Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2025-08-25 Monday

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

Democracy Now! Monday, August 25, 2025

From New York, this is Democracy Now. Just now, just now, the civil service is lost. Oh, God, they've killed these people. Israeli air strikes on Nassar Hospital in southern Gaza have killed at least 20 people, including five Palestinian journalists, from NBC, Reuters, AP, and Al Jazeera. According to eyewitnesses, Israel carried out a double-tap strike on the hospital. We'll get the latest. Meanwhile, on Friday, the U.N. formally declares a famine in the Gaza Strip. We'll go to Gaza City to speak with UNICEF's Tess Ingram. Your mourning about have come true. A famine is occurring in Gaza City, in the north of Gaza,

and it's possible that within a couple of weeks that famine will spread to other parts of the Gaza Strip. Then Kilmar Abrego Garcia was freed from ICE detention after being held in El Salvador's notorious Seckot prison. My name is Kilmar Abrago Garcia. Today was a very special day, because thank God I saw my family again after more than 160 days. Now the U.S. government is threatening to deport Kilmar-Abrego-Garcia to Uganda, a country he has no connection to. He arrived at ICE's Baltimore office this morning. Then to George Redis, a disabled 25-year-old U.S. citizen army veteran who is held by

ICE for three days and nights without charge during a raid on a California farm. He's now suing the U.S. government. All that and more coming out. Welcome to Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org. The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. Israeli air strikes, a Nassar hospital in southern Gaza, have killed at least 20 people, including five Palestinian journalists. According to eyewitnesses, Israel carried out a double-tap strike on the hospital. A drone initially hit the hospital's roof, killing one. One journalist setting up a live stream. Then another strike hit journalists and rescue workers who were responding to the initial strike. During a live broadcast, Al-Qad TV filmed the second strike on the hospital.

Just now, just now, the civil service is lost. Oh, God, they've killed these people. The journalists killed in the Israeli strike have been identified as Hossam Amasri, a photojournalist with Reuters News Agency, Mohamed Salama, a photojournalist with Al Jazeera. Maria Mabudaka, a freelancer working with the Associated Press, Moaz Abu Taha, a journalist with NBC, and Ahmed Abu Aziz. On Saturday, another journalist was killed in Gaza, Mohamed Al-Madun, who worked at Palestine. TV. At least 244 journalists have now been killed in Gaza over the past 23 months. Today's

attack on Nasser Hospital came a day after Israeli forces killed at least 64 Palestinians, mostly in the north, as Israel moves to take over Gaza's city and forcibly removed the city's entire population of almost one million. Officials in Gaza say Israel's recently destroyed more than 1,000 buildings in the Zaytun and sovereign neighborhoods of Gaza City. Meanwhile, health officials in Gaza say 11 more Palestinians, including two children, have died from malnutrition over the past 24 hours. At least 300 Palestinians have starved to death. On Friday, the UN formally declared a famine in the Gaza Strip.

We'll go to Gaza City to speak with UNICEF. Mass protests against Israel's war on Gaza continue across the globe. And Australia, an estimated 300,000 people participated in protest this weekend across the country. This is Larissa Joy Waters, the leader of the Australian Greens. Australians are horrified that we are selling weapons components to the Israeli government. It's got to stop. And I'm excited at the sheer numbers of vote turning out right around the country. The voice of Australians is really clear.

We want peace. We want sanctions on the Israeli government. We want the aid to get through, and we want those weapons components and that two-way arms trade with Israel to stop. Israeli fighter jets attacked the Yemeni capital of Sana Sunday, killing at least six people injuring 86. The Israeli attack targeted a presidential palace, an oil facility, and a power plant. It came two days after Israel accused Houthi forces of using cluster munitions in a missile attack targeting Israel. A fire broke out at a Russian nuclear power plant in the western city of Kyrsk on Sunday after Russia shot down a Ukrainian drone near the plant.

The fire caused some damage and reduced the plant's operating capacity by half. Ukraine launched a wave of drones on Sunday as the country marked its Independence Day. Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Sunday there's no meeting planned yet between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodemir. Zelensky. In Washington, D.C., National Guard troops deployed by President Trump have the gun carrying M-17 pistols or M-4 rifles. Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hagsath authorized the troops to begin carrying weapons. More than 2,200 Guard troops are now in Washington. This comes as President Trump's threatening to send the National Guard to Chicago as well as

New York and Baltimore, what would be a dramatic expansion of Trump's use of military force domestically. The Washington Post, reports the administrations considering deploying thousands of National Guard members to Chicago, as well as possibly active-duty troops. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called the plan, quote, the most flagrant violation of our Constitution in the 21st century, unquote. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said, quote, Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power. to distract from the pain he's causing working families, unquote.

On Friday, Trump claimed residents of Chicago want federal forces deployed. And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come. They're wearing red hats, just like this one. But they're wearing red hats. African-American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, please, President Trump, come to Chicago. A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from cutting off federal funding from dozens of sanctuary cities, which includes some of the largest cities in the United States, including Los Angeles and Chicago. President Trump had signed executive orders that would withhold federal funding from cities with laws that limit local police cooperation with ICE. In their lawsuit against the Trump administration, sanctuary cities and counties called these orders, quote, an abuse of power, arguing the Constitution allows them to not assist ICE activities within their jurisdiction.

