Daily News — February 8, 2026

ICE confiscated a toddler's breathing medication after she nearly died in their custody. RFK Jr. lied under oath about the trip that killed 83 children.

While others stenograph, grift, or chase the next distraction
this is the news that matters and how it’s connected.

An 18-month-old baby nearly died of respiratory failure at a Texas ICE detention center. After 10 days hospitalized on supplemental oxygen, doctors prescribed a nebulizer, albuterol, and nutritional supplements. ICE’s response? Confiscate the medicine. Make the parents stand in an outdoor line in the cold with their shivering, medically fragile daughter — then deny them the breathing medication doctors said she needed to survive.¹

Her name is Amalia. Her parents — Venezuelan asylum seekers who had been complying with all immigration requirements for over a year — were ambushed and detained during a routine check-in on December 11.¹ Healthy before ICE locked her up, the toddler developed a fever on January 1 at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas. Her parents brought her to the facility clinic eight or nine times. Each visit, the same response: basic fever medication and dismissal.¹

By January 18, her blood oxygen plummeted into the 50s — levels that kill adults.¹ Normal is 95-100. She was rushed to Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, where she spent 10 days fighting for her life, diagnosed with pneumonia, COVID-19, RSV, and severe respiratory distress.¹ ICE officers maintained constant armed supervision over the baby and her mother throughout the hospitalization.¹ The father remained at Dilley, separated, unable to communicate with his wife or see his daughter.¹

When she was discharged January 28, doctors gave clear instructions: nebulizer treatments, albuterol for breathing, nutritional supplements to regain the 10% of her body weight she’d lost.² ICE returned her to Dilley — the same facility where she’d nearly died, now experiencing a measles outbreak with two confirmed cases.¹ Then detention staff confiscated every piece of prescribed medical equipment and medication.¹

This is child abuse with federal funding. This is the ‘pro-family’ party. The ones who scream about ‘protecting children’ confiscated a baby’s breathing medication and made her parents watch her suffer. A physician submitted an affidavit warning Amalia faced “high risk for medical decompensation and death“ if returned to detention without her medication.¹ ICE ignored it. Her parents waited hours daily in an outdoor “pill line” in the cold — the toddler shivering in her mother’s arms — only to be turned away.¹ The breathing medication doctors prescribed after life-threatening respiratory failure? Denied.

The family was freed Friday only after lawyers filed an emergency habeas corpus petition.¹ Even then, ICE failed to return the baby’s prescriptions or her birth certificate.¹ Attorney Elora Mukherjee of Columbia Law School: “She was at the brink of dying.“ She continued: “After baby Amalia had been hospitalized for 10 days, ICE thought this baby should be returned to Dilley, where she was denied access to the medicines that the hospital doctors told her she needed. It is so outrageous.“¹

Here’s what makes this story even more devastating: Amalia’s parents did everything right. They entered the U.S. in 2024, applied for asylum through the official CBP One system, were allowed to live in El Paso, and complied with all requirements including alternative-to-detention monitoring.¹ The government rewarded their compliance by ambushing them at a routine check-in and shipping them 500 miles to a prison-like facility run by CoreCivic, the private prison contractor that claims “health and safety is our top priority.”¹

This wasn’t a failure of the system. This was the system working exactly as designed. The cruelty isn’t a bug — it’s the product. Detain compliant asylum-seeking families. Ignore a sick baby’s deteriorating condition. After she nearly dies, confiscate the medication that keeps her alive. Make an example of those who dare to seek refuge legally. The message is clear: there is no right way to come here. There is only punishment.

---

RFK Jr. Lied to the Senate About the Trip That Killed 83 Children

Newly revealed emails obtained by The Guardian and Associated Press prove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. committed perjury during his Senate confirmation hearings.³ When asked about his 2019 trip to Samoa — the one that contributed to a measles outbreak that killed 83 people, mostly children under 5 — Kennedy testified under oath that his purpose “had nothing to do with vaccines.“³ He said it again when pressed: “Nothing to do with vaccines.“³

The emails tell a different story.

May 22, 2019 — UNICEF representative Sheldon Yett wrote: “We now understand that the Prime Minister has invited Robert Kennedy and his team to come to Samoa to investigate the safety of the vaccine.“³

May 24, 2019 — Senior U.S. Embassy official Antone Greubel wrote to Ambassador Scott Brown: “The real reason Kennedy is coming is to raise awareness about vaccinations, more specifically some of the health concerns associated with vaccinating (from his point of view).“³

The emails also reveal that a U.S. Embassy employee, Benjamin Harding, didn’t just attend Kennedy’s visit — he actively arranged it, connecting Kennedy’s anti-vaccine nonprofit Children’s Health Defense with Samoa’s Prime Minister and Health Minister.³ When the Samoan Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested “official bio-notes for Mr Kennedy and Dr Graven to convey to the Hon. Prime Minister and Hon. Minister of Health,” Harding forwarded the request to Dr. Michael Graven, then chief information officer at Children’s Health Defense.³ Greubel told Harding to “cease and desist from any further involvement with this travel.“³

Kennedy visited in June 2019. He met with the Prime Minister, health officials, and anti-vaccine activists.³ In a 2021 blog post, Kennedy claimed the trip was about “introduction of a medical informatics system” — then revealed his actual goal: to “measure health outcomes following the ‘natural experiment’ created by the national respite from vaccines.“³ Children dying wasn’t a tragedy to Kennedy. It was data collection.

