Tag Archives: New York

NBC News: ICE releases Purdue student who was abruptly detained at her visa hearing

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Yeonsoo Go, who was handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents upon leaving her visa hearing, was kept at a facility in Louisiana, according to the ICE database.

A Purdue University student and daughter of a prominent New York priest who was detained during a visa hearing last week has been released.

Yeonsoo Go, 20, reunited with her family Monday night in downtown Manhattan. It comes after Go, who was handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents upon leaving her visa hearing, spent several days in a facility in Louisiana, according to the ICE database.

Go came to the U.S. in 2021 on a religious dependent visa for children or spouses of religious workers temporarily in the country, Marissa Joseph, Go’s attorney, told NBC News. Go, whose visa had been extended until December, was attempting to renew the visa because her mother had changed employers. It isn’t clear why the student was targeted for detention, Joseph said.

She was targeted just because they could. Every immigration arrest is a feather in the racist Stephen Miller’s hat.

“I’m just so grateful for the support that I’ve had,” Go told the crowd of supporters after she hugged her family.

ICE did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request to comment on the reasons behind Go’s detention. And the Department of Homeland Security did not provide the family a reason for Go’s release, Joseph said. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin previously described Go in a statement as an “illegal alien” who had overstayed her visa that expired more than two years ago.

Go, who lives in Scarsdale, New York, with her mother, Kyrie Kim, came to the U.S. for Kim’s work. Kim, who became the first woman ordained in the Seoul Diocese of the Anglican Church of Korea, had been invited to develop the Episcopal church’s connection to Asian communities, said Mary Rothwell Davis, an attorney for the Episcopal Diocese of New York, where Go’s mother is a reverend.

“It was an initiative to begin a new ministry, reaching out to Asian clergy, Asian families, and … to help strengthen and grow that aspect of our Episcopal and Anglican community,” Davis said, just hours before Go’s release. “Rev. Kim is the person who was chosen to do that.”

Go, a rising sophomore at Purdue, had a smooth, uneventful visa hearing, Davis said, and was given a date to return to court.

“Everything seemed to go perfectly well,” Davis said. “So she had no idea this was coming. None.”

Davis said she has seen the visa herself and was unsure why McLaughlin had claimed Go overstayed her visa.

“We have no idea why they are alleging this, because we have a piece of paper that says she has a visa till December 2025,” Davis said. “This is what lack of due process does. We have evidence on our side. They’re making allegations. We are not being given the opportunity to sort it out.”

Go’s detention drew massive backlash across faith and local New York communities. Over the weekend, friends, loved ones and more gathered in downtown Manhattan to rally around the student. Davis said that as Go was being transferred to Louisiana from the facility in New York, she caught a glimpse of the supporters.

“She was leaving the building by bus, and she saw the Episcopal Diocese rally that was taking place in front of the courthouse,” Davis, who’s been in constant communication with the family, said. “It was very bittersweet.”

New York Assemblymember Amy Paulin, who spoke to Go on the night of her release, said in a statement that she is “overjoyed” that so many individuals spoke out for Go.

“The pain, fear, and uncertainty she and her family endured over the past five days should never have happened,” Paulin said in the statement. “But tonight we celebrate her freedom and the strength of a community that refused to stay silent.”

Kim told reporters that though she’s relieved that her daughter is back home, it’s also critical to remember that many others continue to contend with circumstances similar to Go’s detention.

“There’s more who need the support,” Kim said.

ICE releases Purdue student who was abruptly detained at her visa hearing
Yeonsoo Go, who was handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents upon leaving her visa hearing, was kept at a facility in Louisiana, according to the ICE database.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/ice-releases-yeonsoo-go-purdue-student-detained-visa-hearing-rcna223089

Raw Story: ICE seizes 11-year-old to force dad’s deportation — despite torture risk

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President Donald Trump is trying to deport a Russian man who passed the U.S. screening process for asylum. The U.S. government has also taken away his son.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, posted an excerpt of a New York Times report revealing that the man fled to the United States after his wife was locked up for her political views.

