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Vendors Who Purchased Properties In The Strong Seller’s Market Are Struggling To Understand That Their Pricing Expectations Cannot Be Met

A report from Mortgage Point Magazine. “The number of vacant properties available for bank-owned auction rose to a more than four-year high in the first quarter of 2025, according to Auction.com data. Among major metro areas, the biggest annual increases in vacant REO properties brought to auction in the first quarter of 2025 were found in Seattle; Wichita Falls, Texas; Phoenix; Colorado Springs; and Los Angeles. Vacant REO properties brought to auction in the first quarter of 2025 had been bank-owned an average of 345 days, down from an average of 744 days a year ago and down from an average of 1,323 days in the first quarter of 2022, immediately after the foreclosure moratorium was lifted.”

“‘I don’t understand when a property is vacant for a year or two years, why they keep postponing the sale,’ said Landon Cunningham, VP of Client Relations at Tenet Capital, a Spokane, Washington-based lender that provides financing for buyers at auction. ‘Those houses are going to become more and more dilapidated. More crime, more people squatting in that house.’ ‘It had been vacant for quite a while … probably a year, so it was not very well taken care of,’ said Auction.com buyer Francois Delille about a Houston-area property he purchased at auction in 2022. Following renovations, he returned the property to the retail market as a rental. ‘The house being vacant, that’s such a waste. … If that house had been to auction six months earlier, it would have been rented six months earlier.'”

KTNV in Nevada. “Mortgage defaults are climbing in specific areas of the Las Vegas Valley, continuing a troubling trend. The highest number of troubled mortgages is currently coming from zip codes 89121 on the east side of town and 89108 near the historic west side, according to data analysis. Nearly a quarter of all mortgage defaults since January 2022 have occurred just in the first half of this year, according to Shawn McCoy, executive director of the Lied Center for Real Estate at UNLV. Notices of default are also up 28% from last year. March set a record with 235 notices in a single month. The average monthly cost for an apartment in Clark County has decreased about 4.2% since peaking in 2022. The average rent across Southern Nevada is now $1,477, with the trend being driven by a wave of new apartments built over the past four years. ‘Rents are coming down. Over the past four years, a lot of new supply has come onto the market. With that, vacancy rates are rising, and the average rent for units is dropping significantly,’ McCoy said.”

The Globe and Mail. “In Florida alone, around half a million Canadians own property, from houses and condos to RV sites. In fact, when it comes to foreign buyers of Florida real estate, we’ve been number one for years! And while Florida has been welcoming, you now need to capably stickhandle around the political reality of the Donald Trump-Ron DeSantis ecosystem. But this March, I started hearing something I’ve never heard before: one Canadian after another cancelling their plans for a trip south in response to Mr. Trump’s annoying and repeated ’51st state’ rhetoric, his ridicule of Canada’s former prime minister, and his threats to Canada’s economy. Many who were already down south were packing up and leaving early, and others still were putting their properties up for sale, only to discover it’s not exactly a seller’s market right now. It’s not clear yet whether we’re in this for the long haul. Will thousands of Canadians continue to leave their properties sitting empty or in a rental pool as a matter of principle?”

From Denver 7. “The housing market has shifted in favor of buyers as prices dip and inventory piles up, according to the latest July housing report from the Colorado Association of Realtors. ‘Even though it may seem like affordability is a challenge, it is actually a great time to buy,’ Cooper Thayer with the Colorado Association of Realtors told Denver7’s Jessica Porter. ‘You have much more time to search for the perfect home, and you’re much more likely to get a great deal right now.’ Gone are the days of record prices and low inventory, which resulted in buyers competing with several other offers just a few years ago. Townhomes and condo prices in the Denver area are down 2% from June to July, which is a 6.5% decrease from a year ago. The average price for a townhome or condo is now $392,500. ‘Given high interest rates, and especially with the high HOA and insurance fees that come with owning a townhouse or condo, oftentimes, sellers are needing to make adjustments to the price in order to make that work at an affordable level for buyers,’ Thayer said.”

The Bend Source. “In Central Oregon, 2025 has brought a noticeable shift: a recalibrating housing market where some homes command fanfare and disappear in days, while others linger beyond the norm. In Bend, the supply has climbed to approximately five months — a high not seen since 2013. In nearby Redmond, inventory remains tighter, around a three-month supply. Meanwhile, smaller towns like La Pine and Sisters are still seeing slower movement. Even within Deschutes County, homes take on average 138 days to close in aggregate, though about 43% still sell within 30 days, and others stretch past 90 days. In Bend, April’s houses averaged just 32 days on market, with Sunriver homes closing in as few as 7 days. On the flip side, listings that are overpriced, outdated, poorly presented or stuck in less competitive segments slow to a crawl, with price reductions becoming more common. For sellers, nearly 20–23% of homes had to reduce price in June.”

From Insauga. “As housing prices decline across Canada, homes continue to sell for much less than homeowners paid just a few years ago. In Brampton, a home recently sold for a $469,000 loss, and a Mississauga home sold for a $700,000 loss in July. In a tough market, recreational properties are not a priority for many buyers. A recent report found steep price declines in recreational markets across the province on a year-by-year basis, with areas like Niagara-on-the-Lake, Peterborough County, Northwestern Ontario, Orillia, and Grand Bend being hit the hardest. A cottage in Kawartha Lakes is an example of a property selling at a huge loss. The waterfront cottage at 28 Goodman Rd., Kawartha Lakes-Bexley sold for a whopping $1.9 million in May 2022, according to online real estate records. The place was listed for sale in September 2023 for $1,788,800, but it didn’t sell. It was then listed for $1,850,000 in May 2024 and several more times in 2024. By January 2025, the price had dropped to $1,569,900 and finally down to $1,075,000. It sold for $1,040,000 in August, nearly half the 2022 price.”

From Cornwall Live in the UK. “Work on a construction site where five so-called ‘luxury’ homes are being built overlooking one of Cornwall’s most beautiful bays has stopped after the developer behind it went into administration. Arcady Heights Limited, one of the many companies under the Stephens & Stephens Group run by Paul Stephens and his wife Helen, has ceased trading. We can now confirm that Acardy Heights Limited has been taken over by the same administrators managing One Pentire in Newquay, a block of 74 apartments and commercial spaces previously owned by Stephens & Stephens on the site of the former Fistral Bay Hotel, which went into administration in May. The current site is now locked up and all work has stopped while private security is also on site. The administrators said they are now on a fact finding mission with regards to the Newlyn site.”

From The Post in New Zealand. “Palmerston North house prices well below the 2021-22 peak are contributing to a boost in the number of rental properties available in the city. The median sale price in July rose to $605,000, which was up from $585,000 the month before but still well below highs such as the $720,000 reported by the Real Estate Institute in August 2021. Institute Palmerston North ambassador Andy Stewart said the local market was in a winter slump. There were just 91 sales in July, compared with 138 in May and 103 in June. The $605,000 median price was close to the rateable value of $610,000 but remained disappointing for people who had bought at the peak of the market, he said.”

“‘Unfortunately, vendors who purchased properties in the strong seller’s market of three years ago and must sell for relocation purposes are struggling to understand that their pricing expectations cannot be met at the present time.’ He said some sellers wanting to avoid a loss had withdrawn their properties from the market and were instead renting them out. ‘This has caused an overstocked rental market, probably by about 100 properties over normal stock levels.’ Having extra properties available for renters to choose from was in turn putting downward pressure on new rental returns.”

