Red State Reboot

Y’all know the dad that turns the van around to prove a point, even though it’s going to spite him in the end? That’s Trump’s level of stubbornness with his (concepts of a) plan for tariffs, and in this ep, we cover what the hell a tariff is, why historians and economists are shaking their heads at Trump’s recent moves, and end with some projections on how the aftershocks of all this chaos will affect everyday people. Spoiler: it's tariff-fying (…we had to). Also: Ben gives Trump a new nickname, Abby screams into the void, and we both try our hands at RSR ASMR. Lots of good primary sources in this one - direct from the right-wing depths of social media.

We know the situation has been changing by the day, so FYI, we recorded this on April 8. Which also was the last day Ben had the tip of his finger before he cut it off on his birthday <3 more to come!

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday.

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Text or Call our Hotline: 336-422-6267

IG: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com

Contact: [email protected]

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SOURCES:

Atorre. 2023. “The Surprisingly Vast Logistics Behind a Simple Pencil.” The Blog of Logistics at MGEPS at UPV. May 16. https://logisticsmgepsupv.wordpress.com/2023/05/16/the-surprisingly-vast-logistics-behind-a-simple-pencil/

Boak, Josh. 2025. “Trump Announces Sweeping New Tariffs to Promote US Manufacturing, Risking Inflation and Trade Wars | AP News.” AP News. April 3. https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-liberation-day-2a031b3c16120a5672a6ddd01da09933

Clausing, Kimberly and Maurice Obstfeld. “What Populists Don’t Understand About Tariffs (but Economists Do).” 2025. PIIE. February 13. https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/2024/what-populists-dont-understand-about-tariffs-economists-do

Hernandez, Joe and Maria Aspan. 2025. “Wall Street Leaders Warn of Harsh Economic Consequences From Trump’s Tariffs.” NPR, April 7. https://www.npr.org/2025/04/07/nx-s1-5354797/tariffs-wall-street-warnings

Hodnett, Cindy. 2025. “North Carolina Furniture Manufacturer: Business Is Great; Trump’s Tariffs Are One Reason.” Furniture Today. April 7. https://www.furnituretoday.com/manufacturers/north-carolina-furniture-manufacturer-business-is-great-trumps-tariffs-is-one-reason/

Irwin, Neil. 2025. “Tariffs 101: What They Are and How They Work.” Axios, April 5. https://www.axios.com/2025/04/05/tariffs-explained

Mesa, Jesus. 2025. “As The World Turns on Trump, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum Has Other Plans.” Newsweek, April 7. https://www.newsweek.com/claudia-sheinbaum-mexico-donald-trump-tariffs-2055581

Smith, Ken. 2025. “For NC Farmers, Complexity Makes Tariff Impact Hard to Predict, Troxler Says.” WRAL, April 7. https://www.wral.com/news/state/north-carolina-agriculture-tariffs-impact-troxler-april-2025/

VandeHei, Jim, and Mike Allen. 2025. “Behind the Curtain: You Gotta Believe.” Axios, April 4. https://www.axios.com/2025/04/04/trump-tariffs-confidence-americans-gamble

SCOTUS may have held the first listener grab bag with Marbury v. Madison, but the rumors (and the nastiness) are true: we’re rebooting that shit! This week, Ben and Abby are responding to listener texts and voicemails that we received via the NEW (!!) Red State Reboot Hotline. We cover a range of topics, such as… was J’Biden really the most progressive President? Do boycotts work? Is it possible to stay politically well-informed without getting burnt out? And is it *always* worth it to stick up for what’s right, even when it might make your ceramics class awkward af?? We hope y’all love this one as much as we do!

MAJOR shoutout to all our rebooters/rebooties who sent questions in!! (And BTW, it’s just a voicemail - all you gotta do is leave ur message after the BEEP!)

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday.

