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Group of Venezuelans sue Trump admin for temporary immigration protections

Group of Venezuelans sue Trump admin for temporary immigration protections

A group of migrants is suing the Trump administration for ending a deportation shield for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in the U.S., claiming that the move was illegal and driven by race. The 48-page federal suit names Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. government for revoking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 600,000 Venezuelans. TPS grants protection from deportation and allows work permits for nationals living in the U.S. from countries deemed unsafe for them to be returned. Then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced extensions for TPS for Venezuela, as well as El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine, for an additional 18 months in the final few days of the Biden administration. That move, if left in place, would have complicated President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport large numbers of those nationalities. KRISTI NOEM JOINS IMMIGRATION RAID TO CATCH ‘DIRTBAGS’ IN MAJOR SANCTUARY CITY “These actions have the effect of robbing 600,000 Venezuelan TPS holders of the right to live and work in this country for the next 18 months,” the lawsuit reads.  Without the protection, at least 350,000 Venezuelan TPS holders stand to lose their legal status on April 7 and their work authorization as soon as April 2, per the lawsuit. Another 257,000 will also be affected by September, according to the Miami Harald. Venezuelans were among the top nationalities coming into the U.S. at the height of the 2021-2024 border crisis, with many also coming in through a separate parole policy for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans—a program now ended by the Trump administration. The program for TPS for Venezuelans was put in place amid the severe economic and political crises ongoing in the country, which has seen millions flee. The suit takes aim at Noem and comments she made when announcing the decision to revoke the TPS.  “The Secretary’s decisions also were motivated at least in part by racial animus, in contravention of the Fifth Amendment,” the suit reads. “That is clear from statements the Secretary made when announcing the decisions themselves, labeling Venezuelan TPS holders as ‘dirtbags’ —an expression of racism made by the official decisionmaker as part of her explanation for the decision.” Noem made the comments while referring to a criminal illegal alien who had been apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on kidnapping, assault and burglary charges. TRUMP ADMIN ENDS DEPORTATION PROTECTIONS FOR MASSIVE NUMBER OF VENEZUELANS AMID ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN “Making matters worse, that statement is just one among a torrent of similar racist statements that Secretary Noem, President Trump, and members of the Trump campaign and administration have made to attack and marginalize nonwhite immigrants generally, and the Venezuelan TPS community in particular,” the suit continues. The plaintiffs accuse Noem of conflating many TPS holders as being members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) who have been terrorizing communities across the country. The plaintiffs claim that TdA’s threat to the U.S. are “overblown. They also accuse Noem of a “baseless assertion” that Venezuela emptied its mental health facilities and sent them to the United States. Additionally, they claim that she does not have the legal authority to revoke the TPS order. The plaintiffs are calling on the courts to cancel Noem’s actions and reinstate the extension. The suit was filed in San Francisco by the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network on behalf of eight Venezuelan TPS holders. The plaintiffs include two university students, a factory worker with a 12-year-old daughter and an instructional coach who’s been living in the U.S. for 12 years. The latter’s mother, father, brother, sister and nephews all live in the U.S. and are U.S. citizens, per the lawsuit. The lawsuit goes on to accuse Trump and his administration officials of embracing racist talking points, specifically White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who they accuse of supporting white nationalism and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio espoused an exaggerated depiction of TdA.  “During President Trump’s first term, every federal district court to consider the question found ‘evidence that President Trump harbors an animus against non-white, non-European aliens which influenced his (and thereby the Secretary’s) decision to end the TPS designation[s]’ for El Salvador, Haiti, Sudan, and Nicaragua in 2017 and 2018,” the suit reads. “The evidence adduced in those cases further illustrates that the conduct challenged here is part of a premeditated effort to terminate TPS without regard to applicable law or standards, and to further a racist agenda.” Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.  ­

Burgum says Interior Department ‘completely embracing the DOGE effort’

Burgum says Interior Department ‘completely embracing the DOGE effort’

