Last Podcast On The Left - Side Stories: ICE Stories w/ Kurt Braunohler & Thomas Kennedy

Episode Date: August 26, 2026

On this special edition of Side Stories, Ed sits down with comedian Kurt Braunohler to hear the story of his nephew Nelson, who is currently being held in ICE detention. Florida Immigrant Coalition or...ganizer Tomas Kennedy joins the conversation as they expose the rapid rise of these immigration prisons, the brutal conditions inside them, and the horrifying speed with which this type of inhumane treatment is becoming normalized across the country. For Live Shows, Merch, and More Visit: www.LastPodcastOnTheLeft.comKevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Last Podcast on the Left ad-free, plus get Friday episodes a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:01 There's no place to escape to. This is the last podcast. On the left. Side stories? That's when the cannibalism started. Side stories. Yes. Hello, humans, dogs, and cats that listen and watch side stories.
Starting point is 00:00:26 My name's Ed Larson, of course. Today's going to be a very special episode. If you remember back, I did a whole episode on last podcast on the left. that I led called the Florida Files, Pain and the Everglades. And the thing that I realized about the Everglades, that was the saddest to me, of course, was Alligator Pelican or Alligator Alcatraz, as it is better known. And it just hasn't set right with me. And then a week after our episode came out, the place shut down.
Starting point is 00:00:58 And so I wanted to find out what was going on there now, what the state of Florida is like, in immigration across the country in general. So I'm sitting down with an amazing reporter. His name is Tomas Kennedy. He's written for the Sun Sentinel, the Miami Herald, the Miami New Times. And of course, he's part of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. He's going to be with me in a little bit. But first, I'm talking to a friend, you know, because if we're going to get to the bottom
Starting point is 00:01:28 of immigration, you really got to hear it from two white men. And so I'm talking to a buddy of mine, Kurt Bronholer, and what happened to Kurt is I'm going to let him get into it. But his nephew has been detained by ICE for over two months and they don't know what to do. And so he's my friend and this is directly connected to me. And so before we get started with Tomas with some real answers, Kurt and I are going to pose a couple of questions. So take it away, Kurt. Welcome, Kurt Brunner. How you doing, man? Thank you for joining me all the way overseas. Well, I appreciate it, Ed. Yeah, it's really crazy what happened to Nelson. Nelson Contreras is my nephew.
Starting point is 00:02:17 He was married. He is married to my niece, Ariel. When did they get married? And they got married in early June. And then he had a routine. you know, immigration check-in in Philadelphia, which usually is he goes to a kiosk and just kind of like punches in saying, like, I'm here, I'm checking in, you know, as his required by law, he is an asylum seeker and he entered the country legally with asylum status and has had that status for the past four years. Where is he coming from? He's coming from Venezuela. He served in the National Guard and was asked to harm protesters and refused to do so, which made him
Starting point is 00:03:02 an enemy of the state. Christ. So what exactly happened in that situation if you don't mind me asking? Do you know? I do not know the details of it. That's all I know is that he was in the National Guard. Yeah. And because it was, yeah, there was protesters involved and he refused to harm them. And so that's kind of the situation that led him to not be safe in Venezuela. Wow. And how long ago was that? That was four years ago. Four years ago. Okay. So he's been here for a while now. He's been here for a while. He, you know, and he's like, you know, he's the kindest man. He's like such a nice guy. He volunteered so much at the nonprofit near his house called Mighty Writers that they hired him full time.
Starting point is 00:03:47 And so he had a work permit. He was working full time there. He was also picking up shifts in the evening at agricultural places. Like there's a, there's a mushroom farm nearby where he lives. in Pennsylvania. Yeah. And he was like part of the community. I mean, he'd been dating my, my niece for years, and then they just got married.
Starting point is 00:04:10 And then it was just like less than a month after he goes to, he goes to on a Thursday to check in for his immigration check-in. And they tell him that the kiosk is broken, come back on Saturday. And so he follows their instructions, come back on Saturday. Of course, federal buildings are closed on a Saturday. and ICE is waiting there and they abduct him. This is a story I've heard a bunch of times, which is very unfortunate. Was he the only person taken that day?
Starting point is 00:04:41 Was he like specifically targeted? Were they targeting like a group of people? I don't know that actually. That's a good question. But it did seem like this was their plan to tell people that the kiosk was broken. So maybe they took a lot of people that day. Because people are just trying to do right. They're doing anything they can to not go home.
Starting point is 00:04:59 I mean, this is a man seeking asylum. And if you don't really know what that means, that means it's too dangerous for him to go back where he's from because people are looking for him at this point. And also, America has had an asylum process in place for decades. It's not like this is just some new thing that we're cooking up to drive. This has always been a part of what it means to be an American is that we allow asylum cases for people who are in, in danger. in their country. Yeah, for at least my whole life, I know that much. It's been going on forever. This isn't new. This isn't new. No. So he's working in the community. He gets married to your wonderful niece. He's doing everything he can. And then he gets taken by ice. And this was in June.
Starting point is 00:05:45 This was in June. Yeah. So he has now been incarcerated for over 60 days. As is typical, they shipped him far away from where he was detained and where his family. because they don't want anyone coming to visit them. Because usually these people don't have any money. And when they don't have money, they can't take off of work or they don't even have enough money to go rent them. Because you want to go see them twice, maybe. If you're going to take a whole day, if they're far away,
Starting point is 00:06:13 so you've got to rent a hotel room, some people got to rent a car, some people, they got to take off work. This whole thing could end up costing $1,000 just to say hi. And then that experience alone is extremely traumatizing and not sweet like you hope it to be. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 00:06:30 It's torture. It takes her, if she wants to go see him, it's an entire day affair of her driving all the way out to the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. But you do know where he is now. We do know where he is now. And we put money into his account so that he can text and he can make phone calls. So we've been in contact with him, which is great. He, you know. So he has a canteen?
Starting point is 00:06:56 Do they treat it like real jail? I think they do. Also, by the way, all of these detention centers are privately run. You know, they're just making money. They're just making so much money off of what is going on. Stephen Miller's invested in them. It's really, it's really infuriating. And so within 24 hours of his detainment, my niece filed a habeas corpus petition. And so then it went to, federal judge. The federal judge pushed it off to an immigration judge. And this is the craziest part. He had 30 letters from the community. I wrote one. My wife wrote one. 30 letters in support. He had 30 people in the virtual courtroom waiting. And then as his case was called, they just kicked all of us out of the virtual waiting room and then said it was some bullshit because of people have been recording the process or whatever. No one.
