Political Science_Brooklyn College

The Congressional Black Caucus is urging lawmakers to pass the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, reigniting a national conversation about policing, accountability, and public safety. First introduced in 2024 and reintroduced this month, the bill would ban no-knock warrants for federal and federally funded agencies, a practice tied to the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor.

Led by Chairwoman Yvette D. Clarke and reintroduced by Rep. Morgan McGarvey, supporters say the legislation could help prevent similar tragedies by requiring officers to announce themselves and limiting sudden, forceful entries that put both residents and law enforcement at risk.

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Zohran Mamdani’s revolution, in this moment before he takes office, has two defining qualities. The first is the well-known movement-building skill of the man. Out of nowhere, he has become the center of the political universe in New York and redefined what is possible in American politics. The second is a certain sense of unreality — a tension between what he promises he will do and what the normal laws of political physics would seem to allow.

It’s true of the big question: Can he really lower the cost of living in New York City? And it’s true of all the thousands of smaller ways in which he will attempt to do that and manage the city in the meantime. Does Mamdani want more affordable housing, or does he want affordable housing that is more expensive to build because it’s built with union labor? Does he want free infant–to–5-year-old child care, or does he want those child-care workers to be paid the $30 living wage he has proposed for the city? The answer is he wants both, he wants everything, he wants it all at once.

“I think the responsibilities that come with this position are immense and also the responsibility that comes with hope is immense,” Mamdani tells David Freedlander. “There are many for whom this was the first vote that they cast, or it was the first vote that they cast after years of associating politics with despair and a diminishing faith. There is a lot of discussion of what it would mean to not meet the expectations. I think often of what meeting them would open up for New Yorkers.”

Read Freedlander’s cover story on Zohran Mamdani’s long-shot rise from the fringes of the left, the movement behind him, and the distinct challenges that lie ahead: https://nymag.visitlink.me/6OuZMA

When Orville Etoria, who’d lived in New York for nearly 50 years, showed up to his routine ICE check-in last June, he knew immediately that things had changed. “I gave my passport to the officer, and he said, ‘Step to the back wall,’ ” Etoria said. At 26 Federal Plaza, in lower Manhattan, he slept on the floor. “That place was too filthy for any human being to live,” he said. From there, he was punted between ICE facilities and finally taken to the El Paso Service Processing Center, in Texas. The true shock came soon after. On July 14th, Etoria was called down to intake with a group of men of diverse nationalities. He assumed that they’d be deported to their respective countries.
The men boarded the ICE flight in shackles. Someone asked, “Where are we going?” An agent replied, “The first flight is six hours, and then the second flight is eight hours.” Etoria felt his stomach drop. They stopped in Djibouti, where the men were transferred onto a military cargo plane. “It was like something you’d see in a movie, as if we were some notorious gangsters,” Etoria said. Roughly a half hour before that flight landed, the men learned their true destination: Eswatini, a country that Etoria had never even heard of.

Sarah Stillman spent months documenting the Trump Administration’s secretive third-country removals, which deport people to countries they have no ties to, where many are being detained indefinitely or forcibly returned to the places they fled. Read the full report: https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/sxTisw

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson recently sparked controversy with remarks accusing President Donald Trump of being “intimidated by the intellectual prowess of Black men.” The comments came in response to Trump’s criticism of Johnson’s leadership and governance, particularly regarding issues of crime and immigration. In a politically charged exchange, Johnson defended his city’s policies, while Trump escalated his rhetoric by calling for legal actions against Johnson and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. This conflict highlights the deepening divide in American politics, particularly regarding crime control, federal intervention, and the leadership of urban areas. While Johnson’s remarks underscore his firm stance on defending his leadership, the broader debate reflects the tension between local governance and federal authority in a nation divided by ideological lines. Today, this ongoing dispute serves as a stark reminder of the polarization shaping political discourse in America.

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Footage captured by photographer Michael Silverstone shows a coyote calmly crossing the park’s frozen Turtle Pond on Saturday morning. Central Park is home to a small population of coyotes. #coyotes #centralpark #nycnews

Children around the world are suffering from malnutrition. Help UNICEF deliver lifesaving aid to kids in crisis.

A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday to stop President Trump's executive order that seeks to eliminate birthright citizenship.

Mr. Trump invoked presidential powers to begin his immigration crackdown shortly after taking office on Monday. His executive actions included an order directing the federal government to stop issuing passports, citizenship certificates and other documents to many children born in the U.S. whose mothers are in the country illegally, or for whom neither parent is a legal permanent resident.

The lawsuit by the 18 states, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, claims Mr. Trump's initiative violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which the federal government has long interpreted to mean that those born on American soil are citizens at birth. The cities of San Francisco and Washington, D.C., also joined the suit. https://cbsn.ws/4jhVvxA

Stiglitz on this important subject.

TRUMP : THE END OF DEMOCRACY ? JOSEPH STIGLITZ, NOBEL PRIZE 🔥 The Greenletter Club is 100% independent. To help us, click here 👉 https://bit.ly/3ppLx68In this previously unpublished interview, Joseph Stiglitz, winne...

How Wealthy Universities Favor the Rich

Documents released in an antitrust lawsuit show how some elite colleges gave well-connected applicants a leg up in admissions. Are these practices ongoing? https://bit.ly/4g8kP6D

Ever since Donald Trump declared he’d act like a dictator on Day 1 during his presidential campaign, there have been real concerns that he’d be true to his word — that he’d take a series of unilateral actions that threaten the integrity of American democracy.

With Trump’s Inauguration Day in the rearview mirror, we’re in a position to assess just how justified those fears were. Four specific moves — illegally attempting to end birthright citizenship, reviving the Schedule F order that could initiate a civil service purge, reinstating pardons for January 6 rioters, and ordering multiple investigations into the Biden administration — deserve particular attention.

Vox’s Zack Beauchamp explains how Trump’s day one executive orders have already hurt democracy: https://voxdotcom.visitlink.me/eGdxrS

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