Gwinnett nonprofit loses federal grant aimed at preventing hate crimes
A Gwinnett County nonprofit focused on reducing hate crimes and building trust in diverse communities is now without federal funding after the U.S. Department of Justice canceled nearly 400 grants nationwide.
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Lucky Shoals Community Association, led by State Rep. Marvin Lim (D-Norcross), had planned to use its $400,000 grant for school trainings and outreach programs in Latino and other diverse communities to help prevent crime through early intervention and neighborhood engagement.
'I think it's a huge setback for the community,' Lim said.
In an April 22 email to Lim, the DOJ said the canceled grants 'no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities,' and funding will instead be redirected to law enforcement operations and efforts targeting violent crime.
'This grant would have helped us not only address hate crimes for certain populations, but also would have helped us build trust among neighborhoods,' Lim said.
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Gwinnett County Republican Party Chairman Justice Nwaigwe supports the DOJ's decision and said it shows fiscal responsibility.
'Debt is going up significantly,' he said. 'Something major has to be done to turn it around, and I think this is the right direction.'
Nwaigwe believes the DOJ may be better equipped to manage its own spending.
'I think a lot of these nongovernmental organizations don't have a lot of audit as far as how they spend the money it's allocated towards them, and there's no real audit done on seeing where the funding truly goes,' he said.
Lim said he was prepared for annual audits, had the funds not been terminated. His nonprofit is appealing the decision but is already scaling back programs.
'I hope for more transparency moving forward as we continue on these goals of making government more efficient,' he said.
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Hamilton Spectator
6 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Justice Department's early moves on voting and elections signal a shift from its traditional role
ATLANTA (AP) — In North Carolina, it was a lawsuit over the state's voter registration records. In Arizona and Wisconsin , it was a letter to state election officials warning of potential administrative violations. And in Colorado, it was a demand for election records going back to 2020. Those actions in recent weeks by the U.S. Department of Justice's voting section may seem focused on the technical machinery of how elections are run but signal deeper changes when combined with the departures of career attorneys and decisions to drop various voting rights cases. They represent a shift away from the division's traditional role of protecting access to the ballot box. Instead, the actions address concerns that have been raised by a host of conservative activists following years of false claims surrounding elections in the U.S. Some voting rights and election experts also note that by targeting certain states — presidential battlegrounds or those controlled by Democrats — the moves could be foreshadowing an expanded role for the department in future elections. David Becker, a former department attorney who worked on voting rights cases and now leads the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said the Justice Department's moves represent a departure from focusing on major violations of federal law. 'This would be like the police department prioritizing jaywalking over murder investigations,' he said. A Justice Department spokesperson responded with 'no comment' to an emailed request for more information about the actions, including whether similar ones had been taken in any other states. Actions come amid major changes at the DOJ Conservatives for years have called for an overhaul at the Justice Department in both personnel and priorities. President Donald Trump also has criticized how elections are run, falsely blaming his 2020 loss on widespread fraud. Earlier this year, he signed an executive order seeking a sweeping overhaul of election operations — an authority the Constitution grants to the states and Congress. After his win last November, Trump installed key allies at the Justice Department, including Attorney General Pam Bondi , who has made similar claims about the 2020 election. Multiple reviews in the presidential battleground states affirmed Democrat Joe Biden's win in 2020 , Trump and his allies lost dozens of lawsuits , and even Trump's attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud. Justin Levitt, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the department's civil rights division, said most of the DOJ's actions appeared reasonable and focused on issues that had already been raised by conservative activists in those states. They also are the type that would be expected from a conservative administration, he said, with the exception of the Colorado request. He called that 'well out of bounds.' 'This administration has prioritized grievance, even perceived grievance when there is no basis in fact,' said Levitt, who also served as a senior policy adviser in the Biden administration. 'And it's dismaying, but not surprising, that the civil rights division would do the same.' Department wants records related to the 2020 election The department's request to Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, asked for all records relating to last year's presidential election. Federal law requires those to be kept for 22 months. In the request, the department stated it had received a complaint alleging that Griswold's office was not in compliance with federal law relating to voter registration. The request also directs Griswold to preserve any records of the 2020 election that might still be in the state's possession. Griswold, in an interview, called the request a 'fishing expedition' and said her office responded by providing state voting files. 