Starting point is 00:07:58 was recording their screen. They kicked us all out. They said 30 letters of support didn't matter that he's still a, he's still a flight risk, even though the only reason he was taken is because he was following the rules. Yeah. And don't they want to get rid of him? Don't they want him to be a flight risk? Well, flight risk, meaning that he wouldn't show up for the rest of his asylum case hearings,
Starting point is 00:08:23 right? But not that I don't know that he would leave, but which is insane. So now that we've appealed that. It's gone to the federal judge. I just found out like 15 minutes before I got on that the federal judge denied the appeal. And so now we're just looking at this incredibly long drawn out process because he had an asylum date. Yeah. But that date was in December.
Starting point is 00:08:49 That date was for people who are not incarcerated. And so now he has to get a new date for incarcerated persons. that which and he doesn't even have that yet. So now it's just this. So now he's looking at jail till at least 2027 if he's lucky. If he's lucky. Yeah. Kind of, for no reason.
Starting point is 00:09:09 For a man, he literally has been planting mushrooms, walking around, having a job in a community, just married an American, which should be enough. I always thought in my head until like last year that that was everything you needed. That was just you marry or you fall in love. You marry an American. you're an American. Yeah, you have a, you have a meeting with somebody at the State Department, and they're like, let me see pictures from your wedding.
Starting point is 00:09:35 And then they, like, look out of it, make sure it's not, it's a real wedding. And then you're, and then you get a green card. And then you have a green card. And then you're on a path to getting citizenship. Man, it seems. I've heard of even crazier cases, which is what they were doing in Florida, where people would do the habeas corpus. They would say, you know, they couldn't find,
Starting point is 00:09:54 because alligator alcatrash, just straight up wasn't logging people in. to the system when they show up. And so they would file habeas corpus. And when the habeas corpus was filed, they would move the people in the middle of the night to a different detention center. And then you would have to file a whole new habeas corpus. And it was just a process that kept going over and over and over and over again.
Starting point is 00:10:14 So the fact that it only happened once to you guys is like almost a miracle because I think Pennsylvania is slightly better than Florida. And it's just like the whole process right now. And like the food they're being fed is, horrible. What do you know about the treatment of his facility? Because I know over Delaney in New Jersey, just a couple miles away, is a total nightmare. Yeah. And he, and that is, and that has like 300 people there. I mean, someone just died at Delaney Hall. I live not too far away from Delaney Hall and it's insane. He is at one of the largest detention centers, I think,
Starting point is 00:10:51 in the Northeast. It's outside of State College, Pennsylvania. And so the, as far as as I understand there have not been too horrific of, it's just jail, it's jail conditions as opposed to like treating human beings like animals conditions. So that's, you know, like good
Starting point is 00:11:12 no, it's still jail, right? Exactly. No, it's tough. And so you're always kicked out of the Zoom. First of all, why are you not even allowed to record the Zoom? Who cares? It's court. Who cares? Yeah, what does it matter? Like, why, what are you hiding? They're obviously hiding something because they know they're doing something wrong.
Starting point is 00:11:28 And also the judge would not let his lawyer speak, just kept in cutting her off and cutting her off, saying like, I've seen that she wouldn't allow the lawyer for Nelson to explain the summary of her, you know, of her motion. And then, and then at one point apparently just turned her camera off and then the, you know, the, the, the, the federal lawyer turned to. his camera off and then they were just both gone for like 15 minutes and then just came back and it was over have you met other people going through this through this process like when you guys are in i'm sure your niece definitely has because she's been going to the detention center but yeah like you know what else have you heard like i'm sure many people have shared their stories with you at this point yeah it i mean it's just you know my niece when she goes it's just all families it's all families and if there's a family member who's been ripped literally out of their
Starting point is 00:12:27 community over and over and over again. You know, this is the insane part to me is that this, what's happening to Nelson, is happening to thousands of people in the United States. And it's crazy. These camps, they're, it's crazy. Yeah, I mean, they are, they are camps, they're concentration camps. There's no way. And people get upset when you call them that, uh, because they always go back to the
Starting point is 00:12:51 Holocaust. They're like, oh, you know, they're not, they're not putting people in ovens. They're not doing this. They're not there. Why you can't call them a concert? Auschwitz was a working camp for multiple years before they started killing people. It was just at the end, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:04 I mean, you're German. You know, they were your friends. You know, and so it's one of those things where it's like, this is the beginning. They just recently said they, if they deport people and they die mysteriously once they get back where they're going, they're not counting those deaths. This is what's happening right now. We're, we are descending into. to straight up fascism. There's no if and's
Starting point is 00:13:31 butts about it. Your family is directly affected by it. You're a regular ass white dude who's just like, you know, like... Look at how white I am. And my family's not protected from it. Yeah, no. This is the, originally the agreement was, if you're this white,
Starting point is 00:13:47 then your family is protected. So this is all completely insane. There is a GoFundMe set up for Kurt and his family, and it's doing well. I suggest you go and check it out. It's on his Instagram, but also there's so many people who have no one. There's so many people who are just going through this and being tortured in jail.
Starting point is 00:14:11 From what I learned about alligator Alcatraz, not to scare you too much because I know you love this man, but they're literally putting people in the box. You know, they're doing horrible things to these people. In the middle of summer, they're taking away basic human rights. They got their water. has parasites in it. It's awful. Everything is awful.
Starting point is 00:14:32 What's happening right now. We're deliberately torturing people who would be great Americans if we, and they're paying taxes. Nelson, Nelson pays taxes. Nelson has a paycheck. You know, get multiple jobs.
Starting point is 00:14:46 Yeah. You know that every time you get paid through a work permit, they take a bunch of the goddamn money. So it's not like he's not contributing to society. It's not like he's not working for nonprofits. They're stealing good people from good families. And now my friend is a victim and it's insane. And so I think that everyone, if you look hard enough, someone you know, someone you love is a victim of this shit.
Starting point is 00:15:11 And you got to go and I'm sick of people just sitting around and thinking that it's just going to fix itself. We have to do something. You got to get out there. You got to talk about this as much as possible. You hear someone at the dinner table saying that this is a good thing. You fucking yell at them. because this is ridiculous. We're heading into disaster.
Starting point is 00:15:30 Everyone's going to have to leave this country if it keeps going this way. And so I'm sorry to go on a rant for you, Kurt. But I'm sure you're blue in the face for this last two months. You're just supposed to be going out there and make people laugh. You're fucking sad all the time. You can't help. This is a nightmare. You know?
Starting point is 00:15:51 Yeah. I mean, I think the main thing to keep in mind is like if it can happen to my family, can happen to your family. Amen. It can happen. I have wonderful members of my family who are from Peru and I get so scared for them all the time and it's just, it's not, and they've been married to my dad and I just, at this point, I don't think any rules matter anymore and they're just taking people. They've deported Americans. They're taking
Starting point is 00:16:15 people who has served for this country. It is, it is, all rules are out the window. It's all about money. It has nothing to do with anything. It's not about keeping us safe. Nelson wasn't hurting anybody. Nelson was only helping people. And that's what they're more concerned about. People who are making it easier for everyone else. Yeah, no criminal record whatsoever.
