Tag Archives: California

Politico: ‘We are arresting the mayor right now, per the deputy attorney general’

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An account of bodycam footage, submitted in a recent court filling, provides new detail about a confrontation outside a New Jersey immigration facility.

The federal officer who arrested the mayor of New Jersey’s largest city outside an immigration detention center in May suggested that he was making the arrest at the direction of the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, Todd Blanche, according to law enforcement body camera footage described in a new court filing.

The filing, from Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), sheds new light on the chaotic scene on May 9 when Democratic lawmakers and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, attempting to conduct an oversight visit, clashed with immigration agents. Baraka was arrested for trespassing, but that charge was dropped. McIver was later charged with assaulting federal agents; she is seeking to get the case dismissed.

According to McIver’s attorneys, a Department of Homeland Security special agent was on the phone as the events unfolded that day. Citing bodycam footage they obtained in the case, the attorneys wrote that the special agent, after hanging up the call, turned to a group of fellow agents and announced: “We are arresting the mayor right now, per the deputy attorney general of the United States. Anyone that gets in our way, I need you guys to give me a perimeter so I can cuff him.”

POLITICO has not reviewed the bodycam video. Although the footage was submitted as an exhibit in the case, it was not yet publicly available. A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment, and a response from the Department of Homeland Security did not address whether Blanche had ordered the agents to make the arrest.

The special agent’s apparent suggestion that he was acting at Blanche’s direction is the latest sign that top Justice Department officials are harnessing the power of law enforcement against Democrats and other perceived enemies of President Donald Trump. Trump’s DOJ has opened investigations into various figures Trump disdains, including Jack Smith, James Comey, former Homeland Security aides who criticized him and many others.

Federal law enforcement officials have also detained New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and handcuffed California Sen. Alex Padilla.

For months, Democrats have wondered if agents at the Newark immigration detention center had been instructed by a superior to arrest Baraka. Witness accounts and other video footage taken that day showed the mayor had been allowed inside a gated area by a guard, stood there peacefully for the better part of an hour and left the gated area when federal agents threatened him with arrest. That day, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.) told POLITICO that he’d witnessed an agent inside the gated area talking on the phone with someone who told the agent to arrest Baraka, who by the time of the call was outside the gate. McIver gave a similar account in a press conference at the time.

The description of the bodycam footage submitted in court last week by McIver’s attorneys bolsters that account. Quoting from the footage, her attorneys wrote that the special agent on the phone said of Baraka during the call: “Even though he stepped out, I am going to put him in cuffs.”

Then the agent made the comment about arresting the mayor “per the deputy attorney general.” Moments later, law enforcement officials came out of the gate and arrested Baraka, setting off a scrum involving the mayor and members of Congress. McIver is accused in a three-count indictment of slamming the special agent with her forearm, “forcibly” grabbing him and using her forearms to strike another agent. She has pleaded not guilty.

Less than two weeks later, federal prosecutors dropped a trespassing charge against Baraka. But a federal judge chided the effort to charge him in the first place. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa called it an “embarrassing retraction” that “suggests a failure to adequately investigate, to carefully gather facts and to thoughtfully consider the implications of your actions before wielding your immense power.”

Baraka is the progressive mayor of New Jersey’s largest city and at the time of his arrest was seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, an election he has since lost. Separately, he is suing the Trump administration for “malicious prosecution” in a lawsuit that names acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and Ricky Patel, a special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations’ Newark Division.

According to a comparison of court documents filed in the Baraka and McIver cases, Patel is the special agent overheard on the bodycam footage referring to the deputy attorney general.

McIver tries to harness Trump immunity ruling

The new revelations about the episode came in legal briefs asking to have McIver’s own case thrown out.

As part of that effort, McIver asked the judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper, to rule that lawmakers have the same kind of immunity from prosecutions that the Supreme Court gave Trump.

Her attorneys said McIver’s visit to the detention facility, known as Delaney Hall, was a legislative act she cannot be prosecuted for. They cited the Supreme Court ruling last summer that gave Trump immunity from criminal prosecution for some actions he took during his first presidential term while fighting to subvert the 2020 election.

McIver’s attorneys also argued that she is facing intimidation and that Habba’s office, which is prosecuting the case, is undermining the Constitution’s “Speech or Debate” Clause. That clause grants members of Congress a form of immunity that is mostly impenetrable in investigations relating to the official duties of lawmakers, their aides or other congressional officials.