The Trump administration seeking to deport Kilmar-Abrego-Garcia to Uganda just days after he was freed from ICE detention. Abrago Garcia is the Maryland man who is wrongfully deported to the notorious Seikot prison in El Salvador and later returned to the U.S. On Friday, he was released in Tennessee, but he was ordered to report to the ICE field office in Baltimore today, which he has done. He reported to the ICE office this morning where he is expected to be taken back into custody over the weekend. The Immigrant Advocacy Group, CASA, released a short video of Kilmar-Abrego-Garcia. My name is Kilmar-Abrego-Garcia. Today was a very special day because, thank God, I saw my family again, after more than 160 days.

I want to thank everyone who has been supporting me because after so much time, I am realizing that many people have been by my side with positivity, and I am thankful for them. We'll have more on this story later in the program. We'll speak to Kilmar-Abrego-Garcia's family lawyer. Democratic lawmakers are harshly criticizing the Trump administration over the FBI's raid Friday on the home of John Bolton,

who served as Trump's national security advisor, but later became a vocal critic. On Sunday, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff appeared on Meet the Press and said the raid is part of the administration's intimidation campaign to target administration critics. What the president is trying to do here is very systemic and systematic, and that is anyone who stands up to the president, anyone who criticized the president, anyone who says anything adverse to the president's interests, gets the full weight of the federal government brought down on them. On Sunday, Vice President J.D. Vance defended the rich. raid on John Bolton's home. We're in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation into John Bolton. I will say we're going to let that investigation proceed.

What I can't tell you is that unlike the Biden DOJ and the Biden FBI, our law enforcement agencies are going to be driven by law and not by politics. The Trump administration's continuing its purge of high-ranking military and intelligence officials. On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hedgeseth fired the head of the DIA. That's the Defense Intelligence Agency. And another two senior military commanders. The move comes two months after a leaked DIA assessment contradicted President Trump's claim

that U.S. strikes on Iran had obliterated the Iranian nuclear program. Here in New York, video has gone viral of Egyptian government employees grabbing and beating two Egyptian American brothers who've been taking part in a pro-Palestine-Palistine protest outside the Egyptian mission to the UN. They're bringing the kid inside the building. They're bringing the kids in the building. They're bringing the kid with the chain. Can you guys bring somebody?

Bring somebody. They're beating the kid with a chain. Bring somebody. They're beating the kid with the chain. Bring somebody. They're beating them inside. They're beating the kid and his brother. Yes, please.

In the video, Egyptian officials can be seen dragging the two brothers, age 22 and 15. and 15 years old, into the mission and then using a chain and stick to beat them. When the New York police arrive, they arrested not the officials, but the two brothers. The boy's mother, Olga al-Somac, criticized the NYPD, telling the intercept, quote, I can expect it from the Egyptian security because this is a military-run country, but I wouldn't expect it from a police force that's supposed to protect American citizen, she said. The family of Jeffrey Epstein's survivor, Virginia Joufrey, is accusing the Justice Department

of giving former Epstein Associate Guillain Maxwell a platform to rewrite history. On Friday, the DOJ released the transcript of Maxwell's interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Maxwell disputed allegations of wrongdoing against her in Epstein. She also questioned if Epstein had died by suicide in jail, and she praised President Trump, who has the power to pardon her. Jewfrey's family said, quote, the content of these transcripts is in direct contradiction with felon Gilane Maxwell's conviction for child sex trafficking, unquote.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has begun sending subpoenaed material on Epstein to the House Oversight Committee, but Democratic lawmakers say almost all the files had already been publicly released. In Texas, the Republican-controlled Senate passed new congressional maps that could flip as many is five House seats in favor of the GOP. In a statement, Republican Governor Greg Abbott said, quote, the one big, beautiful map has passed the Senate and is on its way to my desk where it will swiftly be signed into law, unquote.

Earlier this month, more than 50 Democratic legislators temporarily fled Texas for two weeks to deny Republicans' quorum needed to pass the new congressional maps. In the latest attack on the country's renewable energy industry, President Trump's ordered companies to stop construction on a wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. The project was nearly completed, was set to deliver electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes by next year. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management sent a letter to one of the developers of the project saying the government was halting construction to, quote, address concerns related to the protection of national security interests, unquote. Earlier this year, the Trump administration

had tried to stop a wind farm from being built off the coast of Long Island, but eventually allowed the project to proceed after New York Governor Kathy Hokel approved new gas pipelines in New York. The state of Florida has painted over a rainbow crosswalk that was part of a memorial to honor the 49 people killed at a gay nightclub in Orlando in 2016. At the time, it was the country's deadliest mass shooting. Orlando City officials weren't notified about the removal of the mural. The movie of the mayor of Orlando called it a, quote, cruel political act, unquote. People reportedly protested the state's move by scribbling the colors of the rainbow over the crosswalk. In a social media post, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said, quote, we will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes, unquote.

