CBP memo orders agents not to misgender ‘members of the public’
An internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) memo obtained by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project and shared with Fox News Digital prohibits agents from using “he, him, she, her” pronouns when initially interacting with members of the public. “DO NOT use ‘he, him, she, her’ pronouns until you have more information about, or provided by, the individual,” reads the memo obtained by Heritage via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Oversight Project Director Mike Howell told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday that the “members of the public” who border patrol agents most often interact with are illegal migrants. “Border Patrol deals with more illegal aliens than any entity in the federal government. This forced language guidance is designed to coddle illegal aliens,” Howell said. THOUSANDS OF CHINESE NATIONALS, GOTAWAYS AT SOUTHERN BORDER SINCE OCT 1: SOURCES “I guess it wasn’t enough for the Biden administration to betray the Border Patrol by purposefully unleashing chaos on the southern border,” Howell said. “Now, the radical political leadership is enrolling agents in a forced-speech program to call illegal aliens by their preferred pronouns.” CBP did not respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment. The memo encourages agents to use “a universal greeting, such as ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Good Evening’ in the initial greeting.” “If an incorrect pronoun is used and corrected by the individual, acknowledge the oversight and use the correct pronoun,” the memo reads. It also lists “key terms” with definitions next to each: bisexual, gay, gender expression, gender identity, gender non-conforming, intersex, lesbian, non-binary, queer, questioning, sex assigned at birth, sexual orientation, transgender, transgender woman, transgender man and transitioning are all listed. NEW ‘ORWELLIAN’ HHS PRONOUN MANDATE FORCES EMPLOYEES TO ‘DENY REALITY,’ VIOLATE LAW: LEGAL EXPERT “This job aid provides guidance to all CBP employees who interact with members of the public to help facilitate effective communication with the diverse public we serve, including individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, non-binary, and gender nonconforming (LGBTQI+),” the memo’s introduction reads, adding that the guidance “should be used by all CBP employees.” It also notes that the terms and definitions “are not universal” and that some LGBTQ individuals “may define these terms differently and the meanings of the terms may change over time.” DEMI LOVATO REVEALS WHY USING THEY/THEM PRONOUNS WAS ‘ABSOLUTELY EXHAUSTING’ Howell said CBP “should be allowed to do their job and prevent all illegal immigration, not used as pawns in some sick social experiment.” The memo follows an earlier report by Heritage’s Oversight Project that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rolled out a similar gender pronoun guideline. “All employees should be addressed [by] the names and pronouns they use to describe themselves,” the reported email to HHS employees stated as part of its push for “Gender Identity and Non-Discrimination Guidance,” which it says protects “employee rights and protections related to gender identity.” Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Experts examine how Supreme Court could overhaul voting rights litigation in possible gerrymandering case
A new voting rights case bubbling up to the Supreme Court has the potential to transform how voting rights are litigated in the courts. On Monday, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act – which prohibits the “denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race or color through voting qualifications or prerequisites” – does not explicitly grant a private right of action. In other words, the Eighth Circuit decided that individuals or advocacy groups who believe a state is violating a voter’s rights can’t bring a lawsuit – only the federal government can do so. In the case in question, the court said a local NAACP group in Arkansas, which is suing the state over redistricting maps that the group says discriminated against Black voters, needs to convince the Justice Department to take up their case. “Did Congress give private plaintiffs the ability to sue under [Section 2] of the Voting Rights Act? Text and structure reveal that the answer is no, so we affirm the district court’s decision to dismiss,” the ruling states. Legal experts told Fox News Digital that the case is likely to make its way up to the highest court in the land, giving the nine justices the opportunity to examine the Voting Rights Act in a presidential election year. SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF BLACK VOTERS IN ALABAMA RACIAL GERRYMANDERING CASE “Justice [Neil] Gorsuch had indicated that this is a significant issue, and the Eighth Circuit just agreed that there isn’t a private right of action. Resolution of this question is clearly headed to the Supreme Court for resolution,” Jason Torchinsky, a partner at Holzman Vogel and an expert in election law, told Fox News Digital. Monday’s ruling applies only to federal courts covered by the Eighth