Pavel Snegir and his 11-year-old son, Aleksandr, already passed the initial screening and confirmed that if Snegir is sent back to Russia, he will likely be tortured.

“But the Trump admin is still trying to deport him anyway, and has taken away his son until he agrees to be deported,” wrote Reichlin-Melnick.

Snegir and his son had been in ICE custody, but in May he was taken to an airport in San Diego. He was told he could take his son to the court hearing in New York. But once they were at the airport, Snegir was scared to board the plane, convinced he was about to be deported back to Russia.

“Later that day, after the flight had left, an ICE official told him he would be separated from his son because he refused to be deported,” the report said.

Snegir said he refused to give the government his child. ICE followed with threats he’d be thrown “to the ground, handcuffed and taken away if he did not relent.”

He didn’t move and “everything she promised happened,” Snegir recalled.

His son witnessed the whole ordeal. He previously watched his mother be taken by the Russian government, too.

Now, ICE is telling Snegir that he can self-deport back to Russia, or they’ll deport him anyway, without his son. They claimed he may never see his son again.

Snegir relented, but the following day, he was approved under the protection screening, which means ICE can deport him, but he can’t be sent to Russia.

This week, the administration also published its guidance on birthright citizenship, which will allow ICE to enter maternity wards and demand papers from families after their infants are born. If the parents can’t prove their citizenship, the government can take the newborn away from its parents and deport it to whatever country it wants, one legal analyst described.

ICE seizes 11-year-old to force dad’s deportation — despite torture risk

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-deportation-2673860882

AFP: Trump’s crackdown leaves LA’s undocumented migrants on brink of homelessness

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When her husband was arrested in an immigration raid near Los Angeles last month, Martha was abruptly separated from the father of her two daughters. But she also lost the salary that allowed her to keep a roof over their heads.

“He’s the pillar of the family… he was the only one working,” said the undocumented woman, using a pseudonym for fear of reprisals.

“He’s no longer here to help us, to support me and my daughters.”

Los Angeles, where one-third of residents are immigrants — and several hundred thousand people are undocumented — has been destabilized by intensifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids under the Trump administration.

Since returning to power, US President Donald Trump has delivered on promises to launch a wide-ranging deportation drive, targeting undocumented migrants but also ensnaring many others in its net. 

After her husband’s arrest, 39-year-old Martha has joined the ranks of people barely managing to avoid ending up on the streets of Los Angeles County — a region with prohibitively high housing prices, and the largest number of homeless people in the United States outside New York. 

Her 700-square-foot apartment in Buena Park, a suburb of the California metropolis, costs $2,050 per month. After her husband’s arrest, she urgently found a minimum-wage night job in a factory to cover their most pressing needs.

It pays just enough to keep them afloat, but has left Martha unable to cover a range of obligations.

I have to pay car insurance, phone, rent, and their expenses,” she said, pointing to her six- and seven-year-old daughters, who need school supplies for the new academic year.

“That’s a lot of expenses.”

– ‘Bigger storm brewing’ –

How long can she keep up this punishing schedule, which allows her barely three hours of sleep on returning from the factory before having to wake and look after her daughters?

“I couldn’t tell you,” she said, staring blankly into space.

Los Angeles has seen some of the worst of the ICE raids. Squads of masked agents have targeted hardware stores, car washes and bus stops, arresting more than 2,200 people in June. 

About 60 percent of these had no prior criminal records, according to internal ICE documents analyzed by AFP.

Trump’s anti-immigration offensive is taking an added toll on Latino workers, who were already among the worst-affected victims of the region’s housing crisis, said Andrea Gonzalez, deputy director of the CLEAN Carwash Workers Center, a labor rights non-profit.

“A bigger storm is brewing. It’s not just about the people that got picked up, it’s about the people that are left behind as well,” she said.

“There is a concern that people are going to end up on the streets.”

Her organization is helping more than 300 struggling households whose incomes have plummeted, either because a family member has been arrested or because they are too afraid to return to work.