The Department of Homeland Security said the argument is laughable.

“Suggesting that physically assaulting a federal law enforcement officer is ‘legitimate legislative activity’ covered by legislative immunity makes a joke of all three branches of government at once,” the Homeland Security Department’s assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement.

If lawmakers don’t continue to receive such protections, McIver’s legal team warns of dire consequences for the country.

“If these charges are allowed to move forward, they will send a chilling message to Congress on the risk it takes when it scrutinizes the Administration’s activities,” McIver’s defense team wrote. “The Speech or Debate Clause was designed to prevent that kind of message and intimidation.”

Former Sen. Bob Menendez — Rob Menendez’s father — has tried to use the speech or debate clause to shield himself from corruption charges. He is now serving an 11-year prison sentence and appealing the conviction. McIver’s attorneys cited a 3rd Circuit ruling against Menendez in 2016 — who was then facing different corruption charges that were later dropped — as making clear that members of Congress do have immunity for legislative actions but that the allegations against him were for things beyond the scope of that immunity. McIver’s team argued the Menendez case “could not be more different” from hers.

In another legal filing made last week, McIver also sought to dismiss the charges against her based on unconstitutional “selective” and “vindictive” prosecution, noting that the Justice Department walked away from prosecutions of hundreds of defendants from Jan. 6, 2021, despite clear video of many attacking police officers.

‘We are arresting the mayor right now, per the deputy attorney general’
An account of bodycam footage, submitted in a recent court filling, provides new detail about a confrontation outside a New Jersey immigration facility.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/18/newark-mayor-arrest-bodycam-footage-todd-blanche-00513734

Raw Story: CNN right-winger gets shut down as he uses ‘2 different sets of facts’ to defend Trump

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A conservative commentator was hit with a quick fact check on CNN after excusing President Donald Trump’s interference in the Texas redistricting mess.

Border Patrol agents poured into downtown Los Angeles as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrats outlined plans to redraw California’s congressional map in response to a Republican push to do the same in Texas to their own advantage, and conservative journalist Rob Bluey told “CNN This Morning” that the situations in the two states were completely different.

“It’s important also to point out that we’re talking about two different sets of facts,” Bluey said. “The whole situation in Texas stemmed from a lawsuit and a decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

Fellow panelist Sabrina Singh, a former deputy Pentagon press secretary under Joe Biden, quickly pushed back.

“That’s still caught up in the courts,” she said. “What Gov. [Greg] Abbott is taking a Sharpie pen and just redoing the maps. That’s not from the lawsuit that’s been brought.”

Bluey argued the GOP governor’s actions were justified by changes to the state’s population since the last census was conducted five years ago.

“Texas has also had 2 million new residents move into the state since the last census,” he said. “The census made errors. Texas was cheated out of a seat and an electoral vote and Florida was cheated out of two because the census made errors. There were a number of problems that have happened over the last couple of years that could lead people to that conclusion that [host Audie Cornish] just made, that their vote is in some ways not [being counted].”

Cornish expressed skepticism, asking whether states should simply call for a new census and redraw their congressional maps if they didn’t like the results of the head count conducted under constitutional authority, and Bluey eagerly took the bait.

“I think states should do their own census,” Bluey said. “Maybe each state and the federal government can do this in collaboration. By the way, in the 1970s they amended the law and they said that you could do a mid-decade census, so it’s not that Donald Trump’s doing anything unusual, it’s just that the federal government hasn’t done it before.”

Singh poured cold water on Bluey’s argument, saying the president’s insistence on changing a state’s congressional map to favor his own party was indeed unusual.

“Each state has their own different constitution, but the lawsuit that you’re referring to is not why Gov. Abbott decided to draw the map, redraw the maps,” Singh said. “He decided to do that because Donald Trump put pressure on him. The lawsuit is still in the Texas courts and has not risen to the state level to redraw the map.”

CNN right-winger gets shut down as he uses ‘2 different sets of facts’ to defend Trump

https://www.rawstory.com/texas-redistricting-2673886861

Newsweek: Donald Trump’s new census could be bad news for Texas

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Is there anything that King Donald can’t seek to manipulate and destroy?

President Donald Trump‘s proposal for a new national census that excludes people living in the United States illegally could reduce Texas’ political power by reducing both its number of Electoral College votes and seats in the House of Representatives.

