that, we're gonna get his case expunged, and we got his case expunged in 2018. No questions asked. It was very straightforward. Once it was expunged, we continued with our [00:26:00] lives. Very involved in the community. We had six kids . This year we even called his immigration officer and he was like, “Hey, don't worry about it, Lue, we're moving you over to Grand Rapids and you should be fine. Just make sure that you stay outta trouble, continue to follow your stock.” I think what triggered it was when we applied for his work permit in April. He always meets his immigration officer at the end of the year, and we renewed his work permit is what triggered it. The money was cashed out, everything the checks went through while we were receiving that, he was gonna be here, everything was gonna be fine. Then July 15th he was detained at work, six 30 in the morning, the detained officer they told him they know who he is to the community, so they have to do it this way because they don't want any problems. They don't want media, they don't want reporters. He did ask them because he rode his motorcycle for some weird reason. He has not taken his bike out, his motorcycle out in the last three years. But for some reason that night he was like, I just wanna take my bike. So he took his bike that night and when ICE told him, do you have somebody come get your bike? You need to call somebody to come get your bike. He was like, nobody in my family rides motorcycles. I don't have anyone to come get my bike. I think there was some empathy and compassion for him. My husband was like, can I just take my bike back? I've got six kids. I've got my grandma at home and my parents are also at my house right now. I just wanna see them and wanna take my bike back. They asked him, “if we let you go, please don't run.” They followed my husband home and my husband literally called me at 6 37 in the morning and he was like, Hey, ICE is, here they got me. I'm like, “what? What's going on?” It was just so surreal. I was so shocked. It's a 30 minute drive. When he got there, they were already officers, packed tight in our driveway. We live in the country. There were like five or six cop cars there too. We had to walk about half a mile down to go see him. They wouldn't allow him to enter where our home was. The officer told, my husband, told him that they're so sorry. They have to do it this way. They know who he is. They don't want any problems, they don't want any reports in media out here. I will say my experience was a little bit different from others. They did take their mask off when they took him in, they were respectful. They even, talk to my two older boys like, Hey, you guys have money. I could put the money in your dad's account. We're, take him into Grand Rapids, we're gonna process him, and then we're gonna take him to the detention center, which is gonna be in Michigan. They were very open about these steps . My grandma has chronic pulmonary disease stage four. We couldn't haul her fast enough because we only saw him for like maybe a quick minute, and that was it. They did ask us to turn around because they had to take him back and they didn't want our little ones to see them cuffing him. Miko Lee: They actually said, Anne, we don't want any media to be watching this? Ann Vue: I don't want any problems. Miko Lee: Your husband is also quite well known in the Hmong community, right? So probably, they were worried about folks coming out and protesting. Is that, do you think that was the case? Ann Vue: That's what I'm assuming. I don't remember their exact words saying media, but do remember that they didn't want people around, they didn't want to create issues for the community. Because if he would've gotten the letter just like everybody did, which everybody then would receive the letter on Friday, and because my husband is a community leader, he is the Hmong Family Association's president, we restart receiving many, many calls where everybody just wanted to talk to Lue 'cause they needed to know what's going on, how to handle, what to do. At that moment I realized, oh my gosh, they detained my husband first. Then everybody else got a letter. Miko Lee: And the ICE officer that he had been checking in with routinely has he been in touch with him since he was detained? Ann Vue: He hasn't. Miko Lee: So they had different people come in even, 'cause he was the person that said everything's okay, keep going with your life. Ann Vue: Oh yeah. Miko Lee: And so no contact with him whatsoever since the detention? Ann Vue: No. Miko Lee: Okay. Thank you so much. I just wanna point out, for all of our listeners, how many similarities there are in these two cases. In both of these amazing women are here supporting their spouses. Both spouses born in refugee camps. Dealing with intergenerational trauma from families that had to escape ethnic cleansing or involved in a war, came into the United States under, legal properties through refugee resettlement acts, made mistakes as young people, partially due to culture and wanting to fit in. They served their time, they paid their dues. They were racially profiled. They suffered from incredible immigration policy failure with bad advice, with a system that's broken. Now both of them are detained. Not yet deported, but detained. Many of the community members have already been deported and they're facing statelessness. We're seeing this not just with Bhutanese and Hmong folks, but with Mien and Lao and Haitian and El Salvadorian. We could fill in the blank of how many other peoples in other communities are facing this. We also know that these private detention centers where people are being held, are making millions and millions of dollars, and it's connected into our corrupt political system that's in place right now. Aisa, I'm wondering if you could, talk about the case, but also about some of the deals that we think have had to be made with Laos and Bhutan in order for these deportations to even take place. So Aisa from Asian Law Caucus, I'm gonna pass it to you to go over some of the legal ramifications. Aisa Villarosa: Of course, Miko, and thank you for it for the context. There are so many parallels that we as advocates must uplift because this is not the time to be divided. This is the time to build solidarity that we've long known needs to happen. What Miko is referring to is largely something that we've observed around the travel  bans. Earlier this year, right around the time that the Trump administration took hold, there was a draft travel ban list that leaked across a number of media outlets, the Times, et cetera, and the same countries we're talking about today, Bhutan, Laos. These were historically not countries that were subject to sanctions, like the travel ban, and yet here they were. A lot of us were scratching our heads and asking, why is this happening? Our theory, and this is a theory that is now also manifesting in a number of FOIA requests or Freedom of Information Act requests that are submitted from Asian Law Caucus to departments like the State Department ice, the Department of Homeland Security. Asking the same question that Tika and Anne are asking, which is, how are these deportations even happening? They were not happening until this year. What very likely happened was a bit of a quid pro quo. So in removing Bhutan, removing Laos from this list where they could be sanctioned as a country, there was likely some backdoor deal that took place between the US State Department and Bhutanese officials and the US officials, where essentially there was some form of an agreement that there would be an acceptance or a supposed acceptance of a certain number of folks from these communities. That is why around March, for the Bhutanese refugee community, for example, we started seeing pickups very similar to Mohan's case, where, many people who had perhaps made some mistakes in their youth or had really old criminal convictions were swept off the streets and thrust into these really rapid deportation proceedings. I don't even know if proceedings is the right word, because there essentially was no proceeding. The Immigration Court is very much a cloaked process. The immigration judge is kind of judge and jury wrapped up together, which is very different than many of us might turn on the TV and see something like Law and order. An immigration court works a very different way where this piece of paper, this final removal order, basically gives ICE a lot of bandwidth to make these deportations happen. However, that doesn't mean we should just accept that this is happening. We know that just basic procedures of fairness are not being met. We know, too that in the case of, for example, the Bhutanese community ICE officers have come to the wrong house. And put a lot of people in fear. So racial profiling was happening even before this recent Supreme Court decision, which essentially now condones racial profiling, as criteria that the ICE can use. I also just wanted to talk about this trend too, we're seeing with so many cases. It happened to Lue, it happened to Mohan, where in someone's underlying criminal court case, maybe they were given a court appointed attorney. In many cases, they were not told of the immigration impacts of, say, taking a plea. There is a Supreme Court case called Padilla versus Kentucky and basically the law shifted such that in many cases there now is a duty for a court appointed public defender to actually talk to folks like Mohan and Lue about the immigration consequences of their plea. So when Tika mentioned that there's something called a post-conviction relief effort for Mohan. That's happening in Georgia. This is very much what that legal defense looks like, where, an expert attorney will look at that very old court record, see if those rights were violated, and also talk to Mohan and make sure did that violation happen and is that grounds for reopening an immigration case. For Lue, there is a really mighty pardoning campaign that's brewing in the state of Michigan. So in Michigan, governor Gretchen Whitmer does have the authority to in some cases expedite a pardon in process. Unfortunately in the immigration arena the expungement does not have that same weight as say a vacating, or a motion to vacate that criminal record. So it's super frustrating because, so much of this turns ethically, morally on- do we, as people believe in second chances, and I know most people do, and yet here we are really. Based on a technicality. I also just want to name too that Lue as a person is both a natural organizer and he is a spiritual guide of his community. So something that many folks don't know is because of so much of the trauma that Anne talked about, both from, supporting the Americans during the Secret War, many Hmong folks who came to the States, they actually in some cases died in their sleep because of this, almost unexplained weight of the trauma. It almost underscores the importance of Lue, not just to his family, but this family is a collective family. He's both a mentor for so many, he's a spiritual guide for so many. Him being away from his family, away from community, it's like a double, triple wound. for Mohan, I'd love to uplift this memory I have of a moment in June when Tika gave us a call, and at that point, Mohan had called Tika and said, they're taking me, I'm being deported. At that point, they were removing Mohan from the ICE facility in Butler, Ohio and transporting him to the Detroit airport or that deportation to Bhutan. Tika was forced to essentially delay her childbirth. It was very much in the range of when she was due to give birth to their daughter. But because the clock was ticking, Tika drove to Butler, literally begged for Mohans life as our organizing and advocacy and legal team was trying to get together this emergency stay of deportation. That fortunately came through at the 11th hour. But the fact that Mohan remains in this facility in St. Clair, Michigan, that he's never held his daughter is unacceptable, is ridicuLues. I think so much of these two cases almost, this invisible brotherhood of pain that I know Ann has talked to me about that. Because Lue right now has been in a couple facilities. He is organizing, he's doing his thing and actually supporting folks while also just trying to keep himself well, which is no easy feat to do in so many of these facilities. Especially because, in Alexandria, for example, which is a facility in Louisiana. We know that folks are sleeping on cement floors. We know that folks are not being fed, that there's a lot of human rights violations going on. Here is Lue still continuing to use his voice and try to advocate for the folks around him. Miko Lee: Aisa thank you so much for putting that into context, and we'll put links in the show notes for how folks can get involved in both of these cases. One is, Rising Voices call to action for Lue. We encourage folks to do that. In terms of Mohan, there's a GoFundMe to help support Tika and the immense lawyer fees, and also a letter writing campaign to the ICE director Kevin Roff, to try and release Mohan and Lue. These are really important things that are happening in our community, and thank you for being out there. Thank you for talking and sharing your stories. We really appreciate you. And also, just briefly, I'd love us for us to talk for a minute about how many folks in our Asian American communities, we don't wanna talk about mistakes that we have made in the past because we might consider that shameful. And therefore, in both of these communities, when we started organizing, it was really hard at first to find people to come forth and share their stories. So I wonder if both of you can give voice to a little about that, the power you found in yourself to be able to come forward and speak about this, even though some other folks in the community might not feel comfortable or strong enough to be able to talk. Tika, can you speak to that? Tika Basnet: What makes me really strong, and I wanna see that my husband case is because he was 17, people can make mistake and from those mistake, if people are learning. Americans should consider, 'cause my husband did make mistake and I wish that time he knew the rules and regulation. I wish somebody taught him that he's not supposed to go somebody else property, around in backyard. I wish he was been in the United States like more than , one and a half year. I wish, if he was like more than two years, three years. I think that time he, from high school, he could learn. He's not supposed to go there. He was just been in the United States like one and a half year just going to high school. Nobody taught him. His parent doesn't even speak English. Until now, they doesn't even speak, like nobody in our community knew rules and regulation. He doesn't have guide, mentor to taught him like, and even though he did make mistake and he's really sorry, and from those mistake learning a lot, and he never get into trouble, after 11 years, he was clean, he work, he pay taxes. That is the reason that I really wanna come forward. People can make mistake, but learning from those mistake that changed people life. The reason that I'm coming forward is because organization like Asian Law Caucus, ARU, and, Miko, a lot of people helped me. They taught me like people can make mistake and, we shouldn't be same. I really wanna give example to my daughter, that, you are fighting for justice and you shouldn't fear. What is right is right. What is wrong is wrong. But if somebody's make mistake and they are not, doing that mistake again, I think the people can get a second chance. My husband deserves second chance. He's 30 years old. He has a family, he has a wife, children and he deserved to be here. We came here legally, my husband came here. Legally, we, promise that we'll get home and this is our home. We wanna stay here and I really want my husband be home soon so he can play with her daughter to play with his daughter. Miko Lee: Thank you so much, Tika. Ann I wonder if you could talk to the strength that it takes for you to come forward and speak about your husband and your family. Ann Vue: I'm a community leader with my husband. There was a moment when he was first detained where I was in complete silence. I was so shocked. It took my attorney, Nancy, just talking to me about it. Of course, back to what Aisa said earlier in our communities, we're afraid. I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. It took me visiting my husband in Baldwin and letting him know that, hey, a bunch of community members are now reaching out. And that's that. At that moment, he was like, you have to say something. You have to say something you have to make noise because you have a, 50% chance, right? We have a 50 50 chance. 50%. They're gonna send me 50%. You're gonna feel bad if you don't say anything, right? 50 here, 50 there. It doesn't matter. But a hundred percent regret if you don't say something. I thought about it and he was like, well, go out there, be my voice. He's like, you've always been my voice. You got this right. I didn't say no to Nancy. 'cause she really wanted to talk to our rep Mai you know about this. Mai and I are pretty close too. , I just knew if I said anything, Mai's gonna be like mm-hmm. All the way. I just let Nancy help me, and my most vulnerable time. I'm glad that she did. I'm glad that we did get this out. It is the most important thing for us. what keeps me going is all of those that have been impacted by this, from people like Tika. I have many, I call 'em sisters. We're all in a lot of these group chats together. They've been also keeping me going. Our amazing team of attorneys and everybody just strategizing through this unprecedented time. It's really everyone's voices. I get to talk to Lue daily. It's definitely not cheap, but he gets to share each story of each person. I believe that everybody has a story and they might not be as lucky as maybe Tika or my husband, but at least now I have their story. I will be their voice. I will tell each person's story, each name, each alien number that I track down, my husband's even literally learned how to count in Spanish, just so he can give them like my phone number in Spanish in case they need to call an emergency. Oh, I'm be getting a lot of calls. that is what keeps me going because I think that Tika and I and many others are, hoping that there is going to be a better day, a brighter day. I hope that everyone can see that, our children are American, right? Our children, they deserve to have their fathers and their mothers. They deserve to grow with these parents. And with that being said, the most important thing to me is they're not just bystanders. They're literally the future of America. I don't want them growing up with trauma, with trying to ask me questions “well mom, if we're refugees and we helped, Americans as allies, and we come to this country, why is this payback like this?” There's a moral obligation that has to be there and they're gonna grow up and they're gonna be trauma by this. I've got children right now that's been talking about joining the National Guard. It speaks volume about what happens to my husband. He's championed the Hmong, Michigan Special Gorilla unit, the Hmong veterans here in the last two years, really  with helping them through resolutions, tributes, making sure that they have things, that they are out there, that people now know them, they are finally recognized. This puts my husband at great danger by sending him back, because now he's championed the veterans here. He celebrates our veterans here. So it's a moral obligation. I hope that, and this is to every child, I hope that every child, they deserve their father's presence. There are many people who don't even have their father's presence and they wish their fathers were around. Our fathers wanna be around. I hope that our daughter, I only have one daughter too, that someday they can, their fathers can be a part of their, the American culture. I hope that we get that opportunity and I hope that somebody stop being scared, but turn around and help us. Help us. We came here legally, minor stuff, long decade old. This detainment has been worse than when he did time back in 1997. I just hope that somebody hears our podcast, Miko. Thank you. Aisa and Tika. And they turn and they have some compassion and help us because this is the tone that we're setting for the future of our American children. Miko Lee: Thank you so much for sharing. Tika, you wanna add? Tika Basnet: Yes, I really wanna talk about what kind of husband Mohan is. Even though like he detained for five month I put lot of money in his account and there was one guy, his family cannot support him. For me, it is really hard. I'm not working. But even my husband called me you don't need to put like money in my account, but can you please can you please put money in his account? He did not eat food. His family did not have money. I can survive without eating food. I think his story is really touching me. My husband was crying listening to that guy story in detention center and then I did put like $50 in his account. My husband is giving person. He love to give even though, he struggle a lot, even though, he doesn't know what will happen when he get deport. But, him saying other guy story. Does make him cry. I think this is the reason that I really wanna come forward. My husband is giving person, he's lovely person, he's caring person. That is the reason I wanna come forward. I want people to hear our voice, rather than silent. Right now people know our story. But if I was silent then I don't know whether my husband was already disappear. I don't know whether he gonna die torture or maybe he will expel within 24 hours. I have no idea. My husband is number one support system for me, because of him I'm here sharing his story. For years I had wonderful time with him. We build our dream and until 2025, our dream is destroy. I'm trying to build again. I'm hoping, my husband is coming home soon and I'm hoping that this will be the last time that he will get detained. I hope that this will be the end. I don't want him to get detained or deported again. I'm really tired. I don't know what to do. I'm hopeless. I hope listening to my story and Ann's story that separating family is not good. It is affecting not only one person but his whole community, whole family. We deserve to get our husband back. It is not only about the wife that is fighting for husband, it is the children. They're so small, they born here and we cannot raise alone, we cannot work. We have things to pay. Paying bills and taking care of child alone is really difficult. It's been five month. I went through postpartum depression, I went through trauma and I don't wanna deal anymore. Like I don't have courage to do this anymore. We need our husband back. Miko Lee: Thank you. I think both of your husbands are also main caregivers for parents that are ailing in both cases. It's a really important that we are intergenerational communities and as you both said, it's not just about the children, but it's also about parents and brothers and sisters and community members as well. Thank you so much for lifting up your stories. I just wanna go back for one more thing. We talked briefly about the crazy expensive lawyer fees that have come up for families that they've been dealing with this, and then also Tika was just bringing up about detention and commissary fees. Can you talk a little bit about the prison industrial complex and the fees that are associated? As Anne was saying, just calling Lue every day the costs that are associated with those things. Many people that don't have a family member that's incarcerated don't know about that. Can you share a little bit about what that system is? Aisa Villarosa: Yeah, absolutely Miko. Just to underscore, a big theme from this conversation, is that the US made commitments and they have broken them, both with, as Anne talked about, the refugee experience is one that is made possible through US commitment of acknowledging what, people have survived, what they have given to the country. Folks are being removed to countries where not only do they have zero ties to, don't speak the language, but, especially in the case of the Bhutanese refugee community, as Tika mentioned, it is truly a double expulsion. So the fact that we have well-documented testimonials of folks deported from Bhutan after they're removed there into these life-threatening conditions . A community member passed away in large part because of the failure of the US to both care for them while in detention. So going back to that prison complex, but also just putting them in such a harrowing situation. In another instance, a community member was found after wandering for over a hundred miles on foot. So this is not, deportation and the story ends. This is deportation and, there is a family that is grieving and thinking through next steps, there is, this call to not have borders, break us the way that this country is trying to do. And to say a little bit about the fees, USCIS, there, there has not been a point yet in history where so many changes and charges hurting families have been ushered in, But for this year. To give a couple examples of that – asylum cases for one, these often take many years through this administration. Now, families have to pay a cost yearly for each year that your asylum application, languishes because we're also seeing that those same folks who are supposed to process these applications are either being laid off or they're being militarized. So something like USCIS where this was where one would go to apply for a passport. Now the same department is literally being handed guns and they're now taking folks during naturalization interviews. Other avenues to challenge your removal. Like I mentioned a motion to reopen. All these things used to be fairly affordable. Now they can cost many thousands of dollars on top of the attorney fees. So something that's been quite challenging for groups like Asian Law Caucus where we do have attorneys representing folks in removal proceedings, there's often this misperception that oh it's costing so much money. Attorneys are pocketing cash. Unfortunately there are some situations where attorneys have been known to take advantage of families in this desperate moment. But for many, many attorneys who are in this mix, they're experts at this work. They're trying to do the right thing. They're both overwhelmed and they're seeing these new charges, which make the battle really even more difficult. So to turn it back to the listeners, I would say that as powerless as this moment can make us feel everyone is bearing witness. Hopefully the listeners today can take in Anne's story, can take in Tika's story and whatever power one has in their corner of the world, this is the moment to use that. Whether it's your voice, whether it's learning more about a community, maybe you're learning about for the first time. This is really the moment to take action. Miko Lee: Thank you Aisa. I wanna thank you all for being here with me today, for sharing your personal stories, your personal pain, and for recognizing that this is happening. We deeply believe that we need to keep our families together. That is really important. It is written into the very basis of this American country about redemption and forgiveness. And this is what we're talking about for misunderstandings that happened when these folks were young men, that they have paid for their time, and yet they're being punished again, these promises that were broken by this American government, and we need to find ways to address that. I really wanna deeply thank each of you for continuing to be there for sharing your voice, for protecting one another, for being there and standing up for your family and for our community. Thank you for joining me today. Check out our Apex Express Show notes to find out about how you can get involved. Learn about the Rising Voices campaign for Lue Yang and Mohan Khaki's GoFundMe. On November 3rd, 4:00 PM Pacific Time, 7:00 PM Eastern Time. Join us for We Belong here, Bhutanese and Hmong Americans in the Struggle Against Statelessness, a live virtual event featuring my three guests tonight, along with performances and conversations. Please check out our website, kpfa.org/program, apex Express to find out more about our show. APEX Express is a collective of activists that includes Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Have a great night.     The post APEX Express – 10.30.25-We Belong! appeared first on KPFA.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. TAKE ACTION Rising Voices campaign for Lue Yang Mohan Karki's GoFundMe   And please help support these organizations working to support detained and deported folx: Asian Law Caucus Asian Refugees United Ba Lo Project in Vietnam Collective Freedom in Vietnam & Laos Asian Prisoner Support Committee & New Light Wellness in Cambodia November 1–2, people nationwide are joining the Disappeared In America Weekend of Action to stand up for immigrant families and defend due process. Actions include protests at Home Depots, candlelight Freedom Vigils, and Day of the Dead events honoring lives lost to detention.   The following day, November 3, 4pm Pacific time, 7pm Eastern Time, Join us for “We Belong Here, Bhutanese & Hmong Americans in the Struggle Against Statelessness” a live virtual event featuring my three guests tonight, along with performances and conversations. bit.ly/WBH-2025   We Belong Here! Show Transcript Miko Lee: Welcome to Apex Express. This is your host, Miko Lee. Today we're talking about detentions and potential deportations and the atrocities that the Trump administration is creating in our communities. And today I am so honored to have three guests with me, Tika Basnet, and Ann Vu, and Aisa Villarosa. Tika and Ann they're part of a horrible club, which is both of their spouses are currently in detention from our immigration system. But I just wanna start on a real personal note in a way that I often do with my guests. Anne, I'm gonna start with you. I just would love to hear from you, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you? Ann Vue: Thank you again, Miko and Isa, you guys for having me on. So we are Hmong. And we helped Americans during the Vietnam War. And so, during the Vietnam War in Laos, a lot of our pilots needed a communication. And because we're indigenous and we are in the mountains, they were able to speak with us and use us. And so a lot of our Hmong, what they did or what they contributed helped a lot of the pilots rescued a lot, like thousands and thousands of Americans, really, so that that way they can make it back home, right? And so that is our contribution to the American people. And so when we were brought to America, was to resettle because of humanitarian purpose. Really because of our legacy of helping Americans with the war, right? So that is who we are and what we bring to America. And that's who I am. I'm, and I'm actually the first generation Hmong American too. So I was born right here in the capital of Lansing, Michigan. Miko Lee: Thanks so much ann. And Tika, can you share who are your people and what legacy you carry with you? Tika Basnet: Yes. Hi, my name is Tika Basnet. So I am Bhutanese Nepali community. My parents and all the Bhutanese, they ran away from Bhutan in 1990 due to the ethnic cleansing. And they came to Nepal, seeking for asylum, and that is where we born. I was born in Nepal, in refugee camp. Even though I was born in Nepal, Nepal never gave us identity. They never give us citizenship, so we were known as Bhutanese Nepali, but as known as Stateless. And yeah, my husband also born in Nepal in a refugee camp. Miko Lee: Thank you, Tika. And Aisa, I'm gonna ask the same question for you Aisa, my friend that works at Asian Law Caucus. Who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you? Aisa Villarosa: So much love to you, Miko and to you Ann and Tika for being here today. I just am, I'm so honored.My name is Aisa and I carry the love and, Maki Baka spirit of Filipino Americans both in my family across the diaspora. A little bit about the Filipino American story. We came to the United States as part of the colonial machine. The first Filipinos were brought as part of the Spanish Gallian trade. We made California home, parts of Louisiana home, and it's quite a contrast to a lot of the sort of model minority seduction that many of my people, and myself as a younger person tended to fall into that if we kept our heads down, if we were quiet, we would be left alone. I'm struck because at this moment of just unprecedented government attacks, so many of our communities have this story where someone somewhere said to us, yeah, just keep your head down and it'll be fine. And we're seeing the exact opposite, that this is the time to really use our voices, both individually and as one. And I'm also an artist and try to infuse that into my work in fighting government systems. Miko Lee: Thank you Aisa. And in the interest of fairness, I will say I'm Miko. I am fifth generation Chinese American. I grew up knowing that my family was full of fighters that built the railroads, worked in the gold mines in laundromats and restaurants, and my parents walked with Dr. King and Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, and I was raised in a family of social justice activists. So I feel like our legacy is to continue that work and to fight for the rights of our peoples. That being said, I'm so honored to have both of all three of you powerful women join me today. And as I was saying in the beginning, Tika and Anne are sadly a part of this club. Nobody wants to be a part of this club with the sudden, unexpected, harmful detentions of both of your husbands. I wonder if you can each just share the story about what happened and how you first found out about your husband being detained. And let's start with you Tika. Tika Basnet: So, my husband got his removal in 2014 when he was like minor. Just 17 years old, high school student going from school to home and, he's a teenager and with his friend, like they were playing around and they wanna go home really fast. So they just cross from private property. And I think that is where someone saw and call 911. So we came from the culture that we love to go people home , walking around, playing around. So my husband came here in 2011. The incident happened on 2013. So he was just, came here without knowing culture, without knowing languages, So he has no idea. So when somebody called 911, he could not explain what happened. First of all, English is his second language, he was barely here without knowing rules and regulation, without knowing culture. The police get them and then they took him to jail I think police gave a lot of charges. And even until now, my husband doesn't know what are those charges? At that time, nobody explained, this is the three charges you got, and this could lead to deportation. And he feel guilty without knowing those charges. And just because he trusts Nepali translate guy, and he told my husband, like, if you don't say I'm guilty, you will end up in prison for 20 to 25 years, but if you say I'm guilty, you'll go home. And my husband said, guilty. And at that time, neither criminal lawyer told my husband, like, if you say I'm guilty, you'll end up getting deport. Deport to the contrary that you are you never born. Deport To the contrary, you doesn't even speak their language. And even the lawyer did not explain my husband like, you will not gonna get your green card. You cannot apply your citizenship in your life. If all of, if those things like the lawyer told my husband at that time, he will never gonna say, I am guilty to the crime that he did not even commit. And so when they tried to deport my husband back then, Bhutan say, he's not my citizenship, he's not from my country, We don't know this guy. He's not belongs to here. And when US Embassy reach out to, Nepal, do you know this guy? They told, ICE no, we don't know this guy, like he's not belongs here. And then the ICE officer, they told my husband, like, we can let you go, you need to come here, like order of supervision every years, every three months, every six months, whenever we call you. And it been 11 years. My husband is following rules and regulation. After that incident, never police arrest him. He did not even get criminal record. He did not even get misdemeanor record. So basically he never did any violation after that. So he was following, he got married, he has a life, he pay taxes. He was taking care of his family and in 11 years he was doing everything. And in 2025 for the first time they target Bhutanese Nepali community. And at that time I knew that this is the last time I'm gonna see my husband. And that is a time I think I broke down. Like, when they detained my husband in April 8, I was eight months pregnant. And um, like we dream a lot of things like, you know, we are gonna take care of our daughter. We are gonna buy home, we are gonna work, we are gonna give her the life that we, I'm sorry. Miko Lee: Totally. Okay. Tika Basnet: So, yeah. Um, like I never thought like Bhutanese community can, like deport. Like my parent already , go through this trauma, you know, when Bhutan throw them away due to ethnic cleansing and same thing happening to us. It is unbelievable. I cannot believe that, we're going through this again and I don't know when this gonna be stopped. I don't know whether like my husband gonna come home. I dunno. Like I'm fighting and it is been five month and I really want my husband back. Like my daughter today is, she's three month old. She need her dad in life. 'cause I cannot provide everything by myself. My husband is the main provider for her aging parent. 'cause even now they cannot pay bills. Like they have really hard time paying bills. And this is the reason, like I'm fighting for my husband case and I want my husband back. And I think he deserve second chance because if you see his record is clean, like for one incident that happened like 12 years ago, that cannot define my husband. Like who he is right now, you know? So yeah, this is what happened. Like I cannot believe that my husband is able to get deport to the country that doesn't even accept. And I don't know whether he gonna get killed. I dunno what, whether he gonna disappear, I don't know what will happen to him. I don't know if it is last time I'm gonna see him. Miko Lee: Tika, thank you so much for sharing your story. And just to recap really briefly, your husband, Mohan Karki when he was a teenager, newly arrived in the country, was leaving high school, walked with his friends through a backyard and was suddenly racially profiled. And the neighbor called police because he was trespassing on property.He was born at a refugee camp. Is that right? Tika Basnet: Yes. Miko Lee: And so there was not property that was like person's property on that refugee camp. So that whole concept of walking across somebody's land was something he was not aware of. He had an interpreter that did not give correct or full information. And so he signed something, including a deportation order, that he wasn't actually, wasn't even aware of until recently when he was put into detention. Is that right? Tika Basnet: Yes. Yes. Miko Lee: And right now he's in detention. You're, you live in Ohio, but he's in detention in Michigan, right? Tika Basnet: Yes. Miko Lee: Okay, Tika, let's talk about Mohans case and what's happening. He's held in detention right now in a detention facility in Michigan. And what is going on with his case? Tika Basnet: Yeah, I don't wanna say a lot of things about his case, but our attorney, his criminal attorney does file, a Motion to Redeem asking BIA to send that, case back to Georgia and we recently hired, criminal attorney to fight for his case, that happened in 2013. And our attorney just submit documentation where he's asking to release my husband because it'd been five month. And he's not risk to the community. He's not risk to the flight. 