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Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Report: NFLPA board of player reps is expected to vote on interim executive director soon
With executive director Lloyd Howell abruptly out, the NFL Players Association needs to replace him. It soon will. Via Adam Schefter of the NFLPA board of player representatives "is expected to vote" on a new interim executive director before the widespread launch of training camps, on Tuesday. The news comes a day after Dianna Russini of reported that it's currently a two-man race: JC Tretter and Don Davis. (Her tweet caused confusion because it omitted the word "interim." But it's obviously an interim hire.) Because the NFLPA Constitution doesn't contain a procedure for selecting an interim executive director, the NFLPA apparently has come up with a plan for proceeding. It's unclear how the voting will work — especially if no one gets a majority of the votes on the first ballot. Some have suggested that the NFLPA should take its time in hiring an interim executive director, given that too many of the current options are too close to Howell. There's a belief that the best play would be to find someone from the outside to step in and stabilize the situation while the search for a full-time, non-interim executive director proceeds. My own reaction to that possibility? Good freakin' luck. How will the NFLPA find someone good who'll shut down his or her life temporarily in an effort to repair the damage done by the Howell regime and to lay the foundation for someone else to take over? If, as it appears, the interim executive director will be someone who worked for the NFLPA while Howell did, it will be important to move very quickly to find the next executive director — and to make it clear that the interim executive director will not be a candidate and, ideally, will have no role in the selection of his or her replacement. Frankly, the best approach for the NFLPA could be to eventually blow up current union management, with the exception of anyone who realized that Howell was a problem and sounded the alarm about it internally.
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Volunteers flock to immigration courts to support migrants arrested in the hallways
SEATTLE (AP) — After a Seattle immigration judge dismissed the deportation case against a Colombian man — exposing him to expedited removal — three people sat with him in the back of the courtroom, taking his car keys for safe-keeping, helping him memorize phone numbers and gathering the names of family members who needed to be notified. When Judge Brett Parchert asked why they were doing that in court, the volunteers said Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers were outside the door, waiting to take the man into custody, so this was their only chance to help him get his things in order. "ICE is in the waiting room?" the judge asked. As the mass deportation campaign of President Donald Trump focuses on cities and states led by Democrats and unleashes fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants, their legal defenders sued this week, seeking class-action protections against the arrests outside immigration court hearings. Meanwhile, these volunteers are taking action. A diverse group — faith leaders, college students, grandmothers, retired lawyers and professors — has been showing up at immigration courts across the nation to escort immigrants at risk of being detained for deportation by masked ICE officials. They're giving families moral and logistical support, and bearing witness as the people are taken away. The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project was inundated by so many community members wanting to help that they made a volunteer training video, created 'Know Your Rights' sheets in several languages and started a Google sheet where people sign up for shifts, said Stephanie Gai, a staff attorney with the Seattle-based legal services non-profit. 'We could not do it without them," Gai said. 'Some volunteers request time off work so they can come in and help.' Robby Rohr, a retired non-profit director said she volunteers regularly. 'Being here makes people feel they are remembered and recognized,' she said 'It's such a bureaucratic and confusing process. We try to help them through it.' Recording videos of detentions to post online online Volunteers and legal aid groups have long provided free legal orientation in immigration court but the arrests have posed new challenges. Since May, the government has been asking judges to dismiss deportation cases. Once the judge agrees, ICE officials arrest them in the hallways and put them in fast-track deportation proceedings, no matter which legal immigration pathway they may have been pursuing. Once in custody, it's often harder to find or afford a lawyer. Immigration judges are executive branch employees, and while some have resisted Homeland Security lawyers' dismissal orders in some cases, many are granted. Masked ICE agents grabbed the Colombian man and led him into the hallway. A volunteer took his backpack to give to his family as he was taken away. Other cases on the day's docket involved immigrants who didn't show up. Parchert granted 'removal in absentia' orders, enabling ICE to arrest them later. When asked about these arrests and the volunteers at immigration courts, a senior spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security said ICE is once again implementing the rule of law by reversing 