The OBBBA restricts the judiciary by limiting the use of contempt orders to compel compliance from government officials.  The provision prohibits the use of federal funds to enforce contempt orders unless the party bringing the case provides a security or bond. This could leave courts powerless in many cases, especially against the executive branch.

The bill erects a permanent immigration police state. The annual budget for masked ICE agents in unmarked vehicles will swell from the current budget of $3.4 billion to $45 billion by 2029.  I find these numbers staggering. The ICE detention budget is larger than the total budget for USAID and is larger than the cuts to NIH, CDC, and cancer research combined. The Department of Homeland Security and DOGE joined forces to create the federal government’s searchable national citizenship database.

The abductions of working law-abiding immigrants will continue on steroids with the Trump regime’s total disregard for the rule of law. As ICE raids escalate, immigrant families face not only legal threats but urgent needs for food and rent. South Bay for All is locally fundraising to help keep South Bay street vendors safe.

Alligator Alcatraz in the Florida Everglades received its first detainees on July 3rd, two days after the facility flooded. One has to question the durability, health, and safety of a center built in eight days that consists of tents and trailers surrounded by a razor-wire fence. Five Democratic Florida legislators concerned about humanitarian conditions were denied entry to the facility on July 3rd.  According to Governor DeSantis of Florida, the state will deputize National Guard as judge advocates to serve as immigration judges to expedite the removal of migrants from both the facility and the country. It's a one-stop shopping location with an airstrip with an 11,000-foot runway to accommodate deportation flights directly from the detention center. The detention center will cost $450 million annually to operate. Trump has stated FEMA as the source of funding to reimburse Florida.

The bill also prevents women on Medicaid from accessing any Planned Parenthood services, including: contraceptives, sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening, Pap smears, breast cancer screenings, and prenatal care. Losing Medicaid funding would put 35% of Planned Parenthood centers at risk of closure, and over one million women would lose vital healthcare.

The SSA sent out an email celebrating the bill’s passage to SSA recipients. The email is gaslighting Americans, claiming reductions in SSA taxation and failing to mention that it will make Social Security insolvent by 2032.

Another issue that concerns me, which is not part of the OBBBA, is a June 19th DOJ memo that directs Civil Division lawyers and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to “prioritize” denaturalizing naturalized American citizens in vaguely defined circumstances. This kind of policy, in this administration, may be a prelude to depriving people of their rights. Trump has publicly threatened to deport Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic primary winner in the NYC mayor’s race, and Elon Musk for criticizing the fiscal impact of the huge deficit.

What can you do? Get involved!  Continue to show up for protests, write letters to Legislators, letters to the editors, and have conversations with your sphere of influence.  Reach out to relatives and friends in purple and red states and inspire them to action.