It has distributed more than $30,000 to help around 20 families who are unable to afford their rent, but covering everyone’s needs is simply “not sustainable,” said Gonzalez.

– ‘An emergency’ –

Local Democratic Party leaders are trying to establish financial aid for affected families.

Los Angeles County is planning a dedicated fund to tackle the problem, and city officials will also launch a fund using philanthropic donations rather than taxpayer money.

Some families should receive “a couple hundred” dollars, Mayor Karen Bass said last month.

But for Gonzalez, these initiatives do not “even scratch the surface” of what is needed, representing less than 10 percent of most affected families’ rent requirements.

She called for a “moratorium on evictions” similar to one introduced during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Otherwise, Los Angeles’ homeless population — currently numbered at 72,000, which is down slightly in the past two years — risks rising again, she warned.

“What we’re living through right now is an emergency,” said Gonzalez.

Maria Martinez’s undocumented immigrant husband was arrested in June at a carwash in Pomona, a suburb east of Los Angeles.

Since then, the 59-year-old has had to rely on help from her children to pay her $1,800 monthly rent. Her $1,000 disability allowance falls far short.

“It is stressful,” she said. “We’re just getting by.”

Trump’s crackdown leaves LA’s undocumented migrants on brink of homelessness
When her husband was arrested in an immigration raid near Los Angeles last month, Martha was abruptly separated from the father of her two daughters. Maria Martinez’s undocumented immigrant husband was arrested in June at a carwash in Pomona, a suburb east of Los Angeles.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-s-crackdown-leaves-la-s-undocumented-migrants-on-brink-of-homelessness/ar-AA1JNxWp

LA Times: Ohio city whose Haitian migrants were disparaged by Trump braces to defend them against deportation

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An Ohio city whose Haitian migrants were disparaged by a Donald Trump falsehood last year as he pitched voters on his plans for an immigration crackdown is now bracing to defend the community against possible deportation.

A group of about 100 community members, clergy and Haitian leaders in Springfield gathered this week for several days of training sessions as they prepare to defend potential deportees and provide them refuge.

“We feel that this is something that our faith requires, that people of faith are typically law-abiding people — that’s who we want to be — but if there are laws that are unjust, if there are laws that don’t respect human dignity, we feel that our commitment to Christ requires that we put ourselves in places where we may face some of the same threats,” said Carl Ruby, senior pastor of Central Christian Church.

Ruby said the ultimate goal of the group is to persuade the Trump administration to reverse its decision to terminate legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, or TPS.

“One way of standing with the Haitians is getting out the message of how much value they bring to the city of Springfield,” he said. “It would be an absolute disaster if we lost 10,000 of our best workers overnight because their TPS ends and they can no longer work.”

In lieu of that, Ruby said, participants in the effort are learning how to help Haitians in other ways. That includes building relationships, accompanying migrants to appointments with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and providing their families with physical shelter.

A city in the crosshairs

Springfield found itself in an unwelcome spotlight last year after Trump amplified false rumors during a presidential debate that members of the mid-size city’s burgeoning Haitian population were abducting and eating cats and dogs. It was the type of inflammatory and anti-immigrant rhetoric he promoted throughout his campaign.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in June that it would terminate TPS as soon as Sept. 2 for about 500,000 Haitians who are already in the United States, some of whom have lived here for more than a decade. The department said conditions in the island nation have improved adequately to allow their safe return. The United Nations contradicts that assertion, saying that the economic and humanitarian crisis in Haiti has only worsened with the Trump administration’s cuts in foreign aid.

The announcement came three months after the administration revoked legal protections for thousands of Haitians who arrived legally in the United States under a humanitarian parole program as part of a series of measures implemented to curb immigration. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal judge’s order preventing the administration from revoking the parole program.

Last month, a federal judge in New York blocked the administration from accelerating an end to Haitians’ TPS protections, which the Biden administration had extended through at least Feb. 3, 2026, citing gang violence, political unrest, a major earthquake in 2021 and other factors.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said at the time that the Trump administration would eventually prevail and that its predecessors treated TPS like a “de facto asylum program.” In the meantime, the government has set the expiration date back to early February.

