Judge blocks private prison operator from housing ICE detainees at shuttered Kansas center
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — A judge on Wednesday barred a major U.S. private prison operator from housing immigrants facing possible deportation in a shuttered Kansas City area detention center unless it can get a permit from frustrated city officials.
Leavenworth County Judge John Bryant agreed after a packed hearing to grant the city of Leavenworth's request for a temporary restraining order against CoreCivic, one of the nation's largest private prison operators.
CoreCivic had claimed in legal filings that halting the opening of the 1,033-bed facility on the northwest outskirts of the Kansas City area would cost it $4.2 million in revenue each month. City officials said they anticipated the arrival of detainees apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was imminent under a Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigration.
Leavenworth isn't the first city where controversy has surrounded the reopening of a private prison as an ICE detention facility. In Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka sued the state's top federal prosecutor on Tuesday over his recent arrest on a trespassing charge at a federal immigration detention facility in that state, saying the Trump-appointed attorney had pursued the case out of political spite.
Scott Peterson, the city manager for Leavenworth, said he didn't know if the case in Kansas marked the first time a municipality had prevailed in court.
'I would point out that maybe the reason we have seen some success here today is this is not about immigration,' Peterson said. 'This is not about private prisons. This is about land use.'
In late 2021, CoreCivic stopped housing pretrial detainees for the U.S. Marshals Service in the Leavenworth facility after then-President Joe Biden called on the Justice Department to curb the use of private prisons. In the months leading up to the closure, the American Civil Liberties Union and federal public defenders urged the White House to speed up the closure, citing inmate rights violations there along with stabbings, suicides and even one homicide.
But with President Donald Trump pushing for mass deportations under a wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigration, the facility that CoreCivic now calls the Midwest Regional Reception Center is in demand again. It is located just 10 miles west of the Kansas City International Airport. As part of his crackdown, Trump has vowed to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from the budgeted 41,000 beds this year.
Tennessee-based CoreCivic initially applied for a special use permit from the city in February but then withdrew that application the next month, arguing in court filings that it didn't need the permit and that the process would take too long.
'It became clear to CoreCivic that there was not a cooperative relationship,' said Taylor Concannon Hausmann, an attorney for the private prison operator, speaking in court.
The city sued CoreCivic, the lawsuit claiming that CoreCivic impeded the city police force's ability to investigate sexual assaults and other violent crimes. The lawsuit contended that the permitting process was needed to safeguard itself from future problems.
'Just follow our rules," an attorney for the city, Joe Hatley, said in court. 'Go get a permit.'
The first version of the lawsuit, filed in March in federal court, was tossed out in May on technical grounds. But Bryant sided with Hatley in the case refiled the same month in state court, finding that the proper procedures weren't followed.
Concannon Hausmann, CoreCivic's attorney, declined to comment as the crowd filtered out of the courtroom Wednesday. Norman Mallicoat held a sign reading, 'CoreCivic Doesn't Run Leavenworth' as he left.
'I see this as basically a large company trying to bully a small city into getting what it wants and not having to follow the rules and ordinances of the city,' Mallicoat said.
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First Post
18 minutes ago
- First Post
Cancelling contracts, making big disclosures: Who loses what in Musk-Trump breakup?
Donald Trump and Elon Musk have called time on their friendship in the most shocking of ways — social media posts were fired off, threats were made, and big bombshells were dropped. In the aftermath of it, Tesla stocks tanked, and the world's richest man's personal net worth declined. Yes, this breakup could be costly for both. Here's how read more The aftermath of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's breakup raises the question: Who has the most to lose? File image/Reuters No one believed that the Donald Trump-Elon Musk friendship would be one that would last forever. But the fact that it ended in the most spectacular of ways and that too so quickly was not anticipated. On Thursday (June 5), America's two most powerful men — one is the US president and the other is the world's richest man — spent time on social media trying to destroy each other's reputations with threats and secrets. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Their spectacular breakup also means the end to perhaps the most powerful of alliances in the US with many pondering who emerges as the bigger loser in this spat. Does Trump have more to lose or will Musk be the one to suffer? A bromance turns nasty It was last July when Elon Musk endorsed Trump for president and became an integral part of his campaign machinery — who can forget Musk manically jumping around at Trump rallies, funding a massive super-PAC on his behalf. Later, when Trump became US president, he returned the favour by appointing Musk to take charge at Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). When Elon Musk attached himself to Trump many began speculating when these two massive egos would, eventually, clash and that their strategic partnership would flame out spectacularly. And crash and burn the relationship did. Since late May, Musk has been vocally critical of Trump's so-called big, beautiful spending bill. 