This Month in Criminalization: June 2026

Written By Tiffany Wang

June 25, 2026


Welcome to the June 2026 installment of "This Month in Criminalization," in which IC co-founder Andrea J. Ritchie and researcher Kelsey Kitzke share hot topics and current legislative and policy developments in criminalization, and points people to calls to action and relevant resources. You can find previous editions of this newsletter on our website here. 

You can find the full newsletter below, with action items and resources listed in drop-down sections, indicated by a "+” sign on the left. If you prefer to go directly to checking out all of the “action items,” you can find them in this white box section below:

Action Items:

Our goal in these monthly roundups is not to contribute to overwhelm, but to help you sift through the firehose of information and focus in on a few things we can and must do wherever we are — as organizers, community members, health care providers, educators, policy advocates, legislators, and funders — to interrupt the criminalization that is the core mechanism and methodology of implementing and rationalizing Right-wing, authoritarian, and fascist agendas and regimes. Deep thanks to TMIC co-author Kelsey Kitzke and to our partners at the Building Movement Project, Muslims for Just Futures, Autonomy News, and FWD.us for their contributions.

Let us know if you find these roundups helpful, how you are using them, and what you’d like to see more or less of in these monthly updates by completing this very short survey! 

If you are looking for thought partnership around your efforts to interrupt criminalization wherever you are, please reach out to the Resisting Criminalization Help Desk!

 
 

Federal Conspiracy Charges Against Anti-Genocide, Anti-ICE Organizers

➡️  Prairieland defendants were sentenced to 30 to 100 years in prison by a judge who states that he is imposing maximum sentences “the state wants to send a message to anyone who shares a similar ideology.” As Muslims for Just Futures point out in their statement on the sentencing:

"The impact of these sentences reaches far beyond the individuals prosecuted and sentenced–they are the administration’s battle cry against political dissent. These sentences are the latest example of the federal government’s willingness to stretch national security and terrorism frameworks to their maximum, terrifying edges. ...

We call on movements to condemn these sentences and the Prairieland prosecution. We call on the legal community to condemn this absolute mockery of the law for political agendas that deliberately destroy people’s lives. We call on civil society to reject  the state narrative applying the terrorism framework to movements while enabling and expanding state terror itself. We call on investments into criminal legal defense infrastructure to ensure individuals within movements have adequate legal defense and protection.  We urge civil rights, legal, and pro-democracy groups to condemn the dangers of political prosecutions, NSPM-7, and the material support for terrorism apparatus that is working to effectively criminalize solidarity and crush movements."

 

➡️  15 people involved in a community defense group in Minneapolis during “Operation Metro Surge” earlier this year were raided and arrested on charges of "conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers" and “interstate stalking,” among others, in connection with efforts to track ICE agents’ activities and mount rapid response and community defense networks. The indictment refers to the group as an “antifa cell,” consistent with recent Presidential memos targeting “anti-fascists.” It cites hundreds of Signal messages and evidence of Signal calls, as well as practices of stowing phones during meetings, calling each other, meeting in person, vetting protocols for new members, and using VPNs as evidence of intent to enter into a conspiracy. Protesters gathered outside the courthouse in support of those charged.

➡️  On June 10, the FBI raided the homes of 8 University of Michigan students and alumni, arresting them on charges stemming from 2024 protests calling on the University to divest from Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. The raid was the second since the encampments, and followed months of surveillance of students by a private investigation firm hired by the University, which led to a lawsuit filed by one of the targeted students. The indictments cite internet searches for protest materials and supplies, searches on Google maps, Signal messages, and social media posts as evidence. So far 5 of the 8 have pled not guilty and been released on unsecured bonds with restrictive conditions.

According to a statement by attorneys representing the students:

"The indictment alleges a conspiracy to use interstate commerce to threaten unidentified persons ....based on a claim that protesters conspired and shared content of public protests, littering, and spray-painted graffiti in public facing social media posts of student organizations or that the spray painting or littering itself amounts to a terrorist-like threat. The actions of law enforcement appear to be a new low in the criminalization of student opposition to the human rights violations, war crimes, and genocide in Gaza.

"For decades, students, alumni, workers, and community members have called on the University of Michigan to divest from Israel and to defend the human rights of Palestinians. Yet, in the last three years protesters who speak out against genocide have been met with weaponized student discipline, termination and permanent blacklisting from employment, campus-wide trespass bans, private security surveillance, and prosecutions by the Michigan Attorney General that have had all charges dismissed. And now, Michigan protesters advocating for human rights are facing repression at the highest levels from the Trump administration."

Protesters gathered outside the federal courthouse in Detroit in support of the targeted protesters, calling for authorities to drop the charges and for the University to “Divest Don’t Arrest."