Starting point is 00:16:37 And also what this doesn't speak to as well is just like the level of fear that everyone has to live with because of the way that ICE operates with no rules across the board. You know, I had someone contact me who's a close friend. her son is married, uh, is married to someone who was not born in this country. Um, but she hasn't been able to get the green card yet. Um, and so, you know, they were going to go to a movie or something. And she was like, oh, I forgot. She ran back. It was like, a hundred degrees out. She was like, I forgot my sweater. And she like, they're like, why do you need her sweater? She's like, I, I, I just, you know, in detention centers, it's really cold. I've heard. And so I just want to have it on me in case something happens. And that has to be her everyday life.
Starting point is 00:17:25 It's just normal. At all times. Just normal. That's just a normal thing. Yeah, I got my sweater because it's cold in jail for no reason. For no reason. This is fucking ridiculous. I'm really sorry that you're going for this, bro. My heart goes out to you. I, uh, in your family, I'm getting the word out the best I can. Please everyone, just do something about this. Don't just sit there. This is just tearing apart normal-ass people all over the this country. Do you have any concerns? I'm talking to an expert in a little bit. Is there anything that you'd like me to ask? Oh, I don't know about that, but I do know, I just want to
Starting point is 00:18:04 tell everybody that my niece and my nephew are from the sixth district in Pennsylvania. If anybody knows anybody from the six districts in Pennsylvania that might be able to help, just wanted to get that word out there as well. Well, thank you so much for coming by, buddy. I love you, Kurt. Kurt's been so good to me, my whole comedy career, from performing in the back of a U-Haul truck and driving us around and it's flying around everywhere.
Starting point is 00:18:35 You're the craziest dude ever. The only show I've ever did that had a puppy parade connected to it is one of the great minds of my comedy generation. And I love you so much, pal. I love you, too, man. I can't wait for this all to get fixed for you in your family. No one deserves this, including everyone else you don't know. They also don't deserve this.
Starting point is 00:18:57 Get back to your vacation. I love you. Thank you so much for coming to hang out with me. All right. Thank you. Live from your blade. Okay. Now, I'm being joined by a man I admire very much, to be honest with you.
Starting point is 00:19:12 His name is Thomas Kennedy. He lives in Miami. He's a reporter. He's part of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. If you want to, if you're curious what he's doing and what he's working on, go to Tomas Ken on Instagram. That's T-O-M-A-S-K-E-N on Instagram to stay up to date on everything he's doing. He's got lots of articles in the Miami New Times.
Starting point is 00:19:38 I believe you've written for the Miami Herald and the Sun Sentinel as well, which are very good papers. And it's an honor to be here with you. And first off, I want to thank you because when I did the Florida Files episode, and I talked about Alligator Alcatraz a little bit. I reached out to Tomas and I was like, please tell me what I'm doing wrong. And I believe you, I believe you helped me a great deal. And I want to thank you for the bottom of my heart because it's such a touchy subject.
Starting point is 00:20:07 And I'm just a silly comedian. And so it is nice to have someone who's very much smarter than I. I'm sure that's not the case, but that's very generous and kind. And then, no, I'm happy to have helped. It's a great conversation. So, yeah, I'm happy to hear that. Were you able, did you ever listen to the episode? I did.
Starting point is 00:20:29 I did. What did I get wrong? No, I mean, no. Not anything that I can remember, really. Yes. Yes. I mean, it's been a while, but yeah, no, it was good. Hey, no, I think if it was horrible, you definitely would remember it.
Starting point is 00:20:42 So right after the episode came out, alligator alchadress closed, like the next week. It was so. It was very bizarre. So what's going on down there now that it's closed? I mean, so most of the people that were in there are unfortunately not free. They're not, you know, they're not reacquire their freedom. The vast majority of people were transferred over to other detention facilities, whether in Florida or in other states.
Starting point is 00:21:13 And some were actually sent to jails, you know, like regular jails that have been converted at least parts of them for immigration detention through federal agreements with the Department of Homeland Security. Really? Yeah, and these jails are way over capacity due to the uptick in immigration enforcement that we've seen in recent days, in recent weeks. So obviously it's a good thing that that detention facility, the Alligator Rocket Trust, the concentration camp is closed.
Starting point is 00:21:48 That's in and of itself a good thing. but that doesn't mean that conditions for the detainees that were formerly there have gotten better, unfortunately. And so they're at local jails now, too? That's insane to me, because it's not a real, I mean, is it an actual crime? Are they charged with anything when they're being held? No, I mean, you know, we've seen the statistics, but over 70%, 71% of people in ICE detention do not have a criminal history or criminal charges. And that's the statistic that has actually held for the last two years as a constant. It's curious. But no, I mean, most of them are guilty of, if anything, a civil infraction, right?
Starting point is 00:22:31 Yeah. Being in the country without authorization. But that doesn't amount to a criminal charge in most cases. Yeah. So obviously, Alligator Alcatraz was the worst of the worst. What are the other detention centers like? And what are some of them? There's the one close to Jacksonville.
Starting point is 00:22:48 that was a deportation depot or something like that? It's so stupid. I hate them so much. But yeah, but they actually, you know, we actually, when they opened, they started selling Home Depot themed merch. Yeah. That was Deportation Depot merch. And we actually contacted with the help of Representative Anna Skamani, who's a great
Starting point is 00:23:10 lawmaker here in Florida. We contacted Home Depot's lobbyist. And they actually had ended up themselves. contacting the state of Florida and sent them a cease and desist to get them to stop selling Home Depot, Deportation Depot merge. So there's just a little tidbit. But yeah, I mean, that's a facility. That's a converted jail that they have adapted into an immigration detention site. I mean, there's Glades County, which is another sheriff-run facility that has historically had a contract to detain immigrants.
Starting point is 00:23:46 There's the... Is that out by Glade Central, Pahokee area? Correct, exactly. Then there's BTC, I think that's Brower Transitional Center in Pampano Beach, which is a completely for-profit privately run the immigration detention facility. It's run by the Geo Group, one of the largest for-profit prison companies in the United States, really the world. Then there's the chrome detention facility, which has been at it.
Starting point is 00:24:11 That one's controlled by the federal government. And historically was a missile silo during the core. World War that was converted after, you know, the Marielle Boat Lift and that influx, it was converted over time into a detention facility and historically it's been used as such. But yeah, there's a number of detention facilities and in fact there's now an effort by the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles, which houses the Florida Highway Patrol, one of the most zealous agencies and immigration enforcement in Florida, they just put out a document of of expressing interest in acquire five or more facilities to be converted into detention sites,
Starting point is 00:24:52 which means that the Florida Highway Patrol is not just in the immigration enforcement business now. They appear to be attempting to get into the business of handling detention facilities themselves. Isn't, is that legal? I mean, we are in a lawless time in or in this country, unfortunately. I mean, look, we talked about this when we, we talked about this when we were. when we discuss alligator alcatraz. Allegor Alcatraz never signed what's called a 287G contract or an intergovernmental service agreement and IGSA.
