update - USSC invalidates Trump's tariffs 6:3

[mandrill]

Judge blocks California's ban on federal agents wearing masks but requires badges be clearly seen


LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge on Monday blocked a California law from going into effect that would ban federal immigration agents from covering their faces, but they will still be required to wear clear identification showing their agency and badge number.

California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers from wearing facial coverings under a bill that was signed in September following the summer of high-profile raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Los Angeles.


The Trump administration filed a lawsuit in November challenging the laws, arguing that they would threaten the safety of officers who are facing harassment, doxing, and violence and that they violated the constitution because the state is directly regulating the federal government.

Judge Christina Snyder said she issued the initial ruling because the mask ban as it was enacted did not also apply to state law enforcement authorities, discriminating against the federal government. The ruling could have national implications as states grapple with how to deal with federal agents enforcing the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

It left open the possibility to future legislation banning federal agents from wearing masks if it applied to all law enforcement agencies, with Snyder writing "the Court finds that federal officers can perform their federal functions without wearing masks.” The ruling will go into effect Feb. 19.


Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill in September banning some law enforcement officers from wearing masks, neck gaiters, and other facial coverings. It was slated to go into effect Jan. 1 but was put on hold due to the lawsuit.

In addition to exempting state law enforcement officers, it made exceptions for undercover agents, protective equipment like N95 respirators or tactical gear, and other situations where not wearing a mask would jeopardize an operation. Snyder sided with the federal government, which argued this exemption was discriminatory against federal agents.

Newsom also signed into law a measure requiring law enforcement to wear clear identification showing their agency and badge number while on the job, which was challenged by the federal government but upheld by the judge.

California State Sen. Scott Weiner, who proposed the original bill to ban facial coverings, said Monday he would immediately introduce new legislation to include state police in the law.


“ICE and Border Patrol are covering their faces to maximize their terror campaign and to insulate themselves from accountability,” Weiner said in a news release. “We will ensure our mask ban can be enforced.”

At a Jan. 14 hearing, Snyder repeatedly asked the government’s lawyer, Tiberius Davis, to explain why banning masks would impede the federal law enforcement in carrying out their duties, if officers rarely wore masks prior to 2025.

Davis cited claims by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that there has been a multifold increase in assaults and threats against federal officers. He also brought up an incident in Los Angeles where three women are being accused of livestreaming while following an ICE agent home and posting the address on Instagram.

“There is real deterrence on the officer’s safety and ability to perform their duties,” Davis said.


Cameron Bell, California Department of Justice attorney, challenged his claims, saying there was no concrete evidence that federal agents can’t perform their duties without facial coverings.

Bell referenced declarations from U.S citizens who have been detained by federal agents but thought they were being kidnapped.

“It’s obvious why these laws are in the public interest,” Bell said.

The federal government also argued in legal briefs that allowing California’s legislation could lead other states to be “emboldened to impose similar unconstitutional restraints.”

Davis cited a statement from Newsom in July 2025 during an interview posted online where he discussed the mask ban bill, saying, “It appears that we don’t have the legal authority for federal agents but we do for other law enforcement authorities.”

Los Angeles County supervisors voted in December to enact a local ordinance banning law enforcement from wearing masks that went into effect Jan. 8. However, the sheriff’s department said it would not enforce the ordinance until after the court ruled on the statewide mask ban. The Los Angeles Police Department had also said it wouldn’t enforce the mask ban.

Jaimie Ding, The Associated Press

 

[mandrill]

Toddler was returned to ICE custody and denied medication after hospitalization, lawsuit says


NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - An 18-month-old girl detained for weeks by U.S. immigration authorities was returned to custody and denied medication after being hospitalized with a life-threatening respiratory illness, according to a lawsuit filed in Texas federal court.


The child, identified in the lawsuit as "Amalia," was released by immigration authorities in President Donald Trump's administration after her parents sued on Friday. The parents, who also had been detained, were released as well. The suit had sought the release of all three of them.

In a statement provided on Monday following the publication of this story on Saturday, U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said claims that Amalia did not receive proper medical treatment or medications were false.

The family was detained during a check-in with immigration authorities on December 11 and held at a facility in Dilley, Texas, according to the lawsuit. Amalia was hospitalized from January 18 to 28, and returned to the Dilley facility in the midst of a measles outbreak, the lawsuit said.


"Baby Amalia should never have been detained. She nearly died at Dilley," said Elora Mukherjee, an attorney for the family.

Mukherjee said hundreds of children and families detained at Dilley lack sufficient drinking water, healthy food, educational opportunities or proper medical care, and should be released.


