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❤️ Donate Friday, January 16, 2026

☀️ Sunny and breezy, high of 32. Good Morning Boston, Thanks for letting me drop into your inbox these last two weeks. We've covered a lot of ground: the Full Massachusetts, Dry January and burning stuff. Your regular newsletter captain, Nik, will be back next week to kick off your morning. Until next time, friends. Gift of life: New England saw a record number of life-saving organs transplanted from local donors last year. New England Donor Services said they coordinated 1,692 transplants from 640 deceased donors in the region. That's an 8% increase in transplants from 2024. Cutting edge: The increase is mostly thanks to innovations in medical technology that have made more organs eligible for transplant. "There are devices that have now been brought into this field and into this space that enable the utilization of these organs," New England Donor Services' Alexandra Glazier told WBUR's Dan Guzman. "Whereas in the past, [those organs] might not have been appropriate for transplant." Want to be an organ donor? (Not now, but, you know, when your time comes.) You can register as an organ donor anytime through the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Typically when applying for or renewing your license, you'll be asked about organ donation. You can also register online through RegisterMe.org. Dems to MN: U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the House, announced last night that a contingent of her colleagues are going to Minneapolis. They're planning to hold a hearing today on the fatal shooting of Renee Macklin Good. "Democrats are demanding a full and fair investigation into her death," the Massachusetts congresswoman said in a video. "We are heading to Minneapolis to hold a hearing to get transparency and answers." The FBI is solely leading the investigation into the shooting and shutting out state investigators, going against past practice. Meanwhile, President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to send in troops to suppress protests in Minneapolis. The last time the act was invoked was in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots. Cuts back: Addiction and mental health treatment providers are picking up the pieces after the Trump administration abruptly cut $2 billion worth of grants nationally — then changed course 24 hours later and kept the funding in place. Boston Health Care for the Homeless interim CEO Dr. Denise De Las Nueces said the week has been an emotional rollercoaster. "I am feeling incredibly demoralized," she told WBUR. "It is reassuring, of course — incredibly so — that the funding has been restored. But I'm bracing for a challenging year ahead." Radio silence: Some providers are still waiting for word that the funding is back on. Barnstable County Sheriff Donna Buckley told WBUR's Fausto Menard that as of yesterday afternoon she still hasn't received confirmation that the funding her office gets for addiction treatment is coming. Until she hears back, she's not providing the group counseling or recovery coaching the five-year $2.6 million grant covers. Legacy building: Move over, Red Sox. There's another big opening day on the calendar this spring. The city's new professional soccer team, the Boston Legacy, will kick off its season on March 14 at Gillette Stadium against reigning National Women's Soccer League champions Gotham FC. (I'll see you there?) The Legacy released its full schedule yesterday. Not quite Boston proper: The Legacy will have eight home games at Gillette in Foxborough, and seven at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket. Most of those Rhode Island games are in July, when Gillette will be hosting the men's FIFA World Cup. Home field advantage: By next season, the Legacy should have a permanent home at White Stadium in Boston's Franklin Park. The city and the Legacy are teaming up to rebuild the stadium — though how much it'll end up costing is still up in the air. Wu's office says the total cost will be known by "early 2026." As of last month, they said, the city has dedicated $88 million to the project — $12 for demolition, and with another $76 million in subcontracts already awarded. P.S. — Western Mass. lawmakers want more support to maintain which body of water? (You'll know the answer if you've been reading the newsletter this week.) Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of the stories we covered this week. Ally Jarmanning Senior Reporter The Rundown A decade in the making, clean energy power line for Mass. is up and running A major new transmission line that can bring renewable electricity from Quebec to Massachusetts is finally, after a whole lot of controversy and delay, starting to deliver power. Read more. Trump health care plan doesn't help people facing skyrocketing ACA premiums President Trump announced a plan that addresses drug costs and health savings accounts, but not the health insurance premium spikes that millions of Americans are facing. Read more. Vineyard Wind sues Trump administration for halting construction Vineyard Wind, a large and nearly complete offshore wind farm near Massachusetts, says the Trump administration violated the law when it ordered a construction pause in December. Read more. Massachusetts Senate rejects Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s tax-shift proposal Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s attempt to shift more tax burden onto commercial properties in order to dial back a spike for homeowners finally got its day in the state Senate. Read more. Boston Bruins retire Zdeno Chara's No. 33, honoring the giant defenseman who led 2011 Cup victory “It's a huge honor,” Chara told reporters. "I can’t explain to you how honored I feel. I’m humbled about being selected to be one of the numbers being retired. Being with that history, forever." Read more. Anything Else? Is Plato too woke? A Texas professor, banned from teaching the philosopher under the state's restrictions on "race and gender ideology," spoke to Here & Now.  This winter ushers in an avalanche of new music, from the debut of jazz-funk artist Emma Blanc to the return of The Grownup Noise. WBUR music writer Noah Schaffer shares 14 albums he's looking forward to. “The Chronology of Water” follows a sexual abuse survivor finding her voice as a writer; “The Testament of Ann Lee" is about the founding of an 18th-century religious colony. What these films have in common "is that you’ve never seen anything like them," writes WBUR critic Sean Burns. When Ariel Katz sits down to knit she focuses on the process of making, not the outcome, she writes in this essay for Cognoscenti.  What We're Reading 📚 Mass. bakery says it keeps selling out of ‘F— ICE’ cookies, despite death threats (Boston.com) Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program (The New York Times) The Lost Art of Reading an Actual Book (Esquire) Food For Thought Trying to eat healthy in 2026? Get started with 3 new recipes Eating healthier and paying attention to your diet does not mean you have to skimp on flavor. Read more. Play: WBUR's daily mini crossword. Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: Celebrity bartender Jim Sokolove would have some pretty good stories.  😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up here. 🔎 Explore WBUR's Field Guide stories, events and more. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. Check out all of our newsletter offerings.

