Standing Up For Our Neighbors, DHS Overpays Russian $100m for ICE Warehouse, Welcoming The Year Of The Fire Horse

We need to keep making our calls everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morning all. Congress is out this week, DHS is still without funding, and the fight to rein in ICE, end mass deportation, and prevent the detention camps from being built continues……..

A few days ago video of 4th and 5th grade kids in New Jersey fleeing ICE went viral……here’s a CBS News report on the incident:

The clip shows a protest that grew from the incident. Listen to this man, at that protest, talking about the importance of standing up for his neighbors, something we discussed on Sunday.

It’s the best thing you will see on the Internet today:

Last night House Leader Hakeem Jeffries went on the Newshour and “stood up for his neighbors” by demanding ICE focus on deporting criminals and leave the rest of us alone:

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, as Democrats, we continue to be ready, willing, and able to sit down with our Republican colleagues any time, any place, in order to make sure that we can get ICE under control. The American people deserve to have their taxpayer dollars used to make their life more affordable and not to brutalize or kill them, as was tragically the case with Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. And we simply believe, as a value proposition, that immigration enforcement in this country, it should be fair, it should be just and it should be humane. Donald Trump promised to target violent felons who are here illegally. Instead, ICE has been targeting law-abiding immigrant families and brutalizing American communities. That's unacceptable, and that needs to change.

Yesterday, after weeks of protest, a real estate company in Hutchins, Texas, a Dallas suburb, announced it was not going to sell its warehouse to ICE after all. This planned detention camp would have been one of the largest in the country:

BREAKING: Company will not sell Hutchins warehouse to ICE.

After several weeks of concern over whether ICE was planning to keep upwards of 9,500 detainees in a warehouse in Hutchins, the owner of that building, Majestic Realty, says today that it is not selling to the agency.

In a statement sent by a spokesperson, Marty Schechter, Majestic says: “While we were contacted about the potential sale of our building in Hutchins, Texas, Majestic Realty Co. has not and will not enter into any agreement for the purchase or lease of any building to the Department of Homeland Security for use as a detention facility. We’re grateful for the long-term relationship we have with Mayor Mario Vasquez and the City of Hutchins and look forward to continuing our work to find a buyer or lease tenant that will help drive economic growth.”

The Department of Homeland Security has been purchasing warehouses nationwide for use as detention camps, with the proposed facility in Hutchins among the largest. Several protests by local advocates, elected officials, and Hutchins residents have made it clear that the community opposes the idea.

Much like Hutchins, residents in cities across the country have successfully disrupted deals and persuaded property owners from selling to ICE. You can read more about why these deals often come as a surprise to local officials below (here).

Late last week Governor Josh Shapiro sent a letter to DHS informing them that the state of Pennsylvania would do everything it could to block two detention camps planned for his state:

Gov. Josh Shapiro implored Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week to reconsider converting warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill counties into mass immigration detention centers, citing “real harms” to the communities.

In a Thursday letter to Noem obtained by The Inquirer, Shapiro questioned the legality of the facilities, which the governor said could hold up to 9,000 people in total.

Hinting at a possible lawsuit, Shapiro said if DHS goes through with converting the sites, his administration will “aggressively pursue every option to prevent these facilities from opening and needlessly harming the good people of Pennsylvania.”

As part of President Donald Trump’s expanding deportation agenda, the federal government has started purchasing warehouses across the country to flip into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. ICE is planning to spend $38.3 billion turning warehouses into detention centers, The Washington Post reported.

So far, two have been bought in Pennsylvania — a nearly 520,000-square-foot facility in Upper Bern Township and another in Tremont Township, where the purchase has drawn the ire of concerned residents.

Shapiro slammed the department’s escalating immigration enforcement strategy, saying that ICE and other federal immigration agents “resort to unnecessary and excessive force, leading to innocent people being injured or tragically killed.”

Hopium members from Pennsylvania should consider calling the Governor’s office today and thanking him for his leadership. We are closer today to the blocking of these dangerous camps becoming a true national movement…..

One angle our leaders must now use to block the building of these detention camps is to showcase the clear corruption already taking place. In recent days we’ve learned that DHS paid a wealthy Russian, Andrey Sharkov, $130,000,000 for a warehouse in Social Circle, Georgia, a town of 5,000 people. This wealthy Russian paid $29,000,000 for the property in 2023, and last year it’s assessed value was still $29,000,000. So ICE payed 4 TIMES the assessed value for the property. We think Homan, Don Jr, are getting kick backs from this in your face corruption? How many more deals are Noem/DHS/Homan doing like this one? Was Sharkov the guy who put $50,000 in cash in a Cava bag for Homan?

