Half the Answer #12: Why Did the Secret Police Visit Clay Jackson?
Caitlin and Trent talk to Clay Jackson, a litigator from Dallas, Texas. Clay describes the disconcerting experience of having secret police show up to his door the same day he gave boilerplate know-your-rights information to some neighbors who were concerned about being targeted by ICE. They discuss the rapidly escalating war on immigrants being waged by the Trump administration, the ways ICE and CBP try to cross boundaries of legality and privacy, and what’s next for Clay after his workplace failed to stand behind him and commit to the idea that due process is for everybody.
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Resources:
Clay’s story in The Watch: https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-courage-to-be-decent
Clay’s update in Popular Info: https://popular.info/p/fortune-500-company-abruptly-fires
Clay’s Substack: https://clayjak.substack.com
ICE press release: https://ice.gov/100days
Uncles in Crocs: https://newrepublic.com/article/193820/kristi-noem-ice-libs-tik-tok
Rumeysa Ozturk: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/g-s1-64726/federal-court-rules-student-rumeysa-ozturk-detention-vermont-challenge
Mohsen Madhawi: https://abcnews.go.com/US/mohsen-mahdawi-columbia-student-freed-ice-feared-citizenship/story?id=121485222
Rebecca Burke: https://theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/05/i-was-a-british-tourist-trying-to-leave-america-then-i-was-detained-shackled-and-sent-to-an-immigration-detention-centre
Ksenia Petrova: https://pbs.org/newshour/show/russian-born-harvard-researcher-describes-detention-at-ice-facility-and-deportation-fears
Definition of ‘criminal’: https://axios.com/2025/01/28/trump-immigrants-criminals-white-house-briefing
Trump’s first-term violations: https://cnn.com/2021/09/23/politics/cbp-targeted-us-citizens-caravan-concerns
Americans disapprove of Trump’s actions: https://washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/04/25/trump-immigration-approval-ratings-drop-poll/
Trump can bring Abrego Garcia back: https://newrepublic.com/article/194815/trump-accidentally-sabotaged-case-abrego-garcia
Trump “doesn’t know” if he has to follow Constitution: https://npr.org/2025/05/05/nx-s1-5386643/when-asked-if-he-needs-to-uphold-constitution-president-trump-says-i-dont-know
March 22 Executive Order: https://nytimes.com/2025/03/22/us/politics/trump-memo-lawyers.html
Rubio calls students “lunatics”: https://reuters.com/world/us/rubio-says-us-may-have-revoked-more-than-300-visas-2025-03-27/
Justice Brandeis quote: https://charterforcompassion.org/arts/arts/online-exhibits/americans-who-tell-the-truth/appointed-and-elected-public-figures/justice-louis-brandeis.html
Thumbnail images:
Border wall by Wonderline https://flickr.com/photos/71401718@N00/3370155351
Scales of Justice by DonkeyHotey https://flickr.com/photos/47422005@N04/7468312536