Related video: Hospitalized Toddler Returned To ICE Detention & Denied Medication (unbranded - Newsworthy)


View on Watch

McLaughlin said in the statement on Monday that the child immediately received medical care after becoming ill, was admitted to a hospital for treatment and returned to the Dilley facility after being cleared for release by a pediatric doctor. Amalia was housed in the medical unit upon her return and received proper treatment and prescribed medicines, the statement said.

“It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care," McLaughlin said.

Trump's administration has been accused of heavy-handed and inhumane tactics as well as violating court orders while carrying out his mass deportation program.


A federal judge in Michigan criticized the administration in a January 31 ruling ordering the release of a five-year-old boy - seen in a viral photo wearing a blue bunny hat outside his house as federal agents stood nearby - who was detained by immigration agents in Minnesota. The administration is now seeking to deport the boy.

Amalia's parents, originally from Venezuela, have lived in the United States since 2024 with their daughter, who is a Mexican citizen, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says all three intend to file asylum applications in the United States.

Amalia developed a fever on January 1 that reached as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), started vomiting frequently and struggled to breathe, according to the lawsuit.

She was taken to the hospital on January 18 with extremely low oxygen saturation levels and diagnosed with COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus, viral bronchitis and pneumonia, according to the lawsuit. She was placed on supplemental oxygen.


Amalia was given a nebulizer and a respiratory medication upon her discharge from the hospital, but these were taken away by detention center staff upon her return, according to the lawsuit. The girl has lost 10% of her body weight and was given nutritional drinks to help her regain it, but these were also confiscated by authorities, according to the lawsuit.

(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Sergio Non, Will Dunham and Daniel Wallis)

 

[mandrill]

Supreme Court hints at Trump loss


President Donald Trump may be facing a legal setback from the nation’s highest court.

During tense Supreme Court arguments over whether the president can oust a Federal Reserve governor, several justices sounded wary of giving the White House broad new power over the traditionally independent central bank.

The case has drawn attention from Wall Street and political insiders alike because the outcome could shape not only interest-rate policy but also how far presidential authority reaches into institutions designed to operate free from political pressure.

Justices push back


Skepticism on the bench was clear.

Several justices pressed Trump administration lawyers on whether the president truly has the authority to fire a sitting Federal Reserve governor — in this case Lisa Cook, whom Trump tried ousting last summer — based on disputed allegations.


Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was appointed to the court by Trump in 2018, cautioned that permitting the dismissal could “weaken, if not shatter,” the Federal Reserve’s insulation from politics.

Chief Justice John Roberts, another member of the court’s 6-3 conservative majority, also appeared doubtful, suggesting it might make little sense to simply bounce the case back to lower courts instead of settling the matter more definitively now.

Growing pressure

The controversy goes beyond one personnel decision.

As the legal battle over Cook moves forward, the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and issued subpoenas to the central bank — an extraordinary escalation that has raised eyebrows across Washington, D.C., and beyond.

Powell took the unusual step of responding publicly, calling the threat of criminal charges a “pretext” masking the president’s frustration with interest-rate policy.

The DOJ had said the inquiry centers on Powell’s June congressional testimony about the cost of renovating Federal Reserve buildings.

More on Cook

At the center of the dispute is Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors.

The economist joined the board in 2022 after years as a Michigan State University professor and researcher focused on economic policy.

Her work has emphasized labor markets, inequality and innovation — areas that directly influence how the Fed approaches interest rates and long-term economic growth.

As one of seven governors on the board, Cook helps shape U.S. monetary policy in a role traditionally designed to remain insulated from political influence.

Disputed claims

Trump moved to remove Cook citing allegations she committed mortgage fraud in 2021, before joining the Federal Reserve.

The administration argued that Cook improperly listed two properties — one in Michigan and another in Georgia — as primary residences, which can result in lower mortgage rates and smaller down payments.


Cook has denied any wrongdoing, explaining that the claims stem from a paperwork misreading and a single stray reference on one form.

Her attorneys have maintained there was no intent to deceive and no fraudulent conduct, noting that she disclosed one property as a second or vacation home in other filings.

She has not been charged with a crime.

Critics argue the removal attempt — Trump has gone after other official using similar claims of mortgage fraud — may reflect a larger effort to exert greater control over the independent central bank and influence interest-rate policy, rather than a purely legal concern.

 

[mandrill]

Trump threatens to block opening of new bridge between Windsor and Detroit


U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to block the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, poised to become the newest border crossing between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit.

"I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve," Trump wrote in the post on Monday.


CBC News has asked the White House for further clarification.

Trump made the threat amid a 299-word post in which he said Canada has treated the U.S. "very unfairly for decades," complained that the bridge was built "with virtually no U.S. content" and repeated his criticism of Prime Minister Mark Carney "wanting to make a trade deal with China."

"With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset," he wrote.