Why It Matters

The Trump administration is pushing for a new census despite the next one not being due until 2030. Excluding those in the U.S. illegally from the figures would reduce the political representation of states with disproportionately high illegal migrant populations, such as California and Texas.

Citing “two people with knowledge of the effort,” The Texas Tribune reported that the administration’s primary goal behind the new census was to boost Republicans politically, though some experts have expressed skepticism over whether this would happen.

What To Know

On August 7, Trump said he had instructed the Department of Commerce to begin work on a new national census that would exclude illegal migrants, using data from the 2024 presidential election as a baseline.

Census Bureau data is used to determine how many seats each state gets in the House of Representatives and also how many Electoral College votes it gets during presidential elections. So if a state loses population disproportionately once illegal migrants are excluded, it would see its political influence decrease.

In 2024, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that in January 2022 there were 10,990,000 people residing in the U.S. illegally. It found that California had the largest illegal migrant population with 2,600,000 people, followed by Texas with 2,060,000, Florida with 590,000 and New Jersey with 490,000.

Speaking with Newsweek, Joshua Blank, who heads the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said a new census without illegal migrants would reduce the state’s population and therefore its House representation. He added that Texas “did nothing to promote census participation” in 2020.

Blank said: “While, ostensibly, this move would reduce Texas’ population size for the purpose of congressional districts, it’s probably the case that it’s less than it would if Texas were to have engaged in a serious effort to get a good count in the first place.”

In terms of the nationwide political effect, Blank added: “This would apply to other states, including other states with large immigrant populations, and those that actually sought to get an accurate count, like California. So the overall exchange of seats, since the number of overall congressional seats remains fixed, is pretty hard to game out.”

Trump’s new census plan would almost certainly face legal challenges, with critics arguing that it violates the 14th Amendment, which states that seats in the House should be based on “counting the whole number of persons in each State.”

What People Are Saying

Gil Guerra, an immigration policy analyst at the Niskanen Center, told Newsweek: “These numbers matter enormously for apportionment—states like California, Texas, and Florida have substantial undocumented populations that currently contribute to their congressional representation.”

Speaking with The Texas Tribune about the president’s new census proposal, Robert Warren, a demographer at the Center for Migration Studies, said: “It wouldn’t shift enough [House] seats to make any difference, and that’s been true for five straight censuses.”

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on August 7: “I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024. People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

A Department of Commerce spokesperson told Newsweek: “The Census Bureau will immediately adopt modern technology tools for use in the Census to better understand our robust Census data. We will accurately analyze the data to reflect the number of legal residents in the United States.”

What Happens Next

If Trump pushes ahead with his plan, it will almost inevitably spark a major legal battle. Even if the courts approve, experts agree that the overall effect on American politics is hard to determine, though states with a high illegal migrant population—such as Texas—will likely lose some influence.

Donald Trump’s new census could be bad news for Texas
President Donald Trump has requested a new national census excluding illegal migrants, but it is likely to face legal challenges.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-new-census-could-bad-news-texas-2114326

Law & Crime: Judge shreds Trump admin for ‘nonsensical’ bid to terminate 28-year policy that protects immigrant children in federal custody

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A federal judge in California has shot down an attempt by the Trump administration to scrub away the government’s 28-year-old Flores Settlement Agreement, which calls for court-mandated oversight on the treatment of immigrant children in federal custody.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee issued a 20-page order on Friday, keeping the 1997 agreement in place as Justice Department lawyers “fail to identify any new facts or law” that warrant its termination “at this time,” according to the Barack Obama appointee.

The administration had previously tried terminating the Flores agreement in 2019 at the end of Donald Trump‘s first term, but was unsuccessful then, too. Gee reportedly called a hearing last week on the matter “deja vu” as the government tried propping up similar arguments.

“The court remains unconvinced,” Gee wrote in Friday’s order. “There is nothing new under the sun regarding the facts or the law.”

Under the Flores Settlement Agreement, immigrant children must be held at “state-licensed” facilities — treated properly and humanely — before being released into the custody of family members or guardians “as expeditiously as possible,” per Gee’s order. The settlement is named after Jenny Lisette Flores, a 15-year-old detainee who sparked a class-action lawsuit to be filed in 1985.

The Trump administration recently argued that the Flores agreement was no longer needed because Congress had approved legislation to help deal with the issues the settlement addressed. It also claimed that government agencies had implemented practices and standards to ensure youths were being treated properly.

