
Trump administration sued for arresting people at immigration courts
A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups – including the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Legal Education and Services (RAICES), National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Democracy Forward and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF) – filed the suit on behalf of 12 plaintiffs, the majority of whom were seeking protection in the US from anti-LGBTQ+ violence or female genital mutilation.
In May, federal authorities began arresting people at US immigration courts from New York and Arizona to Washington state in what appeared to be a coordinated operation. The following month, New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested while attending immigration court with one migrant. Since then, the supreme court has granted the Trump administration permission to deport migrants to countries they are not from, including to conflict-ridden places such as South Sudan.
'The Trump administration has cast an unconscionably wide net to ensnare people and families who attend immigration court hearings in compliance with their legal obligations, only to face life-threatening imprisonment, swift removal and the prospect of indefinite family separation,' said Faisal Al-Juburi, chief external affairs officer at RAICES. 'The egregious and unprecedented coordination amongst government agencies that we are witnessing not only inflicts irreparable harm upon infants and adults alike for seeking refuge in the US, but also establishes a chilling precedent in which law and order are abandoned in favor of stoking widespread panic and fear – leaving the entire American public at risk, regardless of immigration status.'
The lawsuit asserts that the Trump administration 'stripped people of basic due process rights afforded under US immigration law and the fifth amendment in order to place them in expedited removal proceedings and deport them without hearings', the plaintiffs said in a press release.
All twelve of the plaintiffs were arrested at immigration hearings where they were requesting asylum or other legal protection to remain in the US. All but two remain in detention. One was already deported to Ecuador where he is now living in hiding due to his advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights.
Some of the plaintiffs had lived in the US for years, and have been separated from US citizen family members.
Their legal advocates say that homeland security and the justice department are pivoting away from a longstanding tradition of limiting arrests in immigration courts that could discourage people from appearing at their hearings.
'These directives forsake any notion of immigration courts as a neutral forum, weaponizing them into a trap for immigrants who show up in reliance on the American promise of a fair process before a judge, only to be met instead with handcuffs and shunted into a fast-track deportation process controlled by Ice agents,' said Jordan Wells, senior staff attorney at LCCRSF.
The case was filed in US district court in the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs ask the judge to declare Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and immigration court guidance 'arbitrary and capricious' and vacate those guidelines.

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The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
Muslim leaders increase security after vandalism reports at Texas and California mosques
After a spate of vandalism reports involving graffiti at a few mosques in Texas and California, Muslim leaders there have stepped up existing efforts to keep their sacred spaces and community members safe. The incidents and subsequent hypervigilance add to what many American Muslims say has already been a charged climate amid the fallout in the U.S. from the Israel-Hamas war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated Gaza. The war started in October 2023 with a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel. 'The past two years have been extremely difficult for American Muslims,' said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. A constant stream of images showing the death, destruction and ongoing starvation in Gaza has taken a toll, said Mitchell, as has a rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bigotry in the U.S. He pointed to one of the most egregious examples of that bigotry: After the war started, an Illinois man killed a 6-year-old Palestinian American Muslim boy and wounded his mother in a hate-crime attack. Worry and frustration The recent vandalism reports have left some worried and frustrated — but not entirely surprised. 'Since October 2023, we've definitely seen rise in Islamophobia,' said Rawand Abdelghani, who is on the board of directors of Nueces Mosque, one of the affected mosques in Austin, Texas. 'Anti-Palestinian, anti-immigrant, all of that rhetoric that's being said … it has contributed to things like this happening.' Nueces security footage showed someone, their face partially covered, spray-painting what appears to be Star of David symbols at the property. CAIR Austin said similar incidents were reported at two other Austin mosques. They all seemingly happened on the same night in May, in what the group described as part of 'a disturbing pattern of hate-motivated incidents.' It called for increased security patrols and protective measures. Shaimaa Zayan, CAIR Austin operations manager, called them an intimidation attempt. Less than two weeks earlier, someone had spray-painted graffiti at the Islamic Center of Southern California, including the Star of David on an outer wall there, center spokesperson Omar Ricci said. 'In light of what's going on within Palestine and the genocide in Gaza, it felt like an attack,' said Ricci, who's also a reserve Los Angeles Police Department officer. Some specifics remained unresolved. The LAPD said it opened a vandalism/hate crime investigation and added extra patrols, but added it has neither a suspect nor a motive and noted that nonreligious spaces were also targeted. The Austin Police Department did not respond to Associated Press inquiries. Nueces had already increased its security camera use following three incidents last year, including someone throwing rocks at the mosque, Abdelghani said. After the May vandalism, it also added overnight security, she added. Nueces serves many university students and is considered a 'home away from home,' Abdelghani said. It's where they learn about their faith, meet other Muslims and find refuge, including during tense times, like when some students got arrested amid campus protests last year, she added. CAIR says that in 2024, its offices nationwide received 8,658 complaints, the highest number it has recorded since its first civil rights report in 1996. It listed employment discrimination as the most common in 2024. The group says last year, U.S. Muslims, along with others of different backgrounds, 'were targeted due to their anti-genocide … viewpoints.' Referencing former President Joe Biden, the CAIR report said that for 'the second year in a row, the Biden-backed Gaza genocide drove a wave