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Year: 2026

Federal judge hands Biden’s home state a loss in battle of ICE access to labor data

Federal judge hands Biden’s home state a loss in battle of ICE access to labor data

A federal judge ordered Delaware officials to turn over confidential employer and employee data to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), delivering a legal defeat to former President Joe Biden’s home state in a dispute over immigration enforcement. U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly ruled that the Delaware Department of Labor (DDOL) must comply with a federal subpoena seeking wage reports and employee records from 15 businesses as part of an investigation into the suspected hiring of undocumented workers. Delaware officials argued they could refuse the request and warned that compliance would harm worker reporting and state programs, but Connolly rejected that position. “This is a political argument; not a legal one,” Connolly wrote. “This Court is not the proper ‘forum in which to air [DDOL’s] generalized grievances about the conduct of government.’ It would be wholly inappropriate for me to consider this line of argument, and I decline to do so.” DOJ SUES NEW JERSEY OVER EXECUTIVE ORDER LIMITING ICE COOPERATION, EXPANDING SANCTUARY STATUS The records include employees’ names, Social Security numbers and wages reported to the state as part of its unemployment insurance system. Federal investigators said the records will help identify potentially fraudulent Social Security numbers, compare reported employees to workers observed onsite and detect off-the-books labor. Connolly, a Trump-appointed judge, wrote that the subpoena was lawful, relevant to a legitimate investigation and not overly burdensome for the state to fulfill. The subpoena seeks 30 records covering two quarters for the 15 businesses, which the judge said would not be burdensome for the state to produce. He also dismissed Delaware’s argument that sharing the data would harm its unemployment insurance system, calling the claim unsupported. “I am neither willing nor able to adopt DDOL’s cynical view of the State’s employers,” Connolly wrote. FEDERAL JUDGE WHO ORDERED NO WARRANTLESS ICE ARRESTS IN COLORADO ASSERTS DOJ NOT COMPLYING The ruling marks a setback for Delaware in its battle over ICE’s access to state labor data, as the federal government moves to expand immigration enforcement. The court said Delaware officials ignored the subpoena and failed to respond even after a follow-up warning from federal prosecutors. Delaware’s newly appointed U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wallace said the ruling reinforces that federal law applies broadly. “We are gratified that the court recognized the simple truth at the core of this case: federal law applies to everyone, whether they are a state or private entity, and whether they agree or disagree with the federal government’s policy priorities,” Wallace told the Delaware News Journal. The dispute escalated after Delaware ignored multiple ICE subpoenas in early 2025, prompting the federal government to sue for enforcement. State officials have not said whether they plan to appeal. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Delaware Department of Labor, the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware and DHS and ICE for comment. Read the ruling below.

Israeli attacks kill 11, including two children, in day of strikes on Gaza

Israeli attacks kill 11, including two children, in day of strikes on Gaza

A three-year-old and a 14-year-old were among those killed in Israel’s latest strikes on northern Gaza. Published On 15 Apr 202615 Apr 2026 Israel’s military has killed at least 11 Palestinians, including ⁠two children, in separate attacks across the war-torn Gaza Strip, the latest violations by Israel of a “ceasefire” with Hamas that came into effect on October 10 last year. Gaza’s Civil Defence authorities and the Reuters news agency said that a three-year-old and a 14-year-old were among those killed in the Israeli strikes in the northern part of the enclave on Tuesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence, said four people were killed, including the three-year-old, “in a strike targeting a police vehicle” in Gaza City. Gaza’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement that Israeli warplanes had “targeted” the police vehicle in the city centre, “causing several deaths and injuries”, with a police officer among those killed and at least nine bystanders wounded, some critically. Bassal also said another person was killed by Israeli fire in the northern Beit Lahiya area earlier in the day. Later on Tuesday evening, Civil Defence reported that another Israeli strike killed several people near an intersection in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Medics at Al-Shifa Hospital later confirmed receiving five bodies from “an Israeli drone bombing”, involving two missiles, that hit a group of people in the Shati refugee camp. Reuters reported that the Israeli strike hit near a cafe and, along with those killed, it had also wounded several people, according to health officials. Despite a “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas that began last October and slowed two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Israeli forces continue to carry out daily strikes on the territory, killing almost 760 Palestinians since the truce was agreed upon. Advertisement Gaza Ministry of Health said on Tuesday that an additional 2,111 Palestinians have been injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire was announced, while a total of 72,336 people have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of Israel’s war on the territory on October 7, 2023. Adblock test (Why?)

Israel and Lebanon hold direct talks for first time in decades

Israel and Lebanon hold direct talks for first time in decades

NewsFeed After the first direct talks in decades, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to begin ongoing negotiations for the ‘security of both countries’. Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna explains why US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sees this ‘milestone’ meeting as just the ‘start of the process’. Published On 15 Apr 202615 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)

US forces kill 4 people in latest strike on vessels in eastern Pacific

US forces kill 4 people in latest strike on vessels in eastern Pacific

The killings mark the fourth US deadly strike in the past four days on vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Published On 15 Apr 202615 Apr 2026 The US military has killed four more people in its fourth deadly attack on vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean over the past four days. US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced the attack in a social media post on Tuesday, alongside a video that showed a stationary boat with outboard engines being hit by a missile and exploding into a huge ball of flames. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list SOUTHCOM, which is responsible for US military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, claimed that the four people killed were “narco-terrorists”, but provided no evidence to support its claims. Justification for the lethal attack, according to SOUTHCOM, was due to intelligence – details of which were not provided – that confirmed that “the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations”. The latest killing of people on board vessels in international waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean brings the overall death toll to at least 175 since early September, when US President Donald Trump ordered the attacks to stop what the White House claims are Latin American cartels transporting drugs to the US. Tuesday’s killings came after two people were killed in a US strike on Monday, and five people were killed in two separate strikes on Saturday, also in the eastern Pacific. The Associated Press news agency reported that the US coastguard has suspended a search for one survivor from the two attacks reported on Saturday. International legal experts and rights groups say the US military campaign amounts to “extrajudicial killings” in international waters and that the attacks have targeted civilian fishing boats. Advertisement Legal experts have said that if some vessels were involved in drug trafficking, those on board should face the law, rather than deadly attacks. Critics have also questioned the effectiveness of the US military operation in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses in the US, which Trump has used to justify his campaign, is typically trafficked to the US over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India. Adblock test (Why?)