'I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,' Musk told the TV programme CBS Sunday Morning. But Trump kept his cool and bid adieu to Musk as he called time on his service to the White House. Once out of government, though, the Tesla chief took his criticism against the bill even further. He called the bill a 'd isgusting abomination ,' threatened to politically retaliate against its supporters, and argued it would increase the debt. Social media posts by US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are displayed on smartphones. Trump has threatened to revoke government contracts from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as a public feud escalates over Musk's criticism of the Trump administration's policies. AFP The US president then shot back on Thursday, while he had a sit down in the Oval Office with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. ' I'm very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here,' Trump said. 'He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He further stated, ' I'll be honest, I think he misses the place. It's sort of Trump derangement syndrome. We have it with others, too. They leave, and they wake up in the morning, and the glamour's gone. The whole world is different, and they become hostile.' Trump then took the fight online, writing in one social media post, 'Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!' And this led Musk to hit back. Musk argued, 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election' and accused Trump of 'such ingratitude.' And that wasn't the end, the feud kept going with Musk levelling a serious allegation, '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Consequences of the big, nasty breakup But who shall suffer from this breakup? After all, it was a mutual relationship benefiting both individuals. Many analysts and Trump watchers believe Musk shall be the big loser from this breakup. In fact, as the two bickered on social media, Tesla shares slumped — dropping 14 per cent, wiping out roughly $150 billion in market value in one of the worst days in months. Analysts and pundits believed that the losses were an indication of what might be at stake for Musk. Musk's personal net worth also took a tumble on Thursday — it fell by nearly $34 billion, making him the biggest daily loser on Bloomberg's list of the world's 500 richest people. Trump could even take the fight further with cancelling government contracts with Musk's various companies, including SpaceX and Tesla. In fact, the US president even suggested this while feuding with Musk online. 'The easiest way to save money in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump wrote. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California. If the Trump administration pauses government contracts, SpaceX will lose billions of dollars. Reuters According to data available, last year, Musk's companies were promised $3 billion in nearly 100 contracts with 17 government agencies. Additionally, Reuters reported that if Trump did go ahead with this move, about $22 billion of SpaceX's government contracts would be at risk. In addition to hitting his businesses, this feud could also threaten Musk's stay in the US. Musk is not a natural-born American — he was born in Pretoria, South Africa and thanks to his mother, Maye Musk, obtained Canadian citizenship in 1989 when he was 17 years old. This helped him move to North America for his studies and eventually to the United States. It was only in 2002 that he became a naturalised US citizen. Moreover, Musk has already lost his fan base on the liberal side and now with the fight with Trump, he will also lose his Conservative supporters. This will be bad for Musk — personally and from a business standpoint. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On June 5, Elon Musk and Donald Trump ended their friendship in the most spectacular way. File image/Reuters But many also note that the Trump-Musk feud also has the potential to hurt the US president. How? When Trump was campaigning, Musk emerged as one of his major donors. The SpaceX chief spent more than $250 million to get Trump elected. Now imagine if he used that same financial clout against the US president. Musk could fund campaigns against Republicans, hurting Trump in the long run. Moreover, he could also align with fiscally conservative lawmakers to block Trump's signature tax bill in the Senate. Besides this, Musk could also use the time he has spent with Trump against him. After spending a lot of time closely with the US president, he could use information that the two shared to hurt Trump. He could make big revelations, which have the ability to hurt the US president. For instance, on Thursday, amid the online battle Musk claimed that the US president was part of the Epstein Files STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Musk could also use X against Trump — the X owner has more than 220 million followers compared to the US president's 105.6 million followers. As some note, Musk could use the platform to keep airing his grievances against Trump. In fact, on Thursday, he called for the impeachment of the US president and even asked his followers 'is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80 per cent in the middle?' It's left to be seen if Trump or Musk will win this battle, but for now, we can buckle up and wait for their next steps. With inputs from agencies
Mint
21 minutes ago
- Mint
US hiring likely slowed to 1,30,000 new jobs last month amid uncertainty over Trumps policies
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The Print
22 minutes ago
- The Print
Sudhakar was last of 3 top Maoist leaders who took part in failed 2004 peace talks with Andhra govt