of Islamophobia in the United States.' Israel has strongly rejected allegations it's committing genocide in Gaza, where its war with Hamas has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. The initial Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killed some 1,200 people, while about 250 were abducted. Tensions in multiple spaces The war has fueled tensions in myriad U.S. settings. After it started, Muslim and Jewish civil rights groups reported a surge of harassment, bias and physical assaults reports against their community members. Pew Research Center in February 2024 found that 70% of U.S. Muslims and nearly 90% of U.S. Jews surveyed say they felt an increase in discrimination against their respective communities since the war began. More recently, leaders of U.S. Jewish institutions have called for more help with security after a firebomb attack in Colorado on demonstrators showing support for Israeli hostages in Gaza that left one person killed and others injured, as well as a fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. Politically, the conflict loomed over last year's presidential election, leaving many pro-Palestinian U.S. voters feeling ignored by their own government's support for Israel. It has roiled campuses and sparked debates over free speech and where political rhetoric crosses into harassment and discrimination. There've been bitter disagreements, including among some Jewish Americans, about exactly what the definition of antisemitism should cover, and whether certain criticism of Israeli policies and Zionism should be included. That debate further intensified as President Donald Trump's administration sought to deport some foreign-born pro-Palestinian campus activists. The Islamic Center of Southern California has been targeted before, including vandalism in 2023 and separate threats that authorities said in 2016 were made by a man who was found with multiple weapons in his home. Incidents like the latest one cause concern, Ricci said. 'People see that it's not going to take very much to spark something in the city,' he said. 'There's a lot of emotion. There's a lot of passion' on both the pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli sides. Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said 'if people think they can get away with graffiti, then the next step is to firebomb a mosque or even go attack worshippers.' Opening doors and receiving support Al-Marayati and others praised how many have shown support for the affected Muslim communities. 'The best preparation is what we did in Los Angeles and that's to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies and be there for one another,' he said. In Texas, a gathering at Nueces brought together neighbors and others, including Christians and Jews, to paint over the vandalism, clean up the property and garden, Zayan said. 'It was beautiful,' she said. 'It's really important to open your doors and open your heart and invite people and to rebuild this trust and connection,' she said. 'For non-Muslims, it was a great opportunity for them to show their love and support. They really wanted to do something.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.


The Guardian
14 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump tells Europe to ‘get your act together' on immigration before US-EU trade talks
Intensive negotiations are continuing on Saturday between the EU and the US before a crunch meeting in Scotland between Donald Trump and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, to avert a costly trade war. Trump spent the night at his family-owned Turnberry golf resort on a private visit, but took time to criticise European leaders over wind turbines and immigration claiming there won't be a Europe unless they 'get their act together'. 'I say two things to Europe. Stop the windmills. You're ruining your countries. I really mean it, it's so sad. You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds,' he said. 'On immigration, you better get your act together,' he said. 'You're not going to have Europe anymore.' On Saturday morning, he abandoned a scheduled meeting with the press, who travelled with him on Air Force One, for a round of golf at his seaside course with music blaring from the buggy he drove. Sky News, stationed next to the course, reported the songs included Billy Joel's Uptown Girl, Elaine Paige's Memory and Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water. Billed as a four-day family visit to Scotland, Trump is meeting European leaders and the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, raising hopes of new and refined trade deals with the EU and the UK. On the prospects of an EU trade deal, the US president has said there were '20 sticking points'. When asked what they were, he said: 'Well, I don't want to tell you what the sticking points are.' He described von der Leyen as a 'highly respected woman' and said the meeting on Sunday with the EU chief would be 'good', rating the chances of a deal as 'a good 50-50'. It is understood von der Leyen and her aides will fly in on Saturday, with the European trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, arriving on Sunday morning. It is expected the deal will centre on an outline agreement in principle over 15% tariff rates for exports including cars, but with a 50% tariff continuing on steel. There may also be a breakthrough deal on pharmaceuticals, setting a rate of 15% for exports. Although this would breach a longstanding World Trade Organization agreement that medicines are rated at a zero tariff, it would be a far cry from the 200% tariff Trump threatened to impose on pharmaceuticals earlier this month. This would have triggered a highly damaging trade war not just with Ireland, where many US multinationals are based, but Germany, Denmark, Belgium, France and Spain. Von der Leyen's spokesperson, Paula Pinho, said: 'Intensive negotiations at technical and political [level] have been ongoing between the EU and US. Leaders will now take stock and consider the scope for a balanced outcome that provides stability and predictability for businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.' It is believed the meeting will be held in Aberdeenshire and will be followed by a series of meetings with Starmer on Monday, with hopes he will widen the bare bones trade deal he struck in May. Trump's arrival in Scotland has required the biggest security operation since Elizabeth II died in 2022. More than 5,000 police and security personnel are involved in the four-day visit with no risks taken after the assassination attempt on the president a year ago. High perimeter fences have been erected around the coastal golf course with naval vessels patrolling the shore while security drones overhead and dozens of security detail staked out the resort early on Saturday. The heavy security presence may be a foretaste of events to come later in August when the US vice-president, JD Vance, and his family arrive for a holiday in the Cotswolds, reportedly in the village of Charlbury. Locals who resisted the expansion of Trump's golf course in the past asked who would be footing the bill for the security arrangements.


