One voice was yelling he was a US citizen. The conditions are horrible. They get their drinking water from the toilet. Maxwell Frost is a progressive treasure. Hugs
There is a video at the link below. I watched this. ICE went in to terrorize and prove they could. They had a military style attack helicopter. This is going to get worse. They are the tRump admin Gestapo, armed thugs who follow no rules attacking people who have violated no criminal laws. Even if they were undocumented they had broken no laws as crossing the border illegally is a civil offense like speeding. Hugs
Border Czar Tom Homan on Friday angrily condemned the violence at a California pot farm as proof anti-ICE protests will turn deadly, blaming the inflammatory rhetoric of Democrats comparing agents to Nazis.
Homan spoke out the morning after protesters were seen hurling rocks — and one even appeared to fire a gun — at agents stamping down on a massive marijuana operation where they found 10 illegal-migrant juveniles, eight of whom were there without an adult.
“What happened in California is just another example of protesters becoming criminals, and they’ve been emboldened by even members of Congress who compare ICE to Nazis and racists and terrorists,” Homan said on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning.
A protester flees as ICE officers fire chemical agents into the crowd during a raid in Camarillo, California.AFP via Getty Images
“I said months ago, it’s going to end up with a loss of life — and we had one the other day in Texas, and it’s not over,” he said, referencing the gunman who opened fire on border patrol agents walking into work in McAllen Monday.
Immigration agents who descended on Glass House Farms in the city of Camarillo — one of the biggest cannabis farms in Southern California — were met by dozens of demonstrators gathered on a road between fields where the uniformed officers stood in a line across from them.
A military-style helicopter flew overhead, video shows.
Tear gas billows from canisters thrown by federal agents toward protesters in Camarillo, California.via REUTERS
Protesters shouted and screeched until agents used canisters with an unknown substance and fired less-than-lethal rounds, forcing them to retreat. Several of the protesters threw what appeared to be rocks back at the officers, according to ABC 7.
As they retreated, a masked man in all black appeared to let off a few shots among a crowd of other protesters scampering away from advancing agents.
The FBI has now launched an investigation into the alleged shooting and is offering a reward up to $50,000 for information leading to a conviction.
An individual was spotted allegedly firing a weapon toward federal agents.ABC 7
The clash lasted four hours as US Customs and Border Protection set up a blockade with military-style vehicles in the pastoral region.
Video from ABC 7 shows numerous workers being taken into custody at the scene. It’s unclear exactly how many were detained.
Five people were taken to the hospital, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The farm is now under investigation for child labor violations, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott announced late Thursday night after 10 juveniles — “all illegal aliens” — were found at the facility, including eight without an adult, he said.
Protesters stand in front of ICE agents near a pot farm in Camarillo, California.Getty Images
Glass House Farms said it “fully complied with agent search warrants.”
The stand-off drew widespread criticism from California leaders, including U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal, who was denied entry when he tried to get past federal agents into the farm.
Newsom’s office accused President Trump’s advisor, Stephen Miller, of sparking “terror” in local communities.
A protester washes eye with milk after federal immigration agents tossed tear gas during a raid in Camarillo, California.AP
“There’s a real cost to these inhumane immigration actions on hardworking families and communities, including farmworker communities, across America,” Newsom’s office said.
“Instead of supporting the businesses and workers that drive our economy and way of life, Stephen Miller’s tactics evoke chaos, fear and terror within our communities at every turn.”
Please read. DeathSantis and ICE are doing horrible illegal things while breaking laws all in the name of white supremacy and getting rid of anyone not white in the US at the same time the Florida tax payer is entirely on the hook for all the costs. This story is even more proof of the authoritarian dictatorship the US is under along with the disregarding of any law or lawmaker that gets in the way of cruelty to brown / black people. Also I read that trump sent 200 marines to this place. The link to that store after this one Hugs
In a surprising and possibly unlawful act, five state legislators were denied entry Thursday into a taxpayer-funded migrant detention center deep in the Everglades, raising questions about what will happen behind the razor-wire fences that are being erected surrounding the controversial facility the state has named Alligator Alcatraz.
Armed only with state law and a growing list of humanitarian concerns, state Senators Shevrin Jones and Carlos Guillermo Smith, along with Representatives Anna V. Eskamani, Angie Nixon and Michele Rayner, arrived at the gates of the facility to conduct what they saw as a legally authorized inspection. What they encountered instead was silence, locked doors and a bureaucratic wall.