'Biden's catch and release policy that allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets." Some volunteers have recorded arrests in courtroom hallways, traumatic scenes that are proliferating online. How many similar scenes are happening nationwide remains unclear. The Executive Office for Immigration Review has not released numbers of cases dismissed or arrests made at or near immigration courts. While most volunteers have done this work without incident, some have been arrested for interfering with ICE agents. New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested after locking arms with a person in a failed attempt to prevent his detention. Lander's wife, attorney Meg Barnette, had just joined him in walking migrants from a courtroom to the elevator. Helping families find their relatives as they disappear The volunteers' act of witnessing has proven to be important as people disappear into a detention system that can seem chaotic, leaving families without any information about their whereabouts for days on end. In a waiting room serving New York City immigration courtrooms, a Spanish-speaking woman with long dark curly hair was sitting anxiously with her daughter after she and her husband had separate hearings. Now he was nowhere to be found. The Rev. Fabián Arias, a volunteer court observer, said the woman whose first name is Alva approached him asking 'Where is my husband?' She showed him his photo. 'ICE detained him,' Arias told her, and tried to comfort her as she trembled, later welling up with tears. A judge had not dismissed the husband's case, giving him until October to find a lawyer. But that didn't stop ICE agents from handcuffing him and taking him away as soon as he stepped out of court. The news sparked an outcry by immigration advocates, city officials and a congressman. At a news conference, she gave only her first name and asked that her daughter's be withheld. Brianna Garcia, a college student in El Paso, Texas, said she's been attending immigration court hearings for weeks where she informs people of their rights and then records ICE agents taking people into custody. 'We escort people so they're not harassed and help people memorize important phone numbers, since their belongings are confiscated by ICE," she said. Paris Thomas began volunteering at the Denver immigration court after hearing about the effort through a network of churches. Wearing a straw hat, he recently waited in the midday heat for people to arrive for afternoon hearings. Thomas handed people a small paper flyer listing their rights in Spanish on one side and English on the other. One man walking with a woman told him 'thank you. Thank you.' Another man gave him a hug. Denver volunteer Don Marsh said they offer to walk people to their cars after court appearances, so they can contact attorneys and family if ICE arrests them. Marsh said he's never done anything like this before, but wants to do something to preserve the nation's 'rule of law' now that unidentifiable government agents are 'snatching' people off the streets. 'If we're not all safe, no one's safe,' he said. __ Attanasio reported from New York City and Slevin from Denver.
New York Times
5 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Administration Live Updates: Hostility in Washington Raises Shutdown Worries
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, left, and Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, second from right, meeting with Chinese officials in Geneva in May. In recent years, one of China's biggest requests of American officials has been that the United States relax its strict controls on advanced artificial intelligence chips, measures that were put in place to slow Beijing's technological and military gains. Last week, the Trump administration did just that, as it allowed the world's leader in A.I. chips, the U.S.-based Nvidia, to begin selling a lower-level but still coveted chip known as H20 to China. The move was a dramatic reversal from three months ago, when President Trump himself banned China from accessing the H20, while also imposing triple-digit tariffs on Beijing. That set off an economically perilous trade clash, as China retaliated by clamping down on exports of minerals and magnets that are critical to American factories, including automakers and defense manufacturers. China's decision to cut off access to those materials upended the dynamic between the world's largest economies. The Trump administration, which came into office determined to bully China into changing its trade behavior with punishing tariffs, appeared to realize the perils of that approach. Now, the administration has resorted to trying to woo China instead. Officials throughout the government say the Trump administration is putting more aggressive actions on China on hold, while pushing forward with moves that the Chinese will perceive positively. That includes the reversal on the H20 chip. The H20 decision was primarily motivated by top Trump officials who agreed with Nvidia's arguments that selling the chip would be better for American technology leadership than withholding it, people familiar with the move say. But Trump officials have also claimed that it was part of the trade talks. After telling Congress in June that there was 'no quid pro quo in terms of chips for rare earths,' Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, reversed those comments on July 15, saying that the H20 move was 'all part of a mosaic' of talks with China. 