102 Rights Groups Call on Rubio to Secure Release of US Citizen Sama Safi, Imprisoned in Israel Since June

“The Israeli military had no right to take Sama in the first place, let alone repeatedly hold her in such inhumane conditions.”

Sama Safi is seen in a family photograph.
(Photo courtesy of Safi family)

Julia Conley
Aug 18, 2026
C0MMON DREAMS

More than 100 faith-based and civil society groups are calling on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to fulfill one of his department’s top obligations—protecting the security of US citizens abroad—by securing the “immediate release” of 20-year-old Sama Safi, an American psychology student who was violently detained by armed Israeli soldiers in the West Bank 77 days ago and has been held in a military prison ever since.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), one of the signatories of a letter sent to Rubio on Monday, emphasized that “The Israeli military had no right to take Sama in the first place, let alone repeatedly hold her in such inhumane conditions” as those she’s been subjected to.

Pressley Demands Israel Release US Citizen Sama Safi, Abducted by IDF More Than Two Months Ago

Safi, a student at Birzeit University in the West Bank, was abducted from her family’s home in the occupied territory at 3:00 am on June 2, after Israeli Defense Forces soldiers broke down the door in a raid.

Safi and three other women who were abducted on the same night have been accused of “hostile terrorist activity and additional terrorist-related activities” due to alleged involvement with a student group, but Safi has not been charged with any crimes.

Despite that, the groups said, “the Israeli military has illegally transferred Sama out of the West Bank to the Damon Israeli military prison near Haifa, which amounts to a grave breach of Article 147 of the 4th Geneva Convention.”



Article 147 bans the unlawful transfer, deportation, or confinement of protected persons from an occupied territory to the territory of the occupying power, and constitutes a war crime, wrote the groups, which include the Council on American Islamic Relations, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The groups also emphasized that Safi has been arbitrarily detained for nearly three months while suffering a severe chronic complex health condition, putting her “at risk of rapid deterioration without specialized ongoing care abroad.”

“Interruption of Sama’s specialized care abroad places Sama at high risk of clinical deterioration, severe inflammatory relapse, progressive organ damage, hospitalization, and potentially life-threatening repercussions,” said the groups.

Her condition causes “fevers up to 105°F and requires daily medication and a quarterly injection she travels abroad to receive,” Drop Site News reported in June.

The letter included a statement from Safi in which she described being “shackled, blindfolded, driven around for several hours” on the night she was abducted.

“I was given no food or water for the first 24 hours,” she said. “I was subjected to repeated verbal abuse... I was blindfolded, shackled, and placed in painful stress positions.”

Israel’s military prisons have been called a “network of torture camps” by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, and human rights groups and the United Nations have documented the widespread use of torture against Palestinians in the prisons, including sexual abuse and denial of medical care, food, and water.

According to Drop Site News, a new report released Monday by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society found that at least 10 Palestinian women at Damon prison have contracted scabies “amid overcrowding, poor ventilation, and shortages of basic supplies.

“Sama has always been fascinated by people, and her deep love for others is what led her to study psychology,” reads the letter. “Sama just celebrated her 20th birthday in April. She should be focusing on building her future, not being unjustly abducted by the Israeli military and enduring this nightmare.”

Nearly 10,000 “security” inmates are being held in Israeli prisons as of this month, according to the human rights group HaMoKed.

Last week, Israeli forces abducted 46-year-old Hussein Jabarin, a US citizen, from his family’s home in the West Bank. He was detained for several days before being released Sunday.

Another American citizen, 16-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim, spent nearly 10 months in an Israeli prison last year after being detained for allegedly throwing rocks at vehicles. He was not permitted to speak to his family the entire time he was imprisoned.

“This is how adversaries, not allies, act,” said Anthony Zenkus, a professor at Columbia University, of Safi’s abduction.