Starting point is 00:25:26 So it's a, you know, I don't want to get two in the weeks and bore people, but, you know, under the INA, which is the Immigration and Nationality Act, there's a section called 287G, which is used to delegate federal authority to state or local entities to conduct immigration responsibilities, right? And where there is police or a municipality or a detention facility, these legal agreements have to be signed because under the Constitution, the supremacy clause gives the federal government, again, immigration responsibilities. So Allegro Alighiarchat just never signed these contracts. They were operating completely outside the purview of the federal government, obviously with the blessing, but aside the purview of the federal government with no legal authority to detain immigrants. There was an active lawsuit that was still pending when the place closed down.
Starting point is 00:26:17 There were several, actually. But they did it anyways because they don't care. Yeah. Now, was Allegor Alcatraz a private prison? No. Alligator Alcatraz. Well, sort of. Allegro Artebrose was a state-run prison that was managed by the Florida Department of Emergency Management,
Starting point is 00:26:35 historically tasked with dealing with emergencies like hurricanes here in Florida. But hurricanes are very popular in Florida. Correct, correct. You know, they happen with frequency. But they got into the business of immigration detention. They actually spent more than a billion dollars of our emergency preparedness fund. There was only $9 million left by the time that they had finished rating it. So it was a state-run facility, but everything inside it was administered by contractors,
Starting point is 00:27:07 whether it was, you know, health services, which were lackluster, to say the least, security, transportation, communications, the building, food, et cetera. It was all ran by vendors. And that's why they spent so much money on it because people were getting their bag, right? I mean, all these contractors walked away with millions and millions and millions of dollars. More than a billion dollars, actually. Yeah, and it was all pay to play, too, because a lot of those contractors, they had donated to DeSantis and then, a couple weeks later, they would get these contracts to build Alligator Alcatraz, correct? Correct.
Starting point is 00:27:42 You know, for example, and this happened numerous times, but a Texas-based company received a $6 million contract days after giving the Florida GOP, the Florida Republican Party, a $10,000 donation. So that's a big return on investment, right? Absolutely. Oh, my gosh. I wish we had that over here. So explain to me. I think I need a little help with this, but I'm pretty sure people at home definitely do.
Starting point is 00:28:14 How does a private president make money off of immigrants being put there? It doesn't make sense to me. Well, one is from the contracts, right, that they're receiving from the federal government. But oftentimes, I mean, the federal government subsidizes the beds. The bets means that each individual person that is detained, right? And there's bed quotas. So these prisons have quotas in terms of how many people need to be detained there,
Starting point is 00:28:49 which gives an incentive in terms of deporting people or not. But it's all done through basically the transfer of taxpayer dollars, public funds, into the coffers of these private contractors. Yeah, and it's, again, that's the geo group and core civic is another one. one, right? Core Civic is a huge for-profit prison company in the United States. And again, these companies don't just do immigration detention. They also have regular criminal for-profit jails, which is also a, you know, it's an evil industry, to be honest.
Starting point is 00:29:25 It is, it is. And please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm going to say that 100 times today. Don't do politicians, they invest in these places. right? Like, Core Civic and Geo Group, like, there are, like Stephen Miller, I heard, has private prison stock, and he's the one making all these laws. Correct. Stephen Miller has a stake in not just for-profit prisons, but also companies that are creating surveillance technologies like Palantir, for example. But the inverse of that is that these companies
Starting point is 00:30:01 also invest in politicians through campaign donations. nations, right? But I'll tell you a story from years ago, there was a, and folks might remember this because it was like a big national controversy. I mean, this was like eight years ago. Yeah, 2018, there was a detention facility, a for-profit detention facility in Homestead, which is a city in the southern part of Miami-Dade County that was just solely for underage minors, for unaccompanied migrant children. And that facility was administered, by a company named Caliburn, sort of like this global transnational company. And who sat on the board of Caliburn at the time and its subsidiary CDR, John Kelly,
Starting point is 00:30:48 who was, if you might remember, he was not only Trump's first Homeland Security Secretary, he went on to be his chief of staff, right? So I said that to highlight whether it's that instance or, you know, Stephen Miller, profiting off of Palantir and for-profit prison companies, there's a revolving door of circular financing, right? Where like these people go into the public sector, they institute this predatory detention and enforcement policies, and then they take a stake on the companies that carry it out and turn a profit themselves. How was DeSantis using the money from alligator Alcatraz personally? That's a great question. So there was great reporting by the Florida Phoenix,
Starting point is 00:31:34 and other outlets here in Florida that showed that, as I told you, the Florida Department of Emergency Management was their entity responsible for Alligator Alcatraz. They were rating our emergency fund, Florida's emergency fund. And it turns out that they were pretty much grifting with it. They were receipts that they used the money on private hotel stays at resorts, like Margaritaville. They were running. Well, that's where business and politics is conducted in Florida. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:32:10 And they were running bar tabs at Margarita Bill and other bars in places as far as Tallahassee, which is nowhere near Allegator Alcatraz. They were paying for catering for things nowhere near Alligator Alcatraz. Not that it should matter, but, you know, that's to the grift. They were paying for private jet charters for car rentals. Come on. That's like 100,000 a pop for private jets. That's expensive, man.
Starting point is 00:32:40 The abuse of this funds was so egregious that the Florida legislature, which, you know, has served as pretty much a rubber stamp for, you know, whatever the governors wanted to do in the last eight, nine years. They actually passed a bill obstructing some of these expenditures because it was just so corrupt and grifty. Man, that is nauseating. Now, Allegory Altra's closed. That land, is it gone back to the Mikisuki people, or is it still government-owned land? I'm sorry, I do have to add one more insane expenditure. Give it to me.
Starting point is 00:33:21 They spent, I'm not kidding here, $219 million on one porta-potty company called duty calls. Just one Port-A-Cardiportar company, $19 million. But to your question, so the actual land was never in possession of the Mikusuki tribe, even though it is on the Big Cyprus preserve and it's adjacent to their reservation. It is owned by Miami-Dade County. And it sits an airstrip that was part of an abandoned plan to build what was called Jetport Everglades, which at the time was going to be the largest airport in the world. world. It was fought against by a bunch of environmentalists because they wanted to, you know, they were concerned about the impact to the, to the Everglades ecosystem. Yeah, you got the mangroves and everything down there. You can't be running the biggest airport in the world on
Starting point is 00:34:15 a swamp. It's a bad idea. Correct. And it was abandoned in the 60s, but there was one airstrip that was built and sort of abandoned, but it was used by Miami-Dade County as a training airport for small to light aircraft. So that's what it's been historically. And the state of Florida ceased the land from Miami-Dade County, a commandeered it for a year. Now it's reverted back to Miami-Dade County.
