Featured
Trump’s mass deportation is backfiring. By Aaron Blake / CNN
President Donald Trump and his administration continue to bet big on the issue that, more than any other, appeared to help him win him a second term in 2024: immigration. The administration and its allies have gleefully played up standoffs between federal immigration agents and protesters, such as the one Thursday during a raid at a legal marijuana farm in Ventura County, California.
But this appears to be an increasingly bad bet for Trump and Co. It’s looking more and more like Trump has botched an issue that, by all rights, should have been a great one for him. And ICE’s actions appear to be a big part of that. The most recent polling on this comes from Gallup, where the findings are worse than those of any poll in Trump’s second term.
The nearly monthlong survey conducted in June found Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of immigration by a wide margin: 62% to 35%. And more than twice as many Americans strongly disapproved (45%) as strongly approved (21%). Read more
Related: Judge Blocks Trump Administration Tactics in L.A. Immigration Raids. By Miriam Jordan / NYT
Related: How $178 billion is creating a police state. By Heather Digby Parton / Salon
Trump can’t achieve his economic goals without more immigrants. By Stephen Moore and Richard Vedder / Wash Post
Here is an even more jaw-dropping statistic on the need for expanded visas: Because of our inverted population pyramid, immigrants will contribute virtually all of the net increase in the American workforce over the next two decades. Without continued immigration, the U.S. workforce would start shrinking. Read more
Political / Social
Trump continues to tighten his authoritarian grip. By Chauncey Devega / Salon
It seems clear that Trump is attempting to tighten his authoritarian vise grip on the American people, and the nation’s democracy and society. Federal immigration agents near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on July 7, 2025.
I recently spoke with Joseph Nunn, who serves as a counsel in the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, and focuses on issues surrounding the domestic activities of the U.S. military, including the Insurrection Act, the Posse Comitatus Act, National Guard deployments and martial law. In our conversation, Nunn explained how Trump’s recent actions in L.A. are an almost “unprecedented” move in American history, one that constitutes a severe threat to the country’s democratic culture, civil-military relations and the rule of law. Read more
Related: Trump’s Cabinet of Incompetents. Maureen Dowd / NYT
Related: Texas floods show that Trump’s America is a cold, hard place. By Brian Karem / Salon
Related: How Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts Are Hurting Rural, White Americans Too. Kate Zernike / NYT
How can Democrats Counteract Trumpism? By Chat GPT
To counteract Trumpism, Democrats need a multi-pronged strategy that goes beyond reacting to Trump and addresses the broader cultural, economic, and political forces fueling his movement. Here’s a breakdown of key strategies they can adopt:
1. Define a Clear, Positive Vision
2. Rebuild Trust with Working-class Voters
3. Challenge Misinformation and Authoritarianism
4. Broaden the Coalition
5. Strengthen Institutions and Rule of law
6. Frame the Moral Stakes
The answer has been edited for length and clarity. Read the full transcript here
Related: Political tides may be turning as Democrats eye a 2026 blue wave. By Emily Singer / Daily Kos
Clarence Thomas has long tried to undercut the Voting Rights Act. Now, he may finally have the numbers. By Joan Biskupic / CNN
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been imploring his colleagues for decades to gut a crucial part of the iconic Voting Rights Act that prohibits practices denying Blacks, Hispanics and other racial minorities an equal right to vote. When Thomas first laid out his objections in 1994, insisting that the act was exacerbating rather than easing “racial tensions,” several colleagues called his position “radical,” and only Antonin Scalia endorsed it.
But as more right-wing justices have joined the court, the views of Thomas, a conservative African American, have gained traction. Read more
How Do You Self-Identify? For Many Americans, Checking a Box Won’t Do. By Shawn Hubler / NYT
Some complained that American institutions demand too much or too little or the wrong kind of racial and ethnic information. Some noted that other countries gather little data about race and wondered if, in the 21st century, such information even mattered.
“Race is a social construct that has outlived its time,” Will Shetterly, 69, wrote in the questionnaire. In a subsequent interview, Mr. Shetterly, a writer from Minneapolis who described himself as white, said that the nation’s more salient issue was rooted not in race, but in class. Read more
Education
Why Hiring Professors With Conservative Views Could Backfire on Conservatives.
Is hiring more conservative professors and admitting more conservative students a solution to liberal bias in American higher education?