'cause he doesn't have no one in Bhutan. He doesn't have no one in Nepal. He's all family is in here. So his community love him ,he has family that loves him. And, we also get lot of documentations as a proof telling ICE officer that my husband is not risk to the community or, to the flight. Miko Lee: Thank you. And he has a new baby, a four month old baby that he has yet to meet. So that is a powerful reason to stay. And as Tikas pointing out, the lawyer just submitted documentation along with 50 letters of support from the community , from employers, from family members, all saying why he should stay in this country. Thank you so much for sharing. And Anne, i'm wondering if you could share about what happened to your husband. He was also born in a refugee camp, right? Ann Vue: So, Lou was born in Nangkai, Thailand refugee camp. In 1978 and in 1979 his parents and him and his older brother received parole for legal entry. I think the exact word was, they were paroled pursuant under section 212D5 of the I and N Act, which means that they are granted urgent humanitarian reasons for or for public benefit. Right. Because my father-in-law had helped and during the war. And so he received his visa in September. I just lookeded back at all of his history there and then they made it to America right before Halloween 'cause my father-in-law was like, I always remembered it because in the country of Asia, they're scared of halloween, scary Halloween stuff. And so when they came, they were like, oh my gosh. There were, Jesus says, I remember there were just a lot of zombies, right? And we were so scared because we were like, and so I always remember that about, you know, I'll fast forward it to 1997, right when he just turned, I believe 18 and very similar to Tika, you know, her husband too. And a lot of times, in the early nineties, me even being the first generation American here, racism played a lot. And we all went through that piece and our parents not speaking English at the same time, they were going to school themselves so that they can learn our English language, right. And they weren't able to teach us growing up. So we had to kind of fend for ourselves. And I would say my husband he went out with some friends. He did not commit the crime. But of course now that is brought back to him, he understood about his particular case is second attempt, home invasion. Nobody was harmed. He was in the vehicle, in the backseat when he was caught. And he didn't wanna partake, but he didn't wanna stop them either, you know? 'cause to him it was like, if I don't partake, then I have nothing to do with it. Right. Because if I do, then they might not be my friends anymore. I mean, it's just a part of growing up as a youth. But because he was there, and then would receive a court appointed attorney, and then provide it very similar to Tika's too. Had an interpreter, that was explaining to them, was provided bad legal advice. He had nothing, no knowledge about how this would impact his immigration status. He would take a plea, and it was advised by their attorney, take the plea it's easier, you know, and you probably serve less than a year. You'll be out, you'll only be in the county jail anyways 'cause you didn't really commit the crime and technically it should have been a misdemeanor. But because you're an accomplice , that kind of falls under this category. So he took the plea, he served 10 months in a county jail. He actually was released for good behavior. He even finished his probation soon because he paid all of his stuff off. And he even finished a youth advocate program, a youth training program for anybody that committed crimes between the age of 18 to 21. I actually just saw this form the other day and I was reading it and it talks about, you know, the one thing about our parents, experiencing the war and coming to America, they don't talk about it. And a lot of us are from communist countries . We're, we are very afraid to voice our voices, because someone can take action. And our parents never talked about it. And I read what he wrote to his, youth coordinator, and he wrote, he felt so bad about what he did. He created disappointment for his parents and he understands now after his parents told him, there are sacrifices that got us here to America. And he literally wrote all of this down, he's going to be a better person, is what he wrote. I'm going to be a better person. I'm going to make my parents proud now that I understand their sacrifices. And, they asked him, well what was your upbringing like? And in one sentence, he wrote, poor, right? So he wrote, poor and the coordinator wrote on the bottom of his comments said, Lou is remorseful for what has happened or for what ha what has happened, and very remorseful and he wants to be a better person. I have no other questions. The training is complete. He doesn't need any further, support and believes that he will move forward to be a better person. That's what literally what they wrote on the document. Then fast forwarding to 1999 , after everything was done and he served, that's when, immigration showed up at his house. And from there moved forward to explain to him what had happened. And once that happened, of course him and I would meet in 2000, and then we'd be married in 2001. Right? So we'd celebrate. Almost 24 and a half years of marriage. Right? So we did appeal his case in the humanitarian piece of what this meant for Lou during the time where we all fled the country. Once we were, once the monks were declared enemy of the state by the LDR in Laos, we fled. And once we fled, it's well documented that there was a little bit over 400,000 of us there right after all the genocide and the killings of the Hmong there was probably less than 45,000 of us left, right? And so once we understood a lot of that, we wanted to do better. We wanted to really service our community, right? So. Fast forwarding it. We appealed the case. The case was then denied I believe in 2002. And even in his letters, in his appeal letters, general Vink Powell, which led the, Hmongs during, in the war, even had a letter in there where he, to also pled why Hmongs need to stay here in America, right. And why we need to bring the rest of our people to this country. The reality is our whole family, Lou's whole family was wiped out. We don't have anybody, Lou doesn't have anyone, right? And so you know, that goes to Tikas thing too. There's nobody there. And, going back to the case once it was denied in 2002, of course he then. Was forced to reach out to the embassy and reached out to the embassy and was denied, entry into Thailand 'cause that's where he was born. We're stateless too, just like Tikas husband. We were denied by Thailand. We were also denied by Laos stating that we are not a citizen of theirs. They do not allow or welcome any sort of entry. And then in 2006, that's when they actually took his green card was in 2006 and then we prompt again we were denied. And then in 2008 we were denied a third time and that's when his immigration officer was like, just move on and start your life. Laos and Thailand, will never sign a repatriation act with America because of you guys, because of the Hmong people, what you guys have done to their country, making it the most bombed country during the war without even being a part of the war. So therefore, they will never allow you guys or accept you guys back. And so we were like, okay. So we moved forward and then in 2014, this immigration officer, which we was doing yearly checkups at this time, was like, Hey go get your citizenship, get your green card. They're like you're doing so good. You know, you probably could have a chance to get it. That's when we moved forward to apply for citizenship and for all we did for the green card and then for citizenship. And of course we were denied in 2015 and we know how expensive this is. You pay $10,000 outright, you don't get that money back. You just have to go at it again, right? And so, uh, we decided that, you know what, we're gonna get his case expunged, and so. We got his case expunged in 2018, no questions asked. It was very straightforward. Once it was expunged, we continued, with our lives. Very involved in the community. And we had all of our children by that time already, so we had six kids already. So fast forwarding to that, and then leading up to his detainment, which this year we even called his immigration officer and he was like, Hey, don't worry about it, Lou, we're moving you over to Grand Rapids and you should be fine. Just make sure that you stay outta trouble, continue to follow your stock and I think what triggered it was when we applied for his work permit in April. Because he was supposed to, he always meets his immigration officer at the end of the year, and we renewed his work permit is what triggered it. And so of course, the money was cashed out, everything the checks went through while we were receiving that, he was gonna be here, everything was gonna be fine. And then leading up to July 15th where he was detained at work, early morning of six 30 in the morning, the detained officer they they told him that they know who he is to the community, so they have to do it this way because they don't want any problems. They don't want media, they don't want reporters. He did play with them. He did ask them because he rode his motorcycle for some weird reason. He has not taken his bike out, his motorcycle out in the last three years. But for some reason that night he was like, I just wanna take my bike. So he took his bike that night and when ICE told him, do you have somebody come get your bike? You need to call somebody to come get your bike. And he was like, nobody in my family rides motorcycles. Like we don't, I don't have anyone to come get my bike. And I think there was some empathy and compassion for him. He was like, okay, let me check on something. Because my husband was like, can I just take my bike back? I've got six kids. I've got my grandma at home and my parents are also at my house right now. I just wanna see them and I just wanna take my bike back. So they asked him, if we let you go, we asked will you like please don't run. Right? And so they followed my husband home and my husband literally called me at 6 37 in the morning and he was like, Hey, ICE is, here they got me. So I'm like, what? What's going on? So it was just so surreal. I was so shocked. And so it's about a 30 minute drive from his workplace back to our house. And um, when he got there, um, they, there were already officers, like there were, it was packed tight in our driveway. So our driveway's pretty far up because we live in the country. And so, there were like five or six cop cars there too. So we had to walk about half a mile down to go see him. They wouldn't allow him to enter where our home was. And the officer told, my husband, told him that they're so sorry. They have to do it this way. They know who he is. They don't want any problems, they don't want any reports in media out here. And I will say my experience was a little bit different from others. They did take their mask off when they took him in, they were respectful so that part is that much. They even, you know, talk to my two older boys like, “Hey, you guys have money. I could put the money in your dad's account.” We're, take him into Grand Rapids, we're gonna process him, and then we're gonna take him to the detention center, which is gonna be involved in Michigan. So they were very open about these steps, what they were doing with him, at least that much. But I will say that it was my grandma, of course she has chronic pulmonary disease stage four. So at that point we, we couldn't haul her fast enough because we only saw him for like maybe a quick minute, and that was it. And so they did ask us to turn around because they had to take him back and they didn't want my, our little ones to see them cuffing him. Miko Lee: They actually said, Anne, we don't want any media to be watching this? Ann Vue: I don't want any problems. Miko Lee: Mm. And and your husband is also quite well known in the Hmong community, right? Ann Vue: He is Miko Lee: and so probably, they were worried about folks coming out and protesting. Is that, do you think that was the case? Ann Vue: That's what I'm assuming, because I don't remember their exact words saying media, but I do remember they were saying that they didn't want people around, they didn't want to create issues for the community.I am assuming that correct, because if he would've gotten the letter just like everybody did, which everybody then would receive the letter on Friday, and because my husband is a community leader, he is the Hmong Family Association's president, we restart receiving. Many, many calls where everybody just wanted to talk to Lou 'cause they needed to know what's going on, how to handle, what to do. And so at that moment I realized, oh my gosh, they detained my husband first this way. And then everybody else got a letter. Miko Lee: And the ICE officer that he had been checking in with routinely has, have you all been in touch with that same ICE officer? Ann Vue: He has been, I think in the last seven or eight years.Yeah. It's been the same guy. Miko Lee: But has he been in touch with him since he was detained? Ann Vue: He hasn't. Miko Lee: Has not, no. So they had different people come in even, 'cause he was the person that said everything's okay, keep going with your life. Ann Vue: Oh yeah. Miko Lee: And so no contact with him whatsoever since the detention? Ann Vue: No. Miko Lee: Can you give a little bit of an update of Lou's case and what's going on with him right now? Ann Vue: I don't know as much. Maybe I may have to have Aisa respond to the legality piece around it. 'cause I know we're, they've been doing, working around the clock and working hard on strategy. Miko Lee: Okay. Thank you so much, Aisa. Before we move into that, I just wanna point out, for all of our listeners, how many similarities there are in these two cases. And in both of these, you know, these amazing women are here supporting their spouses, both, spouses born in refugee camps. Dealing with intergenerational trauma from families that had to escape ethnic cleansing or involved in a war, came into the United States under, legal properties through refugee resettlement acts, made mistakes as young people, partially due to culture and wanting to fit in. They served their time, they paid their dues. They were racially profiled to be able to actually be in those positions that they were in. They suffered from incredible immigration policy failure with bad advice, with a system that's broken. And now both of them are detained. Not yet deported, but detained. Many of the community members have already been deported and they're facing statelessness. And we're seeing this not just with Bhutanese and Hmong folks, but with Mien and Lao and Haitian and El Salvadorian. And we could fill in the blank of how many other peoples in other communities are facing this. So, we also know that these private detention centers where people are being held, are making millions and millions of dollars, and it's connected into our corrupt political system that's in place right now. We also know and Aisa, I'm wondering if you could, talk about the case, but also about some of the deals that we think have had to be made with Laos and Bhutan in order for these deportations to even take place. So Aisa from Asian Law Caucus, I'm gonna pass it to you to go over some of the legal ramifications. Aisa Villarosa: Of course, Miko, and thank you for it for the context. And there are so many parallels that we as advocates must uplift because this is not the time to be divided. This is really the time to build solidarity that we've long known needs to happen. And, and this is really the moment. What Miko is referring to is, uh, largely, um, something that we've observed around the travel bans. So. Earlier this year, right around the time that the Trump administration took hold, there was a draft travel ban list that leaked across a number of media outlets, the Times, et cetera, and the same countries we're talking about today, Bhutan, Laos. These were historically not countries that were subject to sanctions, like the travel ban, and yet here they were. And so a lot of us were scratching our heads and asking, you know, what, why is this happening? Our theory, and this is a theory that is now also manifesting in a number of FOIA requests or Freedom of Information Act requests that are submitted from Asian Law Caucus to departments like the State Department ice, the Department of Homeland Security. Asking the same question that Tika and Anne are asking, which is, how are these deportations even happening? Because they were not happening until this year. And what very likely happened was a bit of a quid pro quo. So in removing Bhutan, removing Laos from this list where they could be sanctioned as a country, there was likely some backdoor deal that took place between the US State Department and Bhutanese officials and the US officials, where essentially there was some form of an agreement that there would be an acceptance or a supposed acceptance of a certain number of folks from these communities. That is why around March, around April for the Bhutanese refugee community, for example, we started seeing pickups very similar to Mohans case, where, many people who had perhaps made some mistakes in their youth or had really old criminal convictions were swept off the streets and thrust into these really rapid deportation proceedings. I don't even know if proceedings is the right word, because there essentially was no proceeding. You know, the Immigration Court is very much a cloaked process. The immigration judge is kind of judge and jury wrapped up together, which is very different than many of us might turn on the TV and see something like Law and order. An immigration court works a very different way where this piece of paper, this final removal order, basically gives ICE a lot of bandwidth to make these deportations happen. However, that doesn't mean we should just accept that this is happening. We know that just basic procedures of fairness are not being met. We know, too that in the case of, for example, the Bhutanese community ICE officers have come to the wrong house. And put a lot of people in fear. So racial profiling was happening even before this recent Supreme Court decision, which essentially now condones racial profiling, right? As criteria that the ICE can use. I also just wanted to talk about this trend too, that we're seeing with so many cases. It happened to Lou, it happened to Mohan, where in someone's underlying criminal court case, maybe they were given a court appointed attorney. In many cases, they were not told of the immigration impacts of, say, taking a plea. There is a Supreme Court case called Padilla versus Kentucky and basically the law shifted such that in many cases there now is a duty for a court appointed public defender to actually talk to folks like Mohan and Lou about the immigration consequences of their plea. So when Tika mentioned that there's something called a post-conviction relief effort for Mohan. That's happening in Georgia. This is very much what that legal defense looks like, where, an expert attorney will look at that very old court record, see if those rights were violated, and also talk to Mohan and make sure did that violation happen and is that grounds for reopening an immigration case. For Lou, there is a really mighty pardoning campaign that's brewing in the state of Michigan. So in Michigan, governor Gretchen Whitmer does have the authority to in some cases expedite a pardon in process. We're hoping that this public swelling of support from Mohan will result in a pardon, because importantly, even if Mohans conviction was expunged, which can be very helpful in, for example, state court, arenas, things like, applying for certain jobs. Unfortunately, in the immigration arena the expungement does not have that same weight as say a vacating, or a motion to vacate that criminal record. So it's super frustrating because, so much of this turns ethically, morally on- do we, as people believe in second chances, and I know most people do, and [00:35:00] yet here we are really. Based on a technicality. I also just want to name too that Lou as a person is both a natural organizer and he is a spiritual guide of his community. So something that many folks don't know is because of so much of the trauma that Anne talked about, both from, supporting the Americans during the Secret War, many Hmong folks who came to the States, they actually in some cases died in their sleep because of this, almost unexplained weight of the trauma, right? And so it almost underscores. The importance of Lou, not just to his family, but this family is a collective family, right? He's both a mentor for so many, he's a spiritual guide for so many. And so you know, him being away from his family, away from community, it's like a double, triple wound. And then for Mohan, I'd love to uplift this memory I have of , a moment in June when Tika gave us a call, and at that point, Mohan had called Tika and said, they're taking me, I'm being deported. And at that point, they were removing Mohan from the ICE facility in Butler, Ohio and transporting him to. At first we had no idea. Then we learned it was, toward the Detroit airport or that deportation to Bhutan and Tika was forced to essentially delay her childbirth. It was very much in the range of when she was due to give birth to their daughter. But because the clock was ticking, Tika drove to Butler, literally begged for Mohan's life as our organizing and advocacy and legal team was trying to get together this emergency stay of deportation. That fortunately came through at the 11th hour. But the fact that Mohan remains in this facility in St. Clair, Michigan, that he's never held his daughter is unacceptable, is ridiculous. And I think so much of these two cases almost, this invisible brotherhood of pain that I know Ann has talked to me about that. Because Lou right now has been in a couple facilities. He is organizing, he's doing his thing and actually supporting folks while also just trying to keep himself well, which is no easy feat to do in so many of these facilities. Especially because, in Alexandria, for example, which is a facility in Louisiana. We know that folks are sleeping on cement floors. We know that folks are not being fed, that there's a lot of human rights violations going on. And here is Lou still continuing to use his voice and try to advocate for the folks around him. Miko Lee: Aisa thank you so much for putting that into context, and we'll put links in the show notes for how folks can get involved in both of these cases. One is, Rising Voices has a call to action to reach out to Governor Whitmer for that. Pardon in Campaign for Lou. So we encourage folks to do that. And in terms of Mohan, there's a GoFundMe to help support Tika and the immense lawyer fees, which we discussed that are needed. And also a letter writing campaign to the ICE director Kevin Roff, to try and release Mohan and also Lou. These are really important things that are happening in our community, and thank you for being out there. Thank you for talking and sharing your stories. We really appreciate you. And also, just briefly, I'd love us for us to talk for a minute about how many folks in our Asian American communities, we don't wanna talk about mistakes that we have made in the past because we might consider that shameful. And therefore, in both of these communities, when we started organizing, it was really hard at first to find people to come forth and share their stories. So I wonder if both of you can give voice to a little about that, the power you found in yourself to be able to come forward and speak about this, even though some other folks in the community might not feel comfortable or strong enough to be able to talk. Tika, can you speak to that? Tika Basnet: Yeah. So what makes me really strong, and I wanna see that my husband case is because he was 17, people can make mistake and from those mistake, if people are learning. Then I think Americans should consider, 'cause my husband did make mistake and I wish that time he knew the rules and regulation. I wish like somebody taught him that he's not supposed to go somebody else property, like around in backyard. And I wish he was been in the United States like more than one and a half year. I wish, if he was like more than two years, three years. And I think that time he, from high school, he could learn. You know, he's not supposed to go there. He was just been in the United States like one and a half year just going to high school. Nobody taught him. His parent doesn't even speak English. Until now, he doesn't even, they doesn't even speak, like nobody in our community knew rules and regulation. So no, basically that he doesn't have guide, like mentor to taught him like, and even though he did make mistake and he's really sorry, and from those mistake learning a lot, and he never get into trouble, like after 11 years, he was clean, he work, he pay taxes. And I think, that is the reason that I really wanna come forward. You know, people can make mistake, but learning from those mistake that changed people life. And, and I think, the reason that I'm coming forward is because organization like Asian Law Caucus, ARU, and, Miko, a lot of people helped me. You know, they taught me like people can make mistake and, I think we shouldn't be same. And I really wanna give example to my daughter, you know, that, you are fighting for justice and you shouldn't fear. I think, what is right is right. What is wrong is wrong. But if somebody's make mistake and they are not, doing that mistake again, I think the people can get a second chance. And I think my husband deserves second chance and he's 30 years old. He has a family, he has a wife, children and he deserved to be here. We came here legally, my husband came here. Legally, we, promise that we'll get home and this is our home. We wanna stay here and I really want my husband be home soon so he can play with her daughter to play with his daughter. Miko Lee: Thank you so much, Tika. Ann I wonder if you could talk to the strength that it takes for you to come forward and speak about your husband and your family. Ann Vue: I'm a community leader with my husband too, right? I would say that there was a moment when he was first detained where I was in complete silence. I was so shocked. It took my attorney, Nancy, just talking to me about it. Of course, back to what Aisa said earlier in our communities, we're afraid. I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. It took me visiting my husband in Baldwin and letting him know that, hey, a bunch of community members are now reaching out and I think it's hit our community. And that's that. At that moment, he was like, you have to say something. You have to say something you have to make noise because you have a, 50% chance, right? We have a 50 50 chance. 50%. They're gonna send me 50%. You're gonna feel bad if you don't say anything, right? 50 here, 50 there. It doesn't matter. But a hundred percent regret if you don't say something. I thought about it and he was like, well, go out there, be my voice. He's like, you've always been my voice. You got this right. And so when, I didn't say no to Nancy. 'cause she really wanted to talk to our rep Mai you know about this. And , Mai and I are pretty close too. And, I just knew if I said anything, Maya's gonna be like mm-hmm. All the way. Right? So I just let Nancy help me, and my most vulnerable time. And I'm glad that she did. And I'm glad that we did get this out. It is the most important thing for us, and I've been, I will say what keeps me going is all of those that have been impacted by this, from people like Tika. I have many, I call 'em sisters. We're all in a lot of these group chats together. They've been also keeping me going. Our amazing team of attorneys and everybody just strategizing through this unprecedented time. It's really everyone's voices. I get to talk to Lou daily. It's definitely not cheap, but he gets to share each story of each person. I believe that everybody has a story and they might not be as lucky as maybe Tika or my husband, but at least now I have their story. I will be their voice. I will tell each person's story, each name, each alien number that I track down, my husband's even literally learned how to count in Spanish, just so he can give them like my phone number in Spanish in case they need to call an emergency. Oh, I'm be getting a lot of calls. Right. I would say that that is what keeps me going because I think that Tika and I and many others are, hoping that there is going to be a better day, a brighter day. I hope that everyone can see that, our children are American, right? Our children, they deserve to have their fathers and their mothers. They deserve to grow with these parents. And with that being said, the most important thing to me is they're not just bystanders. They're literally the future of America. I don't want them growing up with trauma, with trying to ask me questions like, well mom, if we're refugees and we helped, Americans as allies, and we come to this country, why is this payback like this? There's a moral obligation that has to be there and they're gonna grow up and they're gonna be trauma by this. I've got children right now that's been talking about joining the National Guard. It speaks volume about what happens to my husband. He's championed the Hmong, Michigan Special Gorilla unit, the Hmong veterans here in the last two years, really with helping them through resolutions, tributes, making sure that they have things, that they are out there, that people now know them, they are finally recognized. This puts my husband at great danger by sending him back, because now he's championed the veterans here. He celebrates our veterans here. So it's a moral obligation. And I hope Tika, I hope that, and this is to every child, I hope that every child, they deserve their father's presence. There are many people who don't even have their father's presence and they wish their fathers were around. And our fathers wanna be around. And I hope that our daughter, I only have one daughter too, that someday they can, their fathers can be a part of their, the American culture. So I, I hope that. We get that opportunity and I hope that somebody stop being scared, but turn around and help us. Help us. We came here legally, minor stuff, long decade old. Even lose share with me. This detainment has been worse than when he was, when he did time back in 1997. And I just hope that somebody hears our podcast, Miko. Thank you. And, Aisa and Tika. And they turn and they have some compassion and help us because this is the tone that we're setting for the future of our American children. Miko Lee: Thank you so much for sharing. Tika, you wanna add? Tika Basnet: Yes, I really wanna talk about what kind of husband Mohan is. Even though like he detained for five month and I cannot. I put lot of money in his account and there was one guy, I think his family cannot support him. And for me, like it is really hard. I'm not working. But even my husband called me like, you don't need to put like money in my account, but can you please can you please put money in his account? He did not eat food. His family did not have money. I can survive without eating food. But, I think his story is really touching me. And that time, like my husband was crying listening to that guy story in detention center and then I did put like $50 in his account. And my husband is giving person like, he love to give even though, he struggle a lot, even though, he doesn't know what will happen when he get deport. But, him saying other guy story. Does make him cry. I think this is the reason that I really wanna come forward. My husband is giving person, he's lovely person, he's caring person. And that is the reason I wanna come forward. I want people to hear our voice, rather than silent. Because right now people know our story. But if I was silent back , then I don't know whether my husband was already disappear. I don't know whether he gonna die torture or maybe he will expel within 24 hours. I have no idea. So I think, my husband is number one support system for me, and I think because of him that I'm here sharing his story and yeah, like for years I had wonderful time with him. We build our dream and until 2025, our dream is destroy. I'm trying to build again. I'm hoping, like my husband is coming home soon and I'm hoping that this will be the last time that he will get detained. I hope that this will be the end. I don't want him to get detained or deported again. I'm really tired. I don't know what to do. I'm hopeless. I hope listening to my story and Anna's story that separating family is not good. Like it is affecting not only one person but his whole community, whole family. We deserve to get our husband back. Because it is not only about the wife that is fighting for husband, it is the children. , They're so small, they born here and we cannot raise alone, we cannot work. We have things to pay. And paying those bills and taking care of child alone is really difficult. It is giving depression like it's been five month, like I went through postpartum depression, I went through trauma and I don't wanna deal anymore. Like I don't have courage to do this anymore. We need our husband back. Miko Lee: Thank you. And I think both of your husbands are also main caregivers for parents that are ailing in both cases. It's a really important thing that we are intergenerational communities and as you both said, it's not just about the children, but it's also about parents and brothers and sisters and community members as well. Thank you so much for lifting up your stories. I just wanna go back for one more thing. We talked briefly about the crazy expensive lawyer fees that have come up for families that they've been dealing with this, and then also Tika was just bringing up about detention and commissary fees. Can you talk a little bit about the prison industrial complex and the fees that are associated? As Anne was saying, just calling Lou every day the costs that are associated with those things. Many people that don't have a family member that's incarcerated don't know about that. Can you share a little bit about what that system is? Aisa Villarosa: Yeah, absolutely Miko. And, just to underscore, a big theme from this conversation, it is that the US made commitments and they have broken them, both with, as Anne talked about, the refugee experience is one that is made possible through US commitment of acknowledging what, people have survived, what they have given to the country. And to look at this moment where folks are being removed to countries where not only do they have zero ties to, don't speak the language, but, especially in the case of the Bhutanese refugee community, as Tika mentioned, it is [00:52:00] truly a double expulsion. So the fact that we have well-documented testimonials of folks really deported from Bhutan after they're removed there into these life-threatening conditions that in some cases have actually resulted in a community member passing away. A community member passed away in large part because of the failure of the US to both care for them while in detention. So going back to that prison complex, but also just putting them in such a harrowing situation. In another instance, a community member was found after wandering for over a hundred miles on foot. So this is not, deportation and the story ends. This is deportation. And, there is a family that is grieving and thinking through next steps, there is, this call to not have borders, break us the way that this country is trying to do. And to say a little bit about the fees, USCIS, there, there has not been a point yet in history where so many changes and charges hurting families have been ushered in, But for this year, and so to give a couple examples of that – asylum cases for one, these often take many, many years through this administration. Now, families have to pay a cost yearly for each year that your asylum application, languishes because we're also seeing that those same folks who are supposed to process these applications are either being laid off or they're being militarized. So something like USCIS where this was where one would go to apply for a passport. Now the same department is literally being handed guns and they're now taking folks during naturalization interviews. Other avenues to challenge your removal. Like I mentioned a motion to reopen. All these things used to be fairly affordable. Now they can cost many thousands of dollars on top of the attorney fees. So something that's been quite challenging for groups like Asian Law Caucus where we do have attorneys representing folks in removal proceedings, there's often this misperception that oh it's costing so much money. Attorneys are pocketing cash. And unfortunately there are some situations where some attorneys have been known to take advantage of families in this desperate moment. But for many, many attorneys who are in this mix, they're experts at this work. They're trying to do the right thing. They're both overwhelmed and they're seeing these new charges, which make the battle really even more difficult. So to turn it back to the listeners, I would say that as powerless as this moment can make us feel everyone is bearing witness. Hopefully the listeners today can take in Anne's story, can take in Tikas story and whatever power one has in their corner of the world, this is the moment to use that. Whether it's your voice, whether it's learning more about a community, maybe you're learning about for the first time. This is really the moment to take action. Miko Lee: Thank you Aisa. I really wanna thank you all for being here with me today, for sharing your personal stories, your personal pain, and for recognizing that this is happening. We deeply believe that we need to keep our families together. That is really important. It is written into the very basis of this American country about redemption and forgiveness. And this is what we're talking about for incidents that happened, misunderstandings that happened when these folks were young men, that they have paid for their, they have paid for their time, and yet they're being punished again, these promises that were broken by this American government, and we need to find [00:56:00] ways to address that. I really wanna deeply thank each of you for continuing to be there for sharing your voice, for protecting one another, for being there and standing up for your family and for our community. Thank you for joining me today. Check out our Apex Express Show notes to find out about how you can get involved. Learn about the Rising Voices campaign for Lou Young and Mohan Khaki's GoFundMe and please help to support these organizations working every day to support detained and deported people. Asian Law Caucus, Asian Refugees, United Balo Project in Vietnam. Collective Freedom in Vietnam and Laos Asian Prisoner Support Committee and new light Wellness in Cambodia. November 1st and second people nationwide are joining the Disappeared in America Weekend of Action to Stand Up for Immigrant Families and Defend Due Process. Actions include protests at Home [00:57:00] Depots, candlelight, freedom Vigils, and Day of the Dead events, honoring lives lost to detention. The following day on November 3rd, 4:00 PM Pacific Time, 7:00 PM Eastern Time. Join us for We Belong here, Bhutanese and Hmong Americans in the Struggle Against Statelessness, a live virtual event featuring my three guests tonight, along with performances and conversations. Find out more in our show notes. Please check out our website, kpfa.org/program, apex Express to find out more about our show. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. APEX Express is a collective of activists that includes Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Have a great night. The post APEX Express – 10.16.25 – We Belong Here appeared first on KPFA.