From Vietnam.net. “In the first half of 2025, Hanoi added 21,951 new housing units approved for sale, nearly 75% of which were condominiums. In Ho Chi Minh City (formerly), CBRE reported that 1,400 condos and 132 low-rise homes were newly launched, with about 1,000 condos and 74 low-rise units launched in Q2 alone. Despite this growing inventory, interest in housing has declined. According to CBRE Vietnam, new supply in Ho Chi Minh City for the second half of 2025 is expected to remain limited, with only 6,000 apartments and 800 low-rise homes projected. The absorption rate of newly launched apartments in the first half dropped to 74%, down from 86% in the same period last year. To boost sales, developers offered incentives such as discounts ranging from 9%-16%, mortgage grace periods up to 10 years, and interior furnishing packages. Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS), criticized the current market quality, calling it easily manipulated and prone to speculative bubbles. Poor planning and abandoned urban zones further waste resources while driving prices out of reach for genuine buyers. Cen Group Chairman Nguyen Trung Vu cautioned that unchecked mega-project expansion may flood the market. In the past, projects of a few hundred hectares were considered large, but today, giant urban zones spanning several thousand hectares are becoming common.”

This Post Has 80 Comments
  1. ‘I don’t understand when a property is vacant for a year or two years, why they keep postponing the sale,’ said Landon Cunningham, VP of Client Relations at Tenet Capital, a Spokane, Washington-based lender that provides financing for buyers at auction. ‘Those houses are going to become more and more dilapidated. More crime, more people squatting in that house.’ ‘It had been vacant for quite a while … probably a year, so it was not very well taken care of’

    This was written by one of the main guys at auction.com, so he knows why they drag out foreclosures. I’ve documented here this spring California auction.com sales getting cancelled that I visited in 2020! But a brief outline of my experience of the timeline for what’s known as shadow inventory: in 2007 I started going to foreclosure/courthouse auctions in Flagstaff. I soon noticed many were cancelled, repeatedly. This was before the flood of defaults. In 2008 my foreclosure field services business was picking up. At first lenders were eager to take control of shacks so we could get them winterized and secured. It wasn’t long before the process started to drag out. I was sent to shacks that had sat a year after being abandoned. I could tell by calendars and stacks of mail, etc. Fast forward a few years and it wasn’t uncommon to find a shack that had sat abandoned for 5 or 7 years in northern Arizona. Not all of them of course, but a significant number. That persists to this day nationally.

    If I had to point to one cause, I would say the accounting rules were changed to allow banks to hold defaulted loans on their books without recognizing the losses. This was an Obammie era policy known as ‘foam the runway for the banks.’

    ‘At every turn on housing — on mass refinancing, on principal reduction, on leverage for homeowners in the bankruptcy process, on forcing banks to write down mortgages, on a modern-day HOLC — the evidence points to Tim Geithner preferring whatever option put the least pressure on banks, rather than actually helping ordinary people. He made far more excuses to do nothing than any effort to make a difference. In fact, the programs were never meant to help homeowners, designed only to “foam the runway” for the banks, to spread out foreclosures and allow banks to absorb them. Homeowners are the foam being crushed by a jumbo jet in that analogy, squeezed for as many payments as possible before ultimately losing their home. And I don’t have to just focus on housing; this is indicative of Geithner’s worldview, which sees protecting the financial system at all costs as the only thing that matters.’

    https://www.salon.com/2014/05/14/this_man_made_millions_suffer_tim_geithners_sorry_legacy_on_housing/

    1. “In fact, the programs were never meant to help homeowners, designed only to “foam the runway” for the banks, to spread out foreclosures and allow banks to absorb them.”

      Since the mortgages are bundled in securitized tranches, and converted and sold as stocks that are sold to insurance companies, public pension funds, etc., then the share(s) price must be protected from the vagaries of the free market.

      1. Remember “the forehead” providing liquidity to the revolving credit debt markets to keep the economy from seizing-up?

    2. Would low interest rates play a part in this too, especially for more recent foreclosure? If you’re only paying 2-3% interest on loans, you don’t care so much about bringing in rent. I’m pretty sure this is the case in commercial real estate, which is why luxury retailers can decamp from their flagship locations on 5th Avenue and the storefront lies vacant for years.

    1. “Even though it may seem like affordability is a challenge, it is actually a great time to buy,” Cooper Thayer with the Colorado Association of Realtors told Denver7’s Jessica Porter. “You have much more time to search for the perfect home, and you’re much more likely to get a great deal right now.”

      Although interest rates are high, the Colorado Association of Realtors reports that this is the best time in 14 years to buy a home.

      https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/is-it-finally-a-good-time-to-buy-a-home-in-the-denver-metro-area

  2. Among major metro areas, the biggest annual increases in vacant REO properties brought to auction in the first quarter of 2025 were found in Seattle; Wichita Falls, Texas; Phoenix; Colorado Springs; and Los Angeles.

    True price discovery is slouching closer. Be afraid, FBs & speculator scum. Be very afraid.

  3. “Mortgage defaults are climbing in specific areas of the Las Vegas Valley, continuing a troubling trend.

    The cratering will spread to all parts of LV as tourists boycott the place due to price gouging and unchecked vibrancy.

    1. “…and unchecked vibrancy.”

      The middle-class scammers are drawn to Las Vegas for the easy money without a college degree. A friend’s sister with big ones, the kind you could hold in a first baseman’s glove, was drawn there with her scammer husband, a hustler who has never done a day’s worth of work. Add a decade, a divorce, and skin like leather from too much sun, and life is now a hard scrabble existence. Thankfully, I’m a leg and ash man!

  4. Two new houses on the bayou in our neighborhood. Despite being on the market nearly 90 days, the Zillow Views vs Saved percentage indicates there isn’t a lot of interest. Most of the houses in the area were built during the 50s and 60s. Although there have been a lot of spec houses built in the last several years. The other new house is left of the one in the link. There is a bridge over the bayou so close to the house that you could almost install a drive-thru window and serve meals. Make lemonade out of lemons.

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5259-Sonoma-Ct-Milton-FL-32583/452279665_zpid/

    1. Curious that there are no diagonal supports or shear walls to resist lateral forces from moving water or hurricane force winds?

        1. Many debt slaves wouldn’t have time to sleep, they would have to work three full-time jobs to service the mortgage.

          1. Depending on the interest rates, two teachers earning $70K each can afford a $420K mortgage — if they’re frugal and nothing goes wrong.

        2. I went on a video tour of inland Ft. Meyers the other day and he showed house after house with a specific type of minivan that the invaders use for their under the table taxi service. He explained the houses all have AC units in every window because the rooms are all rented out and they each get their own AC. He then went and showed new infill houses that are being built so that each room has a bathroom. Easy to rent it all out. This is who will be outbidding you for the 400k shack in FL.

          1. He wants to rent to young single male invaders, I see. Here’s hoping that DHS succeeds in cutting off money, and going after employers. There will be no money for rent.

  5. But this March, I started hearing something I’ve never heard before: one Canadian after another cancelling their plans for a trip south in response to Mr. Trump’s annoying and repeated ’51st state’ rhetoric, his ridicule of Canada’s former prime minister, and his threats to Canada’s economy.

