US Sen. Rick Scott spends multiple millions on ads focused on Florida’s Hispanic voters
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is spending millions to reach out to Florida’s Hispanic voters, a key voting group for his November reelection campaign that has grown to lean more heavily Republican. Scott’s campaign said Wednesday it plans to spend about $700,000 per week for a series of radio, digital, TV and streaming-services ads in English and Spanish. SEN RICK SCOTT SAYS SENATE BORDER DEAL WON’T FIX MIGRANT CRISIS: ‘SUICIDE MISSION’ Over the next several weeks, the campaign will release different ads aimed toward this key voting group, which has voted increasingly Republican in the past few election cycles. These ads will run in Miami, West Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa — all which are major cities in Florida critical for his reelection campaign, Miami having the largest group of Hispanic voters. The first TV ad was released Wednesday, with no mention of Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former U.S. representative from Miami running to unseat the senator. This week, Democrats have celebrated a glimmer of hope for this election cycle after the Florida Supreme Court approved an abortion-rights ballot initiative to be decided by Florida’s voters this November. “In Florida, we understand how socialism suffocates the human spirit,” Scott said in the Wednesday morning ad. “That’s why I fight against the socialist agenda in Washington.” Scott, like other Republicans, has often accused Democrats of leaning into socialism. This accusation has generally kept a rift between Democrats and Hispanic voter groups who escaped communist regimes in Cuba and Venezuela, which makes up a large portion of voters in Miami-Dade County. This traditionally blue county leaned red in the most recent midterm cycle, and it currently is Florida’s most populated county with more than 60% of its registered voters identifying as Hispanic. Scott said last month that he puts a lot of effort into talking to Hispanic voters and finds that they care about the “same issues that everybody does,” like education, public safety and jobs. “People that have come from to this country from another country, in a legal way, they came here because they wanted rule of law,” Scott said. “They want what America has to offer.” Mucarsel-Powell, who announced her campaign last August, was elected in 2018. She was born in Ecuador and was Congress’ first Ecuadorian American and first South American-born congressional delegate. She lost her seat to Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez after one term. Mucarsel-Powell said last month that she relates to Hispanic voters because her story is similar to “so many people that live here in South Florida.” As part of her campaign, she does biweekly Spanish radio interviews to reach out to Hispanic communities. In these interviews, she often speaks to voters concerned about socialism and has accused Scott of promoting “misinformation.” “I have seen firsthand what it looks like when you have a dictators take over,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “So many people relate to that. That’s why it’ll be more difficult — very difficult — for him to be able to really get in touch with the reality of Latinos that live here in South Florida and what we’re facing.” The ad campaign was first reported by NBC News.
Special Counsel Jack Smith hits back at judge for ‘fundamentally flawed legal premise’ in Trump documents case
Federal prosecutors rebuked the judge presiding over former President Trump’s classified documents case in the Southern District of Florida, asserting that potential jury instructions she issued rest on a “fundamentally flawed legal premise.” In a court filing Tuesday, Smith said U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s unusual request that prosecutors and defense attorneys submit hypothetical jury instructions was “wrong” and would “distort” the trial. The judge had asked the lawyers to respond to two different scenarios where she accepted Trump’s argument that he was entitled to retain sensitive documents under the Presidential Records Act, an act for which he now faces criminal charges. Smith argued that the Presidential Records Act is not relevant to Trump’s case and told the judge that the Republican ex-president was not authorized under the Espionage Act to take highly classified documents with him to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida when he left the White House. “Both scenarios rest on an unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise — namely, that the Presidential Records Act (‘PRA’), and in particular it’s distinction between ‘personal’ and ‘Presidential’ records … determines whether a former President is ‘[a]uthorized’ under the Espionage Act … to possess highly classified documents and store than in an unsecured facility,” Smith wrote. TRUMP FLORIDA JUDGE CANNON DENIES TRUMP DISMISSAL ON ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL VAGUENESS’ Prosecutors allege the documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago in a 2022 FBI raid were not personal and said there is no evidence Trump ever legally designated them as such. They claim Trump “invented” his argument only after his possession of those