Circuit, which includes Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. But there are several pending lawsuits by private groups that are challenging political maps drawn by legislators across the country. In 2021, Gorsuch, who lawyers refer to as a “textualist,” indicated that at some point the Supreme Court needs to decide if Congress assumed a private right to action in the Voting Rights Act or not. SUPREME COURT APPEARS TO LEAN IN FAVOR OF UPHOLDING GOP-DRAWN SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSIONAL MAP “I join the court’s opinion in full, but flag one thing it does not decide,” Gorsuch wrote at the time, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas. “Our cases have assumed — without deciding — that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 furnishes an implied cause of action under section 2.” Mike Dimino, law professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Pennsylvania, said the difficulty with the Eighth Circuit’s argument is that “the Supreme Court’s attitude in the mid-’60s was much more open to the creation of a private right of action where a statute was ambiguous.” “If you’re in Congress, and you’re writing a statute in the mid-’60s, you look at the Supreme Court’s precedent at the time, and you say, ‘All right, well, this is what the Supreme Court does,’” Dimino said. “But the statute has gone on now for more than 55 years, and the Supreme Court hasn’t decided squarely whether these suits are available or not,” he said. Dimino says he believes it is unlikely that the Supreme Court would affirm the Eighth Circuit’s decision should it decide to take up the case. HIGH-PROFILE SUPREME COURT CASES TO WATCH IN 2023-2024 The Legal Defense Fund, a civil rights group, criticized the Eighth Circuit’s decision by saying that it means “[i]ndividuals who experience voting discrimination on account of their race will be prevented from suing under the Voting Rights Act (VRA)’s critical Section 2 provisions to vindicate them and must instead rely on the discretion and limited resources of the U.S. Attorney General.” The group also called the ruling “a stark departure from six decades of decisions in hundreds of Section 2 cases,” pointing to the recent Supreme Court case Allen v. Milligan. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In that case, which was decided this year, a 5-4 majority affirmed a lower court decision that ruled in favor of Black voters in Alabama who challenged the state’s GOP-friendly map, concluding the state likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Should the Eighth Circuit case be petitioned to the Supreme Court, it could set up a timeline for the case to be decided during a presidential election year. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Utah Republican seeking to replace Romney accused of falsifying endorsements, strong-arming GOP for support
A Utah Republican seeking to replace retiring GOP Sen. Mitt Romney in the U.S. Senate has been deemed “one hundred percent a liar” by one state lawmaker following his claim that his campaign received endorsements from several elected officials in the state. Earlier this year, then-Utah state House Speaker Brad Wilson, who announced his campaign for the Senate in September, released a list of more than 60 lawmakers who his campaign said endorsed Wilson in the race. Wilson’s campaign also said last week that it has received endorsements from more than 50 mayors throughout the state. However, at least a few of those endorsements were not actually given to Wilson’s campaign, according to four officials whose names appeared on the lists and spoke to Fox News Digital about the situation. Speaking anonymously about the alleged endorsement of Wilson’s campaign, one lawmaker whose name was on the list said he never endorsed the Republican in his race for the Senate. Other officials confirmed to Fox Digital that their names were listed even though they didn’t endorse Wilson’s bid. UTAH HOUSE SPEAKER JUMPS IN SENATE RACE TO REPLACE ROMNEY: ‘OUR COUNTRY IS NOT ON THE RIGHT PATH’ The lawmaker – who requested to remain anonymous out of concern for retaliation from Wilson – said the fiasco with the campaign began this year when Wilson, whose tenure as House speaker concluded last week, called House members and pressured them to donate to him after he launched an exploratory committee to consider running for the seat. “I think it’s completely inappropriate to call around and ask for donations from members. So, I was put in a position out of the gate where it’s like I say no to our current speaker of the House who still holds and wields all the power,” the lawmaker said. “It’s completely unacceptable and inappropriate.” The lawmaker, despite being reluctant to make contributions so early in the race, ultimately donated to Wilson’s campaign and “thought that’d be the end of it.” “Then this letter comes down … saying that I was on a list of legislators that had endorsed him. I’m like, ‘Whoa, I didn’t endorse Brad. I gave him money because he asked for it … he’s speaker of the House,’” the lawmaker told Fox. “I called other legislators, and they said the same thing. They felt like they were put in a tough position where they felt like they had to donate to him.” Describing it as a “he knows what he’s doing type of situation,” the lawmaker also told Fox that some state House members who didn’t financially support Wilson ended up losing their committee assignments. Another House member, the lawmaker said, is supporting Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs in the Senate race and ended up in an awkward situation after the representative made a small donation to Wilson and later appeared on the list, which was released in August, prior to Wilson’s campaign announcement. “It just put everyone in a really tough position, and I don’t think it’s right,” the lawmaker said. