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The Dictatorship

I attended a friend’s citizenship ceremony. I was astonished at what it revealed.

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2 months ago

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I attended a friend’s citizenship ceremony. I was astonished at what it revealed.

On a breezy morning this summer, a dear friend of mine became an American. Alongside people from dozens of other countries including Yemen, Togo and Russia, he, a Pakistani who had lived in the States for decades, took the oath of citizenship. After the ceremony, a group of us took photos outside the Brooklyn courthouse, strolled through some quiet streets and took shots at a mostly empty bar at 11 in the morning. Between dark jokes about how we could no longer call ICE on our newly American friend if he annoyed us too much, we reflected on the surprisingly philosophical remarks from the judge overseeing the oath of allegiance ceremony.

That judge did more than instruct those in the ceremony to raise their right hand and recite a promise to support and defend the Constitution. He delivered a full-fledged sermon on multiculturalism and what it means to become an American. He told his rapt audience that they ought to hold onto their country of origin — its culture, its languages, its food — “close to your heart” and advised them not to “let go.”

At the bar, my friends and I wondered if the judge had meant to sound political.

He promised them that becoming an American citizen was not a forfeiture of their past, but was “adding something on top of it.” He counseled the new citizens to believe they were not second-class because they were naturalized: “You’re not less of a citizen than anyone else, and don’t let any tell you otherwise. If they do, you come to me,” he said. He gushed about his own Italian ancestry, and he shared his love for his adopted son from another country. Ultimately, he argued that naturalized citizens were full Americans who had a unique ability to enrich the republic with their background — and encouraged the group to pour all of themselves into their new nation.

I cried as the judge spoke. I cried because I’m a sucker for any spirited defense of multicultural democracy, something that resonates viscerally for me as the child of immigrants who has always felt my heritage was a gift. But I also cried because the idea the judge celebrated is in peril. My friend had anxiously awaited his citizenship confirmation as ICE was arresting people at citizenship appointments. He was moving toward becoming a naturalized citizen as the president was defaming immigrants as “poisoning the blood” of America, reducing legal immigration, attempting to deport legal immigrants for political speech and overseeing a mass deportation operation that employed racial profiling.

Things seem to be getting worse. This week, President Donald Trump abruptly canceled citizenship ceremonies and, using a disingenuous security argument to effectively discriminate based on nationalityplucked select people out of line for ceremonies based on their country of origin. Trump has said he would “absolutely” denaturalize people to the extent he’s able to.

At the bar, my friends and I wondered if the judge had meant to sound political. The subtext to his comments about how nobody should let themselves be pushed around after leaving the courtroom was that it could very well happen — not just by schoolyard bullies or oddball xenophobes, but the president of the country they had just become citizens of.

Did they believe they were as American as everybody else and should be accepted as such? Or were they afraid of being targeted by the president’s supporters — or even by the president himself?

Not so long ago, things were so much different. On an idyllic summer day 14 years ago, I watched another loved one take the oath of allegiance to become a citizen: my mother. On this occasion, the judge presiding over the ceremony was far more reserved and did not preach. But the event spoke for itself. I remember feeling immense pride at the swearing in, surrounded by people from what felt like every country in the world. I marveled at how all those people wanted to be here, a place where I had begun and become a person. And this country was run by people who seemed to want all these people from all over the world to be here, to begin their life anew. It sunk in for me how radically generative and beautiful it was to live in a nation defined by immigration. Yes, I cried.

This was the Obama era: a time of record-breaking mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and coldness toward Central American refugeesbut also a time of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, initiative, a welcoming attitude toward legal immigration and excitement over the possibilities of multiculturalism. The president himself was the son of a Kenyan immigrant to the U.S. More broadly, while President Barack Obama was no immigration dove, the federal government was operating according to a good faith application of rules and held no on-the-record racist positions on desirable nationalities. The oath ceremony felt orderly and secure, a final stop on a sturdy set of train tracks. My mother had for many years played by the rules, lived her American life and applied for citizenship. The application was approved. Each party had kept its word, and my mother and America were better off for it.

