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Brian
@bschmal.bsky.social
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Reposted by Brian
inquirer.com
January 22, 2026 at 9:46 PM
Reposted by Brian
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
In a sign of how explosive ICE knew this secret memo would be, one whistleblower says he was only allowed to read the memo and was barred from taking written notes, and warned that employees had been punished for disagreeing.

At least one ICE instructor resigned rather than teach the illegal memo!
Consciousness of Guilt: An Opaque and Secret Memorandum with Threats of Reprisal 13. Despite the May 12 Memo being addressed to “All ICE Personnel,” in practice the memorandum has only been distributed to select DHS and ICE officials. Furthermore, our clients have been told that the May 12 Memo must be treated with unusually strict access control for a document without any confidentiality markings. 14. To wit: one of our clients was allowed to view the memorandum only in the presence of their supervisor. They were handed the Memorandum, allowed a few minutes to review it without the ability to take notes, and were directed to hand it back. They were also informed that another employee had been reassigned for contradicting a supervisor about a different ICE policy. Our client understood their supervisor shared this piece of information as a warning that expressing disagreement with the new arrest policy could result in adverse career consequences. 15. Together, our clients are aware of multiple DHS employees who faced retaliation for expressing their concerns and/or disagreement with the May 12 Memo’s policy change, likely constituting prohibited personnel practices. One client is aware of a seasoned government instructor, tasked with teaching this new doctrine, who chose to resign rather than be forced to teach what they understood to be unlawful.
January 21, 2026 at 10:29 PM