Tag Archives: President Donald Trump

my San Antonio: ‘Really hard’: ICE raids are disrupting award-winning Texas restaurants

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‘Everybody was hoping that it would be more like 2017’

When Adam Orman opened his first restaurant in Central Texas in 2016, a few months before President Donald Trump was first elected to his first term, everything was normal. L’Oca d’Oro began hiring new employees above the minimum wage and its food/atmosphere made it one of the best Italian spots in Austin.

Things were going so well that Orman even opened a new pizza joint, Bambino, in 2024, which also received high acclaim. But earlier this year, when Trump returned to the White House for his second term, Orman told MySA he started to see Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) activity begin to impact his business. 

“Everybody was hoping that it would be more like 2017, that it wouldn’t be as bad,” Orman told MySA. “I never heard of any raids happening at restaurants back in 2017 obviously, there was a lot happening on the border. There was a lot happening with kids with the family separations, and so it was a big conversation in Texas, but it [raids] were not as big a conversation, specifically in the hospitality industry.”

Within Trump’s first week back in January, he vowed to continue his campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration by signing dozens of executive orders, one of which called for the “immediate removal of those in the United States without legal status.” The order led to ICE conducting “enhanced targeted operations” in major U.S. cities like Austin, which prompted nationwide protests and arrests. 

“I think the big moment for the rest of the community was when they pledged to increase detentions.” Orman said. “It was from like 300 a day to 3,000 a day nationally, and we really saw what that felt like and all of a sudden now everybody was seeing detentions happening in their workplaces.”

Through social media and news coverage, Orman explained that people began to realize that detentions weren’t just happening at work, but also on the street, at traffic stops, court rooms and more. That’s when he noticed his own “employees behavior started to change.” 

“There were people who weren’t showing up for work, or if they were, they were afraid to show up for work, or they weren’t leaving the house to go food shopping, that all these normal things that just got worse,” Orman said. 

By mid-April, one of his Bambino employees who didn’t show up for work one day was detained by ICE. A few weeks later in late May, Orman posted a social media video on how mass deportations and arrests are impacting Austin’s restaurant industry. Within 24 hours of the post, another one of his L’Oca d’Oro employees was detained. 

In both cases, Orman said he was “very involved” in supporting his detained employees by writing letters as they waited weeks for court hearings and even helped raise money to pay their obligor or bond expenses. Although his L’Oca employee chose to self-deport to their home country due to their expensive $15,000 bond, Orman’s Bambino employee was released on bail but remains unable to work until their asylum application is approved. 

“It’s really hard. It’s hard for the staff that’s still here to know that this could happen to anybody on staff,” Orman said. “Both restaurants are not that big, so losing one person makes a huge difference, and then not knowing what the process is going to be once they’ve been detained, not knowing how long it’s going to take, even if they do get released, are they going to be able to come back to work?”

But Orman’s restaurants aren’t the only ones being impacted by ICE detentions. In early July, the National Restaurant Association sent a letter to Trump urging him to remove “individuals who pose a threat to national security and public safety,” partner with the association to implement workforce solutions, and consider deferred action options for “long-serving employees.”

“Today, there are more than 1 million unfilled jobs in the food service and hotel industries,” the letter reads. “Nearly one in three restaurant operators report they lack sufficient employees to meet customer demand, and 77% struggle to hire and retain staff. These shortages limit operating hours, reduce services, and strain restaurant operators and the communities they serve across the country.”

The association also wants the president to “advance long-term immigration reform with Congress to support individuals who contribute to our economy and aspire to build a better future through hard work.” In Texas, the state’s Restaurant Association Chief Public Affairs Officer Kelsey Erickson Streufert told MySA that the organization has seen several reports of immigration enforcement affecting restaurants and industries with large Hispanic populations. She added that this “fear of being caught up” with ICE is “impacting workers and consumers, many of whom are citizens or have legal work authorization.”

“For these reasons, the Texas Restaurant Association has joined the National Restaurant Association and our state restaurant association partners in echoing President Trump’s comments that we can and should do both—maintain a secure border and secure the workforce we need to protect our food supply and lower food prices for all Americans,” Streufert said in an emailed statement. “This remains a top priority for the TRA because we need commonsense worker pathways to prevent higher prices, empty tables and shelves, and more small business closures.”

Orman has been preparing for this moment even before Trump’s re-election by co-founding Good Work Austin in 2019, a coalition of bars and restaurants dedicated to providing healthy workspaces for their employees. The group has since partnered with the Texas Civil Rights Project to host virtual “Know Your Rights” seminars to help restaurant owners and employees fill out I-9 paperwork and manage recent immigration issues. 

Although the possibility of any hospitality work permit relief program for immigrants is still unclear, Orman maintained that he will continue to advocate for and protect his employees no matter what. 

“I think that that provides some sense of security, that we’re not we’re not pretending like everything’s aright and that we are as prepared as we as we can be, and that when something bad does happen to one of our employees, that we’re going to do everything we can to support them and get them out of detention, get them back to their families and get them back to work.”