Here’s more on this corrupt deal in Social Circle from a local newspaper:

As the new owners of the property, the federal government will not be subject to many of the conditions that private owners are, such as property taxes. At the site’s inception in 2022, Social Circle officials estimated it could bring close to $1 million in annual property tax revenue.

They are also not subject to any local or state zoning laws, meaning that the planned detention center facility does not have to adhere to laws set by the Social Circle City Council or Planning Commission.

The sale comes nearly three years after PNK purchased the property for $29,392,500 from Walton Leaf LLC in 2023, according to tax records. In 2024, the property was valued by the Walton County Tax Assessor’s Office at $3,294,000. However, that number jumped to $29,786,800 in 2025 as the warehouse neared completion.

This means that the federal government paid PNK nearly $100 million more than the 2025 assessment.

Talks of the PNK warehouse becoming an ICE detention center first began in December 2025 when The Washington Post reported that the federal government was eyeing the site in Social Circle. On Feb. 4, the City of Social Circle posted on its Facebook page that the federal government was in the process of purchasing the property.

In the post — which included information given to the city by the Office of 10th Congressional District Representative Mike Collins — the city said that the Department of Homeland Security had already begun evaluating the site.

However, city officials have remained insistent that they have not been directly contacted by the federal government despite numerous attempts to contact them.

On Feb. 8, the city said it was informed by “multiple sources” that the sale had been completed.

The sale has drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff has released multiple statements, including one with Social Circle Mayor David Keener, expressing his opposition to the facility.

Finally, here’s an unknown group of artists paying tribute to Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who gave up their lives standing up for their neighbors (sound on, and prepare yourself my friends. This is a very powerful video):

Keep making your calls everyone! Demand your leaders rein in ICE, end the violence and the lawlessness, stop mass deportations, and block the expansion of the detention camps!!!!!!

Welcoming The Year Of The Fire Horse - Here is how Google AI explained the significance of the Fire Horse:

The year of the Fire Horse is 2026, beginning on February 17, 2026. This rare, auspicious, and highly energetic year occurs once every 60 years, with the last one being in 1966. It is associated with passion, independence, bold, and intense transformation.

Dates: The Year of the Fire Horse starts Feb. 17, 2026.

Significance: Known for intensity, speed, and massive changes.

Elements: Combines the Horse (independence, freedom) with Fire (energy, innovation).

Previous Years: 1966.

The Fire Horse year is believed to be a time of, or for, intense, passionate and dynamic energy, often bringing significant, transformative shifts.

Sounds like our kind of year, doesn’t it folks?

I love the imagery of the Fire Horse I found this morning:

I for one am welcoming the year of the Fire Horse!!!!!!!!!

Now, Let’s Get To Work People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $165,100 raised, $250,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Donate to all four endorsed House challengers with one click | Learn More | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10). Now including funds already raised with our friends at FridayAction for a joint event we are doing in late March.

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $370,300 raised, $500,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas. Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties.

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $34,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and learn more. Amazing start everyone!

Winning Ohio - $59,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party. Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue! | Watch my conversation with David Pepper, who does a great overview of the opportunities we have in Ohio this year. Note a generous donor has sent $21,000 worth of Hopium-infused contributions directly to the candidates which are not included in our on-line goal tracker.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $77,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper and a new, terrific one with NC Dem Party Chair Anderson Clayton

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $128,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Winning The Big Arguments With Trump, Defend Our Democracy

1 - Call Your Senators and Member Of The House And Demand They Act Upon Our Five-Part Agenda - We need to be loud people, very, very loud and make the case for our now five part agenda:

1. Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia; demand Congress rebuke/issue a no confidence vote on his new threats to seize Greenland and his new, dangerous European tariffs;

2. Congress must stand forcefully for rule of law in the Caribbean and the Pacific - these illegal strikes must end; no war can be waged without Congressional approval; there must accountability for those who have broken the law, and the US must withdraw from Venezuela and cease other threats to violate the UN Charter and the sovereignty of other nations

3. Roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses and farmers, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world. To put America on a sounder fiscal course due to the enormous deficits brought by Trump’s 2025 tax cuts we should reverse the cuts to the wealthy and corporations

4. Defend our democracy, rule of law, and our liberties adopting the Dem leadership’s ten point plan to rein in ICE; ending mass deportation and the expansion of the detention camps; warring against his outrageous targeting of his domestic political opponents and vigorously defending the 1st Amendment; ending the use of the military on our streets and the dangerous occupation of our cities; stopping the unprecedented regime corruption; forcing the Administration to finally comply with Congress and end the rancid cover up of the Epstein crimes; and ensure we have free and fair elections this November.

5. Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse the cuts to the ACA, Medicaid and our clean energy investments; take part in Stand Up For Science’s National Day Of Action on March 7th.

Keep working hard everyone. The momentum is with us, and we need to keep fighting as hard as we can - Simon