The $6.4 billion cost of the Gordie Howe bridge has been entirely funded by Canada's federal government, but the bridge is under the public joint ownership of Canada and the state of Michigan.


Construction on the six-lane crossing first began in 2018.

Major construction is now complete, according to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, the Crown corporation overseeing the project, which is being built through a public-private partnership. Final testing and inspections remain, with the opening expected for sometime early this year.


The Gordie Howe Bridge has been the focus of a decade-long legal battle between the American owners of the existing Ambassador Bridge and the federal government.

Trump endorsed new bridge in 2017
The owners of the Ambassador Bridge, the Moroun family of Detroit, wants compensation for what they claim is the new bridge's infringement on their exclusive right to collect tolls.

The Moroun family appealed to Trump during his first term as president to stop the new crossing. However, Trump endorsed the bridge as a priority project in 2017, issuing a joint statement with then-prime minister Justin Trudeau calling it a "vital economic link between our two countries."

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says parts of Trump's post are factually incorrect, as U.S. steel was used in the construction from the Michigan side of the river.

"It's just insane," Dilkens told CBC Power & Politics host David Cochrane on Monday evening.

"I really can't believe what I'm reading," Dilkens said. "The faster we can get to the midterms and hopefully see a change, the better for all of us."

 

[mandrill]

 

[mandrill]

 

[mandrill]

 

[mandrill]

 

[mandrill]

Trump's immigration crackdown is straining federal courts. Judges are raising the alarm


ATLANTA (AP) — Federal judges around the country are scrambling to address a deluge of lawsuits from immigrants locked up under the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign.

Under past administrations, people with no criminal record could generally request a bond hearing before an immigration judge while their cases wound through immigration court unless they were stopped at the border. President Donald Trump 's White House reversed that policy in favor of mandatory detention.


Immigrants by the thousands have been turning to federal courts by using another legal tool: habeas corpus petitions. While the administration scored a major legal victory Friday, here's a look at how that's affecting federal courts and what some judges have done in response:

Judges are raising the alarm

In one federal court district in Georgia, the enormous volume of habeas petitions has created “an administrative judicial emergency,” a judge wrote in a court order on Jan. 29. U.S. District Judge Clay Land in Columbus said the Trump administration was refusing to provide bond hearings to immigrants at Georgia's Stewart Detention Center despite his ”clear and definitive rulings" against mandatory detention. Instead, the court had to order the hearing in each individual case, wrote Land, a nominee of Republican President George W. Bush.


In Minnesota, where the administration's immigration enforcement surge continues, U.S. District Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz said in a Jan. 26 order Trump officials had made “no provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result.” The court had received more than 400 habeas petitions in January alone, according to a filing by the government in a separate case.



FILE - President Donald Trump tours "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, on July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)© The Associated Press
Schiltz, who was also nominated by Bush, said in a separate order two days later that the government since January had failed to comply with scores of court decisions ordering it to release or provide other relief to people arrested during Operation Metro Surge.

And in the Southern District of New York, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said in an opinion in December that the district had been “flooded” with petitions for relief from immigrants who posed no flight risk or danger but were nonetheless imprisoned indefinitely. Subramanian, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and presides in New York City, granted a 52-year-old Guinean woman's habeas petition and ordered her release.


“No one disputes that the government may, consistent with the law’s requirements, pursue the removal of people who are in this country unlawfully,” he wrote. “But the way we treat others matters.”

The administration defends its actions

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Friday that the administration was “more than prepared to handle the legal caseload necessary to deliver President Trump’s deportation agenda for the American people.”

DHS and the Justice Department, which also emailed a statement, slammed the judiciary.

“If rogue judges followed the law in adjudicating cases and respected the Government’s obligation to properly prepare cases, there wouldn’t be an ‘overwhelming’ habeas caseload or concern over DHS following orders,” the Justice Department statement said.

On Friday, a federal appeals court backed the administration's policy of detaining immigrants without bond. The 2-1 ruling by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marked a major legal victory for the government and countered a slew of recent lower court decisions that argued the practice was illegal.


Immigration attorneys accuse the administration of flouting a key court decision

In November, a federal judge in California ruled that the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy was illegal. U.S. District Judge Sunshine Sykes in Riverside, who was also nominated by Biden, later expanded the scope of the decision to apply to detained immigrants nationwide.

But plaintiffs' attorneys said the administration continued to deny bond hearings.

"This was a clear cut example of blatant defiance, blatant disregard of a court’s order,” Matt Adams, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Associated Press in January.

According to Sykes, the government argued her decision was “advisory” and told immigration judges, who work for the Justice Department and are not part of the judicial branch, to ignore it. The judge said she found the latter instruction “troubling.”


In its statement, DHS said “activist judges have attempted to thwart President Trump from fulfilling the American people’s mandate for mass deportations.”