‘Really hard’: ICE raids are disrupting award-winning Texas restaurants

https://www.mysanantonio.com/food/article/austin-restaurant-ice-raids-20789546.php

Sacremento Bee: Judge Delivers Blow to New Detention Center

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District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz has ordered Florida officials to submit all contracts and agreements regarding the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center. The order followed a civil rights lawsuit alleging constitutional violations against detainees, and aims to clarify legal authority and oversight at the facility. Immigration attorneys claimed detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz” are held without charges, denied legal access, and have had bond hearings canceled.

Ruiz stated, “Federal and state officials in Florida must produce agreements showing which government agency or private contractor has legal authority to detain people or perform immigration officer roles at ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ the immigration detention facility in the Everglades.”

Ruiz added, “Officials must provide by Thursday all written agreements and contracts showing who has legal custody of the hundreds of detainees at the facility that was hastily constructed more than a month ago on an isolated airstrip in South Florida’s Everglades wilderness.”

…

The facility’s oversight has been unclear since its July opening. The Archdiocese of Miami has confirmed it conducted the first Mass at the detention center following negotiations for pastoral care for the detainees.

Ruiz stated, “We need to get to the bottom of the interplay between the federal and state authorities on who’s running this thing.”

Judge Delivers Blow to New Detention Center
More for You

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/judge-delivers-blow-to-new-detention-center/ss-AA1Kdyyu

San Francisco Chronicle: San Jose Spotlight: Ice Fears Keep San Jose Students Away From School

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It’s been a rocky year for San Jose students due to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policy.

Students have dropped out of summer and afterschool enrichment programs, opting to stay home in fear of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detaining their family and friends, according to people working in San Jose school districts.

In January, schools across Santa Clara County experienced an average drop in attendance of 5,000 students, and the number doubled to 10,000 in February, according to Santa Clara County Office of Education Trustee Jorge Pacheco Jr. It’s unclear if attendance remained down or if it picked back up in the following months, as he said he doesn’t have data after February.

“This fear has been causing significant trauma that has been preventing children from learning and reaching their socio-emotional and academic milestones,” Pacheco Jr. told San Jose Spotlight.

Pacheco Jr. represents Area 4, which includes a majority portion of San Jose Unified School District, a portion of Oak Grove School District and a portion of East Side Union High School District.

The county has one of the highest concentrations of immigrant families in California, where about 60% of students have at least one immigrant parent, or more than 165,000 people. The impact of ICE activity on students has been far-reaching, Pacheco said.

“We all know that when students miss 10% or more of school, they are less likely to be at grade level, graduate from high school or even attend college,” he said.

One youth mentorship program, ConXion to Community, has seen a 30% drop in student participation this summer. The nonprofit serves marginalized communities by providing tutoring, leadership development and enrichment opportunities.

Mabel Aburto, director of youth programs for the nonprofit, said she fears students who are already struggling with school will fall further behind. They operate in three schools: Overfelt and Yerba Buena high schools and Bridges Academy.

“Since January, we noticed the decline in grades, the decline in focusing,” Aburto told San Jose Spotlight. “They are not focusing on how to achieve their potential. They are focusing on surviving.”

During President Donald Trump’s previous term in office, attendance in the programs dipped slightly at first, but students came back. This time, Aburto said the number of students choosing to skip school enrichment programs is unprecedented. A group of six students pulled out of one of the group’s summer programs after ICE detained their friend’s parents.

Program mentors have pivoted to educating the youth on what they can do when they hear about or encounter ICE and helping them create a safety plan in case someone in their family is detained. Even though mentors have assured students they’re in a safe place and no strangers are allowed to enter the building, Aburto said their hands are tied — there’s only so much they can do to comfort students outside the classroom.

“At this point, there is no way that we can guarantee the youths’ safety,” she said. “There is not much that I think any organization right now can do.”

Not all school districts have experienced a drop in attendance, though fear and stress of families being deported has been palpable throughout.

East Side Union High School District Trustee J. Manuel Herrera said regular school attendance has not been affected significantly by ICE agents. During the 2024-25 school year, an average of more than 92% of the district’s 20,000 students enrolled were present each day, a slight increase from last year.

“The impact goes beyond school attendance,” Herrera told San Jose Spotlight. “The impact has manifested itself in students and families feeling stressed, fearful and worried.”

In response to the deportations, the county has set up training for school workers on how to respond to immigration enforcement agents and organized legal clinics at Alum Rock Union School District, Mount Pleasant Elementary School District and Santa Clara Unified School District. Pacheco Jr. said anyone who wants more information about the legal clinics can contact John Sweeney, senior legislative and policy analyst with the Santa Clara County Office of Education, at jsweeney@sccoe.org.

San Jose Spotlight: Ice Fears Keep San Jose Students Away From School

https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/san-jose-spotlight-ice-fears-keep-san-jose-20807558.php

Daily Beast: Hegseth Posts Video of Pastor Saying Women Shouldn’t Vote

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The evangelical leader says in the clip that the America where gay sex was outlawed was “not a totalitarian hellhole.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reposted a video that features the leader of the Christian evangelical movement he follows calling to make gay sex illegal.