Conservationists Back Crowley in Wisconsin Over ‘Extremist Pro-Corporate Polluter’ Tiffany

“Tom Tiffany has put corporate profit ahead of local communities time and again.”


Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate David Crowley speaks onstage during Wisconsin Democrats’ 2026 Convention on June 14, 2026 in Madison, Wisconsin.
(Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for WisDems)

Jake Johnson
Aug 18, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

The advocacy group Wisconsin Conservation Voters on Monday endorsed Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in the state’s closely watched gubernatorial contest, arguing he is the obvious choice over “extremist pro-corporate polluter” Tom Tiffany, who has recently attempted to posture as anti-data center despite his voting and fundraising record.

“The momentum across Wisconsin is clear—voters are ready for leaders who will hold corporate polluters accountable, stand up to corporate greed, regulate data centers, and protect our natural resources,” said Seth Hoffmeister, deputy director of Wisconsin Conservation Voters (WCV). “David Crowley has proven he understands the struggles of Wisconsin families. From cutting Milwaukee County’s carbon footprint in half to taking a firm stand against predatory data center growth, David is the leader we need to protect our environment and keep energy bills affordable.”

By contrast, according to WCV, Tiffany—who currently represents Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District in the US House—has shown “a consistent pattern of prioritizing corporate interests, out-of-state polluters, and special interests over regular Wisconsinites.”

“Tiffany’s record is toxic,” the group said. “He took $75,000 from mining interests in exchange for introducing an open-pit mining bill. He voted to defund the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program—a popular and effective bipartisan conservation program. He gutted the [Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’] scientific authority, and he voted for budget legislation that raised healthcare and electricity costs. Tom Tiffany has put corporate profit ahead of local communities time and again.”

The conservation group’s endorsement of Crowley came on the same day that Tiffany released an ad attacking Crowley’s position on data centers, part of a broader effort by the Tiffany campaign to take advantage of widespread voter backlash against the energy-devouring facilities.

But Tiffany’s critics and the Crowley campaign say the Republican nominee is obscuring his own record and misrepresenting the views of his Democratic opponent on an issue that has captured the attention of communities in Wisconsin and across the US.

Tiffany—who, like Crowley, opposes a moratorium on new data center construction—has characterized the facilities as “exciting new technology,” suggested they are necessary to compete with China, and voted as a member of Congress in favor of budget legislation that included a 10-year ban on state-level artificial intelligence regulations. (The US Senate later stripped the ban from the bill.)

Tiffany pledged on Monday that, if he wins in November, every proposed data center project in Wisconsin would have to meet “strict environmental standards,” despite his putrid voting record on environmental issues.

Crowley, unlike Tiffany, devotes a section of his website to data center policy.

“As governor, I will let communities decide for themselves whether they want a data center at all—and if they say no, that decision would be honored,” Crowley’s website states.

If a local community opts to support new data center construction, Crowley said he would require the developer to eschew non-disclosure agreements that hide the details of the project, fully cover the “costs of infrastructure and grid upgrades,” build with union labor, and contribute to a fund aimed at bringing down Wisconsinites’ utility costs.

“Wisconsinites are looking for practical solutions to real challenges, like rising utility rates and unsafe drinking water,” Hoffmeister of WCV said Monday. “David Crowley will put our communities first and advocate for policies that make our state cleaner, safer, and more affordable.”

Trump ‘Has Failed Us’: US Airman Says He Accepts Cost of Speaking Out Against Iran War

“Not only is he a failure as president, he is flagrantly violating the Constitution, breaking the law, engaged in rampant corruption, and is killing Americans, and that is unacceptable to me,” said Maj. Jason Watson.


Maj. Jason Watson, a US airman who was arrested in Washington, DC in July for participating in a protest against President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, talked about his decision to speak out on CNN on August 17, 2026.
(Photo: CNN/screenshot)

Julia Conley
Aug 18, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

Maj. Jason Watson’s participation in a protest organized last month by the Removal Coalition, a group that calls for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, wasn’t his first foray into speaking out against the commander-in-chief.