“The legal basis for the agreement has withered away,” DOJ lawyers argued in a May 22 motion for relief. “Congress enacted legislation protecting UACs [unaccompanied alien children], and the agencies promulgated detailed standards and regulations implementing that legislation and the terms of the FSA,” the lawyers said, blasting the agreement as an “intrusive regime” that has “ossified” federal immigration policy.

“The legal and policy landscape has also changed beyond recognition,” they added.

Gee noted Friday how she had heard this all before.

“These improvements are direct evidence that the FSA is serving its intended purpose, but to suggest that the agreement should be abandoned because some progress has been made is nonsensical,” the judge blasted.

“Incredulously, defendants posit that DHS need not promulgate regulations containing an expeditious release provision because ‘this Court has interpreted [expeditious release] to apply to accompanied children,'” Gee explained. “But ‘the FSA was intended to provide for prompt release of unaccompanied children.’ This is plainly incorrect and ignores the rulings of at least three separate courts.”

Gee concluded her order by saying it was ultimately the Trump administration that “continues to bind itself to the FSA by failing to fulfill its side of the parties’ bargain.”

Lawyers for immigrant children named in the class action complaint that spurred all this have said Trump’s second term has seen similar violations of the Flores agreement that have been alleged in the past.

“In CBP facilities across the country, including in cases documented by class counsel in New York, Maine, Illinois, Ohio, Arizona, Texas, and California, plaintiffs report being held for days and sometimes weeks in restrictive, traumatic conditions,” the lawyers said in a June 17 motion to enforce the FSA. One parent, whose allegations were included in the motion, described how they and their child were held at a facility where “the rooms have hard walls, like cement, and there is a window facing the hall but you cannot go out or see the sun,” per the motion.

“We are never allowed to go out,” the parent said. “The children keep telling us, ‘This is not America.’ They feel imprisoned and confused. They are seeing the sun for the first time in this interview room. They both ran to the window and stared out, and my son asked, ‘Is that America?'”

The plaintiffs’ lawyers accused the Trump administration of wanting to be released from the settlement “not because they have complied with and will continue to observe its fundamental principles, but because they want the flexibility to treat children however they wish,” according to the June motion.

DOJ officials did not respond to Law&Crime’s requests for comment Sunday.

Judge rips Trump admin for ‘nonsensical’ bid to shred care standards for migrant children
The Trump administration has failed to scrub away the government’s 28-year-old Flores Settlement Agreement, which calls for court-mandated oversight on the treatment of immigrant children.
‘Nonsensical’: Judge shreds Trump admin for attempt to ‘incredulously’ terminate 28-year policy that protects immigrant children in federal custody

San Francisco Chronicle: ICE arrests of people with no criminal convictions have surged in Northern California

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As it has nationwide, ICE is arresting far more suspected immigration violators this summer than before

ICE arrests in Northern California have surged this summer, a Chronicle analysis of deportation data shows. That’s in keeping with national trends.

The Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), claimed on Friday that they are “cleaning up the streets,” targeting what they continued to call the “WORST OF THE WORST” — including “illegal alien pedophiles, sex offenders, and violent thugs.”

But the numbers tell a more complicated story.

Since the beginning of 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested roughly 2,640 people in its San Francisco “area of responsibility” — a 123% increase compared to the final seven months of the Biden administration. The pace picked up dramatically in June and July.

That area spans a large portion of California, from Kern County northward, and also includes Hawaii, Guam, and Saipan. The Chronicle’s analysis focused only on arrests made within California.

Notably, under the Trump administration, arrests of people without criminal convictions have risen sharply. Many of those taken into custody have only pending criminal charges — or none at all. In June, about 58% of arrests involved individuals with no prior convictions. That figure dipped slightly to 56% in July, but just a few months earlier, the numbers were far lower: In December, before President Donald Trump took office, only 10% of arrests involved people without a criminal conviction.

Among those without a conviction, ICE has arrested a large number of individuals whose only suspected violation is entering the country illegally or overstaying their visa. Although administration officials often call these undocumented immigrants “criminals,” being in the U.S. without legal status is a civil violation, not a crime. 

Arrests of convicted criminals are also up, though not as sharply. Those convictions varied widely — from serious and violent crimes like child sexual assault, homicide, and drug trafficking, to lesser charges such as traffic violations and low-level misdemeanors.