This week, President Donald Trump federalized policing in the nation's capital. He deployed the National Guard and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The move has been met with mild pushback from some gun-rights activists. Karl Kasarda from InRangeTV joins the podcast to explain why he thinks there should be more. The prominent GunTuber, who has criticized President Trump more than most other gun-rights activists, argued that sending troops and ATF agents into the streets of DC for general crime control should be a red flag for gun-rights advocates. He went so far as to say that Trump's aggressive use of masked law enforcement, including at one point the ATF, as well as military troops in American cities risks moving in an authoritarian direction. He pointed to the deportation of certain immigrants to an El Salvadorian prison without due process as an example of what concerns him most. He argued the deployment of federal police and troops in connection with those sorts of tactics is a threat to everyone's liberty. Kasarda agreed that the Trump Administration has made a number of pro-gun reforms, like rolling back the ATF's zero-tolerance policy toward gun dealers and effectively neutering the pistol brace ban. But he argued those reforms shouldn't outweigh the limit-pushing nature of Trump's military and police deployments, even if what the President has done thus far hasn't exceeded constitutional bounds in most instances. Special Guest: Karl Kasarda.

Today on America in the Morning    President Trump Signs Recissions Package  The recissions package that passed the house last week has been signed into law. Correspondent Lisa Dwyer has been following the story and says opponents claim the funding cuts will hurt public broadcasters.    President Trump Visits the Fed  President Trump paid a visit to the Federal Reserve on Thursday, where he met with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has been highly criticized by the President. Correspondent Clayton Neville reports.    U.S. Cuts Short Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Talks  The U.S. is ending its most recent effort at ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. Correspondent Sagar Megani reports the U.S. is placing the blame of the failed negotiations on Hamas.    National Forecast  A large portion of the South and Eastern U.S. will experience extreme heat and humidity. Meteorologist La Troy Thornton has your national forecast.    DOJ Meets with Ghislaine Maxwell  Members of the Department of Justice travelled to Florida today to meet with the former Girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell. Correspondent Haya Panjwani has details.    Remembering Hulk Hogan  Hulk Hogan, an icon in the world of professional wrestling has died at 71 years old. Correspondent Gethin Coolbaugh has a look at his life and legacy.    Business News  On Wall Street fresh highs for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ. Jessica Ettinger has your Friday business.    U.S. Government Investigating UnitedHealth  The government has launched an investigation into UnitedHealth. Correspondent Tom Murphy reports they're one of the largest healthcare companies in the country.    Remembering Chuck Mangione  Grammy award winning musician Chuck Mangione has passed away at 84 years old. Correspondent Ed Donahue has details.    New 60 Minutes Producer Announced  A long-running newsmagazine TV show has a new top producer. Correspondent Mike Hempen reports.    Deported Migrant Takes Steps to Sue U.S.  A man who was deported to El Salvador is taking the first steps to suing the U.S. Government. Correspondent Ed Donahue reports the man is claiming he was mistreated while in El Salvadorian custody.    WI Governor Not Seeking Reelection  The governor of a battleground state has announced he won't be seeking reelection. Correspondent Lisa Dwyer reports the announcement leaves the field open for who will replace them.      Railroad Companies Confirm Merger Talks Underway  Two railroads confirm they're in late-stage merger talks. Correspondent Mike Hempen has details.    Protests Breakout in Ukraine  Correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports Ukrainians are taking to the streets to protest a new law they say weakens Ukraine's anti-corruption teams.    Trump Lays Out AI Action Plan  The Trump administration has laid out the U.S. Action Plan for A.I. with aggressive goals for building power and data centers, and even retraining workers who are replaced by artificial intelligence. Correspondent Chuck Palm has more in today's Tech Report.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 333 ///  June 20, 2025 /// Alternate Titles: Look, At Least You Have A Show.  The Struggle Continues, The Protests Continue,  ///  (0:20) Welcome to Fella Friday.   (5:00) LQ: Calling in a loan…from a dead person. (16:20) LQ: Should I convert? (23:50) The protest continues. (50:33) Becoming an El Salvadorian citizen. /// 1:12:57