And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now. Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. Israeli air strikes on Nassar Hospital in southern Gaza killed at least 20 people, including five Palestinian journalists. According to eyewitnesses, Israel carried out a double-tap strike on the hospital. A drone initially hit the hospital's roof, killing one journalist setting up a live stream. Then another strike hit journalists and rescue workers who were responding to the initial strike. During a live

broadcast, Al-Qad TV, filmed the second strike on the hospital. Just now, just now, the civil service is lost. Oh, God, they've killed these people. The journalists killed, and the Israeli air strike had been identified as,

Hossama Masri, a photojournalist with the Reuters News Agency. Mohamed Salama, a photojournalist with Al Jazeera. Marim Abu Daka, a freelancer who worked with the Associated Press. Moaz Abu Taha, a journalist with NBC, and Afed Abu Aziz. On Saturday, another journalist was killed in Gaza, Mohamed al-Madun, who worked at Palestine TV. At least 244 journalists and media workers have now been killed in Gaza over the past 23 months. Today's attack on Nasar Hospital came a day after Israeli forces killed at least 64 Palestinians,

mostly in the north, as Israel moves to take over Gaza City and forcibly remove the city's entire population of about one million people. Officials in Gaza say Israel's recently destroyed more than a thousand buildings in the Zaytun and sovereign neighborhoods of Gaza City. Meanwhile, health officials in Gaza say 11 more Palestinians, including two children, have died from malnutrition over the past 24 hours, at least 300 Palestinians have starved to death. On Friday, the UN formally declared famine in the Gaza Strip. For more, we go to Muhammad Shahada, writer and analyst from Gaza. He's chief communications at Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

Muhammad, welcome back to democracy now under incredibly painful circumstances. What do you understand happened with eyewitnesses talking about a double-tax strike on Nassar Hospital that killed at least five journalists, 20 people about altogether, with a focus on the fourth floor. The Reuters journalist was setting up a live stream on the roof when it happened. Well, basically, it started with a journalist at Nassar Hospital called Hatem-Uromar, who located and spotted an Israeli surveillance quad-captor drone. He took a picture, uploaded it, an hour before the strike,

and said there is a quad-copter drone that is surveilling. meticulously the area. So take cover, watch out. Israel knew exactly who was there. They bombed the fourth floor with a precision strike because that is the area where journalists would go to catch a signal for their e-sim cards because Israel collapsed Gaza's telecommunication infrastructure. So journalists rely on an electronic SIM card that catches a signal from Israeli telecom towers. So that's why they have to go to high up places, high-rise buildings. Once they bombed it the first time, they waited patiently until more journalists and rescue workers rushed to the scene. And once they saw them, they bombed them again exactly at the moment that they were crowding

to basically document the atrocities that unfolded there. So it's a precision double-tap strike that Israel unleashed to kill journalists specifically in the area where they knew that they would be standing every single day to upload documentation of the genocide. Can you talk about Israel's response? They said they're investigating. That's the exact same response that they gave about the Asr Murtaja in 2018 when they murdered him with a sniper shot directly, despite wearing a press-marked twist. First, they said he was Hamas.

Then they said it was an accident. Then when all of their lies were debunked repeatedly, they said we will investigate. And we never heard anything about it again for the next seven years until this moment. Investigate is Israel's way of buying time. I have Israeli contacts in Israeli civil society like breaking the silence

and Bits Salem that said that Israel previously was unwilling to investigate itself at this stage it is incapable of investigating itself because the military is overfilled with religious Zionist extremists. It's basically the Israeli

military that is carrying out the genocide in Gaza is overstaffed with the most extreme Israeli settlers particularly from the hilltop youth and you wouldn't expect those people to investigate their atrocities, little on the people that were there before them. Israel's investigations are basically the same sham

that is there to buy time. That's why Bitsailam decided many years ago to stop collaborating with any Israeli state investigation because they said these are theater plays, performances, that is there to just whitewash Israeli atrocities on the ground. So it's completely meaningless. Can you tell us about the other journalists

and their reporting? So you have Hassim al-Masri, the photojournalist, Reuters News Agency, was setting up a live stream on the roof. And then there's Mariam Abu Daka. She's with AP, a freelancer with OAP, a mom. She was doing profiles, especially of children in Nasser Hospital. So Mariam, she's a giant icon on her own.

Basically, she's a journalist, a mother, she recently donated her kidney to save a life quietly. Her son is receiving medical treatment outside of Gaza, Gaith. She is basically a very close friend of Razan and Najjar, the paramedic that was killed again in a targeted sniper shot during the Great March return in 2018. And Mariam was covering these demonstrations. At one point, she was broadcasting live when a body arrived to the hospital. She looked behind and it turned out to be her own brother that was killed by Israel while marching bare chested against Israel's draconian blockade on Gaza and collapsed in tears immediately. She lost another brother during the genocide.