ICE officers raided a home in East Oakland on Tuesday and detained at least six people, including a minor and a person with a severe disability, according to an immigration attorney. In June, Oakland police confirmed to the Chronicle that ICE alerted them of its activity, but ICE did not provide additional details. 

Also, for the first time in the Bay Area, ICE detained two U.S. citizens during a protest on Aug. 8, outside the agency’s San Francisco field office at 630 Sansome St. Aliya Karmali, an Oakland immigration attorney, told Mission Local that she hasn’t seen “ICE arresting [U.S. citizen] protestors in the Bay since entering the legal field nearly 20 years ago.”

The picture is similar nationwide. National data from the Transaction Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University indicates that the number of people detained by ICE — excluding those arrested by Customs and Border Protection — saw a 178% increase between Jan. 26 and July 13. 

Since the beginning of 2025, ICE arrests of people with no criminal convictions has skyrocketed, with a 370% increase from the end of January to mid-July. In June, ICE held more people for immigration violations than for pending charges for the first time — a trend that continued into July.  

Reports indicate that ICE has been targeting workers in mostly Latino neighborhoods and on jobsites — sometimes based on vague tips from people claiming they saw undocumented immigrants, but often with no clear reason at all. It has also arrested thousands of people in public places. 

Though the administration views the increased immigration enforcement as necessary for public safety or border security, many believe the arrests are fueling fear, separating families, disrupting labor markets and local economies, and doing little to actually solve the country’s broader immigration problems.

“It seems like they’re just arresting people they think might be in the country without status and amenable to deportation,” said Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, in a June Reuters story.

ICE arrests of people with no criminal convictions have surged in Northern California
As it has nationwide, ICE is arresting far more suspected immigration violators this summer than before.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/ice-arrests-deport-data-20818148.php

Inquisitr: Trump Admin’s New Crackdown Demands Immigrants Prove ‘Good Moral Character’ Beyond Just Staying Out of Jail

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New USCIS rule gives officers sweeping power to judge applicants’ morality, from traffic tickets to tax returns

When it comes to immigrants who want to become citizens of the United States, the second-term government of Donald Trump has turned on the moral compass. Although “good moral character” has long been an essential part of the naturalization process, the DOHS is now looking into more detailed areas of an applicant’s life as opposed to just checking boxes, as has been routine for so long. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new directive on Friday directing officers to give much more weight to whether an applicant’s character truly embodies American values, which go beyond just avoiding jail time.

As a result, immigrants who wish to become citizens after getting a green card will have to submit to a more extensive and private assessment of their contributions, behavior, and even violations of traffic laws!

For many years, the term “good moral character” has been a part of U.S. immigration law. Naturalization applicants already had to prove they were not “habitual drunkards,” d–g traffickers, or convicted murderers.

Even so, the Trump administration wants officers to start digging deeper.

The memo encourages officers to perform a “holistic assessment” of an applicant’s life rather than just relying on a mechanical checklist that looks for serious crimes. Community involvement, caregiving responsibilities, lawful employment, time spent in the United States, tax history, and academic achievements must now be taken into account throughout the review process.

To put it simply, you might rack up moral points by raising your children, filing your taxes, and helping out at the local food bank. Yet, because of the increased scrutiny, even legally allowed behaviors that were previously thought of as trivial, such as constantly reckless driving, harassment, or “aggressive solicitation,” can now be used against you.

Officers have more discretion as a result of this change. However, they also have more freedom to reject applicants for reasons that are not going to be clear to them at the time of application or even after it gets rejected. 

According to the USCIS memo, “acts that are contrary to the average behavior of citizens in the jurisdiction where aliens reside” may be taken into account. It also means that a person’s bid for citizenship may be seriously limited by a poor driving record in California or unpaid child support in Texas — all pointing to their so-called “moral character.” 

The goal is to raise the standard for what it means to be an American. The policy seeks to “restore integrity” to the naturalization process, according to agency chief spokesman Matthew Tragesser, who spoke to ABC News. According to him, “U.S. citizenship is the gold standard of citizenship — it should only be offered to the world’s best of the best.”

Donald Trump’s larger political message (that citizenship is a privilege rather than a right and ought to be saved for people who actively uphold American values instead of just adhering to the law) is made possible by this framing.

The new policy, which puts stricter standards and gives immigration officers greater flexibility, is also in line with the administration’s ongoing attempts to restrict possible paths to citizenship.

