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Category: Law/Crime

From Bush’s war on terror to Trump’s war on immigrants

From Bush’s war on terror to Trump’s war on immigrants

Axios reports: Mass surveillance. Pre-emptive military strikes in the Middle East. Shipping people to domestic and foreign prisons. Citing national security to hide information from the courts. Labeling people as “terrorists” as a political and legal strategy. Why it matters: Donald Trump became president in part by running against the legacy of George W. Bush, the last Republican in the White House before him. But now Trump is supercharging many of the post-9/11 legal, tactical and political strategies Bush used. Driving the news: Trump’s push to…

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Trump’s war against immigrants threatens the freedom of all Americans

Trump’s war against immigrants threatens the freedom of all Americans

Chandran Kukathas writes: The tactics of the Trump administration’s immigration agenda have shifted from time to time, but the broader objective has remained consistent: to deport as many people as possible and, more broadly, to transform the restrictions and reach of America’s immigration system. President Trump and members of his administration believe they have a democratic mandate to do this. Their ultimate fear is that outsiders pose a danger to American values — the threat of not just taking our…

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Trump claims sweeping power to unilaterally nullify laws, letters reveal

Trump claims sweeping power to unilaterally nullify laws, letters reveal

The New York Times reports: Attorney General Pam Bondi told tech companies that they could lawfully violate a statute barring American companies from supporting TikTok based on a sweeping claim that President Trump has the constitutional power to set aside laws, newly disclosed documents show. In letters to companies like Apple and Google, Ms. Bondi wrote that Mr. Trump had decided that shutting down TikTok would interfere with his “constitutional duties,” so the law banning the social media app must…

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Judge Luttig: Chief Justice Roberts’ ‘unforgivable reticence,’ failing to speak out directly against Trump

Judge Luttig: Chief Justice Roberts’ ‘unforgivable reticence,’ failing to speak out directly against Trump

  The Court of History’s Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz are joined by Conservative former judge, John Michael Luttig, who declares his independence from Trump. Judge J Michael Luttig writes: On July 4, 1776, our fellow Americans declared their independence from the British empire and its ruling monarchy. Thus began the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain to secure America’s independence from the tyrannical rule of King George III. On that first Independence Day almost two hundred and fifty years…

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Does Pakistan’s Lawyers’ Movement hold lessons for the United States?

Does Pakistan’s Lawyers’ Movement hold lessons for the United States?

  Yes, Pakistan’s Lawyers’ Movement holds valuable lessons for the United States, particularly regarding the importance of judicial independence, the power of collective action, and the role of civil society in challenging political power. The movement demonstrates how a professional group can mobilize and exert significant influence on political and legal systems. Here’s a more detailed look at the lessons: • Importance of Judicial Independence: The Lawyers’ Movement in Pakistan highlighted the critical role of an independent judiciary in a…

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DOJ explores using criminal charges against election officials

DOJ explores using criminal charges against election officials

The New York Times reports: Senior Justice Department officials are exploring whether they can bring criminal charges against state or local election officials if the Trump administration determines they have not sufficiently safeguarded their computer systems, according to people familiar with the discussions. The department’s effort, which is still in its early stages, is not based on new evidence, data or legal authority, according to the people, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. Instead, it is…

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America’s new era of secret police and disappearance

America’s new era of secret police and disappearance

Hamilton Nolan writes: In the HBO drama “The Leftovers,” two percent of the world’s population suddenly disappears. This is cast as a fantastical and mysterious occurrence, setting the stage for a surreal tale of science fiction. You should never underestimate American ingenuity, though. We are on the verge of our own age of mass disappearance. It will be all too real. And it will not be fun. Trump’s big budget bill passed the Senate yesterday. It will now go back…

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Federal judge rules against Trump’s attempt to stop asylum claims at border

Federal judge rules against Trump’s attempt to stop asylum claims at border

The New York Times reports: A federal judge in Washington ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration cannot categorically deny asylum claims from people crossing the southern border, striking down a change made on President Trump’s first day in office. The ruling rejected the idea, repeatedly put forth by the president, that such extraordinary powers were justified to curtail what Mr. Trump has called an invasion of the United States by immigrants crossing the southern border. In a hefty 128-page…

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Trump’s finances were increasingly shaky. Then he began to capitalize on his presidency

Trump’s finances were increasingly shaky. Then he began to capitalize on his presidency

The New York Times reports: Last spring, even as Donald J. Trump’s march back toward the White House dominated public attention, his finances, largely out of view, faced serious threats. His office building in Lower Manhattan generated too little cash to cover its mortgage, with the balance coming due. Many of his golf courses regularly lacked enough players to cover costs. The flow of millions of dollars a year from his stint as a television celebrity had mostly dried up….