She's a neighbor of Mohamed Salama, the other journalist that was killed in their strike. And Muhammad recently got engaged and he was preparing to get married. He's a young journalist from the same area, Abbasan and Chaniunis, a village that Israel wiped out completely. They left nothing in there and they bragged about it on camera. They took thorough documentation that Abbasan was turned into a howling wilderness. and showed it through Gazans to basically shock them. Even in Israeli prisons, Bin Gvier, the Israeli Minister of Security, he hung up a giant poster of Gaza being reduced to rubble

for Palestinian hostages to see it every single day and realize that the genocide is going through. The other journalist, Muazpaha and Hamza, both of them, none of the four journalists, had anything to do with Hamas or militant activity. Nonetheless, you have Channel 14 and Israeli TV channel that is now bragging and saying, yes, we bombed the Nasser hospital twice. Yes, we killed those journalists, and yes, those journalists are terrorists.

And that's the end of the story. So in English, Israel is saying one thing. They're saying it's a mistake. In Hebrew, they're bragging about it. They're delighting in the killing of those journalists. Right now, Israel has killed 244 journalists by far surpassing all 20 years of the war in Vietnam or all six years of the Second World War. And you remember, Amy, in Vietnam, there were,

pictures like the Nepom girl that turned public opinion around. There was the picture from Lebanon in 1982 of a girl with both of her arms wrapped in bandages that made President Reagan call the Israeli Prime Minister and say, this is a

Holocaust. You need to stop now. But when it comes to Gaza, you don't see that tipping point at all. No matter what Israel does, there is no tipping point for the international community that's empowering Israel genocide. And let's remember that Well, over 200 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed. You said 244, Muhammad.

The Israeli Prime Minister, the military, does not allow in international journalists. Mohamed Shahada, I want to thank you very much for being with us, writer and analyst from Gaza, Chief of Communications at Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. This is Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. we're going to stay in Gaza. And perhaps the first time famine has been declared outside the African continent. The UN-backed IPC has declared a full-blown catastrophic famine in Gaza City.

The classification is characterized by, quote, starvation, destitution, and death with one and three children acutely malnourished. Unless Israel's near total blockade on food is lifted, the famines expected to expand to Darabalach and Khan Yunis in coming weeks. Many aid agencies have life-saving aid, sitting in warehouses outside Gaza, ready to enter. For more, we go to Gaza City. We're joined by Tess Ingram, spokesperson for UNICEF, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund Tess. Thanks so much for being with us.

You heard about what happened at Khadun at Nasser Hospital. Of course, there are so many patients there, children, adults, journalists, doctors, staff. From where you stand, this in the midst of the declaration by the UN that the Gaza Strip is in famine, can you comment? The rules of war are clear. Health care must be protected, as should journalists and all civilians, including children and humanitarian aid workers. And yet throughout this conflict, we've seen a constant disregard for the rules of war. And I saw it today here in Gaza City. I went to three hospitals, and at every hospital, I was met with rooms full of injured children with amputations, with horrific blast injuries, with fractures, with multiple shrapnel wounds and internal injuries.

It is among the worst that I've seen. I was shocked by what I witnessed today in the hospitals. And on top of that, of course, we have the crisis of famine. children with malnutrition at a screening center I was at. Again, today, all but one child that was screened had malnutrition while I was there. And that one child has been receiving treatment from UNICEF and hasn't gotten better over the last three weeks. But it is everywhere, Amy, everywhere we look, children are being disproportionately affected by this horror. Tell us what the IPC is. It's actually quite a conservative organization within the United Nations.

if you can talk about what it means to declare famine? They are quite conservative. They're a group of independent technical experts. So this group look at data specifically, and they look at it in the context of food insecurity, and they do this all the way around the world, from Somalia to Sudan, South Sudan, and now, of course, they've been watching the situation in Gaza

for many, many months now. They actually first warned of the risk of famine in December 2023. And since then, they have been monitoring, collecting evidence and data. So for them to make this classification on Friday of a famine in Gaza City and the risk of that spreading and quickly to Deraabala and Kahn Yunus is a very significant moment. It is a rare moment for the IPC to make such a finding, and it is backed by 50 pages of evidence behind that claim.

So we take that very seriously. Of course, we know here on the ground that the situation has been bad for so many months. One girl I spoke to yesterday, Sarah, she's 14 here in Gaza City, and she said to me, famine, of course I know, I've been starving for five months now. And I think that is the view of so many people here. But they were relieved that this really well-regarded group has put that on the international stage. And hopefully, world leaders will take it and use it as a catalyst to finally do something to try and get more aid to these children.