Critics perceive a more cynical element at work, though. Joe Biden-era USCIS official Doug Rand contends the new rule was created to scare new applicants away. Rand claims that the administration is, in essence, discouraging legal immigrants from applying for citizenship by broadening the definition of “bad moral character” to include minor, non-criminal behavior.

Rand told ABC News, “They’re trying to increase the grounds for denial of U.S. citizenship by (…) torturing the definition of good moral character to encompass extremely harmless behavior.”

Between 600,000 and 1 million immigrants become citizens of the United States each year, the Irish Star reports. 

Years of legal residency, civics and English proficiency exams, and strict background checks are already part of the complex process. Now, staying true to constantly changing standards is more vital than avoiding crimes when defining “good moral character.”

Trump Admin’s New Crackdown Demands Immigrants Prove ‘Good Moral Character’ Beyond Just Staying Out of Jail
The Trump admin tightens citizenship rules, expanding ‘good moral character’ reviews for immigrants.

Raw Story: ‘Trump is terrified’: Senator says president is scared he ‘poked the bear’ in power grab

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Donald Trump just “poked the bear,” and now he’s “terrified,” according to a longtime thorn in the president’s side.

Adam Schiff, one of California’s two senators, the lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial, and a January 6th Committee member, called Trump’s attacks on him a “badge of honor” in a message to supporters on Sunday.

“Unless you are part of the MAGA world, in which case you may recognize me from Trump’s frequent attacks and name calling like ‘sleazebag,’ ‘traitor,’ or more recently, ‘one of the true lowlifes in the history of politics in America,'” the senator wrote. “A true badge of honor.”

Schiff went on to call out Trump for purported attacks on democracy.

“Trump is at it again. But this time his attacks aren’t just against me, he’s going after our very democracy,” he wrote. “You see, Trump is terrified of losing his majority in the midterms. And his solution isn’t to end his pointless tariff wars, stop the indiscriminate masked ICE raids, or rethink his deeply unpopular Big Ugly Bill. It’s to demand Republicans in Texas redraw their Congressional maps.”

Schiff continued, saying, “It’s sad. It’s tragic. But if Texas acts, California must respond.”

“I was proud to stand with our Governor, Gavin Newsom, as he introduced California’s Election Rigging Response Act,” he then added. “The people of our state will vote this November. If we win, we’ll nullify anything Texas does. If we lose… then Trump may very well have two more years of unchecked power.”

The lawmaker concluded, “Donald Trump has poked the bear. It’s time to fight back.”

‘Trump is terrified’: Senator says president is scared he ‘poked the bear’ in power grab

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-schiff-terrified-power-grab

Daily Express: Trump signs order to relax environmental rules for Bezos and Musk’s spaceships

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President Trump’s latest executive order will anger environmental groups while appearing to boost SpaceX and Blue Origin

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order titled “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry”, saying it was crucial to national security that the private rocket-ship industry increase launches “substantially” by 2030.

The order directs the U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to “eliminate outdated, redundant, or overly restrictive rules for launch and reentry vehicles.” Duffy called Trump’s executive order “visionary”.

According to the executive order, this would mean that commercial spaceship companies may be able to bypass the environmental reviews that are required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Usually private space companies are required to get launch permits from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and are subject to review under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Space companies have complained that the FAA has taken too long to review launch permits, and environmental groups have criticized the agency for not using NEPA reviews to require more protections at launch sites.

Environmental reviews are in place because rocket launches and landings can be hugely disruptive to local towns and residents, along with the nature and wildlife in the area.

For example, toxic chemicals, noises and fumes created at launch can injure and kill endangered species, while exploded rocket parts returning to Earth can harm marine life.

…

The suit looked at SpaceX’s Starship rocket launch in Texas in April 2023, which had a concerning impact on the surrounding environment. The spaceship annihilated its launchpad, sending chunks of concrete flying 6 miles (10km) away. It also sparked a grassfire that burned nearly 4 acres of a state park.

A six-mile circle of damage and destruction!