    We ‘Muricans can still enjoy our hikes in the woods without being fined $25,000 Canadian pesos by the climate Communists. Got freedom?

  6. ‘I don’t understand when a property is vacant for a year or two years, why they keep postponing the sale,’

    This sounds like an example of a cargo cult belief system: Real estate always goes up, if you wait long enough. For sellers who pass away before prices go up again, perhaps you can leave your home to your heirs in the hope that there will be another bubble within their lifetimes.

    1. We’re up to about 80 electricians on site here working five 10’s a week projected to go until the end of next year.

      The only Romex in this building is for temp lighting LOLZ.

      1. Have any Denver commies visited your job site to ensure that you have the requisite “inclusivity” among those 80 workers?

    1. Oracle’s lay off is world wide and is believed to be at least 10% of the workforce. And it’s not just in the Cloud org, it’s affecting other groups: database, ERP, onprem software, hardware and others.

  7. Ontario couple frustrated new heat pump won’t cool their home

    The Greater Toronto Area has had many extreme heat warnings this summer and for those without air conditioning, its been very difficult to beat the heat.

    And while more homeowners are installing heat pumps in their homes – a unit that can heat your home in the winter and keep it cool in the summer – one Ontario couple reached out to CTV News saying that the one they purchased has seemingly been unable to keep them cool.

    “We had six or seven fans running so we can sleep at night and it is still a nightmare” said Mississauga resident Ashok Lumb.

    According to the Lumbs, the device worked fine in the winter while heating their home, but on extremely hot days, the temperature won’t go lower than 29 degrees.

    “Last two weeks when the weather was 35, 36 degrees outside, our house was 29,30, or 31 degrees (inside,)” Ashok said.

    When the Lumbs contacted the HVAC company that installed the heat pumps, they told CTV News the technicians came 12 different times over the past two years, but couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

    “The house is still very hot and they are giving us one excuse or the other,” said Promila.

    The couple say they were told their furnace was compatible with a heat pump, but when the house wouldn’t cool down, they were told they needed to replace it, even though the furnace was only seven years old.

    “We ended up spending $4,500 which we didn’t have to because our furnace was working just fine” she added.

    The couple says if the heat pump issue can’t be repaired, they’d rather replace it with an air conditioner.

    “I want my money back so I can get a regular air conditioner and keep my house cool,” Promila said.

    When CTV News reached out to the HVAC company on the Lumbs’ behalf, it helped the couple get a $7,000 rebate and sent three technicians to try and resolve the problem.

    A spokesperson also confirmed with CTV News the problem was finally resolved.

    “The client initially purchased both a heat pump and a furnace approximately two years ago. At that time, we assisted her in securing a $7,000 government rebate, ensuring she had top-of-the-line equipment from a well-known brand. Over the past two years, the furnace has performed perfectly without any issues,” a statement read.

    “The primary concern that arose recently was related to the heat pump’s performance. Although our team visited multiple times—twelve visits in total—to address the situation, and replaced parts such as the thermostat and coil, the unit itself was in good working order.”

    The company went on to say that in “good faith” it “offered several solutions, including a potential replacement of the heat pump with a different brand or a form of compensation.”

    “However, she subsequently changed her request and asked for full reimbursement of the furnace’s value—$4,520,” it said.

    “As can happen with mechanical equipment, performance issues occasionally arise, but we responded consistently over time with multiple service visits to ensure the client was supported. She has since confirmed that she considers the matter fully resolved.”

    https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/consumer-alert/article/ontario-couple-frustrated-their-new-heat-pump-wont-cool-their-home/

    1. Muh Climate Change suffering in a hot shack isn’t enough, raise taxes to change the weather. Works every time.

  8. California taxpayers gave PG&E a huge, supposedly safe loan. The losses are already mounting

    Two weeks before the 2022 legislative session ended, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration came to lawmakers with a big ask: authorize a $1.4 billion state loan to keep open California’s last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon. The money was supposed to be a stopgap that would be fully repaid by an expected federal award. There was even a fail-safe: if the award fell short, other federal funds or profits from Diablo Canyon’s final year could cover the difference.

    The bill passed.

    Despite promises from Newsom’s administration and legislators at the time, CalMatters found the state may be required to forgive as much as $588 million, about 42% of the loan.

    That’s partly because the maximum available federal award would never have covered the full loan. PG&E applied for even less than was available because an incentive fee allowed under the 2022 law isn’t eligible for federal reimbursement.

    One source of funding that could make up the difference—profit from the plant—is, by PG&E projections, unlikely to materialize. The only other avenue the state is considering—using federal money for nuclear waste storage—would cover a fraction of the shortfall and may not be legal.

    And the total is still mounting: PG&E said in a January filing that it expects its costs for the plant to exceed the state’s loan.

    The shortfall is emerging at a time when the state’s general fund is already facing a $12 billion budget hole, and advocates, lawmakers and regulators have raised concerns about portions of the loan benefiting PG&E shareholders, which the law forbids.

    “It’s not a loan,” Matthew Freedman, lawyer for The Utility Reform Network, said. “It’s a gift.”

    Newsom’s administration and other proponents of the loan said it would be paid back fully with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Civil Nuclear Credit” program, an initiative by former President Joe Biden aimed at keeping open financially ailing nuclear power plants.

    Ana Matosantos, Newsom’s cabinet secretary at the time, testified before the state Assembly in August 2022 that the administration believed the funding “will offset the entirety of the loan.” Santa Cruz Democratic Sen. John Laird, a key vote to pass the bill, echoed this in a statement:

    “The $1.4 billion loan expenditure will be matched with $1.4 billion in federal revenue, which limits the requirement of any ratepayer or taxpayer money for that purpose,” he said in September that year.

    But the federal award couldn’t have covered the full loan, CalMatters found. By law, the Department of Energy can only award $1.2 billion each cycle – $200 million less than the general fund loan. And after the bill passed, PG&E applied for even less – $1.1 billion.

    The gulf of $300 million between the state loan and Department of Energy funds is money allowed under the 2022 law that rewards PG&E for keeping the plant online. The fee is not eligible for reimbursement under the Department of Energy nuclear credit program since it does not go into the cost of running the plant.

    The Department of Energy eventually approved the funding, but that doesn’t mean the state will get the full $1.1 billion. It is made up of a base award of $741.4 million and can go up to $1.1 billion if certain conditions are met by the end of 2026. Those conditions include expenses from unexpected outages, emergencies or new and unanticipated compliance requirements by the end of 2026, according to its agreement with the Department of Energy.

    One way the shortfall could be made up, according to the loan agreement, is through profit from the plant in its final year of operation – November 2029 to November 2030. The 2022 law defines this as “market revenues exceeding costs and expenses.” But PG&E doesn’t currently expect to have money to spare from the plant during that period. In its most recent projections, the company anticipates that its costs for Diablo Canyon will exceed the revenue from selling its energy on the wholesale market, leaving customers with a requirement to pay the difference.

    Sen. Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who chairs the state’s joint legislative budget committee, sent a series of letters to the California Department of Finance early last year requesting more information about the loan and its repayment, expressing dissatisfaction at the lack of details available.