TPS allows people already in the United States to stay and work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe. Immigrants from 17 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan and Lebanon, were receiving those protections before Trump took office for his second term in January.

Residents ponder next steps

Charla Weiss, a founding member of Undivided, the group that hosted the Springfield workshop, said participants were asked the question of how far they would go to help Haitian residents avoid deportation.

“The question that I know was before me is, how far am I willing to go to support my passion about the unlawful detainment and deportation of Haitians, in particular here in Springfield?” she said.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a longtime supporter of the Haitian community, was briefed by Springfield leaders during a visit to the city Friday. He told reporters that the state is bracing for the potential of mass layoffs in the region as a result of the TPS policy change, a negative for the workers and the companies that employ them.

“It’s not going to be good,” he said.

Ohio city whose Haitian migrants were disparaged by Trump braces to defend them against deportation
Springfield, Ohio, whose Haitian migrants were vilified by a Trump falsehood during last year’s campaign, is now bracing to defend them against possible deportation.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-08-02/ohio-city-whose-haitian-migrants-were-disparaged-by-trump-braces-to-defend-them-against-deportation

Ohio city whose Haitian migrants were disparaged by Trump braces to defend them against deportation

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ohio-city-whose-haitian-migrants-were-disparaged-by-trump-braces-to-defend-them-against-deportation/ar-AA1JNjlg

Bradenton Herald: Trump Suffers Legal Blow — Judge Sides with Blue State

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District Judge Lindsay Jenkins has dismissed a lawsuit from the Trump administration regarding sanctuary policies in Illinois and Chicago, affirming that local governments have retained the right to refuse cooperation with federal immigration enforcement under the Tenth Amendment. The ruling marks a major setback for the administration’s efforts to challenge state and city-level protections for undocumented immigrants. It upholds laws such as Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, reinforcing local authority in guiding immigration-related policies.

The Trump administration had sued sanctuary cities in California and New York. The Department of Justice (DOJ) targeted laws such as Illinois’ Way Forward Act and Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance.

The court rejected DOJ claims that state laws violated federal authority and dismissed Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker from the case. Meanwhile, some local governments like Louisville have expressed a willingness to work with federal agencies.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Pritzker praised the ruling, claiming it upholds local laws that protect public safety and resist harmful immigration policies.

Pritzker wrote, “Illinois just beat the Trump Administration in federal court.”

Johnson stated, “This ruling affirms what we have long known: that Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance is lawful and supports public safety. The City cannot be compelled to cooperate with the Trump Administration’s reckless and inhumane immigration agenda.”

Trump Suffers Legal Blow — Judge Sides with Blue State

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-suffers-legal-blow-judge-sides-with-blue-state/ss-AA1JFoTb

Irish Star: Trump suffers a ‘senior moment’ after not recognizing athlete standing right next to him

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Donald Trump appeared to suffer a senior moment today as he failed to recognize the person he was introducing during a bill singing ceremony.

Today, the president signed an executive order to expand his council on sports, fitness, and nutrition, including the reinstatement of a previously discontinued fitness test for children. He was joined by a number of professional athletes who will be members of the White House sports council. Pro-golfer Bryson DeChambeau will be the chair of the council. Trump introduced each council member with a brief synopsis of their achievements, including Chief Content Officer of WWE, Triple H.

Trump looked directly at Triple H, calling him “an amazing athlete” and his “friend for a long time.” However, Trump then appeared to look around the room for him, forgetting that he was standing right beside him.

Trump also stumbled over his words right before the awkward moment, causing many to believe that he suffered a senile moment. Trump’s cognitive health has been the topic of conversation for several months now.

“Trump looks tired and bloated. I think he is sicker than the White House said a few weeks ago,” someone on X said about the gaffe.