DITCH YOUR DOCTOR! https://www.livelongerformula.com/wam Get a natural health practitioner and work with Christian Yordanov! Mention WAM and get a FREE masterclass! You will ALSO get a FREE metabolic function assessment! HELP SUPPORT US AS WE DOCUMENT HISTORY HERE: https://gogetfunding.com/help-wam-cover-history/ GET NON-MRNA FREEZE DRIED MEAT HERE: https://wambeef.com/ Use code WAMBEEF to save 20%! GET HEIRLOOM SEEDS & NON GMO SURVIVAL FOOD HERE: https://heavensharvest.com/ USE Code WAM to save 5% plus free shipping! GET YOUR APRICOT SEEDS at the life-saving Richardson Nutritional Center HERE: https://rncstore.com/r?id=bg8qc1 Use code JOSH to save money! Josh Sigurdson reports on the riots in Los Angeles, California among several other cities in the United States as we witness a clear manufactured crisis break out. There's a reason for it... As countless people protest I.C.E. mass deportations, most are stuck between one side of the paradigm or the other politically instead of understanding the nuances of the issue. There are protesters who are paid provocateurs causing fires, there are protesters that have no idea what they're protesting except that their university or TV told them to and there are protesters who legitimately don't believe it's right to deport (in many cases innocent) people to an El Salvadorian prison. There is clearly an intelligence agency operation to force civil discourse, cause riots and eventually this all leads to mass surveillance and it just happens that Trump is signing Palantir to create an AI based database on all Americans? Seriously? People need to break free from the paradigm and prepare themselves immediately. This is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more from WAM! Get local, healthy, pasture raised meat delivered to your door here: https://wildpastures.com/promos/save-20-for-life/bonus15?oid=6&affid=321 USE THE LINK & get 20% off for life and $15 off your first box! SIGN UP FOR HOMESTEADING COURSES NOW: https://freedomfarmers.com/link/17150/ Get Prepared & Start The Move Towards Real Independence With Curtis Stone's Courses! GET YOUR WAV WATCH HERE: https://buy.wavwatch.com/WAM Use Code WAM to save $100 and purchase amazing healing frequency technology! GET ORGANIC CHAGA MUSHROOMS HERE: https://alaskachaga.com/wam Use code WAM to save money! See shop for a wide range of products! GET AMAZING MEAT STICKS HERE: https://4db671-1e.myshopify.com/discount/WAM?rfsn=8425577.918561&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=8425577.918561 USE CODE WAM TO SAVE MONEY! GET YOUR FREEDOM KELLY KETTLE KIT HERE: https://patriotprepared.com/shop/freedom-kettle/ Use Code WAM and enjoy many solutions for the outdoors in the face of the impending reset! BUY GOLD HERE: https://firstnationalbullion.com/schedule-consult/ PayPal: ancientwonderstelevision@gmail.com FIND OUR CoinTree page here: https://cointr.ee/joshsigurdson JOIN US on SubscribeStar here: https://www.subscribestar.com/world-alternative-media For subscriber only content! Pledge here! Just a dollar a month can help us alive! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=2652072&ty=h&u=2652072 BITCOIN ADDRESS: 18d1WEnYYhBRgZVbeyLr6UfiJhrQygcgNU World Alternative Media 2025

