Highly invasive wood-boring beetle intercepted at U.S. border
The live Asian long-horned beetle, which can cause significant damage to hardwood trees, was discovered during an inspection of wood cargo from Romania on March 17. CBP agriculture specialists at the Port Huron rail yard in Michigan found solid insect waste before discovering live beetle larvae.
"Our nation's agriculture industry is constantly at risk from pests and disease not known to occur in the United States," said Area Port Director Jeffrey Wilson. "This interception by our highly skilled agriculture specialists showcase our continued commitment to safeguarding American agriculture and protecting public health."
The beetle larvae were found inside wood pallets that were stamped with a marking to show that they had been heat-treated to prevent invasive species. The treatment is required by the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures of the International Plant Protection Convention and is the international standard for the safe use of wooden pallets and crates.
While the marking on the wood packaging material "appeared to be legitimate," agents believe the heat treatment process may not have been "executed properly."
Untreated wood packaging material can risk non-native pests -- such as the Asian long-horned beetles -- to be introduced to new environments where they can kill forest and shade trees while causing "significant economic damage."
"Every successful interception, like this one, prevents potential devastation to our hardwood trees and reinforces our commitment to keeping invasive pests from harming our environment and economy," said CBP Director of Field Operations Marty Raybon.
"The Asian long-horned beetle is a destructive invasive species that threatens our forests and urban landscapes," Raybon added. "This discovery underscores the vital role our agriculture specialists play in protecting the nation's natural resources and economy."
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Miami Herald
6 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Florida's illegal immigration detention center is a constitutional nightmare
In the heart of the Everglades — sacred ground for Native American tribes and ecological treasures — Gov. Ron DeSantis has carved something unthinkable: an unregulated and patently unconstitutional detention center for immigrants. Republicans have mockingly dubbed it Alligator Alcatraz, evoking racist nostalgia for the 1950s treatment of Black Americans dumped in Miami swamps. This grotesque history now repeats. This swamp prison is not a federal facility run by ICE, but a state-run black non-site imprisoning people for political theater with $500 million of Florida taxpayer money annually. Though described by Florida's attorney general as a 'low-cost, temporary detention facility,' the truth is far more sinister. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. Florida has no legal authority to detain immigrants simply for being undocumented unless that person is also charged with a state crime or subject to a federal detainer. Even then, a judicial hearing must be held within 48 hours to determine probable cause for arrest. This is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. Yet those imprisoned in this Everglades camp hellhole — many with no criminal record — are held indefinitely without charges, hearings or meaningful access to legal counsel. That is not immigration enforcement; this is state-sponsored kidnapping. In holding immigrants as political pawns, DeSantis' message is clear: cruelty is intended. The suffering and neglect should horrify every American. The facility floods routinely. Toilets often don't flush. The food is scarce, often a sandwich. Medical care is nonexistent. This is not a detention facility. It is a constitutional crime scene. There is no space for attorney-client meetings. Lawyers are turned away or forced to communicate through fences and chain-link barriers — in plain violation of the Fifth Amendment right to counsel. The state of Florida ignores these protections and in response activists have begun filing suit. Moreover, the Everglades — home to endangered species and a UNESCO World Heritage site — is environmentally and culturally desecrated. The Miccosukee and Seminole peoples, who have lived in harmony with their sacred land for centuries, now fight back — suing to block the project because it violates environmental law and their sovereign treaty rights. One lawsuit this week prompted a temporary stop to construction at the camp. But DeSantis has bulldozed ahead, prioritizing ideology over ecology and cruelty over conservation. Even ICE — not known for its compassion — has distanced itself from this disaster, confirming that this is not a federal facility. If that is true, then ICE has no legal oversight, and detention is occurring outside any authorized federal immigration process. Thus, those imprisoned here are held solely by the state of Florida, which cannot incarcerate people who have not committed a state crime. This is not a gray area but a flashing red alert. The Constitution allows only the federal government to detain for immigration enforcement, and even then, only within the bounds of due process. Even if Florida claims to hold undocumented immigrants on ICE's behalf, it is in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment. This is the time for bold legal action. Every person detained is entitled to immediate release or a judicial hearing. Lawyers should file habeas corpus petitions in federal court now. Civil rights lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 should be brought against every Florida official responsible. The Justice department should open a civil rights investigation. Congress must hold hearings. And if this facility is allowed to stand — if the courts do not act, if the public does not resist — then it will not be the last. The architecture of tyranny is modular. This is not just about immigration; this is a moral disgrace, an environmental catastrophe, a violation of tribal sovereignty and a constitutional abomination. It must be shut down. The Constitution applies everywhere — even in the Everglades. Justice cannot be confined by geography or politics. If you or someone you know is detained in this facility, fight back with every legal tool available. Our democracy depends on standing up to unlawful detention and demanding accountabilitybefore more lives are needlessly destroyed in this swamp of injustice. Irwin P. Stotzky is a professor at the University of Miami School of Law. The views expressed here are solely the author's and not that of the university.
