Republicans...Donald F*cked You Hard on Immigration
Turns out, if you kiss Trump’s ass, you can be a convicted assaulter of cops..and get pardoned. If your only crime is coming to America to better your life...you may very well get a bullet in the head
Republicans...Donald F*cked You Hard on Immigration
Turns out, if you kiss Trump’s ass, you can be a convicted assaulter of cops...and get pardoned. If your only crime is coming to America to better your life...you may very well get a bullet in the head.
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #970: Wednesday, July 15th, 2026
Hey…Republican voters…let’s do something uncomfortable.
Let’s audit the purchase.
Not the pitch. Not the rally. Not the hat.
The purchase.
Because you bought something in November 2024…and I want to walk you through what actually arrived in the box.
What You Thought You Were Buying
Criminals out. Cartels crushed. Border closed.
And the hardworking guy who’s been here twenty years…roofing houses in the Texas heat and raising kids who say the Pledge every morning? He wasn’t the target. Nobody said he was the target. They said criminals.
Oh…and one more thing. You were buying Back the Blue.
That was the whole brand. The thin blue line on the truck. The flag on the porch. The undying reverence for the men who run toward it.
Hold onto that one. It matters in a minute.
What Actually Arrived
Item one.
On his first day back in office..Trump pardoned roughly 1,500 to 1,600 January 6 defendants. Blanket. No sorting. More than 170 of them had pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers.
Enrique Tarrio…convicted of seditious conspiracy, sentenced to 22 years…walked.
The men who beat D.C. officer Michael Fanone until he had a heart attack? Walked. The man who crushed officer Daniel Hodges in a doorframe until he screamed for help? Walked.
Now…you were told this wouldn’t happen.
JD Vance said on Fox that if you committed violence that day…obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.
Mike Johnson said peaceful protesters should be pardoned and violent criminals shouldn’t.
Pam Bondi said in her confirmation hearing that she condemns violence against law enforcement.
Then…it happened anyway.
And…the Fraternal Order of Police…which endorsed Trump three straight times… joined the International Association of Chiefs of Police to condemn it.
Their words: pardoning people convicted of assaulting officers sends a dangerous message.
Lindsey Graham called it a mistake.
Thom Tillis said on the Senate floor that it’s a damn shame they’re out.
Nobody made them say that. They said it…because it was true.
Item two.
The pardoned went back out into the world. Lawfare and CREW have been counting.
At least 33 rearrested…charged…or sentenced for other crimes.
At least 14 charged with sex crimes or crimes involving child sexual abuse material. At least six facing domestic violence charges. One convicted this February of child molestation and sentenced to life. Another convicted of reckless homicide.
The New York Times editorial board called it a crime spree. They weren’t being cute. They were describing a spreadsheet.
Item three…and this is the one you should read twice.
There’s a $1.776 billion pot of money called the Anti-Weaponization Fund. When Todd Blanche was asked before a Senate committee whether pardoned January 6 defendants convicted of assaulting cops could apply to it for compensation...
...he would not rule it out.
Let me put that in plain English.
Beat a police officer for the right guy…and there is a live conversation in Washington about whether you should get a check.
Now Meet Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
Fifty-two years old. In this country 35 years. A homebuilder. Father of three American citizens. His family says he was close… damn close…to getting legal status.
July 7. About ten minutes to seven in the morning. He’d left home at 5:50…picked up his crew…and was driving them to a construction site in Houston’s East End. Two unmarked SUVs started following him.
His van and his tools had been stolen before. His son says he was careful about being followed.
An ICE officer shot him in the abdomen. He died at Ben Taub Hospital.
The Harris County medical examiner ruled it a homicide.
Here’s the part that should turn your stomach regardless of your registration:
He was not the target. DHS has acknowledged the officers were looking for someone else.
ICE said he tried to ram an officer with the van. The men riding in that van with him say that isn’t true. None of the officers involved was wearing a body camera.
And his brother Victor…a witness…was detained and is now facing removal proceedings to Mexico.
Read that last line again. A witness to a federal homicide…is being deported.
Do the Math. It Only Takes a Second.
Assault a cop with a flagpole on behalf of Donald Trump:
Pardon…plus a live discussion about compensating you for the inconvenience.
Drive a construction crew to work at 6:50 in the morning:
A bullet in the abdomen, and an agency statement your own passengers say is false.
That’s not immigration policy.
That’s a loyalty test…with a body count.
About That Thin Blue Line
I want to say this to the people who put the sticker on the truck.
Aquilino Gonell got his phone buzzing on pardon day…the Justice Department notifying him…one by one…that the men who beat him were walking out.
Harry Dunn called it a continuation of the stain.
Daniel Hodges…who was crushed in a doorway…posted two words: Thanks America.
You didn’t do that to them. Donald did.
But…you’re the one who has to decide what the sticker means now.
Your Own People Are Already Noticing
Fox’s own poll in January: 59% of voters say ICE is too aggressive. Up ten points in six months.