Starting point is 00:34:43 So Miami-Dade County is back in possession and everything in there has been dismantled. There's still an active lawsuit related to the environmental impact and damage that the site did for the past year. Yeah, because there's one of the largest aquifers in Florida down there, right? I mean, it's not just that, you know, it's the mangroves, it's the aquifer, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's just the, the, the, the over-the-ground water, the wildlife Florida Panthers, which have been historically in danger than only in recent years, you know, their population has began to increase. That land is so protected that it's one of two places in Florida, I believe, that has a dark sky designation. And what that means is that there can be any sort of lighting or illumination infrastructure built there because of it.
Starting point is 00:35:29 the impact to wildlife, reptiles, birds especially. So, you know, but our attorney general, James Uthmeyer and the governor looked at the facility and said, oh, has an airstrip. We can execute deportation flights. And that was the, I think, the sole determining factor in picking that place, which is insanely idiotic. But that's how we're governed here in Florida. Is he the guy who said that they'll have to face the alligators and the pythons if they escape? Is it the same dude?
Starting point is 00:35:58 Correct. Yeah, he was one way in, one way out. Anyone who escapes, there's the panthers and pythons and alligators waiting for you. Yeah, he's like a straight-up little Nazi. I mean, like, as a fascist. Also, get rid of the pythons. They're not supposed to be there. Do your job.
Starting point is 00:36:15 I know. Get rid of the pythons, bro. What are we doing here? But unfortunately, they were too busy grifting with the emergency fund to do that and running bar taps and Liberty Bar and Tallahasse. That is wild. And I tell you, as someone who's drank a lot in Tallahassee, to run up a bar tab that high there is pretty hard to do. Correct.
Starting point is 00:36:36 It's a cheap time to drink. Yes. I've spent my share of time there. So what's the situation going on right now in Miramar at the ICE enforcement removal operation center? Because I know that they took on a lot of the people from Alligator Alcatraz. And so it's kind of chaotic down there right now. or am I incorrect? No, you're correct.
Starting point is 00:37:00 So Miramar has an ICE facility that serves as a processing center, a check-in center. It's where people go to basically, you know, adjudicate their asylum claims or any other sort of immigration process to meet with ICE, right? Yeah. Historically, you can get apprehended there. Sometimes you're not. You know, it's a nerve-wracking interview if you have to go there. But obviously under this administration, the apprehensions, the arrests have increased dramatically. And also the enforcement on the ground that we see every day in the streets.
Starting point is 00:37:34 So because there's no more space in detention facilities, like I told you, they're starting to hold people not just in like criminal jails, regular jails that they've converted, but also in these like administrative offices. So and there's actually a judicial federal order that prevents them from holding people. immigrants, specifically, in these administrative facilities for more than 12 hours overnight, right? Despite that, they're holding dozens of people, I mean, 70, 90 people per these large rooms. They converted the garage into a holding facility, and they're holding dozens and dozens of people for over a week until they can finally transfer them for wherever there's space. You know, these places don't have bathrooms. They're not equipped to, you know, to be a detention place.
Starting point is 00:38:26 There's no food. People aren't able to shower, brush their teeth. They're sleeping on the floor piled up on top of each other. And you don't have to take it from me. We actually worked with a congresswoman here in Florida who visited and saw with her own eyes the conditions on the ground. She went out and did a press conference. He was reported on the Miami Herald. But the conditions are pretty bad.
Starting point is 00:38:50 Yeah, they're like, they're fine. Like the water's filled with like parasites. And like, they could see things swimming around in the water from what I was told. Yeah, correct. And so, but also people who speak out about the mistreatment, they end up getting punished, correct? Often. The guards will lash out at them or they'll get, they'll get solitary confinement and stuff like that. Have we been seen, is that persistent?
Starting point is 00:39:16 Because I know that was happening at Alligator Alcatraz. Yeah, and Allegro Alcatraz. I mean, the treatment was so bad. We worked with Abnesty International on a report, and we were contacted by a family member, and we ended up being getting in touch with detainee themselves. But, and this happened numerous times, they would punish people with something called the box, which was a two by two feet space. Yeah, we talked about the box.
Starting point is 00:39:42 Yeah, where they would chain people to the ground and leave them exposed to the sun. to the sun and mosquitoes for five to seven hours outdoors in the hot Florida summer. I mean, brutal. And, you know, Amnesty International found this to constitute a torture, this sort of punishment. It is. But, you know, recently here in downtown Miami, where I told you they're holding people in a regular jail at the federal detention facility. Again, it's a criminal jail.
Starting point is 00:40:10 They commandeered two floors where they're holding dozens of people. A man spoke to his wife, Cuban-Cuburn. couple and told her about the mistreatment, the lack of food, the fact that they had found bugs in their food, that, for example, the place flooded and they were forced to sleep overnight on soaking wet mattresses. She went, told me, did an interview with the media about this, and then that he was placed in solitary confinement for, I think, two weeks as punishment. Completely insane. Just for saying there's, my mattress is wet. Yeah. No, go ahead.
Starting point is 00:40:47 No, I mean, we're agreeing with each other. I also want to reiterate that, and this is going to sound like silly to say, but immigration detention, the way it's codified, it's not supposed to constitute a punishment in the way that, let's say, criminal detention is, right? It's literally supposed to just be, you're being held while your immigration situation is being adjudicated or resolved, right? And the way it's written like this is because it's supposed to not be cruel or torturous or again constitute something that can be described as punishing. Obviously, it is always, but, you know, these conditions are just exacerbating and getting worse. I mean,
Starting point is 00:41:33 jail effectively is punishment for a crime, you know, and if these people are being held in jails, then they are being punished. It's not hard to put it all together. The, The way people just turn a blind eye to all this stuff is nauseating. Earlier in the episode, I talked to a friend of mine, Kurt Bronler, is a great comedian. His nephew is currently being held in a detention center in Pennsylvania. He was seeking asylum from Venezuela. He was part of the National Guard there, and he refused to attack protesters in Venezuela. And so he was seeking asylum in America.
Starting point is 00:42:15 He was trying to go through the process. He was literally showing up to his appointment. And they said, come back on Saturday because the kiosk was broken. And then when he came back on Saturday, I arrested him. And he's been in detention for 60 days. And it doesn't look like he's going to get out this year because they keep pushing back as asylum case date. And I think that's something that's happening all over the country. my question is, are we taking anyone for asylum right now?
Starting point is 00:42:44 What is our asylum process? Because we've always done that. Yeah. And to your point, you know, these people that I'm describing at this federal detention facility in Miami, most of them were previously held in alligator alacetrass, and some of them are eight, nine, ten months into their detention. I mean, they've lost a year of their life. You know, life is short.