The segment from CNN focused on Doug Wilson, co-founder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC).

“In the late ’70s and early ’80s, sodomy was a felony in all 50 states,” Wilson says in the clip. “That America of that day was not a totalitarian hellhole.”

He adds that he wishes America would bring back those laws, which made sex between people of the same sex illegal. In fact, sodomy was a felony punishable by imprisonment or hard labor in every state until 1962, when Illinois became the first state to remove criminal penalties for consensual sodomy. The Supreme Court invalidated bans on gay sex in its 2003 ruling, Lawrence v Texas.

At other points in the video, Wilson says that some American slave owners were “decent human beings” and suggests that women should focus on having and raising children.

“Women are the kind of people that people come out of,” Wilson says.

The video also features a female congregation member saying that she “submits” to her husband and a pastor from the movement calling to repeal the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

“All of Christ for All of Life,” Hegseth wrote alongside the clip. The CNN report noted that Hegseth has publicly declared his support for Wilson in the past.

Asked for comment, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told the Daily Beast that Hegseth is a “proud” member of a church associated with CREC and “very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”

During the nomination process for defense secretary, Hegseth’s past comments arguing that women should not be allowed to serve in military combat roles resurfaced as a source of controversy.

Hegseth walked back the comments after it became clear that they might impede his nomination. He was eventually confirmed with a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President JD Vance.

Since taking over the Pentagon, Hegseth has instituted more stringent fitness standards for women, and removed at least five senior female military officials from leadership roles.

In May, Hegseth sparked controversy when he brought his personal pastor, Brooks Potteiger, to the Pentagon to lead a monthly prayer circle. The pastor praised President Donald Trump as divinely appointed.

Hegseth, despite being a devout Christian, was rocked by reports during the nomination process detailing his repeated infidelity during his first marriage. He has been married three times.

Hegseth also has several controversial pro-Christian tattoos, including one that has been criticized as anti-Muslim, and others that allude to the Crusades.

Pete Hegseth Posts Video of Pastor Calling for Gay Sex Ban
The evangelical leader says in the clip that the America where gay sex was outlawed was “not a totalitarian hellhole.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pete-hegseth-posts-video-of-pastor-saying-women-shouldnt-vote

NPR: Trump signs an executive order to make it easier to remove homeless people from streets

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Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Trump has signed an executive order that seeks to overhaul the way the U.S. manages homelessness.

The order signed Thursday calls for changes to make it easier for states and cities to remove outdoor encampments and get people into mental health or addiction treatment. That includes involuntary civil commitment for those “who are a risk to themselves or others.”

“Endemic vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks have made our cities unsafe,” the order states.

Critics decry the shift toward pushing people into treatment

The White House action also seeks to shift federal funding away from longtime policies that sought to get homeless people into housing first, and then offer treatment. Instead, it calls for prioritizing money for programs that require sobriety and treatment, and for cities that enforce homeless camping bans.

It also directs the departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation to assess federal grant programs and prioritize places that actively crack down on illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting “to the maximum extent permitted by law.”

Critics said the sweeping action does nothing to solve homelessness, and could make it worse.

“This executive order is forcing people to choose between compassionate data driven approaches like housing, or treating it like a crime to have a mental illness or be homeless,” said Jesse Rabinowitz with the National Homelessness Law Center.

“Institutionalizing people with mental illness, including those experiencing homelessness, is not a dignified, safe, or evidence-based way to serve people’s needs,” Ann Oliva with the National Alliance to End Homelessness said in a statement.

Trump’s order also calls on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to defund addiction programs that include “harm reduction.” This is certain to disrupt frontline health care programs that work to reduce overdoses from fentanyl and other street drugs.

Addiction experts consider harm reduction, including programs that provide clean needles and other paraphernalia, to be an essential part of helping people survive addiction. Trump’s order repeats the claim that such programs encourage drug use, an argument disproven by years of research, including by federal scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thursday’s White House action builds on a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year that said cities can punish people for sleeping outside even if they have nowhere else to go. Since the high court ruling, well over 100 cities across more than two dozen states have passed or strengthened bans on homeless camping. More may now feel pressure to do so if that makes it easier to get federal funding.

The order reflects a conservative backlash to federal policies

For two decades there was bipartisan support for getting people off the streets and into housing first, then offering them mental health or addiction treatment. Supporters say that approach has a proven track record of keeping people off the streets. And they say a massive shortage of affordable housing is a key driver of homelessness.

But there’s been a growing conservative backlash to that as homelessness rates have steadily risen to record levels. The annual count of homeless people in the U.S. last year showed more than 770,000 people living in shelters or outside, up 18% from the year before.

“This is a huge step,” said Devon Kurtz with the conservative Cicero Institute, which has been lobbying for many of the items in the order.

He contends that the housing first strategy made homelessness worse by not doing enough for those who need treatment. Trump’s order calls for ending support for Housing First policies that don’t promote “treatment, recovery, and self-sufficiency.”