The man mistakenly deported to an El Salvadorian prison has been returned to the United States and indicted. We are now learning the prosecutor in charge has resigned over it. Plus, what Elon Musk and Donald Trump are saying now about their breakup. Also, a look at how Musk's insinuation about the President and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is landing with the MAGA faithful.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's Easter time and that means one thing mass deportations! Don't worry here's your brochure for an El Salvadorian get away, it comes with a 'native' hair styling salon and complimentary beach wear. All you have to do is step on this luxurious train... I mean plane. We don't refer to them as shackles, they are well fitted ultra safety features. Now get one more look at the sun because it could be a while. Support the show

President Donald announces National Security Adviser Mike Waltz will leave that position and be nominated as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take on the second job of National Security Adviser; General Motors estimates tariffs will cause a $5 billion loss in profits; President Trump speaks at a National Day of Prayer observance in the White House Rose Garden, taking time, as well, for an update on the tax cut, spending cut, border security "budget reconciliation bill" being finalized by the Republican Congress; former Vice President Kamala Harris criticizes the Trump Administration's first 100 days in a speech in San Francisco. On tariffs, she says the president is “clearly inviting a recession"; Senate Democrats plan to force a vote to require a human rights report on El Salvador, latest move in their effort to have Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to an El Salvadorian prison, returned to the U.S.; Transportation Sec Sean Duffy outlined steps to increase the number of air traffic controllers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When American conservative evil is distilled into a black puddle of sludge that kills a woman, sends innocent people to an El Salvadorian mega prison and wages tarrif wars on friendly nations, Captain Picard is forced to answer the question, “Are some people just unable to embrace compassion and empathy?” It's the episode that drives home the reality that the cruelty is the point. Visit our website at humanisttrek.com Support the show at patreon.com/humanisttrek Pick up your merch at humanisttrek.com/merch Socials Bluesky Mastodon Discord YouTube Starfleet Officer maker by @marci_bloch 7:24 - Teaser 12:05 - Act 1 16:53 - Act 2 25:49 - Act 3 33:55 - Act 4 37:50 - Act 5 49:19 - Humanist Themes 52:52 - Honor the Dead 54:27 - Patron Shout Outs 55:34 - Starfleet Academy Cadet Challenge

