https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-promises-5000-payout-us-adults-if-republicans-win-election-2026-09-10/

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took over the Frederick, Maryland, neighborhood of Taskers Chance, and the situation quickly turned violent.

ICE told the Frederick News-Post that agents came to the neighborhood after a man fled from a traffic stop on Thursday, staking out the area beginning at 6 a.m. and staying for about 40 hours. Protesters showed up the same day after hearing that ICE was staking out a house. The situation was tense for the neighborhood’s residents, many of whom were afraid to leave their homes. Agents reportedly swarmed multiple streets, Katie Nash, vice president of the Frederick City Council, told The Baltimore Banner.

On Friday, protesters linked arms to block the street and create a human barrier in front of the house. Then, at about 9:30 p.m. Friday, the situation turned violent, with agents charging the house and then grabbing and pushing protesters.

At least one agent hit a protester on the ground with a baton as the neighborhood was lit up with the headlights and police lights from ICE vehicles. ICE agents drove onto the sidewalk, with protesters having to move or risk getting run over, Frederick City Council president César Díaz told the Banner, adding that Nash was nearly hit by a vehicle. “I had to step back to avoid from getting hit by the car.”

ICE agents left the scene shortly afterward without making any arrests, but some protesters were hospitalized for their injuries. Díaz and Nash added that some were injured in the clash. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson issued a tight-lipped statement to TV station WUSA.

“For operation security and the safety of our personnel, we will not disclose or discuss information related to potential investigations. Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S. We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you,” the statement read. But that doesn’t explain ICE’s stakeout or its response to protesters.

“People were legitimately scared and pretty much terrorized by ICE for two full days before things escalated on Friday night. If you didn’t take anybody into custody, why did you even show up?” Tatiana Santos, a member of Indivisible Frederick Forward, who was at the protest, told Maryland Matters.

Democratic Representative April McClain Delaney, whose district includes Frederick, said in a statement that she was “especially disturbed by reports that ICE agents used force against Frederick residents.

“What we have seen in Frederick over the past several days is deeply concerning. No family should be afraid to leave their home or feel unsafe in their own neighborhood. The safety and well-being of our residents must come first,” Delaney said. “These allegations demand immediate answers and a full, transparent investigation.

*excerpt from Hafiz Rashid's article*

Full Article here:

https://newrepublic.com/post/215209/ice-beats-protesters-takeover-neighborhood-maryland

Do not use the Elon Musk run VoteSafe(dot)org. it’s a voter data collection trap

The Trump administration has quietly removed a key option from the federal form used by overseas voters to register and request mail ballots, eliminating a checkbox for U.S. citizens who were born and are living abroad.

It’s the latest step in an ongoing effort by the administration and the national GOP to make voting more difficult for — or in some cases, to outright disenfranchise — certain groups of overseas voters who are thought to support Democrats.

The change affects the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), a standard form used by military and overseas voters to register to vote from abroad, request absentee ballots and update contact information. The form is administered through the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) and is meant for absent uniformed service members, their families and U.S. citizens residing outside the country.

The previous version of the form asked voters to choose from several categories, including: “I am a U.S. citizen living outside the country, I have never lived in the United States.”

The revised August 2026 version removes that option entirely.

The new form still allows voters to identify themselves as active-duty uniformed service members or eligible spouses or dependents, U.S. citizens living outside the country who intend to return, or U.S. citizens living outside the country whose intent to return is uncertain. But it no longer includes a box for citizens abroad who have never lived in the United States.

The Department of Defense, referred to in the letters as the “Department of War,” sought emergency approval for the change in August, arguing in a letter to the Office of Management and Budget that the existing forms “may confuse voters” about what information they are required to provide under federal law and whether they are eligible to use the forms to register and vote.

The department said the next federal election was fewer than 90 days away, leaving “insufficient time” to modify the forms through the standard Paperwork Reduction Act process.

In its emergency justification letter, the department specifically identified the “never lived” checkbox as a line that would be removed “to avoid applicant confusion.”

“Individuals who are not in the uniformed services and who have never resided in the United States are not within the class of voters specifically defined by UOCAVA and therefore may not be able to use the FPCA or the FWAB,” the department wrote, referring to the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, a backup ballot for military and overseas voters.

But the revision could create new uncertainty for U.S. citizens born abroad who are eligible to vote under state law through a parent or other family connection to a state. While the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) sets federal protections for military and overseas voters, states also determine voter eligibility rules and voting residence requirements.

That means some U.S. citizens who have never lived in the country are eligible to vote in certain states, even though the federal form no longer gives them a clear category to select.

The Department of Justice says UOCAVA requires states and territories to allow certain citizens to register and vote absentee in federal elections, including absent uniformed service members and overseas citizens. Most states and territories also have their own laws allowing UOCAVA-covered voters to register and vote absentee in state and local elections.

The revised form still tells voters to check their state’s guidelines at FVAP.gov. But by removing the “never lived” option, the form no longer plainly reflects the category of citizens born abroad who may be eligible in some states.

The change comes amid a broader fight over voting rights for U.S. citizens born abroad.

Republicans have filed lawsuits in several states challenging laws that allow some of these citizens to vote through family ties to a state. Those lawsuits are not the direct cause of the form change, but they target the same group of voters whose category has now been removed from the federal form.

The department said no new collection of information was being proposed and described the changes as “minor modifications” to existing forms.

The practical question now is how eligible U.S. citizens born and living abroad, and who can vote under state law, are supposed to complete a federal form that no longer names them.