He spent 22 days last year on a hunger strike, staying anonymous by wearing a white mask and white jumpsuit on the US Capitol grounds, next to a sign that read: “Impeach. Convict. Remove.”

But the US airman spoke Monday about what pushed him last month to go public with his protest against Trump’s unprovoked war on Iran, displaying the same sign at a news conference organized by Removal Coalition, where he wore his Air Force uniform and was identified by name.

“If I don’t put myself out there in a big way, it’s just noise,” Watson told CNN anchor Erin Burnett. “We can change what is happening in our country if we’re just willing to pay a price for it.”

His public dissent against the broadly unpopular war could violate Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which mandates punishment against “any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words” against the president, military leaders, or US government officials, or Article 134, which prohibits statements “made with the intent to promote disloyalty or disaffection toward the United States.”

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink has said the military is investigating the protest. Watson could face dishonorable discharge, a loss of military pay, and months in prison for violating the Uniform Code.

When considering his public protest, Watson said he asked himself, “What’s the highest price that I’m willing to pay, and this is what I ultimately came up with.”

He said he was “absolutely motivated” by his oath to the US Constitution and his concern for the future of the country as Trump and continues to threaten Iran and other countries in the Middle East, nearly six months after the president joined Israel in waging war on Iran.

“Any American can say, this government is intolerable and I want a better future for my children, and I want to hand them a better country than I inherited,” said Watson.

After he joined the news conference on the Capitol steps last month, Watson was arrested by the US Capitol police. He was held in jail overnight and transferred to the DC Superior Court before the DC attorney general dropped the charge, but Air Force police officers then took him into custody and held him at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.



Jessica Denson, founder of the Removal Coalition, told The Washington Post last month that Watson was “prepared for the worst-of-the-worst outcome” of his protest.

Watson said after his arrest that during his previous anonymous protest, he had been overly concerned with being identified, considering the Uniform Code.

“There was nobody paying attention because it’s just easy to ignore a lone actor, especially dressed the way that I was,” he said on Denson’s podcast, “Lights On.”

He told Burnett Monday: “Nothing that is worth doing is something that you can do for free. Everything that is worthwhile is going to cost something.”

“It’s going to be hard, it’s going to require sacrifice, and we are in an incredibly challenging time, and in order for us to get out of this situation we all have to have courage,” he said.

On CNN, Watson doubled down on speaking out against Trump’s war in Iran, which has killed more than 3,400 Iranians, including hundreds or children and women, as well as thousands of people across the Middle East as the conflict has widened, and at least 17 US service members.

The war has also worsened the affordability crisis in the US as oil and gas prices have soared, and led to a standoff over control of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed in retaliation for the US-Israeli assault.

“What is happening with the Iran War is very predictable strategically, and a lot of much smarter people than me knew that it would have gone pretty poorly,” said Watson. “And he chose to do it anyway.”



“At the end of the day, it’s also more important to remember that what he did was unconstitutional,” said Watson. “It was an aggressive war of choice that, if we saw another country do that, we would probably look to our allies and say, ‘What are we gonna do about this?’”

He compared the US war on Iran with Russia’s incursion in Ukraine—another “aggressive war of choice.”

“He has failed us,” Watson said of Trump. “Not only is he a failure as president, he is flagrantly violating the Constitution, breaking the law, engaged in rampant corruption, and is killing Americans, and that is unacceptable to me.”

Iran Denounces Trump as ‘Delusional’ for Posting False Strait of Hormuz Map

The Iranian Parliament speaker said the strait will stay closed until the US blockade and oil embargo are lifted, and any party continuing its “aggression or threats” would face a “more severe defeat.”