Los Angeles Times
7 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Silence is violence': Teachers, retirees, first-time activists stand up to immigration raids
'Thank you so much for showing up this morning,' Sharon Nicholls said into a megaphone at 8 a.m. Wednesday outside a Home Depot in Pasadena. As of Friday afternoon, no federal agents had raided the store on East Walnut Street. But the citizen brigade that stands watch outside and patrols the parking lot in search of ICE agents has not let down its guard—especially not after raids at three other Home Depots in recent days despite federal court rulings limiting sweeps. About two dozen people gathered near the tent that serves as headquarters of the East Pasadena Community Defense Center. Another dozen or so would be arriving over the next half hour, some carrying signs. 'Silence is Violence' 'Migrants Don't Party With Epstein' Cynthia Lunine, 70, carried a large sign that read 'Break His Dark Spell' and included a sinister image of President Trump. She said she was new to political activism, but added: 'You can't not be an activist. If you're an American, it's the only option. The immigration issue is absolutely inhumane, it's un-Christian, and it's intolerable.' There are local supporters, for sure, of Trump's immigration crackdown. Activists told me there aren't many days in which they don't field shouted profanities or pro-Trump cheers from Home Depot shoppers. But the administration's blather about a focus on violent offenders led to huge demonstrations in greater Los Angeles beginning in June, and the cause continues to draw people into the streets. Dayena Campbell, 35, is a volunteer at Community Defense Corner operations in other parts of Pasadena, a movement that followed high-profile raids and was covered in the Colorado Boulevard newspaper and, later, in the New York Times. A fulltime student who works in sales, Campbell was also cruising the parking lot at the Home Depot on the east side of Pasadena in search of federal agents. She thought this Home Depot needed its own Community Defense Corner, so she started one about a month ago. She and her cohort have more than once spotted agents in the area and alerted day laborers. About half have scattered, she said, and half have held firm despite the risk. When I asked what motivated Campbell, she said: 'Inhumane, illegal kidnappings. Lack of due process. Actions taken without anyone being held accountable. Seeing people's lives ripped apart. Seeing families being destroyed in the blink of an eye.' Anywhere from a handful to a dozen volunteers show up daily to to hand out literature, patrol the parking lot and check in on day laborers, sometimes bringing them food. Once a week, Nicholls helps organize a rally that includes a march through the parking lot and into the store, where the protesters present a letter asking Home Depot management to 'say no to ICE in their parking lot and in their store.' Nicholls is an LAUSD teacher-librarian, and when she asks for support each week, working and retired teachers answer the call. 'I'm yelling my lungs out,' said retired teacher Mary Rose O'Leary, who joined in the chants of 'ICE out of Home Depot' and 'No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.' 'Immigrants are what make this city what it is … and the path to legal immigration is closed to everybody who doesn't have what, $5 million or something?' O'Leary said, adding that she was motivated by 'the Christian ideal of welcoming the stranger.' Retired teacher Dan Murphy speaks Spanish and regularly checks in with day laborers. 'One guy said to me, 'We're just here to work.' Some of the guys were like, 'We're not criminals … we're just here … to make money and get by,'' Murphy said. He called the raids a flexing of 'the violent arm of what autocracy can bring,' and he resents Trump's focus on Southern California. 'I take it personally. I'm white, but these are my people. California is my people. And it bothers me what might happen in this country if people don't stand firm … I just said, 'I gotta do something.' I'm doing this now so I don't hate myself later.' Nicholls told me she was an activist many years ago, and then turned her focus to work and raising a family. But the combination of wildfires, the cleanup and rebuilding, and the raids, brought her out of activism retirement. 'The first people to come out after the firefighters—the second-responders—were day laborers cleaning the streets,' Nicholls said. 