“This is really that crucial safety net at the bottom to make sure that [homeless people] don’t continue to fall through the cracks and die on the street,” Kurtz says.

The conservative agenda Project 2025 also called for ending housing first. Earlier this year, the Trump administration gutted the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness — the small agency that had coordinated homeless policy across the government and had been an advocate for housing first policies.

At the end of day, it’s called “freedom”. You can’t force people who are homeless by choice not to be homeless, nor can you involuntarily commit them to mental institutions so as to get them off the streets.

Trump signs an executive order to make it easier to remove homeless people from streets
The White House directive calls for prioritizing money for programs that require sobriety and treatment, and for cities that enforce homeless camping bans.

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/24/nx-s1-5479139/trump-homelessness-executive-order-civil-commitment-camping

Another article here::

Trump signs executive order to remove homeless people

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-signs-executive-order-to-remove-homeless-people/ss-AA1KbHvb

LA Times: Lopez: ‘Silence is violence’: Teachers, retirees, first-time activists stand up to immigration raids

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“Thank you so much for showing up this morning,” Sharon Nicholls said into a megaphone at 8 a.m. Wednesday outside a Home Depot in Pasadena.

As of Friday afternoon, no federal agents had raided the store on East Walnut Street. But the citizen brigade that stands watch outside and patrols the parking lot in search of ICE agents has not let down its guard—especially not after raids at three other Home Depots in recent days despite federal court rulings limiting sweeps. On Friday, a Home Depot in Van Nuys was raided twice before noon.

About two dozen people gathered Wednesday near the tent that serves as headquarters of the East Pasadena Community Defense Center. Another dozen or so would be arriving over the next half hour, some carrying signs.

“Silence is Violence”

“Migrants Don’t Party With Epstein”

Cynthia Lunine, 70, carried a large sign that read “Break His Dark Spell” and included a sinister image of President Trump. She said she was new to political activism, but added: “You can’t not be an activist. If you’re an American, it’s the only option. The immigration issue is absolutely inhumane, it’s un-Christian, and it’s intolerable.”

There are local supporters, for sure, of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Activists told me there aren’t many days in which they don’t field shouted profanities or pro-Trump cheers from Home Depot shoppers.

But the administration’s blather about a focus on violent offenders led to huge demonstrations in greater Los Angeles beginning in June, and the cause continues to draw people into the streets. Not all day laborers are undocumented, one Pasadena protester told me, and the taxpayer-funded use of federal forces to arrest people looking for work is offensive.

Dayena Campbell, 35, is a volunteer at Community Defense Corner operations in other parts of Pasadena, a movement that followed high-profile raids and was covered in the Colorado Boulevard newspaper and, later, in the New York Times. A fulltime student who works in sales, Campbell was also cruising the parking lot at the Home Depot on the east side of Pasadena in search of federal agents.

She thought this Home Depot needed its own Community Defense Corner, so she started one about a month ago. She and her cohort have more than once spotted agents in the area and alerted day laborers. About half have scattered, she said, and half have held firm despite the risk.

When I asked what motivated Campbell, she said:

“Inhumane, illegal kidnappings. Lack of due process. Actions taken without anyone being held accountable. Seeing people’s lives ripped apart. Seeing families being destroyed in the blink of an eye.”

Anywhere from a handful to a dozen volunteers show up daily to to hand out literature, patrol the parking lot and check in on day laborers, sometimes bringing them food. Once a week, Nicholls helps organize a rally that includes a march through the parking lot and into the store, where the protesters present a letter asking Home Depot management to “say no to ICE in their parking lot and in their store.”

Nicholls is an LAUSD teacher-librarian, and when she asks for support each week, working and retired teachers answer the call.

“I’m yelling my lungs out,” said retired teacher Mary Rose O’Leary, who joined in the chants of “ICE out of Home Depot” and “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.”

“Immigrants are what make this city what it is … and the path to legal immigration is closed to everybody who doesn’t have what, $5 million or something?” O’Leary said, adding that she was motivated by “the Christian ideal of welcoming the stranger.”

Retired teacher Dan Murphy speaks Spanish and regularly checks in with day laborers.

“One guy said to me, ‘We’re just here to work.’ Some of the guys were like, ‘We’re not criminals … we’re just here … to make money and get by,’” Murphy said. He called the raids a flexing of “the violent arm of what autocracy can bring,” and he resents Trump’s focus on Southern California.

“I take it personally. I’m white, but these are my people. California is my people. And it bothers me what might happen in this country if people don’t stand firm … I just said, ‘I gotta do something.’ I’m doing this now so I don’t hate myself later.”

Nicholls told me she was an activist many years ago, and then turned her focus to work and raising a family. But the combination of wildfires, the cleanup and rebuilding, and the raids, brought her out of activism retirement.

“The first people to come out after the firefighters—the second-responders—were day laborers cleaning the streets,” Nicholls said. “You’d see them in orange shirts all over the city, cleaning up.”

The East Pasadena Home Depot is “an important store,” because it’s a supply center for the rebuilding of Altadena, “and we’re going out there to show our love and solidarity for our neighbors,” Nicholls said. To strike the fear of deportation in the hearts of workers, she said, is “inhumane, and to me, it’s morally wrong.”