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen as we move forward here because he still technically holds a lot of power.” MORE THAN 60 UTAH REPUBLICANS ENDORSE PRIMARY CHALLENGER TO MITT ROMNEY “To have him be speaker and do that is just unacceptable. I mean, I’m not aware of someone who says they’re going to run and calls while they’re still in power and is gathering up all these bits of, you know, donations and endorsements,” the lawmaker added. “Let’s be real. Brad doesn’t need the money. He is self-funding most of it anyways, and he has tons of it.” The alleged endorsements for Wilson’s campaign, according to the lawmaker, were “an attempt” by the campaign to show strength early on in the campaign process by listing some House members’ names on the list solely because they gave him a donation he solicited. “In reality, they weren’t endorsements. They were just people who were scared,” the lawmaker said. “I’ve seen the same thing with the mayoral races or mayors around the state. They’re also saying, ‘I didn’t endorse him, but he put my name on a list.’” The lawmaker said the false endorsements that ended up on the list are representative of how Wilson has “run things as speaker of the House,” saying that “you don’t cross him” without some type of retaliation. “One hundred percent a liar,” the lawmaker added of Wilson. In addition to the state lawmaker, three other elected officials in the state confirmed to Fox News Digital that they did not endorse Wilson’s campaign and were seemingly shocked to see their names on the lists. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Wilson’s campaign said, “It’s sad our opponents are spending Thanksgiving agonizing over Brad’s endorsement list, but the fact is Brad Wilson has over one hundred Republican endorsements from every corner of Utah, many times more than all the other candidates in the race combined.” Asked whether it was appropriate for Wilson to solicit donations during his speakership, Wilson’s campaign responded, “Brad has consistently smashed fundraising records in this race because, like any strong campaign, he’s been asking his friends and allies to chip in to support his campaign.” In September, following Romney’s announcement that he would not be seeking reelection to the upper chamber in 2024, Wilson told Fox News Digital that a “number of factors” played into his decision to enter the Senate race. “One is just the overwhelming support we’ve had from everyone in the state — from elected officials to grassroots support. Just a lot of people encouraging us to run, whether it’s been support in terms of wanting to go out and knock on doors or get supporters on board [with] financial support. I mean, that’s been overwhelming,” he said. “At the end of the day, our country is not on the right path, and we all know it. People feel like Utah is on the right path, and I
Ohio Rep. Bill Johnson leaving Congress to accept role as president of Youngstown State
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, announced Tuesday that he is retiring from Congress to accept an offer to become president of Youngstown State University. Johnson, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 2010, will continue in his role as a lawmaker for several more months before starting as president of Youngstown State University in March. “After much thought and prayerful deliberation, I have accepted the offer to lead Youngstown State University and will not be seeking an 8th term in Congress,” Johnson wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As I’ve stated previously, I wasn’t looking for another job, because I love the one I have serving the people of Eastern Ohio in the U.S. House. This was an extremely difficult decision.” “This is not a goodbye, however. I will continue serving in the House for several more months, and you will see no let up,” the outgoing congressman continued. “My offices are open and my staff remains ready to serve you.” TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY INCREASES TUITION, MEANING IT COSTS LESS TO ATTEND HARVARD The Youngstown State University Board of Trustees voted 8-1 on Tuesday to offer Johnson his new job as president of the institution. Johnson, 69, will succeed former Ohio State University football head coach Jim Tressel, who left as Youngstown president in February. Helen K. Lafferty is currently serving as the university’s interim president. “There is still much left on my agenda to do before I depart Congress, including doing all I can to help pass tax exemption legislation to benefit the people of East Palestine as well as a broader rail