President Donald Trump shared this map labeling the Strait of Hormuz a “new US territory” on his Truth Social platform on August 18, 2026.
(Image by Donald Trump/Truth Social)

Jessica Corbett
Aug 18, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

Just days after threatening to declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory, President Donald Trump on Tuesday posted a map on his Truth Social platform with that label over the crucial waterway—and was swiftly called out by a top Iranian diplomat.

“Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the Persian Gulf, his illusion about the Strait of Hormuz will soon be corrected—or we will correct the delusions of this delusional individual,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, responded in Arabic on X.

Gharibabadi included a screengrab of Trump’s post featuring a map that shows the strait, which is south of Iran and runs between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.



Since Trump and Israel began illegally bombing Iran on February 28, the Middle East country has restricted traffic through the strait, a key shipping route, particularly for fossil fuels. That has driven up fuel prices worldwide, including in the United States, where the cost for a gallon of gasoline just hit a record high for mid-August.

Despite the economic toll at home, the range of impacts across the Middle East—where nearly six months of war have killed thousands of people—and a plummeting approval rating, Trump said last week that “I’ll never apologize, I did the right thing.”

That declaration and Trump’s threat over the strait came in a Friday speech on Long Island, after which critics across the United States and beyond condemned the president as a “completely unhinged lunatic” and “sadistic violent menace to the world” who ought to be impeached again.

By Monday, a 60-day ceasefire deal expired, and neither side has signaled any progress on talks to end the war—which Trump claims is aimed at stopping Iran from building nuclear weapons, even though his own intelligence agencies have said it wasn’t trying to do so. Trump notably ditched the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal during his first term.

According to Palestine Chronicle, Iranian Maj. Gen. Mostafa Izadi, deputy commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Tuesday that “the enemy failed to destroy Iran’s defensive capabilities and nuclear industries.”

As for the strait, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that it will stay closed until the US blockade and oil embargo are lifted, and warned that any party continuing its “aggression or threats” would face a “more severe defeat.”

‘Flashing Red Warning Sign’ for Lawmakers: Poll Shows Voters Reject US-Israel Military Integration

“It is the height of absurdity that Congress is even considering a proposal to become more entangled with the Israeli military and use our tax dollars to subsidize their weapons companies.”


US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to a meeting at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on July 9, 2025.
(Photo by US Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza/Department of Defense)

Brett Wilkins
Aug 18, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

A new poll of US voters published on Tuesday offers a warning for congressional lawmakers backing a plan to deepen military ties between the United States and Israel, finding that a clear majority of voters oppose the proposal—which some critics have called “treasonous.”

The Data for Progress survey of 1,217 likely US voters—conducted August 3–7 for Demand Progress and the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) Policy Project—revealed that 61% of respondents oppose legislation in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2027 that would integrate Israeli weapons companies into the Pentagon at a level exceeding that of any other country. That figure rose to 78% among Democrats and 73% among independents.

“This poll is a flashing red warning sign for any member of Congress who supports the defense authorization bill,” Demand Progress senior policy adviser Cavan Kharrazian said in a statement. “A clear majority of voters do not support further integrating the Israeli military and Israeli military companies into the Pentagon, which the NDAA is set to do.”



The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted last month 216-212, mostly along party lines, in favor of a record $1.15 trillion NDAA. The military spending bill contains Section 219, a provision that would create a US–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative, accelerating joint defense research, development, testing, and integration of technologies including artificial intelligence, missile defense, and counter-drone systems.

Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) submitted an amendment to strip Section 219 from the NDAA. The measure failed to pass.

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who voted against the NDAA, described Section 219 as “an outrageous threat to our country’s security and autonomy.”

The Senate version of the military spending authorization bill has a related provision—Section 1217, the United States-Israel FUTURES Act—and the two chambers will need to reconcile their NDAA legislation before the final language is decided. Reconciliation is not expected to occur before November at the earliest.

“It’s time for Congress to listen to the American people for once, and not the same voices who always want to cut Israel a blank check,” Kharrazian said. That “blank check” has totaled more than $174 billion in non-inflation-adjusted aid since the modern state of Israel was founded in 1948.