    “Given the condition of the general fund, we believe it is poor financial judgment to provide a loan of this magnitude to an investor-owned utility without having basic loan repayment information,” Wiener said in a March 2024 letter. At the time, the water department had not seen a copy of the funding agreement between PG&E and the federal government, according to the finance department.

    Wiener’s committee attempted to stop the final installment of the loan from being given to PG&E last year, striking it from the budget. But less than a week later, it was added back with a new requirement for the water department to submit biannual reports about the loan’s repayment.

    “The state has no leverage left to hold over PG&E,” David Weisman, executive director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility.

    San Diego Democratic Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, who voted against the 2022 legislation, said “it’s another thing that undermines public trust.”

    As long as the loan funds are spent, PG&E isn’t on the hook for repaying any of the loan itself. PG&E expects to have spent those funds and more.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/california-taxpayers-gave-pg-e-a-huge-supposedly-safe-loan-the-losses-are-already-mounting/ar-AA1KpdmP

  9. Workers find help and hope in Holy Trinity Parish’s job loss support group

    Tom Neeley, a communications consultant working with federal government agencies as clients, found himself in a situation he had never experienced before earlier this year.

    As a result of the Trump administration’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) wave of federal job and spending cuts, the contracts that his firm had been part of were canceled, and Neeley was furloughed at the end of February and laid off in April.

    “For the first time, I found myself in need,” Neeley said. “It was a hard transition to make, a hard reality, (and) something very humbling. It was a difficult role to be in, to realize I needed help.”

    Since moving to Washington, D.C., 16 years ago, the California native had been a member of Holy Trinity Parish in Georgetown. He learned that the parish, in response to the federal job cuts, was starting a job loss support group this spring. The program, titled “Strategies for Survival and Finding Work after Job Loss,” is being led by Dr. Marie Raber, a Holy Trinity parishioner who is the former dean of the National Catholic School of Social Service at The Catholic University of America.

    “I’ve always been going there (to Holy Trinity). I felt the need to do this,” Neeley said, adding that the new outreach reflected the Catholic Churches’ ministry of serving those in need.

    He joined the first cohort that met for six weekly sessions in May and June and included 10 recently unemployed workers from the parish and community.

    “There was so much anger, bitterness and sorrow in the first session,” Neeley said, adding that “for most of us, losing our jobs was a product of fate… How we respond to it is up to us.”

    After earning a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and in Arabic and Middle East Studies at Baylor University in her native Texas, Hannah Byrd worked in program management for humanitarian and development projects, including a program helping refugees who fled the civil war in Syria to start food businesses in Turkey, and projects supporting women’s economic empowerment in countries around the world, including in Afghanistan. Another program where she worked supported refugees and people seeking asylum, providing them with training to help them get jobs in the culinary field.

    In 2023, Byrd began working for Democracy International in programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development, including one supporting women agricultural workers in Tunisia in North Africa, and another strengthening electoral integrity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    After President Trump was inaugurated in January 2025, the executive orders he signed included a freeze on foreign aid, and his administration began dismantling USAID.

    “It was really a dramatic couple of weeks… What ended up happening was beyond my expectation,” Byrd said.

    She and colleagues were furloughed after USAID funding was cut off.

    “I loved my job,” Byrd said. “There were so many things I enjoyed. It was great to work on projects I believed in that were making a positive difference in the world.”

    In early August, Byrd said she was in the process of interviewing for a couple of roles. “I don’t have a final landing place yet,” she said.

    For the past 21 years, Gene C. Lin had worked with the MITRE Corporation, which runs federally funded research. As an aviation policy engineer, his work in air traffic safety and airfield design and efficiency was supported by the Federal Aviation Administration.

    Lin, who is of Chinese ancestry, was born in the Philadelphia area and grew up in New Jersey and Delaware. He earned a doctorate in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

    When government funding was cut on the contracts involving his work, he was placed on administrative leave before being laid off in June.

    “It was a bit of a shock at the beginning… You don’t think it will be you,” said Lin, who added that he was grateful for his experience working for MITRE.

    “The program helped me to think through the different kinds of alternatives I have in front of me… I can look for a couple of different kinds of jobs,” he said, adding that he has had several discussions with two universities.

    The members of that first cohort have continued to talk together, and recently four of them met at a café in Dupont Circle.

    “We don’t feel so isolated. We understand the difficulties in finding a job are not personal, but part of the process,” Lin said. That ongoing support has been helpful, he added. “We’re walking together, having our ups and downs together.”

    https://www.cathstan.org/local/workers-find-help-and-hope-in-holy-trinity-parishs-job-loss-support-group

    1. In 2023, Byrd began working for Democracy International in programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development, including one supporting women agricultural workers in Tunisia in North Africa, and another strengthening electoral integrity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

      Another Comrade of Proven Worth who squandered U.S. taxpayer funds all over the globe advancing various globalist agendas. Learn to pick crops, parasite.

      1. Learn to pick crops, parasite.
        I drove thru Southern WV recently and saw signs offering good pay and great bennies for both Surface and underground coal mining, so I would suggest this instead of picking crops. Better pay and bennies. I Stopped in a small town in SWV and saw at least 3 active coal mines with trucks running continuously during the hour or so I was there.

    2. “There was so much anger, bitterness and sorrow in the first session,” Neeley said, adding that “for most of us, losing our jobs was a product of fate… How we respond to it is up to us.”

      No, the loss of your taxpayer-funded “jobs” advancing globalist agendas such as “women’s empowerment” were not a product of fate – it was fiscal reality finally imposing itself after USAID squandered billions of taxpayer funds all over the globe since 1964, with almost nothing to show for it from any sound cost-benefit standpoint. How you respond should be to seek penance for being a parasite and waster of hard-earned taxpayer money.

  10. Will thousands of Canadians continue to leave their properties sitting empty or in a rental pool as a matter of principle?”
    My guess here is that few will because most of them are probably broke and will need the money if they want to vacation in Mexico (don’t do it) or Portugal.

  11. Canadian Local Questions Rules After Indian Family Plays Punjabi Songs At Beach

    It has only been a few weeks since the heated online debate over Civic Sense after a video of an Indian family allegedly throwing garbage in a forested roadside area in Canada went viral. Well, now it looks like the fire has caught some more air after a Canadian citizen called out an Indian family for playing loud music at the beach.

    Taking to Instagram, the man dropped a video claiming that local officials previously stopped him from performing at a beach and penalised him for it, but are letting others “blast whatever kind of music they want.”

    The clip begins with a man complaining about the loud music at the beach and showcases a picnic blanket with bags on it and a speaker playing Punjabi music, with no one around.

    “This is another example of coming down to the beach and playing whatever music you want at whatever volume you want. These people are not even present, and everyone within 150 feet must listen to this. Great job, City of Barrie,” the man remarked sarcastically.

    He went on to target the authorities for fining him for playing guitar on the beach.

    “God forbid, I play guitar and raise funds for the Barrie Food Bank. That is unacceptable. But, fine, come here and blast whatever music you want; you don’t have to listen to it; go play in the water while everyone else does,” he said.

    The video instantly surfaced online, prompting mixed reactions from the viewers. While many agreed with him, others asked him to stop hating everyone. An Instagram user commented, “Welcome to Canada. Where immigrants get it all and Canadians with roots are the problem. Elbows up.” Another one shared, “Have the speaker join them in the water.”