The Trump administration is laying siege to the idea that citizenship is a democratic pact.

The Trump administration is laying siege to the idea that citizenship is a democratic pact, and instead positing that it should be a function of ethnic heritage. Vice President JD Vance’s dog whistle at the Claremont Institute in California in July helped underscore it. He said that “identifying America just with agreeing with the principles, let’s say, of the Declaration of Independence — that’s a definition that is way over-inclusive and under-inclusive at the same time,” and spoke of people with ancestors who fought in the Civil War as having “a hell of a lot more claim over America than the people who say they don’t belong.”

Vance insinuated a hierarchy of citizenship in which the descendants of Southern white people who waged war against the federal government had an outsized claim to the nation, suggesting Americanness is tied more to bloodlines than fidelity to the republic.

Vance’s point that being an American is about more than just a nominal agreement with its overarching principles is correct. But it’s also a strawman. Immigrants don’t just barge into the U.S., memorize what it takes to pass the naturalization test (which most Americans would fail) and then vanish into autonomous ethnic enclaves. Every generation of immigrants in American history follows the same pattern: They become participants and contributors to the nation’s economy and society — assimilating into America (especially intergenerationally) while expanding its horizons.

My mother and my friend are natural examples of this dynamism. Since coming to the U.S., my mother has done work for nonprofits in education and the arts, held her ground as a fierce soccer mom, and thrown dinner parties featuring South Asian food that’s beloved by her American friends. She delights in watching ice-hockey brawls and loves matzo ball soup.

My friend plunged headlong into America by going to college in the Midwest and joining a fraternity. He still watches Pakistani cricket, but he’s grown fond of jazz and obsessed with the Knicks. He has worked tirelessly as a producer and director on incisive documentaries about American culture.

Both are bilingual and have large circles of friends that include people who were born in America and people who immigrated here.

Maybe the judge at my mother’s naturalization ceremony didn’t feel the need to preach a sermon because the idea of “E pluribus unum” — out of many, one — wasn’t under attack. Perhaps the judge at my friend’s ceremony felt the need to insist upon that idea because he knows it is.

Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MS NOW. Sign up for his free politics newsletter by clicking the link at the top of this bio.

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The Dictatorship

There’s more to the Beckham family fallout than public pettiness

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4 hours ago

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February 1, 2026

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There’s more to the Beckham family fallout than public pettiness

ByRachel Simon

In the days since 26-year-old Brooklyn Beckham posted a lengthy statement on his Instagram Stories criticizing his famous parents David and Victoria for their allegedly “controlling” behavior and “countless lies,” public reaction has ranged from shock to skepticism.

And as the fallout continues from this viral celebrity schism, family, friends and strangers alike have dissected Brooklyn’s claims, with predictably differing opinions. Some of the allegations are impossible (at least for the public) to confirm. Others, such as Victoria’s attention-grabbing dance at her son’s wedding to model Nicola Peltz, involve more potential witnesses. Notably, neither of Brooklyn’s parents have commented directly on the matter. But in a sign that the story has yet to cool down, the BBC has already released a new documentary tackling the biggest claims, asking whether “brand Beckham” can possibly survive the scandal.

There may indeed be truth behind some of Brooklyn’s many passionate accusations, but plenty of people appear to be struggling to feel significant pity for a highly privileged “no baby” whose fame and financial success stem, at least originally, from the family he now publicly condemns. Even the name of Brooklyn’s hot sauce businessCloud 23, is a nod to one of his father’s jersey numbers. This lack of sympathy is likely due to a combination of factors. But there’s something deeper at play here than mere jealousy or pettiness.

Brooklyn clearly feels enough hurt and anger toward his family to cut them out of his life — at least for now. That’s a hugely difficult choice for anyone to make, regardless of their net worth. But Brooklyn’s seeming defensiveness hasn’t helped win over critics. And then there’s the fact that he’s asking for privacy in a post shared with 17 million followers.