The two other leaders with Sudhakar were Akkiraju Hargopal, alias Ramakrishna alias RK, then state secretary of the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) People's War, also known as People's War Group (PWG), and Gajarla Ravi alias Ganesh, the North Telangana special zonal committee member. The three went on to lead the peace talks with the Andhra Pradesh government. On 11 October, 2004, Sudhakar had emerged with two other leaders of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), and two cadres of CPI (Marxist-Leninist)-Janashakti from the Nallamala forest, and addressed a public meeting at Guttikonda Bilam in then undivided Andhra Pradesh. New Delhi: The killing of 66-year-old Maoist leader Tentu Laxmi Narsimha Chalam, alias Goutham or Sudhakar, by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur Thursday closes the chapter of the only—and unsuccessful—peace talks between the government and Maoists over 20 years ago. The CPI (Maoist) was formed with the merger of PWG with the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) in September 2004. After a few rounds of productive negotiations, the talks were called off by the Maoists in January 2005 on the grounds of continued operations by Andhra Pradesh's Greyhounds force against the group. The talks had been initiated after years of crackdown by the then N. Chandrababu Naidu-led government in Andhra Pradesh. Congress leader Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had promised the peace talks with Maoists if elected to power in the 2004 assembly elections. When he won, his government announced a ceasefire with the rebels in June 2004, initially for three months, and it was extended by another three months. Starting 12 October, 2004, the Maoist leaders were accommodated at Manjeera guesthouse in Hyderabad, and the first phase of talks went on from 15 to 18 October at Dr Marri Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Institute. The trio of Ramakrishna, Sudhakar and Ganesh, representing the Maoists, was in attendance. The CPI (ML)-Janashakti, another Andhra-based armed rebel group of Maoists, was represented by leaders Amar and Riyaz. During the 4-day talks, the state government and Maoist leaders held discussions on issues such as laying down of arms by the rebels, continuance of ceasefire as long as talks continued, distribution of surplus lands, release of political prisoners, withdrawal of cases against people involved in the revolutionary movement, ending of cash rewards on the heads of revolutionaries, action against private armed gangs, etc. However, there was no consensus on laying down of arms by the Maoists, and the talks were finally called off in January 2005 as the Maoists alleged continuation of crackdown by the state. Ramakrishna went on to become a member of both the central committee and politburo of the CPI (Maoist). He was reported to have died a natural death in the South Bastar region in October 2021, after escaping an October 2016 encounter with a joint team of the Andhra Pradesh Police's Greyhounds and Odisha Police in Malkangiri. Ganesh was killed in the same encounter. CPI (ML)-Janashakti cadre Riyaz was said to have been killed in an encounter by the Karimnagar district police, while Amar dissociated himself with the outfit after his arrest and was released on bail. On Thursday, Sudhakar, a member of the central committee of the CPI (Maoist), was identified as one of the casualties following exchange of fire in a search operation by a team of the Chhattisgarh District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force and troops from the CRPF's Commando Battalion for Resolute Action in Bijapur district. 'Reliable Intelligence inputs indicated the presence of Central Committee Member Gautam alias Sudhakar, along with Telangana State Committee Member Bandi Prakash, Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee Member Pappa Rao, and several other armed Maoist cadres in the area,' Bastar range IG Sundarraj Pattilingam said in a statement. 'In the ensuing exchange of fire, security forces recovered the body of a senior Maoist cadre along with an AK-47 rifle. The neutralised Maoist cadre has been identified as Central Committee Member Gautam alias Sudhakar,' it added. Also Read: Citing precedent, Bastar IG says CPI (Maoist) unlikely to get new gen secy after Basavaraju Ayurveda course dropout, Maoist ideologue Born into a rural family in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh before his father migrated to Eluru district, Sudhakar completed high school studies from his local block. He moved to Eluru town for intermediate education at Sir C.R. Reddy College. However, according to his records with the Andhra Pradesh Police, he did not pursue his ayurvedic medicine course entirely at a Vijayawada college and left it midway. He joined the People's War Group in 1995. Between 2001 and 2003, he worked extensively for the outfit as secretary of the Andhra-Odisha Border special zonal committee. In the same capacity, he attended the peace talks with the Andhra Pradesh government. He was inducted into the central committee of the CPI (Maoist) and was instrumental in running a Maoist ideological training school in 2007. Confirming his death in the Bijapur encounter, IG Sundarraj stated that Sudhakar had played a key role in luring tribal youths into the Maoist fold. 'Gautam was a senior Maoist leader responsible for various violent incidents that resulted in the deaths of numerous innocent tribal civilians and the martyrdom of security personnel. Moreover, as the in-charge of the Maoist ideological training school (RePOS), Gautam was involved in misleading and radicalising the youth with violent and anti-national ideologies,' he stated. Sudhakar was married to another senior Maoist cadre named Kakarala Guru Smruthi alias Umakka, who works as a state zonal committee member and allegedly runs Mobile Political School (MOPOS) of the Maoists. (Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui) Also Read: Abujhmarh op shut Basavaraju chapter of Maoist insurgency. How homegrown DRG gave forces edge
