There is simply too much shit

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During the first Trump administration there was often the feeling of being unable to escape the news. Every day, a new presidential proclamation via Twitter. Every day, a comment made in a press gaggle with potentially staggering implications. For many, the impact was immediate; but more often than not, the threat remained conceptual. This time around is different; things are actually getting materially worse each day, and the human brain is unequipped to notice, let alone process, all of it. 

From the continued genocide in Gaza and the disappearing of immigrants off our streets by federal agents, to the dismantling of our health care infrastructure and the ever-growing scourge of gun violence, the pace of news is relentless. Even so, it’s crucial to take stock of events that each on their own would have once been considered a catastrophe, especially when much of major American media would give you the impression that the only thing that happened over the weekend was Charlie Kirk’s hagiographic memorial.

Let’s walk through a few important stories you may have missed—

Long Island ICE death

Last Thursday morning, a man who had been detained by ICE was found dead in his cell inside a Long Island jail. He’s now been identified as Santos Banegas Reyes, 42. Other than the fact that he had no criminal record, we still know nothing about the circumstances that led from him entering Nassau County Jail and leaving in a body bag some 18 hours later. 

According to Newsday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R), the county medical examiner and ICE have all remained mum. Meanwhile, his family cries out for answers. "No one has called us. Not from [ICE], not from the jail," Reyes’s sister said in Spanish during a Facebook livestream on Sunday. "What I want most is justice ... so that no other family has to go through this process."

Reyes’s incarceration in a local jail is part of a statewide deal New York has with ICE to house their arrestees. According to a recent investigation by NYS Focus, “Seven jails booked a total of nearly 2,800 people arrested for immigration reasons and detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the first seven months of 2025, up from only 500 booked in New York jails all of last year, according to ICE data — a nearly sixfold increase.”

Since private prisons are illegal in New York state, ICE has turned to local jails for space to hold their detainees despite the fact that more than half of them have no criminal charges or convictions. According to NYS Focus, that number is even higher in Nassau County where Reyes died—62% of those held so far this year had no record. 

The Handbasket is hoping to have additional reporting on Reyes in the coming days.

Homan’s big bribe

Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan has made a name for himself as the notoriously inhumane figure at the head of this administration’s cruel program for punishing “criminal” immigrants. But, according to an MSNBC report that dropped over the weekend, Homan himself has dipped his toe into potentially criminal activity.

According to an FBI operation last year, Homan was soliciting payments from people looking for a leg up on contracts should Trump get reelected and Homan resume a leadership role within ICE, indicating he could help them if that came to fruition. On one occasion Homan accepted $50,000 in cash from people who he understood to be business executives, but were actually undercover agents. (The money was, somewhat comically, handed over in a bag from Cava, a fast casual restaurant where one can feast upon hummus, rice and lamb meatballs. Cash is not a menu item.)

From there the FBI and Department of Justice planned to wait and see if Homan made good on his promises once he regained power, which would make it easier to charge him with bribery. But now we may never know: FBI Director Kash Patel recently shut down the investigation.

Meanwhile Homan continues his life’s mission of terrorizing immigrants unabated. You might recall when earlier this year he sicced agents on his own neighbors in upstate New York. Thankfully that family was eventually returned home, but thousands of others have been far less fortunate, being disappeared to sadistic prisons both here and abroad. 

While we may not see this canned ham brought to justice, one thing remains uncontested: Tom Homan is a bitch. 

Boat blasts 

The Trump administration has now conducted three missile strikes on boats in foreign waters. Or maybe four. News reports are inconsistent and naturally there’s no transparency from the White House. They claim—without evidence—that these boats were part of drug smuggling operations from Venezuela. In a post on Truth Social, Trump confirmed the latest strike on Friday, writing “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans.” 

Three men were killed in this latest strike, bringing the number of people killed by Trump’s boat strikes in the Caribbean this month up to 17. No further details about the intelligence have been made public.

At a rally in Michigan last Wednesday, JD Vance all but admitted the lawlessness of the administration’s actions, telling the crowd, “I was talking to [Defense] Secretary Hegseth, and you know what he said? He said, you know what, Mr. Vice President? We don’t see any of these drug boats coming into our country. They’ve completely stopped. And I said, I know why. I would stop, too. Hell, I wouldn’t go fishing right now in that area of the world.”

The Tuesday after Labor Day weekend (when many speculated Trump was maybe dead) he casually mentioned the first strike in the course of a press conference about moving SpaceX headquarters. Trump said the US Military “just over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug carrying boat.” Another strike took place earlier last week. 

There is no readily available legal justification for striking these boats, leading to the appropriate conclusion that it is illegal. 

The day after the first strike, Miles Taylor, a former chief of staff for the Department of Homeland Security during the first Trump presidency, shared a telling exchange. In his newsletter, Taylor said the exchange took place after Trump visited a counter-drug command center in Florida.

It’s clear at present that this Trump administration doesn’t seem to believe it has any limits. 

One last thing

Tonight at sundown the holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins. It marks the new year on the Jewish calendar and is celebrated with sweetness and joy. Right now it feels next to impossible to feel either of those things, especially when human suffering hangs in the air. Nevertheless, I’m grateful to start another year surrounded by family—and freely publishing my work. 

The fight is hard, but it isn’t impossible. As we saw with Jimmy Kimmel’s show being reinstated Monday by ABC/Disney, we still maintain some levers of power. Our voices, our wallets, our collective action can lead to sweeter times in the future. 

As we say, l’shana tova—wishing you a good year.