Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 3h

The film "NO" about the plebiscite that took down Pinochet has definitely influenced my advocacy. The lesson was, if you seem fun and upbeat, even in very serious times, the public is much more likely to stand with you.

These folks are doing it right!

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 8h

Chicago not letting Portland have all the fun 🐧

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Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3h

federal agents stealing children and sending them south. where have i heard about that before?

Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 5h

ICE kidnapped a 7th-grader with a pending asylum claim and spirited him out of state without notifying his parents, seemingly with the cooperation of the local police in Everett, MA.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...

Everett 13-year-old arrested by ICE and sent to Virginia detention facility
By Marcela Rodrigues Globe Staff,Updated October 12, 2025, 44 minutes ago

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A 13-year-old boy was arrested by ICE in Everett and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested by ICE in Everett and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Everett after an interaction with members of the Everett Police Department and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia, according to his mother and immigration lawyer Andrew Lattarulo.

The boy’s mother, Josiele Berto, was called to pick her son up from the Everett Police Department on Thursday, the day he was arrested. After waiting for about an hour and a half, she was told her son was taken by ICE, Berto told the Globe in a phone interview.

“My world collapsed,” Berto said in Portuguese.

From the police department, the boy was taken to ICE’s holding facility in Burlington on Thursday evening, where he spent a night before being transferred by car to the Northwestern Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Winchester, Va., on Friday morning, his mother said. The juvenile facility is more than 500 miles away from Everett.

The boy is a 7th-grader at Albert N. Parlin School in Everett, his mother said. The teen and his family, who are Brazilian nationals, have a pending asylum case and are authorized to work legally in the United States, Lattarulo said.

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 3d

All children are supposed to have a right to an education in the U.S. This government-instigated chaos at our schools denies that basic right through disruption and fear.

CollinCountyDems @collincountydems.bsky.social · 3d

This is terrifying!

ICE breaks into this woman’s car in the pick-up line at West Loop Elementary school in Chicago and detains her before she can pick her kids up from school. (They were eventually let go after showing their documents)

This is Trump’s America.

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Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo

Drishti Pillai, PhD, MPH @drishp.bsky.social · 4d

There have been a number of congressional and administrative actions undertaken by the Trump administration that are going to impact health coverage and care for immigrant families across America. New piece by @kff.org discusses all the changes in one place

www.kff.org/immigrant-he...

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 3d

Whether its the economy, our health, or our neighborhood's safety, the Trump administration is willing to drive it all into the ground to achieve their goal of ridding the U.S. of immigrants.

My colleague Sarah has a new blog laying out their at-any-cost approach to immigration enforcement

The Price of Cruelty: How Trump’s Mass Deportation Agenda Endangers Us All

The Trump administration’s immigration agenda directly harms our collective economy, health, and safety as a nation.

www.nilc.org

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 8d

I don't know what they expect here, except to literally require hospitals to ask heart attack victims for their birth certificates before performing an emergency bypass?

Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 8d

This data is wrong, because it includes spending on emergency room services for green card holders and other immigrants who are blocked from Medicaid.

But Republicans could have eliminated this spending if they wanted to in HR1. But doing so would have obliterated hospitals' finances...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9d

Leavitt: "When an illegal alien goes to the emergency room, who's paying for it? The American taxpayer."

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 9d

www.nilc.org/resources/he...

Know Your Rights: Health Care Providers & Immigration Enforcement

Information for health care providers on how to prepare for and respond to enforcement actions by immigration officials and interactions with law enforcement.

www.nilc.org

Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 9d

www.nilc.org/resources/he...

Know Your Rights: Health Care and Health Insurance for Immigrants

This resource provides information that all immigrant families should know when deciding to get health care or apply for health insurance programs.

www.nilc.org

Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 9d

This elected official was violently arrested for asking ICE if they had a warrant, which is typically required to arrest someone in a hospital

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 9d

ICE just blatantly violated the law and arrested sitting Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes while seeking to illegally arrest a patient in a hospital. Fuck these fascists.

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Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo

Citizen Cohn / Jonathan Cohn @citizencohn.bsky.social · 9d

Speaker Johnson fretting about impact of a shutdown on low-income Americans minutes after boasting about GOP cuts that will mean millions lose health insurance -- and millions more losing food assistance -- is an interesting contrast

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 9d

THIS is how to respond to the White House's lies about repealing H.R. 1

I just spent 45mins walking a reporter through every piece of their fake claims and wish I could do that with all of them because what they're doing is unbelievable

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9d

DOKOUPIL: Republicans says what you're really fighting for is taxpayer dollars for illegal aliens. I know that's not strictly true--

ELIZABETH WARREN: Excuse me, not strictly true? It is a flat out lie!