➡️  The Spokane 3 — 3 of 9 people indicted on conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer for attending a direct action to interrupt the transfer of people in ICE custody in Spokane, WA — were found guilty after a week-long trial. The remaining six chose to plead guilty.

➡️  Predictably, the FBI has been reaching out to protesters at Delaney Hall and beyond to try to recruit them as informants, a move many have resisted.

➡️  Also this month, the FBI raided the offices of Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC), a social, racial, and economic justice organization. According to OOC leader Thomas Haney: “They had agents all across the state going to civil rights leaders and community leaders’ doors intimidating them, coming and demanding that they talk about literally anything they would ask, if they’re committing voter fraud, just on their doors, in front of their houses with their children, and just following them to work and school.” No charges have been filed, but organizers see the raids as part of a large-scale federal voter intimidation strategy leading up to the mid-term elections.

 

Continued Crackdown on Care for Trans Youth

➡️  As outlined in this FAQ, the U.S. Department of Justice served civil subpoenas on hospitals and health care providers providing gender-affirming care to trans youth in 2025, demanding information on patients, policies, practices, and communications with drug manufacturing companies, claiming it is investigating potential fraud against the federal government and private insurers, as well as violations of Food and Drug Administration regulations. A number of providers and hospitals challenged the subpoenas and won orders from federal courts quashing the civil subpoenas (meaning the providers and hospitals didn’t have to respond or provide the information the government was demanding), finding that the federal government was clearly seeking the information with the impermissible discriminatory intent to shutting down health care for a particular group of people.

➡️  The federal government then went shopping for a judge who would hand them a win, and found one in Texas. Earlier this year, a Texas federal judge found that the civil subpoena served on Rhode Island Children’s Hospital was valid, and ordered the hospital to provide the requested information. Both the 5th Circuit and 1st Circuit federal appeals courts ordered the hospital to turn over the requested information to the judge (NOT the federal government) until the validity of the court’s order was determined on appeal, prompting Rhode Island Children’s Hospital to turn over anonymized patient data to the Texas Court.

➡️  At the same time, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas convened a grand jury who issued criminal subpoenas to “several hospitals” in New York, including Langone and Mount Sinai — presumably to test New York’s Shield Law. Both facilities notified parents that they had received subpoenas but neither has disclosed any patient information to the court or the government, and are working to fight disclosure and restrict and anonymize information as much as possible if forced to disclose information. Yesterday, a federal judge granted patients' request to block the DOJ from seeking or obtaining patient information via grand jury subpoena as to any transgender people who received gender-affirming medical care in New York City, including NYU Langone.

➡️  Families of trans youth who received gender-affirming care at a California hospital sued to protect their information from disclosure under either a criminal or civil subpoena and were granted a statewide temporary stay of federal subpoenas while a judge decides on their legality.

➡️  Based on its victory in the Texas federal court on the civil subpoena and the issuance of the criminal subpoenas, the DOJ is now seeking to “settle” litigation around civil subpoenas with hospitals and health care providers, demanding that they:

  • stop gender-affirming care for trans youth for a period of time/indefinitely

  • terminate providers of gender-affirming care for trans youth

  • pay the government millions of dollars

  • start detransition clinics

➡️  So far these efforts have been successful in Texas and Ohio, and organizers are pressuring hospitals and health care providers to resist them across the country.

➡️  A Colorado court ruled that Colorado Children's Hospital must return to providing gender-affirming care to trans youth or be found in violation of state anti-discrimination law. However, despite the hospital’s announcement that it will comply with the ruling, doctors at the hospital's gender care clinic have refused to provide gender care to minors, citing fear of criminal charges.

➡️  The Federal Trade Commission sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), claiming that the organization engages in deceptive practices with respect to gender-affirming care for trans youth. WPATH responded that: “This is the second time this year that the Trump administration has abused the authority of its agencies to interfere with Americans' rights to seek and obtain the healthcare that should be decided between a patient and their physician. The first attempt, the FTC’s improper requests to WPATH for protected information was struck down by a federal judge. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is not a medical provider and has no place interfering with the process of individualized medical decision-making…"

➡️  At the end of May, the Trump regime issued a new proposed rule that would bar organizations that "promote gender ideology” from federal funding. What this looks like in practice remains to be seen, but like many recent federal investigations and rule-changes, this threatens to further marginalize and endanger trans people within organizations and institutions.

 

Shut Them All Down: Hunger Strikes Continue At ICE Detention Camps Across the Country

A wave of hunger and labor strikes by people incarcerated under torturous conditions in ICE detention camps kicked off in April at North Lake Detention Center in Baldwin Michigan. By May, over 400 people incarcerated at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey were on labor and hunger strike over inhumane living and working conditions, including spoiled food, maggots in meals, denial of medical care, medical neglect, and forced labor for as little as $1 per day.