Click on the links below to read the entire article:

Trump signs order to relax environmental rules for Bezos and Musk’s spaceships
President Trump’s latest executive order will anger environmental groups while appearing to boost SpaceX and Blue Origin

https://www.the-express.com/news/us-news/180335/trump-signs-order-relax-environmental-rules-musk-bezos-spaceship

Slingshot News: ‘Not Guaranteed’: Secretary Kristi Noem Insults Puerto Ricans, Says She Can Cut Off Their Federal Aid In House Hearing

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The bigoted racist bitch runs her mouth:

‘Not Guaranteed’: Secretary Kristi Noem Insults Puerto Ricans, Says She Can Cut Off Their Federal Aid In House Hearing
Secretary Kristi Noem insulted Puerto Ricans during a recent House hearing, saying that she can cut off their federal aid at any time. She does not have this power, but thinks she does.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/not-guaranteed-secretary-kristi-noem-insults-puerto-ricans-says-she-can-cut-off-their-federal-aid-in-house-hearing/vi-AA1KE3UZ

San Diego Union Tribune: ICE arrests parent outside of Linda Vista Elementary, school officials say

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A parent waiting nearby to pick up his child from Linda Vista Elementary School was arrested Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, school officials said.

The arrest occurred days after the start of the school year, and a week after another parent — who an immigration judge had ordered deportation in absentia — was taken into custody by federal immigration agents outside an elementary school in Chula Vista during morning drop-off.

Immigration enforcement arrests have increased locally within the first months of the Trump administration. One of the administration’s first actions was to rescind Biden-era guidance that restricted immigration enforcement operations “in or near” certain protected places, including schools.

Families and officials alike said such enforcement actions during school drop-off or pickup can send fear through the community.

“This did just not happen to one household. It happened to an entire school community,” San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Fabiola Bagula said Friday at a news conference outside the school. “It left children, families and staff, with questions and fears that no one, especially our youngest learners, should have to carry.”

Thursday’s arrest happened about 3:10 p.m., just before school dismissal, as the man waited in a line of cars near the campus, school officials said. Other families were present, but not students, officials added.

On Saturday, Tricia McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement that ICE did not target the school, and that the arrest did not took place on school grounds.

She said the operation was targeting a man originally from Mexico who was “fraudulently using an American’s social security number.”

McLaughlin said officers approached the man after he pulled over in a parking lot. He was arrested and placed in removal proceedings, she added.

“Any smears that ICE targeted an elementary school are contributing to the 1000% increase in assaults against our brave ICE law enforcement.”

Homeland Security officials called the school’s principal, Miriam Atlas, following the arrest. She then informed the child’s mother of the situation, Bagula said.

“We have added counselors and district staff at the school today because the ripple effects of an incident like this extend far beyond the moment itself,” Bagula said. “They live in the stories that children will tell for the rest of their lives, in the questions they ask and in the worry that they carry home.”

Sabrina Bazzo, a trustee on the San Diego Unified School District board, referred to the incident as “unacceptable.”

“How do we expect our students to stay focused on learning when they have to worry about their parents and family members not feeling safe right outside this door,” she said.

Bazzo said she had heard that some parents had started organizing to pick up other students in case their parents felt uncomfortable about coming to school.

While dropping off their children at school Friday, some shared concerns about such enforcement near schools.

The mother of a first-grade student, who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions, said she learned of the arrest on social media.  “I’m afraid. I don’t know what might happen,” she said in Spanish. “The situation is worrying.”

Another mother, who walked her two children to school, said they have told her they are afraid. She also asked not to be identified out of fear for her safety.

Her 10-year-old daughter said that she fears for her family. “This has really changed my life,” she said. “I used to come to school feeling calm, knowing my mom would pick me up every day. Now, with everything that’s happening, I’m worried she won’t come back for me. It’s not just me; other children are worried, too.”

In a letter to parents on Thursday, Principal Miriam Atlas stressed that “school grounds are safe spaces that cannot be accessed by ICE without a proper, signed warrant.”

“We have reiterated our policies and protocols to all staff to ensure everyone understands these critical guidelines. In California, schools cannot ask about immigration status during enrollment or share student records without parental consent or a court order,” the letter reads.

Atlas said they were working with school agencies to make sure the affected family had access to the resources they needed.

In December, the San Diego Unified School District passed a resolution reaffirming its commitment to being a “welcoming district” for all students. Their actions included informing the school community about their rights and creating a new website with resources and additional information.

ICE arrests parent outside of Linda Vista Elementary, school officials say
School officials and community members voiced their concerns after the father was arrested while waiting to pick up his child from school
ICE arrests parent outside of Linda Vista Elementary, school officials say