Judges are trying to find ways to ease the burden

Land, the federal judge in Georgia, directed other judges in his district to immediately order the government to provide bond hearings to immigrants who meet criteria established by two previous habeas cases.

Maryland District Court Chief Judge George L. Russell III has ordered the administration not to immediately remove any immigrants who file habeas petitions with his court, under certain conditions. Russell, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, said in an amended order in December that the court had received an influx of habeas petitions after hours that “resulted in hurried and frustrating hearings.”

In Tacoma, Washington, U.S. District Judge Tiffany Cartwright ordered the administration last month to give immigrants detained at a processing center in Tacoma notice of her ruling that the mandatory detention policy was illegal. Cartwright, who was also nominated by Biden, said the high volume of habeas filings had put a “tremendous strain” on immigration attorneys and the court.

Sudhin Thanawala, The Associated Press

 

[nottyboi]

Trump threatens to block opening of new bridge between Windsor and Detroit


U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to block the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, poised to become the newest border crossing between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit.

"I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve," Trump wrote in the post on Monday.


CBC News has asked the White House for further clarification.

Trump made the threat amid a 299-word post in which he said Canada has treated the U.S. "very unfairly for decades," complained that the bridge was built "with virtually no U.S. content" and repeated his criticism of Prime Minister Mark Carney "wanting to make a trade deal with China."

"With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset," he wrote.

The $6.4 billion cost of the Gordie Howe bridge has been entirely funded by Canada's federal government, but the bridge is under the public joint ownership of Canada and the state of Michigan.


Construction on the six-lane crossing first began in 2018.

Major construction is now complete, according to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, the Crown corporation overseeing the project, which is being built through a public-private partnership. Final testing and inspections remain, with the opening expected for sometime early this year.


The Gordie Howe Bridge has been the focus of a decade-long legal battle between the American owners of the existing Ambassador Bridge and the federal government.

Trump endorsed new bridge in 2017
The owners of the Ambassador Bridge, the Moroun family of Detroit, wants compensation for what they claim is the new bridge's infringement on their exclusive right to collect tolls.

The Moroun family appealed to Trump during his first term as president to stop the new crossing. However, Trump endorsed the bridge as a priority project in 2017, issuing a joint statement with then-prime minister Justin Trudeau calling it a "vital economic link between our two countries."

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says parts of Trump's post are factually incorrect, as U.S. steel was used in the construction from the Michigan side of the river.

"It's just insane," Dilkens told CBC Power & Politics host David Cochrane on Monday evening.

"I really can't believe what I'm reading," Dilkens said. "The faster we can get to the midterms and hopefully see a change, the better for all of us."

Probably his buddies that own the other bridge are suffering from a drop in traffic.

 

[mandrill]

Probably his buddies that own the other bridge are suffering from a drop in traffic.

One of the other articles on his announcement discussed this in depth. And it's probably true, in fact.

 

[mandrill]

Major court update as Trump tries to strip protections from tens of thousands of migrants


An order from an appeals court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to end Temporary Protected Status for tens of thousands of immigrants.

Judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion filed by Trump's lawyers to stay a lower court's order that prohibited the administration from ending TPS for the immigrants pending trial. In the order, the court cited the Department of Homeland Security Secretary's authority to "review the conditions" of the states where immigrants granted TPS once resided and determine if the designation is still proper.



DHS Secretary Kristi Noem celebrated the ruling in a statement on her personal X account.

"A win for the rule of law and vindication for the US Constitution," Noem posted. "Under the previous administration, Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation."


"TPS was never designed to be permanent, yet previous administrations have used it as a de facto amnesty program for decades. Given the improved situation in each of these countries, we are wisely concluding what was intended to be a temporary designation," she continued.

The order stems from a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's decision to end TPS for immigrants from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua last year. A District Court judge ruled in December 2025 that the move was illegal because Noem had made a "pre-ordained decision" to end the protections for those groups, according to the ACLU.

 

[mandrill]

Legal expert chides Trump's latest major court loss


A legal expert chided President Donald Trump's administration on Monday after it suffered its latest major court loss.

Last week, a federal judge in Oregon issued a blistering order against the Trump administration, declaring in no uncertain terms that the Department of Justice cannot be trusted to protect voter rights. The order was issued at a time when the Trump administration is attempting to secure voter registrations from mostly blue states, a move that has alarmed several election experts.



Marc Elias, a voting rights attorney, discussed the ruling in Oregon on a new episode of "Democracy Watch" with progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen.

"Boy, did Donald Trump's DOJ pick the wrong federal judge to wind up in front of, because this judge didn't just rule against the Department of Justice," Elias said.



He added that the judge declared Trump's DOJ "can no longer be taken at its word."