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Text or Call our Hotline: 336-422-6267

IG: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com Contact: [email protected]

Former line leaders Ben & Abby are back here again on Red State Reboot! And we have some voicemail inboxes to yap about: U.S. Senator for NC Thom Tillis’... AND OURS!!! Text or call our NEW Red State Reboot hotline at 336-422-6267. But, on a more somber note: in this episode we discuss two things that have disappointed us from our North Carolina legislators in the last couple weeks… 1) the introduction of NC Senate Bill 516 (aka an HB2 “bathroom bill” reboot that uses the guise of ‘protecting women’ to disintegrate the rights of trans people in our state) and 2) Sen. Thom Tillis making a compilation video of threats he’s received in his voicemail. Let’s be clear: we STRONGLY oppose threats towards public officials or political violence of any kind. We do however feel Sen. Tillis has missed a PR opportunity by not *instead* sharing the calls he surely receives from his constituents about their policy concerns, and made these calls into a compilation with how he has addressed and rectified them. I guess to sum it up, we issue the following PSA to public officials: hire more Gen Z folks throughout all your teams to gain more perspective in all areas! Or listen to this podcast!

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday.

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Text or Call our Hotline: 336-422-6267

Listen to our playlist: RED STATE REBOOT RADIO - SEASON 1

IG: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com

Contact: [email protected]

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SOURCES:

Goldman, Maya. 2025. “HHS Redefines Sex as ‘Immutable’ in New Guidance.” Axios, February 20. https://www.axios.com/2025/02/20/hhs-redefines-sex-as-immutable

“Governor Stein Announces 2025-2027 Budget Proposal to Keep North Carolina Strong.” 2025. NC Governor. March 19. https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2025/03/19/governor-stein-announces-2025-2027-budget-proposal-keep-north-carolina-strong

Sherman, Lucille. 2025. “NC Republicans Revive ‘Bathroom Bill’ Themes in New Legislation.” Axios, March 25. https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2025/03/25/north-carolina-republicans-transgender-rights-bathroom-bill

Wolf, Brandon. “Background on Trump Day One Executive Orders Impacting the LGBTQ+….” 2025. HRC. January 22. https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/background-on-trump-day-one-executive-orders-impacting-the-lgbtq-community

LIVE AND UNEDITED! And back again for a midweek rant and quick-take on THE scoop of the week. ICYMI: National Security Advisor Michael Waltz negligently added the Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic to a group Signal message with other Trump Administration officials (Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and others). No one caught the new bonus addition, the group continued to discuss *attack plans* in Yemen, and now the Admin is scrambling for some messaging that sticks. Good news for us: The Atlantic released all the texts this morning! And good news for y’all: we work quick as hell!

Editor’s note: we know we say in the recording the ep wouldn’t be released til the next day… but this Thursday special was so hot we had to deliver it early. <3

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday (and sometimes other days too 🤪).

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IG: @redstaterebootpod

Threads: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com

Contact: [email protected]

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SOURCES:

Breuninger, Kevin. 2025. “The Atlantic Publishes Full Signal Thread With Hegseth, Waltz After Trump Says Texts Not Classified.” CNBC. March 26, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/26/atlantic-publishes-signal-thread-with-trump-vp-vance-hegseth-waltz.html

Goldberg, Jeffrey, and Shane Harris. 2025. “Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal.” The Atlantic, March 26. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/signal-group-chat-attack-plans-hegseth-goldberg/682176/

“Karoline Leavitt on X: ‘the Atlantic Has Conceded: These Were NOT “War Plans.” This Entire Story Was Another Hoax Written by a Trump-hater Who Is Well-known for His Sensationalist Spin.” 2025. X (Formerly Twitter), March 26. https://x.com/PressSec/status/1904875629612331123

I’m Ben! and I’m Abby! And even though we’re DEF the problem, we’re not inserting an Anti-Hero reference here.* But, we are diving into the Sarahs & Hannahs of it all this week on Red State Reboot. To sum it all up: Taylor Swift and other celebs don’t owe us shit and they’re not our friends. Amanda Montell certainly receives the hero-of-the-episode award as we pull from her new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking. As part of this, we expand on the phenomenon Montell describes of fans “eating their own god especially,” and how celebs like Chappell Roan have been more proactive in setting boundaries with those who consume their art. Still, if the Internet and the algorithms are making it hard for you to NOT be thinking about your fav celeb all the time, it’s okay; we listen and we don’t judge. But if your fav celebs are Tr*mp and El*n and you’re eating up THEIR Easter Eggs on Truth and X… well then you’ll have to listen next week so we can set you straight ;)

*Looking into Abby's relationship with Taylor Swift on the celebrity worship continuum during this episode has made her take a good look at some of her habits.

