Washington
Judge skeptical of argument that courts can’t review border declaration
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Tuesday expressed skepticism over the Trump administration’s assertions that its decision to declare an invasion at the U.S.-Mexico border and suspend asylum access was not something courts had the authority to review.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss heard arguments in a Washington courtroom over a lawsuit brought by immigrants rights organizations, which are challenging a key executive order that banned the ability for migrants crossing the southern border to seek protections in the United States.
In the Jan. 20 order, President Donald Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was “suspending the physical entry” of migrants.
Trump’s order asserts that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives presidents the authority to suspend entry of any group that they find “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
The government has argued in court that the Republican president’s determination that the U.S. is facing an invasion is not subject to court review, calling it “an unreviewable political question” in a filing.
Moss, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, repeatedly questioned the government’s lawyer on that point.
At one point, he posed a hypothetical question about whether the president — upset with northerners taking up residence in sunny Florida where he has a home — could declare their presence an invasion.
At another point, he asked, “Is there just never any judicial review?”
Advocates say the right to request asylum is enshrined in the country’s immigration laws and that denying migrants that right puts people fleeing war or persecution in grave danger.
Critics say relatively few people coming to America seeking asylum actually end up qualifying and that it takes years for overloaded immigration courts to come to a determination on such requests. People seeking asylum must demonstrate a fear of persecution at home on a fairly narrow grounds of race, religion, nationality or by belonging to a particular social or political group.
In the lawsuit, the migrant rights groups argued that immigration “even at elevated levels” does not constitute an invasion and noted that the number of people entering the country between the ports of entry had fallen to lows not seen since August 2020.
The groups are asking the judge to declare Trump’s order unlawful and keep him from enforcing it. The government has asked the judge to dismiss the organizations’ motion.
Moss asked for more written arguments on specific legal questions before making his ruling.
Judge skeptical of argument that courts can’t review border declaration
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Tuesday expressed skepticism over the Trump administration’s assertions that its decision to declare an invasion at the U.S.-Mexico border and suspend asylum access was not something courts had the authority to review.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss heard arguments in a Washington courtroom over a lawsuit brought by immigrants rights organizations, which are challenging a key executive order that banned the ability for migrants crossing the southern border to seek protections in the United States.
In the Jan. 20 order, President Donald Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was “suspending the physical entry” of migrants.
Trump’s order asserts that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives presidents the authority to suspend entry of any group that they find “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
The government has argued in court that the Republican president’s determination that the U.S. is facing an invasion is not subject to court review, calling it “an unreviewable political question” in a filing.
Moss, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, repeatedly questioned the government’s lawyer on that point.
At one point, he posed a hypothetical question about whether the president — upset with northerners taking up residence in sunny Florida where he has a home — could declare their presence an invasion.
At another point, he asked, “Is there just never any judicial review?”
Advocates say the right to request asylum is enshrined in the country’s immigration laws and that denying migrants that right puts people fleeing war or persecution in grave danger.
Critics say relatively few people coming to America seeking asylum actually end up qualifying and that it takes years for overloaded immigration courts to come to a determination on such requests. People seeking asylum must demonstrate a fear of persecution at home on a fairly narrow grounds of race, religion, nationality or by belonging to a particular social or political group.
In the lawsuit, the migrant rights groups argued that immigration “even at elevated levels” does not constitute an invasion and noted that the number of people entering the country between the ports of entry had fallen to lows not seen since August 2020.
The groups are asking the judge to declare Trump’s order unlawful and keep him from enforcing it. The government has asked the judge to dismiss the organizations’ motion.
Moss asked for more written arguments on specific legal questions before making his ruling.
Wisconsin
State high court suspends judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended a judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, saying Tuesday that it is in the public interest to relieve her of her duties as she faces two federal charges.
The FBI took Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan into custody Friday morning at the county courthouse. She has been charged with concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest and obstructing or impeding a proceeding.
In its two-page order, the court said it was acting to protect public confidence in Wisconsin courts during the criminal proceedings against Dugan. The order noted that the court was acting on its own initiative and was not responding to a request from anyone. Liberal justices control the court 4-3.