"[The court] can no longer assume that in these cases, when [the DOJ] says it wants these data for legitimate reasons, that in fact it wants them for illegitimate reasons."

The Trump administration also appears to be resorting to other measures to secure the voter data it wants. For instance, Trump's FBI raided an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, and hauled away roughly 700 boxes of materials related to the 2020 general election, including the county's voter rolls.

 

[mandrill]

Irishman detained by ICE describes 'torture' after five months in prison camp despite living in US


An Irishman who has lived in the US for more than two decades has delivered a harrowing account of life inside an American immigration detention centre, branding the ordeal 'a torture'.

Seamus Culleton, originally from Glenmore in Co Kilkenny, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last September.


This is despite him being married to an American citizen, running a plastering business in the Boston area, and having no criminal record - 'not even a parking ticket'.

Speaking publicly about his detention, the father-to-be said he was struggling to cope with the psychological and physical toll of being locked up for nearly five months.

'I don't know how much more I can take,' he said, urging Irish Premier Micheal Martin to raise his case with President Donald Trump during his upcoming visit to Washington.

In an emotional appeal to Irish politicians, he said: 'Just try to get me out of here and do all you can, please. It's an absolute torture, psychological and physical torture. I just want to get back to my wife. We're so desperate to start a family'.

He added that while he was not afraid of other detainees, his fear lay elsewhere: 'I'm not in fear of the other inmates. I'm afraid of the staff. They're capable of anything.

'I'd be so grateful if we could just end this. I've been detained now for five months. It's just a torture,' he said.

Seamus Culleton, originally from Glenmore, Co Kilkenny, with his wife Tiffany Smyth, a US citizen

Speaking publicly about his detention, the father-to-be said he was struggling to cope with the psychological and physical toll of being locked up for nearly five months


ICE agents depart the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on February 4, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Culleton was arrested on September 3, 2025, and transferred to an ICE facility in Texas, where he remains in custody while his immigration case winds through the US legal system.

Describing conditions inside the detention centre to The Irish Times, he said: 'It's just a horrible, horrible, horrible place'.



He said there were 72 people in a tent the size of 16ft by 35ft room with no ceiling, with two rows of bunk beds on either side and a long table down the middle.

Culleton described the conditions at the camp as 'filthy', the toilets and showers as 'nasty', and that illnesses are rife among those being detained.

He said there was competition for food and said he had 'definitely' lost weight.

'There is no real quality of life here. I've been locked in the same room now for four and a half months,' Culleton told RTE's Liveline programme.

'I've had barely any outside time, no fresh air, no sunshine. I could probably count on both hands the amount of times I've been outside'.

Friends and family have urged him to stay positive, but he admitted morale is difficult to maintain.

'I try my best. I talk to my wife every day; she's my rock. I talk to my mother and sister most days. They're all rooting for me, I know that'.


The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed it was aware of the case and had been providing 'consular assistance' through Ireland's consulate in Austin, Texas.

'Our Embassy in Washington, DC is also engaging directly with the Department of Homeland Security at a senior level in relation to this case,' a spokeswoman said.

A Government spokesman said the Taoiseach had been briefed and reiterated that diplomatic efforts were ongoing.

However, officials speaking anonymously acknowledged that Ireland has limited influence over US immigration proceedings, though assistance would continue.

Local TD John McGuinness said he had personally raised the matter with the Taoiseach and was seeking urgent intervention.

'I'll be asking for an immediate response in terms of contacting the White House,' he said.

He praised the Austin consulate but warned: 'It's really at a higher level that we need an intervention now. Action is required now'.

Culleton's sister Caroline echoed the call for urgency, saying the family felt they had no choice but to speak out publicly.

Tiffany said that she had attempted to reach senators and Trump about the case but had received no response

Culleton was arrested on September 3, 2025, and transferred to an ICE facility in Texas, where he remains in custody while his immigration case winds through the US legal system
'We had got to the point where we had to go public on it,' she said.

'I'm really hoping that I can get him to walk out those gates and get on with his life.'

She said she had not yet been contacted directly by Irish officials, but hoped public attention would help.

Media coverage, she said, would give her brother a 'bit of a boost' and 'a little bit of reassurance' that his family is doing all they can.


But the ordeal has taken a heavy toll on the family, with Caroline describing the events as 'devastating'.

She described the initial shock when Culleton first got detained, and spoke of how the family felt 'useless' as they are not allowed to visit him due to non-guaranteed visitation rights.

Culleton has been able to phone his mother daily from the detention centre, and has kept in close contact with his sister.

'There are no words. I mean the way they're being kept, and they're locked up, and he's only been allowed out a couple of times,' she said.

'They don't see the sunlight. They don't get out. Their health deteriorates.'