Nicholls had a quick response when I asked what she thinks of those who say illegal is illegal, so what’s left to discuss?

“That blocks the complexity of the conversation,” she said, and doesn’t take into account the hunger and violence that drive migration. Her husband, she said, left El Salvador 35 years ago during a war funded in part by the U.S.

They have family members with legal status and some who are undocumented and afraid to leave their homes, Nicholls said. I mentioned that I had written about Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, who was undocumented as a child, and has kept his passport handy since the raids began. In that column, I quoted Gordo’s friend, immigrant-rights leader Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

“Full disclosure,” Nicholls said, “[Alvarado] is my husband.”

It was news to me.

When the raids began, Nicholls said, she told her husband, “I have the summer off, sweetie, but I want to help, and I’m going to call my friends.”

On Wednesday, after Nicholls welcomed demonstrators, Alvarado showed up for a pep talk.

“I have lived in this country since 1990 … and I love it as much as I love the small village where I came from in El Salvador,” Alvarado said. “Some people may say that we are going into fascism, into authoritarianism, and I would say that we are already there.”

He offered details of a raid that morning at a Home Depot in Westlake and said the question is not whether the Pasadena store will be raided, but when. This country readily accepts the labor of immigrants but it does not respect their humanity, Alvarado said.

“When humble people are attacked,” he said, “we are here to bear witness.”

Nicholls led demonstrators through the parking lot and into the store, where she read aloud the letter asking Home Depot to take a stand against raids.

Outside, where it was hot and steamy by mid-morning, several sun-blasted day laborers said they appreciated the support. But they were still fearful, and desperate for work.

Jorge, just shy of 70, practically begged me to take his phone number.

Whatever work I might have, he said, please call.

Commentary: ‘Silence is violence’: Teachers, retirees, first-time activists stand up to immigration raids
‘You can’t not be an activist’ in the face of continued raids on working immigrants. ‘If you’re an American, it’s the only option’

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-09/teachers-retirees-first-time-activists-standing-up-to-immigrationraids-because-silence-is-violence

Associated Press: Whitmer told Trump in private that Michigan auto jobs depend on a tariff change of course

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met privately in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump to make a case he did not want to hear: the automotive industry he said he wants to save were being hurt by his tariffs.

The Democrat came with a slide deck to make her points in a visual presentation. Just getting the meeting Tuesday with the Republican president was an achievement for someone viewed as a contender for her party’s White House nomination in 2028.

Whitmer’s strategy for dealing with Trump highlights the conundrum for her and other Democratic leaders as they try to protect the interests of their states while voicing their opposition to his agenda. It’s a dynamic that Whitmer has navigated much differently from many other Democratic governors.

The fact that Whitmer had “an opening to make direct appeals” in private to Trump was unique in this political moment, said Matt Grossman, a Michigan State University politics professor.

It was her third meeting with Trump at the White House since he took office in January. This one, however, was far less public than the time in April when Whitmer was unwittingly part of an impromptu news conference that embarrassed her so much she covered her face with a folder.

On Tuesday, she told the president that the economic damage from the tariffs could be severe in Michigan, a state that helped deliver him the White House in 2024. Whitmer also brought up federal support for recovery efforts after an ice storm and sought to delay changes to Medicaid.

Trump offered no specific commitments, according to people familiar with the private conversation who were not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity to describe it.

Whitmer is hardly the only one sounding the warning of the potentially damaging consequences, including factory job losses, lower profits and coming price increases, of the import taxes that Trump has said will be the economic salvation for American manufacturing.

And the odds that King Donald will actually give due consideration to intelligent advice from a Democrat — not to mention a female Democrat — are … zero?

Whitmer told Trump in private that Michigan auto jobs depend on a tariff change of course
Michigan’s governor met privately with President Donald Trump to urge him to change course on tariffs that are having a big impact on automakers in her state.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-whitmer-michigan-tariffs-auto-industry-c14e8791aa880643bddcdf9ea5372dca

Guardian: IRS commissioner’s removal reportedly over clash on undocumented immigrant data

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Trump removed Billy Long from post months after agency said it couldn’t release information on some taxpayers

The removal of the Internal Revenue Service commissioner Billy Long after just two months in the post came after the federal tax collection agency said it could not release some information on taxpayers suspected of being in the US illegally, it was reported on Saturday.

The IRS and the White House had clashed over using tax data to help locate suspected undocumented immigrants soon before Long was dismissed by the administration, according to the Washington Post.

Long’s dismissal came less than two months after he was confirmed, making his service as Senate-confirmed IRS commissioner the briefest in the agency’s 163-year history. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent will serve as acting commissioner, making him the agency’s seventh leader this year.

The outlet reported the Department of Homeland Security had sent the IRS a list of 40,000 names on Thursday that it suspects of being in the country illegally. DHS asked the tax service to crosscheck confidential taxpayer data to verify their addresses.

