Category: Politics
Los Angeles County Democrats vote to ban ICE from using masks — and the DOJ issues defiant response
The Democrat-controlled Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to ban the use of masks by federal officials, and the Justice Dept. responded immediately with a fiery statement.
All of the Democrats on the board voted 4-0 in favor of the ordinance on Tuesday, with the lone Republican member abstaining. A second vote on Dec. 9 is needed to pass it. If that happens, law enforcement officers will be required to wear visible identification and agency affiliation.
‘We will not expose our brave men and women to personal attacks by allowing agitators to dox them and their families through facial recognition tools.’
Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, responded immediately to the vote.
“Let me be very clear: the county has no jurisdiction over federal agents, and we will not comply with any state or local laws restricting federal law enforcement,” he posted in a statement on social media.
“Our agents are under unprecedented assault in Los Angeles, largely due to reckless narratives and rhetoric advanced by the media and local politicians,” he added. “We will not expose our brave men and women to personal attacks by allowing agitators to dox them and their families through facial recognition tools.”
In a statement about the vote, Supervisor Janice Hahn accused ICE of behaving like an “authoritarian secret police” force.
“This is how authoritarian secret police behaves — not legitimate law enforcement in a democracy,” Hahn said.
“ICE agents are violating our residents’ rights every day they are on our streets. These agents hide their faces. They refuse to wear badges,” she continued. “They pull people into unmarked vans at gunpoint and wonder why people resist arrest. We are declaring in no uncertain terms that in L.A. County, police do not hide their faces. That is our expectation, and this ordinance will now make it our law.”
RELATED: DHS slams Newsom over illegal alien accused in death of 11-year-old boy on Thanksgiving
If approved in the second vote, the mask ban will go into effect 30 days after that vote.
Hahn added that the board expects the Trump administration to challenge the ban in court, and it is prepared to take on the court battle.
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AUDIO: Justice Clarence Thomas dismantles Democrat AG’s office lawyer on lawfare against pro-life pregnancy center
An exchange between Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and an attorney from a Democratic attorney general’s office has gone viral on social media.
The case involves a pro-life pregnancy center objecting to a subpoena from the New Jersey state attorney general’s office to provide a list of its donors. Thomas cornered a representative for the AG’s office in oral arguments about the justification for the legal targeting of the faith-based group.
Even Justice Elena Kagan, a liberal justice on the court, appeared to be sympathetic to the pro-life center’s plight.
Thomas zeroed in on the point that there had been no complaints from donors about the center, while Sundeep Iyer, the chief counsel to the New Jersey attorney general’s office, was defending the investigation into whether donors had been deceived.
“Did you have complaints that formed the basis of your concern about the fundraising activities here?” Thomas asked.
“We certainly had complaints about crisis pregnancy centers,” Iyer responded.
“No, about this crisis pregnancy center,” Thomas interrupted.
“So, I think we’ve been clear from the outset that we haven’t had complaints about this specific —” Iver replied.
“So you had no basis to think that they were deceiving any of their contributors?” Thomas interrupted again.
“I don’t think that’s correct, Your Honor,” Iyer stammered.
“I think we had carefully canvassed all of the public information that is provided on the website of First Choice in making a determination that we wanted to initiate an investigation,” he continued.
“But you had no factual basis,” Thomas asserted.
“I don’t think that’s true, Your Honor. I think, for example, you could take a look at a comparison between the donation page of First Choice that we have carved out, from the very beginning —” Iyer said.
“But you had no complaints?” Thomas asked.
“We had no complaints, but the state governments [and] federal government initiate investigations all the time in the absence of complaints, where they have a reason to suspect that there could be potential issues of legal compliance,” Iyer responded.
“Well, that just seems to be a burdensome way to find out whether someone has a confusing website,” Thomas asserted.
Iyer went on to argue that the existence of complaints would be material to the merits of the case, but not to whether the state officials had standing for the subpoena.
Audio of the exchange was posted to social media, where it went viral.
The Supreme Court is considering whether the state court must enforce the subpoena against First Choice Women’s Resource Centers before the faith-based pregnancy center can challenge it in federal court.
