A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit struck down one of the key remaining ways to enforce the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA) on Wednesday. In a 2-1 decision, Judges Raymond Gruender and Jonathan Kobes held that §2 of the VRA does not confer a “private right of action for [...]
A federal judge on Tuesday stripped New York City of its control over the Rikers Island jail, which will now effectively be run by a third-party “remediation manager.” This comes after the same judge held the city in contempt last November for failing to reduce violence in the notorious jail complex. Rikers Island is one [...]
A US federal grand jury in Wisconsin indicted Judge Hannah Dugan on Tuesday for obstructing immigration agents. Dugan was arrested last month and is accused of obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and concealing Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the foreign national ICE agents sought to apprehend in her courtroom. Dugan, who was suspended following her arrest, [...]
A US federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled on Tuesday that President Donald Trump and his administration may use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA) to deport Venezuelan citizens accused of gang membership as long as the government offers “sufficient notice and due process.” Judge Stephanie Haines ruled that the government must give “greater notice” [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed concern Tuesday regarding the number of deportations of individuals from the US. According to Türk, the deportations raise “serious concerns regarding a wide array of rights … rights to due process, to be protected from arbitrary detention, to equality before the law, to be protected from [...]
A coalition of 20 Democratic state attorneys general filed two federal lawsuits on Tuesday, claiming that US President Donald Trump’s administration is threatening to withhold billions of dollars in transportation and disaster-relief funds unless states agree to certain immigration enforcement actions. In the transportation funding complaint, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and DOT [...]
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Monday announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for individuals from Afghanistan. Noem stated that the “conditions in Afghanistan” no longer warrant continuing the program, finding that it is “contrary to the national interest.” Before a TPS designation for a country expires, the secretary is required to [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday that major digital labor companies misclassify gig workers as independent contractors in the US, avoiding employer responsibilities in honoring labor rights. According to the 155-page report published by HRW, several major companies that claim to offer gig workers “flexibility” in their working hours through digital labor format use algorithms [...]
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged US Congress on Monday to restore Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur service to ensure journalists can continue reporting in one of China’s most isolated regions. RSF noted that the announcement to close the Uyghur language service of Radio Free Asia (RFA) will have a long-lasting impact on the reporting of atrocities [...]
A US federal judge on Friday ordered the release of Turkish national and PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk. Öztürk was detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in March after her student F-1 visa was revoked, and has remained in custody for several weeks. In April, US District Judge William Sessions in Burlington ordered her [...]