EXCLUSIVE: When it comes to President Donald Trump’s mission to overhaul and downsize the federal government through his recently created Department of Government Efficiency, which is known by its acronym DOGE, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is all in. “I think that we’re off to a great start in Interior, we’re completely embracing the DOGE effort,” Burgum emphasized in a national digital exclusive interview with Fox News. Burgum, a multi-millionaire former software company CEO and former two-term North Dakota governor who ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before dropping out of the race and heavily supporting Trump, spotlighted government transparency when touting DOGE. “Part of what DOGE is bringing is just awareness to the republic, to the people that are in our country,” he said. “Great government is always transparent. And that’s what we’re doing.” FEDERAL DEPARTMENT CAFETERIA EMPTY FOR YEARS UNDER BIDEN: SOURCE Burgum also highlighted that when it comes to DOGE’s mission, “part of it is the federal government is so outdated on the technology… we have to get caught up. We’re decades behind.” Trump named Elon Musk — the world’s richest person and the chief executive of Tesla and Space X — to steer DOGE. DOGE has swept through federal agencies since Trump was inaugurated a month ago, rooting out what the White House argues was billions in wasteful federal spending. It has also taken a meat cleaver to the federal workforce, resulting in a massive downsizing of employees. The moves by DOGE have triggered a slew of lawsuits in response. WHAT THIS WELL-KNOWN REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR THINKS ABOUT DOGE And Democrats are taking aim. Gov. Ned Lamont argued on Thursday that DOGE appears to be aiming to “push costs down to the states and say, ‘You guys deal with it.’”  “It has nothing to do with efficiency. It has everything to do with just cost shifting. And if that’s all they want to do, then it’s not DOGE. It ought to be called dodge, a way to just push the costs on to our people,” Lamont told reporters. The cuts by DOGE have hit Interior, which is responsible for the management and conservation of most federally held lands and natural resources. The department’s workforce has been downsized over the past week by roughly 2,000 jobs. “We’re trying to right size the full-time positions that we have,” Burgum said when asked about the job cuts at Interior. And in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” a day earlier, Burgum added that “on a personal level, of course, I’ve got great empathy for anybody that loses a job… but I think we have to realize that every American is better off if we actually stop having a $2 trillion a year deficit.” WATCH: BRET BAIER GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH DOUG BURGUM Roughly 1,000 of the cuts at Interior were newly hired National Park Service employees, who maintain and clean the parks, educate and inform visitors, and handle other duties. But Burgum said Interior is reinstating about 5,000 seasonal jobs that were originally rescinded last month. Seasonal workers are normally added during the spring and summer months to handle the more than 325 million annual visitors who visit the nation’s 428 parks, historic sites and other attractions. “We did post last week 5000 summer jobs. So, if someone is looking for one of the greatest experiences of your life and want to spend the summer working at a national park, we’re hiring,” Burgum told Fox News Digital, as he made his pitch. “And if you want to work as a wildland firefighter, we’re hiring. These are seasonal jobs. But again, an exciting way to get an experience in some of America’s most beautiful places.” ONE MONTH IN TO HIS SECOND TERM, NEW POLLS SUGGEST TRUMP’S POLL NUMBERS SLIPPING Burgum centered his short-lived presidential campaign on the economy, energy and national security.  And now, as Interior Secretary, where he manages all oil and gas drilling leases on federal lands and waters, he’s a major salesman in Trump’s all-of-the-above energy agenda. “President Trump has a vision of what has been called energy dominance, but it’s really about how do we bring back the strength and the power of American energy in a way that lifts up all Americans,” he said. Burgum was interviewed minutes ahead of a Thursday appearance with the Republican Governors Association, and ahead of a Friday speech to the National Governors Association, which were both holding winter meetings in the nation’s capital. “The message to all these governors is, hey, the people in your state, regardless of which party you’re in, are all going to be happier. Because when President Trump lowers the price of energy, it lowers inflation for everyone,” he emphasized. And Burgum argued that “when we export more energy abroad to our friends and allies, that is going to help President Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize. I mean, part of the way he ends these wars is we sell energy to our allies so they can stop buying it from our adversaries who are using those oil sales to fund wars against us.”

White House protector and most decorated K-9 in US history dies: ‘a very good boy’

White House protector and most decorated K-9 in US history dies: ‘a very good boy’

