"We're well on our way to becoming a police state if current administration policies are allowed to continue," I wrote for this newsletter on April 10. As dire as my warning was at the time, the situation has become much worse.
Here are just a few developments since that newsletter:
Unidentifiable masked federal agents are going onto private property to apprehend people. When asked for identification or a warrant, they refuse to provide any. In some cases, there was no way to know whether these were actual officers of the law, private security, or a vigilante group.
These agents are apprehending non-criminal undocumented residents, legal residents, and U.S. citizens. When suspects are apprehended, family members are often not informed of where they're being held or who to speak to for medical or legal assistance. Pregnant women are also sent to detention facilities. Eight people have died this year while in custody. This does not include the unborn baby who died while her mom was detained and was in her womb for three days before her mom received medical attention.
On Tuesday, an Iranian-American pastor videoed the apprehension of two of his congregants who are here legally while their asylum cases are pending. They're seeking asylum because in Iran Christians are persecuted for their faith. Now, they'll likely be sent back to Iran, where their lives will be in danger.
A mom and her two children, ages 6 and 9, were doing exactly what our laws required when they fled Honduras due to death threats last October and entered the U.S. When they appeared for their court date, ICE arrested them and placed them in a detention facility. The 6-year-old has leukemia and is in need of medical attention.
The U.S. Supreme Court this week allowed the Trump administration to continue deportations to prison facilities in other countries without due process.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says it will no longer follow what the law says regarding facility visits by Congressmembers and their staff. ICE now claims that members of Congress must request permission 72 hours in advance before they're allowed to visit an ICE facility, which contradicts what the law, passed by Congress, says.
Reason magazine put it well, writing, "For ICE to claim an all-encompassing right to operate in the dark, apart from the prying eyes of even a co-equal branch of government, flies in the face of the Constitution's clear meaning."
Our new police state is being built with mass data collection and AI-enhanced surveillance.
The Trump administration is contracting with Palantir, a private company founded by Trump financial backer Peter Thiel, to build a database on all Americans. Palantir was selected by Elon Musk, another Trump campaign donor, and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), after Musk sought access to all government databases. At the same time, we're starting to seeing increased use of AI-enhanced surveillance and the creation of a massive database of immigrant DNA.
“When you start combining all those data points on an individual into one database, it really essentially creates a digital ID. And it’s a power that history says will eventually be abused," Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, told Semafor. "The only good thing to do with One Ring to Rule Them All is to destroy the Ring," he added with an apt metaphor.
It can be overwhelming when you see all of this together, and this is far from a complete list even. But don't despair. Instead, focus on one thing you can do today. You can, for instance, call your U.S. House member or one of your senators and leave a message about any of the issues above. You can share one of these stories with a neighbor, friend, or family member. Or, you can share one of these personal stories on your social media. You're not helpless.
Tell Your Pastor About J29
The J29 Coalition is a network of theologically conservative pastors seeking to disciple the American Evangelical church in kingdom-shaped politics.
AP News: “Jury finds MyPillow founder defamed former employee for a leading voting equipment company”
A federal jury in Colorado on Monday found that one of the nation’s most prominent election conspiracy theorists, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, defamed a former employee for a leading voting equipment company after the 2020 presidential election.
The jury found that two of Lindell’s statements about Eric Coomer, the former security and product strategy director at Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, including calling him a traitor, were defamatory. It ordered Lindell and his online media platform, formerly known as Frankspeech, to pay Coomer $2.3 million in damages, far less than the $62.7 million Coomer had asked for to help send a message to discourage attacks on election workers.
The Conversation: “Most Americans believe misinformation is a problem — federal research cuts will only make the problem worse”
Research on misinformation and disinformation has become the latest casualty of the Trump administration’s restructuring of federal research priorities.
Religion in Public: “The Minnesota Shooter is Not Alone”
The relationship is weaker (r=.26), but spiritual warfare is linked to a greater acceptance of turning to violence to achieve drastic changes. Clearly not every believer in spiritual warfare takes the next step to seeking violence to achieve change, but it is much more common for them than it is among others.
RNS: “Patriotic Bible blesses Trump with $1.3 million in royalties”
The Bible has made Donald Trump feel like a million bucks.
The former reality-TV star turned president earned more than a million dollars in royalties for endorsing the God Bless the USA Bible, according to a newly released annual financial disclosure from the White House.