safety bill, streamline America’s LNG export process, and advance a responsible budget and spending package for the remainder of this fiscal year. It’s business as usual,” Johnson wrote in his statement on X. OHIO DEMOCRAT UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF ‘ERRATIC AND ABUSIVE’ BEHAVIOR The Ohio lawmaker represents the state’s sixth congressional district, which covers the East Palestine area where a Norfolk Southern train derailed in February, resulting in black smoke blanketing the village and hazardous chemicals spilling into the community’s soil and water. The filing deadline for congressional candidates to submit signed petitions to run in party primaries for the two-year term that starts January 2025 is Dec. 20, and the primary election will be held in Ohio on March 19. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine will decide if and when to schedule a special election to select someone to replace Johnson in Congress for the rest of 2024.
Federal court strikes down Maryland gun licensing law
A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down Maryland’s handgun licensing law, finding that its requirements, which include submitting fingerprints for a background check and taking a four-hour firearms safety course, are unconstitutionally restrictive. In a 2-1 ruling, judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said they considered the case in light of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that “effected a sea change in Second Amendment law.” The underlying lawsuit was filed in 2016 as a challenge to a Maryland law requiring people to obtain a special license before purchasing a handgun. The law, which was passed in 2013 in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, laid out a series of necessary steps for would-be gun purchasers: completing four hours of safety training that includes firing one live round, submitting fingerprints and passing a background check, being 21 and residing in Maryland. MAINE’S ‘YELLOW FLAG’ LAW INVOKED OVER A DOZEN TIMES SINCE LEWISTON SHOOTING SPREE Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said he was disappointed in the circuit court’s ruling and will “continue to fight for this law.” He said his administration is reviewing the ruling and considering its options. “Common-sense gun laws are critical to protecting all Marylanders from the gun violence that has terrorized our communities.” Moore said in a statement Tuesday. “I am determined to do more than just give thoughts and prayers and attend funerals — and that’s why this law is vital to our administration’s commitment to keeping guns out of the wrong hands and saving lives.” The 4th Circuit opinion by Judge Julius Richardson directly references the Supreme Court decision last year that found Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. That ruling, which also came after a series of mass shootings, ushered in a major expansion of gun rights. It also required gun laws to fall in line with the country’s “historical tradition of firearm regulation.” In this case, Richardson and Judge G. Steven Agee found no evidence of such alignment. “If you live in Maryland and you want a handgun, you must follow a long and winding path to get one,” Richardson wrote in the opinion. “The challenged law restricts the ability of law-abiding adult citizens to possess handguns, and the state has not presented a historical analogue that justifies its restriction.” The court also pointed to the timeline for obtaining a handgun qualification license, which could take up to 30 days. Even though Maryland’s law doesn’t prohibit people from “owning handguns at some time in the future, it still prohibits them from owning handguns now,” Richardson wrote. “And the law’s waiting period could well be the critical time in which the applicant expects to face danger.” But in her dissenting opinion, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said her colleagues misapplied the Supreme Court precedent. She condemned their “hyperaggressive view of the Second Amendment.” Instead of reversing the district court ruling that was issued before the 2022 Supreme Court decision, Keenan argued, the case should instead have been remanded to the lower court for reconsideration because “there is no legitimate reason to short-circuit the judicial process.” Agee and Richardson were appointed by Republican presidents, while Keenan was appointed by a Democrat. SUPREME COURT APPEARS LIKELY TO HAND BIDEN DOJ A WIN ON CHALLENGE TO GUN LAW The Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling — its first major gun decision in more than a decade — was similarly split, with the court’s conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent. Mark Pennak, president of the advocacy group Maryland Shall Issue, which brought the lawsuit challenging the state licensing requirement, said he’s pleased with Tuesday’s ruling. He said it removes an unnecessary tangle of red tape. “It’s a big win for common sense and the rule of law,” he said. Pennak said the 2013 law made obtaining a handgun an overly expensive and arduous process. Before that law passed, he said, people had to complete a more limited training and pass a background check, among other requirements.
