US judge bars Trump admin's 'indiscriminate' immigration arrests
US District Judge Maame Frimpong's emergency orders are a temporary measure while the lawsuit continues. In her order, Judge Frimpong said there was a "mountain of evidence" to support that officials have been performing "roving patrols", defined as "indiscriminately rounding up individuals without reasonable suspicion". This would violate the US Constitution, she said. The government cannot base its immigration arrests "solely" on factors including "race or ethnicity", "speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent", or "presence at a particular location" such as a bus stop or car wash, Judge Frimpong said. Judge Frimpong's decision comes as the Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to crackdown on illegal immigration, particularly in California, a Democratic stronghold that has long held the ire of President Donald Trump. Raids in Los Angeles, in particular, were met with widespread protests over immigration enforcement in the region. An immigration raid at a marijuana farm in California on Thursday led to violent protests and the arrests of more than 200 people, including 10 minors. Some farm workers were critically injured during the "chaotic" Ventura County raids, the United Farm Workers said in a statement.Human rights advocates have accused the government of illegal discrimination and denying people their Constitutional rights. "No matter the color of their skin, what language they speak, or where they work, everyone is guaranteed constitutional rights to protect them from unlawful stops," Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, said in a statement.The government, however, says it is prioritising violent criminals as ICE tries to meet a daily quota of 3,000 daily arrests, part of Trump's stated goal to launch the "largest deportation" campaign in US history."America's brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists—truly the worst of the worst from Golden State communities," Homeland Security wrote on X, in response to the judge's order.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
Even Trump's former Surgeon General has hit out at RFK Jr's plans to gut vaccine research: ‘Going to cost lives'
Health experts, including some former Trump officials, are raising the alarm over the administration's decision to pull nearly $500 million in funding for mRNA-based vaccine projects. 'I've tried to be objective & non-alarmist in response to current [Department of Health and Human Services] actions – but quite frankly this move is going to cost lives,' Jerome Adams, who served as Surgeon General during the first Trump administration, wrote on X. ' mRNA technology has uses that go far beyond vaccines… and the vaccine they helped develop in record time is credited with saving millions.' The former official added that mRNA vaccines could do more than just fight Covid, with scientists working to apply them to the flu, RSV, HIV, cancer, and Zika, among other pressing health issues. On Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that Health and Human Services was winding down 22 mRNA projects being run through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which invests in cutting-edge medical technologies. In a video statement, Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic, made multiple claims about mRNA vaccines that scientists said were inaccurate and counterproductive. 'As the pandemic showed us, mRNA vaccines don't perform well against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract,' the secretary said, adding that such technology 'prolongs pandemics' and 'poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses.' Health experts said Kennedy's claims about mRNA vaccines, the core technology in the Pfizer-BioNTech and Modern Covid-19 vaccines, were incorrect. 'By issuing this wildly incorrect statement, the secretary is demonstrating his commitment to his long-held goal of sowing doubts about all vaccines,' Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health, told The New York Times. 'Had we not used these lifesaving mRNA vaccines to protect against severe illness, we would have had millions of more Covid deaths.' Researchers who pioneered the technology won a Nobel Prize in 2023. Instead of mRNA vaccines, the administration said it will seek to invest in other approaches, including using vaccines based on whole killed viruses. The approach has been used in past vaccines, but researchers say it takes longer to develop vaccines this way. "It is irresponsible to strip funding from future technologies with great potential and shift it towards outdated old-fashioned technologies," Rick Bright, the former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority during the first Trump administration, told NPR. "We're taking our country from 2025 back to 1940, and we all know that's a recipe for disaster and failure." "In an outbreak, when you are facing a rapidly spreading virus — whether it's from nature or a nation-state adversary — speed is the name of the game," he added.
