State House Spotlight: Weed, housing, and ICE
The House of Representatives passed a major marijuana bill, changing the structure of the Cannabis Control Commission, regulating and taxing convenience store hemp products, and more.
Should Massachusetts keep religious exemptions to vaccine mandates?
The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced a new housing initiative this week, turning unused state land into 3,500 new housing units. 'If you are a city or town that's had state properties languishing for years, underutilized, now you're going to have a chance to do something about that,' said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. 'Not only providing new housing that's going to serve your community and serve the commonwealth, but also create new tax revenues.'
ICE announced that it made nearly 1,500 arrests during May. They say their focus is on illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes and drug offenses. 'These are defendants who didn't simply cross a border, they crossed a line and jeopardized the safety of Massachusetts communities,' said U.S. Attorney Leah Foley.
This announcement comes just days after a Milford high schooler with no criminal record was detained. He has since been released on bail.
The governor once again spoke out against the Trump Administration. This week, they decided to shutter Job Corps centers that provide job training and housing to at-risk youth.
In western Massachusetts, over 300 students and 170 employees would be affected by the Job Corps closure, which has been temporarily delayed by a New York judge.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Washington Post
31 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Once it was mostly a taco website. Now it's covering L.A. ICE raids.
It all happened so quickly. On June 6, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descended upon Los Angeles, raiding businesses and arresting more than 40 people. Once word got out on social media, protests began and L.A. Taco's six-person news team headed out to the streets. Investigative reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray captured video of police firing pepper balls at protesters and media at the downtown Los Angeles Federal Building. The next day, law enforcement shot pepper balls at him and other journalists, he said. In five years of covering protests and civil unrest in the city, he had never seen anything like that.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Whole Hog Politics: Discontentment, democracy and the promise of Independence Day
On the menu: Concern over ICE tactics; Tillis blows up N.C. Senate race; SupCo may throw parties a lifeline; Greene with envy; Hacking into the job market It should surprise no one that democracy isn't very popular these days. Watching Congress cough up a budget bill like an asthmatic house cat with a hairball doesn't exactly fill one with confidence. A recent Pew Research survey looked at how satisfied residents of nations around the globe were with 'the way democracy is working in their country.' Notably, among the residents of 12 mostly wealthy, mostly stable nations — Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States — 64 percent of adults said they were dissatisfied, compared to 35 percent who were satisfied. On the one hand, so what? As Winston Churchill said, 'democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried.' People don't like the way democratic government works, but they're not really supposed to. Democracy is like a lot of good things in life: more valuable for what it prevents rather than what it delivers. If the alternative to self-government is tyranny, then imperfect democracy is a gift to be cherished. That's why Americans should feel more than a little superior on this, the 249th birthday of our democracy — the oldest unbroken one in the world. And yet, compared with the residents of other wealthy nations, Americans are feeling pretty lousy about government by 'We the people.' The same survey found that 64 percent of Americans were dissatisfied, dramatically worse than the countries with which we share the most in common: 23 points worse than Canada, 11 points worse than the United Kingdom, 23 points worse than Germany and 23 points worse than Australia. The trend in the U.S. and among other wealthy nations generally, though, has been downward. In 2017, the average for America's cohort was 49 percent satisfied, 49 percent dissatisfied. Eight years later, it's a spread of almost 30 points. Every country has its own reasons for its frustrations with democracy, including those places like Hungary and South Korea, which of late have been struggling mightily to maintain some kind system that is both functional and democratic. But in the United States, the richest, freest, safest nation in the history of the world, it doesn't seem right. Why does the apex nation feel so crummy about its system of government? Part of it is no doubt a version of affluenza in which Americans have come to see self-government in a Madisonian democracy based on equal rights and equal protections as the default. While we may be the stark exception to the great powers of history, it is normal to us. Like all good things in great supply, we take liberty for granted. But it may also be