Can you talk about the so-called Gaza humanitarian foundation? UNICEF, your organization, has been clear it will not participate in the militarization of aid. Over 200 NGOs have said that. Who are they? And what is happening when Palestinians race to sites, children, adults to try to get food? We as the United Nations, including UNICEF, have been very clear that, we will not participate in the model that the GHF is using because it does not meet our humanitarian principles of impartiality, of neutrality. And what that means in practice really

is that we take aid to people where they are in their places of refuge and we deliver it to them with safety and with dignity. And we did that during the ceasefire as a good example. We had 400 distribution points all over Gaza so that we could bring the aid to the people where they were safely and with dignity. Now, we are seeing the opposite at the moment from these sites. There's just four of them. And we are seeing those apocalyptic scenes of people rushing to try and get what they can from these sites of people being shot at while they are trying to do

that. In our mind, that does not work. It does not meet the humanitarian principles that we adhere to. And that is why we are not working with that model. What we are asking for is for us to be allowed to do our jobs. We are being hampered every step of the way at the moment. and we want to be able to scale up. And we need to be able to scale up

because a famine is underway in Gaza. It's more important now than it ever has been. So it's critical that the UN is allowed to work. Can you explain what actually happens with these hundreds of trucks that are trying to get into Gaza right now? That's right. We've got hundreds of trucks outside waiting

to come into the Gaza Strip, including with life-saving supplies for children, equipment for hospitals that's so desperately needed. look, there's no good reason why that cannot be allowed in with urgency. But what we're seeing is those trucks not being allowed to cross, for example, at Kerem Shalom in the south. But then we have challenges inside, too. Even the few trucks that come into the Gaza Strip,

those trucks are offloaded at a crossing. And then we have to get permission to go and collect the aid from the crossing. It's not a drive-through, Amy. We can't just go there whenever we like to collect the supplies. We have to ask for permission. we have to receive what we call a green light to undertake that mission. Sometimes we might get the permission, but then we are delayed for many hours before we can leave, or we're delayed along the way.

We face waiting at holding points. Sometimes for our teams, it can take up to 20 hours to do a round trip to collect the aid, which is obscene when this crossing is just a few kilometres away. And then, of course, if we do successfully collect the aid, we have to take it. out of the crossing, again with permission. We often have to travel down a designated route, which is not always a route that we would want to choose to take. Perhaps it's not safe.

Perhaps it's a route we know where there are armed criminal gangs attempting to loot the aid. So there's so many obstacles that we face. And what we're repeatedly calling for is for these obstacles to be addressed. There are clear solutions. Give the UN more access to collect from the crossings. Give us multiple safe routes inside of the Gaza Strip. and more important than anything, allow more trucks to come in because we know that if we flood the Gaza Strip with aid, we will, one, reach more people with the supplies that they need,

but two, we will address this desperation among the community and we will see the looting decrease. Do you think your response to the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rejecting the IPC famine report, calling it an outright lie, and at the same time not allowing an international journalist to verify what's going on on the ground. To suggest that this report is a lie, it contradicts everything that we know, everything that we've been saying for months, and it's disrespectful to the work of the teams on the ground,

to this body of international experts, and to the people of Gaza, to be having this conversation about whether or not it is true while children are dying, it's it's like we're living in an alternate universe it's clear that children are starving they're dying of mountain nutrition a group of global experts has said that there is a famine and those of us here on the ground are seeing it every day in our work and we're traumatized by it we are seeing children die every day so there is no doubt in any of our minds that we're in a crisis and that the solution to the crisis is to stop arguing about it to open the crossings and to allow aid into the Gaza Strip so that children can survive. Tess, Ingram, I know you have to go, but I want to ask you, you're speaking to us from Gaza City. Israel's defense minister has pledged to level Gaza City.

Unless there is an agreement between Hamas and Israel around a ceasefire, can you respond to the fear on the ground? One million people live in Gaza City? almost a million people who live here, that's right. And every second one of them, half of the population are children. And I think we have to remember that when we're talking about this. We're talking about a population where every second person is a child. And of course, these children have endured almost two years of the unimaginable. And they're exhausted.

They're traumatized. They're starving. This is an area where a famine was just classified. This is an area where hospitals are full of injured children. I was talking to doctors today at hospitals in Gaza City about what they're going to do if the worst comes true and they have to try and evacuate and they don't know where they will go.

They don't know how they will remove incubators filled with babies or children from ICU units hooked up to life-saving equipment. This really is a situation that people are lost for words to describe and to plan for, and people are afraid. I was at a learning center yesterday, and I sat with a classroom of children and talked to them about it,

and they're scared. Many of them have already been displaced to the south, returned earlier this year, and they don't want to do it again because they know that what awaits them down there is also not safe and not sufficient to meet their needs. Finally, we just talked to Dr. Mimi Syed, who is a U.S. doctor, who was denied entry,

though she had been there several times in Gaza. She said this is increasingly happening for doctors, so you have more and more injured and dying. And is this true? Is this a threat that doctors increasingly are not being allowed into Gaza? I don't know the details of how many doctors are not being allowed in, but it's true that there's a number of NGOs that work in the Gaza Strip, who are at risk of being deregistered in the coming weeks or the international staff not being allowed to enter. Gaza. And that would be catastrophic for the response. So many of these NGOs are critical, not just in terms of medical care, but many aspects of the humanitarian response here in the

Gaza Strip. So as a community of humanitarian workers, we've been speaking out about that and our fears around what would happen if we saw parts of this response not being permitted to continue at such a critical time for the people and children of Gaza. Tess Ingram, Moana, thank you so much for being with us. Spokesperson for UNICEF stands for United Nations International Children's Emergency Funds, speaking to us just after the UN declared a famine in the Gaza Strip. She's joining us from Gaza City. When we come back, Kilmar Abrago Garcia was just freed from ICE detention, has now reportedly been taken back into ICE detention. The government is threatening to deport him to Uganda, a country has no connection to.