documents became public knowledge and said no witnesses interviewed for Smith’s investigation supported the president’s claims. “Not a single one had heard Trump say that he was designating records as personal or that, at the time he caused the transfer of boxes to Mar-a-Lago, he believed that his removal of records amounted to designating them as personal under the PRA,” prosecutors wrote. “To the contrary, every witness who was asked this question had never heard such a thing.” Smith warned that if Cannon proceeds with her order on jury instructions, prosecutors will appeal. Prosecutors have expressed growing frustration with how Cannon has handled Trump’s case. TRUMP LAWYERS PUSH FOR DISMISSAL OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE, ARGUING ‘PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY’ The Trump-appointed judge has yet to rule on multiple defense motions to dismiss the indictment as well as other disagreements between the two sides, and the trial date remains unsettled, suggesting that a criminal case that Smith’s team has said features overwhelming evidence could remain unresolved by the time of the November presidential election. Cannon, who earlier faced blistering criticism over her decision to grant Trump’s request for an independent arbiter to review documents obtained during an FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, heard arguments last month on two of Trump’s motions to dismiss the case, including that the Presidential Records Act permitted him to designate the documents as personal and that he was therefore permitted to retain them. The judge last month dismissed Trump’s motion to dismiss charges on grounds of “unconstitutional vagueness,” reasoning that the former president’s arguments might have “some force at trial, but it’s hard to see how it gets you to a dismissal.” The judge at one point remarked that the Trump defense team’s view of the Presidential Records Act would essentially “gut the PRA,” giving presidents the unfettered ability to classify clearly presidential records as personal. TRUMP DEMANDS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ‘IMMEDIATELY’ DROP CHARGES AGAINST HIM IN CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE AFTER BIDEN DECISION Days after her decision, Cannon requested that prosecutors and defense attorneys draft jury instructions that responded to this premise: “A president has sole authority under the PRA to categorize records as personal or presidential during his/her presidency. Neither a court nor a jury is permitted to make or review such a categorization decision.” Her premise stated that an outgoing president’s decision to exclude personal records from those returned to the government “constitutes a president’s categorization of those records as personal under the PRA.” Prosecutors said this interpretation of the law is incorrect. They also requested that Cannon quickly reject the defense’s remaining motion to dismiss. “The PRA’s distinction between personal and presidential records has no bearing on whether a former President’s possession of documents containing national defense information is authorized under the Espionage Act, and the PRA should play no role in the jury instructions on the elements of Section 793,” Smith’s team argued. “Indeed, based on the current record, the PRA should not play any role at trial at all,” they added. The documents case is one of four pending criminal cases against Trump. He has pleaded not guilty in all of them. Fox News Digital’s Jake Gibson, Heather Lacy and Bradford Betz, as well as the Associated Press, contributed to this report.
Youngkin mourns K-9 dog stabbed to death by ‘barbaric’ MS-13 gang members: ‘Will be held accountable’
FIRST ON FOX: Gov. Glenn Younkin, R-Va., vows to hold a group of “barbaric” MS-13 members accountable for the killing of a K-9 protecting a correctional officer in a sudden prison attack in Virginia. Four inmates of the Sussex I State Prison, three of which have confirmed ties to the MS-13 gang, were involved in a prison attack that left a K-9 dead as it protected Corrections Officer Kharmishia Phillip Fields at the scene. “God bless Rivan, a heroic K-9 who was killed in the line of duty in Virginia. These barbaric members of MS-13 will be held accountable,” the Virginia governor said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. FBI FEARS VENEZUELA GANG MEMBERS COULD POTENTIALLY TEAM UP WITH MS-13 KILLERS The dog was killed after being “repeatedly stabbed and kicked by the inmates,” who were all reportedly illegal immigrants at the time of their arrest, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC). AFTER KANSAS POLICE DOG STRANGLED, LEGISLATORS APPROVE HARSHER PENALTIES FOR K-9 KILLINGS The VADOC also shared a statement to honor the death of the K-9. “The VADOC is mourning the line of duty death of Rivan, a K-9 killed by MS-13 gang members while heroically protecting its assigned Corrections Officer, staff, and inmates at Sussex I State Prison,” VADOC wrote in a post on X. “The loss of Rivan is truly tragic, but it is important to remember he did not die in vain.” VADOC Director Chad Dotson said following the attack. “He lost his life while potentially saving the lives of two people, his assigned Officer and an inmate. The VADOC will never forget Rivan’s sacrifice.”
