Doomstead

HINDUSTANTIMES.COM • 2026-01-23

Chloe Villacis GoFundMe: Why ICE detained 2-year-old in Minneapolis amid Liam Ramos outrage (https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/chloe-renata-tipan-villacis-gofundme-ice-detained-2-year-old-father-elvis-joel-tipan-echeverria-liam-ramos-minneapolis-101769189539242.html)

Minneapolis City Councilmember Jason Chavez said a two-year-old, identified as Chloe Renata Tipan Villacis, was taken into custody in Minneapolis

SEATTLETIMES.COM • 2026-01-28

The real meaning of those ICE masks, as blurted out in a WA hearing (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/the-real-meaning-of-those-ice-masks-as-blurted-out-in-a-wa-hearing/)

It was Sheriff Swank, a steadfast Trump supporter, who got to the nub of it from the MAGA perspective, however.  "I don't recognize your authority."  That's the real significance of the masks. They say: We aren't beholden to you. Not to state officials, the public, or the basic workings of democracy. You can't touch us. You don't even know who we are.

SCMP.COM • 2026-01-28

Alex Pretti shot at by 2 different federal agents in Minnesota: report (https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341559/alex-pretti-shot-2-different-federal-agents-minnesota-report)

Investigation under way as report states two different officers fired at Pretti, though it remains unclear if bullets from both struck him

The Trump brownshirts justify the murder of Alex Pretti as a lib who got owned.

They also confuse ICE with law enforcement.  The appropriate comparison is the Einsatzgruppen

(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsun9-32.userapi.com%2Fimpf%2Fem17cxkWL4oiN-Kcn-uHXlNoOwrWNS6Ah4Ug9w%2F9WQMO2m98K4.jpg%3Fsize%3D1920x768%26quality%3D95%26crop%3D0%2C169%2C1660%2C663%26sign%3D82a989dbc7cdbc2f15b89add064e82db%26type%3Dcover_group&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=a7ac74fa6e2c8a44bf6842929769fddc8376a6ec563ac5cc0b54319e9e1b7139)

Police Power: This belongs to the states. It's the power to regulate health, safety, and morals.

Federal Power: This is limited and delegated intended to only enforce the American fascist regime.  State sponsored force, violence, surveillance, and detention that violates local laws is not law enforcement, lets be clear!

EASTBAYTIMES.COM • 2026-01-28

Alex Pretti suffered broken rib during previous clash with feds: report (https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2026/01/28/alex-pretti-broken-rib-ice-dhs-border-security/)

Slain Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti reportedly suffered a broken rib during an encounter with federal agents prior to his fatal shooting.


The fascist spin is to claim Alex was a rabble-rousing terrorist and not a pissed off American.

THEGODPODCAST.COM • 2026-01-27

Dictator Donald Says You Can't Have Guns (https://www.thegodpodcast.com/p/dictator-donald-says-you-cant-have)

Only the Gestapo can have guns.




BERLIN, March 18, 1938

The National Government has promulgated a new Law on Weapons (Waffengesetz) to replace the outdated regulations of 1928. This decree reorganizes the possession of firearms in accordance with the national interest.

Acquisition of rifles and shotguns is henceforth deregulated for reliable citizens. The age of eligibility is lowered from 21 to 18 years.

Official Exemptions: Holders of annual hunting licenses and members of the NSDAP and its formations are granted broader privileges for the carry and possession of arms.

Prohibition for Jews: Under Section 31, Jews are strictly prohibited from the manufacture, trade, or possession of firearms, ammunition, or any stabbing weapons.

Penalties for Violations: Failure to comply with these regulations, particularly the unauthorized possession of weapons by prohibited persons, shall be punished by imprisonment and hard labor. All prohibited items found in the possession of such persons are subject to immediate seizure and confiscation by the Gestapo.

This law enters into force immediately.

Quote from: K-Dog on Jan 28, 2026, 04:50 PM

(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Flookaside.fbsbx.com%2Flookaside%2Fcrawler%2Fmedia%2F%3Fmedia_id%3D939463225315996&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=6b8e7eb9c1eb73f03fb7d1470575740fc7e2a8442c5e5879c44c3c3f04c1fe62)

THEGODPODCAST.COM • 2026-01-27

Dictator Donald Says You Can't Have Guns (https://www.thegodpodcast.com/p/dictator-donald-says-you-cant-have)

Only the Gestapo can have guns.