Indeed, this sort of lose-lose situation — with its emotional complexity and global response — mirrors that of another royal couple: Prince Harry and Meghan. Although there’s no question — to many — that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex faced injustice at the hands of their fellow nobles, the couple’s complaints over the years have not always been well-received. Between Meghan’s at-times-tone-deaf instincts and Harry’s not-so-necessary awardsthe duo have struggled to shake their reputation as entitled millionaires who keep getting opportunities in business and Hollywood they don’t fully deserve.

This sort of lose-lose situation — with its emotional complexity and global response — mirrors that of another royal couple.

The eldest of the Beckhams’ four children, Brooklyn has cultivated his own eclectic collection of short-lived business ventures. As a teenager, he was hired to work on a Burberry campaign and published an infamous book of photography. In 2022, he rebranded himself as a chef with his very own cooking seriesbut a perceived lack of qualifications — again — and the show’s odd stylings seemed to doom the concept. There was also an ill-advised Uber Eats collaboration.

Undeterred, Brooklyn continues to cook across his social media channels.

The Beckham controversy is also complicated by Brooklyn’s relatively new marriage. His wife Nicola is a billionaire’s daughter and Razzie-nominated actress with her own perceived baggage, fair or not (and a controversial father to boot). The idea that Nicola could have helped drive some sort of wedge between Brooklyn and his mom has added another layer to the family drama.

Just like with Harry and Meghan, it’s obvious that wealth and fame can’t shield you from family tragedy or suffering. Nor does it give random people on the internet extra license to anonymously bully strangers online.

I don’t believe Brooklyn deserves to be vilified, and I truly hope he finds peace. If that means spending time away from his family, who am I — or anyone on the internet — to say otherwise. He’s certainly not the first adult child to find the confidence later in life to draw some much-needed healthy boundaries. Family estrangement is no longer a taboo topic, especially among young adultsand that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life,” Brooklyn wrote in his statement. And that may very well be true. But as the divide between the haves and the have-nots also continues to widen, celebrities who seem to lack self-awareness may find their personal grievances aren’t garnering the same public support they might have even a few years ago. Instead, their problems and familial resentments — no matter how justified — are far more likely to become fuel for a culture increasingly frustrated by the brazen beneficiaries of societal inequality.

Rachel Simon

Rachel Simon is a writer and editor based in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is the author of “Pickleball for All: Everything but the ‘Kitchen’ Sink.” Her work has been published in The New York Times, Glamour, Vulture, Teen Vogue and more. You can find her at @rsimon113.

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The Dictatorship

I watched the Georgia 2020 recount. Here’s what the FBI raid in Fulton County is really about.

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4 hours ago

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February 1, 2026

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The moment the media declared Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election, I was on a flight from Washington, D.C., to Atlanta — deployed in my role as counsel to the Biden campaign to defend the will of Georgia voters as the state ballot counting process unfolded. For most Americans, the election was over. But my work was just getting started.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election in Georgia by nearly 12,000 votes.

Under Georgia law, the close margin required election officials to carry out not only the regular counting process, but also a “risk limiting audit” — a hand recount of all five million ballots cast. Our legal team, and that of the Trump campaign, observed as each of Georgia’s 159 counties counted the ballots, certified the count and then counted them again by hand. After all of this, the Trump campaign demanded a third count in the form of a statewide machine recount. Georgia’s dedicated election workers counted every ballot a third time, often working overnight in shifts while contending with threats of violence and an unprecedented global pandemic. Watching it unfold, I was awed by the election staff’s dedication and their commitment to the integrity of the process.

After three counts, the results remained unchanged. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election in Georgia by nearly 12,000 votes. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp certified the results despite intense pressure from then-President Donald Trump. Courts rejected every attempt by the Trump campaign and the president’s allies to overturn the results.

And yet, more than five years later, President Trump has taken his most extreme step to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. On Wednesday, a phalanx of FBI agents descended on the Fulton County election operations center and seized hundreds of boxes of ballots, tabulator tapes, ballot images and other documents related to the 2020 vote.

