Latest news with #Filitti
Axios
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Trump order targets "sanctuary cities"
President Trump on Monday signed an executive order directing federal agencies to document " sanctuary cities" that are not complying with his immigration agenda. The big picture: Monday's order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Homeland Security to identify cities and states that don't sufficiently comply with Trump's federal immigration laws within a month. They are to publish the list of jurisdictions that don't cooperate with immigration agents, and to notify each sanctuary jurisdiction of non-compliance, providing an opportunity to correct it. Sanctuary jurisdictions that don't comply "may" lose federal funding, the White House said. Catch up quick: The executive order comes after Trump promised during his 2024 campaign to eliminate sanctuary policies and to use the federal government's weight to dole out consequences for jurisdictions that refuse to comply. He then signed an executive order the day he was inaugurated, calling for federal grants to sanctuary cities to be cut. But a federal judge last week blocked the administration from cutting funds for jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, calling parts of Trump's order unconstitutional. State of play: Lawfare Project senior counsel Gerard Filitti told Axios on Monday that an order identifying sanctuary jurisdictions, and even directing prosecutions, does not run afoul of the judge's ruling last week addressing funding. Executive action on funding arguably violates the Constitution's spending clause, which gives Congress — not the President — the power to finance programs, Filitti said in an email. Yes, but:" The new executive order does not run afoul of the spending clause, nor is it susceptible to arguments that changes are being made without due process." Zoom in: Monday's executive order marks a shift in the administration's approach to targeting sanctuary cities. "We have already seen the Administration try to restrict funding going to sanctuary cities (albeit so far unsuccessfully), but what we are seeing now is an anticipated shift to legal proceedings targeting these cities for their willful failure to comply with federal immigration law," Filitti said. The distinction between non-cooperation and obstruction is subtle in the new order, but it is critical to the Trump administration's approach to enforcement, Filitti noted. "Put simply, the Justice Department will be looking at the DHS list of sanctuary cities and look to prosecute officials in them for obstruction," he said. "Because while sanctuary cities may have the 'right' to not cooperate (because of the Tenth Amendment), they do not have a legal right to obstruct enforcement through harboring." He called it a new and potentially very powerful tool to induce officials in sanctuary cities to cooperate in Trump's deportation agenda. Between the lines: Jurisdictions often have sanctuary policies in place as state law, and an executive order doesn't have the power to rescind them, Kathleen Bush-Joseph, an attorney and policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told Axios. "So then the conflict becomes, how does a court decide whether or not one trumps the other?" she added. Shayna Kessler, an attorney and director of Vera's Advancing Universal Representation initiative, which represents immigrants facing deportation, told Axios that "attacks on sanctuary jurisdictions are just another continued example of scare tactics." There are have already been court orders "affirming that state and local governments have the authority to decide how their own local resources and their own local law enforcement are used," she said in a phone interview Monday. State and local governments "can't be coerced into doing the federal government's work of immigration enforcement," Kessler added. What they're saying: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the executive order earlier Monday as "focused on protecting American communities from criminal aliens."
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Yahoo
Woman says Staples canceled printing order over 'Zionist' message
LOS ANGELES - A Staples employee refused to print materials for a Black Jewish activist, calling the material racist. The confrontation between the employee and customer was recorded on video. What we know Elisheva Rishon captured the tense exchange inside the store on camera. She said she started recording because she was excited to show the completed order to her online followers, but quickly realized there was a problem. "We're not able to print anything that has any racist messaging," the employee said in the video. Rishon questioned his reasoning, and he said he took issue with the word 'Zionist.' Rishon said she placed two orders on Monday at the Mid-Wilshire Staples. The first order was a pink postcard that included the word 'Zionists' and another that had the words 'Jewish joy.' Rishon said the employee lured her to the store on Monday night by telling over the phone that her order was ready for pickup. But when she arrived, the same employee told her the job had been canceled because of its content. "I thought at first the problem was a lack of education, a difference in interpretation, so I told him my personal opinion of what Zionism is, is to return to your homeland after over 2,000 years. And he was very disappointed with that response," Rishon told FOX 11. "I felt nauseous. I felt enraged. I felt disappointed, disheartened. So it was colorism mixed with anti-black racism mixed with antisemitism all at once," she added. Her attorney, Gerard Filitti of The Lawfare Project, said the incident constitutes a civil rights violation. "That's not just antisemitism in theory—that's antisemitism in practice," Filitti said. "You cannot discriminate on the basis of religion or national origin, among other things." Filitti said the incident is part of a broader issue. "This is part of a systemic problem of antisemitism, of Jew-hate, that needs to be addressed at the corporate level," he said. The other side Staples declined an interview but said the company is aware of the incident and investigating the circumstances involving the interaction. They released a statement that read in part, "Staples remains committed to serving all customers and we continue to work hard to ensure respectful and professional interactions in all situations." The Staples employee posted his own video response, defending his actions, but that video has since been deleted from social media. His Instagram account has since been deactivated, and he could not be reached for comment. Local perspective On Wednesday, a small group gathered outside the store in protest. Rishon said she didn't organize the gathering, but welcomed the support. "It gives me a sense of renewal, and it reaffirms my belief that if people actually get to know each other—if they actually have meaningful dialogue—we can unite and recognize completely when something is absolutely horribly wrong and violates every type of civil rights," she said.
