Latest news with #SanAntonio-based


Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Mother of 6-year-old L.A. boy battling leukemia files lawsuit to stop immediate deportation
A Central American asylum applicant arrested outside an L.A. immigration court is suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security and the Trump administration for her immediate release and that of her two children, including her 6-year-old son stricken with cancer. The Honduran woman, not named in court documents, filed a petition for writs of habeas corpus, challenging the legality of her and her family's detention at a Texas facility. She is also asking for a preliminary injunction that would prevent her family's immediate deportation to Honduras, as her children cry and pray nightly to be released from a Texas holding facility, according to court documents. She and her two children, including a 9-year-old daughter, are facing two removal proceedings concurrently: a previous removal proceeding involving their asylum request and this recent expedited removal process. The woman claims the government violated many of their rights, including the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. Her attorneys noted that DHS determined she was not a flight risk when she was paroled into the country and that her detention was unjustified. The woman's lawyers also argued that she was not given an opportunity to contest her family's detention in front of a neutral adjudicator. They also argue that the family's 4th Amendment right to not be unlawfully arrested were violated. The Honduran mother is being represented by several groups, including attorney Kate Gibson Kumar of the Texas Civil Rights Project, the San Antonio-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Service and the immigrant advocacy group Raices Texas. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Antonio on Tuesday. An after-hours email to the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately answered. One of the focal points of the lawsuit is the fate of the woman's son. The youth was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of 3 and has undergone chemotherapy treatments, including injecting chemotherapeutic agents into his cerebrospinal fluid, according to court documents. He began treatment in Honduras and completed two years of chemotherapy, at which point the mother believes he no longer has leukemia cells in his blood, according to court documents. The son, however, needs regular monitoring and medical care for his condition, according to court documents. Last year, the family fled to the United States to 'seek safety' after they were subject to 'imminent, menacing death threats' in Honduras, according to court documents. They applied for entrance while waiting in Mexico and received a CBP One app appointment in October to apply for asylum. They presented themselves at an undisclosed border entry, were processed and were paroled in the U.S., according to court documents. They were scheduled to appear before a Los Angeles immigration court and moved to the area to live with family. Both children enrolled in local public schools, attended Sunday church and were learning English, according to court documents. The trio arrived at court May 29 for a hearing for their asylum request and were caught off guard when a Homeland Security lawyer asked for their case to be dismissed, according to court documents. The woman told an immigration judge 'we wish to continue [with our cases],' according to court documents. The judge granted the dismissal and the Honduran mother and two children were immediately arrested by plainclothes ICE agents upon leaving the courtroom in the hallway, according to court documents. The woman had a June 5 medical appointment scheduled for her son's cancer diagnosis, which he couldn't attend because of the arrest. The family was detained for hours on the first floor before being taken to an undisclosed immigration center in the city, according to court documents. All three 'cried in fear' and the young boy urinated on himself and remained in wet clothing 'for hours,' according to court documents. The trio were placed on a flight to San Antonio along with several other families. The date of the flight was not available. After landing, the family was transported to a detention center in Dilley, Texas, where they have since resided. The children have cried each night and prayed 'for God to take them out of the detention center,' according to court documents. The mother claims that the federal government did nothing to monitor her son's leukemia for days. Her lawyers have also sought the boy's release for medical treatment, a request that was not fulfilled.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Muscle Mommies' are Out. 'Pilates Bodies' Are In. And All of This Signals Something Very Problematic