Daily Mail
16 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
David Letterman slams CBS over Stephen Colbert exit
David Letterman has backed his successor Stephen Colbert and suggested CBS canceled The Late Show because he was 'always shooting his mouth off' about Donald Trump. The 78-year-old late-night legend created The Late Show in 1993 after NBC denied him the chance to succeed Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. Colbert took over for Letterman in 2015 and took the show in a decidedly more political direction. But despite leading in the ratings, a shrinking late-night landscape led CBS to claim losses in the tens of millions of dollars. In his first comment on the show's cancellation, Letterman noted that Colbert's show was more about political satire than his version of The Late Show, but was still complimentary, calling the decision by CBS 'pure cowardice.' 'I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this, they're going to be embarrassed, because this is gutless,' he told former Late Show producers Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay. Letterman then said that he believed CBS was acting on behalf of Skydance CEO and incoming Paramount CEO David Ellison to make their lives easier after acquiring Paramount, taking away a constant critic of Trump. 'Hey boys, here's what we're gonna do: not only are we gonna get rid of that guy, we're gonna get rid of the entire franchise so you don't have to worry about another guy. It's gone,' Letterman said. The longtime talk show host noted CBS's $16 million settlement with the Trump administration over a deceptively edited interview with election rival Kamala Harris, which Colbert had previously mocked as a 'big fat bribe.' He also referred to Ellison as a 'bottom feeder,' saying he should've bought a Dairy Queen instead of a television network. 'Stay out of this business.' He also tore into accusations that the show lost so much money, with both Gaines and Barclay saying they had cut budgets to help the network several times when they were at CBS. 'You're telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday? I bet they were losing this kind of money a month ago, six weeks ago, or they have never been losing money,' he said. Letterman noted that despite the show supposedly losing tons of money, CBS is allowing Colbert to stay on the air for the next ten months. 'That's another huge chunk of money they're gonna lose according to them. I don't think it was money. I think it was all to make sure the Ellisons were solid spending Dad's money,' he said, referring to Ellison's father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. He said of the treatment of Colbert: 'They did not handle Stephen Colbert, the face of that network, in the way he deserves to have been handled.' Letterman echoed Colbert's own joking words from earlier this week when the former Comedy Central comic called himself 'a martyr.' 'For Stephen, I love this: he's a martyr, good for him. If you listen carefully, you can hear them unfolding chairs at the Hall of Fame for his induction,' he joked. Ultimately, he said he envies the position Colbert is now in with his liberal viewers. 'I only wish this could've happened to me. This would've been so great for me. Now we've all gotta kiss Stephen Colbert's ring now,' he quipped. The comedian's decade-long run as host of CBS's late-night flagship will end next May, with network insiders suggesting the top-rated show was canceled because it was losing anywhere from $40 to $100 million per year. Trump posted a celebration on Truth Social when the news was announced, saying, 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.' Colbert, who briefly addressed the move the day of its announcement, devoted much of his Monday show to the controversy, eventually uniting with almost every other liberal late-night talk show host in a show of support, as well as Adam Sandler and even Lin-Manuel Miranda. The 61-year-old comic opened after a standing ovation and lengthy applause from the New York City crowd by saying 'cancel culture has gone too far'—then joked that now the show is ending, he can say whatever he feels. Colbert said sarcastically of Paramount: 'They made one mistake, they left me alive! For the next ten months, the gloves are off!' He then referenced Trump's comments, turned to an 'Eloquence Cam' and said: 'How dare you, sir? Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? Go f*** yourself.' He also addressed Trump's claim that Jimmy Kimmel is next, replying: 'Nope, no, no. Absolutely not. Kimmel, I am the martyr. There's only room for one on this cross. And the view is fantastic from up here. I can see your house!' He went on to say that cancellation meant he could finally admit what he felt about the president. In contrast to his often over-the-top anti-Trump monologues, he dryly said: 'I don't care for him. Doesn't seem to have the skill set to be president. Just not a good fit, that's all.' He addressed his bosses at CBS—who he said 'have always been great partners'—before turning to Paramount's decision to cancel the show. 'How could it be a purely financial decision if The Late Show is number one in ratings? A lot of folks are asking that question, mainly my staff's parents and spouses.' He quipped: 'I could see us losing $24 million but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million, oh…'—naming the amount the company settled with Trump over his 60 Minutes lawsuit. He returned to mocking Trump and the recent news accusing him of writing a 'bawdy' letter to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday. 'I'll have more to say about all this after the commercial break. The only other story is a small one... the president is buddies with a pedophile.' Puck journalist Matthew Belloni revealed Colbert's 'lack of profitability' Friday, hours after CNN first broke the news that the show was canceled because it was in the red. Belloni outlined how The Late Show—whose cancellation was announced last Thursday—costs $100 million a year to produce, with Colbert getting paid between $15 and $20 million a year.