Court Watchers Monitor Deportation Cases

In New York City, a quiet act of resistance is taking place every week inside the federal immigration courts. Members of the Professional Staff Congress—the union representing faculty and staff across the City University of New York—have been showing up not as lawyers or law enforcement, but as witnesses. They call themselves court watchers. Their goal: to stand beside immigrants facing possible deportation, document abuses, and assert the public’s right to observe what happens inside these halls of power.

The union’s Immigrant Solidarity Working Group launched this effort over the summer, after reports that armed ICE agents were making mass arrests in and around federal courthouses—even detaining people who had appeared voluntarily for hearings. For many PSC members, this was a line they couldn’t ignore. Each Friday morning in Foley Square, educators gather before entering the courthouse. They’re trained to document what they see, to provide moral support, and to help loved ones locate those taken into detention. Their presence sends a message: that New Yorkers will not turn away from injustice carried out in their name.

What began as an act of witness has become a form of civic education. Teachers who spend their days in classrooms are now learning new lessons about power, vulnerability, and courage. In the process, they’re showing their students—and the city—what solidarity looks like in action.

Guest - PSC Secretary Andrea Vásquez is an associate director of the American Social History Project at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a managing director of the New Media Lab.

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Defining Hate Crimes

Across the country, tensions are high as hate-fueled incidents make headlines almost daily. Just last month, a transgender woman in Washington State was assaulted by a mob yelling transphobic slurs while one attacker choked her. In this charged environment, politicians are weighing in — some pledging to crack down, others blurring the line between hateful speech and protected expression.

The Trump administration formed a Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism and is targeting universities across the nation. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said the Department of Justice will "target" and "go after" individuals who threaten others with hate speech. But what does it mean when political figures invoke hate crime laws as tools of ideology rather than justice? And what are the real implications for free speech, civil rights, and public safety?

Guest - Zachary Wolfe, editor of Hate Crimes Law and a leading scholar on how the United States defines, prosecutes, and debates hate-motivated offenses. He’s here to help us understand how these laws are being used—and sometimes misused—in today’s polarized climate. Blog: profzwolfe.com

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