The outbreak killed 83 people, mostly children under 5, out of 5,707 confirmed cases.³ Samoan officials blamed Kennedy for bolstering anti-vaccine activists’ credibility.³ During the outbreak, Kennedy wrote a four-page letter to Samoa’s Prime Minister suggesting without evidence that measles infections were due to a defective vaccine.³

**When pressed by the Senate about what was killing Samoan children, Kennedy claimed: “We don’t know what was killing them.”⁴ Dr. Alec Ekeroma, Samoa’s director-general of health, told the Associated Press in February 2025 that Kennedy’s claims were “a total fabrication“ and “a complete lie.“⁴

Now this man runs the Department of Health and Human Services. This is what ‘protecting children’ means to them: appointing a man who lied under oath about a trip that killed 83 kids—mostly under 5—to run American public health. And measles outbreaks are erupting across the United States — over 875 cases in South Carolina alone.³ The U.S. is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status.³ Kennedy’s anti-vaccine agenda killed children in Samoa. Now he’s using the power of the federal government to do the same thing to America.

Sen. Ron Wyden didn’t mince words: “Kennedy’s anti-vaccine agenda is directly responsible for the deaths of innocent children. Lying to Congress about his role in the deadly measles outbreak in Samoa only underscores the danger he now poses to families across America.“³ A Senate Finance Committee spokesman said it’s a crime to make a false statement to Congress and that “casual, false denials to Congress will not be swept under the rug.“³

Here’s the most damning detail: Lyn Redwood, the president of Children’s Health Defense who made the early outreach to Samoa, now works at HHS on vaccine safety.³ The woman who helped arrange Kennedy’s deadly trip to Samoa is now inside the federal agency responsible for protecting American children from disease.

Dr. Paul Offit, co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told NBC News in January 2025 he couldn’t imagine anything “less ethical or more cruel“ than Kennedy’s plan to treat vulnerable children as a “natural experiment.”⁴

UNICEF’s Sheldon Yett, reflecting on the Samoa outbreak, called it “a very grim time in Samoa.“³ That grim time is coming here. The man who lied about it to get confirmed is making sure of it.

---

Meanwhile

Tulsi Gabbard buried intelligence about a Trump contact during war planning with Iran. The NSA intercepted a phone call between two foreign intelligence operatives discussing someone close to Trump — around the time Trump was deliberating a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.⁵ DNI Gabbard hand-delivered a paper copy to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, then ordered the NSA not to publish the report and to route all details through her office only.⁵ When a whistleblower filed a formal complaint in May 2025, Gabbard suppressed it for eight months.⁵ Two weeks after the whistleblower made contact with the inspector general’s office, Gabbard planted Dennis Kirk — a Project 2025 co-author and “highly partisan advocate for prioritizing personal loyalty to President Trump” — in that same office.⁵ The complaint was dismissed 14 days later.⁵ In February, Congress finally received a heavily redacted version citing executive privilege — which the whistleblower’s attorney says signals presidential involvement: “by exercising executive privilege they are flagging that it involves presidential action.“⁵ Sen. Mark Warner called the eight-month delay an effort to “bury the complaint.“⁵ This is what it looks like when the intelligence community has been captured to protect the president instead of the country.

Kansas Republicans passed an anti-transgender bathroom bill using procedural abuse to silence all opposition. The bill bars trans people from using restrooms matching their gender identity in all government buildings, schools, and public universities — and forces the state to revoke and reissue driver’s licenses and birth certificates that reflect trans identities.⁶ They used a “gut and go” maneuver that bypassed all public input: replacing an unrelated bill the Senate had already approved, calling a hearing with less than 24 hours’ notice, then suspending rules for emergency final action to skip the customary waiting period.⁶ Rep. Abi Boatman — a trans woman and elected state representative — sat through nearly six hours of debate on her own humanity. She told her colleagues: “I have sat here for five and a half hours and listened to this entire room debate my humanity and my ability to participate in the most basic functions of society, and from the bottom of my heart, I hope none of you have to ever sit through something like that.“⁶ Only one Republican in either chamber voted against it.⁶ The bill includes a $1,000 bounty provision allowing anyone to report a trans person for using the “wrong” restroom, up to six months in jail for subsequent violations, and $125,000 fines for government entities that fail to properly label facilities.⁶ Two hundred Kansans showed up to testify against the bill even with less than 24 hours’ notice. Republicans ignored them. Rep. Susan Humphries, who orchestrated the maneuver, said: “All the rules and procedures were followed. They might be distasteful to some, but they were followed.“⁶ The bill goes to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who has vetoed similar bills before — but Republicans have the supermajority to override her.⁶ They didn’t need to bypass public input—they had the votes. They did it anyway. The silencing is the message.