Starting point is 00:43:07 You know, overall life is short. You have like 60 years if you're lucky, maybe 70, 80 years of life if you're lucky. Yeah. You know, these people lost a year of their lives, you know. Yeah, and these are people who don't have money. They are, you know, if you don't have money in this country, I'm sure they don't have life health insurance. I'm sure they're unhealthy and it's hard for them to get the medicine they need for problems they don't even know they have because they can't go to the doctor when life is good. So it is torture and people are dying inside of these places.
Starting point is 00:43:40 At what rate are people dying? How often do people die in detention centers in Florida? Right. I do want to address your last question, though. Are asylum processes have been completely, you know, a sledgehammer has been taken to them, right? I mean, it is very difficult to resolve an asylum claim positively in the United States right now. because USCIS has been, you know, the sort of like the agency that administers immigration casework outside of enforcement has been completely gutted. Immigration judges have been fired and replaced with Trump-style lackeys.
Starting point is 00:44:20 Obviously, the Department of Homeland Security is so aggressive on its enforcement and they're targeting people and detaining people with active pending asylum claims that haven't been denied or anything like that. So, you know, and obviously our refugee resettlement here in the United States also has been, you know, completely gutted. I mean, you know, I'm sure you've read the headlines about Trump wanting to accept so pretty much solely, uh, white South Africans as refugees. So that's that's the type of refugees. He wants more Elon. That's what he wants. It's what he said. But yeah, they've, they've, you know, they've really destroyed the system.
Starting point is 00:44:58 But I believe, uh, I'm not. I believe 112 people. I believe 112 people have died so far in ICE detention during the second, just the second Trump administration. Man, you know, I grew up in South Florida. I love it down there. It was always home to me. It's where I consider home, even though I'm probably never going to live there again. No offense.
Starting point is 00:45:23 But, you know, I worked in kitchens, you know, I made buddies with Cubans and Dominicans and mostly Haitians. And I know that they're all great people. I know that Haitians make South Florida work. They are, you know, because they are, forget restaurants. They're healthcare. They're in nursing homes. They're in home health. They're helping all the old people stay alive.
Starting point is 00:45:45 And right now there is a crackdown on Haitians in particular. And who I believe should be, all of them should be eligible for asylum seeking because we've destroyed Haiti through earthquakes. and neglect and, you know, and just taking the money that's donated and put it back into businesses rather than communities. You know, there's, I know that there's communities in Haiti that are completely run by gangs. There's, you know, there's, I've heard reports of 10,000 people sharing four spickets, you know, three bathrooms. It's not great over there right now.
Starting point is 00:46:22 And right, and so now we're deporting people from the, the Haitians are being targeted and being deported back to Haiti. Can you live in Little Haiti? What's your community like right now? Yeah, and just a recommendation for the audience. There's a great book. I'm sure many of actually the listeners are probably familiar with it, but if you're not, Black Jacobins,
Starting point is 00:46:45 a story of the Haitian revolution that kind of sets the stage of how Haiti has been pillaged by foreign intervention in the last, you know, century or so. but I highly recommend the book, Black Jacobins. But yeah, so temporary protected status, which granted legal protections to 350,000 Haitians, 158,000 who reside here in South Florida, has been rescinded by the Trump administration.
Starting point is 00:47:14 There was a lawsuit that escalated to the Supreme Court, and our far-right Supreme Court, unfortunately, gave Trump a green light to proceed with that. So there's 350,000 people. Many of them even here for years and years and years. They have homes, they have mortgages, they have cars, they have loved ones, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, children, family, co-workers, you know, their lives have been uprooted and it's not just they have, they're not the
Starting point is 00:47:41 only ones impacted right, everybody that interacts with them, their employers or co-workers, etc. I mean, it's created a lot of chaos in our community and you know we're seeing enforcement every day. I mean, I put this on my Instagram. I was driving home on Sunday, and I stumbled on Northwest 2nd Avenue by Jackson Memorial Hospital. Major thoroughfare here in South Florida. Jackson Memorial Hospital is one of the biggest hospitals in the country. Correct. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:48:11 Four unmarked vehicles blocking the road completely. And there were like five, you know, ice guys, obviously with their faces cover with the masks and everything, stopping an Uber car, forcing the passenger. out. I talked to the passenger. That's why I learned what was going on. Arresting the driver, I, obviously, I was, I ride a motorcycle. I stopped. I immediately started filming and, you know, asking what was going on. They rapidly got into their car. They took the guy's car. They took him and they just drove off. It's something out of a dictatorship. You know what I mean? I'm from Argentina in the 1970s. We had a military junta who, like, disappeared people picking them off the street like that.
Starting point is 00:48:54 And then I talked to the passenger and I was like, what happened? He's like, they were targeting the and they told me they had to get out and get a walk or get another Uber. And we see that every day. We see them picking up Haitians in our neighborhood. There's a very famous restaurant in South Florida in Miami called Chef Creole. It's probably the most famous Haitian restaurant in Miami. And the owner recently made national news because he came out and did an interview and said, they're deporting all of my workers.
Starting point is 00:49:24 I'm going to have to. There's several. It's like a local franchise at this point. or he owns several of them. I don't know if it's a franchise. But he said, I'm going to have to close at least two of my restaurants because I don't have staff. But then he admitted, and I voted for Trump. I voted for Trump because I thought he was a good businessman.
Starting point is 00:49:39 He was going to be good for the economy. But he hasn't been good for the economy. So, you know, people really have to think about what they're doing. You know, I mean, how are you as a Haitian man, you know, going to vote for a guy that said, your people were eating cats and dogs. And he's promising, he promised to deport. not just your workers, man, but your people. You know, our people, we're all immigrants.
Starting point is 00:50:01 It's not just about nationality. But I don't get it. But obviously, the guy was roasted alive on the internet. Yeah, I've seen a lot of it, you know, down in Florida especially. But even out here in Los Angeles and San Diego, I see a lot of it. I see a lot of immigrants who are very pro-Trump. A lot of Cubans, which blows my mind, very pro-Trump. What do you think that is?
Starting point is 00:50:25 Again, I'll tell you another news report that I started. recently, it was a Cuban man that owns a plant nursery here in Homestead. You know, they grow small plants for people to buy. And he was saying, I'm going to have to close down because they're deporting all my workers. And he's like, he said, I try to pay people $30 an hour. People don't want to come do this work. It's difficult work.
Starting point is 00:50:46 Yeah. And he said, I'm going to have to close down. I've been here for decades. But then at the end of the day, they asked them because he said he voted for Trump. And they're like, you're a great. You vote for Trump? And he said, no. I actually don't regret my will for Trump, but he needs to stop deporting regular people.
Starting point is 00:51:01 He needs to focus on the criminals. I'm like, brother, did you miss the mass deportation signs during the RNC? Like, what did you think that meant, you know? Oh, my God. But I don't know. I think it's just like people are programmed a certain way. Like, it might be the anti-communism fervor that people in this town have. I don't know what it is, but it's inexplicable.
