It’s Just Nice; No Doubt Each of Us Can Do This- 🍵

(My cup emoji is not yellow. sigh)

Interesting Bit About Socials

Social Media Are Now a DIY Alert System for ICE Raids

The undocumented migrant community in the United States is using social networks and other digital platforms to send alerts about raids and the presence of immigration agents around the US.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (Chirla) estimates that in recent days, around 300 migrants have been detained in California as part of raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in compliance with an order issued by the Trump administration.

This figure is based on collaborative reports compiled by the Rapid Response Network, an alliance comprised of dozens of organizations that provide support to migrants and disseminate information about immigration detentions and operations.

Angelica Salas, director of Chirla, described the raids as a phenomenon “never seen before” in the three decades she has been defending migrant communities, according to statements reported by The Los Angeles Times.

Jorge Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the same organization, told the EFE news agency that most of the detainees are not criminals, “as the US government has tried to portray them.” He indicated that most of those arrested are workers from Los Angeles, although arrests have also been documented in other parts of the state.

In the midst of intense protests against Trump’s immigration policies, these operations are expected to continue in Los Angeles for at least 30 days, according to US representative Nanette Barragan, citing data provided by the White House. Likewise, an escalation of these actions is anticipated nationwide, after the administration announced its goal of making up to 3,000 arrests per day.

Several migrant-rights organizations have warned about possible violations of due process of people targeted by ICE. They have denounced ICE for restricting access to detainees on multiple occasions, which could limit their right to adequate legal representation.

Watching ICE

This situation has generated concern among the undocumented population, most of whom are of Hispanic origin, which has intensified the use of social networks to alert people about the presence of immigration agents in different regions of the US.

In a search conducted by the WIRED en Español team, several groups and pages were identified on digital platforms dedicated to receiving, verifying, and disseminating reports about ICE checkpoints, patrols, and raids. The origin of these profiles is diverse: Some are managed by well-known nongovernmental organizations and activist collectives, while others were created by private members of the migrant community.

redadas ICE

Alerts about operations are disseminated through direct messages, WhatsApp, or posts on each page’s feed. In turn, it is possible to anonymously report the presence of immigration agents through private text messages or calls to specific phone numbers.

In general, users are asked for basic data such as time, date, city, state, and exact location of the operation, as well as photographs or videos when it is possible to document them. In addition to issuing real-time alerts, many of these pages offer free legal guidance, not only on migration issues, but also on labor rights, access to health, education, and other key services.

Some of the networks active in this work include:

Union del Barrio California

This grassroots pro-immigrant organization maintains an active presence on Facebook. It conducts community patrols to detect ICE movement, shares urgent alerts, and organizes workshops on legal rights.

Chirla

With constant activity on Facebook and other platforms, Chirla publishes notifications about raids, provides legal advice, and calls for citizen mobilizations in the face of new raids.

Stop ICE Raids Alert Network

This network distributes emergency alerts and offers assistance to people affected by ICE raids. In addition to its social network accounts, it has a web page that allows people to receive geolocalized notifications in real time.

Siembra NC

This organization operates primarily in North Carolina. Through its Facebook page, it promotes a whistleblower hotline (336-543-0353). Although its focus is on Alamance, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Orange, Wake, Randolph, and Rockingham counties, it has a statewide presence across North Carolina.

RadarSafe

This project uses the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), a system for sending out digital emergency alerts, to provide secure information on immigration stops and operations. It also publishes community-submitted reports and verifies information with support from local residents.

Inmigración y Visas

Focused on immigration issues, this portal offers a WhatsApp channel where users can report raids, exchange experiences, and receive advice. It also shares informative content on its Facebook page and website.

SignalSafe

Adding to this assistance network is SignalSafe, an application created by a team of anonymous developers that provides real-time alerts on ICE activity. Through collaborative reporting, the app maps sightings of federal agents and unidentified vehicles, allowing migrants to avoid potential checkpoints.

Since Trump’s return to the presidency, SignalSafe has gained widespread popularity. The tool allows the integration of various filters based on the user’s location, type of activity by immigration authorities, and time range.