She said he has lost an 'awful lot of weight', adding that he has sores, infections, and hair loss.

She told the News at One programme that his ongoing detention was 'heartbreaking for our mother' and his extended family.


This week, his wife Tiffany managed to video call him for the first time since his arrest.

She said she did not hear from him for almost a week after an initial phone call following his arrest, and said she 'did not know if he was deported' and 'had no idea if he was safe'.

Asked if she had been allowed to visit her husband, she said ICE officially allows visits, but it is 'almost impossible to set one up'.

She had booked flights from Massachusetts to Texas to attend one of Culleton's court dates, but the hearing was moved on the day before her journey.

'He's a good man. I don't think anyone deserves this, but Seamus definitely doesn't deserve this,' she said.

Tiffany added that she had attempted to reach senators and Trump about the case but had received no response.

Read more

 

[mandrill]

Judge bewildered as ICE reveals detention areas hidden from the court


A federal judge was blindsided on Monday upon learning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been storing detainees on floors of a Manhattan facility that it hadn't disclosed to the court prior.

According to Courthouse News, "U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan slammed ICE for 'stalling' the production of discovery related to how immigrants are treated at 26 Federal Plaza, a short-term ICE jail in downtown Manhattan that has been subjected to claims of overcrowding, unsanitary living conditions and violations of detainees’ civil rights."



In particular, per the report, ICE has already been under an order to limit the number of detainees stored on the infamous 10th floor of the facility, so to get around that, they started storing people on the ninth floor as well.

"The makeshift jail is just two floors below immigration courtrooms, where many of the detainees were abruptly detained by ICE following routine court appearances," said the report. "Despite claims from the Department of Homeland Security that the facility is merely a short-term processing center, many noncitizens claimed in court filings that they were held for days at a time and lacked access to clean clothes, edible food and calls with their attorneys."



Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Oestericher "tried to clear things up for the bewildered judge. He explained that, since Kaplan ordered that no more than 22 inmates may be detained in the building’s 10th-floor jail at a time, ICE has started using holding cells on the ninth floor as they wait for space to open up on the 10th," said the report. When Kaplan then asked, “Are there toilet facilities in each room?” Oestericher conceded he didn't know.

According to the report, Kaplan then invited plaintiffs in the case to apply for an injunction that applies to the entire building, rather than just the 10th floor.

Kaplan, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, is well known for having presided over Trump's civil defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in a New York City department store in the 1990s. Trump, then a private citizen, blurted out that Kaplan was a "nasty guy" in the courtroom after he scolded Trump's attorney for her behavior.

 

[mandrill]

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledges meetings with Epstein that contradict previous claims


WASHINGTON (AP) — Under questioning from Democrats on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged that he had met with Jeffrey Epstein twice after the late financier's 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child, reversing Lutnick's previous claim that he had cut ties with him after 2005.


Lutnick again downplayed his relationship with the disgraced financier, who was once his neighbor in New York City, as he was questioned by Democrats during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He described their contact as a handful of emails and a pair of meetings that were years apart.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his wife Allison arrive for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's movie "Melania" at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)© The Associated Press
“I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him,” Lutnick told lawmakers.

But Lutnick is facing growing scrutiny, including calls for his resignation, from lawmakers after the release of case files on Epstein contradicted Lutnick's claims on a podcast last year that he had decided to “never be in the room” with Epstein again after a 2005 tour of Epstein's home that disturbed Lutnick and his wife.



The commerce secretary told senators Tuesday that he and his family actually had lunch with Epstein on his private island in 2012 and he had another hour-long engagement at Epstein's home in 2011. Lutnick, a member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet, is the highest-profile U.S. official to face bipartisan calls for his resignation amid revelations of his ties to Epstein. His acknowledgement comes as lawmakers are grasping for what accountability looks like amid the revelations contained in what's known as the Epstein files.


In countries like the United Kingdom, the Epstein files have triggered resignations and the stripping of royal privileges, but so far, U.S. officials have not met the same level of retribution.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Lutnick “remains a very important member of President Trump's team, and the president fully supports the secretary.”


Senators want to dig into Lutnick's ties to Epstein

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat who questioned Lutnick, told him, “There's not an indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein. It's the fact that you believe that you misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements.”

Van Hollen, D-Md., stopped short of calling for Lutnick's resignation on Monday, but requested documentation from Lutnick on any of his ties to Epstein.

“It's absolutely essential that he provide Congress with those documents, given the misrepresentations he's made, and then we'll go from there,” he said.

Lutnick, during the Senate hearing, said he would give that request some thought, adding, “I have nothing to hide.”