Starting point is 00:51:22 A lot of people are turning a page on Trump, I think, especially people who have been. personally directly impacted but then there's other people like that that will say I will have to shut down my literal livelihood because of this administration's policies but you know what? I just, I don't know, there's too many
Starting point is 00:51:40 woke shit in universities so fuck it. I don't know, I don't get it. No, man, it's crazy down there and like all my little protests and it all comes down to like these you know, for example, it's now DJT international instead of PBI
Starting point is 00:51:56 for West Palm Beach Airport. It's like, well, now I'm never flying there. Like, now I go visit people in Boca. I got to go to Fort Lauderdale in Miami because I can't bring it to me to buy a ticket to Donald Trump Airport. And historically, you know, we name things like that, like after people died.
Starting point is 00:52:14 Yeah, like when someone that, I don't think we should never name anything after Trump, honestly. But historically, like, we do that for a reason, right? Because we don't, it's like, it feels dictatorshipy to name things after people who are alive. But, you know, those normal statues. Right from North Korea. But so Miami.
Starting point is 00:52:37 I love Miami. It's a beautiful place. It means the world to me. It's probably got 15 years left on this earth. They're cooperating with ice, correct? Like the city of Miami. Now, is that the mayor? Like, who is it?
Starting point is 00:52:52 Because I, or stop what I ask. I have to ask this question because this, I haven't heard much about it since it happened. The mayor of Miami, did they really cancel elections just so they could be the mayor longer? Is that something that happened or am I misinterpreting an article I read? They tried to. So they tried to basically, I believe what you're referencing, they tried to move municipal elections from odd to even years to align with the regular calendar. But they did it in a way that would grant them an extra year in office. So it's like, no, no, no. If you guys move the election, you have to move it so you lose a year, if anything.
Starting point is 00:53:32 You can't move it so you gain a year because we didn't elect you for that year. So ultimately, they backed off from that and they put a referendum on the ballot that the voters approved of. So we did move to even years. But it wasn't through executive action of the commissioners. So this is the person we're dealing with. And they're working with ICE directly? Yeah. So remember these 287G contracts establishing this collaboration?
Starting point is 00:53:59 Yeah. Florida accounts for 43% of these type of contracts nationwide. So many municipalities and cities have signed these agreements. But there's a state law that compels certain municipal entities to enter them. Squarely, those that operate a jail or detention facility. City of Miami does not operate a jail. They enter disagreement voluntarily. There was nothing compelling them to do so.
Starting point is 00:54:27 They did so last year. And that created a firestorm in the city that has only grown over time due to the enforcement, the tension, the economic policies, Trump's unpopularity, etc. In late last year, we had municipal elections in which the first Democrat mayor was elected in well over almost two decades. Her name is Eileen Higgins. And she campaigned on rescinding this police ice collaboration agreements. I mean, she spoke about it numerous, numerous times.
Starting point is 00:55:01 And when she was voted into office, she stopped talking about it, never addressed it, even though she can put it on the agenda for it to be voted on. And three out of the five commissioners have signaled that they would vote so for it to be rescinded. They could also place it on the agenda to be fair. But she campaigned on it, and she hasn't done so. And the only thing that she's been focused on is a bond item that will be voted on in November to give more money to police officers for for their police stations and firefighters as well. But just completely abandoned this pledge to protect our immigrant neighbors. You know, and that's our first Democratic mayor in almost two decades.
Starting point is 00:55:45 That's insane to me. That's so aggravating. Miami's a town where some neighborhoods, the stop signs say Alto. You know, like, it's not for us. And for them to attack immigrants is so counterproductive, especially if you're a Democrat. It's insane to me. Focus on the climate change. The beach is washing away. It's coming in three blocks with the moon's in the wrong place.
Starting point is 00:56:11 It's crazy what's happening down there. It's not just that she's a Democrat, right? She's a Democrat that campaigned on the issue and won, like decisively, well, speaking on this, you know, like, you do have a popular democratic mandate to act on this. And the other five commissioners are signaling that they would vote for you. Like, what is the hold up here? And it's been seven months since her election. What is the holdup? Yeah, no.
Starting point is 00:56:42 If the only thing you've done is getting more money for cops, you know, I don't like you. He's not, but you're, the people you work with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, y'all are, you got a campaign to raise awareness for this, right? Yeah, we've been for months. I mean, recently we were able to convince one of the commissioners, who's a pretty decent commissioner, actually, to put it as a public discussion item. Over 100 people showed up, every single one of them spoke in opposition for over, almost four hours.
Starting point is 00:57:13 You know, we've sent out mass texts. to city residents. We've done phone banking, email blasts, et cetera. We've met with some of the commissioners, you know, to try to move this forward. And now we're putting up a series of billboards along the I-95 and the Little Havana neighborhood targeting the mayor and commissioners to try and get them to act on this and a radio ad as well in Spanish language radio, targeting Eileen Higgins for her failed promises. Great. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. There's a couple things that I need to ask you because I'm just, I don't understand them. The first thing is, what is this? I've heard that this administration has stopped reporting deaths of people released from ICE detention? Is that, is that something that I, am I just completely off base here?
Starting point is 00:58:11 Because I read, it's one of those things where I read a headline and I pass and I keep going, and then I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. And so I just want to make sure I'm understanding things properly. I read it too, and quite frankly, I don't really understand the mechanics of it either. I think it's just one of those, like, lawless things from this administration. Some things that they do historically, and this is something that ICE has always done. But, you know, again, these are things that are systemic, you know, to just how DHS and detention operates, but they exacerbate, they fester and grow worse under Trump.
Starting point is 00:58:45 We started in the first and second administration. But they often play around with the dates when someone dies. And they won't report it until like later, you know, when there's like news that will cover it up or they'll like avoid reporting it on like a Tuesday. And instead they'll do it on a Friday because it's, you know, it's a news dump day. So that's something that's very frequent. They definitely play with dates to minimize coverage. It's kind of like try to noose dump, like, you know, dump it. Wow.
Starting point is 00:59:18 Because like my brain is like, oh, they're not telling us who dies at the camps. That sounds pretty Nazi-coded to me. You know, that's when it starts taking the step over from being a concentration camp to a death camp. And so I was frankly terrified. And the other thing is that like every single death, you know, that happens in these detention facilities is they're all suicides. everyone is a suicide. Every single one's a suicide. And quite frankly, yeah, some of them are probably suicides.
Starting point is 00:59:49 But, you know, then it turns out there was one... Their entire life taken from them, you know? Right. But there was one, for example, where it was... I forgot which... I think it was in Louisiana, but I don't remember. But there was one where a man was ruled as a death was ruled as a suicide. And then the autopsy revealed that he had, like, strangle marks, like asphyxiation marks.