The state’s shifting justification for not letting them in — first a flat denial, then vague “safety concerns” — only fueled suspicions.
Wearing mosquito netting, Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones and state Representatives Michele K. Rayner and Anna Eskamani were denied entry along with fellow representatives into Alligator Alcatraz. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
“This is a blatant abuse of power and an attempt to conceal human rights violations from the public eye,” the legislators said in a joint statement. “If the facility is unsafe for elected officials to enter, then how can it possibly be safe for those being detained inside?”
Just hours earlier, Republican officials and even former President Donald Trump had toured the same site without issue. When the lawmakers attempted to speak with Florida Department of Emergency Management officials by phone, the call was abruptly cut off.
Now, with reports of flooding, extreme heat and detainees allegedly being held without due process, legislators say the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis is operating a secretive, $450 million detention network with no oversight— and no regard for the law.
The state legislators Michele Rayner arrived at the site to conduct what they said was a lawful inspection under Florida Statutes 944.23 and 951.225, which grant legislators access to state-operated detention centers without advance notice. Instead of transparency, they were met with locked gates and silence.
Workers install a permanent Alligator Alcatraz sign at the new state immigration detention facilty in the Everglades. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Under Florida law, members of the Legislature have the clear right to access any state-run detention facility, including prisons and jails, without needing prior approval or notification. That legal mandate was ignored, according to Representative Michele Rayner, a civil rights attorney who represents parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
“For two hours, we waited. We cited the law. We cited the press release announcing our visit. Still, we were denied,” said Rayner. “They cited ‘safety concerns,’ even though just hours earlier President Trump and GOP lawmakers had toured the very same facility.”
Rayner said that when she asked whether she could visit a client being detained inside, she was again refused—contradicting statements made to her moments earlier by Florida Department of Emergency Management officials. When legislators tried to clarify the denial with the agency’s general counsel and legislative affairs director, the call was abruptly disconnected.
“This is America right now,” Rayner said. “And everyone should be concerned.”
The delegation’s visit came just one day after migrants were transferred into the detention center despite flooding caused by ongoing summer storms. Lawmakers say they’ve received reports of extreme heat, poor infrastructure, and a lack of mosquito protection, conditions they say that may be endangering the health and safety of detainees.
Florida House of Representatives denied entry, including State Rep. Anna .V. Eskamani, PhD at Alligator Alcatraz. The facility is within the Florida Everglades, 36 miles west of the central business district of Miami, in Collier County, Florida. , Florida, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
“I was bitten by insects as soon as I got here. My lips started to swell. And I’m outside for just a few minutes,” said Rep. Angie Nixon of Jacksonville. “Imagine what it’s like for the people inside who don’t have bug spray or clean bedding.”
Nixon expressed particular concern over reports in the Miami Herald that pregnant women and children could be housed in the facility. “We’re spending $450 million on this while refusing to expand Medicaid and closing public schools in Duval County,” she said. “This is not about public safety—it’s about cruelty as campaign theater.”
Smith did not mince words, calling the site a “makeshift immigrant detainment camp in the middle of the Everglades swamp,” built through no-bid contracts awarded to major Republican campaign donors.
“This isn’t about detaining dangerous criminals,” Smith said. “It’s about detaining housekeepers, cooks, and immigrants who had legal status five minutes ago—until it was stripped away by policy.”
Smith referenced a Miami Herald story that revealed the state may bring pregnant women and children to the site, despite public claims that the facility was intended for “the worst of the worst.” ICE data shows that fewer than 10% of current immigration detainees in Florida have any violent criminal history, and the majority had no prior offenses.
“We’re detaining vulnerable people for political spectacle,” Smith said. “And it’s not a coincidence this facility was unveiled just days after our legislative session ended—avoiding any real oversight.”
Jones added that the facility, built with $450 million in state funds, does not qualify for federal support. “The federal government has said this facility is ineligible for grants,” he said. “That means it’s 100% on Florida taxpayers—and it was done without a single committee hearing or floor debate.”
Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones, Rep. Anna Eskamani and fellow representatives were denied entry Thursday into Alligator Alcatraz. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Jones emphasized that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers should be concerned. “This is not a partisan issue,” he said. “We have a duty to ensure that state-funded operations uphold basic standards of decency and legality.”
Rep. Anna Eskamani from Orlando described the detention center as a “political stunt” orchestrated by DeSantis. “Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent to build what is essentially a concentration camp,” she said. “This is government by press conference and no-bid contract.”