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The Supreme Court is complicit in ‘the creation of a culture of disdain for lower courts’

The Supreme Court is complicit in ‘the creation of a culture of disdain for lower courts’

Kate Shaw writes: Much like its opinion exactly a year ago in Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court’s opinion in Trump v. CASA significantly limiting federal courts’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions will result in more power and less accountability for the president. The Supreme Court has now relieved President Trump of one of the key constraints he has faced in his more than five months in office. But the power transfer that will result from this opinion is…

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Immigration raids leave crops unharvested, California farms at risk — ‘70% of the workers are gone’

Immigration raids leave crops unharvested, California farms at risk — ‘70% of the workers are gone’

Reuters reports: Lisa Tate is a sixth-generation farmer in Ventura County, California, an area that produces billions of dollars worth of fruit and vegetables each year, much of it hand-picked by immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Tate knows the farms around her well. And she says she can see with her own eyes how raids carried out by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the area’s fields earlier this month, part of President Donald Trump’s migration crackdown, have…

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ICEBlock: This iPhone app alerts users to nearby ICE sightings

ICEBlock: This iPhone app alerts users to nearby ICE sightings

CNN reports: Joshua Aaron has worked in and around the tech industry for around two decades. He built his first app — a blackjack game — at computer camp when he was 13. His newest app is designed for a very different purpose: to let users alert people nearby to sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their area. Aaron launched the platform, called ICEBlock, in early April after watching President Donald Trump’s administration begin its immigration crackdown. The…

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DOJ announces plans to prioritize cases to revoke citizenship

DOJ announces plans to prioritize cases to revoke citizenship

NPR reports: The Justice Department is aggressively prioritizing efforts to strip some Americans of their U.S. citizenship. Department leadership is directing its attorneys to prioritize denaturalization in cases involving naturalized citizens who commit certain crimes — and giving district attorneys wider discretion on when to pursue this tactic, according to a June 11 memo published online. The move is aimed at U.S. citizens who were not born in the country; according to data from 2023, close to 25 million immigrants…

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Three-time felon and star witness against Abrego García was due to be deported. Now he’s being freed

Three-time felon and star witness against Abrego García was due to be deported. Now he’s being freed

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration has agreed to release from prison a three-time felon who drunkenly fired shots in a Texas community and spare him from deportation in exchange for his cooperation in the federal prosecution of Kilmar Abrego García, according to a review of court records and official testimony. Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, 38, has been convicted of smuggling migrants and illegally reentering the United States after having been deported. He also pleaded guilty to “deadly conduct”…

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Trump’s immigration arrests are seeing a wave of resistance

Trump’s immigration arrests are seeing a wave of resistance

HuffPost reports: Recent weeks have seen the Trump administration’s “mass deportation” program kick into overdrive. Militarized federal agents are working hard to meet the White House’s sky-high arrest quotas, and the number of people in immigration detention is surging past record highs. That means focusing even more on otherwise law-abiding people who happen to have irregular immigration statuses ― people who pay taxes, show up to court dates and check-ins, work hard to provide for their families, and followed previous administrations’ rules to apply for humanitarian protections. It also means interrogating people at swap…

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The Supreme Court aligns with Trump against the judiciary

The Supreme Court aligns with Trump against the judiciary

Ruth Marcus writes: The courts cannot protect us from President Donald Trump’s unconstitutional overreach. That is the terrifying lesson of Friday’s 6–3 Supreme Court ruling limiting the power of federal judges to issue broad orders blocking Trump’s policies from taking effect while the lawsuits challenging them make their way through the courts. The case, Trump v. CASA, involved one of the most blatantly unconstitutional of Trump’s orders: his bid to revoke, by executive fiat, the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship….

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