'I'm not even sure they know what they are looking for,' Griswold said. 'They can request all the data they want, and it's not going to prove anything.' North Carolina elections have been a particular target for Republicans In North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers recently wrested control of the state election board from the Democratic governor, Justice Department lawyers filed a lawsuit accusing state election officials of failing to ensure that all voter records include identifying information, such as a driver's license. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the civil rights division , said in a statement announcing the lawsuit that accurate voter rolls are critical to ensuring elections are conducted 'fairly, accurately, and without fraud.' The previous board had acknowledged the issue and updated the state's voter registration form. The new board leadership has vowed to address it. Skeptical of the motives In Wisconsin, which Trump won in 2016 and 2024 but lost in 2020, department lawyers recently sent a letter to the state election commission accusing it of not providing a complaint process for those raising concerns. This comes as Republican state lawmakers are pushing legislation to expand the ability to appeal decisions made by the six-member commission, which is equally divided between Republicans and Democrats. Republican lawmakers have long complained about commission decisions they perceive as benefiting Democrats. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a law firm that frequently defends Republicans on election issues, supports both efforts, said Lucas Vebber, the firm's deputy counsel. 'It's ensuring that Wisconsinites are entitled to have their complaints heard and adjudicated,' he said. 'As something as important as our elections, it's vital to ensure that process is transparent and available to everyone.' Rep. Lee Snodgrass, a Democrat on the Wisconsin Legislature's elections committee, said state law needs some tightening around how election complaints are handled, but she's dubious about the motives of the Trump administration and conservative activists in the state. They are looking for ways 'to cast doubt on election integrity, so if they don't get the results they want they can cry foul,' Snodgrass said. Concerns about future actions In Arizona, DOJ lawyers said the state was not clearly telling voter registration applicants to provide a driver's license if they have one and asked the state to conduct a review to identify any noncitizens. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, responded by saying Arizona requires those registering to vote in state and local elections to provide proof of citizenship and conducts checks using the state's motor vehicle records. In Oregon, Justice Department lawyers weighed in on an ongoing lawsuit filed by the conservative group Judicial Watch. It alleges the state has failed to comply with federal laws on maintaining voter lists and making these records available for public inspection. John Powers, a former Justice Department attorney who now serves as legal director for the Advancement Project, said he was concerned about the moves coupled with the Justice Department's staff departures and its withdrawal from voting rights cases. Powers said he hoped, with midterm elections next year, that the department would not pursue minor technical issues in a way that could undermine public confidence in elections. 'I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about what the future might hold,' he said. ___ Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
San Francisco Chronicle
6 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Justice Department's early moves on voting and elections signal a shift from its traditional role
ATLANTA (AP) — In North Carolina, it was a lawsuit over the state's voter registration records. In Arizona and Wisconsin, it was a letter to state election officials warning of potential administrative violations. And in Colorado, it was a demand for election records going back to 2020. Those actions in recent weeks by the U.S. Department of Justice's voting section may seem focused on the technical machinery of how elections are run but signal deeper changes when combined with the departures of career attorneys and decisions to drop various voting rights cases. They represent a shift away from the division's traditional role of protecting access to the ballot box. Instead, the actions address concerns that have been raised by a host of conservative activists following years of false claims surrounding elections in the U.S. Some voting rights and election experts also note that by targeting certain states — presidential battlegrounds or those controlled by Democrats — the moves could be foreshadowing an expanded role for the department in future elections. David Becker, a former department attorney who worked on voting rights cases and now leads the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said the Justice Department's moves represent a departure from focusing on major violations of federal law. 