Maryland attorney general suspends hate crime task force member claiming babies murdered by Hamas were ‘fake’
Democrat Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown took action against a member of his own hate crime task force on Tuesday after numerous antisemitic social media posts by the member surfaced, including a claim that the babies murdered in the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas attack were “fake.” Zainab Chaudry, an anti-Israel activist who serves as the director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) Maryland office, made the posts in the weeks following Hamas’ attack, which saw more than 1,200 people killed, including children and babies, as well as numerous rapes and destruction of property. “The Office of Attorney General learned last week about personal social media posts of a member of the Maryland Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention, Zainab Chaudry, Executive Director of the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations – Maryland Office,” Brown said in a press release. MARYLAND HATE CRIME TASK FORCE MEMBER CLAIMED BABIES MURDERED BY HAMAS WERE ‘FAKE,’ COMPARED ISRAEL TO NAZIS “Attorney General Brown has determined that Ms. Chaudry’s social media posts risk disrupting the work and mission of the Commission, so he is announcing steps that he took today to ensure that the vital work and mission of the Commission can continue without interruption,” he said, adding that Chaudry’s membership on the commission would be “temporarily suspended.” He went on to say that his office would “develop a draft values statement” concerning personal communications by commission members, and called on those members to “to exercise great care in their communications and conduct.” In a Facebook post dated Oct. 26, Chaudry wrote, “I will never be able to understand how the world summoned up rage for 40 fake Israeli babies while completely turning a blind eye to 3,000 real Palestinian babies.” WATCH: WHITE HOUSE ISSUES BRUTAL RESPONSE TO BIDEN’S ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ NICKNAME GIVEN BY ANTI-ISRAEL CRITICS In an Oct. 17 post, Chaudry wrote, “[T]hat moment when you become what you hated most,” and included two photos of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, one showing it lit up with the Israeli flag in solidarity with Israel following the attack, and another from a ceremony in 1936 when it was decorated with the flag of Nazi Germany during the Olympics that year. In another post from Nov. 6, Chaudry appeared to suggest the mere existence of Israel as a nation was the cause of the ongoing war, writing it was an “inconvenient fact.” She included an image of the words “it all started in 1948,” the year Israel was founded as a nation. Others from the weeks following the attack showed Chaudry sharing a quote celebrating “martyred Palestinians,” and a post citing what appeared to be an Islamic prophesy that said “garrisons who defend the lands of Islam will be in Ashkelon,” an Israeli city north of the Gaza Strip. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HAVE NOT CONDEMNED VIOLENT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST TARGETING OWN PARTY HQ When reached for comment, Chaudry told Fox News Digital that the “Nazi post” was originally shared “by a close Jewish friend,” before going on to accuse the Israeli government of wanting to commit genocide against Palestinians. She also said she condemned the killing of Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro appeals court’s blockage of carbon-pricing standards