    A comment reads, “I think the dude is on point for not disturbing others’ peace and doing things considering people around you.” Another one penned, “Okay, I will say that no matter what it is, it’s so irritating to have someone blasting music in a public space.”

    In a similar incident, an Indian vlogger lashed out at his fellow travellers for playing loud music in the city. “Wherever these Indians travel, they often cause a scene. There is now an Indian family here, and you may hear music in the background. They’ve arrived at a reserved forest blasting loud party music over Bluetooth for no apparent purpose. Everyone around them is judging them, but they remain absolutely unconcerned. This is disturbing,” he said in the video.

    https://www.news18.com/viral/canadian-local-questions-rules-after-indian-family-plays-punjabi-songs-at-beach-aa-ws-l-9504995.html

    1. Import the 3rd World, become the 3rd World.

      Last time I flew from Miami, a few months ago, every Venezuelan “newcomer” awaiting flights into the U.S. interior was watching telenovas or listening to Spanish-language sporting events blasted from their phone with no regard for fellow passengers.

    2. I think the Tejano folks and the hip-hop folks should go down to the beach and play music too, to see if they can outvolume each other.

  12. Deportees are vlogging their search for new homes and jobs in unfamiliar countries

    Annie Garcia, a 35-year-old law student and mother of five living in the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, had been documenting her own deportation story on YouTube, TikTok, and Patreon for four years and knew what it was like to be separated from her children, who are now dual citizens and live with her in Mexico.

    Four months ago, 34-year-old Harvard alum Francisco Hernández-Corona self-deported there from Dallas, along with his husband, a U.S. citizen. They picked Puerto Vallarta because it seemed safe and LGBTQ-friendly. (“It’s gay mecca,” Hernández-Corona says.) One day, he ran into Garcia at the beach. He recognized her from TikTok. “I said, ‘Hi, I just self-deported. I just got here. I’m still afraid.’ She was like, ‘Why don’t you come hang out with me?’”

    Through Garcia, Hernández-Corona met other deportees in the city. Before long, he was sharing his own story on TikTok. Once, a Trump supporter messaged him directly. “I disagree with some of the things you talk about, but I really love watching you and wish you hadn’t left,” she wrote. “I wish there was something we could do for someone like you. We need people like you.” He thanked her for watching.

    Lately, Hernández-Corona has been depressed. He hasn’t posted or gone on TikTok Live for weeks. Messages pour in from viewers asking where he is and sending him “big hugs.” While in Mexico, he’s missed the wedding of a close friend, the birth of another’s child. He misses his sisters, his family, his old routines. He hates that he had to make the decision to self-deport, even as a quick doomscroll confirms it was a necessary one. “When I first got here, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it feels great, like this really nice vacation,’” he says. “I’m at the beach, there’s so many things to do, the tacos, the food.” As with any vacation, “at some point you’re ready to go back home. But I can’t go home.”

    To cheer him up, his husband suggests he go to the beach. “I already got bored at the beach,” he says. He nudges him to go see the sunset, which is especially beautiful there. “And I’m like, ‘I already saw the sunset.’”

    https://www.thecut.com/article/tiktokers-documenting-life-after-deportation.html

  13. Mass. immigrants who had legal status lose work in home and health care

    For more than a year, Robert spent his days getting seniors dressed, taking their vital signs and helping them eat at Edgewood LifeCare Community in North Andover.

    But one day in May, that changed. A human resources officer said his work permit was no longer valid; he would be laid off.

    “When they said, ‘you won’t be able to work,’ I’m like, my God. I cried. Because I had a good relationship with the clients and they love me so much. They love me so much because I took good care of them,” said Robert in a phone interview. GBH News agreed to use only his first name due to his fears of deportation.

    Robert is one of thousands of health and nursing home workers in Massachusetts who has lost or is at risk of losing their employment due to the Trump administration terminating their legal status.

    The Trump administration ended the CHNV program and moved up the dates the immigrants were told they stay in the U.S. until. After a Supreme Court decision reversed a temporary injunction barring the move, more than half a million immigrants across the country immediately lost their legal status, effectively becoming undocumented. While the injunction is off the books, the deeper legal issue could still eventually be decided in parolees’ favor as arguments play out in lower courts.

    Tribute Home Care CEO John Sneath said the agency was first alerted when a caregiver brought in a “very technical letter” saying he could no longer work, and needed to return to Haiti.

    “We didn’t frankly know what to do because we knew that we had others under that program,” he said. Shortly after, the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system alerted Tribute that anyone with CHNV parole status was no longer allowed to work. Sneath said there was no guidance on how and when to lay off staff, and the company struggled to determine if it was even allowed to pay severance.

    “The folks that managed our caregivers and had to make the termination calls were literally in tears and struggling to go on with their day because this is something so out of our control,” said Regina McNally, Director of People & Culture at Tribute.

    Robert, 24, is originally from Haiti and studied nursing in the Dominican Republic because he had no educational opportunities in Haiti. He came to the U.S. through the CHNV program.

    “Right now… I can’t even take care of myself because I don’t have a job,” he said through tears. “It’s hard for me to pay my bills. It’s hard for me to pay for our place to live,” he said, adding that he’s burning through savings quickly, and isn’t sure what to do next. He says he’s hoping the Trump administration will reverse its policy change so he and colleagues who also lost their jobs could return.

    McKewan, 30, is also originally from Haiti. GBH News agreed to only use his first name over fears he could be detained by federal immigration authorities. McKewan studied medicine in the Dominican Republic and worked as a physician assistant in an emergency room there before coming to the U.S. through the CHNV parole program, with an aunt giving him sponsorship.

    But McKewan lost the nursing assistant job in June due to his work permit being revoked, and the separate job at Amazon soon after. McKewan said he’s upset about the lost opportunity. He’s hoping that eventually, courts will decide to reverse the Trump administration’s decision.

    McKewan said he fears deportation constantly, particularly because of gang violence and lack of opportunity in his field in Haiti. But he wants to be as productive as possible, even with the constant anxiety of being detained. He’s taking coursework in biology and physiology at Middlesex Community College.

    “I’m trying to take some classes to prepare myself for when opportunity will be present to me,” he said.

    https://www.nenc.news/gbh/2025-08-13/mass-immigrants-who-had-legal-status-lose-work-in-home-and-health-care

    1. He’s hoping that eventually, courts will decide to reverse the Trump administration’s decision.

      These sob stories make it sounds like these immigrants were so vital that our country will fall apart without them. But CHNV and CBP-1 parolee were started in early 2023. ALL of these angels have been here less than 3 years. I don’t they’re as vital as they say they are.

      As for the legalities, the only court that can reverse the Admin decision is SCOTUS. I did look this up on Chatty. I don’t have the details, but IIRC, if these people are deported, revesersing the decision does NOT require that they be re-admitted to the US. Once they are gone they are gone. I believe the decision only protects those who are still here.

      And it will probably be a mute point anyway. CHNV, parole, and CBP-1 app are good for 18 months max, with a 6-month extension. Mayorkas, as a parting shot, renewed everybody for the max 18 months last January, and Kristi will not renew. That means as of mid-2026, they ALL lose their status no matter what the courts decide. They might be able to apply for asylum, but they won’t be safe “while their application is being processed.” They can be taken to detention at any time and their application processed there, quickly.