The most decorated K-9 in U.S. history has died.  Hurricane, a 15-year-old Belgian Malinois, died Tuesday after more than a decade in the Secret Service.  “Hurricane was a true American hero,” the White House X account posted Wednesday. “The most decorated K-9 in U.S. history, he bravely defended the White House and spent retirement helping other working dogs through @Hurricane_K9. His legacy of courage and loyalty will live on. Rest easy, Hurricane.”  Hurricane gained national prominence back in 2014, when he heroically wrestled an intruder to the ground after the man breached the White House gate.  The intruder, Dominic Adesanya, scaled the White House fence and landed on the North Lawn back in October 2014 during the Obama administration. The intruder, who later pleaded guilty to trespassing, was first met by a Secret Service dog named Jordan, before Hurricane jumped into action and subdued the intruder.  VETERANS WITH PTSD GET ‘SIGNIFICANT’ BENEFITS FROM SERVICE DOGS, FIRST NIH-FUNDED STUDY FINDS Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were just yards away from the incident, watching a movie in the White House theater, according to The New York Times.  “He beat Hurricane really bad,” Hurricane’s handler, Marshall Mirarchi, said Tuesday of the incident that left the K-9 with swollen legs and injured hips, according to Times. “But Hurricane did not give up.” EX-SECRET SERVICE DOG CREDITED WITH SAVING OBAMA FROM WHITE HOUSE INTRUDER TO RECEIVE BRITISH AWARD Hurricane was born in 2009 and served as a special operations canine in the Secret Service from 2012 to 2016. He received the Award for Meritorious Service from the Secret Service in 2014 for his bravery, as well as the Secretary’s Award for Valor from the Department of Homeland Security in 2015. He also received the Distinguished Service Medal in 2022, according to the Secret Service.  “On every shift of every day, we at the Secret Service strive to uphold five core values; Duty, Honor, Loyalty, Justice, and Courage,” Uniformed Division Assistant Chief Michael Buck said in 2022 during the Distinguished Service Medal ceremony. “They are the five points of our agency’s star, and on a dark night in October 2014, they were embodied by a very good boy named Hurricane.” UTAH SHERIFF’S OFFICE MOURNS DEATH OF ‘PORN-SNIFFING DOG’ THAT HELPED PUT PEDOPHILES BEHIND BARS Hurricane visited the White House one last time before his death this week and was able to say goodbye to his former team, Mirarchi told the Times.  Hurricane retired in 2016 following the injuries he sustained during the attack and was adopted by Mirarchi. “What made Hurricane so special was that he could be so ferocious and brave, yet be so loving and kind at the same time,” Mirarchi told the Times. “He could be biting and doing apprehension all day long, and when he comes home, he was this loving, caring, kind soul.”

Noem makes aggressive new move to ramp up arrests, deportations of illegal immigrants

Noem makes aggressive new move to ramp up arrests, deportations of illegal immigrants

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem signed a memo this week deputizing up to 600 State Department officials as immigration officers, as part of a government-wide push to ramp up deportations and secure the border. Noem signed an order that deputized up to 600 special agents in the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service to help with the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants. “Under President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security will use every tool and resource available to secure our border and get criminal illegal aliens out of our country,” Noem said in a statement. “The safety of American citizens comes first.” TRUMP’S DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY LOOKING TO DEPUTIZE IRS AGENTS FOR IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT The move is the latest effort by the department to expand the number of officials involved in immigration enforcement, amid a push by the Trump administration to aggressively increase the arrests and deportation of illegal immigrants. DHS has deputized IRS employees, law enforcement components of the Justice Department and law enforcement officials with the Texas Attorney General’s Office. “It is DHS’s understanding that the Department of Treasury has qualified law enforcement personnel available to assist with immigration enforcement, especially in light of recent increases to the Internal Revenue Service’s work force and budget,” Noem said last week. Fox News Digital reported last week that interior arrests have skyrocketed compared to the same period in 2024, while numbers of crossings of illegal immigrants at the border have continued to trend downward. According to Department of Homeland Security data, there were 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan. 20 to Feb. 8, compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024. That is a 137% increase. The administration has said it is trying to target the “worst of the worst,” focusing on criminal illegal immigrants and gang members but has also stressed that it is not ruling anyone out of contention.  TRUMP FLOATS GUTTING THE IRS, MOVING AGENTS TO THE BORDER ARMED WITH GUNS Meanwhile, the administration has secured additional cooperation at the border from Mexico and Canada, as well as agreements from Venezuela and Colombia to take back their nationals. DHS has also moved to shut down Biden-era parole programs and the use of Temporary Protected Status to allow migrants to avoid deportation. The administration is also tapping into the resources of the Pentagon by deploying the military to the border and is also using Guantanamo Bay to house illegal immigrants.  Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

California school district informs parents period products are in bathrooms for ‘any student who menstruates’

California school district informs parents period products are in bathrooms for ‘any student who menstruates’

A California school district contacted parents via email on Thursday to let them know that all public schools containing grades 3 through 12 will have menstrual products in girls’ bathrooms, all-gender bathrooms and at least one boys’ bathroom. California law previously required the same thing of all public schools that teach grades 6 through 12, but that order now extends to include schools with grades 3 through 5. An email allegedly sent from the Long Beach Unified School District to parents, guardians and caregivers said the system is “committed to reducing barriers to learning and fostering a supportive environment for all students.” The availability of period products in girls’ bathrooms and at least one boys’ bathroom is to “ensure that any student who menstruates-including transgender boys and nonbinary students-can access these necessary products with dignity and discretion,” per the email. CALIFORNIA REQUIRES MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS Long Beach USD asked for patience as dispensers are “currently being installed in restrooms across our school sites.” It also encouraged families to discuss “appropriate and safe” use of period products with their children. The email concluded with, “Thank you for your support in fostering a healthy, equitable and inclusive learning environment for all students.” EMERSON COLLEGE ADDS PERIOD PRODUCTS TO MEN’S RESTROOMS, MEETING GROUP’S DEMAND FOR ‘MENSTRUAL EQUALITY’  The “Menstrual Equality for All Act,” which was passed in October 2023, said the changes must be enacted on or before the start of the 2024-2025 school year. The following text was added to the state’s education code when the bill was passed: “On or before the start of the 2024–25 school year, a public school, including a school operated by a school district, county office of education, or charter school, maintaining any combination of classes from grades 3 to 12, inclusive, shall stock the school’s restrooms at all times with an adequate supply of menstrual products, available and accessible, free of cost, in all women’s restrooms and all-gender restrooms, and in at least one men’s restroom.” Menstrual products were defined in the bill as pads and tampons specifically “for use in connection with the menstrual cycle.” The bill also said it is the state legislature’s intent “to promote period equity through adequate access to menstrual products in schools also serving grades 3 to 5, inclusive.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the Long Beach Unified School District for comment.