The IRS reportedly responded that it was able to verify fewer than 3% of the names on the DHS list, and mostly names that came with an individual taxpayer identification, or ITIN number, provided by DHS.

Administration officials then requested information on the taxpayers the IRS identified, which the service declined to do, citing taxpayer privacy rights.

The White House has identified the IRS as a component of its crackdown on illegal immigration and hopes that the tax agency help locate as many as 7 million people in the US without authorization. In April, homeland security struck a data sharing agreement with the treasury department – which oversees the IRS.

But Long appears to have resisted acting on that agreement, saying the IRS would not hand over confidential taxpayer information outside its statutory obligation to the treasury.

Related: Trump removes IRS commissioner Billy Long two months after he was sworn in

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson rejected the notion that the IRS was not in harmony with administration priorities.

“Any absurd assertion other than everyone being aligned on the mission is simply false and totally fake news,” Johnson told the Post. “The Trump administration is working in lockstep to eliminate information silos and to prevent illegal aliens from taking advantage of benefits meant for hardworking American taxpayers,” she addedIn fact, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7bn in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, including $59.4bn to the federal government, helping to fund social security and Medicare, despite being excluded from most benefits, according to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy thinktank.

DHS told the Post that its agreement with IRS “outlines a process to ensure that sensitive taxpayer information is protected, while allowing law enforcement to effectively pursue criminal violations”.

Pressure on federal agencies to conform to administration priorities has also led to pressures on the Census Bureau to conduct a mid-decade population review as well as the firing of Bureau of Labor head last week after it published a unfavorable job report.

After being dismissed on Friday, Long, a former six-term Missouri congressman, said that he would be the new US ambassador to Iceland.

“It is a honor to serve my friend President Trump and I am excited to take on my new role as the ambassador to Iceland,” Long said in post on X. “I am thrilled to answer his call to service and deeply committed to advancing his bold agenda. Exciting times ahead!”

He followed that up with a more humorous entry that referred to former TV Superman actor Dean Cain’s decision, at 59, to join to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency.

“I saw where Former Superman actor Dean Cain says he’s joining ICE so I got all fired up and thought I’d do the same. So I called @realDonaldTrump last night and told him I wanted to join ICE and I guess he thought I said Iceland? Oh well.”

IRS commissioner’s removal reportedly over clash on undocumented immigrant data
Trump removed Billy Long from post months after agency said it couldn’t release information on some taxpayers

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/09/billy-long-irs-removal-immigrant-data-trump

Washington Post: Laura Loomer knocks Medal of Honor recipient in new attack on Army

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The unofficial adviser to President Donald Trump chastised Army Secretary Dan Driscoll over a social media post recognizing Florent Groberg, a decorated soldier who backed Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Far-right political activist Laura Loomer has opened an extraordinary new line of attack on the Pentagon, sharply criticizing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for allowing the service to acknowledge the battlefield valor of Medal of Honor recipient Florent Groberg, who suffered catastrophic injuries saving the lives of fellow soldiers targeted by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

Loomer, writing on social media, questioned why the Army had spotlighted Groberg in a recent post marking the incident’s anniversary. Groberg, she suggested, was undeserving of such recognition because he delivered remarks, as a private citizen, at the 2016 Democratic National Convention and was not “US born.”

“There are probably so many people who the Army could honor who have received the Medal of Honor,” Loomer, a provocateur who, unofficially, has advised President Donald Trump on personnel matters, wrote in her post on X. “But who did the Army choose to honor instead on their social media page under the Trump admin?” Under Driscoll, she continued, “there have been several instances of either him, or the Army promoting anti-Trump Leftists on their official social media channels.”

The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest recognition for combat valor, and the Defense Department has long celebrated the courage and sacrifice demonstrated by the award’s recipients, putting Loomer’s criticism deeply at odds with one of the more sacrosanct aspects of American military culture. Yet given her considerable influence and frequent visits with Trump — she has taken credit for the administration’s ouster of several appointees whom she branded insufficiently loyal — Loomer’s broadside late Friday night appears certain to force an uncomfortable discussion at the Pentagon and, potentially, within the White House.

Spokespeople for Driscoll and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, both Army veterans like Groberg, did not respond to requests for comment. The White House also did not respond.

An Army official, speaking on the condition of anonymity citing the issue’s sensitivity, said Groberg is a “national hero” and one in a long series of soldiers who will be featured online by the service this year as it celebrates its 250th birthday. Loomer’s attack, the official said, is “despicable.”

“The Army is not going to check the political affiliation of our soldiers before we recognize them,” the official said. “A man or woman serving is not a Democrat or Republican, they are an American. Their political affiliation has nothing to do with their service.”

Loomer’s swipe at Driscoll and Groberg coincided with the anniversary of the suicide bombing on Aug. 8, 2012, that claimed the lives of four men: Army Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, 45; Army Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, 35; Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, 38; and Foreign Service officer Ragaei Abdelfattah, 43. Groberg, then 29, shoved the attacker away moments before the explosives detonated, preventing far greater carnage. He suffered life-altering injuries to his left leg, and several other soldiers were wounded.