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Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 10d

If someone says "why don't they just get in line," send them this.

American Immigration Council @immcouncil.org · 25d

"Why don't they just apply for citizenship?"

This is a question often directed toward undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

But the pathway to American citizenship for the vast majority is long, complex, and financially draining.

Why Is It So Hard to Become a US Citizen? - American Immigration Council

“Why don’t they just get in line?" It's a question often directed toward undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org

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Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo

National Immigration Law Center @nilc.org · 10d

As the devastation of the 2025 reconciliation law sets in, politicians are creating distractions and spreading lies about immigrants to distract from the truth.

We're here to set the record straight: www.nilc.org/resources/fa...

Fact Checking Immigrants, Health Care, and the 2025 Tax and Budget Law

In response to misinformation about the 2025 reconciliation law, particularly regarding undocumented immigrants’ health care eligibility, this resource addresses misleading claims and explains why the...

www.nilc.org

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 10d

Love the podcast, but one correction Julie! Emergency Medicaid covers care for all types of immigrants who are ineligible for Medicaid, including green card holders in the five year waiting period, among others.

So data citing EM spending as going to undocumented folks is very misleading

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 11d

Would repealing HR1 give health care to undocumented immigrants as the White House claims? NO. As explained in our new resource that thoroughly reviews their falsehoods

www.nilc.org/resources/fa...

Fact Checking Immigrants, Health Care, and the 2025 Tax and Budget Law

In response to misinformation about the 2025 reconciliation law, in particular about undocumented immigrants healthcare eligibility, this commentary addresses misleading statements and clarifies why t...

www.nilc.org

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 12d

I am sickened by this video and the concept that giving basic medical care to noncitizens is such an outrageous concept that it's become the GOP's main argument in the shutdown fight

Trump posts vulgar deepfake slam of Democratic leaders after White House meeting

“This might top the last shutdown,” one Republican said in response.

www.politico.com

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 12d

A formative experience for me as a human being was Johnny Damon shaving and cutting his hair

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 13d

We explain, very simply, in 7 languages, how the budget bill takes food and health care away from immigrants in this fact sheet www.nilc.org/resources/ne...

New Law Limits Health Care & Food Aid for Immigrants

The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ introduces new restrictions on several federal programs. Read our latest explainer to find out which ones are affected.

www.nilc.org

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 13d

Republicans know that taking health care aware from authorized immigrants would be unpopular so they continue to lie about their reconciliation bill
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/u...

Explaining the G.O.P.’s Misleading Talking Point on the Looming Shutdown

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo

Io Dodds 🌘🏳️‍⚧️♾️ @iododds.bsky.social · 22d

NEW: This is a story I worked really hard on.

I spoke to four American trans people about why they're claiming asylum in Canada or the Netherlands.

It's an eye-opening window into just how unsafe people now feel here — and what drove them to that point.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Trump’s war on trans people has left Americans seeking asylum — from America

Four trans Americans claiming refuge abroad tell Io Dodds why they no longer feel safe in their home country, from fears of martial law to being arrested in changing rooms

www.independent.co.uk

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Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo

🍁💚Jaded💚🍁 @mtpromises.bsky.social · 19d

There appears to be NO red line they won't cross.

Little Lobbyists @littlelobbyists.com · 19d

Medically complex and disable children shouldn’t be bargaining chips, period.

This outrageous act by #immigration officials is inexcusable and ultimately led to the separation of this 5-year-old autistic girl from Massachusetts 😡

ICE held 5-year-old autistic girl in Massachusetts to pressure father to surrender, family says

The girl's father, Edward Hip, has lived in the United States for the last 22 years, according to his wife.

www.nbcnews.com

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Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo

Bryant Furlow @bryantfurlow.bsky.social · 20d

Sweeping GOP budget cuts and new red tape will leave millions of children without health insurance and food assistance. Experts warn of "generational impact" on child development. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

US Medicaid and food aid cuts imperil vulnerable children

Sweeping federal spending cuts, new cost-sharing rules, and eligibility restrictions for public health insurance and food aid will disproportionately affect vulnerable children across the USA, with po...

www.thelancet.com

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Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo

Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 21d

I used to think that mass deportation was mostly about racism and white nationalism. But I realize now that some of it is just corruption and bags of cash.

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Ben D’Avanzo @bendavanzo.bsky.social · 23d

This month, DACA recipients are having their health insurance stripped away from them stateline.org/2025/09/19/b...

Biden offered health insurance access to DACA immigrants. Trump took it away. • Stateline

A new Trump administration rule bars immigrants living in the United States under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, from buying health insurance from Affordable Care Act marketpla...

stateline.org

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