'You'd see them in orange shirts all over the city, cleaning up.' The East Pasadena Home Depot is 'an important store,' because it's a supply center for the rebuilding of Altadena, 'and we're going out there to show our love and solidarity for our neighbors,' Nicholls said. To strike the fear of deportation in the hearts of workers, she said, is 'inhumane, and to me, it's morally wrong.' Nicholls had a quick response when I asked what she thinks of those who say illegal is illegal, so what's left to discuss? 'That blocks the complexity of the conversation,' she said, and doesn't take into account the hunger and violence that drive migration. Her husband, she said, left El Salvador 35 years ago during a war funded in part by the U.S. They have family members with legal status and some who are undocumented and afraid to leave their homes, Nicholls said. I mentioned that I had written about Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, who was undocumented as a child, and has kept his passport handy since the raids began. In that column, I quoted Gordo's friend, immigrant-rights leader Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. 'Full disclosure,' Nicholls said, '[Alvarado] is my husband.' It was news to me. When the raids began, Nicholls said, she told her husband, 'I have the summer off, sweetie, but I want to help, and I'm going to call my friends.' On Wednesday, after Nicholls welcomed demonstrators, Alvarado showed up for a pep talk. 'I have lived in this country since 1990 ... and I love it as much as I love the small village where I came from in El Salvador,' Alvarado said. 'Some people may say that we are going into fascism, into authoritarianism, and I would say that we are already there.' He offered details of a raid that morning at a Home Depot in Westlake and said the question is not whether the Pasadena store will be raided, but when. This country readily accepts the labor of immigrants but it does not respect their humanity, Alvarado said. 'When humble people are attacked,' he said, 'we are here to bear witness.' Nicholls led demonstrators through the parking lot and into the store, where she read aloud the letter asking Home Depot to take a stand against raids. Outside, where it was hot and steamy by mid-morning, several sun-blasted day laborers said they appreciated the support. But they were still fearful, and desperate for work. Jorge, just shy of 70, practically begged me to take his phone number. Whatever work I might have, he said, please call.
Atlantic
7 hours ago
- Atlantic
The FBI Isn't an Arm of the Republican Party
We are about to find out, in real time, whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation remains a neutral law-enforcement agency or whether it has been transformed into an instrument of Republican power. Will the FBI help the Republican Party force through a partisan redistricting plan in Texas, or not? The answer to that question is of vital importance to sustaining American democracy. Republican state legislative leaders want to redraw Texas's congressional districts to give their party as many as five more seats in next year's midterm elections. Dozens of Democratic state lawmakers have fled Texas in an effort to prevent the legislature from reaching a quorum and passing the law. The lawmakers who left are now staying in Illinois, Massachusetts, and other locations. To force the legislators to return, Republicans have voted to issue civil warrants, which authorize Texas law-enforcement officers to find the missing lawmakers and forcibly return them to the statehouse, in Austin. But neither the civil warrants nor the powers of Texas police extend outside the state's borders. No Texas sheriff can go to Chicago, find the missing legislators, and drag them home. And, naturally, the law enforcement in Illinois and the other Democratic states to which the Texas representatives have fled are offering no assistance. Indeed, blue-state political leaders are promising to resist any such effort and are practically salivating at the prospect of a confrontation. Elaine Godfrey: How the Texas standoff will (probably) end This is where the federal government might step in. Senator John Cornyn of Texas has asked the FBI to help his state track down the missing legislators. He has publicly claimed that FBI Director Kash Patel has agreed to assist state and local law enforcement in the effort. So far, the FBI has declined to comment on the matter. But if the agency actively assists Texas police in locating and detaining the missing legislators, then it will be acting in an utterly lawless manner—and that will be of even graver concern than the underlying redistricting effort. Granted, the location of many Texas legislators