You can have my guns when you pry my.....etc etc. Maybe there will be an exemption for white guys like the 3 of us?

Quote from: TDoS on Jan 28, 2026, 05:00 PMYou can have my guns when you pry my.....etc etc. Maybe there will be an exemption for white guys like the 3 of us?

Of course.  The brown people are the ones banned from gun ownership, just like the Jews in Nazi Germany.

This wouldn't have helped Alex Pretti of course.

RE

WSWS.ORG • 2026-01-28

Was Alex Pretti the subject of a targeted assassination? (https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/01/28/pxko-j28.html)

Emerging evidence strongly indicates that the murder of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents on January 24 in Minneapolis was a targeted assassination carried out by the Trump administration's paramilitary forces in order to terrorize Minneapolis citizens opposing and recording its criminal activities.

Being as there were two shooters and Alex had already been disarmed, an insect could figure this out.  Yet some humans still manage to twist things to successfully confuse themselves.  Unique in the animal kingdom, only humans can confuse themselves.

FIRSTAMENDMENT.MTSU.EDU • 2023-07-31

Red Scare (https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/red-scare/)

The first commie alarm occurred between 1917 and 1920, induced by WWI and the Bolshevik revolution. A second round of hate panic happened after WWII and into the 1950s.  First Amendment rights providing for free expression and free association were put on trial in both periods.

The Red Scare  is the start of defining some people as dissenting vermin, and the FBI was re-tasked to fight socialism.  After a series of bombings in 1919, a young J. Edgar Hoover was put in charge of the new "General Intelligence Division."

It is not possible to define some people as vermin without some assholes claiming to be special.  The Red Scare as a point of divergence where capitalism got a chip on it's shoulder that would eventually morph into the current fascism makes sense.  Another milestone was the Powell Memo (https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/powellmemo/), and the Supreme Court has greased the wheels of fascism for decades now.  The purpose of the Supreme Court (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained) is to maintain class differences in my opinion. and their contribution to the current sideshow should not be ignored.

MASS.STREETSBLOG.ORG • 2026-01-27

'Kavanaugh Stops' Are Making Streets More Dangerous (https://mass.streetsblog.org/2026/01/27/kavanaugh-stops-are-making-streets-more-dangerous)

In Minneapolis, ICE agents have killed more people than violent drivers so far in 2026, according to Minnesota's crash database.


There are many threads that got America to where it is now. Another thread in the current fabric is raw racism.

Quote from: TDoS on Jan 29, 2026, 03:53 PMI agree completely! Insects could figure it out...but some, for some reason, never will. And that isn't the only topic, there are folks still over at peakoil.com claiming that peak oil

We are not going off again on another of your agonizingly stretched peak oil tangents. 🙄  That post has been redirected to the trash file.

RE

Quote from: RE on Jan 29, 2026, 06:37 PM

Quote from: TDoS on Jan 29, 2026, 03:53 PMI agree completely! Insects could figure it out...but some, for some reason, never will. And that isn't the only topic, there are folks still over at peakoil.com claiming that peak oil

We are not going off again on another of your agonizingly stretched peak oil tangents. 🙄  That post has been redirected to the trash file.

Certainly the need for any discussion of peak oil, this many years after it happened and no one noticed, is apropos for the importance of the concept.  Certainly though it can be used as a marker of sorts, differentiating between those who might be serious on doom, and those adults who still believe in Santa Claus.

Quote from: TDoS on Jan 30, 2026, 02:43 PMCertainly the need for any discussion of peak oil, this many years after it happened and no one noticed, is apropos for the importance of the concept.  Certainly though it can be used as a marker of sorts, differentiating between those who might be serious on doom, and those adults who still believe in Santa Claus.

In threads related more directly to energy it can have a valid reason to add it to the discussion.  Its relation to the  development of fascism and the police state however is far too stretched for worthwhile discussion.  Its just a distraction.