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday.

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IG: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com

Contact: [email protected]

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SOURCES:

Brandeismo. n.d. “An Open Letter to Taylor Swift From Her Fans #SpeakUpNow via Twitter : R/GaylorSwift.” https://www.reddit.com/r/GaylorSwift/comments/13knn0f/an_open_letter_to_taylor_swift_from_her_fans/

Chakraborty, Rajarsi. 2024. “What Does Taylor Swift Meme ‘mother Is Mothering’ Mean? Singer Once Joked About It Being “Totally Different Context Than Mother’s Day” Sportskeeda, May 22. https://www.sportskeeda.com/us/music/what-taylor-swift-meme-mother-mothering-mean-singer-joked-totally-different-context-mother-s-day

Kreps, Daniel. 2024. “Chappell Roan Sets Boundary Between Public and Private Personas in Forceful Statement.” Rolling Stone, August 24. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/chappell-roan-boundary-fans-statement-1235087528/

Montell, Amanda. 2024. The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality. Simon and Schuster.

LIVE AND UNEDITED! The spirit of RSR compelled us to get TF on our microphones today when Trump signed the Executive Order to dismantle the Department of Education. Polishing up this ep was secondary to us getting it to your ears; so you might miss our usual cutie sound effects, but trust that we’ll get you up to speed on what today’s action *actually* means. Take care of yourselves, keep getting fired up and talking about the issues that make you upset, and we’ll talk to y’all again on Monday. - Abby & Ben

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday.

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IG: @redstaterebootpod

Threads: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com

Contact: [email protected]

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SOURCES:

Faguy, Ana. 2025. “What Is the Department of Education - and Can Trump Dismantle It?” BBC. March 20. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79zxzj90nno

Filson, Jackie. 2025. “New Poll Confirms: Trump’s Plan to Abolish Department of Education Is Extremely Unpopular Among Voters.” Student Borrower Protection Center. February 5. https://protectborrowers.org/new-poll-confirms-trumps-plan-to-abolish-department-of-education-is-extremely-unpopular-among-voters/

Quillin, Martha. 2025. “How Could NC Schools Be Impacted by a Shutdown of the US Dept. Of Education? What We Know.” Raleigh News & Observer, March 12. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article301554419.html

An episode so nice we recorded it twice! Our perfectionism may be a hindrance on us but TRUST it’s a blessing for y’all <3. Abigail and Benjamin are back here this week to talk all things Karen/CAREN. We dive into the etymology of the term which leads us through an exploration of Mean Girls (side note: please look up ‘Amanda Seyfried dulcimer’ to enjoy a most glorious side of the Internet today), To Kill A Mockingbird, reclaiming pejorative terms, and how leaning into the clickbait-iness of our news cycle is sometimes the best way to actually achieve attention on a serious matter. Also: is *the* haircut necessary or sufficient to being a Karen?? Do Karens face trouble at the DMV for their bangs like Abby did?? Is our summer project going to be passing the THEIR Act in North Carolina?? Is Karen Pence ‘Mother,’ ‘mother,’ or just plain freak?! So many questions! Just one episode! Enjoy!!!!

BTW: Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Go eat some Lucky Charms!

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday.

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IG: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com

Contact: [email protected]

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SOURCES:

Goldblatt, Henry. 2020. “A Brief History of ‘Karen.’” The New York Times, August 3. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/style/karen-name-meme-history.html

Montell, Amanda. 2018. “A Brief History of the Word ‘Bitch,’ Necessitated by Benedict Cumberbitch.” Medium, March 24. https://medium.com/the-wifey-word/a-brief-history-of-the-word-bitch-necessitated-by-benedict-cumberbitch-676af728bbd0

Nagesh, Ashitha. 2020. “What Exactly Is a ‘Karen’ and Where Did the Meme Come From?” BBC. July 30. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-53588201

Poopatroopa. n.d. “Karen (Slang) : R/Etymology.” https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/q23l68/karen_slang/

Secure the Call. 2024. “Secure the Call - Saving Lives, One Phone at a Time.” October 2. https://securethecall.org/

SLAP BANG. 2019. “Entitled White Women’s Tears | Commercial.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uCvOkro9iM