Wait a minute, how did that happen? El Salvadorian immigrants say they feel safer in their country than in Washington D.C. and the data backs it up. Chairman Jason Smith is on the show, who just visited El Salvador.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) returns to the U.S. after meeting Kilmar Abrego Garcia in a El Salvadorian prison, as President Trump again calls Garcia a violent gang member who deserved to be deported; Dr. Mehmet Oz is sworn in as CMS Administrator, pledging to deliver great care to the American people, but warning that involves facing some truths, including healthcare spending is growing faster than the economy and that is unsustainable; Secretary of State Marco Rubio says U.S. may be ready to "move on" from efforts to reach a Russia-Ukraine war peace deal if there is not progress in the coming days; Vice President JD Vance is in Rome meeting with the Italian PM and attending Good Friday services at The Vatican. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh and David analyze the Trump administration's contentious decision to cancel a DOJ agreement addressing Lowndes County's severe sewage issues, linking it to the anti-DEI agenda and its harmful real-world consequences. They also scrutinize State Representative Corey Harbison's prolonged absence from the Legislature while still drawing a salary, sparking a debate on accountability and the problematic practice of voting by proxy.Then, immigration attorney Ruby Adams provides insight into the pervasive fear within immigrant communities, the challenges of navigating the legal system under the current administration, and the alarming implications of disregarding due process exemplified by cases like Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia. She touches on the chilling effect on reporting crimes and accessing education due to this environment of fear.Finally, David offers a "hot take" connecting the past handling of Osama Bin Laden to present-day concerns about due process erosion. This leads into this week's Rightwing Nut of the Week, focusing on Republican politicians engaging in performative and dehumanizing photo opportunities at a notorious El Salvadorian prison, highlighting a disturbing lack of empathy.Connect with Us X/Twitter FacebookAbout Our SponsorAlabama Politics This Week is sponsored by Wind Creek Hospitality. Gaming is the heart of Wind Creek Hospitality, but they offer so much more. Wind Creek's 10 distinct properties in the U.S. and Caribbean — including four in Alabama — provide world-class entertainment, dining, hotel stays, amenities and activities. As the principal gaming and hospitality entity for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Wind Creek continues to grow and offer guests luxurious destinations and opportunities for escape.Send us a questionWe take a bit of time each week to answer questions from our audience about Alabama politics — or Alabama in general. If you have a question about a politician, a policy, or a trend — really anything — you can shoot us an email at apwproducer@gmail.com.You can also send it to us on Facebook and Twitter. Or by emailing us a voice recording to our email with your question, and we may play it on air. Either way, make sure you include your name (first name is fine) and the city or county where you live.Music creditsMusic courtesy of Mr. Smith via the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/mr-smith/discography

In a desperate attempt to justify the kidnapping of Kilmar Abrego Garcia by Trump's goons, Fox TV's Jesse Watters declares that any Salvadorian wearing a Bulls hat must be a gangster because...Because he says so. Ben riffs. Jack White connects the dots between Abrego Garcia--currently lodged in an El Salvadorian prison--and Trump's slander of the Central Park 5. Be warned, people--it's a trial run to see what they can get away with. A few words about Trump's law-firm shakedown--straight out of The Godfather. Finally, the Trump administration edits the Naval Academy's library--Mein Kampf is in and Maya Angelou is out. Jack is a legendary journalist who wrote and edited for Time magazine.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hosts: Leah Murray and Guest Host Holly Richardson  As the story around Kilmar Abrego Garcia – the Maryland man mistakenly sent to an El Salvadorian prison – continues to grow, it’s begun prompting responses from Republican lawmakers. Utah’s Congressman Mike Kennedy recently visited the prison, saying it was “very depressing.” And the story has become a hot topic at Republican town halls nationwide. What is it about this story that’s angry both the GOP and Democrats? What could the Trump administration do to fix the story and come out the hero? Hosts Leah Murray and Holly Richardson share their thoughts. 

Hosts: Leah Murray and Guest Host Holly Richardson  How might the El Salvadorian prison story affect the political capital of Pres. Trump and other Republicans?  As the story around Kilmar Abrego Garcia – the Maryland man mistakenly sent to an El Salvadorian prison – continues to grow, it’s begun prompting responses from Republican lawmakers. Utah’s Congressman Mike Kennedy recently visited the prison, saying it was “very depressing.” And the story has become a hot topic at Republican town halls nationwide. What is it about this story that’s angry both the GOP and Democrats? What could the Trump administration do to fix the story and come out the hero? Hosts Leah Murray and Holly Richardson share their thoughts.    Sec. of State Rubio says the U.S. may walk away from peace talks between Russia and Ukraine  One of President Trump's campaign promises was to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and end the war there; he said he could do it in 24 hours. But no deal has been reached -- both sides have dug in. And now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the administration may step away altogether if a peace deal isn't reached... within a few days. The Inside Sources hosts discuss the ramifications if the U.S. did indeed walk away from the peace talks.    U.S. State Department changing reports looking at human rights violations  Over the years, the U.S. State Department has broadened its definitions of what constitutes a human right, and their reports have tracked those too. But now, it appears there's a narrowing-in on tracking human rights violations around the world. And it doesn't target specific countries, but entire categories of abuses. Inside Sources talks about potential effects from these slimmer reports.    Lieutenant Governor’s Office to launch full audit of Utah voter rolls  Utah's Lieutenant Governor says her office will conduct a thorough audit of the state's voter rolls, looking for vulnerabilities or areas where non-citizens might be able to get in and vote. It comes following the Lieutenant Governor voicing concerns with Senator Mike Lee's SAVE Act and a call-out on X from Elon Musk about it. Leah and Holly get into this story and why Governor Cox says he supports the SAVE Act, even if his second-hand does not.    Governor Cox shares thoughts on revoking student visas, possibly changing Harvard’s tax-exempt status  During his monthly news conference, Governor Spencer Cox spoke a bit about the dozens of foreign students attending Utah universities who've recently had their visas revoked. He also spoke a little bit about the push to end Harvard's tax-exempt status. The Inside Sources hosts spend this segment chatting about the governor's reaction to higher education attacks.    Republican lawmakers admit being “afraid” of President Trump  In recent town halls across the country, angry voters have unleashed their frustrations on lawmakers for -- what they say -- is rolling over to President Trump. This whole idea that Republican lawmakers should be standing up to some of the things the president is doing has gained momentum over the past few weeks. Now, several of those same GOP lawmakers say they're afraid to speak out against the President for fear of retribution.    Friday Roundup: Paul Revere, “Peace by Piece”, Good Friday  Inside Sources finishes the week off with some lighter news. This weekend is the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s legendary ride through Boston the night before the battles of Lexington and Concord really began the American Revolution. Utah women are using quilts to spread messages and hope and peace. And it’s Easter weekend (and Good Friday today). The hosts share their thoughts on all of it.   

On today's Top News in 10, we cover: Democrats make special pilgrimages to demand the release of the El Salvadorian illegal immigrant now in the custody of El Salvador. As new reports on his gang affiliation and domestic abuse create a PR nightmare. New York Attorney General Letitia James is faced with a strangely familiar mortgage fraud probe. Subscribe to The Tony Kinnett Cast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tony-kinnett-cast/id1714879044 Keep Up With The Daily Signal Sign up for our email newsletters: https://www.dailysignal.com/email     Subscribe to our other shows:  Problematic Women: https://www.dailysignal.com/problematic-women  The Signal Sitdown: https://www.dailysignal.com/the-signal-sitdown    Follow The Daily Signal:  X: https://x.com/DailySignal  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedailysignal/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDailySignalNews/  Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@DailySignal  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DailySignal  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/TheDailySignal    Thanks for making The Daily Signal Podcast your trusted source for the day's top news. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's Top News in 10, we cover: Democrats make special pilgrimages to demand the release of the El Salvadorian illegal immigrant now in the custody of El Salvador. As new reports on his gang affiliation and domestic abuse create a PR nightmare. New York Attorney General Letitia James is faced with a strangely familiar […]

ICE is running rampant, student activists are being targeted, immigrants are being arbitrarily scooped up and sent to an El Salvadorian concentration camp, genocide in Gaza is ongoing, and fallout from America's continuing attempts to economically isolate China is increasing. What to make of all this, and is the Democratic Party the solution, or is it complicit? Dr. Tamanisha John joins the show to discuss.Visit ZoneofPeace.org This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.insurgentspod.com/subscribe

On this week's episode, host John Stolnis is joined by the host of the CBN QuickStart podcast, Dan Andros, to discuss the political wrangling over Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Is the Trump administration correct in asking him to stay in an El Salvadorian jail or should he be back in the U.S.? Just who is Abrego Garcia, anyway? Also, Harvard loses $2 billion in federal grants after defying the President, what does this mean for other colleges and universities moving forward? And the Trump administration reportedly told Israel not to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities as they work towards a negotiated deal to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

We did what the fake news media refuses to do. We pulled the 2019 court documents that order the El Salvadorian illegal alien, the leftist media loves to call "The Maryland Dad," to be detained. The judges order not only spells out why Abrego Garcia should ultimately be deported, but why the court believes the allegations of his involvement with the brutal MS-13 gang are believable. Unbelievably Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen is now on his way to El Salvador to try and negotiate the illegal aliens release. In this episode we fact check every main stream media claim, and nearly every one of those claims comes up false! Plus, accused murderer Karmelo Anthony is out on bond. A judge reduced his bond to 250-thousand dollars. The biggest issue is who the family has chosen to be their family spokesperson. A man with a long criminal history. Anthony is the black teen accused of stabbing a white teen at a track meet in Frisco, Texas over a seating dispute. It has quickly become the latest story used to divide people on race and violence.. Go to http://freegoldguide.com/grant or call 800 458 7356 for your free Colonial Metals Group retirement protection kit – created specifically for our listeners where you can get up to $7500 in free Silver. www.EnergizedHealth.com/Grant www.PatriotMobile.com/Grantwww.Get21Now.comTWC.Health/Grant Use "Grant" for 10% Off See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've got a great episode for you! Gonna be talking about the the degrading status of the earth's environment, white feminism and “femme-washing,” might mention Gloria Steinem the OG girl boss who was a CIA asset, mass deportations of US “Homegrowns” to El Salvadorian torture dungeons, and the ongoing campaign of Mass death and ethnic cleansing in Palestine. You might be like “Whoa, that's a lot of subjects!” No, it's all one subject, interconnected etc. You can follow Michael here:https://www.instagram.com/michael__mezz/You can follow Jalyssa Here:https://x.com/jalyssaspeaking

The Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump's administration must "facilitate" the return of an El Salvadorian national deported to his home country in an "administrative error". Kilmar Abrego Garcia fled to the US as a teenager to escape gang violence and was protected from deportation by an immigration judge in 2019. He has no criminal conviction. But the Trump administration seems to be ignoring that instruction. Instead, they have labelled him a "terrorist" and gang member - without evidence - and the President has insisted he is powerless to return him. If Donald Trump continues to defy the judges, is America heading for a constitutional crisis?Jon and Emily speak to Congressman Juan Vargas, who's spent time with Abrego Garcia's family and is leading the efforts to secure his return.Later, why is federal funding being withdrawn from America's most prestigious university?Don't forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:https://linktr.ee/thenewsagentsThe News Agents now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agentsThe News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal https://nordvpn.com/thenewsagents Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

Hosts: Taylor Morgan and Rusty Cannon  A federal judge has found that the Trump administration can be held in contempt of court. It comes after the administration allowed planes full of deportees to fly to an El Salvadorian prison, even after a judge said those plans needed to turn around. Today, Judge Boasberg said the act was a “willful disobedience of judicial order." KSL Legal Analyst and Inside Sources co-host Greg Skordas joins the program to explain the judge’s order and what happens next. 