Stay with us. I ain't got no home on, just a roaming round, just a wandering worker I go from town to town. And the police make it hard for me, no matter no matter where I go. and I ain't got no home in this world anymore. No, I ain't got no home in this world anymore. My brothers and my sisters are strained. I ain't got no home in this world anymore, a rendition of Billy Bragg by Billy Bragg. in our Democracy Now studio.

This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman. We turn now to a case that's become a flashpoint of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign and crackdown on immigrants. We're talking about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 30-year-old father from El Salvador, who lived in Maryland for years. He was detained by federal immigration officials again today, just days after he was reunited with his wife and children in Maryland after being separated from them for more than 160 days.

This morning, Abrego Garcia presented himself to ICE for a check-in. Dozens of his supporters rallied outside ICE's office in Baltimore, where he addressed the crowd before walking into the building where he was taken into custody. He spoke in Spanish, followed by a translator. And for that I want to say to you the thanks to each one of you that marched, and they all righted their voices and and never they're trying to believe and

I'll watch for my liberty and this is why I want to thank each and every one of you who marched, lift your voices, never stopped praying and continued to fight in my name. Kilmar had just returned home

Friday after he was released from jail in Tennessee. The father of three still faces deportation. This time to Uganda, a country he has no connection to. The Trump administration threatened to send him there for refusing to plead guilty in a human smuggling case that Kilmar's legal team has condemned his retaliation for challenging his initial wrongful removal to El Salvador and for his refusal to accept a

plea deal that would have seen him sent to Costa Rica after the completion of his prison sentence. Kilmar-Abrego-Garcia's anguish began in March when he was wrongfully sent to El Salvador's notorious maximum security Seikot Megaprizen, along with 260 other immigrants in the United States without due process. A court order forced his return to the U.S. in June. He was visited there by a number of politicians, including Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen. But upon his return, the Trump administration arrested and indicted Abrago Garcia on alleged human smuggling charges for which he awaits a federal trials. Lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the case based on vindictive and selective prosecution. For more, we go to a lawyer for Kilmar-Aidgo-Garcia's family.

Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Labor Organizing Network, known as Endelon. Chris, welcome back to Democracy Now. Can you explain these latest developments of the last few days? Boy, I mean, like the whole saga, it's been a whirlwind. You know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm I'm anxiously looking at my phone. I'm zooming into you live here from California, talking to colleagues on the East Coast. And yes, Kilmer was just apprehended. He was released from jail in Tennessee, returned home to his family, and reported dutifully to his ice check-in this morning and was apprehended.

So explain after he was held. held in El Salvador. First at Seqat and then another prison. The more than 200 people sent from the United States there. More than 200 were sent to Venezuela. This was all clearly illegal being held in El Salvador. He came back to the United States but was immediately imprisoned. Explain what he's charged with. And is it possible that they're talking about sending him to Uganda a country he has no connection to? Well, I mean, the legal charges and legal maneuvers that are being deployed against Kilmar are unprecedented and almost defy description because they are so unprecedented.

The strategy has been incoherent from the Trump administration from the beginning, but the political strategy is clear as day. They are seeking to use the highest office in this land to really, railroad and prosecute and punish an innocent man. And, you know, again, words escape us. He was never, you know, he wasn't deported to El Salvador. I think the better and more appropriate term is that he was renditioned. This is a guy that has never been convicted of anything. And I think it's actually important to consistently put this case in context. You know, you know, you say that his nightmare started in March. It actually preceded that when he was wrongfully arrested while

looking for work at a Home Depot, much like, you know, people are being arrested every day in Los Angeles. The difference is in Los Angeles, if you get arrested by local police, you're protected by sanctuary laws, which prohibit police and ICE from being, you know, from collaborating. Kilmar was wrongfully arrested by local police. In fact, he was arrested by a police officer who himself pled guilty to criminal wrongdoing, but was a wrongdoing. But was then transferred into ICE custody where he functionally won his case. He won something called withholding of removal, saying that he can't go back to the country that he fled from. He was then, as you pointed out, wrongfully apprehended during that big, you know, really awful moment

in American history where hundreds of people were renditioned to the biggest and worst prison in the hemisphere. When he was brought in there, he was told like everyone else that he was never leaving. And, you know, he was, in fact, one of the few, very, very few people to ever leave Seacot, and certainly one of the few people to, at least momentarily, be a free man as he was over the weekend. What comes next, honestly, is anyone's guess at this point, because clearly the Trump administration is sort of making this all up as they go along, and we are going to do everything we can in court in this country, in other countries. necessary to make sure that Kilmar is ultimately reunited with his family and is able to live