Senate border budget triumphs after all-night session while Trump-backed House bill lags

Senate border budget triumphs after all-night session while Trump-backed House bill lags

Senate Republicans scored a win over their House counterparts in the early morning hours of Friday, officially passing their preferred budget resolution to tackle some of President Trump’s priorities, such as securing the southern border.  After hours of back-to-back voting on Democratic amendments, the bill to fund border security, energy and defense finally got its vote on the chamber floor.  “[T]his particular budget resolution… addresses the president’s priority, top priority, which is securing the border and implementing and putting in place his immigration policies, rebuilding our military, and creating energy dominance for this country,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Wednesday, previewing the eventual vote.  The leader and Republicans in the upper chamber started to move forward with the all-important budget reconciliation process earlier this month, pushing their preferred plan through a key committee and clearing a procedural hurdle.  EXCLUSIVE: DEMS TO FORCE VOTES ON MEDICAID AS IT BECOMES SORE POINT IN SENATE BUDGET FIGHT The move came despite House Republicans being expected to take the lead on passing a budget bill first. Thune and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also pressed on even after Trump came out in support of the House’s proposal, endorsing it earlier this week on Truth Social.  The decision to move forward with the Senate’s alternative budget plan, which is two-pronged as opposed to the House’s effort to pass one large bill, was blessed by Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday, a source told Fox News Digital. Trump himself did not seem bothered by their effort either, posting on Truth Social, “Thank you to Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Senate, for working so hard on funding the Trump Border Agenda. We are setting records, the likes of which have never been seen before, on stopping criminal illegals aliens from entering our Country. Put simply, we are delivering for the American People, far faster and, more successfully, than anyone thought possible. Your work on funding this effort is greatly appreciated!” SCOOP: REPUBLICAN DANIEL CAMERON BLASTED BY LIKELY GOP OPPONENT AS MCCONNELL SUCCESSOR FIGHT BEGINS The Senate’s procedural vote earlier in the week triggered a 50-hour debate clock that ended on Thursday night. Then, a marathon of votes, known as a “Vote-a-Rama,” began.  Senators were able to introduce an unlimited number of amendments, of which many received floor votes. The process forced Republicans to take many potentially uncomfortable votes teed up by their Democratic counterparts.  “Tonight, one amendment at a time, Democrats exposed Republicans’ true colors here on the Senate floor. For the first time this year, Senate Republicans were forced to go on record and defend their plans to cut taxes for Donald Trump’s billionaire friends. What happened tonight was only the beginning. This debate is going to go on for weeks and maybe months. Democrats will be ready to come back and do this over and over again, because Americans deserve to know the truth,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement following the budget resolution’s passage.  “Again and again and again, Republicans sent a clear and consistent message from the Senate floor: under their agenda, billionaires win, and American families lose. If Republicans continue with this reckless plan to help their billionaire buddies at the expense of American families, Democrats will make sure the American people know the truth at every opportunity,” the Democratic leader continued.  In the Senate Republicans’ budget plan, the first reconciliation bill includes Trump’s priorities for border security, fossil fuel energy and national defense. The second bill, to be drawn up later in the year, would focus on extending Trump’s tax policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The cuts begin to expire at the end of 2025.  SUSAN COLLINS VOWS TO OPPOSE TRUMP FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL AHEAD OF CRITICAL VOTE By lowering the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to 51 out of 100, reconciliation allows the party in power to skirt its opposition to advance its agenda – provided the items included relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters. The House of Representatives already has a simple majority threshold. The process is crucial for Republicans, who have a trifecta in Washington, to get key Trump goals accomplished.  KASH PATEL’S CONFIRMATION AS TRUMP FBI PICK ‘WILL HAUNT YOU,’ SENATE DEMS WARN GOP AHEAD OF VOTE House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has claimed that the Senate’s first budget bill, along with its two-pronged approach, would be dead on arrival in the lower chamber. He has remained committed to including tax cuts in the bill with border security and other priorities.  The House has managed to move their version through the appropriate committee, but a floor vote has yet to be scheduled.