This platform is fed by citizen reports, which are verified by a group of specialized moderators. The system is bilingual, with support for Spanish and English, and has advanced security protocols to help protect user privacy.

Key Access

Given the growing number of raids in the United States and the lack of certainty about the safety of those detained in these operations, examples such as the above show that some sectors of the citizenry seem to have taken an active role in digital spaces against the implementation of immigration policies.

In this context, the widespread use of social networks among the migrant community has turned these platforms into key tools within the resistance movement. According to data from the International Organization for Migration, by 2023, 64 percent of migrants in transit through Central America, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic—mostly bound for the United States—had access to a smartphone and internet connection during their journey. Of these, 47 percent of men and 35 percent of women used these devices to access social networks.

This story was originally published on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.

Some Comics That Brought Giggles On A Fine Friday 13th (… so far …) 😉

https://www.gocomics.com/comics/a-to-z

Bliss By Harry Bliss  

Frazz By Jef Mallett 

FurBabies By Nancy Beiman 

Jerry King Comics By Jerry King

Lard’s World Peace Tips By Keith Tutt and Daniel Saunders

Wee Pals By Morrie Turner 

Tom the Dancing Bug By Ruben Bolling 

Scary Gary By Mark Buford

Savage Chickens By Doug Savage

Pearls Before Swine By Stephan Pastis 

Peace

Abhijit reads his poem on video (on the page.) It’s good to hear!

A Reblog From Nan Mykel

It’s a good, engaging read, with motivating info.

Freedom To Marry, and More, in Peace & Justice History for 6/12

June 12, 1963

In the driveway outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was shot to death by white supremacist Byron De la Beckwith, who was not convicted until 1994 after an extensive investigation by Jackson, Mississippi’s Clarion-Ledger newspaper. He was tried and acquitted twice by with all-white juries, members of which had been influenced by the Ku Klux Klan. Following one of the trials, then-Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett stood by Beckwith’s side and shook his hand.
The whole sad story
The role of the Clarion-Ledger 
June 12, 1964
Nelson Mandela, a 46-year-old lawyer and a leader of the opposition to South Africa’s racially separatist apartheid system, was convicted of sabotage in the Rivonia Trial and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Nelson Mandela, 1963
From Mandela’s statement to the court prior to sentencing:
“ I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

The trial of Mandela and seven other African National Congress compatriots 
June 12, 1967
The U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia struck down state miscegenation laws, those that prohibited interracial marriage, as violations of a person’s right to equal protection under the law, as guaranteed under the 14th amendment.

Mildred and Richard Loving
In June of 1958, Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter, a white man and an African-American woman, had married in Washington, D.C. Upon return to their home state of Virginia, the couple was arrested, convicted of a felony, and sentenced to a year in prison. The appeal of their conviction led to the decision.
Contemporary thoughts on the case 
“The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the
vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”
From Chief Justice Earl Warren’s majority opinion in Loving v. Virginia
Watch trailer for the movie “Loving” (recommended)
June 12, 1982

In the world’s largest-ever peace demonstration (until the U.S. invasion of Iraq), one million rallied in New York City’s Central Park to support the newly formed Nuclear Freeze Campaign which called for a halt to all nuclear weapons testing worldwide.

The biggest demonstration on earth (until the global anti-Iraq war march of Feb 15 2003)
took place in New York on June 12, 1982, when one million people gathered in support of the second UN Special Session on Disarmament and to protest nuclear weapons.
The origins of the Nuclear Freeze Campaign 
The demonstration 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjune.htm#june12

From The Smart Ones:

Snippet:

There is a free printable PDF or PNG at their KoFi, along with a pre-order for stickers and tshirts, which will ship later in June.

More than 1800 NO KINGS rallies are planned for this Saturday, June 14, as counter programming to the most embarrassing example of fascist onanism ever.

And, since June is Pride month, there are a lot of Pride activities going on that date, too. Perhaps yours also overlap, and this sign will work for you, too!

Thanks to Chris for permission to share – this design is so great, I had to share it.

Stay safe out there, and wherever you are, please know that you are loved exactly as you are. Whether you can live your life openly or keep parts of yourself hidden, you’re seen and welcomed and loved.”