RELATED: Leftist war on pro-life pregnancy centers faces Supreme Court reckoning
The center argues that the subpoena violates its First Amendment right to free speech as well as the right to free association.
Even Justice Elena Kagan, a liberal justice on the court, appeared to be sympathetic to the pro-life center’s plight.
“An ordinary person, one of the funders of this organization or any similar organization, presented with this subpoena and then told, ‘But don’t worry, it has to be stamped by a court,’ is not going to take that as very reassuring,” she said during the case.
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DHS slams Newsom over illegal alien accused in death of 11-year-old boy on Thanksgiving
The Department of Homeland Security is blasting California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) after an illegal alien was charged in the death of an 11-year-old boy on Thanksgiving.
Hector Balderas-Aheelor ran over Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz when the boy left his Escondido home to retrieve a soccer ball on Thanksgiving eve, according to police. The boy died the next day, on Thanksgiving morning.
‘We do give thanks that he is up above with our heavenly father.’
Officials said Balderas-Aheelor did not stop and sped away from the scene. He was later apprehended and arrested for the alleged hit-and-run.
The 44-year-old Mexican national had been deported three times in 2004 and a fourth time in 2010, according to a DHS press release.
In a post from the agency on social media Wednesday, the agency accused Newsom of refusing to honor the immigration detainer on the man.
“Governor Newsom is REFUSING to honor the ICE detainer for an illegal alien who killed an 11-year-old boy,” read the statement in part.
“When will Governor Newsom stop releasing criminals into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk?”
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin added that the state’s “sanctuary laws threaten to put this killer back onto California’s streets.”
Newsom’s office responded with a brief statement.
“The federal government admits a failure to apprehend the suspect when he unlawfully entered the U.S., but California law does not prevent them from acting now,” said a spokesperson.
RELATED: Illegal immigrant community shocked by ICE nabbing popular figure for deportation
Balderas-Aheelor was charged with felony hit-and-run causing death or injury.
“Sanctuary policies, like those backed by Gov. Newsom, put Californians in danger every day,” replied Rep. Ken Calvert of California on social media. “We must make the safety of California families our top priority.”
Irene Gonzalez, a friend of the child’s family, spoke to KNSD-TV.
“We’re not celebrating Thanksgiving like we should be,” she said.
“We do give thanks that Aiden is no longer in pain. … We do give thanks that he is now up above with our heavenly father.”
Escondido is a suburb of San Diego.
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DHS to increase operations in Twin Cities region as Somali fraud becomes unignorable
As deportation operations continue to clean up sanctuary cities across the country, the Department of Homeland Security is focusing on another hub of problematic immigration: the Minneapolis-St. Paul region of Minnesota.
The Washington Examiner reported that Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, hinted at an immigration enforcement surge there as soon as this week.
‘Focus is on those Twin Cities more because of the criminal activities there that’ve been uncovered by DOJ and DHS.’
In a Fox News appearance on Tuesday, Homan suggested that plans were already in the works to increase resources in the Twin Cities in particular.
“I can tell you, the focus is there. It’s coming, but I don’t want to give a lot. I can’t tell you how many people are on the ground now, and how many people are going to be on the ground. I’ll leave that to the secretary of homeland security, but focus is on those Twin Cities more because of the criminal activities there that’ve been uncovered by DOJ and DHS,” Homan said in the interview.
RELATED: It’s not ‘racist’ to notice Somali fraud
Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Citing an anonymous source familiar with the operations, the New York Times reported that the operation will target Somalis with final deportation orders in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region.
Roughly 100 ICE agents have been called in for the operation, according to NYT.
This surge in law enforcement comes as the federal government expands its investigations into massive COVID-era fraud schemes. Over 75 indictments have already been issued, and Governor Tim Walz has been accused of obstruction in the case.
“Today, I have ordered an investigation into the network of Somali organizations and executives implicated in these schemes,” Small Business Administration administrator Kelly Loeffler said on Tuesday in an X post. “Despite Governor Walz’s best efforts to obstruct, SBA continues to work to expose abuse and hold perpetrators accountable, full stop.”
