OUR PICKSA Legal Tool for Holding ICE Agents to Account | The AI Bubble Is Getting Closer to Popping | Which Countries Are Most Effective at Stopping Terrorism?, and more

Homeland Security Is Targeting Americans with This Secretive Legal Weapon  (John Woodrow Cox, Washington Post)
In October, a retiree emailed a DHS attorney to urge mercy for an asylum seeker. Then DHS subpoenaed his Google account and sent investigators to his home.

A Legal Tool for Holding ICE Agents to Account, Hiding in Plain Sight  (Adam Liptak, New York Times)
A proposal in a 1987 law review article could address a gap that makes it all but impossible to sue federal officials for violating the Constitution.

Mitigating Risks Associated With the Use of Chemical Agents by Federal Agencies  (Robert Sorensen, HSToday)
In a time when federal law enforcement officers are called on to deal with an ever-increasing number of public protests, the use of chemical agents to manage civil disturbances has increased significantly. While the use of CS or OC chemical agents is a historically safe use of less-lethal force, those who deploy chemical agents should adhere to approved policies and protocols to mitigate the risks associated with their deployment.

The AI Bubble Is Getting Closer to Popping  (Shannon K. O’Neil, CFR)
AI’s success or failure will depend on whether it can start to show the worth of massive investments. And today, the Trump administration’s tariffs and immigration policies are a big part of what’s holding back U.S. models and companies.

RFK Jr.’s Attacks on Vaccines Just Hit a Wall of Pediatricians  (Leana S. Wen, Washington Post)
The American Academy of Pediatrics issuing its own vaccine guidance is not just symbolic.

DHS, USDA, and CDC Conduct Exercise to Strengthen America’s Food Security  (DHS)
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Health Security, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) convened a two-part New World Screwworm simulation exercise earlier this month to strengthen national readiness and improve coordination for emerging animal and public health threats.
The event featured 80 in-person attendees and over 170 virtual attendees, including decision-makers from federal, state, local, and tribal authorities.

What Franco’s Fascist Regime in Spain Can Teach Us About Today’s America  (Rachelle Wilson Tollemar, The Conversation)
social media is aflame with comparisons of Trump’s immigration enforcers to Hitler’s Gestapo.
While comparisons to Hitler’s fascist regime are becoming common, I’d argue that it may be even more fitting to compare the present moment to a less-remembered but longer-lasting fascist regime: that of Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain from 1936 until his death in 1975.
In 2016, critics warned that Trump’s campaign rhetoric was grounded in textbook fascism, exhibiting signs such as racism, sexism and misogyny, nationalism, propaganda and more. In return, critics were met with intense backlash, accused of being hysterical or overly dramatic.
Now, even normally sober voices are sounding the alarm that America may be falling to fascist rule.
As a scholar of Spanish culture, I, too, see troubling parallels between Franco’s Spain and Trump’s America.
The world has seen these tactics before. History shows the precedent and then supplies the bad ending. Comparing past Francoism to present Trumpism connects the past to the present and warns us about what could come.

Pete Hegseth Delights in Violence  (Missy Ryan, The Atlantic)
His first year at the Pentagon has been marked by uncomplicated celebrations of death.

White Nationalists Claimed WA Man Doxxed Them. How a Judge Responded  (Shea Johnson, News Tribune)
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that accused a Washington man of infiltrating a white nationalist group and using confidential information to harass and threaten people in the organization. Five members or affiliates of the group Patriot Front sued David Capito II, who apparently has ties to Tacoma, in July 2023. The suit alleged Capito used a fake identity and false pretenses to join, and then secretly gathered information from the plaintiffs by taking pictures of license plates, recording individuals with hidden microphones and cameras, and exploiting the group’s website to gain unauthorized access to private chats and video links.

Which Countries Are Most Effective at Stopping Terrorism? A Data-Driven Global Ranking  (Brig Barker, HSToday)
When evaluating counterterrorism success, raw attack counts alone are misleading. True effectiveness requires low realized attacks, high prevention activity, and strong intelligence-legal frameworks.
In using a 100-point analytic rubric grounded in arrest data, prosecutions, and
terrorism impact metrics, Valens Global found that five countries consistently outperform their peers: Morocco, Singapore, Spain, UK, and Australia.