➡️  In retaliation, guards — employed by the company that owns and operates the camp GEO Group — sprayed chemical weapons and physically assaulted strikers.

➡️  Martin Soto, a lead organizer of the strike on the inside, was transferred to a different detention camp in New Jersey and placed in solitary confinement in retaliation. Recently, reports estimate that between 100-200 of the strikers have been moved to other detention camps in an attempt to break up the strike.

➡️  On June 11, close to 40 women joined the strike and released their own demands, including the release of women under the age of 21, mothers, and women with medical conditions, as well as the removal of a detention guard accused of numerous incidents of sexual assault against women inside Delaney.

➡️  On the outside, solidarity protestors — who have been present at Delaney and calling for its closure for over a year — gathered to draw attention to conditions and demand the release of everyone inside and the closure of Delaney Hall. Protestors have been met with pepper spray directly to the face and TASERs (rather than dispersed tear gas to "tone down" the visuals) by DHS agents. A little over a week into the strike, New Jersey state police were sent in by the Governor to ensure the "safety" of protestors, instead escalating repression by kettling and arresting journalists and protestors en masse.

➡️  Despite the repression, groups supporting the strikers have announced an increase in the number of people released from detention, including 18 year olds and pregnant people.

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Strikes have spread to detention camps across the country:

➡️  In Adelanto, ICE has been retaliating against organizers and strikes inside by putting them in solitary confinement, threatening tear gas, and other forms of physical abuse. Swaso, a strike leader, has been forcibly transferred to other detention camps twice in an effort to break up his network of support. He is now detained at Winn Correctional Center in Louisana.

 

Ramp Up in Crimmigration Changes

As DHS looks to offload 7 of the 11 mega-warehouses it acquired in a $700 million buying spree earlier this year after local pushback, they are switching toward a strategy of buying up GEO Group and CoreCivic privately owned, turn-key detention facilities and increasing the number of dangerous and torturous ICE deportation flights. Additionally:

➡️  The regime is ramping denaturalization proceedings against U.S. citizens, despite only denaturalizing 17 citizens this month and 12 last month (figures much lower than the regime's previously stated goal of denaturalizing 100-200 citizens per month in 2026).

➡️  The state of Texas now has the legal authority, previously reserved only for the federal government, to criminalize and enforce immigration policy:

  • Texas now has the go-ahead to arrest and deport people suspected of illegally crossing the border; and to criminalize crossing the border after deportation even if the current crossing has been permitted by the federal government.

➡️  Federal immigration courts are rapidly accelerating the dismissal of asylum cases by grouping a hundred or more cases into a single hearing. "Mega masters," as they are called, are largely made up of cases originally scheduled to be heard in 2027, 2028, and 2029 — meaning many people do not show up to their hearings at all and are subject to official removal orders allowing for their detainment into DHS custody and eventual deportation.

 

Join the Fight Against Corporate and State Surveillance

ICE continues to rely on a vast network of corporate and local actors for its mass deportation scheme, and surveillance tech is absolutely critical and is expanding:

➡️  Records indicate that ICE is purchasing tax identifiers of immigrants from a private data broker in order to bypass a court order prohibiting them from sourcing this data within the federal government.

➡️  ICE is planning to give thousands of local police agencies access to Mobile Fortify, a facial recognition app already being used by ICE to identify potential deportation targets from DHS and other federal databases. This is a massive expansion of this technology's uses against immigrants and a continued expansion of collaboration between local police and ICE/CBP.

 

NO ICE IN THE CUP!

The World Cup is now unfolding in cities across Turtle Island following the opening of the tournament in Mexico, where it was met with demonstrations over an epidemic of disappeared people and working conditions for teachers. In response, the Mexican government sent more than 100,000 military and police personnel to the country's three host cities. In the U.S., the regime has threatened the presence of ICE agents at stadiums.

➡️  Workers at Sofi Stadium in California — one of the U.S.'s host stadiums — reached a deal with the stadium's food service provider which marks out, amongst other things, an explicit right to strike over ICE or Border Patrol activity at the stadium.

➡️  New York City has announced that they will be flooding airports with police officers ostensibly to crack down on taxi scammers.

➡️  In Toronto a space being utilized as a shelter for those living on the street was closed in March so it could be used for FIFA-related obligations.

➡️  Unhoused people and allies in the neighborhood have already seen displacement by police in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a community adjacent to the stadium, and have voiced concern about the escalation of criminalization and displacement.

  • ✅  Our Copa campaign from Working Families Power and the Mijente Support Committee is organizing safe and joyful soccer clinics and watch parties.

    ✅ No ICE in the Cup is a national call to action demanding the World Cup remain joyful, safe, and secure for all to enjoy.