RE

Quote from: RE on Jan 30, 2026, 03:05 PM

Quote from: TDoS on Jan 30, 2026, 02:43 PMCertainly the need for any discussion of peak oil, this many years after it happened and no one noticed, is apropos for the importance of the concept.  Certainly though it can be used as a marker of sorts, differentiating between those who might be serious on doom, and those adults who still believe in Santa Claus.

In threads related more directly to energy it can have a valid reason to add it to the discussion.

Maybe. But peak oil isn't about "energy" the general, but "energy" the specific.

Quote from: REIts relation to the  development of fascism and the police state however is far too stretched for worthwhile discussion.  Its just a distraction.

RE

In a political discussion, sure, it is meaningless. Except for all the times when it was considered directly related to politics by all the folks who didn't have a clue about it. Or energy for that matter.

It mattered when it mattered, until it became a cautionary tale topic. But it shouldn't have ever been involved in politics, as it wasn't politics that figured it out but science. 

Quote from: TDoS on Jan 30, 2026, 04:21 PMIn a political discussion, sure, it is meaningless.

So WTF did you drop it in your post? This thread is as political as they get. yeeesh. I already warned you about doing this once.  3 days cooler time.


RE

As bad as the murders are, this stuff is even worse as far as freedom is concerned.  Talk about unreasonable search and seizure, this App completely OBLITERATES the 4th Amendment.  ICE shoots a pic of you at a demonstration, and POOF! 2 seconds later your life history pops up on the screen.  No doubt this App was used to target Alex Pretti for Assassination.

Himmler and Mueller must be rolling over in their graves with jealousy.

(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRdLCQbupjCWtyvA-Olv1IFIaKjSMOIh7emOQ&s)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/30/ice-surveillance-app-mobile-fortify-authoritarian

ICE's surveillance app is a techno-authoritarian nightmare

RE

Quote from: RE on Jan 30, 2026, 06:50 PMAs bad as the murders are, this stuff is even worse as far as freedom is concerned.  Talk about unreasonable search and seizure, this App completely OBLITERATES the 4th Amendment.  ICE shoots a pic of you at a demonstration, and POOF! 2 seconds later your life history pops up on the screen.  No doubt this App was used to target Alex Pretti for Assassination.

Himmler and Mueller must be rolling over in their graves with jealousy.

(https://chasingthesquirrel.com/weblinks/2026/01/30/718494804.jpg)

THEGUARDIAN.COM • 2026-01-30

ICE's surveillance app is a techno-authoritarian nightmare (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/30/ice-surveillance-app-mobile-fortify-authoritarian)

After taking someone's picture, an ICE agent can now scan for that person's face or fingerprints in a host of government databases that reportedly include more than 200 million images. The agent will immediately obtain vast amounts of information on that person.

ICE's surveillance app is a techno-authoritarian nightmare

RE

They used these tools to know who Alex was, and that he had a gun.  Two shooters shows it was a planned execution.  They knew he had a gun and went straight for it so as to take it off him before the two ICE proud-boys canceled his ticket.  The cretins knew exactly what they were doing, and we all saw it.  We do not all believe it, but we all saw it.  They knew exactly where the gun was.

I have no doubt that the grapevine sent the message out to snuff the first 'lefty' with a gun.  News of which was instantly seasoned with domestic terrorist.  Once upon a time this morally bankrupt plan would have worked.  America would be basted if fear and submit.  But there were two problems.

One problem was Keystone Cops.  For the 'domestic terrorist cover' to work the shootings could not look staged.  They had to look justified enough to spin justification to the public.  Had the perpetrators the necessary brainpower, which they did not, they would have understood that their 'licenses to kill' were dependent on generating the correct propaganda.  From the cretin behind the mask point of view they were being given permission to 'own the libs' and did not think further than that.  Consequently the poorly staged performances are contrived.  Jonathan Ross clearly put himself slightly in front of  Renée Good's car on purpose.  The second case was clearly disarm and shoot.  The combination of Keystone Cops and 4K video ruined these attempts at propaganda and fear.

Another problem is that 'domestic terrorism' does not fit the profiles of either victim at all.  And the idea of an ICU nurse being a domestic terrorist out to kill is so laughable it hurts.  The evil fucks were so gung-ho with their murder plans they forgot to reflect on the fact that not all 'libs' are the same.  Their hate made them stupid, as it does.  For the plan to have worked selecting the victims should have been done with greater care.