Hosts: Taylor Morgan and Rusty Cannon  Federal judge finds probable cause to hold Trump administration in contempt  A federal judge has found that the Trump administration can be held in contempt of court. It comes after the administration allowed planes full of deportees to fly to an El Salvadorian prison, even after a judge said those plans needed to turn around. Today, Judge Boasberg said the act was a “willful disobedience of judicial order." KSL Legal Analyst and Inside Sources co-host Greg Skordas joins the program to explain the judge’s order and what happens next.    China positioning itself as ‘stable’ economic power thanks to American tariff troubles  Tariffs have been ever present in everyone's minds over the past several weeks. Here locally, Utah Governor Spencer Cox is telling state agencies to make plans for a possible recession as a result of the tariffs. And now China is positioning itself it be the source of economic "stability and certainty." All of this comes while President Trump seeks to bring countries to the bargaining table as he tries to fix what he calls a trade imbalance.    The tax burden faced by Utah families  Not all taxes are created equal. So while we get tax cuts in some places, we often see tax rises in other places. This imbalance warrants a deeper dive -- what's the actual tax burden for the average Utah family? Are they paying more or less taxes overall in 2025? Billy Hesterman, President of the Utah Taxpayers Association joins Inside Sources in the studio to discuss the organization’s Beehive Family Report.    Could Pres. Trump be open to increasing taxes on millionaires?  Tax hikes for millionaires? Reports say that President Trump is open to the idea, even as Congressional leaders push back saying they oppose the idea of any tax hikes. Among House Republicans however, the idea is getting mixed reactions. The Inside Sources hosts share their thoughts on the possibility of this idea moving forward.    Signatures gathered, turned in for referendum on public labor union law  Will Utah voters get the chance to vote to overturn House Bill 267, which barred public labor unions from collective bargaining? That's the question on everyone's mind today after opponents to the bill turned in signatures today calling for a referendum on the issue. According to the Protect Utah Coalition -- who was behind the referendum drive -- 320,000 signatures were collected in 30 days. That's more than double what is required under state law. Now, those signatures must be verified. State Director of Elections Ryan Cowley breaks down the process and requirements.    Audit finds Utah’s elections are secure but have security vulnerabilities  Utah's election system is secure, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have vulnerabilities and areas for improvement. A new report outlines several vulnerabilities found during a recent audit, including poor password management. Our own Taylor Morgan is an expert with all things elections; he explains how the findings and recommendations will help Utah’s elections be even more secure.    From the Hill to the Trails: The future of Utah’s outdoors after the legislative session  Of the 500+ bills passed during this year's legislative session, several of them addressed Utah's outdoors and recreation areas. Now that the dust of the legislative session has settled, we're getting a clearer look at how those bills will affect Utah's outdoors. State Representative Doug Owens joined a panel today to discuss those policies and the future of outdoor recreation in the state; he joins the show to share some insights from that conversation.    Fundraising already underway for U.S. House races  Election Day for members of the House of Representatives is still more than 18 months away. But the fundraising efforts are already well underway. And in this day and age, you need a lot of money to run a good campaign. Inside Sources finishes things off with Taylor Morgan and Rusty Cannon having a discussion all about money in politics.  

Dems back the Maryland man who is in an El Salvadorian prison, Trump 2.0 is in full effect and it's driving the left crazy, and military recruitment has seen an uptick since Trump has taken office!

Episode 1690 - Brought to you by our incredible sponsors: FitBod: Level up your workout. Join Fitbod today to get your personalized workout plan.  Get 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE for seven days at Fitbod.me/HARDFACTOR  Turtle Beach: Head to TurtleBeach.com and use code HARDFACTOR for 10% off your entire order Factor Meals: The Best Premade Meal Delivery Service on Earth - Get started at factormeals.com/hardfactor50off and use code hardfactor50off to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. BRUNT Workwear: Get $10 Off at BRUNT with code HARDFACTOR at https://www.Bruntworkwear.com/HARDFACTOR  #Bruntpod #sponsored Timestamps: 00:01:40 Story teases 00:05:45 Supreme Court votes 9-0 to get Kilmar out of El Salvadorian prison but Trump and especially Bukele say not so fast  00:19:05 An international gambling syndicate rigged the biggest Texas lotto of all time  00:36:35 UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn claims his family was murdered and replaced with government-planted imposters  00:46:05 Tease for tomorrow's episode with a Bay area hack job Thank you for listening!! Patreon.com/hardfactor to support the pod, join our community, the discord chat and get access to up to 3 Weekly Bonus Podcasts. Most importantly, HAGFD! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hugh discusses the El Salvadorian terrorist deportation case, the GOP budget bill, U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, and Harvard's federal grant funding, with Olivia Beavers, Sen. Tom Cotton, and Adm. Mark Montgomery (USN, Ret.).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump's "Home Grown" Attack on US Citizens. Trump told the El Salvadorian President he would need to build five more prisons where Trump could send American Citizens that he wants to deport.  And, he said that he doesn't know what the laws are concerning his ability to deport US Citizens to an El Salvadorian prison.  Robb's nomination for who had "The Dumbest Week in the Administration."  Doug Pagitt and Robb Ryerse will discuss that sick reality and the rest of the week's news as Trump continues to harm the country through foolishness, ignorance, and arrogance.  

Hosts: Erin Rider and Guest Host Rachelle Morris  "We are complying with all court orders” -- That's what White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today when asked about the Supreme Court's order for the administration to "facilitate" the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to an El Salvadorian prison. It comes as the President of El Salvador says he won’t return the man. The Inside Sources hosts discuss some of the nuances and how folks on both the left and the right say the courts are supporting their views with this case. 

Hosts: Erin Rider and Guest Host Rachelle Morris  President Trump, El Salvador President say man mistakenly deported won’t be returned  "We are complying with all court orders” -- That's what White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today when asked about the Supreme Court's order for the administration to "facilitate" the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to an El Salvadorian prison. It comes as the President of El Salvador says he won’t return the man. The Inside Sources hosts discuss some of the nuances and how folks on both the left and the right say the courts are supporting their views with this case.    Deportations of foreign students for their beliefs ramping up   While much of the focus on deportations has been on the Maryland man mistakenly deported, there's been another large group of people facing deportation: foreign students attending U.S. universities. Last week, a judge said the government could deport a foreign national because of their beliefs. Now, it looks like that may be happening on a broader level across the country, especially among students holding pro-Palestinian views.    Harvard to lose grant funding after standing up to the Trump Administration  There's a battle brewing between Harvard University and the Trump Administration over whether the government can tell a private entity what to do or what policies to have. The Trump administration had demanded the university change its policies surrounding DEI and pro-Palestinian movements or lose funding. The university's president basically said to ‘pound sand.’ The Inside Sources hosts share their thoughts on when it’s appropriate for the government to tell a private group what to do.    Measuring Pres. Trump’s effectiveness through the number of bills he’s signed  We're nearly 100 days into President Trump's second term in the White House. His administration has said it's the most productive presidency in recent memory. But the President's only signed 5 bills so far... a far cry from what he did in his first term. And all of this while pushing out roughly 125 executive orders. It got us thinking -- is there some kind of imbalance here? Inside Sources digs into it.    Utah ranks #1 for economic outlook... for the 18th year in a row  If you've been listening to Inside Sources for quite some time, you'll recognize that we're pretty proud of our state. Sure, we have issues. But overall, Utah's a pretty darn good place to live. Now for the 18th year in a row, we're topping the charts for economic outlook. Jonathan Williams, President and Chief Economist at ALEC joins Inside Sources to talk about the report he co-authored and how Utah continues to push ahead in these rankings.    Takeaways from Utah’s trade mission to Canada  Mining and artificial intelligence -- we touched on both of those points last week when we spoke about Utah leaders visiting Canada for a trade mission. Now that everyone's back home in the Beehive State, we wanted to chat about the potential impacts of a closer partnership between Utah and our northerly neighbors in Canada, and what that could mean for the average Utahn. Jonathan Freedman, President and CEO of World Trade Center Utah joins the program to discuss the trip.    Liberal activists Bernie Sanders, AOC receive huge welcome in Utah  As Democrats search for the message they hope will win them Congress in the midterms, the more liberal members of the party are going around hoping to get their message out front and center. Over the weekend, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rallied in Salt Lake City, taking aim at billionaires galore. The Inside Sources hosts give their thoughts on whether this is a potential winning message for Democrats.    All-female Blue Origin mission: A win for women or a futile flop?  Was it a giant step for womankind? Eh... maybe not. That’s how many women describe yesterday’s all-female crew on a Blue Origin mission to space. Inside Sources host Erin Rider and guest co-host Rachelle Morris finish things off sharing their thoughts on whether this publicity stunt hurts or helps women overall.   

President Trump meets with El Salvador's president in the Oval Office over immigration. The Blue Origin all-female flight crew including Katy Perry and Gayle King launches into Space for 11 minutes. A Socialist lunatic breaks into Pennsylvania's Governor's Mansion to commit arson and potentially harm Gov. Josh Shapiro. Taylor Lorenz idolizes Luigi Mangione in an interview with CNN. Green Day dedicates one of their songs at Coachella to the kids in Palestine. Texas AG Ken Paxton joins us on his recently announced Senate run, why Sen. Cornyn isn't right for the job, deportation efforts & keeping men out of women's sports. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hides her face when a photographer tries to take her picture in the Oval Office. CBS somehow spins a story about a child sacrificial altar in Guatemala to be “non-violent” to not offend anyone. ABC's Jon Karl asks Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick whether the reindustrialization of America will result in "a nation of cobblers". Stephen Yates from Heritage joins us to discuss the tariff battle against China, Beijing threatening halting exports and the White House visit from El Salvador.Help us keep the lightson by visiting our sponsors…Relief Factorhttps://relieffactor.comTurn the clock back on pain with Relief Factor. Get their 3-week Relief Factor Quick Start for only $19.95 today! Goldcohttps://DanaLikesGold.com Weather the Roller Coaster! Get your GoldCo 2025 Gold & Silver Kit. PLUS, you could qualify for up to 10% in BONUS silverByrnahttps://byrna.com/danaDon't leave yourself or your loved ones without options. Visit Byrna.com/Dana receive 10% off Patriot Mobilehttps://patriotmobile.com/DanaDana's personal cell phone provider is Patriot Mobile. Get a FREE MONTH of service code DANAHumanNhttps://humann.comSupport your metabolism and healthy blood sugar levels with Superberine by HumanN. Find it now at your local Sam's Club next to SuperBeets Heart Chews.  KelTechttps://KelTecWeapons.comDana personally owns and uses Keltec. Innovation & Performance at its best!All Family Pharmacyhttps://AllFamilyPharmacy.com/DanaCode Dana10 for 10% off your entire orderPreBornhttps://Preborn.com/DanaDonate by dialing #250 and saying “BABY” or give securely at Preborn.com/Dana.Beamhttp://shopbeam.com/DanashowSleep like never before—Beam has improved over 17.5 million nights of rest. Try it now at with code Danashow for 40% off.Ancient Nutritionhttp://ancientnutrition.com/DanaCollagen and wellness, powered by Ancient Nutrition—get 25% off your first order with promo code DANA.

Today was an especially alarming day at the White House. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele visited Donald Trump to discuss the relationship between the two countries, specifically relating to U.S. deportations to El Salvadorian prisons. Bukele says he will not be returning the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and spoke with Trump about the next phase of U.S. "homegrown" deportations. What does this mean? Join Don at 5pm to hear more. The Don Lemon Show is up for a Webby! Vote now for Best Podcast Episode – Featured Guest: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/individual-episode/featured-guest This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/donlemon and get on your way to being your best self. This episode is brought to you by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Whether you've always been secular or left religion behind, if you don't want someone else dictating the trip for you, F-F-R-F has your back. Join us. Go to FFRF.US/Freedom or text the word, “FAMILY” to five eleven five eleven and become a member today. Text fees may apply. WATCH & Subscribe on YouTube @TheDonLemonShow! Become a member of our channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXs0PlIGUDSXfBaF7j-1euA/join Follow Don on Substack at donlemon.com! Listen on Apple, Spotify and iHeart Radio! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Ring of Fire! Donald Trump proudly proclaimed victory this week as the stock market continued to nosedive. Trump claimed on Truth Social that everything was going great and that prices for consumers were all dropping, which is the complete opposite of what's actually happening across the country. It is obvious that he is attempting to do damage control, but it isn't working. The Trump administration has maintained that the people they've deported to the El Salvadorian prison were all violent criminals that were so dangerous that they had to be sent away immediately. But a 60 Minutes investigation found that at least 75% of the people deported have NO criminal records, completely blowing up the talking points of the administration. Russian state media is laughing at the United States after Donald Trump tanked the economy and destroyed global trust in the US' economic system. In fact, they went as far as to say that there should be statues built of Trump for the damage that he's done to our country. This is a country that clearly hates us and thinks Trump is a fool, but that hasn't stopped Trump from giving them everything they've ever wanted. And Elon Musk is continuing to escalate his feud with top Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, saying that he is a “moron” who is “dumber than a sack of bricks.” Elon also called out Navarro for inventing a fictional “expert” to justify his obsession with tariffs. Musk isn't wrong about those parts, but he's also being dishonest with people about the true nature of Tesla vehicles and the impact of the tariffs on his businesses. All that, and much more, on this week's Ring of Fire Podcast!

The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Show (04/07/2025): 3:05pm- In response to the Trump Administration's reciprocal tariff, the S&P 500 fell nearly 1% on Monday—and is now down 14% over the last three days of trading. It has lost more than $5 trillion in value since the beginning of last week. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has declined by more than 20% from its recent high, entering correction territory. 3:30pm- On Monday, President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. During the meeting Trump answered numerous questions from the press—many regarding tariffs and the U.S. economy. Netanyahu pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the U.S. and Israel and reduce tariffs on U.S. imports to 0%. 3:50pm- China has vowed to place an additional 34% tariff on U.S. imported goods—matching the tariffs the Trump Administration announced against Chinese-made products. In a post to Truth Social, Trump warned that if China retaliates, he will impose an additional 50% tariff on their goods effective on April 9th. Trump continued: “Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately.” 4:00pm- On Monday, President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. During the meeting Trump answered numerous questions from the press—many regarding tariffs and the U.S. economy. Netanyahu pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the U.S. and Israel and reduce tariffs on U.S. imports to 0%. 4:30pm- Bill D'Agostino—Senior Research Analyst at Media Research Center—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to break down some of the best (and worst) clips from corporate media. Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a district court order demanding the return of a man the Trump Administration sent to an El Salvadorian prison. The deported man was in the U.S. illegally and, according to the administration, is a member of the gang MS-13. D'Agostino points out, however, that corporate media continually has continually referred to the deportee as “a Maryland father”—as if he had been randomly selected for removal! 5:05pm- Phil Kerpen—President of American Commitment—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss the 2017 Trump tax cuts which will expire at the end of the year. Kerpen explains it is urgent the House and Senate agree on language to make those cuts permanent, especially with the economic uncertainty surrounding the Trump Administration's reciprocal tariffs. 5:30pm- While appearing on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said there is a “constitutional crisis”—pointing out that “since January 20th, we've had over 170 lawsuits filed against” the Trump Administration. Notably, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a district court order demanding the return of a man the Trump Administration sent to an El Salvadorian prison. Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James told a crowd that she will use the law as a “sword” to go after President Donald Trump. 6:05pm- On Monday, President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. During the meeting Trump answered numerous questions from the press—many regarding tariffs and the U.S. economy. Netanyahu pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the U.S. and Israel and reduce tariffs on U.S. imports to 0%. Similarly, Vietnam has pledged to reduce its tariffs to zero—however, while appearing on CNBC's Squawk Box, White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro said it was “a small first start” and insisted the nation must also end trade “cheating.” During the interview, Navarro specifically mentioned Chinese products routed through Vietnam to avoid paying additional fees. 6:10pm- In response to the Trump Administration's reciprocal tariffs and the stock market's reaction, Goldman Sachs is now placing the likelihood of a recession at 45%. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has do ...