“It is ordered ... that Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah C. Dugan is temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the state of Wisconsin, effective the date of this order and until further order of the court,” the justices wrote.
In a statement, Dugan’s legal team said it was disappointed “that the Court acted in unilateral fashion. We continue to assert Judge Dugan’s innocence and look forward to her vindication in court.”
A state court spokesperson said that a reserve judge began filling in for Dugan on Monday for an indefinite period.
Dugan is accused of escorting Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer from her court through the jury door last week after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents were in the building and seeking his arrest. Flores-Ruiz, who court documents say illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013, was taken into custody outside after a foot chase.
Court documents suggest Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that they appeared to be in the hallway.
An FBI affidavit says Dugan was “visibly angry” over the agents’ arrival and called the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. It says she and another judge later approached members of the arrest team inside the courthouse with what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with officers over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom, the affidavit says.
After directing the agents to the chief judge’s office, investigators say, Dugan returned to the courtroom and was heard saying words to the effect of “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer through the jury door into a nonpublic area.
The action was unusual, the affidavit says, because “only deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies used the back jury door. Defense attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury door.”
Dugan’s arrests has sparked outrage among Democrats, who have accused the Trump administration of trying to chill the judiciary. Demonstrators gathered outside the FBI’s Milwaukee field office Saturday to protest her arrest.
She is set to appear in court for arraignment May 15.
Her attorneys include Craig Mastantuono; Paul Clement, a prominent conservative lawyer; and Steve Biskupic, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin who was appointed by President George W. Bush.
New York
Man charged with attempted rape of person who died on subway train
NEW YORK (AP) — A man was charged with attempted rape after surveillance video taken aboard a New York City subway train showed him performing sexual acts on an unresponsive passenger who was later determined to have died.
Felix Rojas, 44, was arraigned Tuesday, three weeks after authorities said he abused the male victim inside a subway car as it traveled from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Rojas was arrested Sunday.
He is also charged with attempted grand larceny. Rojas did not enter a plea. The public defender’s office representing him said it was looking into the circumstances of the case and did not comment further.
The victim had boarded the train on April 8 and rode for hours earlier and appeared to lose consciousness by 10:50 p.m., according to security camera video.
Rojas showed up on the train about a half hour later and performed abusive acts, stopping and resuming as the train made stops and other passengers got on and off, a police detective wrote in a criminal complaint.
“After seeing that the victim continued to remain motionless, the defendant decided to take advantage of the situation,” Assistant District Attorney Antonio Melchionna said during the arraignment, according to the New York Daily News.
A judge ordered Rojas detained at the arraignment.
A transit worker discovered the man motionless on the floor soon after the assault and he was declared dead by rescue workers. Authorities have not made clear when he died. A cause of death has not been released.
Florida
Judge says local police must follow order to halt enforcement of immigration law
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge told attorneys for the state of Florida on Tuesday that an order freezing the enforcement of a new state immigration law absolutely did apply to all of the state’s local law enforcement agencies, despite a recent letter to the contrary from the state’s attorney general.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said during a hearing in Miami that she planned to issue a preliminary injunction against a state statute that makes it a misdemeanor for undocumented migrants to enter Florida by eluding immigration officials.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation into law in February as part of President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration, though many of Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts are currently mired in battles with federal judges.
The judge had issued a 14-day temporary restraining order on April 4, shortly after the lawsuit was filed by the Florida Immigrant Coalition and other groups with support from the American Civil Liberties Union. She then extended it another 11 days after learning the Florida Highway Patrol had arrested more than a dozen people, including a U.S. Citizen. The lawsuit claims the new law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by encroaching on federal duties.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Williams asked Jeffrey DeSousa, who is representing the Florida Office of the Attorney General, why Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier released a memo to law enforcement agencies last week saying they didn’t need to follow her order.
DeSousa said his office’s position is that a judge’s order can only apply to the named parties in the lawsuit being tried. Williams asked what would be the point of allowing law enforcement officers to arrest people without probable cause when prosecutors weren’t allowed to prosecute them, though DeSousa didn’t directly answer.
