Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Anil Kalhan

@akalhan.bsky.social

19K followers 3.9K following 1.8K posts

Law professor, Drexel Univ • Affil'd fellow, Yale ISP • NYC Bar Ass'n Rule of Law Task Force • AAUP Cmte A on Acad Freedom ⚾ Cleveland native/partisan 🏀 runner • https://linktr.ee/akalhan

linktr.ee

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 15d

What we might refer to as a "Kavanaugh Stop"

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 17d

WOW. The lead plaintiff is a Latino man who's been here legally for 24 years. He was grabbed off the street by plainclothes federal agents who didn't even ASK about his status.

He was detained overnight and only released once a supervisor realized he had been illegally arrested.

PARTIES3. Plaintiff José Escobar Molina is a 47-year-old man who has lived in D.C. for 25 years. He has maintained valid Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for El Salvador since 2001. On August 21, 2025, Mr. Escobar Molina was walking from his apartment building in Northwest D.C.to his work truck, about to start his workday, when two cars pulled up next to him. As he was about to get into his truck, plain-clothed and unidentified federal agents exited the cars and—without conducting any inquiry—seized Mr. Escobar Molina, grabbing him by the arms and legs and immediately handcuffing him. The agents arrested him without a warrant and without asking for his name, his identification, or anything about his immigration status. The agents also did not ask him where he lives, whom he lives with, how long he has lived here, or anything else about his ties to the community prior to arresting him. After ICE detained Mr. Escobar Molina overnight at its processing center in Chantilly, Virginia, the next day an ICE supervisor finally realized that he had valid TPS, which statutorily prohibits ICE from detaining him, and released him. Due tohis Latino ethnicity, Mr. Escobar Molina fears being arrested and detained again while going about his daily life in D.C.

86 1.6K 5.6K

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 1d

#KavanaughStop

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

Lawyers have been publicizing a new term to describe ICE's racially targeted detainments: a “Kavanaugh stop.”

Mother Jones reporter Pema Levy explains in this new video:

1 6 18

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Joe Patrice @joepatrice.bsky.social · 5h

Amazing

Tweet: @vexwerewolf
Right-wingers literally straight-up admitting "it's harder to discredit the left because the left is almost always telling the truth"
Scott Jennings @Lum 21h um, yes, that's really a problem
Show this thread
9 paints • 12 hrs
The problem with left-leaning media is they're intrinsically more strict with their propaganda to only using verifiable sources so it's really hard to poke holes in their ideology and arguments in comparison to a lot of low quality rightwing content.
That makes attacking their points with fact checkers not very effective unless the fact checkers use misinformation tactics as well.
In essence people on the right have to work harder and more creatively to push their agendas as statistics and studies frustratingly arent usually on our side.

74 1K 2.8K

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 8h

That’s a nice trick, since Biden wasn’t the president on Jan 6.

300 1.3K 5K

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 7h

The deportation order derives from the crime of which he has now been exonerated.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

99 1K 2.4K

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 1d

PORTLAND, Ore. — A small group of federal agents in camouflage and face masks watched from atop the immigration processing center Thursday night as a unicorn, peacock, dinosaur and raccoon danced to Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time.” www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Costumed protesters in Portland defy description of the city as a 'war zone'

Dancing frogs, peacocks and unicorns outside the federal immigration building present a joyful contrast to the Trump administration's portrait of the Oregon city, they say.

www.nbcnews.com

39 560 2.2K

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Mohamad Bazzi @mbazzi.bsky.social · 1d

An underreported aspect of the Gaza ceasefire: The business deals that Trump's family made with Gulf Arab states gave Trump a personal stake in restraining Netanyahu — my piece @theguardian.com | www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

7 55 120

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 22h

Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.

A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.

110 2K 5.7K

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Dara Kerr @darakerr.bsky.social · 23h

Lots of attention on this Marc Benioff article, which is excellent and full of jaw-dropping quotes.

It reminds me of how he was when I did a story for NPR about him secretly buying hundreds of acres of land in rural Hawaii. Things got weird.

www.npr.org/2024/02/28/1...