a misunderstanding of cause and effect. The temptation for Americans for more than a century has been to think that we have freedom and self-government because we are rich and powerful. The truth is that we are rich and powerful because we have freedom and self-government. America is now in its 250th year. One year from today in Philadelphia, we will celebrate that grand achievement: truly the envy of the world. And when we do, one suspects Americans will still be unhappy with their system of government. And again, how could you blame them? Our politics are rotten and our government can barely perform its basic duties. National elections have turned into battles royale in which winners get to spend two or four years trying to punish the other side only for the other side to then get its turn with the shillelagh. Back and forth we go, each time a little meaner and a little more dysfunctional. It should be remembered that this is a perversion of our system, not the system itself. Unlike the residents of other nations that built their systems out of local custom grafted with American-style democracy, this is our own birthright. The declaration made in Philadelphia 249 years ago today that all men are created equal is the inheritance of every American citizen, wherever she or he was born. When we are dissatisfied with our democracy, we don't need a different sort of government, we have to go back to what made us great in the first place. We have the source code if we are willing to reclaim it. To that end, I'd ask that you take a moment in today's celebration to remember the gift that we have been given. What President Calvin Coolidge said in speech celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding is just as true today: 'No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.' Amen, amen. Happy Independence Day. May your barbecues, like this newsletter, be whole hog. [Make sure to watch a special episode of 'The Hill Sunday with Chris Stirewalt' this Sunday at 10 a.m. ET on NewsNation and local CW stations as guests including Adm. William McRaven and professor Robert P. George explore practical patriotism for America's 250th year.] Holy croakano! We welcome your feedback, so please email us with your tips, corrections, reactions, amplifications, etc. at WHOLEHOGPOLITICS@ . If you'd like to be considered for publication, please include your real name and hometown. If you don't want your comments to be made public, please specify. NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION Trump Job Performance Average Approval: 42 percent Average Disapproval: 53.2 percent Net Score: –11.2 Change from one week ago: ↑ 1.2 points Change from one month ago: ↓ 3.4 points [Average includes: Marist College 43 percent approve – 52 percent disapprove; Emerson College 45 percent approve – 46 percent disapprove; Quinnipiac University 41 percent approve – 54 percent disapprove Ipsos/Reuters 41 percent approve – 57 percent disapprove Gallup 40 percent approve – 57 percent disapprove] Majority concerned about ICE raids How would you describe the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in enforcing immigration laws? Do you think they have: Gone too far: 54 percent About right: 26 percent Not gone far enough: 18 percent [Marist College poll of 1,381 adults nationally, June 23-25] ON THE SIDE: LAST DAYS OF THE RAJ IN MAGAZINELAND NYT: 'As the longtime editor in chief of Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter was accustomed to big expenses … But in early 2001, he wondered if he had gone too far. Annie Leibovitz, the magazine's chief photographer, had run up a $475,000 bill on a cover shoot involving 10 world-famous actresses — Nicole Kidman, Penélope Cruz, Sophia Loren — and an elaborate stage set, complete with a mantelpiece and a genuine John Singer Sargent painting, which was flown from Los Angeles to New York to London. ('It was like Vietnam, the expenses,' Mr. Carter recalled.) Now, he needed to tell his boss, S.I. Newhouse Jr., the billionaire owner and patron of Condé Nast, about the latest line item on his tab. … 'Well, I think we just shot the most expensive cover in magazine history.' A pause. 'What's the good news?' 'It looks like a $475,000 cover.' It was the equivalent of roughly $850,000 today. Mr. Newhouse was fine with it.' PRIME CUTS Tillis's exit supercharges N.C. Senate race: The Hill: 'Sen. Thom Tillis's (R-N.C.) decision to not seek reelection to another term has scrambled the field for what will be one of the most competitive Senate races in the country next year. The North Carolina Senate race was already going to be one of the most-discussed contests of the 2026 midterms as one of the two main targets for Democrats hoping to at least narrow the Republican majority in the body. But with Tillis out, the race appears set to become even more hotly contested as big names on both sides of the aisle are floated as potential candidates, including Lara Trump and former Gov. Roy Cooper (D). … 'I think it's changed the calculus tremendously because … Tillis was going to be not impossible but difficult to beat,' said North Carolina Democratic strategist Doug Wilson. … Democrats previously acknowledged the challenge they would face in defeating Tillis for a third term but expressed hope, especially if the popular