Groberg declined an interview request but voiced amazement online at Loomer’s criticism.

“Thirteen years ago today is my Alive Day, the day I nearly lost my life, and four of my brothers, including three Army leaders, never came home,” he wrote. “I’ve served under presidents from both parties and will always honor my oath to this country. Yes, I spoke for 60 seconds at the DNC when asked about service and sacrifice, not politics. For me, 8/8 isn’t about parties. It’s about the lives we lost.”

During his convention speech, Groberg said he was not speaking as a Republican or a Democrat, but as a “proud immigrant to this country, a proud veteran of the United States Army, and a proud recipient of our nation’s highest military honor.” Groberg, who was born in France and later became a U.S. citizen, recognized his fellow service members who were killed during the attack. He said, too, that when Hillary Clinton’s moment arrived, she would be “ready to serve, ready to lead and ready to defend you.” Trump defeated Clinton in the election that November.

Groberg, asked previously about his decision to appear at the Democratic convention, said he informed organizers he is a Republican.

“I saw an opportunity for me to go in, not as a Republican, not as a Democrat, not as a political figure, but as a veteran. As an immigrant. As an American,” he told The Washington Post in 2016. He said then that he had a “God-given right” to share who he would be voting for, and that he did not judge anyone who voted for Trump.

“I made a choice,” he said. “I stood up. I knew I would take the heat. But guess what? I still go to sleep at night like a baby. I’m okay with it.”

In an interview Saturday, Loomer defended her criticism of Driscoll and Groberg, telling The Post that no one from the White House or Hegseth’s office had contacted her and asked her to take down her posts. She said the Army’s choice to recognize Groberg was ideologically at odds with the Trump administration.

“It is very important that the secretary of the Army does not push out Democratic propaganda,” Loomer said. She added that people can take her criticism “however they want. I just laid out the facts,” and said she thought she had been respectful.

“Well,” she said, “I said, ‘Thank you for your service.’”

Hegseth’s silence, in particular, is notable. Unlike other defense secretaries, he’s been extremely active on social media and quick to publicly rebut perceived critics or slights. He also has repeatedly called for a return of what he calls the “warrior ethos” to the Pentagon, celebrating those who prepare for combat and serve with distinction in it.

He and Loomer spoke privately in recent weeks, Hegseth’s spokesman, Sean Parnell, told CNN recently. The conversation came as she has turned her attention to perceived disloyalty to Trump within the Defense Department.

Driscoll’s name has surfaced as a possible replacement for Hegseth if the defense secretary were to leave the Cabinet post. Hegseth has faced frequent questions about his longtime viability in the role amid allegations of mismanagement and infighting on his team at the Pentagon, but he has retained the president’s support.

Loomer said the social media post about Groberg marks at least the third time this year that the Army has highlighted people who have opposed Trump. She cited Driscoll’s show of gratitude to Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Virginia) for attending the Army’s 250th birthday celebration. Vindman, a retired Army officer, was a central figure in Trump’s first impeachment.

Loomer also noted the Army’s announcement that retired Army officer Jennifer Easterly, who served in the Biden administration as the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, would join the faculty at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Driscoll revoked Easterly’s appointment last month, after Loomer and other critics panned the decision, and said he would direct a review of West Point hiring practices.

Others who have served under Trump defended Groberg and questioned Loomer’s understanding of the military’s nonpartisan culture.

“One of the first things my drill sergeant told us at Army Basic Training in 1983 was, ‘You all bleed Army green now — no one cares about the color of your skin, where you came from, or what religion you are,’” Chris Miller, who served as acting defense secretary during the first Trump administration, said in a text message. “He didn’t have to add, ‘or your political affiliation’ because it was taken for granted that our oath was to the Constitution and not any political party or person.”

Miller added: “To have an agent provocateur, seemingly lacking any understanding of the appropriate role of the military in America’s constitutional republic, cast aspersions on Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll’s righteous effort to honor the courage and sacrifice of all Army Medal of Honor recipients is an abomination and disreputable.”

Robert Wilkie, who served as Veterans Affairs secretary during the first Trump administration, said in a statement to The Post that the Medal of Honor “knows no political affiliation.”

“I am a Trump supporter and I am the son of a distinguished combat officer,” Wilkie said. “My service was modest. I was raised to believe that that medal is sacred. No matter what the holder believes or where he came from, he is worthy of the respect and thanks of all Americans.”

Dakota Meyer, a Medal of Honor recipient and friend of several Trump administration appointees, called Loomer out in a social media post of his own on Saturday. While the medal is apolitical, he said, a person wearing it does not have to be.

“If anyone has earned the right to free speech or to have an opinion it’s a man who threw himself in front of a suicide bomber to save lives,” Meyer wrote to Loomer. “What have you done?”

During the first Trump administration, Groberg visited the White House multiple times for ceremonies recognizing other service members who received the Medal of Honor. Trump thanked him directly for attending, according to transcripts from those events.

During the Biden administration, Groberg was appointed to the American Battle Monuments Commission, an independent agency that oversees U.S. military cemeteries and monuments overseas. He has often voiced a need for Americans to stand together and remember U.S. troops killed in combat. Groberg has been retained by the Trump administration on the commission, according to its website.

