This week's guest is TAJ SMITH, the president of the Washington County Maryland NAACP Chapter. https://www.instagram.com/washconaacp7030b/

On March 17, 2026, Taj was kicked out of the Washington County Board of County Commissioners' legally required public comment meeting because she had the nerve to mention the infrastructure impact and lack of tax revenue caused by ICE/DHS buying an enormous warehouse to use as a detention center is going to have ripple effects across the budget of the community. Click for audio and video from that day: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV_uuq...

In February the same BOCC passed a unanimous "we think ICE and detention centers rock!" statement, after weeks earlier it was discovered that the country had made a glide path for DHS/ICE to buy the detention center despite a lack of legally required impact tests on local water, sewage, roadway and other infrastructure and more. The community does not share the enthusiasm of the BOCC for ICE, which may be why they've been quite secretive about how this deal came to pass, their role in facilitating it, why certain laws weren't abiding by and more.

Taj is now running as an Independent candidate for the Washington County Board of County Commissioners to bring more transparency and focus on the citizens to her home. https://washco4tajsmith.com/meet-taj-smith

REMEMBER TO LIKE! SHARE! LEAVE A NICE REVIEW! Follow us on socials at @catladiesforamerica & go to www.catladiesforamerica.com to start or join a local chapter, join our monthly CATTY CHAT LIVE! episodes, sign up for the next CATLADYPALOOZA on Sept. 13, 2026 and more! (it's all FREE!!!)

🚨THIS IS NOT A DRILL ‼️
They want us scared, powerless and alone. Too bad — we’ve got cats.

Cat Ladies for America fur-vently invites you to our virtual 2026 learning, lean-in and scratch back virtual event: CATLADYPALOOZA! LIVE on YouTube — Sunday, April 19 7p, National Cat Lady Day.

We’re activating cat ladies, cat daddies, cat folks & un-catted allies around the country so they’re ready to both take care of each other now, and come out scratching into the midterms with an event separated into four equal parts:
1st Amendment, Due Process & voting rights training (LEGAL)

mutual aid education & community organizing (ACTION)

protecting each other under the DHS (ICE)

using comedy, art and absurdity as resistance (CATTINESS)

Confirmed participants include:
Amanda McGonigal - founder of Cats On a Couch social media @catsonacouch

Eliza Orlins: NYC Public Defender, legal content creator, “Survivor,” “Greatest Race” alum (Legal) @eorlins

Robby Roadsteamer: musical comedy activist @robbyroadsteamer

Dara Jones: lawyer, Maryland ACLU @ACLUMaryland

Anne, Smitten Kitten MN: Minneapolis adult store and mass mutual aid & other action hub during ICE occupation (& for years prior) (ACTION) @smittenkittenmn

Bre Gurosko: Co-Founder Project Saltbox (ICE)

Mohini Tangri: Civil & Immigrant Rights Attorney, legal content creator/activist (Legal)

Eva Chavez Lopez: First Mexican American elected to Salt Lake City Council, progressive candidate for U.S. House of Representatives (ICE)

Zachary Mallory: Award Winning advocate for mental health and suicide prevention; founder of Rise Above Justice Movement. (ACTION) @RiseAboveJusticeMovement

GriefCat: Musical comedy duo (Cattiness) @griefcat

Comrade Tripp: Minneapolis comedian, host of The Performative Mayor Pageant (Cattiness) @comradetrippcomedy

Gemma Smith: Our Hiss-tress of Cere-meow-nies, creator of NYC Cat-baret Variety Show (Host)

Welcome to Catty Chats: claws-out interviews with people trying to make things suck less in new and different ways.

I am thrilled that I get to share with you my conversation with Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen.

He's had a long political career in the Maryland Statehouse, the U.S. House of Representatives, and most recently the U.S. Senate since 2017.

I always thought of him as smart, and capable, and doing and saying all the right things on issues I cared about. And also, I didn't really think about him THAT much. I wasn't worried about what he'd do on this or that vote.

He wasn't a flashy guy. He wasn't a spotlight hog. To me his vibe was "I'm the guy doing my job, you must be the other guy" (shout out to Markie Mark in "The Departed").

And that was GREAT, by the way. Gold stars.

Then something shifted in 2025. And he became a loud and out-in-front advocate at the most important time. When others who had wanted the spotlight BEFORE started to shy away from the spotlight - for their own careers, or their own convenience, or to avoid hearing angry questions from constituents.

Chris Van Hollen was out in front for Kilmar Abrego Garcia; for ICE detainees and anti-ICE protestors; to people who were trying to bring just for the illegality and immorality of ICE and DHS, which continues to this very day. He was and is out in front of all of that, and so much more.

We discuss all things ICE: how we got into the position that we're in; how we can fight; what he has seen in ICE that has changed; what might be coming down the pike; how to be ready; AND WHY IT'S GOOD TO HOLD ONTO THE ANGER.

...he's also pretty funny!

Despite being far more in the spotlight over the last year or more, he's still the guy just doing his job, and if you're asking "who does he think he is?" you must be the other guy.