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Watch now

MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 1/16/26 [AD-FREE]

Brett Meiselas, Ben Meiselas, Jordy Meiselas, and MeidasTouch Network Jan 16 ∙

The latest episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast is now available ad-free exclusively for Meidas+ Substack paid subscribers. To support ad-free episodes like this, please consider joining as a paid subscriber today!

You can also listen to the episode free on podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere else podcasts are found:

MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 1/16/26 The MeidasTouch Podcast 1:23:19

MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 11/21/25 MeidasTouch Network Episode

In this episode of the MeidasTouch Podcast, Ben, Brett, and Jordy break down a whirlwind of escalating crises as Donald Trump’s war against the American people intensifies, chaos erupts on the streets, and his poll numbers continue to plunge. We cover European nations deploying troops to Greenland to deter a potential U.S. invasion, Venezuela’s brutal crackdowns under Delcy Rodríguez, and Trump’s sudden abandonment of protesters standing up to the Iranian regime. We also expose the bizarre and unhinged — from our discovery of a Trump furry-themed party at Mar-a-Lago to Trump’s allies scrambling to deflect from the Epstein scandal by deflecting with attacks on Bill Clinton. Plus, we unpack the humiliating moment Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado presents her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump, and much more from a rapidly destabilizing world under the Trump regime.

Remember to add the MeidasTouch Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

        

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America's Gestapo

What you can do to stop ICE's mayhem

Robert Reich Jan 16

Friends,

ICE and Border Patrol agents must be reined in. I’ll tell you how in a moment.

Since Renee Good’s death, clashes between ICE and the residents of Minneapolis have escalated. On Wednesday night, an ICE agent shot and wounded someone who, ICE claimed, was fleeing arrest. (Sure, just like Good supposedly was trying to run them over when she turned her car away from them and said, moments before an agent fired three bullets into her chest and head, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.”)

I’ve always loved Minneapolis. Its people have midwestern common sense. They also have a deep sense of fairness and justice.

On Wednesday, Trump threatened that if Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota didn’t stop the protesters, whom he referred to as “insurrectionists,” he would “institute the INSURRECTION ACT … and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.”

Let’s be clear. The problem is not the protesters. It’s the armed thugs who are shooting and murdering them. (Trump seems capable of seeing a similar dynamic playing out in Iran and vows to protect the protesters there, but not in America.)

A friend who knows a lot more than I do about America’s armed forces recently wrote:

“There are four kinds of people who join the armed forces: those from a traditional military family, true patriots who want to serve their country, those with no other prospects who need a job, and psychotics who just want to kill people.

The armed services do a pretty decent job of screening out the fourth group, but that group is now the prime recruitment pool for ICE. Racists, haters, gun nuts, and cage fighting fans who want to shoot anyone the least bit different from them. They are becoming America’s Gestapo. That is no exaggeration. We’re slipping into Nazi Germany.”