Groberg also visited the Pentagon recently and met with Hegseth in his office. Groberg, whonow works at an aerospace investment firm, voiced appreciation for the opportunity on LinkedIn.

“Honored to meet with the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth this week for a meaningful conversation about strengthening our defense industrial base and our troops,” Groberg said. “We discussed the importance of competition, resilience, and innovation across the national security ecosystem. Grateful for the time, leadership, and shared commitment to building a more agile and prepared force.”

When some criticized Groberg’s decision to meet with Hegseth, the Medal of Honor recipient defended his choice and said that it appeared Hegseth has veterans’ best interests at heart.

Pathetic partisan bitch!!!

Laura Loomer knocks Medal of Honor recipient in new attack on Army
An unofficial adviser to President Trump, Loomer chastised Army Secretary Dan Driscoll over a social media post recognizing the combat actions of Florent Groberg.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/09/laura-loomer-florent-groberg-dan-driscoll

Newsweek: Trump administration suffers double legal blow within hours

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The Trump administration suffered two legal defeats within hours on Friday.

A judge in California ordered the release of a Syrian national it has been seeking to deport while a federal Rhode Island judge blocked the imposition of new conditions on domestic violence programs as part of the president’s campaign against “gender ideology.”

Details of both cases were shared on X by Kyle Cheney, senior legal affairs reporter for Politico.

Newsweek contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice for comment on Saturday outside of regular office hours via email and press inquiry form respectively.

Why It Matters

With Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress as well as the White House the courts have emerged as one of the main impediments to Trump administration policy.

The administration has suffered a number of prominent legal defeats including courts striking down punitive measures introduced by Trump against law firms involved in proceedings against him, blocking a bid to strip thousands of Haitian migrants of legal protection and removing sanctions aimed at International Criminal Court employees.

Release of Salam Maklad

U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Thurston, of the Eastern District of California, on Friday instructed the release of Salam Maklad, a Syrian from the Druze religious minority who arrived in the United States in 2002 without valid entry documents and claimed asylum, according to court documents seen by Newsweek.

Maklad went on to marry a man who was granted asylum, which her legal team argued made her eligible for legal immigration status.

On July 9, Maklad was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers after arriving for what she believed was a routine “check-in” meeting and subsequently placed in “expedited removal proceedings” seeking to deport her from the U.S.

Thurston noted that Maklad had no criminal history and wasn’t considered a flight risk, and concluded that “the balance of the equities and public interest weigh in favor of Ms. Maklad.” Consequently she ordered her release from custody and said authorities are blocked from rearresting her “absent compliance with constitutional protections, which
include at a minimum, pre-deprivation notice—describing the change of circumstances necessitating her arrest—and detention, and a timely bond hearing.”

Domestic Violence Funding

Friday also saw Senior District Judge William Smith of Rhode Island rule the Trump administration couldn’t impose fresh conditions on funds granted by the Violence Against Women Act due to the president’s Executive Order 14168 titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

This funding is distributed by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women.

Trump’s order stated that sex is a person’s “immutable biological classification as male or female,” and that the federal government should “prioritize investigations and litigation to enforce the rights and freedoms” associated with this position.

The Office on Violence Against Women updated its policy on what constitutes “out of scope activities,” and therefore should not be funded by its grants, after this order was issued in “approximately May 2025,” according to the court filing.

This added spending on “inculcating or promoting gender ideology as defined
in Executive Order 14168″ to the prohibited list.

The case was brought by a coalition of 17 nonprofit groups which argued adhering to President Trump’s position on gender was impeding their ability to assist victims of domestic violence.

Judge Smith backed the coalition’s position concluding that the fresh requirements imposed by the Trump administration “could result in the disruption” of services for victims of domestic and sexual violence.

What People Are Saying

In the California case Judge Thurston ruled: “Respondents are PERMANENTLY ENJOINED AND RESTRAINED from re[1]arresting or re-detaining Ms. Maklad absent compliance with constitutional protections, which include at a minimum, pre-deprivation notice—describing the change of circumstances necessitating her arrest—and detention, and a timely bond hearing.

“At any such hearing, the Government SHALL bear the burden of establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, that Ms. Maklad poses a danger to the community or a risk of flight, and Ms. Maklad SHALL be allowed to have her counsel present.”

In his ruling Judge Smith wrote: “On the one hand, if the Court does not grant preliminary relief, then the Coalitions will face real and immediate irreparable harm from the challenged conditions, conditions which the Court has already concluded likely violate the APA.

“This could result in the disruption of important and, in some cases, life[1]saving services to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. On the other hand, if the Court grants preliminary relief, then the Office will simply have to consider grant applications and award funding as it normally does.”

What’s Next

It remains to be seen whether the Trump’s administration will seek to appeal either of Friday’s rulings.

Trump administration suffers double legal blow within hours
The courts have developed into one of the main impediments of Trump administration policy.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-suffers-double-legal-blow-within-hours-2111192