    ✅  In the midst of a continuous displacement crises of ICE raids, fires, and systemic poverty, the Olympics will be coming to Los Angeles in 2028, bringing with it a further wave of criminalization and displacement — support and learn from NOlympics LA.

 

U.S. Props Up Militarism and Authoritarianism Around the World

Since the U.S. military's kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January on the pretext of “narcoterrorism," the regime has been eager to flex its imperial muscle in Latin America. In March, the regime hosted over a dozen leaders from the region for a summit focused on beefing up state and military surveillance and criminalization, slowing migration through the region, and reasserting American economic and military control — harkening back to the U.S.-led Operation Condor campaign of repression and state violence in the '60s and '70s.

Now, the U.S. is bolstering the candidacy of far-right, authoritarian candidates who promise increased policing and militarization while conducting military operations directly or through proxies across the region.

➡️  In Chile at the end of last year, the country elected the far-right Jose Antonio Kast, who declared that the country will be "free from crime" by building maximum-security jails and mass deporting migrants. In Peru, the far-right presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori is poised to win a narrow victory; she is the daughter of the country's former dictator Alberto Fujimori and has promised militarized borders, increased police and military presence in "high-risk" zones, and forced labor for prisoners. In Colombia, Trump's favorite in the country's upcoming presidential election, Abelardo de la Espriella, says he wants to reduce crime with an "iron fist" including the building of megaprisons.

➡️  The U.S. will begin joint military actions in Guatemala as early as this month against "drug trafficking organizations." The joint military agreement is similar to one Ecuador signed earlier this year, inviting the U.S. to conduct military operations against "drug gangs" and "terrorist organizations." The Trump regime is reportedly gathering up joint military agreements from countries in Central America in an attempt to pressure Mexico to agree to drone strikes and U.S. military ground presence within the country.

➡️  Ecuador has also declared a state of emergency in ten regions of the country, authorizing police and military to enter homes without warrants under suspicious of organized crime. President Noboa previously said that he was unlikely to declare emergency powers, and the reversal comes after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

➡️  El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele, a major ally in Trump's deportation infrastructure in the region and who accepted hundreds of U.S. deportees into the CECOT mega-prison, has allowed for life sentences for people as young as twelve while doubling the number of deportees the country receives from the U.S.

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Meanwhile in Europe, Greg Bovino — former Border Patrol Commander and face of the regime's violent domestic occupations — attended a "remigration" conference in Portugal in late May as the European Union overhauls its migration policy towards deportations and detention camps.

➡️  The new regulations allow EU countries to set up "return hubs" in non-European countries where people can be deported and detained. At least five countries are already in talks with these "third countries" — mostly in Africa — to host these "hubs." These won't be the first such outsourced European detention camps: Italy opened two detention camps in Albania in 2024.

➡️  In Northern Ireland, white vigilantes, spurred on by far-right influencers including Elon Musk, set fire to the homes of Belfast's Black and brown immigrant communities in two nights of chilling violence.

Continued Attacks on Abortion

➡️  The FDA has launched a study into the "safety" of the abortion pill mifepristone as the latest move in a legal and legislative assault by anti-abortion activists against abortion medication, the most common form of abortion nationwide. The study is expected to last six months, arriving just after the mid-term elections.

 

Free Support

➡️  Feeling scared? Overwhelmed? The Liberation Line is there to support you! The Liberation Line provides free mental health support calls to organizers and activists, offering support, listening, resources, processing, debriefing or strategizing. These are confidential, non-crisis, non-therapy phone calls facilitated by a trusted volunteer with experience in offering mental health support and who aligns with Palestinian and collective liberation. The Liberation Line is open to any organizer or activist involved in social or political change, who may be impacted by police or state brutality, counter-protestor violence, racism, oppression, or is experiencing conflict, stress, burnout or trauma related to their community organizing or activism. 

➡️  A reminder that Interrupting Criminalization also offers a number of free help desks:

 
 

  • Resisting Criminalization Help Desk — for organizers and groups looking for thought partnership and one-on-one consultation and support around organizing, advocacy, budget, policy, legislative or litigation strategies to interrupt criminalization, policing, and state violence.

  • Transformative Justice Help Desk — for groups and individuals who are working on projects and community-wide interventions to respond to, transform, and interrupt harm and violence without using the police and other carceral systems, and are looking for support or thought partnership.

  • Abolition Media Office Hours — for journalists, communicators, and media makers who want to challenge "copaganda,” shift the narrative about Palestine, crime, community safety, and other subjects, or directly support incarcerated people in telling their own stories; for organizers looking for help on how to build relationships with journalists or hone in on messaging their campaigns.

  • Beyond Do No Harm Health Care Strategy Consult — health care workers committed to preventing and resisting harm in health care, or looking for a thought partner on practical strategies for organizing to interrupt criminalization in health care environments.

 

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Tiffany Wang
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