The new poll found that 57% of respondents believe the Israeli military and Israeli weapons companies should not receive increased access to US military systems. Fifty-one percent said Israel benefits more from the US-Israel relationship, compared with just 12% who said the United States benefits more.

Although Republican voters support the Pentagon provision by a 16-point margin, when asked about it without additional context, they are considerably less enthusiastic about the idea of granting any foreign military special access, opposing it 62%-27%.

Forty percent of surveyed voters said they believe that the US-Israeli relationship is “too close,” compared with 42% who say it is “about right.” Among Democrats, 56% say relations are too close, versus just 23% who say about right. Twenty-two percent of Republicans and 43% of Independents said US-Israeli relations are too close.

Asked if they think President Donald Trump is too supportive of Israel’s right-wing government, 49% said yes, compared with only 33% who said the president is giving Israel the right amount of backing and just 8% who believe he’s not giving the key ally enough support.

Respondents’ views of Israel itself have deteriorated markedly, with 44% saying they now view the country less favorably than they did three years ago—compared with just 17% who say their views have improved amid the war of annihilation in Gaza that United Nations experts, human rights groups, and a South Africa-led case currently before the International Court of Justice call a genocide, as well as the wider Israeli occupation, colonization, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid in Palestine.

Looking only at the past six months, 41% of respondents said their view of Israel has become less favorable, versus 16% who say it has become more favorable. Among Democrats, the split is 56%-13%; among Independents it’s 42%-11%.

“Israel is a nation committing genocide that just dragged the American people into a disastrous war that is still hitting our pocketbooks,” IMEU Policy Project executive director Margaret DeReus said, referring to the Iran War. “Senators take an oath to do what is best for the American people above all; to uphold that oath, they must scrap this ridiculous proposal.”

“It is the height of absurdity,” DeReus added, “that Congress is even considering a proposal to become more entangled with the Israeli military and use our tax dollars to subsidize their weapons companies.”

Corporate Consolidation Spree That Enabled ‘Massive Reach’ of Taylor Farms Blamed for Cyclospora Outbreak

“Taylor Farms’ repeated connection to major outbreaks and recalls warrants a closer look at whether these are unrelated incidents or signs of recurring weaknesses.”


Lettuce are displayed on the shelf of a Manhattan grocery store on August 13, 2026,

 in New York City.
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Brad Reed
Aug 18, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

An agricultural industry watchdog on Tuesday released a report examining how corporate consolidation enabled this summer’s widespread outbreak of Cyclosporiasis, a foodborne illness that causes explosive diarrhea.

The report, published by Farm Action, argues that the wide reach of produce giant Taylor Farms, which is the source of the outbreak, spread food contaminated by the Cyclospora parasite far and wide before an issue was detected.

One problem with Taylor Farms’ reach, the report states, is that it is often hidden, leaving people unaware of the source of certain products.

“Taylor Farms produces 40% of the salad kits sold in the country and grows about one-quarter of its own vegetables, sourcing the rest through partner farms,” the report says. “That makes it a major link between farms and some of the nation’s largest food buyers.”

The company’s produce is used at popular fast-food chains such as Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and Chipotle, and is sold at big-name grocery stories including Whole Foods, Target, Safeway, and Costco.

Beyond that, its produce is bought by foodservice distribution giants Sysco and US Foods, who send it to assorted schools, hospitals, and hotels.

The report says that the consolidation of the produce production industry was itself enabled by the industry consolidation of grocery stores, restaurant chains, and foodservice distributors, which found it more efficient to buy from conglomerates such as Taylor Farms, which the report categorizes as “grower-shipper-packers (GSPs).”

“Like other large GSPs, Taylor Farms sources produce through regional and international networks rather than relying primarily on nearby farms,” writes Farm Action. “That helps explain why investigators traced lettuce implicated in the 2026 Cyclospora outbreak to Mexico, even in the middle of summer when much of the US is capable of growing lettuce.”

