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At The New Republic, Greg Sargent [ [link removed] ]covered [ [link removed] ] the death of Isidro Perez, a 75-year-old Cuban man, in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on June 26, 2025. Perez’s death sparked outrage over the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation policies. Perez, who had lived in the US since 1966, was arrested in Key Largo earlier that month and detained at the Krome detention center in Miami. Despite his age and poor health — including a prior hospital transfer — he was held under a renewed push by Trump adviser Stephen Miller to maximize deportation numbers.
Perez had two minor drug convictions from the early 1980s, which ICE cited under the Immigration and Nationality Act to justify his detention. Critics argued that targeting an elderly man with decades-old offenses reflected a misuse of law enforcement resources. Perez became the twelfth person to die in ICE custody this fiscal year, raising concerns about deteriorating conditions and medical neglect in detention centers.
The Krome facility, already under scrutiny for previous deaths, had seen detainees protest by spelling “SOS” in its yard. Immigration advocates questioned why someone paroled into the US as a teenager during the Cold War was detained at all. Experts warned that Trump’s proposed budget — allocating billions more for detentions — could lead to more deaths like Perez’s.
The incident underscored broader concerns about the administration’s prioritization of deportation over public safety, with ICE reportedly releasing violent offenders to pursue low-risk migrants. Perez’s death, critics said, symbolized the human cost of a system increasingly driven by political optics rather than justice or necessity.
If You Read One More Thing: Fear of a Muslim Mayor
Democratic state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City’s mayoral primary triggered a wave of elite panic, [ [link removed] ]according [ [link removed] ] to David Sirota at The Lever. His democratic socialist platform — featuring fare-free transit, universal childcare, and higher taxes on the wealthy — defied establishment expectations and drew fierce backlash from billionaires and corporate media.
Corporate leaders and media figures reacted with alarm, with some threatening capital strikes and others scrambling to co-opt Mamdani’s messaging.
Despite facing a $25 million war chest from Andrew Cuomo and skepticism from party elites, Mamdani’s win marked the first time a candidate defeated the city’s influential “master plan.”
The article framed Mamdani’s win as a pivotal moment in the Democratic Party’s internal struggle between progressive populism and establishment centrism.
Schengen in Danger
At Politico, Hanne Cokelaere and Nette Nöstlinger [ [link removed] ]looked [ [link removed] ] at Poland’s announcement that it would reintroduce temporary border checks with Germany and Lithuania starting July 7, 2025, amid rising tensions over irregular migration within the Schengen zone, the European Union’s open border area. Prime Minister Donald Tusk cited concerns that Germany was pushing migrants back into Poland and emphasized the need to secure Poland’s eastern frontier, particularly with Belarus.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz defended Berlin’s own border checks, stressing the importance of preventing abuse of free movement. The decision came after high-level talks between Polish and German officials.
Tusk framed the checks as necessary to protect Poland’s sovereignty and border integrity, especially after significant investment in securing the border with Belarus.
Germany denied accusations of migrant pushbacks and emphasized cooperation with Poland on joint border enforcement
Deep Dive: Is the US Safe from Cognitive Warfare?
The Army’s Strategic Studies Institute [ [link removed] ]published [ [link removed] ] a report entitled “Cognitive Defense: 2024 Homeland Defense Symposium”, capturing the proceedings of a pivotal symposium held in February 2024 at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The event brought together military leaders, homeland security officials, and academic experts to address the growing threat of cognitive warfare and the urgent need to reframe homeland defense strategies.
The symposium, themed “Reestablishing the Sanctuary,” emphasized that the US homeland could no longer be considered a secure rear area in future conflicts. Instead, participants argued that adversaries were already conducting operations — particularly cognitive and informational — within US and allied borders. “Cognitive warfare seeks to shape the attitudes and behaviors of a civilian populace by negatively influencing and disrupting their cognitive processes,” the report said.
Major-General Darcy Molstad of the Canadian Joint Operations Command opened the symposium by contextualizing cognitive warfare within NATO doctrine. He described it as a coordinated effort to influence, protect, or disrupt individual and group cognition to gain strategic advantage. This definition framed subsequent discussions on how adversaries — particularly Russia and China — were integrating cyber, psychological, and informational tools to destabilize democratic societies.
Drs. George Schwartz, Michael Roi, and Mark Landahl contributed key chapters that explored the operational, legal, and societal dimensions of cognitive defense. Schwartz, a former National Guard general and current academic, argued that the US must develop a whole-of-society approach to counter cognitive threats. He emphasized the importance of public education, institutional resilience, and interagency coordination.