In conclusion, not only are the surveillance tools oppressively totalitarian and evil, fools are using them.

SHTFPLAN.COM • 2026-01-26

State-Sanctioned Murder in Minneapolis: Pretti Execution and Trump's Engineered Path to Civil War (https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/state-sanctioned-murder-in-minneapolis-pretti-execution-and-trumps-engineered-path-to-civil-war)

This execution is not an isolated incident. It is the latest and most brazen provocation in a meticulously engineered campaign by the Trump administration to dissolve constitutional rights, crush dissent, and lay the groundwork for martial law.

THEGUARDIAN.COM • 2026-01-31

More than 300 anti-ICE protests planned across US this weekend (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/31/anti-ice-protests-weekend)

"The national day of action is about fighting back against the escalations that the Trump administration has taken against the American people over the past year," said Hunter Dunn, a national press coordinator for 50501 and organizer in southern California. "Reports about the killings of Porter and Campos, the ones not captured on camera, and so many others have pierced the veil for many people who until now were unaware of how bad things had gotten."

Anti-Ice Organization seems to be ramping up.  This is progress, and has caused Trumpolini to soften his rhetoric some and sshuffle around the Top Brass running the show.  Other than that though it's mostly just jawboning and promises with little evidence that there will be much change other thaan trying to be more stealthy about the enforcement.  Until the Masks come off and the warrantless searches are stopped it remains a completely unConstitutionaal abuse of power.

Holding the agents involved in the murders of Goode and Pretti accountable is also essential, but unlikely to happen until an impeachment of Trump begins.  That will depend on what happens with the elections in Nov, and what occurs in the intervening months.  The main question is how long before the next  dissident or immigrant is gunned down.  If they refrain from being trigger happy, protests may dwindle in size.  J6P has a short attention span for such things.

WWW-LEMONDE-FR.TRANSLATE.GOOG • 2026-01-31

"ICE out": Images of thousands of people gathered in the streets of the United States to protest against immigration enforcement (https://www-lemonde-fr.translate.goog/international/article/2026/01/31/ice-out-les-images-des-milliers-de-personnes-rassemblees-dans-les-rues-des-etats-unis-pour-protester-contre-la-police-de-l-immigration_6664861_3210.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en)

Thousands of protesters marched in the streets of major American cities on Friday, January 30 to denounce the arrests made by federal immigration enforcement (ICE), the policies of the Trump administration, and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

KENKLIPPENSTEIN.COM • 2026-01-28

Exclusive: ICE's Secret Watchlists of Americans (https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/ices-secret-watchlists-of-americans)

Sparta, Reaper and Grapevine track protesters, their friends (+ others).

404MEDIA.CO • 2026-01-30

Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE (https://www.404media.co/here-is-the-user-guide-for-elite-the-tool-palantir-made-for-ice/)

404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, which lets ICE bring up dossiers on individual people and provides a "confidence score" of their address.


CURRENTAFFAIRS.ORG • 2026-01-30

Why ICE Treats Phones Like a Deadly Threat (https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/why-ice-treats-phones-like-a-deadly-threat)

The agency wants to control the flow of information, flooding the internet with pro-deportation propaganda and suppressing any evidence of their crimes. No wonder they hate being filmed.

MAXWILBERT.SUBSTACK.COM • 2026-02-03

From Relationships to Organization (https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/from-relationships-to-organization?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9e378cac-73a0-4940-af0e-86ed0b6ad8f3_2048x1536.jpeg&open=false)

Effective resistance depends on a web of relationships that can only be established through in-person, face-to-face organizing.

DAILYSIGNAL.COM • 2026-02-03

Anti-ICE Protesters Want Agents to Wear Body Cameras, But Their Demand May Backfire (https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/02/03/ice-bodycam-demand-may-backfire/)

Bodycams help ICE defend against claims made to obstruct ICE.


Very bad, body-cams only help the police.  It is a tool they use for their own benefit.

