UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on June 26 called for independent investigations into dozens of deaths in US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. He urged authorities to take immediate measures to prevent further fatalities as the number of deaths in detention continues to rise.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on June 18 detailed abuses endured by communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul during the occupation of the Twin Cities area by immigration officers. According to HRW, officers terrorized residents, committed widespread human rights violations, and exposed "deeply abusive" tendencies within US immigration enforcement.

The Supreme Court of Canada on May 28 refused to hear an appeal by the six Wolastoqey communities of New Brunswick seeking to assert Aboriginal title over private lands.

The issue before the court was whether First Nations can assert Aboriginal title when private parties hold a fee simple interest in land. The top court's refusal to hear the appeal makes final a lower court's decision, holding that the Wolastoqey Nation cannot seek declarations of Aboriginal title over privately-owned lands but may seek damages against the government for unjustified infringement of Aboriginal title.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation May 29 that places limits on where and how Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents can enforce immigration law in the state. The new legislation also prohibits state and local police from cooperating with ICE to enforce civil laws.

Provincial electoral authorities in Alberta received a petition for independence from Canada on May 4. The verification process for the signatures is currently on hold, pending a decision from the provincial courts on the compatibility of the petition with First Nations treaty rights.

The Trump administration has built a network of third-country transfer agreements with more than 30 governments and used them to remove over 17,400 people, in some cases in defiance of federal court orders and after individuals had won their release through habeas corpus, according to data released May 5 by Human Rights First and Refugees International.

The Court of Appeal for British Columbia unanimously upheld the criminal contempt conviction against Chief Dsta'hyl (Adam Gagnon) on April 28. He was found in breach of a court injunction by protesting against a pipeline project in the territories of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation.

At issue in the appeal was whether Chief Dsta'hyl could make a defense on the ground that he was acting in accordance with a co-existing Indigenous legal order. Chief Justice Leonard Merchand, writing for the three-judge panel, held that the court would recognize the defense if violating a court injunction was a last resort. However, as the defendant could have challenged the injunction, the court found that violating the injunction was not necessary to uphold the Wet'suwet'en law of trespass.

The surreal spectacle of ex-FBI director James Comey surrendering to federal authorities to face charges of threatening Donald Trump over an innocent Instagram post illustrates the line between a mere conservative and an actual fascist. CounterVortex chief ranter Bill Weinberg had a personal run-in with Comey back when he was a federal prosecutor. Later, as FBI chief, Comey was accused of trying to prejudice the electorate against Hillary Clinton—only to be himself targeted by the Trump Justice Department. The absurdity of the latest charges against Comey are obvious to anyone who has worked in the restaurant industry. Trump should indeed be eighty-sixed—through legal and constitutional means, such as impeachment, 25th Amendment invocation, or nullification of his illegitimate election. And, indeed, sent to face war crimes charges at The Hague. In Episode 326 of the CounterVortex podcast, Weinberg says: Yes, #8647! Fuckin' A!