Roi, a Canadian defense strategist, examined how adversaries exploited open societies through targeted disinformation campaigns. He noted that events like elections, natural disasters, and pandemics were particularly vulnerable to manipulation, as they generated high emotional engagement and media saturation. Roi warned that adversaries were not only foreign actors but also domestic extremists who leveraged the same tactics to sow division.
Landahl, an emergency manager and former homeland security commander, focused on the legal and policy gaps that hindered effective responses to cognitive threats. He highlighted the lack of clear authorities for civil agencies to counter disinformation and called for legislative reforms to empower local and federal actors. Landahl also stressed the need for ethical frameworks to guide cognitive defense without infringing on civil liberties.
The report underscored that cognitive warfare was not a new phenomenon but had become more dangerous due to the ubiquity of mobile technology and social media. These platforms enabled adversaries to bypass traditional gatekeepers and reach individuals directly, often with emotionally charged or misleading content. The result, according to the authors, was a corrosive loss of trust in institutions, media, and even interpersonal relationships.
One panel drew on Carl von Clausewitz’s concept of the “paradoxical trinity” — passion, chance, and reason — to explain how cognitive warfare exploited the emotional and irrational dimensions of human behavior. The panelists argued that modern adversaries were weaponizing these elements to undermine democratic decision-making and societal cohesion.
The symposium also examined NATO’s evolving approach to cognitive warfare. Participants noted that NATO had begun integrating cognitive defense into its strategic planning and offered models that North American institutions could adapt. These included public resilience campaigns, cross-sector partnerships, and the development of rapid-response teams to counter viral disinformation.
Throughout the report, contributors emphasized that cognitive defense required more than technical solutions. While cybersecurity and AI tools played a role, the heart of the challenge lay in rebuilding societal trust and civic literacy. The authors called for investments in education, media literacy, and community engagement to inoculate the public against manipulation.
“Cognitive defense requires more than technical solutions — it demands rebuilding societal trust and civic literacy,” according to the report.
The Cognitive Defense report portrayed a sobering but actionable vision of homeland security in the 21st century. It warned that the “away game” had come home and that defending the cognitive domain was now as critical as defending physical borders. The symposium’s insights laid the groundwork for a new doctrine of homeland defense — one that recognized the mind as both a battlefield and a line of defense.
Show Us the Receipts
At Inkstick, Tyler Hicks [ [link removed] ]reported [ [link removed] ] on the growing crisis of dehumanization and extremism within the US military under Trump’s second administration. It centers on veterans like Arti Walker-Peddakotla and Kris Goldsmith, who warned that cuts to counter-extremism programs and the militarization of domestic life are fueling radicalization. Experts highlight how defunding research and oversight — such as the Terrorism and Targeted Violence database — undermines efforts to track white supremacist threats. Hicks reported that veterans are organizing against these trends.
William D. Hartung [ [link removed] ]explored [ [link removed] ] the deep historical ties between the Black freedom struggle and the anti-nuclear movement in the US in an essay for Inkstick. Hartung drew on Vincent Intondi’s “essential book, African-Americans Against the Bomb.” The essay highlighted figures like Coretta Scott King and Bayard Rustin, whose civil rights activism extended into peace and disarmament efforts. work, it argues that nuclear abolition is inseparable from broader fights against white supremacy, capitalism, and militarism. Contemporary movements like the Poor People’s Campaign continue this legacy, linking systemic injustice to nuclear policy, Hartung argued.
At The World, Gerry Hadden reported [ [link removed] ] on the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding to the American Space program at Barcelona’s Sant Andreu public library after it refused to eliminate its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The program, which promotes tech education and US cultural exchange — especially for girls — was defunded following a White House directive targeting DEI globally. Despite an eight-year partnership, the US embassy severed ties in March 2025. Barcelona’s city government stepped in to cover the $20,000 shortfall, but concerns remain over the future of US-related workshops.
Pitch Us Longform Pieces
Inkstick is accepting pitches for longform reporting. Pitches should put a human focus on security-related issues, including conflict, the defense industry, policing, and migration, among other topics. Rates will be negotiated based on the nature of the reporting and the tentative length of the piece. Send your pitches to pstrickland (at) inkstickmedia (dot) com and agaestel (at) inkstickmedia (dot) com.
Critical State is written by Inkstick Media in collaboration with The World.
The World is a weekday public radio show and podcast on global issues, news, and insights from PRX and GBH.
With an online magazine and podcast featuring a diversity of expert voices, Inkstick Media is “foreign policy for the rest of us.”
Critical State is made possible in part by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

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