'This would be like the police department prioritizing jaywalking over murder investigations,' he said. A Justice Department spokesperson responded with 'no comment' to an emailed request for more information about the actions, including whether similar ones had been taken in any other states. Actions come amid major changes at the DOJ Conservatives for years have called for an overhaul at the Justice Department in both personnel and priorities. President Donald Trump also has criticized how elections are run, falsely blaming his 2020 loss on widespread fraud. Earlier this year, he signed an executive order seeking a sweeping overhaul of election operations — an authority the Constitution grants to the states and Congress. After his win last November, Trump installed key allies at the Justice Department, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has made similar claims about the 2020 election. Multiple reviews in the presidential battleground states affirmed Democrat Joe Biden's win in 2020, Trump and his allies lost dozens of lawsuits, and even Trump's attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud. Justin Levitt, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the department's civil rights division, said most of the DOJ's actions appeared reasonable and focused on issues that had already been raised by conservative activists in those states. They also are the type that would be expected from a conservative administration, he said, with the exception of the Colorado request. He called that 'well out of bounds.' 'This administration has prioritized grievance, even perceived grievance when there is no basis in fact," said Levitt, who also served as a senior policy adviser in the Biden administration. "And it's dismaying, but not surprising, that the civil rights division would do the same.' Department wants records related to the 2020 election The department's request to Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, asked for all records relating to last year's presidential election. Federal law requires those to be kept for 22 months. In the request, the department stated it had received a complaint alleging that Griswold's office was not in compliance with federal law relating to voter registration. The request also directs Griswold to preserve any records of the 2020 election that might still be in the state's possession. Griswold, in an interview, called the request a 'fishing expedition' and said her office responded by providing state voting files. 'I'm not even sure they know what they are looking for,' Griswold said. 'They can request all the data they want, and it's not going to prove anything.' North Carolina elections have been a particular target for Republicans In North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers recently wrested control of the state election board from the Democratic governor, Justice Department lawyers filed a lawsuit accusing state election officials of failing to ensure that all voter records include identifying information, such as a driver's license. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the civil rights division, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit that accurate voter rolls are critical to ensuring elections are conducted 'fairly, accurately, and without fraud.' The previous board had acknowledged the issue and updated the state's voter registration form. The new board leadership has vowed to address it. Skeptical of the motives In Wisconsin, which Trump won in 2016 and 2024 but lost in 2020, department lawyers recently sent a letter to the state election commission accusing it of not providing a complaint process for those raising concerns. This comes as Republican state lawmakers are pushing legislation to expand the ability to appeal decisions made by the six-member commission, which is equally divided between Republicans and Democrats. Republican lawmakers have long complained about commission decisions they perceive as benefiting Democrats. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a law firm that frequently defends Republicans on election issues, supports both efforts, said Lucas Vebber, the firm's deputy counsel. 'It's ensuring that Wisconsinites are entitled to have their complaints heard and adjudicated,' he said. 'As something as important as our elections, it's vital to ensure that process is transparent and available to everyone.' Rep. Lee Snodgrass, a Democrat on the Wisconsin Legislature's elections committee, said state law needs some tightening around how election complaints are handled, but she's dubious about the motives of the Trump administration and conservative activists in the state. They are looking for ways 'to cast doubt on election integrity, so if they don't get the results they want they can cry foul,' Snodgrass said. Concerns about future actions In Arizona, DOJ lawyers said the state was not clearly telling voter registration applicants to provide a driver's license if they have one and asked the state to conduct a review to identify any noncitizens. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, responded by saying Arizona requires those registering to vote in state and local elections to provide proof of citizenship and conducts checks using the state's motor vehicle records. In Oregon, Justice Department lawyers weighed in on an ongoing lawsuit filed by the conservative group Judicial Watch. It alleges the state has failed to comply with federal laws on maintaining voter lists and making these records available for public inspection. John Powers, a former Justice Department attorney who now serves as legal director for the Advancement Project, said he was concerned about the moves coupled with the Justice Department's staff departures and its withdrawal from voting rights cases. Powers said he hoped, with midterm elections next year, that the department would not pursue minor technical issues in a way that could undermine public confidence in elections. 'I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about what the future might hold,' he said. ___ Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin.
