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Trump’s anti-immigrant tirade continued unabated on the day after Thanksgiving. Although his xenophobia appeals to a shrinking subset of MAGA supporters, it offends the sense of humanity, decency, and fairness of most Americans. It took the president only six months to turn his 2024 campaign’s signature issue—immigration scaremongering—into a losing issue for Trump and MAGA extremists. See Politico (6/11/25), Trump is under water on some of his top issues — including immigration, poll shows, and Real Clear Politics Polling (11/28/25), President Trump Job Approval - Immigration.
The fact that Trump is leaning into a losing issue does nothing to ease the suffering or remove the sting of his hateful actions. He is deporting real people and threatening to upend the lives of legal residents, asylum seekers, and long-time members of American society who live and work peacefully despite their uncertain immigration status.
Americans are pushing back against Trump’s cruelty by protesting, raising the alarm when ICE / CBP agents are near, and documenting the thuggish tactics used to detain people for civil violations of immigration laws. Legal advocacy organizations are fighting and winning in federal district courts, although some federal courts of appeal and the reactionary majority on the US Supreme Court have enabled Trump’s policies that seek to deny due process to immigrants subject to deportation.
While we must continue those efforts, real relief will come only when we take back the House, Senate, and presidency. That timeline feels like an eternity to those who are threatened by Trump’s appeal to the ugliest impulses that lurk beneath the surface of American society. In the meantime, we must stand in solidarity with the immigrant communities being threatened by Trump. We must speak out in their defense while offering support and understanding.
Trump’s cruelty should hasten and broaden the defeat that the GOP will suffer in the 2026 midterms. But it is not enough for us to rely on the feelings of outrage and revulsion by most Americans toward Trump’s anti-immigrant policies. We must work tirelessly for a comprehensive overhaul of our broken immigration system to ensure that the US remains a haven for those seeking asylum and economic opportunity. As I wrote yesterday, America is a great nation because of immigration, and we will remain a great nation because of immigration.
Trump pardons a high-profile drug trafficker while killing fishermen in boats suspected of smuggling drugs
In a truly bizarre and hypocritical development, Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in the US of drug trafficking and weapons charges. See The Guardian, Trump to pardon ex-Honduras leader serving drug trafficking sentence in US | Donald Trump.
During closing arguments in Hernandez’s criminal trial, a US prosecutor said that Hernandez “paved a cocaine superhighway to the United States.”
Per Times Now,
According to federal prosecutors, Hernández transformed Honduras’ deep-rooted narco-state characteristics into a fully institutionalized model, taking millions in bribes from cocaine traffickers, including money linked to El Chapo and the Sinaloa Cartel, while using the power of his office to protect them.
Why is Trump pardoning a man who was in league with the most powerful South American drug cartels? Trump appears to be meddling in Honduran politics, which is in the midst of a presidential election. Trump’s favored candidate is a member of the same party as Hernandez, the National Party of Honduras.
Trump’s pardon of the drug-smuggling, cartel-loving ex-president of Honduras is in stark contrast to the killing of defenseless survivors of the latest US attack on a suspected drug boat in international waters. See CNN Politics, US military carried out second strike killing survivors on a suspected drug boat that had already been attacked, sources say.
The details in this incident are even more horrific than the usual extra-judicial killing of non-combatant civilians. After the US destroyed the suspected drug boat, members of the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) spotted survivors in or around the wreckage of the boat. Members of SOCOM then fired upon and killed those survivors of the first attack.
Targeting and killing survivors who are unable to defend themselves is a violation of the law of war—and likely a war crime and murder under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
As explained by Sarah Harrison, a former associate general counsel at the Pentagon who now serves as a senior analyst at the Crisis Group think tank.
They’re killing civilians in the first place, and then if you assume they’re combatants, it’s also unlawful — under the law of armed conflict, if somebody is ‘hors de combat’ and no longer able to fight, then they have to be treated humanely.
The rules of war for the treatment of survivors of a shipwreck caused by combat are summarized by the International Committee of the Red Cross as follows
All wounded, sick or shipwrecked persons, no matter what party they belong to, must be respected and protected.
The wounded and sick must be respected and protected in all circumstances. This means that they may not be attacked, killed or ill-treated, and that the parties must take steps to help them and protect them from harm.
Parties to the conflict have to take all possible measures to search for and collect the wounded and sick. Put simply, parties to conflict must also provide the best possible care as quickly as possible.
Thus, under international law, if people survived the destruction of their boat on the high seas, the obligation of SOCOM was to rescue and treat the survivors humanely. Instead, members of SOCOM shot a second missile (or drone) at defenseless civilians clinging to wreckage in international waters.
SOCOM is under the command of Admiral Frank M. Bradley, a graduate of the US Naval Academy and a former member of SEAL Team Six. He has served his country with distinction for three decades. The unit under his command, SOCOM, is now targeting and killing defenseless civilian survivors of an illegal attack. The only honorable thing for Bradley to do is to resign his post immediately and refer those who carried out the attack for a court-martial.