In his now-infamous Thanksgiving Truth Social post, President Donald Trump highlighted the plethora of problems the state of Minnesota is facing in connection with the Somali community.
“Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota. Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for ‘prey’ as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone,” he said.
Trump singled out Walz and Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar:
The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both, while the worst ‘Congressman/woman’ in our Country, Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U.S.A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how “badly” she is treated.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin stated, “What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally.”
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‘Your nightmare is finally over’: Trump pardons Texas Democrat who opposed Biden’s border policy
More than a year and a half after a Democrat congressman was indicted on federal charges under the Biden presidency, President Trump has announced that he will be granting an “unconditional pardon.”
On Wednesday morning, President Trump announced on social media that he will be granting a “full and unconditional PARDON” for embattled Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar.
‘It has tested our faith in ways we never expected, but it has not broken it. We still believe in justice.’
In the post, President Trump slammed Joe Biden for weaponizing the Department of Justice and the FBI against his political opponents — including members of his own party.
Trump suggested that Cuellar was targeted by the Biden regime because of his unflinching demands for tighter border security.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“Sleepy Joe went after the Congressman, and even the Congressman’s wonderful wife, Imelda, simply for speaking the TRUTH. It is unAmerican and, as I previously stated, the Radical Left Democrats are a complete and total threat to Democracy! They will attack, rob, lie, cheat, destroy, and decimate anyone who dares to oppose their Far Left Agenda, an Agenda that, if left unchecked, will obliterate our magnificent Country,” Trump said in the post.
“Because of these facts, and others, I am hereby announcing my full and unconditional PARDON of beloved Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, and Imelda. Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight — Your nightmare is finally over!”
In the Truth Social post, Trump included a letter written by the Cuellars’ daughters, Christina and Catherine, who asked for a full and unconditional pardon.
In the letter, they wrote, “This ordeal has taken a deep emotional and financial toll on all of us. It has tested our faith in ways we never expected, but it has not broken it. We still believe in justice. We still believe in America — a country built on truth, fairness, and compassion, even during the hardest of times.”
Cuellar and his wife were indicted on several federal charges related to bribery in May 2024, though they were never convicted.
At the time, Trump said, “Biden just Indicted Henry Cuellar because the Respected Democrat Congressman wouldn’t play Crooked Joe’s Open Border game. He was for Border Control, so they said, ‘Let’s use the FBI and DOJ to take him out!’ This is the way they operate.”
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Obama judge blocks Trump from cutting funds to Planned Parenthood in 22 states
A federal judge in Boston issued a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration cutting federal funds to Planned Parenthood in 22 states on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston sided with a group of Democratic state attorneys general who had filed a lawsuit against the provision in the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law in July.
‘We won a court order stopping the federal government from playing politics with our health care system.’
Talwani said that the lawsuit would likely prevail when considered fully, but she paused the injunction to allow the administration seven days to appeal.
The same judge also blocked the cutting of abortion funds in July, but an appeals court later allowed the cuts to continue while the lawsuit progressed. The former order was criticized as “unjust judicial activism” by Lila Rose of the Live Action pro-life group.
Planned Parenthood said that at least 20 clinics had shut down since the order to cut funding was renewed during appeal. It argued that as many as 200 centers would shut down if the order was allowed to stand.
Alexis McGill Johnson, the CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, argued that the order would reduce availability of other health care provided to women.
“This case is about making sure that patients who use Medicaid as their insurance to get birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment can continue to do so at their local Planned Parenthood health center, and we will make that clear in court,” Johnson said in July.
Among those celebrating the order was New York Attorney General Letitia James, an avowed opponent of the president.
“We won a court order stopping the federal government from playing politics with our health care system and defunding Planned Parenthood,” James wrote. “We’ll continue our lawsuit to defend New Yorkers’ health care and reproductive freedom from unconstitutional attacks.”
Talwani was appointed to the court in 2013 by former President Barack Obama.
She is also responsible for blocking Trump’s cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over the government shutdown in October. The president responded by blaming Democrats for refusing to vote to end the shutdown.
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