Los Angeles Times
8 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Fears of racial profiling rise as Border Patrol conducts ‘roving patrols,' detains U.S. citizens
Brian Gavidia had stepped out from working on a car at a tow yard in a Los Angeles suburb Thursday, when armed, masked men — wearing vests with 'Border Patrol' on them — pushed him up against a metal gate and demanded to know where he was born. 'I'm American, bro!' 29-year-old Gavidia pleaded, in video taken by a friend. 'What hospital were you born?' the agent barked. 'I don't know, dawg!' he said. 'East L.A., bro! I can show you: I have my f—ing Real ID.' His friend, whom Gavidia did not name, narrated the video: 'These guys, literally based off of skin color! My homie was born here!' The friend said Gavidia was being questioned 'just because of the way he looks.' In a statement Saturday, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said U.S. citizens were arrested 'because they ASSAULTED U.S. Border Patrol Agents.' (McLaughlin's statement emphasized the word 'assaulted' in all-capital and boldfaced letters.) When told by a reporter that Gavidia had not been arrested, McLaughlin clarified that Gavidia had been questioned by Border Patrol agents but there 'is no arrest record.' She said a friend of Gavidia's was arrested for assault of an officer. As immigration operations have unfolded across Southern California in the last week, lawyers and advocates say people are being targeted because of their skin color. The encounter with Gavidia and others they are tracking have raised legal questions about enforcement efforts that have swept up hundreds of immigrants and shot fear into the deeply intertwined communities they call home. Agents picking up street vendors without warrants. American citizens being grilled. Home Depot lots swept. Car washes raided. The wide-scale arrests and detainments — often in the region's largely Latino neighborhoods — contain hallmarks of racial profiling and other due process violations. 'We are seeing ICE come into our communities to do indiscriminate mass arrests of immigrants or people who appear to them to be immigrant, largely based on racial profiling,' said Eva Bitran, a lawyer at ACLU of Southern California. When asked about the accusations of racial profiling, the White House deflected. Calling the questions 'shameful regurgitations of Democrat propaganda by activists — not journalists,' White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson chided The Times reporters Saturday for not reporting the 'real story — the American victims of illegal alien crime and radical Democrat rioters willing to do anything to keep dangerous illegal aliens in American communities.' She did not answer the question. McLaughlin said in a statement, 'Any claims that individuals have been 'targeted' by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically FALSE.' She said the suggestion fans the flames and puts agents in peril. 'DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence,' she said. 'We know who we are targeting ahead of time. If and when we do encounter individuals subject to arrest, our law enforcement is trained to ask a series of well-determined questions to determine status and removability. 'We will follow the President's direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America's streets,' she said. The unprecedented show of force by federal agents follows orders from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's immigration plan and a Santa Monica native, to execute 3,000 arrests a day. In May, Miller reportedly directed top ICE officials to go beyond target lists and have agents make arrests at Home Depot or 7-Eleven convenience stores. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not answer specific questions about the encounter with Gavidia and said that immigration enforcement has been 'targeted.' The agency did not explain what is meant by targeted enforcement. But a federal criminal complaint against Javier Ramirez, another of Gavidia's friends, said Border Patrol agents were conducting a 'roving patrol' in Montebello around 4:30 p.m. when they 'engaged a subject in a consensual encounter' in a parking lot on West Olympic Boulevard. The complaint noted that the parking lot is fenced and gated, but that, at the time of the interaction, the gate to the parking lot was open. The enforcement was part of a roving patrol in what John B. Mennell, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, said was a 'lawful immigration enforcement operation' in which agents also arrested 'without incident' an immigrant without legal status. Gavidia said he and Ramirez both rent space at the tow yard to fix cars. On video captured by a security camera at the scene, the agents pull up at the open gate in a white SUV and three agents exit the car. At least one covers his face with a mask as they walk into the property and begin looking around. Shortly after, an agent can be seen with one man in handcuffs calmly standing against the fence, while Ramirez can be heard shouting and being wrestled to the ground. Gavidia walks up on the scene from the sidewalk outside the business where agents are parked. Seeing the commotion, he turns around. An agent outside the business follows him and then another does. Gavidia, whom Mennell identified as a third person, was detained 'for investigation for interference (in an enforcement operation) and released after being confirmed to be a U.S. citizen with no outstanding warrants.' 