      47 isn’t going to turn everything around in 6 months or even a year. But give it two years for all of the visas and work permits to expire, for all the savings to run out, for the Admin to get countries to take their citizens back, for Congress to officially defund any fed money, and for ICE to finish nabbing this initial wave of gang criminals in the jails and then really start going after employers. Things will happen faster.

  14. Arizona Dreamer explains ‘dark cloud’ of uncertainty as DACA detentions increase

    PHOENIX — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has begun taking a more aggressive stance towards Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipients, declaring DACA protections may not shield so-called “Dreamers” from deportations, even pushing them towards self-deportation.

    Even if the federal government doesn’t see Reyna Montoya as an American, she does. Montoya has lived in Arizona full-time since she was 13, meeting her husband, José – also a DACA recipient – at Arizona State University, and starting a successful nonprofit, Aliento, that has created jobs for American citizens.

    “So definitely like, this is the place that I call home and that I feel that I belong,” Montoya said.

    Living in America has never felt steady. Reyna and her husband have had to renew their DACA statuses every two years, allowing both to keep living and working in the U.S. DACA has also never given recipients a path to citizenship or permanent legal residency.

    Under the Trump Administration, DACA recipients are being told to leave the country. That’s something Montoya has no plans to do.

    “This is home. I will not be self-deporting,” she said. “I grew up here in Arizona. I am maybe a little too stubborn and I say, like, if they wanna kick me out, that’s something different. But I’m gonna do the best that I can to continue to remain home.”

    It doesn’t mean she hasn’t prepared for the possibility. Montoya has all of her immigration documents organized in a bag, easily accessible, and in a place her family could find them if the worst happens.

    Now, she’s left waiting for answers and hoping for the best.

    “[We have] no criminal record, have been doing everything that the government told us to and still we are at risk,” she said. “It’s having this, like, dark cloud on top of your head that, it’s like, it cuts deep that no matter what you do, it’s never good enough and that your livelihood is not within your control.”

    https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/arizona-dreamer-explains-dark-cloud-of-uncertainty-as-daca-detentions-increase

    You and hubby will get used to the outhouse and banana leaves Reyna.

  15. Video captures ICE arrest outside L.A. courthouse

    A man pleaded for help as federal agents carried him by his arms and legs away from Los Angeles’ largest criminal courthouse Wednesday morning, marking another instance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement using a tactic that has been repeatedly condemned by the legal community.

    The man, identified by two sources and court records as Steven Rony Reyes, was charged late last month with possession of drugs with intent to sell. He was in court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing, records show.

    But when he exited the courthouse on Temple Street, he was quickly surrounded by federal law enforcement officers, according to footage obtained by The Times and a witness who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

    Several men wearing surgical masks can be seen detaining Reyes, with some putting the masks on once they realized they were being filmed. A man with a salt-and-pepper beard who appeared to be in charge of the arrest responded, “Yes” when a woman in the crowd asked if he was with ICE, the video showed.

    Reyes can repeatedly be heard yelling in Spanish and screaming “Please, help me!” over and over as officers drag him down Temple Street. They eventually lifted him by his arms and legs and carried him into a truck that was waiting in the street.

    Near the end of the video, it appears someone throws water at a federal law enforcement officer wearing a camouflage University of Alabama hat. It was not clear whether anyone else was arrested.

    A spokesman for the district attorney’s office said they had no advance information about ICE’s action and declined to comment further. In the past, however, L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said he would prefer if federal immigration agents would wait to act until after the completion of state-level prosecutions.

    Reyes is represented by the L.A. County Alternate Public Defender’s Office, according to court records.

    “These alleged ICE agents, without a warrant or any explanation, clearly deprived our client of his liberty without due process,” said Jennifer Cheng, a spokeswoman for the office. “It shocks the conscience to see any human violently abducted by a gang of mostly masked unidentified individuals. Such aggressive ICE abductions threaten the integrity of the court system and discourage participation.”

    The incident marked at least the second time ICE has conducted arrests at an L.A. County courthouse since the Trump administration launched raids targeting undocumented immigrants in Southern California. In late June, agents arrested two women at the Airport Courthouse in West L.A. after lurking in a courtroom where they had appeared on theft charges.

    https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-13/video-ice-arrest-los-angeles-courthouse

    1. Reyes is represented by the L.A. County Alternate Public Defender’s Office. … “These alleged ICE agents, without a warrant or any explanation, clearly deprived our client of his liberty without due process,”

      The short version is that he’s going to detention and then deportation.

      Illegal status is a civil charge, which does not need a warrant. He will get his due process for the illegal status in detention..

  16. FBI and ICE raid Omaha-area hotels, make human trafficking arrests

    OMAHA — Several people are in federal custody after a series of raids at Nebraska hotels on Tuesday. The FBI says its agents arrested five people at four hotels, two residential places, and six businesses described as eyebrow salons in eastern Nebraska. FBI Special Agent in Charge for Omaha Eugene Kowel says the operation involved years of investigating human trafficking rings.

    Agents say victims as young as 12 were forced into unsafe and dangerous working conditions with little to no pay, and forced into sexual or criminal activity in exchange for rent.

    “What happened in this case is absolutely atrocious,” Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge Mark Zito said. “The idea that criminals believe they can exploit children and other vulnerable individuals in our communities, victimize innocent people and then hide from justice is unacceptable.”

    According to a news release, the suspects own, operate and manage several hotels in the Omaha metro area where federal search warrants were executed on Tuesday.

    The five charged and arrested are:

    Kentakumar Chaudhari, a/k/a Ken Chaudhari, age 36, of Elkhorn, NE;

    Rashmi Ajit Samani, a/k/a Falguni Samani, age 42, of Elkhorn, NE;

    Amit Prahladbhai Chaudhari, a/k/a Amit, age 32, of Omaha;

    Amit Babubhai Chaudhari, a/k/a Matt, age 33, of Omaha; and

    Maheshkumar Chaudhari, a/k/a Mahesh, age 38, of Norfolk, NE.

    According to officials, hotel staff allowed and encouraged the trafficking. Authorities said that most of the victims were foreign born.

    “(The investigation) was exhaustive. It was exhaustive because of the victims, the vulnerable victims associated with this and the victims that were about to be brought into it no longer have to deal with this facet,” Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said.

    During the operation, officials say officers rescued 10 minors from an alleged labor trafficking conspiracy that involved putting children under the age of 12 to work at the hotels for long hours with little to no pay. 17 adult victims were also rescued from the same conspiracy.

    ICE officials say some people were arrested who were unconnected to the case because they were in the country illegally. It’s unclear how many were detained. NCN talked to an out-of-state construction worker at the New Victorian Inn. He said ICE agents “took” half of his construction crew.

    Separately, the United States Attorney’s Office has alleged that one or more of the defendants were engaged in a sex trafficking conspiracy that allegedly victimized both minors and adults. Sex trafficking was not only allowed at the hotels according to complaint affidavit allegations but also encouraged, protected from law enforcement detection, and sex trafficking victims at the hotels were subjected not only to the traditional perpetrators of a sex trafficking scheme but also to hotel management and employees victimizing them as well.