DeSousa also argued that the immigrant groups filing the lawsuit could have named the individual law enforcement agencies in their complaint, rather than just the Florida attorney general, the statewide prosecutor and Florida’s 20 state attorneys.
ACLU attorney Oscar Sarabia Roman said it would not have been practical to individually name all 373 of the state’s law enforcement agencies in their complaint. He added that the judge’s order should have the authority to prevent local police from enforcing the new law.
After Williams issued her order extension April 18, Uthmeier sent a memo to state and local law enforcement officers telling them to refrain from enforcing the law, even though he disagreed with it. But five days later, he sent another memo saying that the judge was legally wrong and that he couldn’t prevent local police officers and deputies from enforcing the law. No additional arrests have been reported since Uthmeier’s second memo.
Man charged with attempted rape of person who died on subway train
NEW YORK (AP) — A man was charged with attempted rape after surveillance video taken aboard a New York City subway train showed him performing sexual acts on an unresponsive passenger who was later determined to have died.
Felix Rojas, 44, was arraigned Tuesday, three weeks after authorities said he abused the male victim inside a subway car as it traveled from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Rojas was arrested Sunday.
He is also charged with attempted grand larceny. Rojas did not enter a plea. The public defender’s office representing him said it was looking into the circumstances of the case and did not comment further.
The victim had boarded the train on April 8 and rode for hours earlier and appeared to lose consciousness by 10:50 p.m., according to security camera video.
Rojas showed up on the train about a half hour later and performed abusive acts, stopping and resuming as the train made stops and other passengers got on and off, a police detective wrote in a criminal complaint.
“After seeing that the victim continued to remain motionless, the defendant decided to take advantage of the situation,” Assistant District Attorney Antonio Melchionna said during the arraignment, according to the New York Daily News.
A judge ordered Rojas detained at the arraignment.
A transit worker discovered the man motionless on the floor soon after the assault and he was declared dead by rescue workers. Authorities have not made clear when he died. A cause of death has not been released.
Florida
Judge says local police must follow order to halt enforcement of immigration law
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge told attorneys for the state of Florida on Tuesday that an order freezing the enforcement of a new state immigration law absolutely did apply to all of the state’s local law enforcement agencies, despite a recent letter to the contrary from the state’s attorney general.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said during a hearing in Miami that she planned to issue a preliminary injunction against a state statute that makes it a misdemeanor for undocumented migrants to enter Florida by eluding immigration officials.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation into law in February as part of President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration, though many of Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts are currently mired in battles with federal judges.
The judge had issued a 14-day temporary restraining order on April 4, shortly after the lawsuit was filed by the Florida Immigrant Coalition and other groups with support from the American Civil Liberties Union. She then extended it another 11 days after learning the Florida Highway Patrol had arrested more than a dozen people, including a U.S. Citizen. The lawsuit claims the new law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by encroaching on federal duties.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Williams asked Jeffrey DeSousa, who is representing the Florida Office of the Attorney General, why Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier released a memo to law enforcement agencies last week saying they didn’t need to follow her order.
DeSousa said his office’s position is that a judge’s order can only apply to the named parties in the lawsuit being tried. Williams asked what would be the point of allowing law enforcement officers to arrest people without probable cause when prosecutors weren’t allowed to prosecute them, though DeSousa didn’t directly answer.
DeSousa also argued that the immigrant groups filing the lawsuit could have named the individual law enforcement agencies in their complaint, rather than just the Florida attorney general, the statewide prosecutor and Florida’s 20 state attorneys.
ACLU attorney Oscar Sarabia Roman said it would not have been practical to individually name all 373 of the state’s law enforcement agencies in their complaint. He added that the judge’s order should have the authority to prevent local police from enforcing the new law.
After Williams issued her order extension April 18, Uthmeier sent a memo to state and local law enforcement officers telling them to refrain from enforcing the law, even though he disagreed with it. But five days later, he sent another memo saying that the judge was legally wrong and that he couldn’t prevent local police officers and deputies from enforcing the law. No additional arrests have been reported since Uthmeier’s second memo.
