Trump Tries to Gatekeep Birthright Citizenship (Again)
On June 30th, US Supreme Court struck down the restrictions on birthright citizenship enacted by Donald Trump. Trump is now trying once again to enact birthright citizenship restrictions, especially targeting “birth tourism” and “those who act on behalf of foreign governments” through executive orders. Similar to the End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act introduced in the US House of Representatives, these executive orders posit that people who are often the victims of US imperialism are “exploiting” the 14th amendment that was used to give citizenship to formerly enslaved people. This is based on the bizarre and unsubstantiated claims that these are widespread phenomena, and that “foreigners” take advantage of the US’s “generosity.”
In a press conference during the signing of the Ending Birth Tourism and Continuing to Protect the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship executive orders, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller stated that their goal is “expanding the definition of people who are ineligible for birthright citizenship. That includes, for example, alien enemies of the United States, members of foreign terrorist organizations, and large categories of people who lobby and act on behalf of foreign governments.” These two orders are less likely to be overturned, unlike Trump’s Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship executive order that was overturned by the Supreme Court.
At a time when President Trump is expanding the definition of terrorist to include anyone who is anti-fascist or supports transgender people, civil rights activists are concerned about how this could be used against anyone who defies Trump’s idea of what makes America great.
With these orders in place, green card holders could be at risk of deportation if the state determines that they became a citizen through what they call “birth tourism.”
Trump continues in a long tradition of attempting to ideologically limit who is allowed into the US and who is allowed to stay. That line ultimately concludes that victims of US imperialism must never be able to get a break from the crimes committed against them.
Sources:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/08/ending-birth-tourism/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FME9blVdrg
https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-19141.pdf
Puerto Rico Faces Water Crisis
Puerto Rico, a longtime colony of the US, is facing a severe island-wide water shortage during the driest July on record and just one month after a major pipeline burst. Though the June pipeline rupture was handled, water interruptions for tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans across San Juan and neighboring communities have remained.
Locals shared the daily struggles they are facing due to the current “state of emergency”, officially declared by Puerto Rico’s Governor Jenniffer González-Colón on July 31st. Ms. Muñoz has lessened her cooking, cleaning, and toilet flushing, and is having to shower in vacant hotel rooms where she works. A resourceful restaurant owner uses collected condensation from an air conditioner to supply the toilet for customer use. Outraged residents have taken to the streets to protest these conditions, including 66-year-old Mr. Cuyar, who recounted that even after Hurricane Maria, 9 years ago, they haven’t run into a water shortage like this.
The island’s government has announced water rationing on a rotating 48-hour basis for 180,000 Puerto Ricans affected. Many have shared that, while this has been the most severe case of water rationing they’ve faced, it is not the first time they have had to ration water. In 2015 and 2020, restrictions were also implemented, with access to water available every three days.
Puerto Rican politicians have pointed to clear, longstanding issues that only further exacerbated the issue, along with the effects of climate change, from a broken water and sewage system to government corruption. Back in May, San Juan’s Mayor Miguel Romero went as far as to sue the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) for it’s complicity, pointing to its carelessness when it comes to maintenance of the island’s water and sewage system. This isn’t the first time PRASA has come under fire from the legal system. Just last year, the US Environmental Protection Agency brought attention to the multiple felony violations PRASA committed, which the agency pled guilty to.
While the local government has declared a state of emergency, calling in the Puerto Rican National Guard to distribute 600,000 gallons of water to residents of San Juan and nearby areas, the federal government has yet to acknowledge the severity of the water shortage taking place. Puerto Rico’s Commissioner Pablo Jose Hernandez took to X to call on Trump to do so, which could prompt immediate aid to assist in tackling the crisis.
Sources:
https://abc7.com/story/puerto-rico-working-federal-agencies-water-crisis-governor-says/19656095/
https://www.boldlatina.com/puerto-ricos-water-crisis-is-about-more-than-water/
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/07/us/puerto-rico-water-crisis-drought.html
https://x.com/RepPabloJose/status/2085828269064991194
https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2006/June/06_enrd_383.html
CIA Relaunches Cuba Task Force to Instigate Regime Change
The CIA has set up a secret Cuba task force, reimagining a force that launched the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. The stated goal of this 2026 Cuba task force is to leverage the spies and intelligence officers to create rifts among Cuban political elite and instigate a regime change in order to combat their manufactured conspiracy that Cuban politicians are responsible for driving anti-American and communist politics in the US.
President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News last week, “a lot of things are going to happen in Cuba over the next several months,” though he said he doesn’t “see it being like Venezuela,” referring to the US’ bombing of Caracas, kidnapping of President Maduro, US business’ takeover of their oil, and administrative control over Venezuela. With this task force in place, Trump has the vehicle to make his threat a reality once resources currently allocated to the war on Iran become available. This could lead to another US invasion of Cuba and it is most definitely being used as reasoning for the starvation campaign and blockade of Cuba.
In July the US State Department published a 100-page report that portrays Cuba as a political ideological threat to the US by making weak arguments that tie US leftist political movements to Cuba. This also follows the US indicted former President Raúl Castro in May over a case from 30 years ago. With the State Department and CIA targeting Cuba as a political threat and Trumps new executive order creating vague language that targets whoever the US deems a foreign domestic terrorist, there is a potential outcome where anyone who opposes the US government could be deemed an agent of Cuba.
The Democratic Socialist of America (DSA), Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Code Pink are among some of the groups and individuals that have been accused by the State Department of promoting political ideologies fed to them by Cuba. It stated that “the DSA has built a national infrastructure dedicated to moving extreme-left politics from the margins into the mainstream – and with it, a deep and abiding devotion to the Cuban regime.” Code Pink has been targeted because members of the organizations have traveled to Cuba for humanitarian aid as the US continues their siege on the country.
Recent studies have shown that communism is growing in popularity among Americans, particularly Gen Z and the Trump administration is responding by the revival of McCarthyism and attacks on Cuba.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/us/politics/cia-cuba-task-force.html
https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/337151
https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-19141.pdf
US Promises $1bn in Aid to Colombia Following Right-Wing Victory
The US State Department has promised $1bn in “security aid” to Colombia following the inauguration of Colombia’s new president Abelardo de la Espriella this Friday. The country’s newest right-wing leader has drawn the interest of the Trump administration with promises of widespread militarization and a total crackdown on “criminal gangs and narco-terrorist groups.”
Espriella has in the past promised a strategic alliance with the US, offering to host US troops on Colombian soil. This hasn’t just been empty words either; shortly following Espriella’s victory, the incoming defense minister announced “Plan Patriot 2.0,” after meeting with officials in Washington. The plan is a rehashing of the original Plan Patriot, an alliance between the two countries in the early 2000s that saw thousands of Colombian troops deployed against leftist militants and facilitated extrajudicial killings.
In the past, US crackdowns throughout Latin America have had limited success and often carry a heavy civilian toll. Many on the Colombian left remain concerned about threats to sovereignty with closer military relations to the US. These fears have been magnified by ongoing attacks on (likely) civilian vessels in the Caribbean by US forces as well as overt military action and regime change in neighboring Venezuela.
Sources:
Behind Enemy Lines 