
US conservative group files complaint against LA Dodgers over DEI efforts
America First Legal filed the complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission this week. The group was co-founded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a close aide to President Donald Trump.
America First is asking the commission to look into the alleged illegal discrimination under the guise of efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.
It says some groups within the Dodgers organization appear to provide benefits to employees based on their racial and ethnic identity and sex.
America First also claims the Dodgers are publicly opposing federal efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
The Dodgers have not commented on the complaint.
In January, Trump signed an executive order to terminate his predecessor's programs promoting DEI, and close offices running them. An increasing number of businesses in the United States have since been reviewing their DEI promotion.
US media outlets say America First Legal has repeatedly targeted large businesses over their DEI programs, with the Dodgers becoming the latest example.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrested by U.S. immigration officers
Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been arrested by U.S. immigration officers and faces deportation from the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday. Chavez, a former world champion and the son of legendary Mexican fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Los Angeles on Wednesday after authorities determined that he was in the country illegally, Homeland Security said in a statement. Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the 39-year-old fighter has "an active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition and explosives." The Mexican public prosecutor's office said in a statement later Thursday that Mexico had issued an arrest warrant for Chavez in 2023 "for organized crime and arms trafficking." U.S. authorities informed Mexico that they have begun the procedure to send him home. Homeland Security said Chavez is believed to have ties to the Sinaloa cartel, one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States. Chavez's arrest comes days after his lopsided loss to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a cruiserweight bout before a sellout crowd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Michael A. Goldstein, a lawyer for Chavez, told the Los Angeles Times that Chavez "was detained outside of his residence by 25 or more ICE and other law enforcement agents." "They blocked off his street and took him into custody, leaving his family without any knowledge of his whereabouts," Goldstein said. "The current allegations are outrageous and appear to be designed as a headline to terrorize the community." Homeland Security said Chavez had entered the United States legally in 2023 on a tourist visa that was valid until February 2024. In April last year, he applied for permanent residency based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen "who is connected to the Sinaloa cartel through a prior relationship with the now-deceased son of the infamous cartel leader Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman." Homeland Security also said that in addition to the active warrant in Mexico, Chavez had criminal convictions in the United States, including on weapons charges in 2024 in Los Angeles. According to the statement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told ICE that Chavez posed "an egregious public safety threat." Donald Trump campaigned for president by promising to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the United States, and he has taken a number of actions aimed at speeding up deportations and reducing border crossings. Authorities accused the administration of Trump's predecessor Joe Biden of not making Chavez an "immigration enforcement priority." Chavez was allowed to reenter the United States on January 4, 2025 at the San Ysidro port of entry, Homeland Security said — while Biden was still in the White House. In a statement posted on the X account of Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., the Chavez family expressed support for Chavez Jr. "Our family is deeply dismayed by the situation," the statement said. "In these difficult times, we reiterate our full and unconditional support for Julio. "We fully trust in his innocence and his humanity, as well as in the justice institutions in both Mexico and the United States, in which we place our hope that this situation will be clarified according to the law and truth." Chavez Jr. won the WBC middleweight world title in 2011 and successfully defended it three times. He owns a record of 54-7 with one draw, but his career has also included multiple suspensions and fines for failed drug tests. Two weeks before his bout with Paul, Chavez held a public workout in California where he told the Los Angeles Times that one of his trainers had skipped the session because of fears raised by immigration arrests. "I don't understand the situation why so much violence?" he told the newspaper. "There are a lot of good people, and you're giving the community an example of violence. "After everything that's happened, I wouldn't want to be deported," he said.