“OMFG. That’s probably the clearest visible evidence I’ve seen that he’s losing it. Yikes!” someone else wrote. “8 seconds from the first time he looked at him to where the hell is he? Dementia is real!” another person commented.

Other members will include Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who is a registered sex offender.

Today’s executive order initiates the revival of the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools. The test, first introduced by President Johnson in 1966, rewards “excellence in physical education,” by anointing children who receive the highest scores with presidential recognition.

President Barack Obama, who has been targeted by Trump in recent weeks, retired the fitness test in 2012, replacing it with the FitnessGram assessment, that focused on bettering individual health.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN in a statement: “President Trump wants every young American to have the opportunity to emphasize healthy, active lifestyles – creating a culture of strength and excellence for years to come.”

The White House said that the test is part of the administration’s goal to develop “bold and innovative fitness goals” for young Americans, in order to foster a new generation of healthy, active individuals.

The changes come as the US prepares to host a number of major sporting events in the coming years, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup followed by the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Memory care beckons!

Trump suffers ‘senior moment’ after not recognizing athlete standing next to him
Trump also stumbled over his words right before the awkward moment, causing many to believe that he suffered a senile moment

https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/trump-suffers-senior-moment-after-35655330

NBC: A ‘beautiful’ ballroom and a new Lincoln bathroom: Trump relishes remaking the White House

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In an interview with NBC News, the president discussed his renovation plans for the most famous house in America. “I’m doing a lot of improvements,” he said.

© DrudgeReport.com

One of Donald Trump’s most visible and potentially enduring legacies as president could be the 90,000-square-foot ballroom that he is planning to build, replacing the East Wing edifice traditionally used for the first lady’s offices.

The project, set to begin in September, looms as the biggest transformation of the White House complex since Harry Truman’s day. Perhaps fitting for the onetime New York real estate developer who branded buildings worldwide with his name, Trump has taken to remaking the White House in accord with his tastes since beginning his second term.

The president told NBC News in an interview that the new ballroom will forgo the need to shuttle guests to tents pitched on the South Lawn for events that are too large for the White House to accommodate.

“When it rains or snows, it’s a disaster,” the president said over the phone, lamenting that tents are positioned “a football field away from the White House.”

Trump said that some of the world’s “finest architects” are involved, and a White House official added that Trump has viewed renderings of the ballroom. The work is expected to finish before the end of his term.

Trump estimated that taking down the East Wing and putting the ballroom in place would cost about $200 million. The East Wing was completed in 1942 under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, according to the White House Historical Association.

Trump said the project would be “his gift to the country,” funded by himself and private donations.

Since returning to office, Trump has set about making an imprint on his White House surroundings. He told NBC News he is replacing what he described as a “terribly” remodeled bathroom in the Lincoln Bedroom with one that is truer to the style of the 16th president’s era.

Elsewhere on the grounds, he has put in a pair of towering flag poles and paved over a grassy patch of the Rose Garden. Wet grass poses problems for women in high heels walking through the garden, he has said.

“I was always a great real estate developer, and I know how to do that,” Trump said.

Partial to one precious metal in particular, Trump has added gold accents throughout the Oval Office.

“He has a vision to make the White House as exceptional and beautiful as possible for future presidents and administrations,” the White House official said. “He is very hands-on and involved in all of this.”

Trump checks in on construction workers on the White House grounds weekly and spends 20-30 minutes with them, asking questions, the same official said. He even invited some of those working on the Rose Garden project into the Oval Office recently.

Another White House official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, added: “The president is very directly involved, even more so than the first lady.”

Much of Trump’s aesthetic can be undone if a future president wishes. Every new president makes changes to the Oval Office décor. The Rose Garden paving can always be torn up and the grass restored. When Trump goes in 2029, the gold could follow.

“Whoever succeeds Trump, if they’re not into gold, the gilding will start to come down,” said Barbara Perry, a professor of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Yet the ballroom could stand for decades as Trump’s creation, much as “the Truman Balcony” addition in 1948 is linked to Truman.

