Anti-Militarism: News & Updates

On November 30, Hondurans go to the polls on November 30 to elect their next president. But the elections are happening against the backdrop of escalating U.S. interference in the region. U.S. officials in the White House, State Department and Congress have been nurturing a propaganda campaign by the Honduran right wing press and organizations against the progressive forces in the country reminiscent of Cold War propaganda.

Inside Honduras, there have been attempts to undermine the democratic process.

The National Electoral Council (CNE), headed by three coucilors (each representing one of the major political parties) is highly politicized. Conflicts within the Council have caused concerns for the election.  During the March 2025 primary elections, some  polling stations in the two largest cities were left without any ballots,  while others received the materials many hours late. There were accusations made that the military had not done its job of ensuring that election materials were delivered. There were also accusations that one of the CNE councilors contracted a private transportation company to deliver ballot boxes, but some deliveries were not made. The conservative pro-2009 coup press then used the crisis to undermine public confidence in the electoral infrastructure and institutions.

U.S. Catholic bishops have launched “You Are Not Alone,” a nationwide migrant-accompaniment initiative aimed at supporting people facing deportation amid rising fears under Trump’s mass-deportation policies. Announced by Bishop Mark Seitz, the effort expands pastoral care, emergency support, and public witness while reaffirming the Church’s stance on the dignity and protection of migrants.

Immigrant detention is rapidly expanding under Trump, with plans to pour $45 billion into ICE and push detention capacity past 100,000 beds. Facilities like Broadview near Chicago and the “Alligator Alcatraz” site in Florida exemplify worsening conditions, abuses, and extrajudicial practices. In response, organizers nationwide—from Chicago to Michigan, Washington, and Florida—are mobilizing rapid-response networks, exposing abuses, supporting detained people, and building long-term strategies such as bond funds and targeted political pressure. Despite escalating repression, movements emphasize that sustained, organized resistance can outlast state cruelty.

Recent FBI documents show how the Agency has been spying on Signal Chats that immigrant rights activist have been using to coordinate court observation.

Although observing immigration court hearings is a legal and non-violent act the FBI is treating at as a terrorist thread Spencer Reynolds, a civil liberties advocate and former senior intelligence counsel with the DHS, said the FBI report was part of a pattern of the US government criminalizing free speech activities.

An NYPD spokesperson even went so far to call the investigation, part of a broader counteract against a range of possible criminal activities, including weapons training, violence against law enforcement, property damage and destruction, and discussions about bomb-making.

While it is unclear whether specific groups were targeted by the Signal surveillance the incident highlights how the US government is turning these powerful national security agencies towards critics and people who are standing up for the rights of immigrants

A new Human Rights First report exposes record-breaking ICE deportation and detention-transfer flights under the Trump administration—reaching 77 countries and often carried out with harsh, dehumanizing practices. The data reveals a vast, largely hidden global deportation system, made visible only through painstaking investigative tracking.

A new Human Rights Watch and Cristosal report confirms that 252 Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in early 2025 were systematically tortured inside the CECOT mega-prison. Nearly half had no criminal record, and many were asylum seekers with pending cases. Former detainees described daily beatings, torture in punishment cells, sexual violence, psychological abuse, and months of enforced disappearance, as both U.S. and Salvadoran authorities concealed their whereabouts. Conditions violated multiple international human rights standards, and the U.S. government paid El Salvador to detain them despite knowing the risks. The findings underscore severe violations of non-refoulement obligations and highlight U.S. complicity in torture.

A federal judge has ordered the release of hundreds swept up in Chicago’s recent immigration raids, sharply rebuking Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz.” The ruling blocks officials from pressuring detainees into voluntary deportation and could free more than 600 people as courts review claims that federal agents carried out illegal, warrantless arrests.