Vulnerable Nevada Democrat touts bipartisanship despite voting with Biden 99% of time
A vulnerable Nevada Democrat touted her bipartisanship and willingness to go against the Democratic Party, but Republicans are pointing out her voting record that paints a different picture. In an ad released on Monday, incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., highlighted a report that names her one of the most bipartisan lawmakers, adding, “I won’t walk the party line.” “I promise to do what’s right for Nevada, not my party leaders,” she said in the ad. TRUMP THROWS SUPPORT BEHIND REPUBLICAN BUSINESSMAN LOOKING TO FLIP WISCONSIN SENATE SEAT: ‘GO OUT AND WIN’ However, Rosen was revealed to have voted with President Biden 98.6% of the time last year. Both Rosen and fellow Democrat Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto were in virtual lockstep with both Biden and the party, according to an analysis from FiveThirtyEight that examined all final votes that the president made his stance known about. Rosen’s agreement with Biden has further appeared to increase during her time in the Senate. According to a previous look at data from the 117th Congress from 2021 through 2022, Rosen sided with Biden 92.5% of the time. In the current 118th Congress, she has additionally voted with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., 95% of the time. Rosen and Schumer have voted together on 463 votes deemed major and have disagreed on just 23, per a ProPublica analysis of voting records. TRUMP LEADING BIDEN IN 6 BATTLEGROUND STATES: POLL “Jacky Rosen is struggling in the polls, so she is lying to Nevada voters and trying to cover up her record of being a rubber-stamp for Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s agenda,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Maggie Abboud said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Kristy Wilkinson, spokesperson for Republican Senate front-runner Sam Brown, criticized Rosen, saying her voting record “isn’t bipartisan.” “Putting what Joe Biden wants over what Nevadans need is not bipartisan. Nevadans will see right through it,” she added. Fellow Republican Senate candidate Jeff Gunter, the former ambassador to Iceland under President Trump, criticized Rosen’s ad, calling it “another desperate attempt to fool Nevada voters by the far-left’s rubber stamp in the Senate.” Another GOP Senate hopeful, former Air Force pilot Tony Grady, slammed Rosen as an “extreme Democrat” who acts as a rubber stamp for Biden’s “extreme agenda.” Rosen spokesperson Johanna Warshaw pushed back on this in a statement to Fox News Digital: “Jacky Rosen has been ranked one of the most bipartisan and effective Senators in the nation because of her proven record of political independence and working across party lines to deliver for Nevada.” The rankings referenced by Warshaw include several analyses of the 117th Congress and lawmakers’ relative bipartisanship and effectiveness. The McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and the Lugar Center ranked Rosen the ninth-most bipartisan senator between 2021 and 2022. The Bipartisan Index used by the entities takes into account sponsorships and co-sponsorships of legislation. The University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University Center for Effective Lawmaking additionally recognized Rosen as the seventh-most effective Senate Democrat, also analyzing her role in the 117th Congress. Scores for lawmakers were based on “the proven ability of a legislator to advance her agenda items through the legislative process and into law.” Further, Warshaw pointed to a CQ Roll Call analysis of votes in 2023, which showed Rosen as the Senate Democrat who voted against her party third-most often. “The facts are clear that Jacky has never hesitated to put partisanship aside to do what’s right for our state,” the spokesperson said. Rosen’s ad pushing a bipartisan image came days before nonpartisan election analyst Cook Political Report shifted its rating for the Nevada Senate race on Wednesday. The battleground state matchup was moved from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up,” joining only three other races: Arizona, Montana and Ohio. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Biden spox won’t say if liberal cities are too soft on migrant crime: video
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to weigh in when asked if Democrat-run cities nationwide are too soft on crimes committed by illegal immigrants. During Wednesday’s press briefing, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre why federal immigration law is not tougher on border-crossers who are accused of serious crimes. Doocy referenced the migrants who were found squatting in the basement of a New York City apartment this week — some of whom have been arrested on drugs and weapons charges. “Six of them now are out on bail. Does President Biden think policies like that are making the country safer?” Doocy asked. Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the specifics of an active case but did say that “anyone found guilty of a crime should be held accountable.” ELITE MIGRANT CRIME RING TARGETING MICHIGAN HOMEOWNERS ON SPRING BREAK: SHERIFF “We have been very, very clear about that. And if a person poses a danger to the community, they should be detained pretrial,” she added. In a follow-up question, Doocy asked if President Biden believes some liberal cities are too soft on crime generally. “I’m not going to speak to every state or city here. It’s not for me to speak to,” Jean-Pierre said, declining to answer the question. She reiterated that Biden believes those guilty of crimes should be held accountable. “We welcome local law enforcement support and cooperation in apprehending and removing [those] in this country who pose a risk to our national security or also public safety. If they are found guilty, they should be held accountable. That’s our — that’s where we stand on this.” ICE AGENTS BLAST LA’S ‘FRUSTRATING’ SANCTUARY POLICIES AS THEY WORK TO NAB CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS High-profile crimes involving migrants have captured national headlines amid record numbers of illegal border crossings under Biden’s watch. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens has said that in fiscal year 2024, agents have apprehended more than 6,400 subjects with criminal convictions. In February, Border Patrol nabbed 10 illegal immigrants who had violent criminal histories including murder, rape and drugs or weapons trafficking convictions. BORDER PATROL HAS ARRESTED 6,400 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS, 178 GANG MEMBERS IN FY24 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have complained that “sanctuary” policies in certain Democrat-run cities have hampered their ability to get criminal aliens off the streets by prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with them. When ICE believes a removable illegal immigrant has been arrested on criminal charges, it will lodge a detainer — a request that they be notified before the immigrant is released from custody and to keep them in custody until ICE can take custody of them. But sanctuary jurisdictions generally do not honor detainers, sometimes arguing that enforcement is not their responsibility and that doing so has a chilling effect on relations between immigrants and the community. “When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders onto the streets, it undermines ICE’s ability to protect public safety and carry out its mission,” ICE’s website warns. Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Bill Melugin and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
Border agents apprehend 182 Chinese citizens who crossed into US illegally in key sector: source
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 182 Chinese citizens who crossed illegally into the United States through a key sector of the southern border on Tuesday, Fox News has learned. The Chinese nationals were caught after crossing into the San Diego Sector, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source told Fox News, which has seen large numbers of Chinese migrants in recent months. More than 22,000 Chinese nationals have been apprehended by the Border Patrol since Oct. 1. CHINESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ON PACE TO BREAK RECORDS AT US SOUTHERN BORDER Fox News Digital has reached out to border authorities. The number of Chinese citizens arrested after crossing illegally has dramatically increased in recent years from 342 in 2021 to 22,233 since Oct. 1, the beginning of the 2024 fiscal year. Fiscal year 2022 saw 1,987 arrests and 24,125 were reported for fiscal year 2023. The number of Chinese migrants being encountered in the San Diego Sector is exceeding that of Mexican citizens, according to CBP data. Since October, the number of Chinese migrants encountered by border authorities is second only to Colombia (28,000). Third is Mexican nationals with 18,000, followed by Brazil (8,700) and Ecuador (7,700). READ MORE OF FOX NEWS’ COVERAGE OF THE BORDER CRISIS Some Chinese migrants have expressed support for President Biden, who has been criticized by Republicans for reversing Trump-era border policies, but others are indifferent. One migrant who spoke with Fox News said he picked up tips on the arduous journey from Chinese social media apps. He said he collected information from online sources to learn how to make it to the U.S., including information about routes, border navigation and ways to dispose of information to avoid having your origin traced. MIGRANTS FLOWN TO MARTHA’S VINEYARD ON FLIGHTS COORDINATED BY DESANTIS CAN SUE AVIATION COMPANY “No matter whether it is Trump or Biden, we just wanted to come to the United States,” he said. “I am not worried about my legal identity problem, because as long as we arrive in the United States, there will always be a way to solve the identity problem. We want to go to the United States mainly for our children and to give them a better future.” Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
Poll reveals battleground state voters prefer Trump over Biden in heated 2024 contest