However, several Senate Republicans were also questioning Lutnick's relationship with Epstein. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said the visit to Epstein's private island “would raise questions.” And Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters, “It's something I'm concerned with.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune did not mention Lutnick by name, but told reporters Tuesday that those mentioned in the Epstein files are “going to have to answer questions around that.”

“I think the American people are going to have to make judgments about whether or not they think those answers are sufficient,” added Thune, a South Dakota Republican.

Tillis also stayed away from calling for Lutnick to leave his post, but added that “he would do himself a service by just laying out exactly what did and what did not happen over the course of what seems to be an interesting relationship that included business entanglements.”

A pair of House members call for resignation

Meanwhile, House members who initiated the legislative effort to force the release of the files are calling for Lutnick to resign. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky called for that over the weekend after emails were released that alluded to the meetings between Lutnick and Epstein.


Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, joined Massie in pressuring Lutnick out of office on Monday.

“Based on the evidence, he should be out of the Cabinet,” Khanna said.

He added, “It's not about any particular person. In this country, we have to make a decision. Are we going to allow the rich and powerful people who are friends and (had) no problem doing business and showing up with a pedophile who is raping underage girls, are we just going to allow them to skate?”

Stephen Groves, The Associated Press

 

[mandrill]

Annual governors' gathering with White House unraveling after Trump excludes Democrats


WASHINGTON (AP) — An annual meeting of the nation’s governors that has long served as a rare bipartisan gathering is unraveling after President Donald Trump excluded Democratic governors from White House events.

The National Governors Association said it will no longer hold a formal meeting with Trump when governors are scheduled to convene in Washington later this month, after the White House planned to invite only Republican governors. On Tuesday, 18 Democratic governors also announced they would boycott a traditional dinner at the White House.


“If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year,” the Democrats wrote. “Democratic governors remain united and will never stop fighting to protect and make life better for people in our states.”

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who chairs the NGA, told fellow governors in a letter on Monday that the White House intended to limit invitations to the association’s annual business meeting, scheduled for Feb. 20, to Republican governors only.

“Because NGA’s mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program,” Stitt wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.


Related video: Governors won't hold Trump meeting after White House only invited Republicans (The Canadian Press)

The Canadian Press
Governors won't hold Trump meeting after White House only invited Republicans
The National Governors Association is not going to hold a
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The governors’ group, which is scheduled to meet from Feb. 19-21, is one of the few remaining venues where political leaders from both major parties gather to discuss the top issues facing their communities. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump has “discretion to invite anyone he wants to the White House.”

“It's the people's house,” she said. “It's also the president's home, so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House.”

Representatives for Sitt and the NGA didn't comment on the letter. Brandon Tatum, the NGA's CEO, said in a statement last week that the White House meeting is an “important tradition” and said the organization was “disappointed in the administration's decision to make it a partisan occasion this year.”

In his letter to other governors, Stitt encouraged the group to unite around common goals.


“We cannot allow one divisive action to achieve its goal of dividing us,” he wrote. “The solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve. America’s governors have always been models of pragmatic leadership, and that example is most important when Washington grows distracted by politics.”

Signs of partisan tensions emerged at the White House meeting last year, when Trump and Maine's Gov. Janet Mills traded barbs.

Trump singled out the Democratic governor over his push to bar transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, threatening to withhold federal funding from the state if she did not comply. Mills responded, “We’ll see you in court.”

Trump then predicted that Mills’ political career would be over for opposing the order. She is now running for U.S. Senate.

The back-and-forth had a lasting impact on last year’s conference and some Democratic governors did not renew their dues last year to the bipartisan group.

___

Peoples reported from New York.

Joey Cappelletti, Steve Peoples And Steven Sloan, The Associated Press

 

[mandrill]

Fury after 'fraud' Lutnick says he took family to Epstein’s island


President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, admitted during congressional testimony that he took his family to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private island for lunch in 2012.

“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat, going across on a family vacation,” Secretary Lutnick told U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) on Tuesday. “My wife was with me, as were my four children, and nannies.”


“I had another couple with, they were there as well, with their children, and we had lunch on the island. That is true, for an hour, and we left with all of my children, with my nannies and my wife, all together,” he said. “We were on family vacation. We were not apart. To suggest there was anything untoward about that in 2012. I don’t recall why we did it, but…”

Senator Van Hollen responded: “Mr. Secretary, again, as I said, there’s not an indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein. It’s the fact that you … misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements, suggesting that you cut off all contact when, in fact, you had not.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein posted a quote from Lutnick, who said, “in the six to eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”


Related video: White House quizzed on Epstein fallout, from potential Maxwell pardon to backing Secretary Lutnick (The Canadian Press)



View on Watch

That quote was dated October 1, 2025.

Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, wrote: “Every question to Lutnick on matters of commerce should be prefaced and concluded with ‘how do we know you’re not lying like you lied about Epstein?'”

Hemant Mehta of The Friendly Atheist commented: “I was on my boat, and it just happened to pass by Epstein Island, so I took my kids nannies there, and we all had lunch with children who were already there, and WHY ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT.”

Newsmax’s Marisela Ramirez posted screenshots and wrote: “The email below shows its Lutnik reaching out to Epstein about the lunch. After the lunch, Lutnik allegedly hired a nanny via Epstein in 2013. In 2017 Jeffrey Epstein donated $50,000 to an organization in Lutnick’s honor.”

The Libertarian Party of Mississippi commented, “Lutnick needs to either resign or be impeached. He previously claimed he severed all ties with Epstein after 2005, but the Epstein files (along with his own Senate testimony) prove he maintained contact, including visiting Epstein’s island for lunch in 2012.”


Democratic strategist Mike Nellis added, “Howard Lutnick lied about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein because he thought the files would never see the light of day. He bet on Trump and Bondi’s cover-up working—and now he’s been exposed for the fraud he is.”

Other social media commenters called for Lutnick’s resignation or firing.

 

[mandrill]

Deportation case dropped against Tufts student grabbed by ICE agents


An immigration court judge has terminated deportation proceedings against Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University scholar whose arrest last March by masked ICE agents on the street is among the defining images of the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign.

The Department of Homeland Security failed to meet its burden to prove that the Turkish doctoral student needed to be deported, and an immigration court judge terminated the case, her lawyers told a federal appeals court Monday.


The filing was included in Ozturk’s case before a federal appeals court in New York, where she continues to challenge the constitutionality of her arrest and detention.

“I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government,” Ozturk said in a statement.

“Though the pain that I and thousands of other women wrongfully imprisoned by ICE have faced cannot be undone, it is heartening to know that some justice can prevail after all,” she said.

Administration officials publicly accused Ozturk of engaging in activities “in support of Hamas,” but internal documents from State Department officials admitted there was no evidence that Ozturk “engaged in any antisemitic activity” or “made any public statements indicating support for a terrorist organization.”

Ozturk had co-authored an op-ed in a student newspaper that criticized university leaders for dismissing students’ concerns about Israel’s war in Gaza. Nevertheless, administration officials — relying on a pro-Israel activist group that created an online directory of student activists — canceled her student visa and signed a warrant for her arrest.

Plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were covering their faces when they grabbed Ozturk while she was walking near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, on March 25 last year.

She was held inside an ICE detention center in Louisiana, more than 1,000 miles away, for more than six weeks.

Dozens of internal memos unsealed in a separate lawsuit revealed how Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally directed officials to deport several high-profile activist figures, including Ozturk and Columbia University’s Mahmoud Khalil.

One senior diplomat repeatedly cautioned Rubio that stripping visas and green cards over “actions inextricably tied to speech protected under the First Amendment” would likely fail in court.

In a lawsuit seeking her release, Ozturk’s legal team argued that her arrest and detention was retaliatory and unconstitutional in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments.

On May 9, six weeks after her arrest, a federal judge ordered her release from detention on bail, which the Trump administration appealed. Oral arguments were heard by a three-judge panel in September and a decision is still pending.



The Trump administration specifically targeted Ozturk and Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil (pictured) for their Palestinian activism (REUTERS)
Despite her victory, the Trump administration continued to push for her removal in immigration court.

Unlike federal district courts, immigration courts operate under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and under the direction of the office of Attorney General. The proceedings and filings are generally not public, and the judge’s decision that Ozturk cannot be deported was filed under seal.


“Under the government’s view, it could punitively detain any noncitizen in retaliation for her speech for many months, so long as it simultaneously institutes removal proceedings — no matter how unmeritorious — all without any federal court review of the lawfulness of detention at any time,” her lawyers wrote to the federal appeals court Monday.

The Independent has requested comment from the Justice Department.

In a statement, Ozturk’s legal team condemned the Trump administration’s “weaponization” of immigration system to target dissent.

“It has manipulated immigration laws to silence people who advocate for Palestinian human rights and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” according to Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Immigration Law.

“Secretly revoking the visa of someone who has maintained their lawful immigration status as an excuse to detain them and place them into deportation proceedings, on the basis of free speech, is Kafkaesque,” she said. “I hope that other immigration judges will follow [the judge’s] lead and decline to rubber stamp the president’s cruel deportation agenda.”


Ozturk says she is grieving for others “who do not get to see the mistreatment they have faced brought into the light.”

“When we openly talk about the many injustices around us, including the treatment of immigrants and others who have been targeted and thrown in for-profit ICE prisons, as well as what is happening in Gaza, true justice will prevail,” she said.

 

[mandrill]