8 55 140

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 1d

Huh: TikTok took down my 8-second video featuring this image of Debbie Brockman — the news producer just detained by Trump’s CBP agents — saying it violates the “joy of TikTok”

310 2.7K 7.1K

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Heartland Signal @heartlandsignal.bsky.social · 2d

BREAKING: Masked Border Patrol agents aggressively arrested WGN video producer Debbie Brockman in Lincoln Square Friday morning, supposedly for "obstructing justice." (Video via Josh Thomas on Facebook)

Follow @heartlandsignal for more.

1.4K 8.5K 15K

Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 1d

#KavanaughStop

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

Lawyers have been publicizing a new term to describe ICE's racially targeted detainments: a “Kavanaugh stop.”

Mother Jones reporter Pema Levy explains in this new video:

1 6 18

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

His slip of the tongue reveals who’s really in charge. trib.al/mIvP0yE

“Illinois governor says we’re provoking actions that are unlawful,” Miller said on CNN. “If I put federal law enforcement and National Guard into a nice sleepy Southern town, is anyone gonna riot?”

1.6K 7.9K 20K

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 1d

For more information about the Friday night massacre at CDC, I wrote up an analysis of who got terminated and what that means for public health.

Grateful to @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for supporting and amplifying. We are in really terrible trouble.

rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/the-death-...

17 310 510

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 1d

New: The WGAE, which represents some parts of CBS News including its social team, sent a note to members today advising its members not to respond to Weiss’ request for an email by next week. The union also said it asked CBS for more information about Weiss’ request.

13 79 300

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 1d

The obvious response: “doing the fucking news”

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 2d

News: Bari Weiss just sent a memo to staffers at CBS News asking them to produce a memo explaining "how you spend your working hours—and ideally, what you've made (or are making) that you're most proud of."

One CBS News staffer puts it like this to me: "We just got Elon Musked."

5 9 160

Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 1d

Scalia Forms Search Committee for New Pope
By Andy Borowitz
September 19, 2013

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Eric Christiansen @erichristiansen.bsky.social · 1d

1/2 "A second Repub gov, Phil Scott of Vermont, opposed the admin’s deployment of federalized National Guard troops to Chicago & Portland. 'I don’t think our guard should be used against our own people....

October 10, 2025

All of President Donald J.

open.substack.com

2 6 8

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

Lawyers have been publicizing a new term to describe ICE's racially targeted detainments: a “Kavanaugh stop.”

Mother Jones reporter Pema Levy explains in this new video:

38 610 1.3K

Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 1d

Such a vast and insidious conspiracy that their sleeper cells did so many years ago

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

David Noll @david.noll.org · 2d

i just got back from Antifa headquarters.

they're making an INSANE new set of demands.

first, the radical left is saying, "no money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law."

David Noll @david.noll.org · 2d

interesting that if you say the constitution creates a separation of powers systems in which there are no kings, they think you hate america

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Emmer: "This is about one thing and one thing alone -- to score political points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate America rally in DC next week."

12 170 710

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 3d

Last night John Fetterman was the one Democrat who voted with Republicans to let Trump keep bombing boats in the middle of the ocean. Less than 24 hours later, he says Trump should get a Nobel Peace Prize

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

FOX: Do you think Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?

FETTERMAN: If this sticks. I think the whole point of having a Nobel Peace Prize is for ending wars and promoting peace. And if he brings the Ukrainian war to its end, I will be the Democrat leading the committee for his Nobel Prize Peace.

18 77 290

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Alf Martens @alf-martens.bsky.social · 2d

Great! 👏👏👏
MIT rejects the compact proposed by the Trump administration, explaining that:
"the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”
wapo.st/4niC09b

MIT rejects Trump administration deal for priority federal funding

MIT is one of the nine schools that were asked to agree to adopt conservative priorities and policies in exchange for funding perks.

wapo.st

2 42 140

Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 2d

Don't worry, speech might still be free in the "City of New Jersey"

1 7

Reposted by Anil Kalhan

Zoe Tillman @zoetillman.bsky.social · 2d

NOW: Unions representing hundreds of thousands of federal workers have asked a judge to immediately halt mass layoffs that the White House announced on Friday amid the government shutdown. Seeking emergency action ahead of Oct. 16 hearing
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

2 60 150

Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 2d

Which judge will be the first to cite and quote: "We took the freedom of speech away"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

3 12 35