ICE Camp Deaths Rise; CBC Backs Anti-Activist Spy Powers w/ Austin Kocher, Daniel Boguslaw | MR Live
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖16 deaths have occurred in ICE detention facilities in 2026 by mid-April, with many more likely unrecorded post-release or deportation.
- ❖For-profit ICE detention centers, often located in rural 'sacrifice zones,' prioritize cost-cutting over detainee medical care, leading to preventable deaths.
- ❖The Congressional Black Caucus is poised to support a 'clean' reauthorization of FISA Section 702, despite its documented misuse against Black Lives Matter activists.
- ❖A FISA court warning about 'serious problems' with query data filtering was allegedly concealed from most House Democrats prior to the 702 reauthorization vote.
- ❖Trump's war in Iran has led to surging US wholesale prices (up 4% in March), increased mortgage rates, and a 9-month low in home sales, contradicting his 'no new wars' promise.
- ❖New York State passed its first-ever tax on wealthy non-resident homeowners with properties valued at $5 million or more, projected to raise $500 million annually.
- ❖The 'capital flight' argument against taxing the rich is a myth; New York and other states have seen millionaire populations increase after implementing such taxes.
Insights
1Systemic Violence and Neglect in ICE Detention
ICE detention facilities, predominantly for-profit, exhibit systemic violence and neglect, leading to a rising number of preventable deaths. Medical providers face delayed reimbursements, raising questions about the seriousness of care. Facilities are often located in rural areas, hindering legal and family access, and emergency medical care. The official death count likely underreports the true toll, as individuals released or deported often die from conditions exacerbated by their detention.
16 deaths in ICE detention in 2026 by mid-April; a 49-year-old man died in the for-profit WIN correction center in Louisiana. A Popular Information report detailed DHS/ICE delaying medical reimbursements. A previous ACLU report found over 90% of detention deaths were preventable, citing cases like sepsis from an untreated toothache. ICE has a legal obligation to provide life-giving care in civil detention facilities.
2Congressional Black Caucus Backs Controversial Spy Powers
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is set to support a 'clean' reauthorization of FISA Section 702, a powerful surveillance tool, despite its history of misuses. This includes the FBI's surveillance of Black Lives Matter activists in 2020. A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) ruling flagged 'serious problems' with data query filtering, but this warning was allegedly not fully relayed to all Democrats on relevant committees, indicating a deliberate concealment of critical information.
Daniel Boguslaw's reporting in The American Prospect details the CBC's stance. In 2020, FISA 702 was used to surveil Black Lives Matter activists. A recent FISA court ruling warned of problems with query data filtering, which House Intelligence Committee staffers were briefed on but allegedly failed to relay to other Democrats.
3Trump's Failing War and Economic Fallout
The Trump administration's war in Iran has resulted in significant economic repercussions, including surging wholesale prices, increased mortgage rates, and a slowdown in housing. Despite campaign promises of 'no new wars,' Trump initiated this conflict, which is now negatively impacting the US economy. His attempts to declare victory are seen as desperate, driven by ego and a desire to save face amidst low approval ratings and potential midterm losses.
US wholesale prices surged 4% last month due to the Iran war, the largest year-over-year gain in over three years. Mortgage rates climbed, and home sales hit a 9-month low. Trump's approval rating is historically low for a president at this point in their term. He claims to have 'ended eight wars' and 'started and ended' a ninth, referring to the Iran conflict.
4Progressive Tax Wins in New York Challenge 'Capital Flight' Myth
New York State has enacted a new tax on wealthy non-resident homeowners, a significant progressive victory. This move directly challenges the long-standing conservative argument that taxing the rich leads to 'capital flight.' Empirical evidence from New York, Massachusetts, and California demonstrates that millionaire populations actually increased after such taxes were implemented, debunking the myth.
New York State's first-ever tax on 'pied-à-terre' (second homes) worth $5 million or more is projected to raise $500 million annually. Zohran Mamdani, a state legislator, cited empirical studies showing that millionaire populations increased in New York after a previous millionaire tax, and similar trends were observed in Massachusetts and California.
Lessons
- Subscribe to Austin Kocher's Substack and detentionreports.com for real-time updates and to document conditions in ICE detention centers.
- Contact your senators (202-224-3121) to urge them to vote in support of Bernie Sanders's legislation to block $450 million in weapon and bulldozer sales to Israel.
- For New York residents, sign the petition at dream4nyc.com/action to demand Governor Kathy Hochul tax the rich to address the city's budget deficit.
Quotes
"You know who's committing genocide right now? You and Israel. So the invocation of World War II and the Holocaust is Holocaust denial. It denies the power dynamics at play. It denies the industrial scale of the genocide that is comparable to the industrial scale of Israel's genocide here."
"We have to be able to agree as a country that we can at least like meet this floor of not having people die in civil facilities."
"The reality is we know now that that switch has been flipped. You know, if it was going and bubbling under the surface with NSPM7 and the presidential directives that classify things like anti-capitalism, anti-Americanism, anti-Christianity as terrorist threats. You know, we're we're living in a new era where the warnings that have been happening for the past 20 years around the Patriot Act are are starting to really gain teeth in a highly visible way that's going to affect huge swaths of the population."
"I ask people that are deep into the psychological world. I said, 'Why is it that a voter votes for the opposite party?' Even when you have a good president, I think I had the greatest year, the greatest opening year. I've read the greatest. Look, I ended eight wars. A ninth is coming, but I ended eight wars. Nobody's ever ended one war."
"For all of the discussion of the imagined exodus that would take place were we to tax the wealthiest New Yorkers by the appropriate amount. I say imagined because before I was a mayor, I was a state legislator and I was part of an effort to increase taxes on millionaires at that time. We were told the same thing then. And what we find now is that we have more millionaires today than we did at that time even after having passed that tax."
"I've coined the phrase financial service desert because you they talked about it. I think Brad Gersonner brought it up the at the launch of the Trump accounts. Many of these families, 38% of families in America have no exposure to our great equity market, the innovation, you know, what we all take for granted. I think that this by opening this account you are in a way it is financial nutrition for these families and they're going to have this account open that an extra $20 can be put in at any time that you birthday gifts here here's a teddy bear here's $10 too and it it'll compound over time."
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