former two-term Gov. Cooper enters the race. Cooper has been considering a bid, but the North Carolina-based NBC affiliate WRAL reported that he won't decide for at least a few more weeks.' Sherrill opens big lead in New Jersey as Trump influence looms large: New Jersey Globe: 'Democrat Mikie Sherrill has a 20-point lead over Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the New Jersey governor's race, with President Donald Trump figuring prominently in voters' decisions, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released this morning. Sherrill leads Ciattarelli, 51%-31%, with 13% undecided. When leaners are included, Sherrill's lead grows to 56%-35%. … More than half of New Jersey (52%) say Trump's presidency is a major factor in who they'll support for governor, while 18% call it a minor factor and 30% say it won't affect them at all. 'Trump's influence appears to be more of a benefit to Sherrill right now, given key groups more likely to support her are also more likely to claim the president is a factor in their vote choice, while those more supportive of Ciattarelli do not.' … 'While Trump's endorsement may have helped in the primaries, these numbers are an early sign that the endorsement may play differently when it comes to the general.'' Super PACs beware: SupCo could restore flow of campaign cash to parties: Washington Post: 'The Supreme Court will hear a significant campaign finance case next term that will examine whether it violates the Constitution to restrict the amount of money that political parties can spend in coordination with individual candidates on advertising and other communications. The case has the potential to reshape election spending in a major way. The restrictions being challenged were established in the early 1970s during the Nixon era to try to prevent donors from contributing to parties as a way to skirt limits on direct giving to candidates. Richard H. Pildes, a New York University law professor, said ending the limits could shift the balance of financial might from outside groups that have come to dominate campaign spending to political parties that were once the major players. 'It would at a minimum open up more opportunities for political parties to work with their campaigns,' Pildes said. 'More expansively, it could lead to political parties regaining some of the ground they lost to the Super PACs over the last 20 years.'' SHORT ORDER Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to run as an independent in attempt to succeed Whitmer — NBC News Stampede starts to replace longtime Rep. Dwight Evans in deep-blue Philly district — Pennsylvania Capital-Star Dems take the safe bet in Virginia, picking former Connolly aide to succeed late congressman — Associated Press New poll finds Adams trailing behind Silwa — The Hill Republican overperforms in San Diego special election — Newsweek TABLE TALK Narrator: It was actually over 'There's no way that [Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)] has the votes in the House for this [reconciliation bill]. I think it's far from over.' — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in an interview hours before the House voted to advance the legislation. MAILBAG 'I've seen various headlines about various political folks wanting to arrest New York City wunderkind [Zohran Mamdani]. But on what legitimate legal basis? Is there a whiff that he's done anything wrong on his immigration paperwork? An article on that might be helpful as New York City voters make up their minds on the three top current candidates. As well it might be integrated with a deep dive into the various criminal allegations against [Mayor Eric Adams] and ex-Governor [Andrew Cuomo].' — David Tomsovic, San Diego Mr. Tomsovic, In the ledger of moral bankruptcy that describes Woodrow Wilson's time as president, there are many contenders for what might be the very worst thing he did: Jailing the women protesting for suffrage, screening a pro-Klan movie at the White House, pumping out fake news through a propaganda newspaper, etc. But the worst is probably jailing his political opponents and using the Justice Department to harass and intimidate dissenters. Wilson's government imprisoned Eugene Debs, the Socialist candidate for president along with many other opponents of World War I. The argument from President Trump and some in his party is that Mamdani's opinions and policies are sufficient to merit denaturalizing the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. Revoking a political opponent's citizenship from a country where he has lived since age 7 is tantamount to exile, a very czarist kind of thing to do. Those in power argue that only immigrants with desirable views should be allowed to stay, even those who have earned and maintained their citizenship. On one hand, we can assume that this is mostly trolling. Trump loves nothing more than saying what is supposed to be forbidden. And if it lets him leverage up another politician's social media heat, so much the better. But we must always remember the continuum of Trump rhetoric by which strange things become serious policy: It's a joke to own the libs; it's meant to be taken seriously but not literally; promises made, promises kept. So far, it's surely helping Mamdani in a city where, by some estimates, 40 percent of residents are immigrant. Trump is little loved in his hometown, so Mamdani being able to say that he is standing up to Trump and drawing Trump's ire is probably a very helpful thing politically. But we should keep an eye on this one. Republicans who complained about 'lawfare' targeting the former and future president after his 2020 defeat should be the most opposed to any such interventions, and yet, here we are. All best, c 'Have you read any Ross Thomas? His brand of wit and cynicism is, to me, unmatched in most of the political thrillers (the works of Charles McCarry notably excepted) from the 1960s to today. 