Because Taylor distributes its produce to so many places under so many different brands, the report continues, consumers have a hard time avoiding them even if they are actively trying.

What’s more, the 2026 Cyclospora outbreak isn’t the first time Taylor has been linked to a food safety event, as Farm Action found that it was connected to “the 2026 Salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeño products, previous Cyclospora outbreaks, the 2024 E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s onions, the 2021 E. coli cluster involving romaine lettuce, and numerous recalls for allergens, labeling errors, contamination risks, and processing defects.”

“These incidents do not by themselves prove a pattern of systemic problems,” the report adds. “But Taylor Farms’ repeated connection to major outbreaks and recalls warrants a closer look at whether these are unrelated incidents or signs of recurring weaknesses.”

The report concludes by recommending stronger enforcement of US antitrust laws to break up big distributors, as well as stronger food safety and traceability policies.

Sarah Carden, senior director of research and policy at Farm Action, said the report on Taylor Farms should be a wakeup call to food safety regulators about the dangers of corporate centralization.

“Taylor Farms has extraordinary reach across the produce supply chain, a history of connections to major food safety events, significant political spending and access, and a workplace record that raises serious questions,” said Carden. “Its growth also shows how consolidation has left farmers with fewer buyers and made our food supply increasingly dependent on a small number of powerful companies.”

‘Eight Million Americans Have Lost Their Healthcare’: Trump-GOP Cuts Wreak Havoc in All 50 States

New fact sheets detail how people in every US state are suffering from the Republican Party’s assault on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

Workers protest Republican Medicaid cuts on June 23, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Aug 18, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

The unprecedented healthcare cuts that President Donald Trump and the Republican Party enacted last summer have impacted people in all 50 US states, stripping insurance coverage from around 8 million Americans total and wreaking havoc on hospitals and other providers nationwide.

The advocacy group Protect Our Care on Tuesday released state-by-state fact sheets detailing how many people have lost Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Affordable Care Act coverage due to Republican policy decisions, including the party’s roughly $900 billion in cuts to Medicaid and decision to let enhanced ACA subsidies expire, sending premiums skyrocketing.



“Eight million Americans have lost their health care because Donald Trump and Republicans decided they would rather hand out tax breaks to billionaires than protect working families,” said Brad Woodhouse, the president of Protect Our Care. “Every day that healthcare becomes more expensive, a family is forced to make an impossible choice between putting food on the table and staying covered, a senior is forced to ration their medication, and an expectant mother has to travel farther to access maternity care.”

In Maine, where Democrats are looking to finally unseat vulnerable Sen. Susan Collins, more than 18,700 people have lost Medicaid, CHIP, or ACA coverage under the Republican budget law. Included in that total are the more than 7,500 Mainers who dropped ACA marketplace coverage after premiums soared due to the lapse of enhanced subsidies at the end of 2025.

Collins voted to advance GOP budget legislation that included the devastating Medicaid cuts, but voted against final passage.

Protect Our Care noted that “Maine hospitals and clinics are facing a $38 million loss in funding and a 6.7% spike in uncompensated care demand that will affect their ability to keep their doors open.”

“As of August 2026, 20 Maine healthcare providers are at-risk, announced cuts, are closing, or have closed,” the group added.




More than 25,600 Alaskans have lost health coverage under the Republican budget law and premiums have surged by an average of 346% this year, according to Protect Our Care’s fact sheets.

US Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who along with Collins is seen as one of the most vulnerable Republicans this election cycle, voted for the more than $900 billion in Medicaid cuts.

“From Alaska to Florida, these people are our neighbors, our parents, our kids, and they’re sick of paying the price for Republicans’ greed,” Woodhouse said on Tuesday. “They deserve better, and in November they will demand it at the ballot box.”

