KPFA - CounterSpin CounterSpin – January 4, 2026
Jan 4, 2026
Farah Hassan, a writer, policy analyst, and adjunct professor, dives deep into pressing issues like homelessness and housing unaffordability. She sheds light on the Grants Pass v. Johnson Supreme Court ruling, revealing how it paves the way for criminalizing homelessness amid shelter shortages. Hassan discusses the alarming link between rising housing costs and the growing crisis of homelessness, emphasizing that poverty remains a key driver. Her insights offer a critical look at the systemic failures contributing to these pressing social issues.
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Policy As Terror Tactic
- The Trump administration aimed to terrify immigrant communities through roundups and forced attrition.
- Silky Shaw warns existing local protections against ICE collaboration are being undone to enable harsher deportations.
Bipartisan Panic Fuels Detention
- Democrats capitulated to moral panic by passing the Lincoln-Riley Act that expands mandatory detention.
- Silky Shaw links the bill to scapegoating immigrants and repeating mass-incarceration dynamics from past decades.
Euphemisms Mask Ethnic Cleansing
- Trump's proposal to take over Gaza and expel Palestinians was widely denounced as ethnic cleansing.
- Gregory Shupak found major U.S. papers largely avoided labeling the proposal with that term, softening public perception of its gravity.
