Articles

Supreme Court: Trump can use Pentagon funds for border wall

The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico. The court’s five conservative justices gave the administration the green light on Friday to begin work on four contracts it has awarded using Defense Department money.

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Outgoing Rep. Brooks joins Dems condemning Trump’s racist tweets

In a remarkable political repudiation, the Democratic-led U.S. House voted to condemn President Donald Trump’s “racist comments” against four congresswomen of color, despite protestations by Trump’s Republican congressional allies and his own insistence he hasn’t “a racist bone in my body.” Retiring Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks was among four Republicans joining the condemnation of Trump’s statements.

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Trump moves to effectively end asylum at southern border

Reversing decades of U.S. policy, the Trump administration said Monday it will end all asylum protections for most migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border — the president’s most forceful attempt yet to block asylum claims and slash the number of people seeking refuge in America.

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Trump gives up on bid to have citizenship question on census

Just a week after insisting that he was “absolutely moving forward,” President Donald Trump abandoned his effort to insert a citizenship question into next year’s census. He directed federal agencies to try to compile the information using existing databases instead.

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Supreme Court 5-4 ruling blocks census citizenship question

The Supreme Court of the United States is forbidding President Donald Trump’s administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census for now. The court said the Trump administration’s explanation for wanting to add the question was “more of a distraction” than an explanation.

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Amish couple settles lawsuit over photos their faith forbids

An Amish couple with 13 children settled a lawsuit that accused federal officials of violating their constitutional rights by insisting they provide photographs of themselves before the Canadian wife’s request to become a permanent U.S. resident can be approved.

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7th Circuit reversal: Indiana may intervene in ACLU immigration case

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded a district court’s denial of Indiana’s motion to intervene in a federal immigration case that prohibited the Marion County Sheriff’s Department from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention requests, finding the district court did not have jurisdiction to strike the motion.

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SCOTUS to hear arguments over citizenship question on census

The United States Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over the Trump administration’s plan to ask about citizenship on the 2020 census, a question that could affect how many seats states have in the House of Representatives and their share of federal dollars over the next 10 years.

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Justices’ ruling sparks conversation about PCR for noncitizens

Earlier this month, a 3-2 majority of the Indiana Supreme Court granted post-conviction relief to noncitizen Angelo Bobadilla, finding deficient counsel performance and prejudice. But dissenting justices raised concerns about the ruling inappropriately expanding the PCR analysis.

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Judiciary faces ‘political’ task in border wall emergency declaration

The question for courts hearing challenges to President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration is not as simple as deciding whetherthe action is legal; they also must determine the extent of congressional and presidential powers, the meaning of relevant statutes and how much deference to give a president asserting executive authority.

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Trump emergency declaration faces fights in the courts

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency along the southern border and predicted his administration would end up defending it all the way to the Supreme Court. That might have been the only thing Trump said Friday that produced near-universal agreement.

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Justices to decide if 2020 census can ask about citizenship

The Supreme Court will decide whether the 2020 census can include a question about citizenship that could affect the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal money. The justices agreed Friday to a speedy review of a lower court ruling that has so far blocked the Trump administration from adding the citizenship question to the census for the first time since 1950.

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