“The Evolving Pejoration of ‘Karen.’” 2023. Department of Linguistics. April 14. https://www.colorado.edu/linguistics/2023/04/14/evolving-pejoration-karen

WE SAY NO AND HELL NO (to abortion bans and foodborne illness)! Just like the bad airport pulled pork that Ben ate last week, the Comstock Act is making us f*cking sick. This week we’re covering Anthony Comstock in all his 1873-world-we-inhabit muttonchops glory, the freaks trying to revive nineteenth century morality/obscenity laws, and the ethics and dangers of meat from LaGuardia... still, we have nothing but respect for (queen) Kathy Hochul. So if you’re also pro-choice and anti-airport food, we hope you enjoy this week’s “short” episode!! Don’t forget to follow us on Threads (yes we’re serious) to catch the real unfiltered Abby & Ben :)

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday.

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IG: @redstaterebootpod

Threads: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com

Contact: [email protected]

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SOURCES:

Beck, Andrew. 2024. “Anti-Abortion Extremists Want to Use the 150-Year-Old Comstock Act to Ban Abortion Nationwide.” ACLU. May 30. https://www.aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/anti-abortion-extremists-want-to-use-the-150-year-old-comstock-act-to-ban-abortion-nationwide

Cheung, Kylie. 2025. “Trump Effectively Greenlights Anti-Abortion Violence.” Jezebel. January 27. https://www.jezebel.com/trump-effectively-greenlights-anti-abortion-violence

Felix, Mabel, Laurie Sobel, and Alina Salganicoff. 2024. “The Comstock Act: Implications for Abortion Care Nationwide.” KFF. April 15. https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/the-comstock-act-implications-for-abortion-care-nationwide/

GLADD. 2025. “Still No Meeting for Trans Leaders at the New York Times.” GLAAD | GLAAD Rewrites the Script for LGBTQ Acceptance. February 13. https://glaad.org/no-meeting-trans-leaders-new-york-times/

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 2024. “The Threat to Abortion Rights You Haven’t Heard Of,” July 8. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/how-the-comstock-act-threatens-abortion-rights

Luthra, Shefali. 2024. “The 19th Explains: What Is the Comstock Act?” The 19th. June 20. https://19thnews.org/2024/03/what-is-the-comstock-act/

“What Is the Comstock Act?” 2025. Reproductive Freedom for All. February 27. https://reproductivefreedomforall.org/resources/comstock-the-1873-law-that-could-lead-to-a-national-ban-on-abortion/

Red State Reboot reporting on location from… well you’ll just have to listen to find out where we are today! Just like folklore & evermore, this week’s ep is the sister to #5, because immigration and foreign policy go hand-in-hand. That said, what goes in RFK Jr.’s hands is anybody’s guess, but it sure’s not a vaccine! We also cover (in a shockingly positive light) Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but definitely don’t let him off the hook as we call attention to the Administration’s continued priority to try and erase trans people’s existence in our society which - full stop - is NOT acceptable. There’s no LGB without TQIA+, but try telling that to the State Department website… Thank you for listening, and BTW, we’re on Threads now! Follow us!

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday*

*except we missed last week bc life ;-)

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IG: @redstaterebootpod

Threads: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com

Contact: [email protected]

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SOURCES:

American Civil Liberties Union. 2025. “Transgender and Nonbinary People Take Trump to Court Over Passport Restrictions | American Civil Liberties Union,” February. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/transgender-and-nonbinary-people-take-trump-to-court-over-passport-restrictions

Ainsley, Julia, Didi Martinez and Laura Strickler. 2025. “Trump’s inauguration day recap, from festivities to executive orders.” January 20. ⁠https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-issue-10-executive-orders-immigration-taking-office-rcna188385⁠

Assoc. Press. 2025a. “Mexico President Trolls Trump With ‘Mexican America’ Map After His ‘Gulf of America’ Name Change Proposal.” CBS News. January 9. ⁠https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-president-trolls-trump-us-should-be-renamed-mexican-america/⁠

------- 2025b. “Mexico’s President Amused by Trump’s Orderto Rename the Gulf of Mexico | AP News.” 2025. AP News. January 21. ⁠https://apnews.com/article/mexico-us-trump-gulf-name-046f765d52fc9d05d83bbca4b2017539⁠