a free and prosperous life. This Justin, Kilmar-Brigo Garcia, has filed a new federal lawsuit in Maryland. Since it's a habeas corpus case, the petition isn't public, but as lawyers said, it challenges the Trump administration scheme to send him to Uganda. I also want to quote Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, who spoke with Kilmar and his wife yesterday on Sunday. In response to his threats, Trump's threats to send Kilmar to Uganda, Senator Van Hollen said in a statement, quote, Kilmar-Brigo Garcia deserves his day in court. But Trump administration officials, who continue to make public statements about his case that

have been expressly repudiated by the courts, would rather insult judges and circumvent our justice system than uphold people's constitutional rights. Your response, Chris. Well, right from the start, when the senator and I were momentarily detained at El Salvador, Senator Van Hollen has said that this is a test case for due process for everyone. And part of the reason why the senator, I think, has been and continues to be so invested in the outcome of this case, is not only because, you know, he's convinced that we're experiencing a grave injustice for Kilmar and his family, but also because all of our rights are currently under threat. And so one way to look at this is that this is a high-profile deportation case.

The other way to look at it is that this is a high-profile test case as to whether or not we have due process at all in this country. And so, you know, when Kilmar said earlier today that he's grateful for those that have been standing with him, I want to echo that sentiment and say this is far from over, and it's going to be incumbent upon, you know, not just his lawyers to make every argument, including the habeas petition filed just now, but it's going to be incumbent upon anyone who believes in due process in the constitutional system and constitutional values in this country to accompany him because he right now is not only defending himself

and his family, but he's defending all of us. His lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Motionberg, says the stated in of the meeting with immigration police today was for an interview, but clearly that was false, the lawyer says. He said ICE did not say why they were detaining him or where they are taking him. Your final comment, Chris Newman. Look, we've been on a slippery slope in this country for years in which, you know, debates of, the course in debate about immigration has been used as a pretext and mechanism for incipient authoritarianism.

The fact is that Kilmar fled, El Salvador, made a great life here in this country, contributed to his community, and now has the types of authoritarian human rights violations that he was fleeing from in El Salvador following him here to the United States. And so Donald Trump

wants to close the border for immigrants, but he seems to be importing authoritarian legal and political techniques into this country. And thankfully, Kilmar and his family are standing up, and I will share with you what I shared with him and his family yesterday when we spoke. On behalf of the National Day Labor Organizing Network, we plan to stand with him every step of the way until his civil and human rights are vindicated. And this is now obviously a major setback, but we're going to continue this fight to the very end because it's important not just for him, but for all of us.

And I will say, again, there was a fleeting moment of joy when he was able to be with his family. And I think that that gave a lot of people hope, particularly in Los Angeles, because we're seeing apprehensions and human rights violations at Home Depot's every single day in Los Angeles akin to the kinds of things that are happening to Kilmar.

And I think the way Kilmar and his family have fought back have been an inspiration not just to the country, but to everyday labor in the United States. Chris Newman, I want to thank you for being with us, Legal Director of National Labor Organizing Network, Ndalen, lawyer for Kilmar Abrago-Garcia's family. Actually, speaking to us from California, speaking of fighting back,

we turn now to George Redis, a disabled, 25-year-old U.S. citizen and army veteran held by ICE for three days and nights without charge. We'll find out what he's doing about it. Back in 20 seconds. You know me tapas this This time Yeah, we're

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years, my Envy by L'EVey by Lila Downs, performing in our Democracy Now studio. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman. We end today's show looking at the Trump administration's mass immigration raids. As federal agents round up thousands of people nationwide, including U.S. citizens. George Redis is a 25-year-old U.S. citizen, a disabled army veteran who's taking on the federal government after he was detained by ICE for three days and nights without charge, arrested during a raid in July on a cannabis farm in Camarillo, California, where he worked as a security guard.

Redis was driving to work when he encountered a checkpoint. He says agents broke his car window, pepper sprayed, and violently dragged him out from his vehicle. One officer put a knee on Redis' neck. Another put a knee on his back. During his time in custody, Redis says he was denied access to a lawyer, prevented from contacting his family, placed in an isolation cell. As he remained jailed, Redis missed his daughter's third birthday. He's now filing a legal claim against the Trump administration.

Jaime Alainis, a farm worker died after falling from the roof of the greenhouse during that same immigration raid. For more, we're joined by George Redis, his attorney, Marie Miller, with the Institute for Justice as well. Thank you both for being with us. George, explain what happened. We told your story over and over again. It's a relief to be able to speak to you directly. Yes. Did you want the story from the beginning?

Yes, please. I was on my way to work like any other day, except today. there was protests going on, there was cars, apparently there was a raid on my work. And so when I show up, all this is going on, there's piles of cars. I make my way to the front and there's a wall of ice agents blocking from anyone from going. I pull up and I stop in front of them. I get out my car and try to explain that. I'm a U.S. citizen that I'm just trying, I'm just trying to get to work. I'm not there to protest them. I'm not there to fight them. I'm just trying to get to work. I didn't think it would be a problem as long as I told them what was going on. They got hostile. They didn't care what I had to say. They started yelling at me to do different things.

