Justice Department sues 4 New Jersey cities over immigration policies
The Justice Department's civil lawsuit alleges the governments of Newark, Hoboken, Jersey City and Paterson unlawfully obstructed federal immigration agents, according to sources.
New Jersey mayors named in DOJ lawsuit
Mayors Ras Baraka, Ravi Bhalla, Steven Fulop and Andre Sayegh were also named as defendants in the DOJ's suit, along with the four city councils.
Baraka, the mayor of Newark, was recently arrested and charged with trespassing outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in his city. His case was dropped, but U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver was later federally charged with assault during the protest at Delaney Hall. She denied wrongdoing and called the charges "purely political."
Bhalla, Hoboken's mayor, issued the statement, "My first official act in 2018 as Hoboken's new Mayor was to declare by Executive Order and a General Order of the Hoboken Police Department that Hoboken is a 'Fair and Welcoming City' ... this means that our city's tax dollars, police, and other city personnel will not be commandeered by the federal government to enforce federal immigration orders - especially those that violate the constitutional rights of our residents and non-resident visitors. It also means that in Hoboken, the law shall be applied equally regardless of immigration status. This is the American way."
"The City of Hoboken will vigorously work to defend our rights, have our day in court, and defeat the Trump Administration's lawlessness. To be clear: we will not back down," his statement continued.
CBS News New York has reached out to DOJ and all of the mayors' offices for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
As MAGA world focuses on Epstein, Trump focuses on anything else
During a fusillade of posts on the social network he owns, Trump even released a 3-minute mash-up of clips that would seem more at place on-screen at a sports bar than in a President's official feed: a woman snatching an approaching snake from the grass, a car sliding under a truck barreling along a highway and no fewer than four people doing tricks on motorcycles and jet skis. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up On Monday, Gabbard added another item to the list - announcing the release of hundreds of thousands of documents related to the 1968 assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Advertisement The through-line connecting those disparate posts? They have nothing to do with the political problem that has dogged Trump for weeks - the 2019 death of Jeffrey Epstein. As the controversy over Epstein, the wealthy financier and sex offender, has refused to dissipate, Trump and those closest to him have tried repeatedly to divert attention to other subjects, with limited success. Republican strategist Alex Conant said the Epstein episode has called into question Trump's ability to evade electoral consequences of actions that would kneecap other politicians. Advertisement 'Nobody turns the page better than Donald Trump,' Conant said. 'His entire first term was constantly changing narratives. We lost track of all the dramas because he's always adding a new one to distract from the previous ones. 'This is different because he's in a real fight with his base. Normally his base helps change the topic by latching on to a new outrage. But now he's in a fight with his base, and the Democrats and the mainstream media are more than happy to fan those flames,' Conant said. The fight started because many of Trump's loyal supporters were angered that the administration was refusing to follow through on promises to release more details about the Epstein case. The politically connected multimillionaire, who died in 2019, has been the subject of years of elaborate conspiracy theories, many of them fanned by people who now hold senior positions in Trump's administration, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 1997. DavidoffEpstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges in Florida of soliciting a minor for prostitution. He was indicted on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019 and died in jail later that year while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide, though some prominent Trump supporters questioned that and alleged, without evidence, that he had been killed to protect rich and powerful friends who may have also been involved in his abuse of young girls. During an interview on Fox News in March, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she'd be releasing 'truck loads' of new information about Epstein. Instead, the Justice Department released a memo this month saying it had conducted an 'exhaustive review' and found no evidence of an 'incriminating 'client list'' or anything else that warranted public release. Advertisement That set off an apoplectic response from some in Trump's base, which the administration has spent two weeks trying to tamp down. Trump has questioned why his supporters had not moved on to more important topics, even suggesting that continued interest in the conspiracy theories benefited Democrats. 'Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bull----,' hook, line, and sinker,' Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social last week. 'They haven't learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.' That and other efforts to change the subject have been so far unsuccessful, experts and observers say. Instead, new attention has focused on Trump's own well-documented friendship with Epstein, especially after a Wall Street Journal article about a salacious drawing Trump allegedly contributed to a 50th birthday present for the financier in 2003. Trump denied the story and has sued the Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch. By insisting that he is the victim of an unfair media attack, he has rallied some of his most prominent supporters around him. But polls show that large majorities of the public believe the government is hiding facts about the Epstein case. As a result, the president whose ascent has been linked to a litany of unproven claims now finds his political power threatened by a conspiracy theory he can't shake. 'Donald Trump is the one who cast himself as the elite who doesn't side with the elites. He's the elite who sides with the people. He's going to drain the swamp,' said Russell Muirhead, a professor of democracy and politics at Dartmouth College and a Democratic state legislator from New Hampshire. Advertisement 'But when he says 'there's nothing to look at here. We're not going to release what the Justice Department has, and forget about that list' … it looks like he's just another elite, corrupt like all the rest and that impression will remain, to some extent, regardless of whether this particular story is at the top of people's attention.' The president has attempted to make some concessions on the issue, including an announcement Thursday shortly after the Wall Street Journal published its story that he had directed the Justice Department to petition the courts to release grand jury testimony related to Epstein. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt answered questions from reporters outside the White House on Monday, July 21. Kevin Dietsch/Getty On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected claims that Trump is paying a political price for his handling of the Epstein case, noting that he enjoys high approval ratings among Republicans. 