is so well known that the St. Charles, Illinois, hotel where some are staying was the subject of a bomb threat. If the FBI does nothing more than provide Texas officials with information that is already publicly available, then its activities are hardly worth the worry. But the agency isn't an arm of the Republican Party and should studiously avoid getting drawn into the political fight in Texas. Congress created the FBI, which by statute is authorized ' to detect and prosecute crimes against the United States.' In other words, the FBI may investigate and prosecute federal crimes, not state-law-based criminal charges. That limitation has a few small exceptions. For example, the FBI is authorized to investigate the murder of state and local law-enforcement officers even if those murders involve crimes only under state law. But the existence of explicit statutory exceptions serves only to reinforce the general rule. The jurisdiction of the FBI, as the first word in the agency's name suggests, is limited to federal crimes. Americans' historical aversion to the FBI's engagement in state and local issues is a reaction to the excesses of the J. Edgar Hoover era. Today, that general rule of limitation is so strong that the FBI's own internal guidelines, outlined in the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide, require identification of a predicate federal crime before the FBI may even open an investigation, much less conduct intrusive investigative activities. Likewise, the FBI can typically assist state and local investigations only when they involve possible violations of federal law. (The exceptions involve extreme, rare circumstances such as mass killings or serial murders.) Nothing about the Texas redistricting dispute would plausibly justify the FBI's active engagement. For one thing, the Texas lawmakers' flight from the state isn't even criminal under Texas law. The warrants issued are merely common-law civil instruments to compel presence, much like a civil subpoena to testify. For the FBI to become involved in the enforcement of civil law would be an extraordinary expansion of its authority. Proving a negative is hard, but I am unaware of any other circumstance in which FBI authorities have been engaged in a civil matter. Second, the Texas state matter is—well, a state matter. Even if it did involve some criminal allegations, those would relate to Texas's criminal law—and thus be outside the bounds of the FBI's federal jurisdiction. No one can credibly argue that the Democrats' effort to defeat a quorum has anything in common with the mass killings or serial murders that may trigger FBI involvement in state crimes. To avoid these rather obvious issues, Cornyn almost half-heartedly suggested that the missing Democrats are 'potentially in violation of the law.' He maintained that 'legislators who solicited or accepted funds to aid in their efforts to avoid their legislative duties may be guilty of bribery or other public corruption offenses.' But this claim was a transparent attempt to manufacture a federal 'hook' for the FBI, given that he offered no evidence that the legislators had solicited money as an inducement for their actions. Indeed, manifestly, they aren't seeking self-enrichment in fleeing their homes. Moreover, as the Supreme Court held just last year, contributions for already-completed acts (such as leaving Texas) can never be considered violations of the federal anti-gratuity statute. No doubt Cornyn, a former judge, knows all this. But he appears to have concluded that political necessity required some pretext, however frivolous, for a federal investigation. Tom Nichols: Tinker tailor soldier MAGA In short, if the FBI provides Texas Republicans with substantive assistance in bringing their Democratic counterparts back to Austin, that will be utterly unmoored from the FBI's statutory authority and completely outside the bounds of its existing domestic-operations guidelines. Americans now face transgressions of settled legal norms every day, it seems. But the particular norm under threat in Texas—the need to prevent the party in power from using federal law-enforcement officers to implement its own political ends—is especially important because of the coercive authority that police carry with them. One hopes that the FBI will step back from the brink of legal chaos. But if the FBI jumps off the cliff and does the Republican Party's bidding on a manifestly political question, it will be a dark day for American democracy. Enlisting the FBI as the enforcement arm of a political party is a step toward a literal police state.
