Telco Services Australia generated more than $185m in revenue in 2024-25 and $130m the year before but paid zero tax
The Trump administration has perfected the smear campaign
Federal agents shoot two people in Portland, police say Oregon Capital Chronicle
Woman killed by ICE agent in Minneapolis was a mother of 3, poet and new to the city MPR
Feds oust Minnesota investigators from ICE shooting probe Minnesota Reformer
Threatening Prosecutions, JD Vance Blames ‘Left-Wing’ Network—Including Media—for ICE KillingCommon Dreams
ICE AGENT WHO SHOT RENEE NICOLE GOOD IDENTIFIED AS JONATHAN ROSS The Intercept. Reportedly an Iraq War vet.
Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods 404 Media
SCOOP: Senate Negotiators Eye Another ICE Funding Increase Migrant Insider
FROM DAVID BREITENBECK: The Wisdom of Walt Disney: The Themes, Ethics, and Ideas of His Greatest Films
Cold War 2.0 or World War Three: What’s the Difference? Karl Sanchez
Mafia Increases Activities Moon of Alabama. And More Ideas On How To Counter The Mafia’s Increasing Activities Moon of Alabama
ICE Is Going on a Surveillance Shopping Spree
Follow on to ICE boosts weapons spending 600% Via EFF: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has a new budget under the current administration, and they are going on a surveillance tech shopping spree. Standing at $28.7 billion dollars for the year 2025 (nearly triple their 2024 budget) and at least another $56.25 billion over the next three years, ICE’s budget would be the envy of many national militaries around the world.
Indeed, this budget would put ICE as the 14th most well-funded military in the world, right between Ukraine and Israel. There are many different agencies under U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that deal with immigration, as well as non-immigration related agencies such as Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
ICE is specifically the enforcement arm of the U.S. immigration apparatus. Their stated mission is to “[p]rotect America through criminal investigations and enforcing immigration laws to preserve national security and public safety.”
Of course, ICE doesn’t just end up targeting, surveilling, harassing, assaulting, detaining, and torturingpeople who are undocumented immigrants. They have targeted people on work permits, asylum seekers, permanent residents (people holding “green cards”), naturalized citizens, and even citizens by birth.
While the NSA and FBI might be the first agencies that come to mind when thinking about surveillance in the U.S., ICE should not be discounted. ICE has always engaged in surveillance and intelligence-gathering as part of their mission. A 2022 report by Georgetown Law’s Center for Privacy and Technology found the following:
- ICE had scanned the driver’s license photos of 1 in 3 adults.
- ICE had access to the driver’s license data of 3 in 4 adults.
- ICE was tracking the movements of drivers in cities home to 3 in 4 adults.
- ICE could locate 3 in 4 adults through their utility records.
- ICE built its surveillance dragnet by tapping data from private companies and state and local bureaucracies.
- ICE spent approximately $2.8 billion between 2008 and 2021 on new surveillance, data collection and data-sharing programs.
With a budget for 2025 that is 10 times the size of the agency’s total surveillance spending over the last 13 years, ICE is going on a shopping spree, creating one of the largest, most comprehensive domestic surveillance machines in history…”
ICE boosts weapons spending 600%
A Popular Information investigation reveals tens of millions in new ICE spending on guns, chemical weapons, and explosives. “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sharply increased its spending on weapons in 2025, according to an analysis of federal government contracting data by Popular Information.
Records from the Federal Procurement Data System reveal that ICE has increased spending on “small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories manufacturing” by more than 600% compared to 2024 levels. New spending in the small arms category from January 20, 2025, the day Trump was inaugurated, through October 18, totaled $71,515,762.
Most of the spending was on guns and armor, but there have also been significant purchases of chemical weapons and one purchase that was categorized as “guided missile warheads and explosive components.” After the initial publication of this article, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement clarifying that ICE had not purchased guided missle components. The database says the purchase was for “distraction devices.” On September 29, 2025, ICE made a $9,098,590 purchase from Geissele Automatics, which sells semi-automatic and automatic rifles. The total spending by ICE in the small arms category between January 20 and October 18, 2024, was $9,715,843.
Spending by ICE on guns and other weapons this year not only dwarfs spending during the Biden administration but also during Trump’s first term. In 2019, for example, ICE spent $5.7 million on small arms through October 18. Average ICE spending on small arms during Trump’s first four years was about $8.4 million…”
