Trump tariffs have the US at risk of a stagflationary recession it will be ill-equipped to fight, economist says – Markets Insider

Immigrants prove they are alive, forcing Social Security to undo death label – msn/WaPost

“Getting added to that database — which contains more than 85 million records of deaths dating to 1936 — has potentially dire consequences. Social Security shares its death data with other government agencies, employers, banks and landlords, all of whom rely on it to check the status of employees, residents, clients and others. Anyone falsely placed in the file will struggle to earn money or find a place to live. Entering the immigrants into the database will still have the same effect — causing the U.S. government, companies and banks to treat them as dead — no matter what the White House calls the file entry, current and former Social Security officials said.

“The request to label immigrants dead came from the very top of Homeland Security, The Post previously reported. Secretary Kristi L. Noem signed two memorandums of agreement this month with acting Social Security commissioner Leland Dudek authorizing and facilitating the placement of the immigrants in the Death Master File.

“The White House has previously said that the immigrants being targeted are people who have bona fide Social Security numbers but lost their legal status in the U.S., including those who entered under one of President Joe Biden’s temporary work programs that have been shuttered by the Trump administration. A White House official also said, without providing evidence, that the immigrants moved into the death database all have ties to terrorist activity or criminal records.

“Records obtained by The Post show that the immigrants listed as dead include a 13-year-old, a 14-year-old, two 16-year-olds and four 17-year-olds, as well as people in their 70s and one 83-year-old. Agency staff later checked some of the youngest individuals against data the agency uses to research criminal history and could find no evidence of crimes or law enforcement interactions, The Post reported. The records show that 6,161 people were added to the file in early April at the request of DHS, along with an additional 102 a few days later. As of Friday, Social Security staff had restored 31 of these people to the rolls, declaring them living again, the records show.

“The tactic of using Social Security’s death database as a deportation tool comes as the Trump administration is escalating its deportation efforts across the government. The Department of Homeland Security reached an agreement this month with the Internal Revenue Service to receive the tax data it maintains for undocumented immigrants, and The Post reported this week that the Trump administration is seeking to use sensitive Medicare claims data to find immigrants’ home addresses.”

ICE and DOGE seek sensitive data in crackdown on illegal immigration, waste: report – Fox

House Democrats: DOGE is building a ‘master database’ of Americans’ sensitive information – Verge

Democratic party leaders who take the time to watch this Florida constituency meeting can see a huge opportunity to make headway among working class people in red states on immigration and Social Security:

‘It’s Not Breaking The Law’: Brian Mast Defends Trump’s Deportations, Town Hall Explodes In Anger – msn/Slingshot News

“During a recent Florida town hall, Rep. Brian Mast speaks out in defense of the Trump administration’s deportations, claiming they are not breaking the law despite court orders. In response to his answer, attendees lash out in frustration and anger.”

Trump’s approval rating on immigration has tanked in recent weeks as more controversial deportations are revealed – Independent

More than half of U.S. immigrants are eligible to vote – Cooper Center

“More than one-half (24.5 million) of the 46 million immigrants living in the United States are naturalized citizens, according to the United States Census Bureau. This group of naturalized citizens is larger than the entire population of Florida.  Like their U.S.-born counterparts, naturalized citizens: 

• may vote in federal elections, 
• may apply for jobs requiring U.S. citizenship and security clearance, 
• may apply for a U.S. passport, 
• have access to a wide range of social services and benefits, have more legal protections than noncitizens and cannot be deported.”

Woman born in the US gets email from DHS telling her it’s time to leave the country – Independent

DHS acknowledges parole termination emails ‘may have been sent’ to citizens – WaExaminer

Mahmoud Khalil: What does my detention by ICE say about America? – WaPost

“A democracy for some is no democracy at all.”

“It’s 3 a.m. as I lie sleepless on a bunk bed in Jena, Louisiana, far from my wife, Noor, who will give birth to our baby in two weeks. The sound of rain hitting the metal roof masks the snoring of 70 men tossing and turning on hard mats in this detention facility run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Which ones are dreaming about reuniting with their families? Which ones are having nightmares about becoming the Trump administration’s next “administrative error”?

“Last Friday, I sat in a courtroom as an immigration judge determined that the government could deport me despite my status as a legal permanent resident and despite that the government’s claims against me were baseless — much of its “evidence” lifted directly from sensationalized tabloids. The decision won’t result in immediate deportation — aspects of my case are pending in other courts.

“Earlier that day, I sifted through letters from supporters. Two postage stamps displayed the American flag, one stating “liberty forever,” the other proclaiming “justice forever.” The irony is stunning, especially regarding what I’ve learned about how the administration exploits immigration law to enforce its repressive agenda. I think about the breakneck speed with which my case was heard and decided, running roughshod over due process. On the flip side, I think about those I am locked up with, many of whom have been languishing for months or years waiting for their “due process.”

“During Friday’s hearing, the government asserted on behalf of Secretary of State Marco Rubio that my beliefs, statements and associations compromise its “compelling” foreign policy interests. Like the thousands of students that I advocated with at Columbia — including Muslim, Jewish and Christian friends — I believe in the innate equality of all human beings. I believe in human dignity. I believe in the right of my people to look at the blue sky and not fear an impending missile.

“Why should protesting Israel’s indiscriminate killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians result in the erosion of my constitutional rights?

“My lawyers have mentioned that a case called Endo might bear on my own. Days later, in my research at a law library, I uncovered the human story behind the legal abstraction. Mitsuye Endo, a Japanese American woman incarcerated during World War II, challenged her captors and brought her case to the Supreme Court. Her victory helped secure the release of thousands of others.