'The Seersucker Whipsaw' (1967), about an American southerner sent to run (read: rig) an electoral campaign in Africa is my favorite, but the best title goes to 1970's 'The Fools in Town Are On Our Side,' which comes from a delightful Mark Twain quote in which he declares that that constituency 'is a big enough majority in any town.' Reading an old Ross Thomas paperback makes me feel weirdly comforted in our own wild political times.' — Drew Beardslee, Grand Ledge, Mich. Mr. Beardslee, I have not, but you can bet that as soon as I read your favorable comparison to McCarry it went right into my shopping cart! My love of what I still think of as 'detective stories' probably had deeper roots in my childhood, but I will never forget the summer in college that I discovered and devoured everything by James Ellroy. McCarry came later, but once I had finished 'Shelley's Heart,' I was off to the races. My quibble, though, is about the use of the word 'cynicism.' I don't see McCarry's Paul Christopher or McCarry's other 'good guys' as cynical, certainly not about themselves. These stories, like Ellroy's, are about people who are willing to do the right thing even when the rest of the world has gone wrong. They have codes and they live by them, even at great costs. If you want cynics, read John le Carré. Thanks much for the recommendation. I will report back! All best, c You should email us! Write to WHOLEHOGPOLITICS@ with your tips, kudos, criticisms, insights, rediscovered words, wonderful names, recipes, and, always, good jokes. Please include your real name — at least first and last — and hometown. Make sure to let us know in the email if you want to keep your submission private. My colleague, the star-spangled Meera Sehgal, and I will look for your emails and then share the most interesting ones and my responses here. Clickety clack! FOR DESSERT: HE APPLIED ONLINE TechRadar: 'A man has pleaded guilty to hacking multiple organizations only to promote his own cybersecurity services. Nicholas Michael Kloster, a 32-year-old from Kansas City, was indicted in 2024 for breaching three organizations, including a health club and a Missouri nonprofit organization. During the incident, Kloster emailed business owners claiming responsibility for the attacks, and offering consulting services to prevent future cyberattacks, and his fate will soon be determined. In one case, Kloster accessed a gym's systems by breaching a restricted area. He manipulated the system to remove his own photo from the member database before reducing his monthly membership fee to $1. He then explained to the business owner that he had bypassed login credentials for security cameras and accessed router settings.' Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for The Hill and NewsNation, the host of 'The Hill Sunday' on NewsNation and The CW, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of books on politics and the media. MeeraSehgalcontributed to this report.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
More ICE Deaths 'Inevitable' as Detention Numbers Soar
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Deaths in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers look set to surpass the previous year's total, with three months still to go. With 12 people confirmed to have died while in ICE custody since October 2024, when the current Fiscal Year began, the number has already matched the previous year's total. Human rights groups are warning more are certain. "These deaths are clearly attributable to the Trump administration's increased and aggressive detention policies, and I have no doubt that when more complete investigations take place, it will likely provide information that these deaths were likely preventable," Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) National Prison Project, told Newsweek. The latest death came on June 26, when 75-year-old Cuban national Isidro Perez, in the country for decades, passed away in a hospital after suffering a heart issue while in a Miami ICE facility. In response to that news, President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan told reporters outside the White House: "People die in ICE custody." To be sure, ICE detention centers are not alone in experiencing deaths of detainees, with the the U.S. prison system — at both federal and state levels — frequently reporting deaths among inmates. In 2019, the mortality rate across the prison system was 259 per 100,000 inmates, based on Department of Justice figures showing 4,234 deaths in prisons at state and federal level nationwide. By comparison, the mortality rate of ICE detainees at the current numbers would work