Many people think so. The Trump administration, in threatening to cut Harvard’s federal funding, demanded that the university foster greater “viewpoint diversity,” including by recruiting faculty members and students who would restore ideological balance to campus. Other political actors have embraced the idea, too. At least eight states have passed or introduced laws to require viewpoint diversity at public educational institutions. Read more
Related: Trump wields his ‘secret weapon’: College accreditation. By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel / Wash Post
George Mason University Under Investigation by Trump Administration Over Antisemitism Complaints. By Katherine Mangan / ProPublica
When the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights notified George Mason University on July 1 that it was opening an antisemitism investigation based on a recent complaint, the university’s president, Gregory Washington, said he was “perplexed.”
By the next day, though, there were signs that the new investigation was part of a coordinated campaign to oust him. Read more
Education Department Dismisses Thousands Of Civil Rights Complaints Within Months. By Mitti Hicks / Black Enterprise
The Education Department has dismissed civil rights complaints at such a rapid rate that it’s raising concerns among former officials and civil rights advocates. The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for investigating discrimination based on race, color, sex, disability, and national origin.
As first reported by POLITICO, the Education Department’s OCR dismissed more than 3,000 civil rights complaints between March 11 and June 27. The department confirmed the dismissals in court documents, which have raised questions about fairness and enforcement. Read more
Related: American Teachers in Red States Are Walking Away for Good. By Kenneal Patterson / TNR
Rates of Admitted Students Who Are Black, Hispanic Have Decreased. By Johanna Alonso / Inside Higher Ed
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action, the share of college applicants who are Black or Hispanic has risen, while the percentage admitted has declined.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to ban affirmative action in college admissions, no one knew exactly what the impact on Black and Hispanic enrollment might be going forward. In fall 2024, the numbers varied substantially by institution; Inside Higher Ed’s analysis of 31 institutions’ enrollment data showed massive drops in Black and Hispanic enrollment at some institutions and less drastic decreases—and even slight increases—at others. Read more
World
How Netanyahu Prolonged the War in Gaza to Stay in Power. Patrick Kingsley, Ronen Bergman and Natan Odenheimer / NYT
Secret meetings, altered records, ignored intelligence: the inside story of the prime minister’s political calculations since Oct. 7.
For Netanyahu, a truce also came with personal risk. As prime minister, he led a fragile coalition that depended on the support of far-right ministers who wanted to occupy Gaza, not withdraw from it. They sought a long war that would ultimately enable Israel to re-establish Jewish settlements in Gaza. If a cease-fire came too soon, these ministers might decide to collapse the ruling coalition. Read more
Related: Israel Continues Slaughter of Palestinians at Gaza Aid Sites, Homes and Schools. Democracy Now
Trump’s African summit was a masterclass in modern colonial theatre. By Tafi Mhaka / Aljazeera
To dodge Trump’s tariffs and wrath, five African presidents played the role of loyal colonial subject, and left their dignity behind.
On July 9, United States President Donald Trump opened a three-day mini summit at the White House with the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal – by subjecting his distinguished guests to a carefully staged public humiliation. This was not the plan – or at least, not the part the public was meant to see. Read more
Related: What Trump’s ‘Good English’ Remark Really Reflects. By Chad de Guzman / Time
Behind Trump’s Decision to Tax Brazil to Save Bolsonaro. Jack Nicas and Ana Ionova / NYT
Right-wing Brazilians wanted sanctions against the judge prosecuting Brazil’s former president. President Trump opted for something far bigger — tariffs.
The shift from imposing sanctions on a single judge to threatening an entire nation of 200 million with harsh tariffs was Mr. Trump’s decision alone, according to two people familiar with the meeting at which the president discussed his decision and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation. Read more
Ethics / Morality / Religion
Is the Christian Resistance to Trump Growing? Esau McCaulley / NYT
Shortly after the passage of President Trump’s domestic policy bill, Speaker Mike Johnson posted a Bible verse on his social media from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth.
You almost have to appreciate the nerve it took to apply Paul’s words to a law that is likely to lead to millions of Americans’ losing their health care. Consider that the apostle was referring to sharing the good news about Jesus Christ and the chance to be reconciled to God. In a rare moment of Christian ecumenism, white evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics and Black church leaders agree that there’s no glory to be found in this legislation. Read more
The Chicago Churches on the Frontline of Trump’s Deportation Wars. By Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark
How faith leaders are helping a community under siege. A yellow and white sign warning to call if you see ICE imposed over New Life Community Church in Chicago and murals seen around its Little Village location.