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration said Tuesday that it is appealing a court ruling that blocked a state regulation to make Pennsylvania’s power plant owners pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, even as the Democrat warned lawmakers to get to work on a better alternative. In a statement, Shapiro didn’t pledge to enforce the regulation, should his administration win the appeal at the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court. His appeal revolves around the need to preserve executive authority, his administration said. But he also urged lawmakers to come up with an alternative plan. PA GOV. SHAPIRO PUSHES FOR SCHOOL VOUCHERS, MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE AND GUN VIOLENCE LEGISLATION “Now is the time for action,” Shapiro’s office said. “Inaction is not an acceptable alternative.” Action seemed unlikely, however, as Republicans who control the state Senate criticized Shapiro’s decision to appeal and said it would hamper any meaningful discussion of energy and environmental policy. Environmental advocacy groups applauded the appeal. The case revolves around the centerpiece of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight global warming and make Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel-producing state to adopt a carbon-pricing program. In a Nov. 1 decision, a 4-1 Commonwealth Court majority agreed with Republican lawmakers and coal-related interests that argued that Wolf’s carbon-pricing plan amounted to a tax, and therefore required legislative approval. Wolf, a Democrat, had sought to get around legislative opposition by unconstitutionally imposing the requirement through a regulation, opponents said. The regulation had authorized Pennsylvania to join the multistate Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which imposes a price and declining cap on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Shapiro has criticized it, but also has not said definitively whether he would enforce it, should he prevail in court. Shapiro’s message to lawmakers Tuesday also did not describe the need to fight climate change. Rather, he couched the matter in different terms, calling it “commonsense energy policy” and said he would sign another carbon-pricing plan, should it win legislative approval. “Should legislative leaders choose to engage in constructive dialogue, the governor is confident we can agree on a stronger alternative to RGGI,” Shapiro’s office said in the statement. “If they take their ball and go home, they will be making a choice not to advance commonsense energy policy that protects jobs, the environment and consumers in Pennsylvania.” Such a plan continues to have no chance of passing the state Legislature, where the Republican-controlled Senate has been protective of hometown coal and natural gas industries in the nation’s No. 2 gas state. Republican lawmakers had hailed the court’s decision to block the regulation and had urged Shapiro not to appeal it. Rather, Republicans have pushed to open greater opportunities for energy production in the state and warned that the regulation will raise electricity bills, hurt in-state energy producers and drive new power generation to other states while doing little to fight climate change. In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, a Republican from Indiana County, called the appeal “misguided.” “Gov. Shapiro’s action further places family sustaining jobs at risk and stymies the ability for any meaningful conversations on energy and environmental policy in the Pennsylvania legislature,” Pittman said. “The governor should be standing with working families who are struggling with inflationary costs and pressures from higher electric bills.” PA GOV. SHAPIRO SIGNS OFF ON BILL EXPANDING DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE-FUNDED UNIVERSITIES In the House, where Democrats hold a one-seat majority, neither a carbon-pricing plan, nor Shapiro’s most well-defined clean-energy goal — a pledge to ensure that Pennsylvania uses 30% of its electricity from renewable power sources by 2030 — have come up for a vote. Backers of the regulation included environmental advocates as well as solar, wind and nuclear power producers. They have called it the biggest step ever taken in Pennsylvania to fight climate change and said it would have generated hundreds of millions of dollars a year to promote climate-friendly energy sources and cut electricity bills through energy conservation programs. Opponents included natural gas-related interests, industrial and commercial power users and labor unions whose members build and maintain pipelines, power plants and refineries.