    Beyond these allegations, multiple defendants are alleged to have maintained these hotels as premises to conduct drug trafficking freely. Drug traffickers allegedly received protection from law enforcement in the same manner in which human traffickers were also shielded by the hotel owners and managers. Overdoses were a common problem, and at least one hotel had to keep Narcan at the front desk as a result. One source cited described a stairwell of one of the hotels as being littered with drug needles. Drug use was open and notorious in the parking lots according to eyewitnesses and to some online guest reviews.”

    https://metro.newschannelnebraska.com/story/52998550/fbi-and-ice-raid-omahaarea-hotels-make-human-trafficking-arrests

  17. Ice agents arrest another criminal immigrant outside SLO County courthouse

    Amid false rumors of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in San Luis Obispo County, agents detained a second undocumented immigrant with a violent criminal history outside the county courthouse in SLO.

    Following a July 31 hearing over a probation violation, Omar Catalan Estrada was leaving the courthouse when two plain-clothed ICE agents arrested, cuffed and removed him in a black SUV. The agents then transported Estrada to a temporary holding center in Santa Maria.

    Both Estrada and his pregnant girlfriend are undocumented immigrants.

    Born in Mexico, Estrada illegally entered the United States four years ago. Since then, he has been arrested three times and is now required to register as a sex offender.

    On Feb. 12, 2023, while in a bar in SLO, Estrada restrained and grabbed the breast of a woman he wanted to go home with him, leaving bruises. He was later charged with sexual battery and for stealing the woman’s personal property, according to court records.

    On Nov. 12, 2023, officers arrested Estrada for driving under the influence.

    On Feb. 12, 2024, Estrada attempted to rape an unconscious woman.

    Estrada pleaded guilty in all three cases on June 26, 2024 and was sentenced to one year and five months in jail and five years probation. He was released on probation in Jan. 2025.

    A law enforcement officer arrested Estrada on June 13, 2025 for a probation violation, giving a false name to law enforcement. On July 31, the court reinstated his probation and he was released from custody.

    As he left the courthouse, immigration officers arrested Estrada.

    https://calcoastnews.com/2025/08/ice-agents-arrest-another-criminal-immigrant-outside-slo-county-courthouse/

  18. Feds raid 2 food markets in Colorado Springs

    Federal agents seized a phone, bags of cash and computers from a Colorado Springs restaurant on Wednesday in what appears to be a money laundering investigation, according to witnesses and court documents.

    The Drug Enforcement Administration raided El Ranchito, 3950 Airport Road, and El Ranchito No. 2, 3815 Maizeland Road. Both are restaurant-grocery stores east of Academy Boulevard.

    “It seems like they’re trying to accuse us of money laundering or drugs, but there’s absolutely nothing illegal going on here,” said David Heurta, an accountant for the business. “It’s just harassment.”

    The Gazette obtained a sealed search warrant for the second location that authorized law enforcement to obtain any “records, documents, physical items and proceeds from March 1, 2024, to the present found within the subject premises.”

    A witness, who wished to not be named, said he saw 10 to 15 law enforcement officials go into the second location, but he did not see any arrests.

    A Gazette reporter saw at least four DEA agents, some masked, carrying a box with papers in it. The agents went into two unmarked vehicles — a van and a truck.

    “It is an ongoing investigation with HSI (Homeland Security Investigations). ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is not involved,” the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division spokesperson told Gazette news partner KOAA-TV.

    At the El Ranchito along Airport Road, the TV station saw DEA agents carrying evidence boxes out of the building, but it was unclear what was in them.

    In addition to DEA and Homeland Security, the FBI, IRS and local and state officials were seen in Colorado Springs and Denver on Wednesday, according to a statement from the DEA. The DEA declined to comment on the investigations other than to say it was prioritizing people who have “profited from the trafficking of illegal drugs and those who have enabled the laundering of illicit proceeds.”

    At El Ranchito, DEA agents arrived in unmarked cars, blocked both entrances to the strip mall and stationed agents at the front and back entrances of the restaurant, said Keithlan Carter, a bystander who recorded what happened with his cellphone.

    Another bystander, Michael Hodsi, told The Gazette that the people taken into custody “went with pride.”

    “Some of those people, you know, they’ve taken care of me when I’ve been homeless out here on the street,” Hodsi said. “They truly believe in doing the right thing and they were truly good examples to me to do better, to become better.”

    Wednesday’s investigations follow others by federal officials, including Aug. 7 when the DEA executed two search warrants at an apartment complex in eastern Colorado Springs that was allegedly being used to distribute drugs by Mexican cartel members and July 31 when a housing development in Black Forest was raided by ICE operatives.

    https://www.coloradopolitics.com/2025/08/14/feds-raid-2-food-markets-in-colorado-springs/

    1. Airport Road shows up in the CSPD police blotter just about every day, thanks to the gang-bangers that took up residence there thanks to Biden’s open borders & the commies in the Denver Statehouse.

  19. Immigration Enforcement Violates TRO and Targets Two San Fernando Valley Home Depots

    Federal immigration enforcement indiscriminately targeted day laborers, street vendors and customers at multiple Home Depots in the San Fernando Valley this week, detaining over two dozen individuals. The Van Nuys Home Depot was raided twice on Friday, Aug. 8, and the North Hollywood Home Depot on Monday, Aug. 11.

    Maegan Ortiz, the executive director of the Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA), a nonprofit organization that operates the Day Laborers Community Job Center in the parking lot of the Van Nuys Home Depot, called the actions “targeted.”

    “I would love to know directly from Mayor [Karen] Bass … what is she going to do?” said Ortiz. “She can say she cares all she wants, but honestly, behind the scenes, we haven’t seen it,” said Ortiz. “And we’re the biggest day labor organization in the city of Los Angeles.”

    At the Home Depot in North Hollywood, witnesses said that at least 10 people were taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

    Justan Torres – a part of the Adopt a Day Laborer Corner Network in the San Fernando Valley, which keeps watch for immigration raids at several Home Depots – said that he received word of an ICE raid in North Hollywood around 9:45 a.m. When he arrived shortly after at 10 a.m., ICE agents had already left the scene.

    After talking to local day laborers, Torres was told that immigration authorities arrived in six trucks and took between 10 to 20 people – day laborers and even customers. According to information he received, the raid occurred in the parking lot and ICE agents did not enter the Home Depot.

    Pablo Alvarado, the co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), accused Trump of making every Home Depot a trap for immigrants.

    “A trap where ICE agents or bounty hunters, whomever they are, are using to abduct people, who make all of these neighborhoods around North Hollywood beautiful,” said Alvarado.

    In an unprecedented action by federal immigration authorities, the Van Nuys Home Depot was targeted twice in one day.

    The first raid took place at 7:30 a.m. when about seven vehicles filled with masked men wearing HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) and U.S. Border Patrol tactical gear began grabbing day laborers and street vendors without question and without presenting a warrant, according to witnesses at the scene.

    “We think anywhere between 10 to 15 people were taken in the morning in the first raid,” said Ortiz, who rushed to the Day Laborers Community Job Center upon receiving the news.

    She added that agents violently arrested people, breaking two car windows and throwing a street vendor to the ground, who they later released because she told them she had legal papers.

    By the time of the second raid, which occurred at around 11:45 a.m., volunteers and activists were already on the scene.

    According to Ortiz, at least two dozen U.S. Border Patrol agents in full tactical gear, holding weapons and wearing face coverings, arrived in unmarked white vans. “They came straight for the Day Labor Center,” she said. “I really do feel like we were being targeted.”