Over a Month After ICE Killing in Biddeford, Maine; Grieving Family Waits for Answers

“I ask only of God and of the justice system that my son’s case be brought to light, along with the cases of the many others who have had to go through something like this,” said the father of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero.

The parents of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, Omar Durán and Dora Guerrero, attend a hearing at Biddeford High School on August 17, 2026.
(Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Julia Conley
Aug 18, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

With Republican lawmakers refusing to use their congressional authority to investigate a federal agent’s fatal shooting last month of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, Democratic leaders assembled a “shadow hearing” on Monday at a local high school, where the 25-year-old’s grieving father was among those who spoke to a crowd of about 200 people and pleaded for answers about his son’s killing.

“The death of Johan Sebastián, under those conditions, at the hands of ICE, filled our community with fear and uncertainty,” said Omar Durán, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “That is why I ask only of God and of the justice system that my son’s case be brought to light, along with the cases of the many others who have had to go through something like this.”

Durán Guerrero was at least the 11th person to be fatally shot by federal agents since President Donald Trump began deploying ICE and other agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cities and towns across the US to carry out his mass deportation operation.

Federal agents have shot at more than 20 people on US streets under the Trump administration; Durán Guerrero was among several who have been shot at while driving a vehicle, which is against ICE’s own policies.

Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) reported Monday that the ICE agents who were operating in Durán Guerrero’s neighborhood in Biddeford on the morning of July 13 were actually looking for his roommate, who owned the car he was driving.

Pingree said agents did not have a final removal order for the person who was the target of their operation, contrary to what DHS has said about the case.

“This shocking revelation in clear contradiction to what ICE and DHS have been saying about the operation raises fundamental questions,” Pingree said. “How is ICE deciding who to target and detain in Maine? What information are agents relying on?”

“If ICE cannot accurately determine a person’s immigration status or circumstance before taking enforcement action, that is a profound failure of competence and accountability,” the congresswoman added.

Even in cases where ICE has a deportation order for a person, agents are prohibited from using deadly force unless they have reason to believe the target of the operation poses an imminent threat to an officer’s or someone else’s safety.

An agent identified as David Michael Brouillette shot Durán Guerrero, who had a 3-year-old daughter with his partner, and DHS has claimed that the officer fired his weapon because Durán Guerrero was trying to flee and Brouillette feared “for public safety.”

The agents involved in the operation were not wearing body cameras that were turned on at the time of the shooting, but an eyewitness reported that Durán Guerrero said, “I tried to stop” when the officers pulled him out of his vehicle, bleeding profusely from his head. Surveillance footage taken from a nearby store showed a white car circling an intersection after the shooting before agents stopped it.

“If there were active body cameras on every law enforcement member who was participating there, we wouldn’t be looking at some scratchy videos from one store that’s over here, or one person that’s standing in their doorway that’s trying to get it,” Pingree said at a news conference after Monday’s hearing. “We would actually know every moment that’s happened at the scene.”

Durán Guerrero worked as a delivery driver and a cleaner at a veterinary clinic, and had a valid work permit and a pending asylum case.

A lawyer for Durán Guerrero’s family said state investigators have interviewed his partner, Karolina Rojas, but no federal agencies have ever contacted her following the killing.

“Any reasonable investigation would include interviewing the family and eyewitnesses,” the lawyer, Ben Gideon, said Monday.

DHS said after the shooting that its inspector general would investigate, but both the agency and the Justice Department refused to answer questions from The New York Times about whether the probe had begun.

The office of Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey is investigating the shooting, and is expected to present its findings to the Maine Deadly Force Review Panel. The panel can make recommendations to DHS, but it does not have jurisdiction over the federal agency.

Durán Guerrero’s parents traveled from his home country of Colombia for the shadow hearing. His mother did not speak publicly, while his father described the “deep pain” of hearing his young granddaughter ask where Durán Guerrero is.

“Our dream was always to be reunited and to hold each other again,” he said. “Today, that dream can no longer come true.”