'They had things we wanted, we had things they wanted, and we're in a very good place,' he said. Image A chip from Nvidia. The company's chief executive, Jensen Huang, has gone on a lobbying blitz in Washington, pushing politicians to open China for A.I. chip sales. Credit... Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times A Chinese Ministry of Commerce official seemed to reject that on Friday, saying that the United States had 'taken the initiative' to approve the H20 sales. China believes the U.S. should continue to remove its trade and economic restrictions, the official said. A person familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said that the H20 chip was not specifically discussed in meetings between Chinese and American officials in Geneva and London this spring. But the reversal was part of a more recent cadence of warmer actions the United States and China have taken toward each other. For instance, Beijing agreed in recent weeks to block the export of several chemicals used to make fentanyl, an issue Mr. Trump has been concerned about. Recent events have underscored the influence that China has over the U.S. economy. When Mr. Trump raised tariffs on Chinese exports in April, some top Trump officials thought Beijing would quickly fold, given its recent economic weakness. Instead, Beijing called Mr. Trump's bluff by restricting rare earths needed by American makers of cars, military equipment, medical devices and electronics. As the flow of those materials stopped, Mr. Trump and other officials began receiving calls from chief executives saying their factories would soon shut down. Ford, Suzuki and other companies shuttered factories because of the lack of supply. Mr. Trump and his top advisers were surprised by the threat that Beijing's countermove posed, people familiar with the matter say. That brought the United States back to the negotiating table this spring to strike a fragile trade truce, which Trump officials are now wary of upsetting. That agreement dropped tariffs from a minimum 145 percent to 30 percent, with the Chinese agreeing to allow rare earths to flow as freely as before. The administration's caution when it comes to China has been amplified by Mr. Trump's desire for an invitation to Beijing later this year. The president, who has been feted on other foreign trips, wants to engage in face-to-face trade negotiations with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, has begun recruiting chief executives for a potential delegation, setting off a competition over who will get to ride in Air Force One, according to people familiar with the plans. Craig Allen, a retired diplomat, said both countries were 'clearly preparing for a summit meeting,' adding, 'that's bringing forth measures that the other side wants and it's also holding back measures that the other side doesn't want.' 'It's like a dance,' Mr. Allen said. 'One side makes a move, the other side makes a move to correspond to that.' The Commerce Department declined to comment. The White House, the Treasury Department and the Office of the United States Trade Representative did not respond to a request for comment. 'The government understands that forcing the world to use foreign competition would only hurt America's economic and national security,' John Rizzo, a spokesman for Nvidia, said. A Chinese bargaining chip Opposition to China has fueled bipartisan action for the last decade. Now, Mr. Trump's more hawkish supporters are quietly watching as the president remakes the party's China strategy. Though few are willing to speak out publicly, officials in the Trump administration and in Congress have privately expressed concern that the trade war has given China an opening to finally bring U.S. technology controls onto the negotiating table. Christopher Padilla, a former export control official in the George W. Bush administration, said the fact that the United States was now negotiating over what were supposed to be security restrictions was 'a significant accomplishment for the Chinese.' 'They've been after this for decades, and now they've succeeded,' he said. 'I assume the Chinese are going to demand more concessions on export controls in return for whatever we want next.' Mr. Trump was the first to harness the power of U.S. export controls, by targeting Chinese tech giant Huawei and putting global restrictions on American technology in his first term. But the Biden administration expanded those rules. Concerned that China's growing A.I. capacity would advance its military, Biden officials cracked down on exports of Nvidia chips, seeing them as the most effective choke point over Chinese A.I. capabilities. Image President Trump and Mr. Huang at the White House in April. Mr. Huang argues that blocking U.S. technology from China has created more urgency for China to develop its own technology. Credit... Pete Marovich for The New York Times Since then, when Chinese officials raised their objections to U.S. technology controls in meetings, U.S. officials had responded by insisting that the measures were national security matters and not up for debate. But in the meeting in Geneva in May, China finally had a powerful counterargument. Beijing insisted that its minerals and magnets, some of which go to fighter jets, drones and weaponry, were a 'dual-use' technology that could be used for the military as well as civilian industries, just like A.I. and chips. It demanded reciprocity: If the United States wanted a steady flow of rare earths, Washington should also be ready to lessen