“I’m doing a lot of improvements,” Trump said. “I’ll be building a beautiful ballroom. They wanted it for many, many years.”

The White House released new details about the ballroom on Thursday, after NBC’s interview with the president and follow-up questions posed by the network. Trump had chosen McCrery Architects as the lead architect, according to the White House. And Trump has held meetings with White House staff members, the National Park Service and others in recent weeks.

Officials will meet with the “appropriate organizations” to keep intact the White House’s “special history … while building a beautiful ballroom that can be enjoyed by future administrations and generations of Americans to come,” Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff, said in a statement.

The private funding arrangement for the ballroom worries at least one congressman. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., a member of a House Appropriations panel that oversees the executive office of the presidency, said in an interview Thursday: “It appears that he’s trying to do this perhaps with private donations, but that could be a little odd.”

“Is this going to be a White House ballroom sponsored by Carl’s Jr.?” Pocan asked rhetorically.

Given the magnitude of the project, Pocan said that the president should bring the plan before Congress for discussion.

“This is a major renovation and clearly should come before the committee,” Pocan said. “This would fall under the definition of having proper oversight. It’s a perfectly great conversation to have in a subcommittee meeting.”

The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, noted at a press briefing Thursday that Congress has not appropriated funding for the ballroom, saying: “Listen, I’m happy to eat my cheeseburger at my desk. I don’t need a $200 million ballroom to eat it in. Okay?”

A common impression may be that the White House is a historic building frozen in amber, but it has been rebuilt, renewed and refreshed again and again since 1800, when John Adams became the first president to move in.

In most cases, presidents who undertook substantial renovations faced public blowback. In an essay posted on LinkedIn in June, Stewart McLaurin, president of the historical association, documented the fallout over the past two centuries to “give context and set precedent for more recent changes and adaptations.”

With the building about to collapse on his head, then-President Truman carried out a complete gutting of the White House interior from 1948-52 to shore up the structure with steel beams and concrete.

“Preservationists mourned the loss of original interiors, while media outlets questioned the project’s cost during post-war economic recovery,” McLaurin wrote.

The East Wing, the space earmarked for the new ballroom, was itself targeted for criticism in Roosevelt’s time.

“Congressional Republicans labeled the expenditure as wasteful, with some accusing Roosevelt of using the project to bolster his presidency’s image,” McLaurin wrote.

“However,” he wrote, “the East Wing’s utility in supporting the modern presidency eventually quieted critics.”

At this early stage in the planning, the verdict on Trump’s ballroom vision is mixed. Some White House alumni sympathized with Trump’s wish to make the complex more comfortable for visitors who often include heads of state.

Anita McBride, who was chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush, said in an email to NBC News: “I think it’s going to be an enhancement that will be welcomed by future occupants. No more big tents damaging the lawn or expensive build outs needed for major events. Clearly makes it easier to invite more people, too, when current state room capacity is limited.”

Rufus Gifford, who was chief of protocol of the U.S. in the Biden administration, likened Trump’s renovation to a renter overhauling an apartment. He shouldn’t make such dramatic structural changes to the iconic building on his own, Gifford said.

“The American people are Trump’s landlords right now,” Gifford said.

Trump, the erstwhile builder, seems to be relishing the return to his roots. Discussing his penchant for choosing paintings to decorate the West Wing, he said: “To me, it’s enjoyment; to other people, it’s work.”

We don’t need a f*ck*ng American Versailles.

We do need to be rid of King Donald. Whatever it takes, the criminal scum must be purged.

A ‘beautiful’ ballroom and a new Lincoln bathroom: Trump relishes remaking the White House
In an interview with NBC News, the president discussed his renovation plans for the most famous house in America. “I’m doing a lot of improvements,” he said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna221937

Fox News: MI Dems seek to prosecute mask-wearing ICE

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A Michigan Democratic effort would open up ICE agents to state prosecution if they conduct immigration enforcement operations while wearing masks that conceal their identity.

…

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, said Friday ICE’s masking-up “mirror the tactics of secret police in authoritarian regimes and strays from the norms that define legitimate local law enforcement.”