'The president is the leader and the creator of the Make America Great Again movement. It's his baby that he made and he knows what his supporters want,' she said during an impromptu news conference outside the White House, where nearly a quarter of the questions were about Epstein. 'It's transparency, and he has given them that on all accounts when it comes to everything his administration has done.' Democrats, seeing an opening, have demanded that Epstein records be released and have blasted Republicans' at times conflicting stances on the question. How quickly the public may move on from paying attention to the Epstein case might be more due to organic movement in the news cycle than any effort Trump makes, said Conant, the Republican strategist. Advertisement 'It's hard to keep a story like this alive unless there's fresh oxygen. Part of why it's become such a big story is because Trump himself keeps talking about it,' he said. It's not a coincidence this is happening in the dog days of summer. There's no big legislative fight. There's no national crisis. Fast forward two months and we're going to be facing a government shutdown. Time is on the President's side here.' Jonathan Edwards and Scott Clement contributed to this report.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Judge gives ex-officer nearly 3 years in Breonna Taylor raid, rebuffs DOJ call for no prison time
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge on Monday sentenced a former Kentucky police officer to nearly three years in prison for using excessive force during the deadly Breonna Taylor raid five years ago, rebuffing a U.S. Department of Justice recommendation of no prison time for the defendant. Brett Hankison, who fired 10 shots during the raid but didn't hit anyone, was the only officer on the scene charged in the Black woman's death in 2020. He is the first person sentenced to prison in the case that rocked the city of Louisville and spawned weeks of street protests over police brutality five years ago. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings sentenced Hankison at a hearing Monday afternoon in which she said no prison time 'is not appropriate' for Hankison. She also said she was 'startled' that there weren't more people injured in the raid. She sentenced him to 33 months in prison as well as three years of supervised probation. Hankison will not report directly to prison. Jennings said the Bureau of Prisons will determine where and when he starts his sentence. Jennings expressed disappointment with federal prosecutors' sentencing memo filed last week, saying the Justice Department treated Hankison's actions as 'an inconsequential crime,' and said the memo was 'incongruous and inappropriate.' Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who helped Taylor's family secure a $12 million wrongful death settlement against the city of Louisville and was present Mondya, had called the Justice Department recommendation 'an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury's decision.' He said Monday afternoon that he had hoped Hankison would get more time. But, he said: 'We are grateful that he is at least going to prison and has to think for those 3 years about Breonna Taylor and that her life mattered.' And afterward, before a crowd gathered outside the courthouse, Crump yelled: 'Say Her name.' The crowd yelled back: 'Breonna Taylor!' Hankison fired his weapon the night of the March 2020 botched drug raid, his shot flying through the walls of Taylor's apartment into a neighboring apartment without hitting or injuring anyone. The 26-year-old's death, along with the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked racial injustice protests nationwide that year. Last week, the U.S. Justice Department recommended no prison time for Hankison, in an abrupt about-face by federal prosecutors that has angered critics after the department spent years prosecuting the former detective. The Justice Department, which has changed leadership under President Donald Trump since Hankison's conviction, said in a sentencing memo last week that 'there is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public' from Hankison. Federal prosecutors suggested time already served, which amounts to one day, and three years of supervised probation. Prosecutors at his previous federal trials aggressively pursued a conviction against Hankison, 49, arguing that he blindly fired 10 shots into Taylor's windows without identifying a target. Taylor was shot in her hallway by two other officers after her boyfriend fired from inside the apartment, striking an officer in the leg. Neither of the other officers was charged in state or federal court after prosecutors deemed they were justified in returning fire into the apartment. Louisville police used a drug warrant to enter the apartment, but found no drugs or cash inside. A separate jury deadlocked on federal charges against Hankison in 2023, and he was acquitted on state charges of wanton endangerment in 2022. In their recent sentencing memo, federal prosecutors wrote that though Hankison's 'response in these fraught circumstances was unreasonable given the benefit of hindsight, that unreasonable response did not kill or wound Breonna Taylor, her boyfriend, her neighbors, defendant's fellow officers, or anyone else.' On Monday, the Louisville Metro Police Department arrested four people in front of the courthouse who it said were 'creating confrontation, kicking vehicles, or otherwise creating an unsafe environment.' Authorities didn't list the charges those arrested would face. 'We understand this case caused pain and damaged trust between our department and the community,' a police statement said. 'We particularly respect and value the 1st Amendment. However, what we saw today in front of the courthouse in the street was not safe, acceptable or legal.' A U.S. Probation Office presentencing report had said Hankison should face a range of 135 to 168 months imprisonment on the excessive force conviction, according to the memo. But federal prosecutors said multiple factors — including that Hankison's two other trials ended with no convictions — should greatly reduce the potential punishment. The memorandum was submitted by Harmeet Dhillon, chief of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and a Trump political appointee who in May moved to cancel settlements with Louisville and Minneapolis that had called for overhauling their police departments. In the Taylor case, three other ex-Louisville police officers have been charged with crafting a falsified warrant, but have not gone to trial. None were at the scene when Taylor was shot.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Evening Edition: President Trump Marks Six Months Into Second Term
President Trump has been in office for six months of his second term and it has become a much different presidency as he has been able to deliver on campaign promises, get his 'big beautiful bill' passed and has had major influence on the world stage. President Trump's second term has had a focus on the economy, cutting government waste and handling the border and illegal immigration in very aggressive ways. This week, President Trump will announce a new artificial intelligence initiative and a new executive order on the technology. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Mark Meredith, White House correspondent, who says this administration has hit the ground running this time around and doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. Click Here To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