---

The Call

Every story in today’s news serves the same project. We track them using the fascism syndrome—ten indicators that a democracy is sliding into fascism—so you don’t lose the thread in the daily chaos:

• Identity-based scapegoating: Asylum seekers and trans people targeted for who they are, not what they’ve done.

• Erosion of due process: Compliant families detained without cause. A toddler denied prescribed medication. Trans people criminalized for using bathrooms.

• Capture of the state and elimination of accountability: DNI buries intelligence and plants Project 2025 loyalist in oversight. HHS Secretary who lied under oath hires his co-conspirator for vaccine safety.

• Weaponized justice: Executive privilege shields presidential involvement. Whistleblowers buried. Perjury rewarded with Cabinet positions.

• Consolidation of economic power: Private prison contractor paid to confiscate dying baby’s medicine.

Confiscate medicine from a dying baby. Lie to Congress about dead children. Bury intelligence during war planning. Criminalize bathroom use. That’s not governance. That’s not security. That’s fascism.

But we’re not here just to tell you the house is on fire.

We built this publication to equip you with the tools to fight back—the frameworks, the messaging, the strategies that actually work. See the links below. But we can only keep doing this with your help. If this matters to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You keep the fight alive.

• Fighting Fascism: How We Push Back and Win — The strategic playbook for reclaiming power

• The Trump Regime Messaging Guide — How to talk to people who’ve been captured by the machine

• The Freedom Illusion — How we got here, and the counter-ideology that gets us out

---

Article Sources:

1. Mike Hixenbaugh, “Toddler hospitalized with respiratory failure was returned to ICE detention and denied medication, lawsuit says“, NBC News, February 7, 2026.

Documents how 18-month-old Amalia nearly died at Dilley after ICE ignored her deteriorating condition, was hospitalized for 10 days with blood oxygen in the 50s, then had her prescribed nebulizer and medication confiscated upon return to detention. Includes physician affidavit warning of “high risk for medical decompensation and death” and confirms the compliant asylum-seeking family was freed only after emergency habeas petition. Establishes systematic child abuse enabled by federal detention policies and private prison contractors.

2. Jack Queen, “Toddler was returned to ICE custody and denied medication after hospitalization, lawsuit says“, Reuters, February 7-8, 2026.

Confirms Amalia’s 104°F fever, 10% body weight loss, and confiscated nutritional supplements. Corroborates broader Dilley conditions affecting hundreds of children and the administration’s immigration detention practices facing widespread criticism.

3. Michelle R Smith and Ali Swenson (Associated Press), “Newly revealed emails undermine RFK Jr testimony about 2019 Samoa trip ahead of measles outbreak“, The Guardian, February 6, 2026.

FOIA emails from UNICEF and U.S. Embassy officials explicitly contradict Kennedy’s sworn Senate testimony that his Samoa trip had “nothing to do with vaccines,” revealing a U.S. Embassy employee actively arranged the visit connecting Kennedy’s anti-vaccine nonprofit with Samoan officials. Documents 83 deaths (mostly children under 5), Sen. Wyden’s statement that Kennedy is “directly responsible for the deaths of innocent children,” and that Lyn Redwood who arranged the Samoa outreach now works at HHS on vaccine safety. Reports 875+ measles cases in South Carolina, supporting the argument Kennedy is replicating his deadly Samoa influence on American soil.

4. Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, “RFK Jr. Lied to Senate About Helping to Cause a Measles Outbreak“, The New Republic, February 6, 2026.

Quotes Kennedy’s Senate testimony claiming “We don’t know what was killing them” and includes Dr. Alec Ekeroma (Samoa’s health director) calling Kennedy’s claims “a total fabrication” and “a complete lie.” Dr. Paul Offit called Kennedy’s plan to use vulnerable children as a “natural experiment” the most unethical and cruel thing imaginable.

5. Cate Brown, “NSA detected foreign intelligence phone call about a person close to Trump, whistleblower says“, The Guardian, February 7, 2026.

Documents NSA intercept of foreign intelligence operatives discussing someone close to Trump during Iran strike deliberations, Gabbard’s hand-delivery to White House and order to suppress the report, and whistleblower complaint suppressed for eight months after Gabbard planted Project 2025 co-author Dennis Kirk in the IG office. Executive privilege invocation signals presidential involvement; Sen. Warner called the delay an effort to “bury the complaint.”

6. Matthew Kelly and Alison Booth, “Kansas lawmakers vote to police bathrooms in public buildings - without comment“, The Kansas City Star, January 28, 2026 (updated January 30, 2026).

Documents the “gut and go” procedural maneuver that bypassed public input (less than 24 hours’ notice, suspended rules for emergency vote) to pass anti-trans bathroom bill with $1,000 bounties, up to 6 months jail, and forced ID revocations. Includes Rep. Abi Boatman’s testimony after sitting through 5.5 hours of debate on her own humanity, with only one Republican voting against in either chamber.