Contreras, Russell. 2025. “Why Trump won’t be deporting ‘millions’ of criminals.” Axios, January 27. ⁠https://www.axios.com/2025/01/27/undocumented-immigrants-crime-deportations-trump⁠

Elassar, Alaa. 2025. “Navajo Nation leaders raise alarm over reports of Indigenous people being questioned and detained during immigration sweeps.” CNN, January 27. ⁠https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/27/us/navajo-detained-ice-indigenous-immigration-trump/index.html⁠

“El Faro | El Primer Périodico Digital Latinoamericano.” n.d. El Faro. ⁠https://elfaro.net/es?ref=inicio⁠

Geisel, Hunter, and Chelsea Jones. 2025. “Miami man claims wife was detained in one of several Florida ICE raids: ‘They snatched her.’” CBS News. January 27. ⁠https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/south-florida-ice-hsi-migrant-raids-trump/⁠

Knowles, Hannah, and Lori Rozsa. 2025. “DeSantis Picks Florida AttorneyGeneral to Replace Marco Rubio in Senate.” Washington Post, January 16. ⁠https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/16/desantis-ashley-moody-senate-rubio/⁠

“LGB Travel Information.” n.d. ⁠https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/lgb.html⁠

“Marco Rubio – Secretary of State.” 2025. United States Department of State. January 29. ⁠https://www.state.gov/biographies/marco-rubio/⁠

Miroff, Nick, and Maria Sacchetti. 2025. “Trump officials issue quotas to ICE officers to ramp up arrests.” Washington Post, January 27. ⁠https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2

The Gulf of Mexico can’t come to the phone right now… why? ‘cause she’s dead. :( But Ben and Abby sure can, and we get on our mics (!!) in this new, auditorily-enhanced ep. This week, we’re covering some of the many immigration policy changes happening under Trump 2, including Guantanamo Bay, ICE targeting Native Americans, and El Salvador’s 40,000-person prison. We also talk the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs (RIP), and our feelings on the three regions of North Carolina. Of COURSE, we end the episode playing Heroes, Weirdos, and Freaks, so don’t you dare try and ditch class early! LISTEN NOW, and share with a friend!

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New episodes of Red State Reboot drop every Monday.

IG: @redstaterebootpod

Website: www.redstatereboot.com

Contact: [email protected]

—

SOURCES:

Ainsley, Julia, Didi Martinez and Laura Strickler. 2025. “Trump’s inauguration day recap, from festivities to executive orders.” January 20. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-issue-10-executive-orders-immigration-taking-office-rcna188385

Assoc. Press. 2025a. “Mexico President Trolls Trump With ‘Mexican America’ Map After His ‘Gulf of America’ Name Change Proposal.” CBS News. January 9. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-president-trolls-trump-us-should-be-renamed-mexican-america/

------- 2025b. “Mexico’s President Amused by Trump’s Orderto Rename the Gulf of Mexico | AP News.” 2025. AP News. January 21. https://apnews.com/article/mexico-us-trump-gulf-name-046f765d52fc9d05d83bbca4b2017539

Contreras, Russell. 2025. “Why Trump won’t be deporting ‘millions’ of criminals.” Axios, January 27. https://www.axios.com/2025/01/27/undocumented-immigrants-crime-deportations-trump

Elassar, Alaa. 2025. “Navajo Nation leaders raise alarm over reports of Indigenous people being questioned and detained during immigration sweeps.” CNN, January 27. https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/27/us/navajo-detained-ice-indigenous-immigration-trump/index.html

“El Faro | El Primer Périodico Digital Latinoamericano.” n.d. El Faro. https://elfaro.net/es?ref=inicio

Geisel, Hunter, and Chelsea Jones. 2025. “Miami man claims wife was detained in one of several Florida ICE raids: ‘They snatched her.’” CBS News. January 27. https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/south-florida-ice-hsi-migrant-raids-trump/

Knowles, Hannah, and Lori Rozsa. 2025. “DeSantis Picks Florida AttorneyGeneral to Replace Marco Rubio in Senate.” Washington Post, January 16. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/16/desantis-ashley-moody-senate-rubio/

“LGB Travel Information.” n.d. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/lgb.html

“Marco