Marist: the share of Republicans saying ICE has gone too far climbed from 20% to 27%.
Economist/YouGov in March: roughly one in four Republicans now support abolishing the agency outright.
Those aren’t Democrats. Those are your neighbors…quietly moving their chair away from the table.
Here’s the Part Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud
This was never about criminals.
If it were about criminals…the 170 men who pleaded guilty to beating police officers would still be in prison…and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo would be finishing a house right now.
The sorting mechanism isn’t criminality. It’s usefulness.
Beat a cop for him…you’re a patriot…and the government might reimburse you.
Show up for work at dawn and build his supporters’ houses…you’re disposable…and the agency will have a statement out before your family is notified.
That’s the trade. That’s what was in the box.
And…if you think loyalty buys you permanent protection…ask yourself what happens on the day you stop being useful.
Because the pardons didn’t prove he’ll protect his people.
The pardons proved that “his people” is a category he alone defines…and revises… whenever he likes.
You weren’t sold a policy.
You were sold a place in line.
And his lines move.
#HoldFast
Back soon.
-Jack
Jack Hopkins
P.S. Somebody who beat a police officer with a metal pole on January 6th is walking around free today…and there's a serious conversation in Washington about cutting him a check for his trouble. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was driving his crew to work. Only one of those two men is dead. Tell me again which one was the criminal.
Here’s a sources section, Substack-ready. All links are ones I actually pulled — I’ve grouped them by the claim they back.
Sources
The January 6 pardons…scope and scale
“Trump gave pardons to hundreds of violent Jan. 6 rioters. Here’s what they did” — NPR, Jan. 21, 2025
“What Just Happened: Trump’s January 6 Pardons and Assaults on Law Enforcement Officers By The Numbers” — Just Security, Jan. 22, 2025
“They assaulted cops and tried to overturn an election. What to know about Trump’s mass pardons” — CNN via 6ABC, Jan. 21, 2025
Pardon of January 6 United States Capitol attack defendants — Wikipedia (running record, heavily sourced)
What Vance, Johnson, and Bondi said beforehand — and what the police unions said after
NPR, Jan. 21, 2025 — Vance and Bondi statements
Just Security, Jan. 22, 2025 — Speaker Johnson on Meet the Press
“’Incredibly dangerous’: Capitol officer badly beaten by Jan. 6 rioters says Trump pardons absolved them” — MS NOW, June 11, 2026 (Graham, Tillis, Fanone)
Recidivism among pardon recipients
“The Jan. 6 Pardons: How Many Clemency Recipients Have Faced Other Charges?” — Lawfare, June 4, 2026
“Criminal records of Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump include rape, domestic violence” — NPR, Jan. 30, 2025
The $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund
Lawfare, June 4, 2026 — Blanche’s testimony before Senate Appropriations, under questioning from Sen. Van Hollen
The killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
“What to know about the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE” — AP via PBS NewsHour
“Mexican man fatally shot by ICE was not target of immigration operation, source says” — CNN, July 9, 2026
“After his fatal shooting in Houston, ICE faces a familiar test of credibility” — CNN, July 13, 2026
“Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s passengers dispute ICE’s account of his fatal shooting” — Houston Public Media, July 10, 2026
“Key witness in fatal ICE shooting faces possible deportation to Mexico” — Houston Chronicle via Yahoo
Killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo — Wikipedia (timeline, medical examiner ruling)
ABC13 Houston live updates — body camera policy change; Trump reversing the traffic-stop pause
The polling
“Fox News Poll: 59% of voters say ICE too aggressive, up 10 points since July” — Fox News, Jan. 28, 2026
“The Actions of ICE, February 2026” — NPR/PBS/Marist
“Can ICE cost Republicans the Senate?” — Brookings, Feb. 4, 2026
Marquette Law School national survey — Feb. 4, 2026
By the way...it will be less than 30 days before ICE kills someone else. Probably soon than that...but no longer than 30 days from now. That's my bet. There are no consequences.
#Substack #TrumpIsPoison
On July 14, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ordered agents to suspend most vehicle stops to review safety and training after two fatal shootings during traffic stops in Maine and Texas. The following day, on July 15, President Donald Trump reversed the decision. The question is why? I have an opinion - what else is new!
The two most recent shootings happened in Texas and Maine. Both States that have razor thin Senate races that could go to Democrats, if you can believe most of the polls. So, I ask myself. beside the people who were shot and killed and their families, who else will be impacted? How about every hispanic and minority person in these two states. These shootings are a clear strategy to keep the minority citizen voters in these two competitive states from going to the polls in the mid terms for fear of being shot and killed.
The next states on the list? Alaska, Georgia, North Carolina, and Iowa. Even if nothing happens in these states, the fear has already been sewn. All voters, especially minority voters need to stay strong and informed. Fear never solves anything, only a clear mind and firm resolve can do that.