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“We’re Watching”: How Advocates Are Holding Detention Centers Accountable by ‘Witnessing’

Federal agents, including border patrol and a Bureau of Prisons worker stop a resident and requests to see his proof of citizenship in Chicago, Illinois.

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“We’re Watching”: How Advocates Are Holding Detention Centers Accountable by ‘Witnessing’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In May, Marjorie Ziefert and Chuck Kieffer realized that people in their community were disappearing, taken by immigration enforcement to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan.

The retired Ann Arbor residents started participating in a form of protest outside the center called “witnessing.” By being physically present outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention or processing centers, they attempt to create civilian oversight.

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How the Unprecedented Redistricting War Is Harming Election Officials, Politicians, and Voters

The Indiana State House is the site of the latest political fight over new congressional maps for the 2026 election.

Lee Klafczynski for Chalkbeat

How the Unprecedented Redistricting War Is Harming Election Officials, Politicians, and Voters

The redrawing of states’ congressional districts typically happens only once per decade, following the release of new U.S. Census data. But we’re now up to six states that have enacted new congressional maps for the 2026 midterms; that’s more than in any election cycle not immediately following a census since 1983-84. Even more are expected to join the fray before voters head to the polls next year. Ultimately, more than a third of districts nationwide could be redrawn, threatening to confuse and disenfranchise voters.

The truly unusual thing, though, is that four of those states passed new maps totally voluntarily. Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina all redrew their districts after President Donald Trump urged them to create more safe seats for Republicans to help the GOP maintain control of the House of Representatives next year, and California did so in order to push back against Trump and create more safe seats for Democrats. (The other two states redrew for more anodyne reasons: Utah’s old map was thrown out in court, and Ohio’s was always set to expire after the 2024 election.) To put that in perspective, only two states voluntarily redistricted in total in the 52 years from 1973 to 2024, according to the Pew Research Center.

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Leaders Fear Accountability — Why?
Protesters hold signs outside a government building.
Photo by Leo_Visions on Unsplash

Leaders Fear Accountability — Why?

America is being damaged not by strong leaders abusing power, but by weak leaders avoiding responsibility. Their refusal to be accountable has become a threat to democracy itself. We are now governed by individuals who hold power but lack the character, courage, and integrity required to use it responsibly. And while everyday Americans are expected to follow rules, honor commitments, and face consequences, we have a Congress and a President who are shielded by privilege and immunity. We have leaders in Congress who lie, point fingers, and break ethics rules because they can get away with it. There is no accountability. Too many of our leaders operate as if ethics were optional.

Internal fighting among members of Congress has only deepened the dysfunction. Instead of holding one another accountable, lawmakers spend their energy attacking colleagues, blocking legislation, and protecting party leaders. Infighting reveals a failure to check themselves, leaving citizens with a government paralyzed by disputes rather than focused on solutions. When leaders cannot even enforce accountability within their own ranks, the entire system falters.

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