I came of age in the mid 2000s—a time of low-rise jeans and hip bone worship, of tabloids using their front pages to criticize any change in a celebrity's body. While I'd like to think that, as a society, we've come a long way since then, there's no doubt that the obsession has returned, repackaged for the age of social media. This time, more pervasively—and more problematically—through the guise of 'health.' The rise of the weight-loss shot Ozempic—a drug originally developed for those with type 2 diabetes—has undeniably been co-opted to usher in a new era of the 'thin is in' mentality, but that's not the only culprit. In the digital wellness spaces I frequent online, I have noticed an overwhelming shift in the approach to women's fitness. After the past decade or so of singing the praises of CrossFit and weight training—encouraging the idea of 'strong over skinny'—trainers and fitness influencers are suddenly posting videos about why they stopped lifting heavy to get a 'leaner' look, namely through Pilates. Whether via Ladder's Maia Henry or TikTok's Sivan Tayer, both of whom have begun touting paid workout programs promoting "leanness," my fitness feeds on TikTok and Instagram have gone from bench press workouts to videos about achieving '11 lines' on a reformer; about lifting lighter to prevent 'bulkiness.' The desire for strength has given way to a desire for sinews. In a nutshell, 'muscle mommies' are out, 'Pilates princesses' are in. And I hate it. I'm a Tween Girl Mom and Ozempic Is Bringing Back My '90s Trauma My issue is not that I believe one type of workout is better than the other (quite the opposite—I think we should celebrate all forms of movement that make people feel good). The issue, I think, is that it narrows the idea of what a 'fit' body should look like. Ironically enough, that ideology can prevent people from working out in the first place—or cause them to develop an obsessive approach to exercise—and that's no way to promote health. Indeed, about a month ago, a San Antonio-based TikToker went viral for her rant about seeing larger people in her Pilates class, saying that they 'shouldn't be there,' simply because they didn't align with her idea of a "Pilates aesthetic.' While I won't name and shame (she has since deleted it and posted an apology video), this is exactly the type of negative rhetoric that results from exalting a certain body type while excluding (or shaming) the ones that don't fit a preconceived mold. @heloomelloo/@abkpilates/@maiahenryfit Dr. Sanam Hafeez, PsyD, is an NYC-based licensed clinical psychologist, and the founder and Clinical Director of Comphrehend the Mind, a neuropsychological, developmental and educational center in Manhattan and Queens. Dr. Hafeez applies her 20 years of experience connecting psychological implications to address some of today's common issues such as body image, social media addiction, relationships, workplace stress, parenting and psychopathology. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not condemnation of Pilates as a workout, or the folks who enjoy it (heck, I do, too!), but rather of the popularized perception of the 'Pilates body,' and its evolution towards exclusion, divorced from its own origins. After all, the father of the method, Joseph Pilates, developed it in a World War I internment camp as a way to aid in the physical and mental well-being of his fellow prisoners (a far cry from the sunny, perfectly curated studios it's taught in today). But that's what I think we're losing when we tie this—or any other form of exercise—to a purely aesthetic end goal: well-being! And it has real repercussions. I spoke to Dr. Sanam Hafeez, a neuropsychologist based in New York City, for her insights into the negative effects of the Pilates body obsession. 'Seeing the same body type repeatedly on social media can make people feel like they have to look that way to be accepted,' she explains. 'It can cause people to feel unhappy with their bodies, even if they are healthy and strong. Some might start comparing themselves all the time, which can lead to low self-esteem. It can also make people feel like their worth depends on how they look, instead of who they are. This pressure can lead to harmful habits.' I won't lie, being bombarded with images of this idealized figure had begun to give me pause before booking my next class; I recently found myself thinking, 'I don't look like the Pilates girls on my feed. Maybe I don't belong there?' But then I thought of all the time and effort I had put into unlearning the negative body talk of my adolescence, and said, 'Screw that!' I wasn't about to hold myself back from doing something I enjoy, and that makes me feel good, just because I don't have '11 abs.' Dr. Hafeez agrees. 'It's important to remember that exercise is about feeling strong and healthy, not fitting a certain look. Enjoying Pilates or any workout doesn't mean you have to look like the people you see online.' But if you find yourself in a body image spiral like I did, take her professional advice: 'Focus on how movement makes you feel, such as being more energized, less stressed and proud of what your body can do. Celebrate small progress and personal goals instead of comparing yourself to others. You don't need to look a certain way to belong in any fitness space.' Bottom line? You can be a Pilates princess—or a muscle mommy, boxing baddie, walking wonderwoman—without being defined by your body or how you move it. 5 Wellness Trends That Will Dominate 2025, from Filter-Free Dating to Mindful Digital Consumption


Reuters
12-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
PNC convinces US appeals court to overturn $218 mln USAA patent verdict