“The incarceration of 70,000 American citizens of Japanese descent is a reminder that rhetoric of justice and freedom obscures the reality that, all too often, America has been a democracy of convenience. Rights are granted to those who align with power. For the poor, for people of color, for those who resist injustice, rights are but words written on water. The right to free speech when it comes to Palestine has always been exceptionally weak. Even so, the crackdown on universities and students reveals just how afraid the White House is of the idea of Palestine’s freedom entering the mainstream. Why else would Trump officials not only attempt to deport me but also intentionally mislead the public about who I am and what I stand for?

“I pick up my copy of Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning.” I feel ashamed to compare my conditions in ICE detention to Nazi concentration camps, yet, some aspects of Frankl’s experience resonate: not knowing what fate awaits me; seeing resignation and defeat in my fellow detainees. Frankl wrote from the lens of a psychologist. I wonder whether Hussam Abu Safiya, a renowned hospital director who was abducted in Gaza by Israeli occupying forces on Dec. 27 and, according to his lawyer from the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, has endured beatings, electric shocks and solitary confinement, will write about his ordeal from a medical perspective.

“It’s almost 4 a.m. Thunder crashes. A few rows away, one man hugs a bottle of hot water in a sock for warmth. His prayer mat serves as a blanket, and his head rests on his shoes. A detainee who was praying all night finally lies down. He was caught crossing the border with his pregnant wife and has never seen his baby, now 9 months old. I try to convince myself that this will not be my fate, though Friday’s ruling makes that possibility more real than I want to admit.

“I write this letter as the sun rises, hoping that the suspension of my rights will raise alarm bells that yours are already in jeopardy. I hope it will inspire your outrage that the most basic human instinct, to protest shameless massacre, is being repressed by obscure laws, racist propaganda and a state terrified of an awakened public. I hope this writing will startle you into understanding that a democracy for some — a democracy of convenience — is no democracy at all. I hope it will shake you into acting before it is too late.”

GOP Senator on Trump’s Second Term: ‘We Are All Afraid’ and ‘Retaliation Is Real’ – Rolling Stone

“An audience member asked Murkowski what she would say to people who are feeling afraid or to the lawmakers who represent them. ‘We are all afraid,’ the Republican told the audience of 500 nonprofit leaders. She paused, then added: ‘It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right. But that’s what you’ve asked me to do. And so I’m going to use my voice to the best of my ability…I’ve got to figure out how I can do my best to help the many who are so anxious and are so afraid,’ Murkowski said.

“Murkowski voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, when he was charged with inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. She is the only Republican who voted to defund Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). She was also one of only three Republican senators to vote against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s confirmation, and one of two to vote against FBI Director Kash Patel.”

It will be hard for Trump to shut her up. Her term of office ends in 2029. His, 2028.

It’s Time to Protect America From America’s President – Nicholas Kristof/NYT

“A remarkable Times investigation found that of the 238 migrants dispatched to the Salvadoran prison, most did not have criminal records and few were found to have ties to gangs. Officials appear to have selected their targets in part based on tattoos and a misunderstanding of their significance.

“This is the same administration that marked for deletion a photo of the World War II bomber Enola Gay, seemingly because it thought it had something to do with gay people. But this ineptitude is intertwined with brutality. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said that those sent to the Salvadoran prison ‘should stay there for the rest of their lives.’ Trump’s border ‘czar,’ Tom Homan, suggested that governors of sanctuary states should be prosecuted and perhaps imprisoned. ‘It’s coming,’ he said.”

‘It’s all made up!’: Hayes breaks down ‘sheer lawlessness’ of Trump deportation case – MSNBC

El Salvador’s Bukele Plans to Double Giant Prison Holding U.S. Deportees – WSJ

‘Fundamental rights’: Jim Jordan comes out swinging against searches of citizens’ data – msn/Raw Story

British Jewish faith leaders ‘cannot support Israel’ over Gaza – Telegraph

Immigrants and the Social Security death master file – Jack Smalligan & Tara Watson/Brookings

“The Trump administration is beginning to use the Social Security Administration (SSA) to enforce immigration rules in ways that are dangerous for both the Social Security program and workers contributing to the program. Specifically, press reports indicate that the Trump administration is deliberately adding immigrants who have legally obtained a Social Security number (SSN) to the ‘death master file,’ the official database used to ensure that deceased individuals are no longer sent Social Security benefits. Adding immigrants to the Social Security death master file undermines both the integrity and the solvency of the Social Security system…

“Recent reports indicate that the administration took the unprecedented step of deliberately adding about 6,000 people to the death master file, even though they are known to be alive.”

Easter weekend – when Christians celebrate the execution of Jesus and his resurrection to eternal life – is a fitting time for the federal government to reflect on how American citizens are impacted when one federal agency declares them to be dead while another claims they are still alive. One example: Do people whom the Trump Administration places on Social Security’s death master file still have to pay taxes to the IRS? Would such souls be eligible for Medicare hospice benefits? For longer than three days? What about Medicaid? Food stamps? DOGE might find that dead people don’t need health care and food. Can people the government slanders or injures by being declared dead sue for damages?  Will prisons in El Salvador under contract with the US government make sure dead people from the US can send mail to the IRS and other agencies to fulfill civic obligations?

Hawley’s change of heart reflects evolving politics of Medicaid – Rollcall

Republicans Issue Red Line Warning to Mike Johnson – Newsweek