Starting point is 01:00:10 And then the autopsy ruled it as a... what's the forced exfixiation or whatever. So, you know, like, I just always stressed both people, especially journalists, like, don't take what DHS and ICE tell you at face value. Like, if they say someone died of a suicide, like, I do not accept that explanation until further review of the situation. And, like, if a prison's owned by Core Civic or Geo Group, who are the guards?
Starting point is 01:00:41 because they're not cops. They're not, right? They're just people they hire. And they get to choose. Correct. And what's the training like for these people? I mean, poor. Alligator Alcatrust, which is a state-run facility,
Starting point is 01:00:55 as I explained to you, managed by the Florida Department of Emergency Management. It wasn't a privately run facility as we established. That facility had almost no ice presence. It was all Florida Highway Patrol, and inside, mainly, it was private contract. private vendors that were doing the security.
Starting point is 01:01:14 So they just hire, you know, just people and train them poorly and let them loose. And obviously, look, federal ICE attention is bad, but I think it's all terrible. It should be abolished. But when you move it to the for-profit motive, obviously there's an incentive to lock people up, but there's less accountability and transparency. It's the same thing with these flock cameras, right? There's, for example, like vast surveillance networks in dictatorial countries or even like Britain, right, that it's like one of the most surveilled countries on Earth. But I think there's a difference between the surveillance is owned and administered by the actual government.
Starting point is 01:02:00 There's more accountability and there's more of a civic processes to affect outcomes, right? And in the United – it's all bad, right? But in the United States, we're just outsourcing or surveillance or enforcement and our detention to private companies that are just completely outside the balance of like civic and democratic processes. And I think it's extra disturbing. What's up with Argentina taking on Peter Thiel? What is that? You're from there. What's going on there?
Starting point is 01:02:27 Is that how illegal is that? How are they, how would they saving money? I mean, that's our insane unwell, our narco-libertarian president, Javier Millet, who, I mean, he, you know, he met with him and he had a, I think it was in the Financial Times. He published an opet saying that he wanted to allow for completely AI-Ran corporations to be chartered inside of Argentina, just like, again, AI-powered companies. So, you know, Peter Thiel, I think he's just picked a developing, you know, country under the thumb of the IMF that's being treated as a colony of global capital to sort of experiment, you know, with these free market interventions, right? But I don't know if you saw, though, a group of Gandals, people dressed as Ghandles went to his house to protest him. So, no, I mean, you know, people, people are angry about it. People are getting frustrated with this experiment on, with libertarianism in Argentina.
Starting point is 01:03:39 That's just been an absolute disaster. And hopefully, next year is the presidential election there. Hopefully we kicked this guy out of office and shortly after kicked Peter Thiel to. So before we go, I just want something because everyone needs an action item, you know, because if we just sit here and we talk about it, that helps a little bit, but you need something to do. In your opinion,
Starting point is 01:04:04 what do you think is the best way for an average person to fight ICE legally? I mean, if you're in Florida, you know, contact the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Contact me on Instagram or whatever and get involved with us. I mean, we're not just one organization also.
Starting point is 01:04:20 We're a coalition. We're 50 organizations, including labor unions, faith organizations, service providers, legal organizations, grassroots organizations, university groups, et cetera. So there's a lot to pick from if you get involved with us, not just us. But aside from that, you know, I think it just starts with finding a political home. Like if there's no group in your area or you just completely don't feel represented,
Starting point is 01:04:48 then go ahead and start your own. But more than likely, there is a place that you can volunteer, whether it's a non-profit or a labor union or DSA or whatever it is, I think you can find somewhere where you'll meet like-minded people where you can all road together towards a share objective. Because, you know, obviously, DHS is a giant octopus. You know, it's a Titanic organization that's vastly funded and has a lot of resources.
Starting point is 01:05:18 And, you know, we know, no lone wolves here. We don't, you know, no lone heroes are going to take it down. We have to unite and, again, form political organizations that can affect outcomes. Thank you so much for talking to me, buddy. If you want to check out the Florida Immigrant Coalition and what they're doing over there on Instagram, it's FL Immigrant. And Tomas, go check out Tomas on Instagram. He's reporting. He's on the ground.
Starting point is 01:05:49 Literally, he's filming people in his neighborhood, getting detained. So go follow him as well. Tomas, T-O-M-A-S-K-E-N-N on Instagram to stay abreast to everything that's going on. Thank you so much for talking to me, and thank you so much for just being you, man. I appreciate the hell out of you. Thank you for taking care of my home. I miss it, and I can't wait to come back there and maybe hopefully live there again one day. You're the man.
Starting point is 01:06:19 I hope you run for office. Thank you. Come visit him and have a drink. I will. February. I'll see you. I'm doing a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. I'll be here. Live from your plane. Well, that was a hoot in a half, huh? We had a good time. Lots of laughs. Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine. I appreciate everyone coming in and listening and watching side stories. I like doing these follow-up episodes because there's, I feel like with knowledge, it should never end.
Starting point is 01:06:51 And you're never an expert on anything. So always keep learning about what is happening about things. Stay up to date on them. And so I'm glad that we stayed up to date on what's going on in Florida with the immigration community. Follow and get involved with the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Follow Tomas on Instagram, Tomas Ken and Kurt Bronholler on Instagram. Go see Kurt Live. Kurt's one of the greatest comedians I've ever known.
Starting point is 01:07:19 He's so funny. He's a don't take today as an audition for Kurt's comedy. You know, go see him live. If he's coming to your town, you're going to have the best silliest time. I adore that man. Go check him out. If you want to see me on the road, I'm going to be in D.C. on September 11th and 12th, going to be fun.
Starting point is 01:07:41 Hopefully they won't kill me for this episode when I'm in town. Then I'm going to be in Milwaukee on September 27th. Denver at the Comedy Works downtown on October 4th. Then San Francisco at Cobbs Comedy Club, October 25th. And then a whole bunch of dates with side stories. I'm going to be at Nashville in January. Going to be at Rochester in January. That's a long way off.
Starting point is 01:08:03 All kinds of stuff is coming out. Go to edytunes.com if you want to see me on the road. I got all my dates on there, all side stories dates on there. Go come see us live. I'm having the best time in the world. Go and check out everything that's going on here at the last podcast. podcast network. We have such amazing shows. I feel such honor to be involved with this network with such amazing human beings. Page 7, Spun, The Brighter Side, Nerd of Mouth, the Foreign
Starting point is 01:08:30 Report, fraudsters, some of the greatest shows. We have so much going on under Arbrella. LPNTV is crushing it right now. Go watch the last season of HGX2 if you get a chance. Vampire, the masquerades, going strong, Blood Blast, 77. This fucking network is the shit be involved in it let us take over your brains I love you be good to yourselves and hail Tomas Kennedy peace

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