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The Hill
11 minutes ago
- The Hill
LA streets, businesses empty due to ICE raids: Padilla
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said the streets of Los Angeles are empty as a result of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions in recent months. In a video posted to social media, Padilla said customers are afraid of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, and businesses have suffered in what, he said, is typically a vibrant area. 'Hi, this is Senator Alex Padilla here in Boyle Heights, just outside of downtown Los Angeles, in one of L.A.'s most iconic, historic and vibrant neighborhoods, typically,' Padilla said in the video, posted this past weekend. 'But, ever since Trump's ICE raids — it really began in earnest in early June — you see not just a drop in foot traffic, pedestrian activity, here in the community,' he continued, 'but all the business owners here have seen a significant drop in business.' 'A lot of their customers too afraid to come out and shop, too afraid to come out and eat, like at La Chispa de Oro here in Boyle Heights,' he added. He included panoramic footage of the area and video of himself visiting the businesses and restaurants. The senator encouraged those frustrated with the president's immigration policies to support the local businesses as a form of 'protest.' 'For folks who are wondering what they can do to push back, what they can do to counter this Trump crackdown, you can protest with your wallet. Come support a small business, immigrant-owned business, in these diverse communities as part of our pushback,' Padilla said. President Trump has expanded targeted immigration enforcement efforts, especially in Democratic-run cities, like L.A., Chicago and New York. Widespread demonstrations against the federal immigration crackdown erupted in L.A. earlier this summer, prompting the president to call in the National Guard.
The Intercept
11 minutes ago
- The Intercept
As Gaza Starves, Republicans Take Aim at Another Lifeline. Almost No One Noticed.
As the world watches Gaza starve, Republicans in Congress quietly advanced a new ban on funding a United Nations agency that delivers food aid to Palestinians. The GOP-dominated House Appropriations Committee last week voted to bar financial support for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, long the main hub of aid distribution in Gaza. If passed by Congress, the ban would reinforce a financial blockade on UNRWA that began last year as Israel subjected the agency to an intense pressure campaign. The latest move, however, comes amid an increasingly dire situation, as U.N. experts decried a full-fledged famine, and other Western countries are holding emergency meetings to address the crisis. The timing of the latest proposed ban dismayed observers who have sought to increase the flow of aid to Palestinians in Gaza. 'It seems incredibly hypocritical to suddenly be shocked by these images when every humanitarian agency has said no one can replace UNRWA,' said Yara Asi, an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida's School of Global Health Management and Informatics. Congress first banned funding for UNRWA in March 2024 as Israel pushed allegations that the agency's employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, attacks. Democratic President Joe Biden had already paused funding for the agency. The House and Senate are working to replace that appropriations package with a new one for the next financial year. On July 23, the House Appropriations Committee passed a bill focusing on funding for national security and State Department programs. The $46 billion bill would slash funding for many foreign aid programs and ban funding for UNRWA, while handing Israel $3.3 billion to buy more American arms. Taking last year's ban a step further, the House appropriations bill would prohibit funding for the United Nations secretariat, the organization's parent agency, until it released an unredacted copy of an August 2024 investigation conducted by the U.N. into Israel's claims that UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 attacks. The U.N. investigation found that nine employees out of 13,000 in Gaza 'may' have played a role in the attacks. UNRWA fired the nine staffers. In a statement, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, the Florida Republican who chairs the national security and State Department subcommittee of the appropriations committee, hailed the anti-UNRWA measures as 'examples of how this bill strengthens national security and supports an America First foreign policy.' In the wake of the U.N. internal investigation, European countries have gradually restored funding for UNRWA, which operates in Gaza along with other U.N. agencies such as the World Food Programme. President Donald Trump has opted to go another route, instead providing funding for the shadowy Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, at whose food distributions hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli soldiers. On Sunday, 21 Democratic senators led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to 'immediately cease' funding for the GHF and return to 'UN-led aid coordination mechanisms with enhanced oversight' — without mentioning UNRWA by name. Read our complete coverage The growing scenes of starvation in Gaza have prompted even staunchly pro-Israel Democrats to call on Israel to allow more food aid into Gaza. Many of them, however, have avoided blaming Israel for the crisis. Even Trump contravened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday by acknowledging that children are starving, while making a vague promise that the U.S. would set up 'food centers.' By contrast, UNRWA says it is ready to deliver the equivalent of 6,000 truckloads of aid as soon as it receives a 'green light' from Israel. The link between the pressure campaign against UNRWA and the scenes playing out in Gaza now is clear, Asi said, even if Israeli and U.S. officials don't want to admit it. 'Those lines have not really been connected, between defunding the largest humanitarian response agency in Gaza with obvious humanitarian disaster after. They were warned,' she said. Rep. André Carson, D-Ind., introduced a bill in March to restore UNRWA funding that has drawn support from dozens of mostly progressive House members. Supporters of restoring funding for UNRWA acknowledge that Carson's bill is an extreme long shot in a Congress dominated by pro-Israel lawmakers but still say that it is an important symbolic move. 'It's a tough road for UNRWA and U.S. funding for UNRWA for the foreseeable future, unfortunately. But we need to really draw a contrast: We had UNRWA distributing aid across 400 sites across the Gaza Strip before,' said Hassan El-Tayyab. the legislative director for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. 'We are heading towards a large-scale mass starvation in Gaza if something doesn't happen.'
New York Times
12 minutes ago
- New York Times
Top Lawyer for National Security Agency Is Fired
The top lawyer for the National Security Agency was removed from her job on Friday, according to multiple former officials, after she was criticized by conservative activists. April Falcon Doss had been appointed to the general counsel post in April 2022, during the Biden administration. The web page on the N.S.A. site that displayed her biography now redirects to an error page. On July 23, the Daily Wire, a conservative website, wrote about Ms. Doss and her former work for the Senate Intelligence Committee's Democratic staff. Later that day, Laura Loomer, a far-right conspiracy theorist, amplified a social media post critical of Ms. Doss that cited the Daily Wire article. In a text message on Tuesday, Ms. Loomer said that she had 'reposted a tweet that exposed her last week and flagged it for the right people.' Ms. Doss could not be reached for comment. But an official briefed on the matter said Ms. Loomer's criticism appeared to have a role in the firing. In the spring, Trump administration officials removed Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, the N.S.A. director, and his deputy, Wendy Noble, from their jobs after Ms. Loomer complained about them. Ms. Loomer argued, without evidence, that they were disloyal to the Trump administration. And in February, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, announced she was firing more than 100 N.S.A. employees who she said had participated in an explicit chat group on classified computers. Ms. Doss worked at the agency before becoming general counsel and has extensive experience in cybersecurity law, including writing a 2020 book, 'Cyber Privacy: Who Has Your Data and Why You Should Care.' Spokesmen for the National Security Agency did not immediately comment. The general counsel post is a civil servant job and is supposed to be apolitical. At the end of President Trump's first term, Michael Ellis, an administration loyalist, was appointed to the job amid protests from Democrats in Congress. Mr. Ellis was put on leave at the start of the Biden administration and ultimately resigned from the role. He is now the deputy director of the C.I.A.