The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 2: 4:00pm- On Monday, President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. During the meeting Trump answered numerous questions from the press—many regarding tariffs and the U.S. economy. Netanyahu pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the U.S. and Israel and reduce tariffs on U.S. imports to 0%. 4:30pm- Bill D'Agostino—Senior Research Analyst at Media Research Center—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to break down some of the best (and worst) clips from corporate media. Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a district court order demanding the return of a man the Trump Administration sent to an El Salvadorian prison. The deported man was in the U.S. illegally and, according to the administration, is a member of the gang MS-13. D'Agostino points out, however, that corporate media continually has continually referred to the deportee as “a Maryland father”—as if he had been randomly selected for removal! Weekday afternoons on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Rich Zeoli gives the expert analysis and humorous take that we need in this crazy political climate. Along with Executive Producer Matt DeSantis and Justin Otero, the Zeoli show is the next generation of talk radio and you can be a part of it weekday afternoons 3-7pm.

The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 3: 5:05pm- Phil Kerpen—President of American Commitment—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss the 2017 Trump tax cuts which will expire at the end of the year. Kerpen explains it is urgent the House and Senate agree on language to make those cuts permanent, especially with the economic uncertainty surrounding the Trump Administration's reciprocal tariffs. 5:30pm- While appearing on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said there is a “constitutional crisis”—pointing out that “since January 20th, we've had over 170 lawsuits filed against” the Trump Administration. Notably, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a district court order demanding the return of a man the Trump Administration sent to an El Salvadorian prison. Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James told a crowd that she will use the law as a “sword” to go after President Donald Trump. Weekday afternoons on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Rich Zeoli gives the expert analysis and humorous take that we need in this crazy political climate. Along with Executive Producer Matt DeSantis and Justin Otero, the Zeoli show is the next generation of talk radio and you can be a part of it weekday afternoons 3-7pm.

A federal judge ordered the return of Kilmar Armando Abrega Garcia, an El Salvadorian national, after questioning the legal basis for his deportation under the Trump administration.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts: Greg Skordas and Adam Gardiner  Worldwide markets continue to flounder after tariffs announcement  The stock market continues to fall today -- both here in the U.S. and around the world -- as a result of President Trump's tariffs announcement from last week. Unilateral 10% tariffs are already in place and the country-specific tariffs will go into effect on Wednesday. And the President's not backing down... even threatening higher tariffs on China today. We hear the President talk a bit about the tariffs and their effects on our allies in Israel. Senior Economist at Zions Bank Robert Spendlove also joins the conversation to discuss the effects of tariffs on retirement funds.    Emails mistakenly sent to Ukrainian refugees telling them to leave the U.S.  Imagine this: you've left your war-torn country and are in the U.S. legally under a humanitarian program. Then out of the blue, you get an email from the federal government telling you that you have 7 days to leave the country or the "federal government will find you." That's what happened to an unknown number of Ukrainian refugees last week. And the email sent out? Yeah, that wasn't supposed to be sent out. The Inside Sources hosts discuss the latest on this situation.   Latest development on Maryland man inadvertently deported to El Salvadorian prison  U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has agreed to pause the midnight deadline for the Trump administration to retrieve a mistakenly deported man. The Maryland man -- originally from El Salvador but here legally -- was deported to an El Salvadorian prison due to an administrative error. The administration admitted the mistake but said there was nothing they could do. A federal judge didn't like that answer and ordered the man be returned by tonight. But now that deadline’s been paused. KSL Legal Analyst Greg Skordas breaks down the White House’s argument.    Nationwide protests against Trump administration  While thousands of folks descended on downtown Salt Lake City for General Conference, another few thousand marched on Utah's Capitol Hill to protest the Trump administration and Elon Musk. It was part of a nationwide protest called "Hands Off." So, what were the biggest issues protestors had with the administration? Adam Gardiner and Greg Skordas talk through some of the frustrations.    Trump Cabinet members visit Utah  Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and EPA Secretary Lee Zeldin are in Utah today discussing a few health-related bills recently passed by the state legislature. Plus, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is here as well, taking a ride and tour of UTA's FrontRunner. Three cabinet members in Utah on a single day -- is this a sign of Utah's growing status on the national stage?    Fmr. Congresswoman Mia Love’s funeral services  Former Congresswoman Mia Love was celebrated today by friends, family, and former constituents and political colleagues this morning. Everyone who talked spoke of her kindness, her resilience, and her deep love of country. Inside Sources finishes hearing clips from the funeral service.   

Hosts: Greg Skordas and Adam Gardiner  U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has agreed to pause the midnight deadline for the Trump administration to retrieve a mistakenly deported man. The Maryland man -- originally from El Salvador but here legally -- was deported to an El Salvadorian prison due to an administrative error. The administration admitted the mistake but said there was nothing they could do. A federal judge didn't like that answer and ordered the man be returned by tonight. But now that deadline’s been paused. KSL Legal Analyst Greg Skordas breaks down the White House’s argument. 

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries joins to discuss Trump's torpedoing of the economy and the brewing battle over the Republican budget. Plus, Maya Wiley and Paola Ramos on the fight to bring home the man wrongly deported to an El Salvadorian mega-prison due to an “administrative error.”

A federal judge considers filing contempt of court charges on the Trump administration for possibly defying a court order to stop deporting immigrant gang members to an El Salvadorian prison.

Sam and Emma are joined by Rachel Cohen, lawyer formerly of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, to discuss the country's largest law firms bending the knee to Donald Trump. First, they run through updates on today's elections in Wisconsin and Florida, Trump's attack on the US public health regime, tomorrow's tariff deadline, the Senate GOP's budgetary sleight of hand, legal pushback to Trump over voting restrictions and his reclassification of protected Venezuelan migrants, Trump's ongoing renditioning of Latin Americans to an El Salvadorian gulag, the mobilization of far-right militia's to protect Musk's businesses, Trump's targeting of Harvard, Cory Booker's filibuster, and dwindling Canadian tourism to the US, also watching Jesse Watters explain exactly why he (and the rest of the right) doesn't care about due process. Rachel Cohen then dives Trump's successful effort to cow some of the biggest law firms in the US – including her former firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom – unpacking precisely what makes these law firms so “important” to Trump (wealthy clients, billions in profits), and the intimate relationship they have with the political elite, before walking through the actual contents of Trump's threats to these firms' contracts and access to federal buildings (e.g. courts), and why, unlike others, Skadden seemed to capitulate without even facing an Executive Order, including handing over $100m in pro-bono work to the administration. Expanding on this latter element, Cohen tackles the Trump Administration's underlying aims for this authoritarian push against these attorneys elite, with the push against DEI policies, the takeover of pro-bono work, and the Executive Orders chilling pushback to Trump's anti-migrant and anti-trans agenda coming at a time where he and his goons are undercutting due process for migrants and criminalizing trans identity. After touching on the mix of hubris and cowardice driving the executive capitulation in the world of corporate law, and what the internal pushback looks like among Cohen's peers, Rachel, Sam, and Emma wrap up by reemphasizing the real goal of Trump's project – a fascist takeover – and the importance of organized dissent. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma talk with Ronald Raygun about the precarious state of immigration law, dissect Elon Musk's blatant and manipulative lies about Social Security fraud, and watch as Sen. Bill Cassidy accidentally gets blunt about the GOP's plan to gut Medicare. Mike Lindell teases a run for the Governorship of Minnesota, and the MR Team dives deep into Ezra Klein's poor response to anti-Oligarchical critiques of his “Abundance” doctrine, plus, your calls and IMs! Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Follow us on TikTok here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here!: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here!: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase! Check out today's sponsors: Liquid IV: Embrace your ritual with extraordinary hydration from Liquid I.V. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to https://LiquidIV.com and use code MAJORITYREP at checkout. That's 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code MAJORITYREP at https://LiquidIV.com. Babbel: Let's get more of you talking in a new language. Babbel is gifting our listeners 60% off subscriptions at https://Babbel.com/MAJORITY.  Get up to 60% off at https://Babbel.com/MAJORITY. Rules and restrictions may apply. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

Story #1: Was a 'Maryland father' really deported to an El Salvadorian prison without due process? Or does this story, like 'Signal Gate' deserve a closer look? How our views on stories are shaped by those who set the narrative.  Story #2: Why are Lucky Charms above steak on the food pyramid? What do we need to understand about the agenda behind our children's diets? A conversation with former Secretary of House and Human Services and retired neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson.  Story #3: Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN) had a viral moment, and it turns out he's full of that same humor off the cuff. Plus, who really killed the Kennedys? Tell Will what you thought about this podcast by emailing WillCainShow@fox.com Subscribe to The Will Cain Show on YouTube here: Watch The Will Cain Show! Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The AG of the US issues warning to anyone that messes with Tesla. We knew we sent innocent people into an El Salvadorian mega prison so we... did it again! More layoffs, more tariffs, more pain.  More at dogmadebate.com

Ben Meiselas and Michael Popok head the top rated Legal AF podcast, and tonight discuss: 3 straight losses for the Trump Administration, as federal judges block their efforts as violations of the First Amendment and Due Process Rights to blacklist major law firms that once opposed Trump; an update on the fast moving Alien Enemies Act case, in which a federal judge has blocked, affirmed on appeal, Trump's use of phony war powers to kidnap and deport people and send them without Due Process to deathtrap El Salvadorian prison; a rare win for Trump, as a 3 judge panel of the DC Circuit Appeals court is allowing him for now to put out of business the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Services Board meant to protect workers against illegal practices, a Biden-era gun control law finds support a the US Supreme Court in a new "ghost gun" ruling, and so much more at the intersection of law and politics. Support Our Sponsors: Cook Unity: Cook Unity: Go to https://cookunity.com/LEGALAF or enter code LEGALAF before checkout for 50% OFF your first week! Fatty 15: Get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to https://fatty15.com/LEGALAF and using code LEGALAF at checkout. Delete Me: Get 20% OFF your DeleteMe plan by texting LEGAL to 64000 Laundry Sauce: For 20% off your order head to https://LaundrySauce.com/LEGALAF20 and use code LEGALAF20 Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this edition of Zeitsassins Trend: Shadows, Jack and Miles discuss Joe Rogan's nuanced take on tyranny, Stephen A. Smith vs LeBron James, Kristi Noem's El Salvadorian prison photo op (feat. Rolex), the trailer for PT Anderson's new film 'One Battle After Another' and much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's News Day Tuesday! Sam and Emma are joined by Austin Kocher, political and legal geographer studying immigration enforcement, and Assistant Research Professor at Syracuse University. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Israel's  bombardment of Gaza – breaking another ceasefire and killing hundreds – Trump's back-and-forth with the judicial system, DOGE's assault on the US Government, Trump's union-busting pick for NLRB General Counsel, Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian speech, the FDA's move to delapidated office spaces, an abortion arrest out of Texas, and Trump's attack on the Social Security Administration, before expanding on Israel's violation of a ceasefire in Gaza with strikes killing over 300, and setting the stage for a potential return to ground invasion. Professor Austin Kocher then joins, diving right into the Trump Administration's recent deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvadorian “gulags” under the guise of association with militant gang “Tren de Aragua,” exploring the unsurprising revelations about the *lack* of association between many of these migrants and the gang, and why authoritarian President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele was so happy to bring these migrants into his expansive prison labor system ($6 million will help). Next, Professor Kocher steps back to assess the insane legal “strategy” grounding Trump's agenda, with his blantant push for chaos allowing for his regime to carry out astonishingly inhumane actions amid countless injuctions and court orders, and why Judge Boasberg's push to get attourney's to sign onto their arguments might create some liability moving forward. After expanding on the regime's obvious misrepresentation of who they are deporting, Austin, Sam, and Emma walk through the various layers of protection offered to immigrants in the US right now, including preemptive legal action, and knowing your rights, before wrapping up the interview by assessing exactly how absurd Trump's claim of an “invasion” truly is. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma watch White House Spox. Karoline Leavitt attempt to claim verbal court orders don't count, reflect on Trump's growing friction with the courts, and unpack Steve Bannon's and Fox News' respective attempts to defend Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. Tim Walz and Chris Murphy begin to turn the tide of how Democrats are talking about the neoliberal era, Brady from Kentucky discusses a potential run for office, and a bunch of Big Tech fraudsters lie about the “failure” of Social Security, Phil from Delaware tackles SB-21, plus, your calls and IMs! Also joining the program is Austin Kocher; political and legal geographer studying immigration enforcement, Assistant Research Professor at Syracuse University. 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In This Episode:

Are we going to start exporting prisoners to El Salvadorian mega-prisons? El Salvador's millennial dictator offers to hold American criminals in mega-prisons. The ongoing dismantling of America is underway.60% of the USAID agency's budget is for Ukraine. Now we know why Musk and Trump are going after it.RFK Jr. 's Anti-Vaxx Group Paid Nearly $1 Million to Woman Who Accused Him of Sexual Misconduct...Say what? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.