its technology controls. It's not clear exactly what the United States agreed to in Geneva: The agreement has never been made public. But when the United States put out an unrelated export control announcement the day after the Geneva summit concluded, China responded angrily, saying the statement 'undermined the consensus' the countries had reached. In a notice on May 13, the Commerce Department said that using Huawei's A.I. chips 'anywhere in the world' was an export control violation. The notice was directed at other nations considering purchasing Huawei chips, people familiar with the move said, not the Chinese. The announcement appeared to take other parts of the Trump administration by surprise, and within hours, the language in the release was walked back, though no policy changes were made. Mr. Bessent and Jamieson Greer, the trade representative, expressed concerns that such moves could damage trade talks with China, people familiar with the incident said. China once again clamped down on rare earth exports. Trying to find its own leverage, the United States responded by restricting exports of semiconductor design software, airplane parts and ethane. The two sides restored their truce in a meeting in London in June. Since then, trade in those products has restarted. But U.S. companies complain that Chinese licenses for rare earth magnets are limited to six months, and that the Chinese government is requesting proprietary information to obtain those shipments. Beijing has also continued to build out its export controls. On June 15, the day after Nvidia said it would be permitted to sell the H20 in China, Chinese officials announced new restrictions on exports of battery technology. The United States has been trying to decrease its dependence on China for rare earths, but there is no quick solution. China has a powerful hold over numerous industries, ranging from pharmaceuticals to solar panels to drones. 'The challenge for the Trump administration is, how do they get out of this quagmire?' said Jimmy Goodrich, a senior adviser for technology analysis to the RAND Corporation. 'It appears some competitive U.S. actions are now at the whims of Beijing, who can now determine the time, place and nature of U.S. tech and trade policy toward China.' Deal makers in the White House The change in the relationship with China has coincided with a separate shift in the administration, in which officials who favor technology controls on China have been sidelined in favor of those who support the tech industry's ambitions to sell abroad. Mr. Lutnick and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state who has long been an ardent China critic, have hewed closely to the position of the president, who is more of a deal maker than a national security hawk. And hawkish members of the National Security Council have been fired in recent months, after being accused of insufficient loyalty. Their absence has paved the way for officials like David Sacks, the White House A.I. czar, who has criticized export controls, to push for tech companies to have freer rein. Nvidia's chief executive, Jensen Huang, has gone on a lobbying blitz in Washington, pushing politicians to open China for A.I. chip sales. Mr. Huang has contended that blocking U.S. technology from China has backfired by creating more urgency for China to develop its own technology. He has argued that the Chinese military won't use Nvidia chips, and pushed back against Washington's consensus that China is an adversary, describing it a 'competitor' but 'not our enemy.' Image The change in the U.S. relationship with China has coincided with a separate shift in the Trump administration, in which officials who favor technology controls on China have been sidelined. Credit... Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times Others have challenged those assertions, pointing to past research that the Chinese military has placed orders for Nvidia chips. Scientific papers published earlier this year also showed Chinese researchers with ties to military universities and a top nuclear weapons lab using Nvidia chips for general research. Mr. Rizzo, the Nvidia spokesman, said in a statement that 'non-military papers describing new and beneficial ways to use U.S. technology promote America.' In a letter on Friday, John Moolenaar, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said the H20 chip had aided the rise of the Chinese A.I. model DeepSeek and would help China develop A.I. models to compete with American ones. These arguments do not appear to have persuaded the president. In an Oval Office meeting with Mr. Huang in July, Mr. Trump agreed with Nvidia that keeping American chips out of China would only help Huawei, and decided to reverse the H20 ban. People familiar with Mr. Trump's views say he has always viewed export controls more transactionally. In his first term, Mr. Trump agreed to roll back U.S. restrictions on ZTE at the urging of Mr. Xi. In this term, Mr. Trump and his advisers have begun using America's control over A.I. chips as a source of leverage in negotiations with governments from the Middle East to Asia. With China, Mr. Trump has his own longstanding aspirations. He believes that U.S. businesses have been getting ripped off for decades, and that he can be the one to fix it, particularly if he negotiates directly with Mr. Xi. His advisers have begun strategizing toward a more substantial trade negotiation with China focused on market opening, as well as the potential visit this fall.