Japan Times
3 hours ago
- Japan Times
Trump deals poised to fall short of sweeping global trade reform
With just 10 days to go until President Donald Trump's country-specific tariffs are set to resume, the White House appears poised to fall short of the sweeping global trade reforms it promised to achieve during the three months they were on hold. Agreements with as many as a dozen of the U.S.' largest trading partners are expected to be completed by the July 9 deadline, top Trump advisers said this week. But if Trump's only two other accords, with China and the U.K., offer any indication, the pacts likely won't be fulsome deals that resolve core issues, but instead will address a limited set of topics and leave many specifics to be negotiated later. "I would expect the White House will announce some number of frameworks that it's going to call trade deals, but do not meet anyone's ordinary understanding of that term,' said Tim Meyer, a professor at Duke University law school who specializes in international trade. For dozens of other countries that don't reach deals — but were hit by Trump's higher tariff on April 2 — the president has threatened to impose new duties above the 10% baseline that has been in place during the negotiating period. Those would mostly be "smaller trading partners,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday on CNBC. Trump and his advisers have left investors on edge ahead of July 9, offering cryptic signals about which countries were close to agreements and which were off track. The outcome will help determine the future of Trump's trade agenda — one of the centerpieces of his 2024 campaign — with high stakes for the global economy and America's relationships with allies and adversaries alike. Even with those high stakes, it was still unclear whether the administration would hold firm on the deadline or extend it to allow more time for talks. Bessent on Friday said about 20 countries that don't reach deals by next Wednesday could continue negotiating but would see their tariff rates reverted to the higher April 2 rate or stay at 10% if they are deemed to be "negotiating in good faith,' Bessent said. But hours later, Trump reiterated his threat to unilaterally set tariff rates for countries — even saying he could do so before July 9. The U.S. will not broker individual deals with hundreds of nations, Trump said. "We can do whatever we want,' Trump said during a White House press conference. "I'd like to just send letters out to everybody. 'Congratulations. You're paying 25%.'' Later, the president abruptly announced on social media he was terminating trade talks with Canada over its digital services tax and threatened to set a new tariff within a week on the second-largest U.S. trading partner. It's a move that could also be interpreted as a warning shot to other leaders Trump sees as out of line. The rapid-fire statements served as yet another reminder for foreign governments of just how sudden the president's policy swings can be. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (centre) leaves Lancaster House in London after trade talks on June 9. | Bloomberg The frenzied final days before the deadline featured leaders lobbying the president, delegations traveling to Washington and Trump and his aides offering mixed messages about how negotiations would will be resolved. The U.S. is nearing agreements with some countries, including Taiwan and Indonesia, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Pacts with Vietnam and South Korea are also possible, the person said. Trump himself has repeatedly teased a deal with India, as negotiators met last week in Washington to break a deadlock over key issues. And both the U.S. and the European Union have grown more optimistic about reaching agreement. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday that there will be some "top 10 deals' done with major economies by the July date. "We're going to do top 10 deals, put them in the right category, and then these other countries will fit behind,' Lutnick said. "My sense is the White House will potentially give a delay for some countries if they are negotiating in good faith or earnestly,' said Clark Packard, a research fellow who focuses on trade at the libertarian Cato Institue. "I do think some deals will be struck and some won't. I do think some countries will retaliate.' While Trump's approach may win him some concessions from trading partners, the erratic effort has injected uncertainty into the financial markets, and created anxiety for domestic businesses. The lack of clarity around the deadline heightens the tension. Trump entered office vowing to reduce U.S. trading deficits and boost domestic manufacturing and has made his tariff agenda the linchpin of his effort to reshape global trade flows. He unveiled higher tariffs in April, but quickly halted them after markets panicked over investor fears they could trigger a global recession. For months, Trump and his aides have promised that numerous deals are coming — notably trade adviser Peter Navarro said in April that "90 deals in 90 days' was the target. Not only is the president likely to fall short of that number, the deals that have been made have included cautionary tales for other negotiating partners. The U.K. entered its framework expecting duties on metals imports to fall to zero, only to see the U.S. keep 25% levies on steel and aluminum with a promise to broker a future quota systems. Rare earths shipments that Trump said China agreed to resume quickly in a round of talks in London have yet to fully materialize. Some partners, including Japan, India and the EU, have balked at signing deals without knowing how badly they'll be hit by separate levies on exports including chips, drugs and commercial aircraft. The U.S. Commerce Department will announce the results of probes into some of those sectors in the coming weeks, which could lead to levies. There is also uncertainty about the legality of the tariffs as a legal battle plays out over Trump's use of emergency powers to impose the levies. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled in May that the majority of the tariffs were issued illegally and ordered them blocked, but an appeals court has allowed them to remain in place until it hears the case in late July. While Trump's threats have unsettled the world, his practice of making sweeping tariff threats — only to back down later — has signaled to other world leaders even modest concessions can secure retreats. Investors have grown so used to the pattern they've adopted the acronym "TACO' — or "Trump Always Chickens Out' — to describe the phenomenon. And for Trump, who has long promoted himself as a dealmaker, reaching the agreements is often as important — if not more so — than their substance. He favors quick deals and has grown openly impatient with the drawn-out process. Voters have been less receptive to Trump's approach. A Quinnipiac University poll, conducted from June 5-9, found 57% of voters disapproved of his handling of trade.