June 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday sided with PNC Bank [RIC:RIC: and overturned a $218 million verdict won by financial services provider United Services Automobile Association (USTEX.O), opens new tab in a patent dispute over mobile check-deposit technology. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said, opens new tab that the patents USAA had accused PNC of infringing were invalid. The case is part of a series of patent lawsuits brought by USAA against other financial services providers over its technology. San Antonio-based USAA has settled similar disputes with banks including Wells Fargo and Truist and filed a related ongoing lawsuit against Regions Bank in January. Spokespeople and an attorney for USAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Thursday decision. A PNC spokesperson said the bank appreciates that the court "recognized that USAA's patents should never have been issued." USAA said in its 2020 lawsuit against PNC that its "Deposit@Home" technology was developed to allow military members overseas to deposit checks remotely. It had convinced a Texas jury in 2022 that PNC's mobile deposit feature worked in the same way as its patented technology and owed $218 million for violating its rights. PNC told the Federal Circuit that the 2022 verdict could not stand because the patents were invalid. A three-judge panel agreed with PNC on Thursday, finding that the patents covered "the abstract idea of depositing a check using a mobile device" using "only routine and well-known steps." The case is United Services Automobile Association v. PNC Bank NA, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 23-1778. For USAA: Willy Jay of Goodwin Procter For PNC: Mark Fleming of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr Read more: USAA wins $218 mln verdict from PNC in mobile-deposit tech trial

Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nonprofit fights back after Texas ends in-state tuition for undocumented students
Texas ended in-state tuition for students without legal documentation last week in a quick concession to a Trump administration's lawsuit, but now a San Antonio-based civil rights group has taken the first step to legally restore the 2001 law. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a motion Wednesday to challenge a judge's decision to enjoin the state from enforcing the Texas Dreamers Act, a 2001 law authorizing in-state tuition for eligible residents. The federal government sued June 4 alleging that the 2001 act violated federal law that prevents students without legal status from accessing special benefits unavailable to citizens. Texas asked a North Texas district court to strike down the law, joining the Trump administration's suit, and the judge stopped the state from enforcing it. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said last week that he joined the Trump administration's motion to end the "unconstitutional" law. 'Ending this discriminatory and un-American provision is a major victory for Texas," he said. MALDEF said it is planning to pursue legal status on behalf of Students for Affordable Tuition, a group of students who would have to pay out-of-state tuition four times as high if the judge's ruling holds. "What happened last week — the invalidation of longstanding state law in the course of one afternoon — was an abuse of our judicial system; those affected by the attempted invalidation have the right to be heard on the legality of the Texas Dream Act," said Thomas Saenez, the president and general council of MALDEF. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas nonprofit fights end to in-state tuition for undocumented students


Time of India
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Is Kris Jenner's age-defying look AI-manipulated? A plastic surgeon claims so
has been making headlines - not for any drama- but her age-defying facelift, which is hailed as a jaw-dropping transformation. However, a renowned plastic surgeon has raised his eyebrow and has claimed that the look is morphed with AI to create unrealistic expectations, because these are not normal results. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'What did Kris Jenner do, and when can I get an appointment?' According to the Daily Mail, when the 'momager' appeared in Paris in the previous month, she sent shockwaves through the internet with her mind-blowing face transformation, where the netizens claimed she now looked 20 years younger. The question that surfaced everywhere was: 'What did Kris Jenner do, and when can I get an appointment?' Kris Jenner's surgery is... AI-manipulated? The 69-year-old's representatives later confirmed that she had taken an appointment with New York's surgeon, Dr Steven M Levine, to get the magical look. However, an Instagram post has been going viral with more than 692,000 views, where another plastic surgeon, Dr Gary Lawton, stated that Kris Jenner's pictures have been tainted with AI tools and morphing software to achieve the unrealistic look in pictures and videos. The San Antonio-based plastic surgeon showcased the 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star and said that the look defies all the surgical and anatomical realities. Lawton, who is known to debunk beauty trends and offer practical advice, said, 'There is no possible way that this is a surgical transformation.' What did Dr Lawton say? 'The problem is that people have seen her in person. If you look at the images, there is no possible way this is a surgical transformation,' he said before giving an anatomy for her impossible surgical procedure. 'That kind of extensive restructuring, the precise symmetrical, idealised geometry suggests digital manipulation, AI-generated or heavily retouched images,' he added, before concluding, 'Neither mid-facelifts or fillers can produce this kind of flawless surface, devoid of any subtle depressions or textural inconsistencies.'