COMMONDREAMS.ORG • 2026-02-02

'Surveillance Is Not Accountability': Noem Sending DHS Agents in Minnesota Body Cameras (https://www.commondreams.org/news/ice-body-cameras)

Immigration agents "murdered two people on video since the beginning of the year, and the Trump administration still lied about what happened and tried to justify it," said one critic. "I don't think cameras are the solution."

On the doomscroll the same image is shown.  It was taken from the original which was too wide.  The original is in the article.

The interesting thing is clicking on the above article shows that the picture shown here does not show what is really going on.  To put it more directly, the thumbnail does not give the full picture.  And the thumbnail could be a body cam image.  Same aspect ratio.  People expect video to give answers, but answers may be altogether out of view.

The idea of the average person evaluating video footage scares the shit out of me.  Look at how many people looked at the video from Minneapolis and then called the shootings justified.  People see what they want to see.  People are controlled by bias, and agents with cameras quickly figure out how to use the cameras for their own ends.  To exploit that bias.

And the dog killer is quite all right with that.

NEWSONE.COM • 2026-02-03

Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin From Targeting Documented Haitian Immigrants (https://newsone.com/6817976/trump-admin-blocked-from-targeting-haitian-immigrants/)

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes of Washington granted a request to pause the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging it proceeds.

Quote from: K-DogEffective resistance depends on a web of relationships that can only be established through in-person, face-to-face organizing.

The internet and its popularity would seem to offset face to face organizing. It makes it too easy to pretend to be doing something because....well....doing stuff IRL is harder.

Quote from: TDoS on Feb 03, 2026, 04:31 PM

Quote from: K-DogEffective resistance depends on a web of relationships that can only be established through in-person, face-to-face organizing.

The internet and its popularity would seem to offset face to face organizing. It makes it too easy to pretend to be doing something because....well....doing stuff IRL is harder.

You are correct.  No movement can get traction without face to face interactions.

Quote from: K-Dog on Feb 03, 2026, 04:33 PM

Quote from: TDoS on Feb 03, 2026, 04:31 PM

Quote from: K-DogEffective resistance depends on a web of relationships that can only be established through in-person, face-to-face organizing.

The internet and its popularity would seem to offset face to face organizing. It makes it too easy to pretend to be doing something because....well....doing stuff IRL is harder.

You are correct.  No movement can get traction without face to face interactions.

Well isn't GovCo just lucky, or what!

Basically, the position of the Fascists-in-Charge of ICE is that the law is what we say it is, regardless of what the courts or precedent shows.  What is really ridiculous though is that there is some question of where this policy originates, who is responsible and whether it is malicious and intentional or just incompetence.  It's OBVIOUSLY all of them and equally obvious that the directive comes straight from the very top with the Fascist-in-Chief.  With all the publicity it's IMPOSSIBLE for his Trumpness not to be aware of it, he watches Faux Newz practically 24/7.
(https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Qs7t!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7c894ead-01a5-49c0-86d8-b479efa68d77_1212x574.png)

Equally clear is that they have no intention of rectifying the situation and changing their policies as long as there are no teeth in the courts rulings.  They have to start sending the lawyers to jail, but they're all scared to death of a "Constitutional Crisis" and direct conflict between the Judiciary and Executive branches.  Nobody wants to be the one to rock the boat and kick off a Civil War.  Getting pretty hard to avoid though.

https://www.lawdork.com/p/the-system-sucks-or-what-a-federal

"The system sucks," or what a federal lawyer's comments really tell us about the Trump admin

AXIOS.COM • 2026-02-05

Read: Dems outline 10 demands to GOP in ICE funding fight (https://www.axios.com/2026/02/05/ice-funding-democrats-republicans-schumer-jeffries-letter)

 "Federal immigration agents cannot continue to cause chaos in our cities while using taxpayer money that should be used to make life more affordable for working families," Schumer and Jeffries say in the letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Not a bad list of rules, but also not one Der Fuehrer will likely agree to.  So it's the starting point for negotiations, where it remains to be seen how long they'll drag out another goobermint shutdown?  After that, will the rules they agree to be adhered to?