Japan Times
3 hours ago
- Japan Times
Trump tax bill hits Republican resistance in House ahead of vote
U.S. President Donald Trump's multitrillion-dollar tax bill is running into Republican resistance in the House as moderate and ultra-conservative GOP lawmakers threaten to defy him and sink his domestic agenda. House lawmakers are returning to Washington from a holiday week to vote Wednesday on the Senate version of the bill, which squeaked through that chamber on Vice President JD Vance's tie-breaking vote. The House passed its own version of the measure in May by a one-vote margin. But several Republicans who were strong-armed into voting for that bill are now vowing to oppose the Senate-passed measure, putting Trump's self-imposed July 4 deadline at risk. House Speaker Mike Johnson can afford to lose only three Republican votes in the face of unified Democratic opposition, if all members are present and voting. Republicans Warren Davidson and Thomas Massie, who voted against the bill in May, remain firm no votes. Johnson's No. 2, Steve Scalise, projected optimism on Tuesday. "We're going to get it done tomorrow,' he told reporters. But Rep. Chip Roy, a hard-line conservative who balked at the cost of the House's earlier bill but ultimately supported it, said "a significant number' of lawmakers are concerned about the Senate version of the bill. "I have very strong concerns and am not very inclined to support,' the Texas Republican said. Rep. Chip Roy, a hard-line conservative, said "a significant number' of lawmakers are concerned about the Senate version of the bill. | Bloomberg The GOP holdouts are pushing for major — and sometimes competing — changes to the Senate bill, including some troubled by the scale of Medicaid cuts and others demanding deeper spending reductions. Still, House Ways and Means chairman Jason Smith said Tuesday that he's confident the bill will pass. Trump, the GOP's most forceful whip, quickly turned his attention from the Senate to the House, putting public pressure on Republicans to back the bill. "We can have all of this right now, but only if the House GOP UNITES, ignores its occasional "GRANDSTANDERS' (You know who you are!)' Trump posted on Tuesday. Ultraconservatives Several ultraconservatives in the House Freedom Caucus are among the loudest naysayers, vowing to oppose the bill over the deficit increases projected by the Joint Committee on Taxation. Freedom Caucus member Andy Ogles called the current version a "dud' that "guts key Trump provisions' to comply with strict Senate rules. Certain parts of the House bill were scrapped in the Senate because of a fast-track procedural tactic that allowed for a simple majority vote. Ogles introduced an amendment to replace the entire bill with the House version passed in May. But any changes to the legislation would need to be reconciled with the Senate, a process that could take weeks given the tight margins. Rep. Ralph Norman said he would vote no, adding that it's "tough sledding' if the Senate-passed bill goes to the floor. Rep. Victoria Spartz, who frequently waffles on her positions, went so far as to say the chamber will have a "decision to make' if Johnson brings the Senate bill to the floor, signaling his speakership could be in jeopardy. Moderates The Senate has already negotiated a deal with the House on one of the most contentious provisions for swing-district Republicans: the state and local tax deduction cap. Rep. Ralph Norman said he would vote no, adding that it's "tough sledding' if the Senate-passed bill goes to the floor. | bloomberg The Senate bill increases the SALT cap to $40,000 annually for a five-year period, when it would then snap back to the current $10,000 limit. The House bill was more generous amid pushback from Republicans from New York, California and New Jersey. Most of the so-called SALT caucus ultimately supported the Senate deal as the best they could get. But New York's Nick LaLota has said the deal isn't enough and that he would vote no on the bill. Moderates are also blasting the deeper Medicaid cuts in the Senate bill. "I will not support a final bill that eliminates vital funding streams our hospitals rely on, including provider taxes and state directed payments, or any provisions that punish expansion states,' Rep. David Valadao wrote in a post on X Friday. Valadao led a group of 16 House Republicans who pledged not to support the bill if the Senate chose to slash the Medicaid provider tax rate beyond a permanent freeze at 6%. States often use the provider taxes, within some already existing rules, to help defray their Medicaid matching fund requirements, allowing them to bring in more federal money to make Medicaid payments to providers and expand coverage. Republican senators included a gradual reduction in the tax to medical providers to a final 3.5%, unleashing an internal debate about how rural hospitals would cope with the changes. The bill added a $50 billion fund for rural hospitals after objections from Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Josh Hawley. It's unclear if it will satisfy House skeptics, some of whom represent districts in metropolitan areas. Murkowski, a holdout in the Senate who pivoted to a yes vote in the final hours, told reporters after the final vote that she hopes the House continues to make changes. "The House is going look at this and recognize that we're not done yet,' Murkowski said after hours of negotiation for her vote with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Majority Whip John Barrasso. "I would like to see a better outcome for people in this country.'