With seven months to go until the presidential election, former President Donald Trump tops President Biden in all but one of the crucial battleground states that will likely decide their 2024 rematch, according to new polling. A Wall Street Journal survey released Tuesday indicated Trump with the edge over the president in six of the seven states polled: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. According to the survey, Trump holds a six-point lead over Biden in North Carolina in a ballot that also includes third-party and independent candidates. Trump has a five-point lead in Arizona, four points in Nevada, and three-point advantages in Michigan and Pennsylvania. The former president edges the White House incumbent by a single point in Georgia, with the two tied in Wisconsin. Trump held similar leads when those questioned were given a head-to-head match up between the former president and Biden. TRUMP RAKES IN HEFTY MARCH FUNDRAISING HAUL AS CAMPAIGN AIMS TO CLOSE CASH GAP WITH BIDEN Biden narrowly edged Trump in all the battlegrounds tested, other than North Carolina, to win the White House four years ago. According to the survey, along with coming in second to Trump among most voters, Biden also had a negative job performance rating in all seven battleground states. On the flip side, voters in every state except Nevada had a favorable opinion of Trump’s time in the White House. JILL BIDEN SNAPS AT MENTION OF POLL WITH PRESIDENT TRAILING TRUMP IN SIX STATES: ‘NO, HE’S NOT’ When asked about specific issues, respondents said they trust Trump to handle the economy and immigration over Biden. The Democrat president, however, was the preferred candidate to deal with the issue of abortion. The polling results also mirror recent concerns over the president’s physical fitness. About 48% of voters believe Trump is more fit to serve as president over only 28% who see 81-year-old Biden as having the mental and physical fitness to serve another four-year term as president. First Lady Jill Biden was asked about Biden’s dismal WSJ polling results on “CBS Mornings” Wednesday, but dismissed the dismal results, saying “no, he’s not losing in all the battleground states. He’s coming up.” The WSJ poll was conducted March 17 to 24 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. A national survey from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist on Wednesday showed Biden leading Trump by two percentage points on the general election ballot. When asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, 50% of likely voters said Biden, while 48% support Trump in his third straight presidential bid. While Biden secured a narrow lead in the poll, four in ten of those surveyed said their minds could change ahead of the November election. Among independent voters, however, Trump led Biden by 7 points, 52% to 45%. “The presidential contest remains close, but there are some interesting twists which run counter to the conventional wisdom,” Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, said alongside the polling results. “Three points to note: first, about four in ten voters are not rock solid in their choice for president; second, Biden supporters are slightly more locked in; and third, Democrats are more cohesive in their positions on the issues.” The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll was conducted from March 25 to 28 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. Trump and the Republican National Committee announced hauling in $65.6 million in fundraising in March and ended the month with $93.1 million in cash on hand, Fox News Digital confirmed news first reported by Politico. Biden’s campaign has not yet announced its March fundraising haul, but reported raising $53 million in February and ending the month with $155 million cash on hand. Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
New York judge in hush-money trial rejects Trump’s request for delay until after SCOTUS rules on immunity
The New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial has rejected his bid for a delay until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the issue of presidential immunity. Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan deemed Trump’s request untimely, ruling that his lawyers had plenty of opportunities to raise the immunity issue before they did earlier this month. “This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024,” Merchan wrote, adding that Trump and his lawyers could have made the argument on September 29, 2023, which he says was just six days before he made the same presidential immunity argument in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Jan. 6 and election interference. The United States Supreme Court will consider the issue of presidential immunity in Smith’s case on April 25. Merchan denied Trump’s motion “in its entirety as untimely.” “The Court declines to consider whether the doctrine of presidential immunity precludes the introduction of evidence of purported official presidential acts in a criminal proceeding,” Merchan wrote. TRUMP HUSH-MONEY CASE ‘COULD NOT BE WORSE FOR OUR COUNTRY,’ JONATHAN TURLEY WARNS Lawyers for the