It was at that point, they started walking towards me. I got back in my car and they surrounded my car. They reversed me to get out of the way. for them. I got out of the way. Their cars drove by and then it was after all that they re-approached my car. They threw tear gas behind me. The tear gas got into my car and they started banging on my driver's side and passenger side window. There's cars in there's ice agents in front of my car telling me to reverse, telling me to pull over to the side. All while other agents are pulling on my door handle trying to try to rip my door open. and trying to get me out of the car, all while other agents are telling me to do different

things. No one was in charge. You told them you're a U.S. veteran. You told them you're a U.S. citizen. What was their response after they smashed your window? The response was no response. I was guilty of anything they had thought I was. They didn't need an excuse for anything they did. They just did it. So when did you join the military? And can you talk about how long you served? I joined the military in 2018, and I served for four years.

And now you were serving a security on this farm? Yes. I decided to take after security when I got out. And when they, several of the agents put their knee in your back, put their knee on your neck? Yes. Yes, one agent put their knee on my neck and another agent put their knee on my back, all while like four or five other agents stood around and watched and just let it happen. They just stood there and watched.

Part of your jailing, you were held with a professor. Yes, the very first night, they put us in a cell with one, they put me in a cell with one other person, and it was the professor who was the rest of that day. George, you missed your daughter's third birthday? Yes. Yes, I did. That's something I'll never get back. And it sucks. You, were you able to call home? Were you able to call a lawyer? No, they didn't give me a chance to at all. I asked when I would be able to speak to a lawyer.

They never gave me anything. They never let me, they never let me call my family. They never told me what I was charged for. They just kind of threw me in there and didn't care. No reason to throw me in there. I want to bring in Marie Miller with the Institute for Justice. Can you explain the legal course you're taking now with George Redis, U.S. Army veteran, disabled, security on this farm held for three days and nights? Sure.

So it's not easy to hold the federal government and its officials accountable when they violate individuals' constitutional rights. But George is trying, and he's doing everything he can to do that. What he's done now is file administrative claims against the federal agencies that are involved. And the reason for that is that there's a statute called the Federal Tort Claims Act. And it is one of the most viable ways to hold the federal government accountable for violating people's constitutional rights. But one requirement before a person can sue the federal government under that statute is that the person needs to file their claims with the responsible federal agencies first, giving those agencies a chance to resolve the claim themselves. And they have six months to do that. So this federal tort claims act puts in this six month waiting period before a person can even enter.

the courthouse door to sue the federal government for rights violations. And it's not the only way to hold the federal government accountable, but it's become one of the most viable ways in recent years, as other paths to accountability have been practically cut off for most people who are victims of civil rights violations by the federal government. Marie Miller, officials at Homeland Security released a statement saying George Redis was arrested and has been released. He's not been charged. U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing his case along with dozens of others for potential federal charges related to the execution of the federal search warrant in Camarillo. Your response? There have been no charges brought. George was never told

why he was being detained. When he was released, he was given a form that just says he was detained pursuant to arrest. That's no explanation for his three-day, three-night detention, much less without a phone call, without a hearing before a judge, without access to an attorney without a shower, with pepper spray all over his body. These are basic violations of Georgia's federal constitutional rights and his rights under California law. And George, you were transported to a Navy base first? Yes, I was transferred to the Port Reney Navy Navy Base first. And then? First. And then from there, they did our fingerprints and took our picture. And from there, they took us to the detention facility in downtown L.A.

George, if you can talk about what it means, I mean, you were an Iraq war veteran. You were in a law enforcement adjacent job, right, doing security. Has it changed your view of law. enforcement in this country? I wouldn't say it changed my view of law enforcement because, I mean, we're a nation of laws. Someone has to uphold those laws. So it's just important to hold everyone accountable to make sure that no one is above the law. It doesn't matter who you are, what you do. So everyone has to follow the law.

Everyone needs to be held accountable. And I think that's super important, especially for people who don't get the chance to speak or are too scared to speak. Someone has to hold people accountable. Marie Miller, I want to ask you finally. The Institute for Justice recently won a Supreme Court case with a family in Atlanta whose home was wrongly raided by an FBI SWAT team. We just have 30 seconds.

That's right. the Institute for Justice, along with the clients, one, that case at the Supreme Court. That was a Federal Tort Claims Act case, and that case is back down at the 11th Circuit for further proceedings. Georgia's situation is proceeding under the same act, the Federal Tort Claims Act, alongside other potential avenues for relief. And our position is that when officers violate federal constitutional rights, there has to be some way to hold them accountable in court.

Otherwise, our rights are simply a losery. I want to thank you both for being with. Marie Miller with the Institute for Justice and George Redis, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen, U.S. Army veteran, who worked as a security guard and was taken by ICE and held incommunicado for three days and nights. That does it for our show. I'm Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.