Some of those leaders anticipated what was coming and tried to prepare for the worst. But even more have been struck by the ways in which mass deportation has, in just six months, remade both their community and America writ large. They speak in horror of anonymous gangs jumping out of SUVs in masks to take away working people. They describe the effects it has had on communities that had been built on principles of inclusion. And they brace for it to get still worse. Read more
Trump’s IRS just repealed a rule evangelicals hated. Why aren’t they happier? By Molly Olmstead / Slate
When, back in 2015, Donald Trump promised to kill the Johnson Amendment, the pledge was described as one of the top reasons evangelicals would support a philandering, biblically illiterate businessman. The amendment, an Internal Revenue Service rule from 1954 that banned tax-exempt nonprofits, including churches, from directly endorsing political candidates, has been a matter of grave concern to major evangelical leaders for years.
Now, a decade later, the Trump administration has finally made good on that promise—not by killing the Johnson Amendment altogether, but by reinterpreting it to exclude churches. According to the IRS, churches can now be as partisan as they want. Read more
Church that was ‘work space’ for Civil Rights Movement is nearly restored and awaits new designation. By Berndt Petersen / WSB-TV
The West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Northwest Atlanta, a site deeply rooted in the Civil Rights movement, may soon be designated as a National Historic Site.
Located on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, the 119-year-old stone sanctuary played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. Read more and watch here
Historical / Cultural
The Self-Evident Truths of Freedom—and of Tyranny. By Judge J. Michael Luttig / Telos News
Twenty-seven truths about America, our Democracy and Rule of Law, and our rights, freedoms, and liberties.
This is not a piece that should be skimmed or scanned. Luttig is writing for the ages.I recommend you take some time away from the crush of news, find a quiet place without distractions, and read this piece carefully. That’s when the power of what Luttig has written will hit you. I believe Luttig’s piece will be of historic significance, and Telos News is enormously proud to publish it. Please share it widely – Ryan Lizza. Read more
ICE is radicalizing Americans the way the Fugitive Slave Act did before the Civil War. By Mary Harris / Slate
1850 is looking mighty familiar. Jamelle Bouie, a columnist at the New York Times, has recently been drawing a lot of parallels between what’s going on in the U.S. right now and a totally different period of American history. Most people label that period of time “antebellum”—the decade or two right before the Civil War. The country was a loose coalition of states in the mid-19th century. About half of those states allowed slavery. The others did not.
But the year 1850 was a turning point, primarily because of a single law. The Fugitive Slave Act mandated that free states return runaway slaves—and even incentivized states to send free people into slavery. The comparison implies ICE is forcing Americans to participate in the deportation process or face consequences, which some perceive as creating a climate of fear and division. Read more
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Art Blakey. Giovanni Russonello / NYT
Dig into 13 tracks from this influential drummer and bandleader, chosen by writers and musicians including several former members of his band, the Jazz Messengers.
For a time in the late 1940s, Art Blakey went to live in West Africa. When he returned to the United States, he told reporters that his time there had given him a fresh appreciation for the music called jazz. This, he declared, was a Black American music — quite distinct from the folk forms he’d heard in Africa. Read more
Sports
The incredible life and tragic death of the ‘Queen of Volleyball.’ By Les Carpenter / Wash Post
Flo Hyman, a women’s sports pioneer who rose to stardom at the 1984 Olympics, was felled by Marfan syndrome while playing in Japan two years later.
Flo Hyman didn’t hit volleyballs as much as she annihilated them. Standing 6-foot-5, all arms and legs and towering hair, Hyman was unlike anything women’s volleyball had ever seen in the 1970s. She leaped so high that her knees were even with the bottom of the net. Read more
Welcome to Atlanta: MLB All-Star Weekend descends on hotbed of Black baseball talent. By Branson Wright / Andscape
In a sport that has struggled with diversity, city provides opportunities to young players
Gresham Park comes alive as the sun sets over southeast Atlanta. Smoke rises from barbecue grills, Kendrick Lamar and SZA pulse through speakers, and the baseball fields are packed with Black youth chasing fly balls, hitting line drives and laughing under the lights. Read more
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