Eskamani said reports indicate that the first detainees arrived without due process, and flooding had already compromised parts of the facility. “We’re here because the people of Florida deserve transparency. What is being hidden behind these walls?”
All five lawmakers said they plan to pursue legal remedies and initiate legislative inquiries into the construction, contracting, and operation of Alligator Alcatraz.
A check point at Alligator Alcatraz as Florida State Representatives denied entry. The facility is within the Florida Everglades, 36 miles west of the central business district of Miami, in Collier County, Florida. , Florida, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
They also demanded that the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the governor’s office provide a full accounting of who is detained at the facility, what conditions exist inside, and which companies received contracts—particularly those with political ties to the DeSantis administration.
“This is not over,” said Smith. “We will be back, and we will not stop until we get the answers Floridians deserve.”
This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 6:09 PM.
I knew there would be a cost for the corrective lenses. I figured it would be a few hundred dollars on top of what Medicare paid for the surgery. I was way wrong. I got the pricing in my patient package. Crap. I guess I will be getting the noncorrective Medicare paid for lenses. I know several of you wrote that the normal lens provided by Medicare worked really well and corrected much of your vision problems. I guess I will find out. Hugs
The final version of Ohio’s two-year state operating budget retains anti-LGBTQ provisions, requires Governor’s Merit Scholarship recipients pledge to remain in Ohio after graduation, and ties state funding to compliance with a new higher education law.
The budget now heads to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk for his signature, which he must sign by June 30. He can line-item veto provisions in the budget.
Anti-LGBTQ provisions
A handful of anti-LGBTQ+ provisions are sprinkled throughout the budget, including a provision that would only recognize two sexes — male and female.
“Do we really have to make a law that says that men are men and women are women?” state Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, asked. “Do we really have to define that? We shouldn’t have to, but apparently we do.”
The budget would require public libraries to put books related to sexual orientation or gender identity in an area of the library that is out of sight for minors.
“If moms and dads want their kids to be indoctrinated within that, that’s up to the moms and dads, but we’re not going to put it in children’s faces in the children’s sections of the libraries,” Click said.
Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, called out the library provision.
“If you are one of the 20% of young people who identify as LGBTQ, you’re not going to be a hero in that story,” he said. “We have to have more books that show you as a leader, as a champion, as a hero.”
The budget would also ban Pride flags from being flown at public buildings and prohibit giving funds to youth homeless shelters that house transgender youth, even if they also serve youth who are not transgender.
“We are not hanging out the welcome mat for people from the LGBTQ community,” said Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood. “We should be a place where folks can just be who they are authentically and live and let live.”
Higher education provisions
The Governor’s Merit Scholarship awards the top 5% of each high school graduating class a $5,000 scholarship each year to attend an Ohio college or university.
Under the final version of the budget, scholarship recipients must sign a statement of commitment to live in Ohio for three years immediately after graduation starting in fiscal year 2027.
“If we want our young people to stay in Ohio, to start their careers in Ohio, to start a family in Ohio, we need to put our money where our mouth is, and we are doing that in this budget,” said Ohio House Finance Chair Brian Stewart, R-Ashville.
The Senate’s version of the budget would have required scholarship recipients sign a promissory note, but the final version of the budget instead requires students to sign a statement of commitment to live in Ohio for the first three years after graduating college.
“It was deemed (the promissory note) was a little bit heavy-handed and so we tried to roll that back,” Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon said.
The budget allocates $47 million for fiscal year 2026 and $70 million in fiscal year 2027 for the Governor’s Merit Scholarship.
The Governor’s Merit Scholarship was enacted through the last state budget two years ago and 76% of the state’s 6,250 eligible students from the class of 2024 accepted the scholarship. Eighty-seven percent of Ohio students accepted the scholarship in its second year and 11 rural counties had a 100% acceptance rate.
The budget ties a portion of the State Share of Instruction to compliance with Senate Bill 1, a new higher education law banning diversity efforts, creates post-tenure reviews and an American civic literacy course, among other things.
The law affects Ohio’s public universities and community colleges and each university must submit a report showing compliance to the House and Senate higher education committees by March 1, according to the budget.
Housing provisions
The budget kept housing provisions the Senate added to the budget — $90 for the Residential Development Revolving Loan Program and $10 million for the Residential Economic Development District.
The Residential Development Revolving Loan Program supports new, single-family residential homes in rural areas of the state.
“If we want to grow our population, we have to have places for folks to live,” Stewart said. “This is going to be directed to small counties. We can’t be growing housing just in the three C’s, we need to be growing housing all across Ohio.”
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