'Video didn't show the full story,' he said in a statement. But it is unclear from the video exactly what that interference is. And Gavidia denies interfering with any operations. CBP, the agency that has played a prominent role in the recent sweeps, is also under a federal injunction in Central California after a judge found it had engaged in 'a pattern and practice' of violating people's constitutional rights in raids earlier this year. U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Greg Bovino, who oversaw raids that included picking people up at Home Depot and stopping them on the highway, has emerged as a key figure in L.A. He stood alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday at a news conference where Sen. Alex Padilla — the state's first Latino U.S. senator — was handcuffed, forced to the ground and briefly held after interrupting Noem with a question. 'A lot of bad people, a lot of bad things are in our country now,' Bovino said. 'That's why we're here right now, is to remove those bad people and bad things, whether illegal aliens, drugs or otherwise, we're here. We're not going away.' Bovino said hundreds of Border Patrol agents have fanned out and are on the ground in L.A. carrying out enforcement. A federal judge for the Eastern District of California ordered Bovino's agency to halt illegal stops and warrantless arrests in the district after agents detained and arrested dozens of farmworkers and laborers — including a U.S. citizen — in the Central Valley shortly before President Trump took office. The lawsuit, brought by the United Farm Workers and Central Valley residents, accused the agency of brazenly racial profiling people in a days-long enforcement. It roiled the largely agricultural area, after video circulated of agents slashing the tires of a gardener who was a citizen on his way to work, and it raised fears that those tactics could become the new norm there. The effort was 'proof of concept,' David Kim, assistant chief patrol agent under Bovino, told the San Diego investigative outfit Inewsource in March. 'Testing our capabilities, and very successful. We know we can push beyond that limit now as far as distance goes.' Bovino said at the news conference that his agents were 'not going anywhere soon.' 'You'll see us in Los Angeles. You'll continue to see us in Los Angeles,' he said. Bitran, who is working on the case in the Central Valley, said Miller's orders have 'set loose' agents 'with a mandate to capture as many people as possible,' and that 'leads to them detaining people in a way that violates the Constitution.' In Montebello, a 78% Latino suburb that shares a border with East Los Angeles, Border Patrol agents took Gavidia's identification. Although they eventually let him go, Ramirez, also American and a single father of two, wasn't so lucky. Tomas De Jesus, Ramirez's cousin and his attorney, said authorities are accusing him of 'resisting arrest, assaulting people' after agents barged into a private business, 'without a warrant, without a probable cause.' 'What is the reasonable suspicion for him to be accosted?' De Jesus questioned. 'What is the probable cause for them to be entering into a private business area? ... At this moment, it seems to me like they have a blanket authority almost to do anything.' Ramirez has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer. Authorities allege that Ramirez was trying to conceal himself and then ran toward the exit and refused to answer questions about his identity and citizenship. They also allege he pushed and bit an agent. Montebello Mayor Salvador Melendez said he'd watched the video and called the situation 'extremely frustrating.' 'It just seems like there's no due process,' he said. 'They're going for a specific look, which is a look of our Latino community, our immigrant community. They're asking questions after. ... This is not the country that we all know it to be, where folks have individual rights and protections.' A third individual was detained on the street for investigation for interference and released after being confirmed to be a U.S. citizen with no outstanding warrants. Even before the video was looping on social media feeds, Angelica Salas — who heads one of the most well-established immigration advocacy groups in Los Angeles — said she was getting reports of 'indiscriminate' arrests and American citizens being questioned and detained. 'We have U.S. citizens who are being asked for their documents and not believed when they attest to the fact that they are U.S. citizens,' said Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. 'They just happen to be Latino.' The Supreme Court has long held that law enforcement officers cannot detain people based on generalizations that would cast a wide net of suspicion on large segments of the law-abiding population. 'Some of the accounts I have heard suggest that they're just stopping a whole bunch of people, and then questioning them all to find out which ones might be unlawfully present,' said Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA Law School. An agent can ask a person about 'anything,' he said. But if the person declines to speak, the agent cannot detain them unless they have reasonable suspicion that the individual is unlawfully here. 'The 4th Amendment as well as governing immigration regulations do not permit immigration agents to detain somebody against their will, even for a very brief time, absent reasonable suspicion,' he said. Just being brown doesn't qualify. And being a street vendor or farmworker does not, either. A warrant to search for documents at a work site also is not enough to detain someone there. 'The agents appear to be flagrantly violating these immigration laws,' he said, 'all over Southern California.' Gavidia said the agents who questioned him in Montebello never returned his Real ID. 'I'm legal,' he said. 'I speak perfect English. I also speak perfect Spanish. I'm bilingual, but that doesn't mean that I have to be picked out, like, 'This guys seems Latino; this guy seems a little bit dirty.' 'It was the worst experience I ever felt,' Gavidia said, his voice shaking with anger as he spoke from the business Friday. 'I felt honestly like I was going to die.' On Saturday, Gavidia joined De Jesus in downtown L.A. for his first-ever protest. Now, he said, it felt personal.