presumptive Republican nominee had asked to adjourn the New York trial indefinitely until Trump’s immunity claim in his Washington, D.C., election interference case is resolved. The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments later this month and issue a ruling in mid-June. Merchan previously chided Trump’s lawyers for missing a filing deadline, waiting more than two weeks before jury selection to raise the immunity issue and failing to “explain the reason for the late filing.” Trump contends he is immune from prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. His lawyers argue some of the evidence and alleged acts in the hush money case overlap with his time in the White House and constitute official acts. The trial stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s years-long investigation into alleged hush-money payments ahead of the 2016 election is set to begin with jury selection on April 15. Upon setting the trial date, Merchan granted Bragg’s request for a gag order to be imposed on Trump. The charges against Trump in the Bragg case are related to alleged hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree last year. In 2019, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted not to charge Trump related to the payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
California Dems anger progressive left, push harsher penalties for shoplifters amid rising crime
California Democrats appear to be backtracking on some soft-on-crime policies, according to a number of new bills introduced in the state legislature seeking harsher penalties for retail theft. Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, a Democrat from LA County and vice chair of the Legislative Progressive Caucus, introduced AB 1990, which would allow law enforcement to conduct arrests without a warrant for shoplifting. Officers would only need to have probable cause. The bill, known as the Secured Transactions and Organized Theft Prevention (STOP) Act, would also make any theft of merchandise or property under $950 a misdemeanor, sparking the anger of progressive lawmakers who believe tough-on-crime policies will lead to overcrowded prisons as they did in the 1990s. CALIFORNIA DEMS WANT TO BLOCK BILL THAT WOULD RECRIMINALIZE LOITERING AS PROSTITUTION SPIRALS IN BIG CITIES “Retail theft continues to impact small and large businesses alike, our California economy and the safety and well-being of our communities,” Carrillo said in a statement. “By enhancing coordination between law enforcement agencies, introducing tougher penalties for these crimes and increasing enforcement against suspected shoplifters, we are sending a clear message: We will not tolerate these acts that threaten our public safety and economic vitality.” Carrillo’s fellow progressive caucus member, Tina McKinnor, disagreed on social media, saying AB 1990 would be “bad for black and brown folks.” “It authorizes an officer to make a warrantless arrest for shoplifting offenses not committed in the officer’s presence if the officer has probable cause to believe that person shoplifted,” McKinnor wrote on X, formerly Twitter, last week. STATE MAKES RETAIL THEFT A FELONY AS ORGANIZED CRIME PROLIFERATES Some Republicans supported Carrillo’s bill and signed on as co-authors. “Although there is a lot of work to be done, this is an important step to addressing this critical issue,” Republican lawmaker Juan Alanis said. Assmeblymember Mike Gibson, also a Republican, backed Carrillo, saying shoplifting “is devastating small businesses in our state.” Republicans are also leading a grassroots effort to repeal Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot measure that relaxed penalties for thefts below $950 in value and drug possession to reduce overcrowding in jails. Several Democrats, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, have signed the petition to roll it back. ‘BURGLARY TOURISM’ PLAGUES SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AS UNVETTED FOREIGNERS RAID LUXE HOUSES CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Other bills making their way through the California legislature include SB 923, authored by Democratic Sen. Bob Archuleta, which would sentence shoplifters who have several prior convictions to up to three years in prison. It’s part of the “Safer California Plan,” a new public safety initiative spearheaded by Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, also a Democrat. The bill comes as blue cities are also embracing tough-on-crime policies. Lawmakers in San Francisco, Washington and New York all have introduced legislation to tackle certain crimes like carjacking and theft plaguing the cities. Last week, the Kansas legislature passed a bill that would classify organized retail crime a felony offense, joining nine other states that have passed similar laws in the last year. According to a Public Policy Institute report in February, researchers tracked a rise in shoplifting, especially in the Bay Area, and a larger rise in commercial burglary among urban counties in California between 2020 and 2022. Shoplifting rose statewide 29% from 2021 to 2022.