Americans who believe in free and fair elections should be terrified. But not because the president and his cronies at the FBI and the Justice Department might find some “smoking gun” in those five-year-old boxes that finally validates years of lies and conspiracy theories. They won’t. It doesn’t exist. But Americans should be terrified because of what this portends for the 2026 midterms.

Americans should be terrified because of what this portends for the 2026 midterms.

The Trump administration  dispatched federal officers to remove ballots and voting equipment from the hands of state election officials — where they belong — and placed them under federal control. This is a threat to the very foundation of free and fair elections: that ballots are cast and counted through impartial, statutorily mandated state election processes without interference by candidates on the ballot.

Let’s be clear about where our society could be headed. This fall, we are increasingly likely to see a president commanding the federal law enforcement apparatus to seize ballots and voting equipment, prosecute election workers, intimidate voters and election officials and interfere with the counting of ballots and the certification of election results.

Public officials cannot afford to wait until it’s too late to act or speak out. Governors, secretaries of state, attorneys general and other state and local election officials know that elections are a state function protected by the Constitution. As Georgia officials did in the face of threats and heavy criticism in 2020, they must continue to honor the law and the truth. Judges must scrutinize every federal intrusion brought before the courts.

Members of Congress swore an oath when they took office to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. What threat to our Constitution is greater than the demolition of impartial elections?

The FBI raid in Fulton County is only a preview of what might come if Trump remains unchecked.

The FBI raid in Fulton County is only a preview of what might come if Trump remains unchecked. There is still time for Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate to do their duty and protect free and fair elections for future generations of Americans — but it is running short.

As a voter protection lawyer who worked on the two largest recounts in American history, I know that state processes to count ballots are thorough, secure and accurate. I also know that staying silent while the Trump administration takes matters, and ballots, into its own hands would irreparably harm our democracy.

“It’s meant to sow fear,” Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivory said in the wake of the FBI search. “People who normally would stand up to exercise their free and fair right to vote get afraid to do that. And that’s exactly what [Trump] hopes will happen.”

She’s right. And we can’t let fear win.

Jacquelyn Lopez is a partner at Elias Law Group and served as voter protection counsel for the Biden-Harris campaign during the 2020 Georgia recount. She also helped lead the 2018 Florida recount team for Sen. Bill Nelson.

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The Dictatorship

Judge orders release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos and father from ICE detention center

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4 hours ago

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February 1, 2026

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Judge orders release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos and father from ICE detention center

A federal judge ordered the release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father from a detention facility in Texas, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers took them into custody in Minneapolis last week.

In a brief order issued Saturday, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery excoriated the federal government, saying the case “has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.”

Biery quoted the Declaration of Independence, pointing to Thomas Jefferson’s “grievances against a would-be authoritarian king over our nascent nation.”

“‘We the people’ are hearing echos of that history,” he wrote.

Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained by ICE officers on Jan. 20 outside their home in Minneapolis. Officials at Liam’s school district said that the 5-year-old was used as “bait” to lure family members out of his home. District officials said another adult in the home “begged the agents to let him take care of the small child and was refused,” and ICE then took both father and son into custody.

The Department of Homeland Security disputed that account, saying Conejo Arias “fled on foot” when approached by ICE officers and accused him of abandoning Liam.

A photo of Liam wearing a bunny hat and carrying a Spider-Man backpack as he was being detained went viralsparking national criticism.

The father and son were subsequently taken to a detention center in Dilley, Texas.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, who visited the detention center earlier this week, said Conejo Arias told him that Liam “hasn’t been himself” and that the boy has been sleeping a lot “because he’s been depressed and sad.”

Marc Prokosch, a lawyer representing the family, said in a statement that their legal team is grateful for the swift court decision and that they are working “to ensure a safe and timely reunion” for the family.

“We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal,” Prokosch said.

Biery, a Clinton appointee, had fierce criticism for the government’s conduct.

“Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned,” he wrote.

Biery signed off on the order, attaching the viral photo of Liam and referring to two Bible verses. The first was Matthew 19:14, “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” The other was John 11:35 — “Jesus wept.”

Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.

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