    The Border Patrol agents tackled and detained one laborer at the far end of the parking lot, but quickly left when they realized their operation was otherwise unsuccessful. “It was clearly a show of force,” said Ortiz.

    “A lot of times, this is the breadwinner of the family who was taken,” said Ortiz. “Like the young man who was here today.”

    Before Ortiz spoke with the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol, she was assisting a young man whose father was detained by Border Patrol agents during a raid earlier in the day. “[It’s] really young adults that now have to bear the weight of supporting a family while their parent is gone,” she said.

    https://sanfernandosun.com/2025/08/13/immigration-enforcement-violates-tro-and-targets-two-san-fernando-valley-home-depots/

    They aren’t coming back Maegan.

    1. (IDEPSCA), Day Laborers Community Job Center
      Adopt a Day Laborer Corner Network
      National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)

      These all sound suspiciously illegal. They are either aiding and abetting, or harboring, or straight-up faciliting employment fraud. And I bet someone from the organiziations is printing a few “papers” too.

      By the time of the second raid, which occurred at around 11:45 a.m., volunteers and activists were already on the scene.

      Did they know in advance and tip any aliens off?

      C-mon 47, start going after these protestors.

    1. The Liberal media is really helping. Their sob stories have scared a million to go home on their own. Those are easy deportations.

      1. Just watch the Univision or Telemundo nightly news. At least half the time is dedicated to sob stories of deportees

    2. Looks like the 47 Admin is concentrating on the criminals and those with existing deportation orders; people who already got their due process but might be slow and expensive to find.

      But after that, 47 will use his favorite weapon: economics. He’s drying up their money streams. First to dry up was USAID and the NGOs. Then it was Fed money such as FEMA, HHS, and Medicaid. Next will be the fed money that goes to states. Then it’s going to be all those CBP/CHNV/TSP work permits, and possibly the U-visa work permits. Then it’s going to be e-verify and employers. These folks have almost no savings and won’t last three months without income. Meanwhile ICE will just expand raids in parking lots and courthouses, and pick up anyone who dares interfere. The self-depotations will ramp up next summer, I think.

      And it won’t even matter if 47 loses the House in 2026. He’s already got laws on the books, and money from his Big Beautiful Law. They can’t do much.

    1. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday that Sean Charles Dunn, 37, who is facing a felony assault charge for the sandwich strike, has been fired from his DOJ role.

      While I am fine with him being fired for this, I kind of think charging a sandwich throw as a felony is a bit extreme.

      Then again, there is a Batman villain called “The Condiment King”

      1. ‘I kind of think charging a sandwich throw as a felony is a bit extreme’

        They threw J6 grandmas in prison who hadn’t done anything.

        1. They are making an example of him. I think a lot of these immigration networks are borderline harboring; they should go after a few of them too.

          47 isn’t playing around this time. There’s a reason they’re saying Daddy’s Home. Googly eyes and the guilt trips won’t work anymore. Time for a trip out to the woodshed.

      2. I kind of think charging a sandwich throw as a felony is a bit extreme.
        What does he need to throw a rock? Ok, How big a rock? Does he need to permanently injure a cop for it to be a felony. Hey, If I punch a big guy he probably won’t go down, does that mean I can go around punching everyone but since Mike Tyson will knock you on your as he gets a felony and I get nothing? That’s the excuse women who hit guys have been using for decades; “he’s a man I couldn’t hurt him.”

      3. I don’t know why, but I would have never ever considered throwing my lunch at a law enforcement officer. Or anything.

  20. The real collapse isn’t coming. It’s already in the data.

    46% of student loan borrowers who missed a payment now have scores under 620. 46% ya’ll!!!!!

    Avg. job search now over 21 weeks …. severance is long gone.

    FHA delinquencies? 11.03% officially, closer to 15% in practice.

    No job. No credit. Housing on the brink.

    The Q3/Q4 workforce projections are what keep me up at night.

    https://x.com/thejobchick/status/1906424816816845267

    1. This reply caught my eye:

      I’m Fancy@GarbageLiberty
      ·
      Mar 30
      I’m in transportation industry, and the collapse started over a year ago. Go talk to a truck dealer or freight company.

      Have semi tractor and trailer prices also soared into the stratosphere the way cars have?

      1. truckdriver (well was) here

        Yeah, truck priices SOARED during the minor respiratory illness. Used trucks that were 35k were going for 80 or 90k. The prices are back down to 35k. Those people who bought at the high poinit are hosed. Little companies are going out of business left and right, Werner (a mega) is actually negative in cash from operations. (meaning they are losing money just running). They aren’t the only one. Expect to see a few big ones fall, the debt loads are severe and it’s a small margin business. Rates are in the toilet. (although getting rid of a lot of these illegals will help a lot)

        There’s also a new set of emissions standards coming out in 2026 model year (IIRC). The last time this happened (2010), it took 4 model years to get trucks that were slightly reliable (and still the emissions trucks are trash. I expect nobody is going to be buying 2026 model year trucks. But current class 8 sales are in the toilet now anyway.

        Also flatbed freight is driven by housing (toilet) and oil field (meh, rig count is down from what I read) so the flatbed guys go try and run dryvan or reefer which drives down those rates. Same with the port guys (which is probably down cuz of tariffs (as designed). I did read that California’s electric truck mandate was overturned, so that’s a good sign.

        Rates are down around $2/mile again. It was $1.25/mile to run the truck, it’s probably more than that now, call it $1.50 (probably more) and that’s 50c to the driver. You’re running for free and wearing the truck out. Can’t survive for long like that.

  21. ‘But this March, I started hearing something I’ve never heard before: one Canadian after another cancelling their plans for a trip south in response to Mr. Trump’s annoying and repeated ’51st state’ rhetoric, his ridicule of Canada’s former prime minister, and his threats to Canada’s economy. Many who were already down south were packing up and leaving early, and others still were putting their properties up for sale, only to discover it’s not exactly a seller’s market right now. It’s not clear yet whether we’re in this for the long haul. Will thousands of Canadians continue to leave their properties sitting empty or in a rental pool as a matter of principle’

    Don’t let the door hit yer a$$ on the way out ungrateful bashtards, we’ll be sure to give you an a$$ pounding on the price.

  22. ‘A cottage in Kawartha Lakes is an example of a property selling at a huge loss. The waterfront cottage at 28 Goodman Rd., Kawartha Lakes-Bexley sold for a whopping $1.9 million in May 2022, according to online real estate records. The place was listed for sale in September 2023 for $1,788,800, but it didn’t sell. It was then listed for $1,850,000 in May 2024 and several more times in 2024. By January 2025, the price had dropped to $1,569,900 and finally down to $1,075,000. It sold for $1,040,000 in August, nearly half the 2022 price’

    Some of these igloo clusters are probably down 70%, that’s how insane it got.

  23. ‘Stewart said the local market was in a winter slump…‘Unfortunately, vendors who purchased properties in the strong seller’s market of three years ago and must sell for relocation purposes are struggling to understand that their pricing expectations cannot be met at the present time.’ He said some sellers wanting to avoid a loss had withdrawn their properties from the market and were instead renting them out. ‘This has caused an overstocked rental market, probably by about 100 properties over normal stock levels’

    For a brief time the most expensive residential real estate on the planet.

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