“It confuses and frightens communities,” she said. “Those who protect and serve our community should not do so behind a concealed identity.”

A banner on the dais from which Coffia announced the bill read, “Justice needs no masks.”

State Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, added his name as a co-sponsor and said in a statement when a person is unable to discern whether someone apprehending them is a government authority or not, it “shreds the rule of law.”

“That is why the Trump administration and the Republican Party are the most pro-crime administration and political party that we have ever seen,” Arbit said.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, who was one of several state prosecutors to demand Congress pass similar legislation at the federal level, also threw her support behind the bill.

“Imagine a set of circumstances where somebody might be a witness to a serious crime and that defendant has some friends go out and literally just mask up and go apprehend somebody at a courthouse,” Nessel told the Traverse City NBC affiliate.

…

Nessel also lent her name to an amicus brief this month supporting a case brought against ICE over tactics used during its raids in Los Angeles.

“When masked, heavily armed federal agents operate with no identification, they threaten public safety and erode public trust,” Nessel said in the brief.

…

MI Dems seek to prosecute mask-wearing ICE, after state instituted $500 fine for being maskless during COVID
A new Michigan bill would allow state prosecution of ICE agents wearing masks during immigration enforcement, while Republicans call it an attack on law enforcement.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mi-dems-seek-prosecute-mask-wearing-ice-after-state-instituted-500-fine-being-maskless-during-covid

Daily Mail: Trump shocks with threat he could take over sanctuary cities and arrest unruly mayors under martial law

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Donald Trump suggested he could impose martial law to take control of sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with federal immigration laws.

The president’s post to Truth Social Wednesday morning also implied that he could take action to arrest ‘insurrectionist’ mayors in those cities that uphold policies making it harder for federal immigration enforcement agents to do their jobs.

The wild suggestion came in the form of a meme that Trump reposted to his social media account.

A pro-MAGA account posted a black-and-white image of Abraham Lincoln surrounded by words meant to come from the perspective of the 16th U.S. president.

”Sanctuary City’ mayors are defying federal law,’ it reads. ‘They are insurrectionists just like the southern governors during the Civil War.’

‘President Trump should declare martial law in those cities, arrest the mayors, appoint military governors, and restore the rule of law, just like I did,’ the Lincoln-voiced meme reads.

The post came as a response to Trump’s lengthy Truth Social post made on Tuesday night demanding that the Senate confirm his ‘highly qualified judges and U.S. attorneys.’

Trump claimed that the states where his appointments are still outstanding are the ones that have the most crime and need the most help.

‘I would never be able to appoint Great Judges or U.S. Attorneys in California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Virginia, and other places, where there is, coincidentally, the highest level of crime and corruption — The places where fantastic people are most needed!’ Trump lamented of Democrat blockades.

Martial law is invoked by governments during times of extreme crisis, like war, rebellion or major disasters. It usually involves the military helping take control of civilian affairs, and limits normal legal process and other civil liberties.

In the U.S., martial law was imposed in certain areas of the country during the Civil War by President Lincoln to suppress rebellion. It was also used in Hawaii during World War II after Pearl Harbor attacks.

Many Republicans feel that the mass amounts of illegal immigration and years of open-border policies under former President Joe Biden constitute a crisis that would justify use of such extreme processes.

Trump has recently upped his war with sanctuary cities and states and their leadership.

Federal immigration agents under the Department of Homeland Security have been tasked with conducting raids in cities and states that rebuke federal laws.

Earlier this year in Los Angeles, California, violent riots broke out between pro-immigration demonstrators and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Rioters set fires, looted stores and physically assaulted agents and officers.

Other areas this year where ICE raids have been carried out – sometimes without cooperation from local authorities – were in New York City and Colorado.

Trump threatens he could take over sanctuary cities and arrest mayors
Donald Trump suggested he could impose martial law to take control of sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with federal immigration laws.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14954615/donald-trump-martial-law-sanctuary-cities-mayors-immigration.html