out to about 21.3 deaths per 100,000 people. The ICE population also has a far quicker turnaround than the prison system. How Many Immigrants Die In ICE Custody? In fiscal year 2022, running from the previous October through September 2022, three people died in ICE detention – the lowest number since reporting was mandated by Congress in 2018. The highest recent yearly death total came in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with 21 deaths across the agency's various facilities. Those facilities are often run by private companies contracted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ICE repeatedly says that individuals in its charge receive high-quality medical assessments and care, including 24-hour emergency medicine. But several independent reports over recent years, including from the ACLU and Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, have given a very different picture of the conditions facing detainees who are awaiting immigration hearings or deportation. In 2024, the ACLU outlined a lack of oversight when it came to ICE detention deaths, suggesting evidence may have destroyed and highlighting efforts to blame low-level employees for the incidents. The organization, working alongside others, found that many deaths were likely preventable, should medical care have been more readily accessible. "People are dying preventable deaths in [Homan's] direct custody," Cho said. "People are dying because of the lack of constitutionally required medical care that should be provided to anybody in government custody." A Growing Number of Detainees A year later, far more people are being placed in ICE detention. Since January, the Trump administration has been increasing its efforts to arrest and detain illegal immigrants. While Congress has allocated funding for around tens of thousands of more beds in the current tax bill, the number of detainees stood at roughly 56,300 as of mid-June. "There's never been a time where immigration detention hasn't been deadly, so it's just inevitable that the more people we detain, the more people who are going to die," Anthony Enriquez, the vice president of U.S. advocacy and litigation at RFK Human Rights, told Newsweek. ICE is struggling with limited capacity and resources to fulfill its mission of millions of deportations. In addition to the new funds being allocated to the agency by Congress, the White House is trying other novel ways to expand capacity, from repurposing Guantanamo Bay to new detention center contracts issued for private companies GEO Group and CoreCivic, to the new so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" in southern Florida. Following a tour of the new detention facility on Tuesday, which includes bunkbeds stacked together in wire-fenced cages, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem praised the standards on offer. "Alligator Alcatraz can be a blueprint for detention facilities across the country. It will provide DHS with the beds and space needed to safely detain the worst of the worst," she posted on social media. President Donald Trump tours "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Florida. President Donald Trump tours "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Florida. AP Photo/Evan Vucci All of this is to deliver on the president's promise of mass deportations. Trump returned to the White House promising upwards of 11 million immigrants without legal status would be deported, targeting the "worst of the worst" first. Records have shown that a large share of those currently in detention do not have a criminal record, but civil immigration offenses instead. "A lot of people misunderstand the purpose and the nature of immigration detention, and they think that if it's a detention center, then it's a jail, and if it's a jail, then that means this is someone who has already been found guilty of some type of bad act and should be serving a punishment," Enriquez said. "But in fact, many of the people in immigration detention do have lawful status to be here in the United States." Cho, of the ACLU, told Newsweek that ICE was not exercising discretion with respect to those it was now detaining. Because more people are remaining in detention when they previously would have been released, the situation is leading to a "deterioration of conditions in custody," he said. "My fear is this trajectory is only going to increase," Cho said. "That is because Congress is on the cusp of passing a new reconciliation bill that is providing $45 billion to the expansion of immigration detention in the country, and I want to compare that to the current $4 billion that ICE already receives every year for its already massive immigration detention system. "This amount of money is going to provide ICE with the ability to not only double, triple, quadruple the capacity of people who are being held in immigration detention, it is going to allow a system that is larger than the entire federal Bureau of Prisons population put together, under the care of someone like Tom Homan who has expressed total disregard for the fact that people are dying in custody." Newsweek reached out to ICE via email Tuesday for comment on the increase in deaths and measures being taken to prevent any more. The agency did not reply before publication.