I’m Pleased That ICT has PRIDE

So many old friends in Wichita deplore the conservatism, and yes, there are more voters voting Republican than Dem (though their Dem party is healthy.) Yet, Wichita loves everyone, and I love that! If you’re lucky the little video player on the page will work, and you can watch the broadcast. https://www.ksn.com/video/ict-big-gay-market-hosts-event-for-3rd-year/9749633

ICT Big Gay Market not going anywhere, hosts event for 3 years

by: Stephanie Nutt

Posted: Jun 2, 2024 / 07:19 PM CDT Updated: Jun 3, 2024 / 06:54 AM CDT

The event celebrated businesses in the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

The event included shopping, art, music, resources and in-person opportunities to help the community.

“When we have celebrations such as the Big Gay Market, it’s another place to show that we’re here and we’re not going anywhere,” said George Ibarra.

The event was from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, the second day of pride month.

German Flag Carrier Lufthansa Shuts Down Homophobes With Sassy Replies On Social Media After Pride Post Draws Backlash

German Flag Carrier Lufthansa Shuts Down Homophobes With Sassy Replies On Social Media After Pride Post Draws Backlash

a man in uniform holding a rainbow flag
With DEI initiatives firmly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, many large corporations that were once so quick to celebrate June as Pride month have quietly ditched their public support for LGBTQI+ rights even faster.

It used to be common for companies to emblazon their social media accounts with rainbow-themed versions of their logo, but in 2025, the same big businesses that were so vocal about supporting Pride initiatives have fallen silent.

a man holding a rainbow flag
The controversial post that sparked a social media backlash.

That’s certainly true for big international airlines in the United States, which were falling over themselves to show their support for Pride until very recently (critics might argue they were just chasing the so-called ‘Pink Dollar’).

In 2025, the social media accounts of American Airlines, Delta, and United make no mention or reference to Pride, even if these airlines do still support LGBTQ+ initiatives (Alaska and United are still sponsors of San Francisco’s Pride parade even as other big name corporations drop their support).

German flag carrier Lufthansa doesn’t seem too concerned that supporting LGBTQ+ rights is no longer fashionable… at least not in Trump’s America.

On June 2, the airline posted a photo of a pilot waving a Pride rainbow flag out the window of a cockpit, captioned with the words: “Carried with pride, waved with passion. We will always spread the love, across borders, screens, and the skies.”

a screenshot of a chat
Lufthansa has been quick to respond to critics.

It seemed like a pretty inoffensive and inspiring message that didn’t directly reference LGBTQ+ rights, but it didn’t take long for Lufthansa’s Facebook page to be deluged with homophobic comments.

But it looks like Lufthansa knew exactly what it was getting itself into, and its social media team quickly fired back at critics with sassy replies that shut down the hateful comments without censoring them or turning off the comment feature altogether.

“Thank you for you for giving me a reason not to be a Lufthansa passenger,” one person wrote underneath the post. Lufthansa clapped back with: “You’re welcome to join us on board whenever rainbows are not scary to you anymore!”

While one person inferred that inclusivity was a safety issue, saying: “That could actually affect the flight of the plane. I’ll take the bus.”

Lufthansa was not having any of it, though, relying: “It is a disappointment that we are losing you as a customer for this reason, but we stand by our values.”

Another referenced DEI, saying: “Never flying on a plane with one of them pilots. You know they are a DEI hire. I’m not testing fate for their delusional world.”

Again, Lufthansa stood firm: “Sorry to see you go but we stand by our values and will continue to implement DEI.”

Many responses to the post have, however, been positive, and some fans have pointed out that the response has proved exactly why, even in 2025, Pride is still needed.

June has traditionally been recognized as Pride Month to mark the Stonewall riots that occurred in late June 1969. Since then, several US presidents have issued proclamations, declaring June as the month of Pride, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this week that President Trump has no plans to issue a similar proclamation this year.

Trump was, however, the first Republican President to acknowledge LGBT Pride Month back in 2019 when he Tweeted a message in support of the commemoration.

It’s In My Naked Pastor Email-