He’s exactly right.

ICE is reportedly investing $100 million in what it calls “wartime recruitment” of 10,000 new agents, in addition to the 20,000 already employed.

It has lowered its recruitment standards to meet the deportation targets set by Stephen Miller (Trump’s deputy chief of staff for promoting bigotry and nativism), thereby increasing the numbers of untrained and dangerous agents on the streets.

ICE’s recruitment is aimed at gun and military enthusiasts and people who listen to right-wing radio, have gone to Ultimate Fighting Championship fights or shopped for guns and tactical gear, live near military bases, and attend NASCAR races.

It’s seeking recruits who are willing to perform their “sacred duty” and “defend the homeland” by repelling “foreign invaders.”

If I had my way, ICE would be abolished and Border Patrol agents sent back to the border. But this isn’t going to happen under Trump and his Republican lapdogs in Congress. Too many Democrats are almost as spineless when it comes abolishing ICE.

But Congress can still take action to rein in ICE. At the very least, it must disarm ICE.

The Trump regime is allowing ICE officers to use lethal force in self-defense. But we’ve seen how readily ICE and Border Patrol agents claim self-defense when they’re shooting our compatriots.

How do we disarm ICE?

Congress is now considering the appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, whose funding runs out at the end of January.

Please demand — call your members of Congress and tell them in no uncertain terms — that the DHS spending bill prohibit ICE and Border Patrol agents from carrying guns and that it unambiguously declare that agents do not have absolute immunity under the law if they harm civilians.

Do this as soon as you can.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee (and an old friend), said Tuesday that she’s seeking to put limits on ICE in the DHS spending bill. “I am looking for policy riders in the Homeland Security bill to [be] able to rein in ICE.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday that Democrats will oppose the bill unless Republicans agree to new rules governing ICE officers. “ICE cannot conduct itself as if it’s above the law.”

There is no reason for ICE agents to be armed. If they are shot at — and there’s no record of this ever actually happening — they could readily summon state or local police to protect their safety.

ICE was designed to be mainly an investigative agency, not a militarized arm of the presidency. ICE agents are not adequately trained to use deadly force.

In addition, ICE agents prowling our streets in unmarked cars, wearing masks, clad in body armor and carrying long guns, are a clear provocation to violence — both by them and by otherwise law-abiding residents of our towns and cities who feel they must stop their brutality.

Trump, Vance, and Miller want to provoke violent confrontations so they can justify even more oppression — including invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow Trump to call in the regular military. “I’d be allowed to do that,” Trump said in October, referring to the act, “and the courts wouldn’t get involved, nobody would get involved, and I could send the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, I can send anybody I wanted.”

Please: tell your members of Congress not to vote for the DHS spending bill unless it stipulates that ICE be disarmed.

Also tell them that the bill must restrict ICE and Border Patrol’s ability to conduct dragnet arrest operations and target people based on their race, language or accent. And the bill must clarify that ICE agents are liable under civil and criminal law if they harm civilians.

The Trump regime is telling agents they have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution or civil lawsuits if they kill or maim or otherwise hurt civilians. “That guy is protected by absolute immunity,” JD Vance said of the ICE agent who killed Renee Good. “He was doing his job.”

DHS went so far as to post a clip of Stephen Miller saying, “You have immunity to perform your duties, and no one — no city official, no state official, no illegal alien, no leftist agitator or domestic insurrectionist — can prevent you from fulfilling your legal obligations and duties.”

Rubbish. There’s no such absolute immunity under the law. Regardless of what the FBI concludes, I hope and expect the state of Minnesota will open a criminal investigation of the agent who murdered Renee Good and, on the basis of the evidence uncovered, prosecute him for murder under state law.

It would be useful for Congress to make it crystal clear in the DHS spending bill now under consideration that ICE agents do not enjoy absolute legal immunity.

Please call your representative and senators today and tell them not to vote for the DHS spending bill unless it (1) disarms ICE agents, (2) prevents them from targeting people based on their race, language, or accent, and (3) stipulates that agents who harm civilians are liable under criminal and civil laws.

To reach your representative or senator, call the U.S. Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Tell them the state and city where you live. They will connect you to any member’s office.