RE

CBSNEWS.COM • 2026-02-05

Republicans pan Democrats' demands for ICE reform in DHS funding, with little time to reach deal (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-republicans-ice-reforms-democrats-dhs-funding-deadline/)

Thune, a South Dakota Republican, called Democrats' demands "unrealistic and unserious," while saying they aren't "even willing to engage in a negotiation and discussion to try and reach a result."

At least the Dems gave a starting point.  The Reps could come back with their own proposal if they were serious about negotiating.  They don't because Trumpolini doesn't want to accept ANY of the proposed limitations.  They also won't publish because they want to do all the negotiating behind closed doors.

Looks like we'll have a long shutdown.

RE

THENATIONALNEWS.COM • 2026-02-05

Deaths in US immigration detention reach highest level on record (https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/2026/02/03/deaths-in-us-immigration-detention-reach-highest-level-on-record/)

The number of deaths in ICE custody rose to 30 in the 2025 calendar year, surpassing all previous annual totals since records began in the early 2000s. The figure marks a sharp increase from recent years and comes as the average daily number of people held in immigration detention has also climbed to its highest level since before the pandemic.

Actually, there were 32 in 2004 so the headline isn't quite accurate.

RE

More implementation of the 1984 George Orwell training manual.

KENKLIPPENSTEIN.COM • 2026-02-12

Exclusive: ICE Masks Up in More Ways Than One (https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/exclusive-ice-masks-up-in-more-ways?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=7677&post_id=187800662&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2o3y5f&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email)

Feds could be in your group chat.




What could possibly go wrong?

Agent Dan Crockett sat in an unmarked Ford Explorer outside the Alvarez house. On his laptop, Silo displayed Valeria Alvarez's Instagram. Valeria is twenty-three. Her bio said "dental assistant." Her posts showed a niece. Another window showed an appointment reminder for her DACA renewal scheduled for next Thursday.

Valeria had been brought from Chihuahua at age two by her parents. She had DACA. This mattered less than it used to.

Before joining ICE, Crockett had marched in Charlottesville. He carried a Proud Boys coin in his pocket.

Crockett was now assigned to Digital Community Engagement. Silo let him appear as a local user anywhere he wished to be. Crockett had requested to follow Valeria's private Instagram three weeks ago. She approved. He knew her schedule, her friends, her fears about her mother's diabetes. This was "masked engagement." No warrant required.

March 3, 2026. 6:47 a.m. Valeria Alvarez stopped at Mesa and Doniphan. Crockett hit his lights. She pulled over immediately.  Her hands visible on the wheel. Her DACA was current. Her paperwork was all in order. She had never received so much as a traffic ticket. She should have no reason to fear, but fear gripped her.

"Step out."

She did. She asked why she was pulled over.

"Your status is under review," said Crockett. "You're coming with us."

She was locked into the back seat of a car which had the interior door handles removed. The drive to the El Paso sector station took twenty-two minutes. A few minutes later she was in an interview room. Crockett closed the door. He hung his vest on a chair.

"Stand up."

She stood.

"Turn around."

She turned. She was crying. She asked what was happening.

Crockett said nothing. He removed his belt. He placed his sidearm on the table, within her reach, within his reach.

What happened next took four minutes and was not captured on the unplugged camera.

She said no. She said stop. Crockett told her to shut up. When he finished, he pulled up his trousers and told her to fix her skirt.

He opened the door. Outside the door a transport officer waited.

"She's ready for removal."

Valeria Alvarez had lived in the U.S. for twenty-one years. This did not matter. No one gave her the opportunity to produce documents. No one asked her how long she had lived here. Crockett and his fellow agents did not care.

She was transported to the El Paso Port of Entry at 9:22 a.m. She told the secondary officer she had been assaulted. The officer, a twenty-year veteran, ignored her. Valeria was placed on a van to Ciudad Juárez at 11:05 a.m.

She did not know who had raped her. She only knew his face.

Crockett logged his activity in Silo at 11:47 a.m.

Subject: Alvarez, Valeria.
Status: Removed.
Intelligence yield: Negative.
Engagement type: Masked (alias Marcus Vance).

The system accepted the entry and all evidence of Marcus Vance was erased.

Valeria Alvarez stood at the Paso del Norte bridge holding her empty purse. Her phone and car keys were gone. In a few hours her life for the past twenty-one years had been erased.