The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
New Paramount owner says ‘all the right things' during first stop at CBS News offices
In a symbolic first stop after the merger between Paramount and Skydance Media was officially completed on Thursday morning, chairman and CEO David Ellison dropped by the CBS News offices and declared his commitment to investing in the news division. 'He said all the right things and more,' one staffer told The Independent. The Thursday morning meet-and-greet at the Tiffany network's newsroom appeared to be a way for Ellison to soothe some fraught nerves after a bruising and politically stained merger process that featured several senior news leaders resigning in protest amid the old Paramount leadership (led by Shari Redstone) negotiating a $16 million settlement of Donald Trump's 'meritless' lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview. Besides the payoff to Trump, which has led to accusations of 'bribery,' Paramount also canceled the top-rated CBS late-night show hosted by outspoken Trump critic Stephen Colbert just ahead of the merger's closure, prompting network staffers to claim the comic was a victim of the 'Trump shakedown.' Meanwhile, Trump's handpicked FCC chief Brendan Carr reveled in the Colbert cancellation before finally signing off on the $8.4 billion merger last month after Skydance promised that it would eliminate diversity policies and bring aboard an ombudsman to review 'complaints of bias' at the news network. Additionally, the president has claimed that Ellison – the son of MAGA-boosting Oracle founder Larry Ellison – made a secret side deal to air up to $20 million of pro-Trump PSAs as part of the 60 Minutes settlement. With all of this baggage hanging over the merger, Ellison obviously wanted to start the first day of the new media conglomerate – which is now known as Paramount, a Skydance corporation – off on a positive and optimistic note. And that included reassuring the newsroom that he is committed to investing in the network. In an open letter published on Thursday morning, Ellison made sure to praise 60 Minutes by name while touting the 'storied' legacy of CBS News, adding that it has a 'long tradition of impactful reporting led by seasoned journalists committed to accuracy, integrity, and public trust.' At the same time, he acknowledged that 'it's been a challenging period and we're deeply grateful for your resilience, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to the news business.' He also noted that 'we take immense pride in CBS News' legacy of impactful journalism and look forward to continuing to foster a newsroom culture where journalists are empowered, trusted, and equipped to do their best work.' With CBS News president Tom Cibrowski sending the staff a note in the morning encouraging everyone to welcome Ellison to the newsroom, the new CEO jumped onto the morning editorial call before meeting with the network's executive producers and senior news leaders. He also made a point of walking through the newsroom and meeting the entire staff, according to several network sources. Two staffers told The Independent that he reiterated much of what he stated in his welcome letter, which included thanking the staff for staying the course over the past few months during a 'tough' period. Ellison also made a point of stating that his visit to the CBS News office was his 'first stop' after closing the deal, adding that he wants to keep an 'open dialogue' with the newsroom and even if he doesn't have answers on Day One, he 'wants to keep talking.' 'He didn't botch it,' a network employee said. 'Which is a decent start.' According to one source, during Ellison's meeting with the EPs and senior leaders, some of the attendees 'went on about how many years they've been here and how important they are.' One subject that didn't appear to come up, at least through Ellison's walkthrough of the newsroom, is reports that he has been in talks with Bari Weiss about potentially purchasing her anti-woke outlet The Free Press and giving her a senior role at CBS News. As network staffers told The Independent, there wasn't much time for questions and answers, as he was scheduled for lunch at CBS Sports. The Independent has reached out to CBS News and Paramount for comment. Ellison also announced to the entirety of Paramount's 18,000 employees that he would be holding a global town hall next Wednesday, something that will be highly anticipated as he's already told investors he is looking to exceed '$2 billion in real efficiencies' down the road, which could mean significant job cuts. Still, there appears to be some industry-wide optimism about Ellison and what lies ahead for the new Paramount. Variety reported that while Ellison was 'once shrugged off as a billionaire's son,' he's now seen in the media sphere as having 'matured into a worthy leader, with a grasp of both the business and the art of making movies and shows.' Furthermore, as he looks to make a 'big push to digital frontiers' while talking 'up his tech game,' as The Hollywood Reporter noted, Ellison has put together an experienced and respected senior leadership team. As for those in the CBS newsroom, Ellison did appear to clear one major hurdle – he isn't Shari Redstone. 'Shari set the bar very low,' one employee snarked.
The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
Confederate monument being restored on Hegseth's anti-woke quest will cost $10M, military says
A U.S. Army official revealed Wednesday that the restoration of a Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery is set to cost about $10 million over two years. The official added that the monument would include panels that would share the context of the history behind the memorial, which will be refurbished and its base replaced. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the return of the monument on social media on Tuesday evening. 'I'm proud to announce that Moses Ezekiel's beautiful and historic sculpture — often referred to as 'The Reconciliation Monument' — will be rightfully ... returned to Arlington National Cemetery near his burial site,' Hegseth wrote on X. 'It never should have been taken down by woke lemmings. Unlike the Left, we don't believe in erasing American history—we honor it.' This comes less than two years after it was taken down following the recommendation of an independent commission. The monument, which was put up in 1914, was created by Ezekiel, a sculptor and Confederate veteran. The monument includes a classical female figure, which represents the South, along with sanitized depictions of slavery. The commission, mandated by Congress, stated in 2022 that the memorial, as well as a number of other military assets referencing the Confederacy, should be removed or renamed. The commission vice chair, retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, said the group thought the memorial to be "problematic from top to bottom." In addition to the sanitized depictions of slavery, the monument also featured a Latin phrase stating that the South's secession from the Union was a worthy 'lost cause.' The false interpretation of the reasons behind the outbreak of the Civil War suggests that it was a conflict about the power of the federal government rather than slavery. Hegseth has gone to great lengths to go against the recommendations of the commission by changing back the names of several Army bases to their names with connections to the Confederacy, by highlighting different people. After the recommendations by the commission, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, named after Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, was renamed Fort Liberty. Hegseth changed it back to Fort Bragg in February, but by honoring Army Pfc. Roland Bragg who received a Silver Star and Purple Heart for his courage during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March entitled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,' which pushed back against efforts to reinterpret U.S. history. "Rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame,' it said. The order claimed that the Smithsonian museums had "come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.' It also ordered the Interior Department to reinstate statues and displays that had been "removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology." In the same vein, the National Park Service announced Monday that it would return the statue of Confederate brigadier General Albert Pike to its previous position in Judiciary Square in the nation's capital after it was pulled down amid Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