Texas, Biden admin square off in circuit court over blocked anti-illegal immigration law
Texas on Wednesday defended its anti-illegal immigration law in oral arguments before a federal appeals court panel as the law remains on hold due to a legal challenge from the Biden administration. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the legislation, SB 4, in December, which allows local police to arrest illegal immigrants and for judges to order them deported. However, the law has been on hold due to a challenge from the Biden administration, which says the law is unconstitutional, hurts international relations and impedes the federal government’s enforcement of immigration law. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “[Texas’] efforts, through SB 4, intrude on the federal government’s exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens, frustrate the United States’ immigration operations and proceedings, and interfere with U.S. foreign relations,” the Department of Justice said in its initial lawsuit. Texas has argued that the law is necessary due to the Biden administration’s alleged failure to secure the southern border and enforce immigration law, and on Wednesday it argued before the three-judge panel that the ongoing crisis at the border is unprecedented. “There’s always been people who cross the border,” Solicitor General Aaron Nielson said. “But before, we talked about hundreds of thousands. Now, we talk about millions. Before, we talked about tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors. Now, we talk about hundreds of thousands. Before, we talked about a few countries. Now, we talk about essentially all countries.” BIDEN, TEXAS FEUD OVER ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAW AS MIGRANTS RUSH BORDER: WHAT TO KNOW He also said that Texas has been offering more assistance and resources, something that the Biden administration has said it needs. “Texas all along has been doing everything within our power to encourage the federal government to do what Congress has directed and address the border crisis. And the answer that we have received at every turn is ‘we don’t have the resources.’ We get that. We understand that. But here, Texas has come forward with additional resources, saying, ‘Let us protect the border,’” he said. The DOJ has said that enforcing federal immigration law is the federal government’s job, while representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union presenting arguments cited estimates of more than 80,000 arrests a year if it went into effect. “No one has disputed that this is going to be a massive new system, if it’s allowed to go into effect,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER HIT NEW FEBRUARY RECORD HIGH The Biden administration has previously pointed to a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated parts of an Arizona law because it clashed with the scope of the federal government. However, on Wednesday, at least one judge seemed skeptical about the court’s ability to block the entirety of the Texas law. “As far as I can tell, never in the history of the nation has the United States achieved what they’ve achieved in this case, which is a facial invalidation of a statute that never went into effect, with no course of action, which is an extraordinary achievement,” said Judge Andrew Oldham, a Trump appointee. ANOTHER RED STATE MOVES STEP CLOSER TO ENACTING TEXAS-STYLE ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BILL The court had previously blocked the law from going into effect, but it was then briefly allowed to go into effect by the U.S. Supreme Court before being kicked back down and blocked again by the Fifth Circuit. It is one of a number of such measures being passed or moved forward by states across the U.S. Louisiana, Iowa and Tennessee are all states that have bills under consideration that would do either the same or similar to what Texas is seeking to do. Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report.