Don’t Just Pause Trump Border Construction in Big Bend National Park, Say Conservationists, End It

“Even with Customs and Border Protection pumping the brakes, the contractors could resume bulldozing deeper into the national park, causing irreversible damage to the wildest place in Texas,” warned one campaigner.



Construction work is conducted at Mariscal Mountain inside Big Bend National Park in Texas on August 15, 2026.
(Photo by Laiken Jordah/Clenter for Biological Diversity)


Jessica Corbett
Aug 18, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

Since US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott on Monday announced a temporary pause on construction in Big Bend National Park for an “on-the-ground evaluation,” conservationists have called for CBP to permanently halt the Trump administration’s widely opposed plans for southwest Texas.

“We’ve been watching the permanent destruction of a great American national park unfold in real time,” said Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.


Amid Outrage, Trump Border Chief Halts Construction in Big Bend National Park

The center joined Friends of the Ruidosa Church and a local river guide and landowner on Monday in asking a federal judge to stop border barrier and road construction in the region until the court rules on their lawsuit challenging a related waiver of various laws issued by the Trump administration.



“Even with Customs and Border Protection pumping the brakes, the contractors could resume bulldozing deeper into the national park, causing irreversible damage to the wildest place in Texas,” Jordahl warned. “We’re hopeful the judge will stop this destruction until there’s a ruling on the merits of our case.”

CPB previously ditched plans for a 30-foot wall in the area, but crews recently started work on a new road, barriers intended to stop cars from crossing over from Mexico, and other infrastructure as part of President Donald Trump’s intense anti-immigrant agenda. Conservationists are concerned about negative impacts on not only the national park but also nearby Amistad National Recreation Area and Big Bend Ranch State Park.

The border construction in the region has been met with sweeping opposition, including from both Democratic and Republican elected officials. GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott suggested Monday that his weekend conversation with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin led to the pause. He said the department leader assured him there would be “no construction of any type of barrier at Big Bend National Park,” with federal agents instead relying on “other tools” to prevent any border crossings.

Tiernan Sittenfeld, president and CEO for the National Parks Conservation Association, framed the pause as proof that public pressure works, saying: “The people have spoken, and they do not want the Trump administration to bulldoze America’s national parks for border infrastructure. This pause on construction comes following hundreds of thousands of Americans bravely raising their voices to save Big Bend National Park.”

“Unfortunately, the federal contractors’ bulldozers have already inflicted tremendous damage to one of America’s most iconic national parks,” she noted. “Their heavy equipment has torn through miles of priceless wild landscape, wreaking havoc on sensitive wildlife and irreplaceable habitat.”

“We demand that Customs and Border Protection take accountability for the destruction that has occurred at the park and do better by the American people and by our national parks,” she added. “When Customs and Border Protection meets with West Texas communities, national park advocates, and expert national park staff, we urge the agency to commit to preventing any further harm to Big Bend and other protected landscapes.”

Dave Cortez, director of the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter, pledged Monday that “West Texas will not stand by while these irreplaceable landscapes remain at risk. This pause is a step in the right direction, but the threat has not passed.”

“While we call on Texans of all political stripes to continue to press Gov. Abbott to defend Big Bend, we need every American who cherishes our public lands to continue to contact their members of Congress and encourage them to abandon every plan that puts Big Bend in harm’s way,” Cortez continued.

His colleague who manages the national Sierra Club’s lands conservation campaign, Jackie Feinberg, also stressed that “Big Bend should never have been bulldozed for a destructive border project, and the Trump administration must make this pause permanent and repair the damage already done.”

“Anything less than a full withdrawal is unacceptable for the millions of Americans across the country who love and cherish our national parks and public lands,” she said. “The Sierra Club will keep fighting until this project is permanently rescinded. We call on Congress to act to defend Big Bend and ensure that our shared lands and waters nationwide are protected for generations to come.”