Of course, we must not ignore the fact that the first salvo against the boat was illegal under the law of war, the UCMJ, and the US rules of engagement. As Senator Rand Paul said after the attack (per The Intercept),
The recent drone attack on a small speedboat over 2,000 miles from our shore without identification of the occupants or the content of the boat is in no way part of a declared war and defies our longstanding Coast Guard rules of engagement, which include: warnings to halt, non-lethal force to capture, and ultimately lethal force in self-defense or in cases of resistance.
Indeed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that “the U.S. could have halted the ship and arrested the crew but chose to kill them instead. Instead of interdicting it, on the president’s orders, we blew it up — and it’ll happen again.”
Rubio’s statement is an admission of the illegality of the US attacks on non-combatant civilians suspected of drug smuggling—i.e., people engaged in the same activity for which now-pardoned ex-president Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted after trial!
But it gets worse.
CNN and other outlets are reporting that “action on land” will start “very soon” against alleged drug cartels in Venezuela. See CNN Politics, US military carried out second strike killing survivors on a suspected drug boat that had already been attacked, sources say.
To be clear, when one nation launches an attack into the sovereign territory of another nation with the purpose of killing residents of the sovereign nation, that is called “war.” So, the appropriate description of what is about to happen is “Trump will start a war with Venezuela”—not **“**Trump will attack cartels in Venezuela.”
Under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, only Congress has the authority to declare war.
But regardless of what Trump or the media call the impending attack on civilians in Venezuela, Trump is required to comply with the War Powers Act, which requires the president to provide notice to Congress within 48 hours of committing the US to an armed conflict.
Don’t hold your breath for Trump to comply with the War Powers Act. He has eviscerated much of Article I without so much as a peep from congressional Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress. That is why it is so important for us to seize control of Congress in 2026.
Opportunities for Reader Engagement
Please join me, Simon Rosenberg, and Senate Circle on Tuesday, December 2, at 2:30 p.m. Pacific / 5:30 p.m. Eastern for the Alaska Democratic Party.
The leadership of the Alaska Democratic Party is actively working to transform Alaska into the type of success we’ve seen in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina. Recognizing the power of grassroots, their top priority is to hire an organizing director to coordinate and recruit volunteers. In 2026, the party will seek to flip races for US Senator, US Representative, Alaska Governor, and seek to maintain the tripartisan coalitions in the State legislature.
Where: RSVP for the Zoom or Donate to the Alaska Democratic Party: Help the Alaska DemocraticParty Hire an Organizing Director and Harness the Power of the Grassroots
Please join me for a special Movement Voter Project program, “The Road to the House Runs Through California,” on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at 5:00 pm Pacific/8:00 pm Eastern.
I will be offering my perspectives on the current political and media landscapes and what it will take to win the House. Organizers from Communities for a New California(CNC) will discuss how they are working to regain and energize Latino voters in the San Joaquin and Coachella Valleys.
Movement Voter Project funds local organizing and movement-building groups that are working to engage potential voters, win power, and shape policy. MVP operates like a “mutual fund” for political giving - raising money from donors, then channeling it toward the most impactful grassroots organizations around the country.
Register here. Although this is a fundraiser for MVP, you do not need to donate to attend the event.
Concluding Thoughts
While it can feel as though there is nothing we can do to stop Trump’s illegal and inhumane actions, our protests are having an effect. The national and local protests have weakened Trump and his party. We must exploit those weaknesses to our advantage in 2026 by driving our margins of victory to levels that signal incontestable mandates for change. We must strive to gain control of both chambers of Congress—the surest way to curtail Trump’s reign of lawlessness prior to 2028.
We have seized the momentum and captured public sentiment. That is a good start, but it is meaningless unless we turn those advantages into votes. We don’t need to do anything differently; we just need to continue on our current path, in greater numbers, with greater frequency, and with greater passion. Those are tall orders, but we are up to the task!
Stay strong, everyone! Talk to you tomorrow!
Pro-democracy protest photos
Santa Rosa, CA:
We have regular protests and banner drops up here in Sonoma County, CA, with actions happening nearly every day.
Today I went to our current Santa Rosa banner drop, and even though it was the day after Thanksgiving and very, very cold, a few of us came out. Our leader for this effort estimated that 10,000 cars an hour were passing under our banners. (Usually, there are many more folks on the bridge, but most were taking a much-needed break today.)
Littleton, NH:
Our North Country Resilience folks marched in the Littleton, NH Christmas Parade today. We even received “The Rudolph Award” for Best Presentation by a Non-Float Entry. We marched with signs about the things our “Wish Brigade” is wishing for. Attached is a photo of our group before we began marching.
Missoula, MT:
Our Visibility Brigade, out there every week! Missoula Montana!
Wilder, VT:
ACLU says major ICE raid, Plymouth,NH. About 30 were grabbed and transferred to MA. I can’t find a link. Candlelight vigil Sunday, 11/30, Littleton Common.
Daily Dose of Perspective
The Rho Ophiuchi Nebula is located 460 light-years from Earth. Although reference photos show that the ionized and backlit gas in the nebula glows in multiple colors, my image captured only blue tones. Ah, well! A pleasing image nonetheless!
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