Pro-Trump candidate faces off with moderate Dem as Utah voters head to polls for special election
Voters in Utah are heading to the polls Tuesday for a special election to determine which party will fill the last remaining open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The election, to be held in Utah’s 2nd Congressional District, was triggered by the resignation of former Republican Rep. Chris Stewart, who left Congress in September due to his wife’s unspecified illness. Republican Celeste Maloy, who served as Stewart’s chief legal counsel in Congress, won a three-way primary election that month, and is facing off against Democrat state Sen. Kathleen Riebe, a self-described moderate. BIDEN USES TRUMP’S OWN WORDS AGAINST HIM IN BID TO RECAPTURE THIS MAJOR VOTING BLOCK FOR DEMS IN 2024 As a candidate, Maloy has touted her roots growing up in rural southern Utah, of which the district covers a vast portion, and has leaned into her support of former President Donald Trump, arguing the numerous ongoing prosecutions against him are politically motivated. “It’s exciting that we’re going to have somebody come out of this primary that represents rural and southern Utah. I think it’s time for that, and everybody’s ready for it,” Maloy said following her primary win. However, Riebe has argued the race is a pickup opportunity for Democrats, and has leaned on her experience as a school teacher while making the case that people in the district “are ready for a change.” TRUMP TO REMAIN ON COLORADO BALLOT AFTER JUDGE REJECTS 14TH AMENDMENT CHALLENGE TO ELIGIBILITY In an interview with Deseret News in August, Riebe expressed concern over the nation’s rising debt, and vowed to join the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition if elected. “Coming to a very rational decision and having very moderate ideas, I think that is what serves us best,” she told the outlet. Maloy is currently the heavy favorite to win the special election given Stewart’s double-digit margin of victory in the six elections he was the Republican nominee for the district, going back to 2012. A Democrat win would weaken Republicans’ already slim majority, while a win for the GOP would provide some extra cushion for close votes. Polls close at 8:00 p.m. local time, and 10:00 p.m. ET. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Adams says ‘DC has abandoned us’ as NYC slashes budgets over migrant crisis
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Monday that Washington D.C. “has abandoned us” in regards to the ongoing migrant crisis the city and other parts of the country are facing — days after he announced stinging budget cuts to education and policing due to the crisis. “D.C. has abandoned us, and they need to be paying their cost to this national problem,” Adams said during a town hall in Brooklyn, according to Politico. The “sanctuary” city has seen over 130,000 migrants come into the city since last year, a relatively small number of which have been bussed in via Texas. NEW YORK DEMOCRATS OVERWHELMINGLY SAY MIGRANTS ‘SERIOUS’ PROBLEM: POLL While it’s just a fraction of the more than 2.4 million migrants encountered at the southern border in the last fiscal year, the city has been overwhelmed, with Adams warning the crisis could “destroy” the city and demanding more federal help. Last week Adams announced cuts across all government agencies due to the city having spent $1.45 billion in fiscal 2023 on the migrant crisis and nearly $11 billion expected to be spent in 2024 and 2025. His office said that the New York Police Department will freeze hiring to bring numbers below 30,000 by the end of fiscal year 2025 from over 33,000. There will also be deep cuts to education, including the universal pre-kindergarten program, and sanitation. The budget cuts drew fury from the city’s teachers and police unions. “This is truly a disaster for every New Yorker who cares about safe streets,” police union President Patrick Hendry said. “Cops are already stretched to our breaking point, and these cuts will return us to staffing levels we haven’t seen since the crime epidemic of the ‘80s and ‘90s.” Adams has told residents to blame the feds. NEW YORK CITY TO REDUCE POLICE NUMBERS, SLASH BUDGETS DUE TO BILLIONS SPENT ON MIGRANT CRISIS “I tell people all the time when they stop me on the subway system, ‘Don’t yell at me, yell at D.C.,’” Adams said on Monday, according to Politico. “We deserve better as a city.” But the Biden administration has pointed to more than $770 million it has given out to support communities taking in migrants in the last year and recommendations its teams of experts have made. It has also deployed personnel to help with authorizing work permits and to educate migrants on the immigration system, a DHS official said recently. NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS PARENTS MAY NEED TO HELP IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AMID MIGRANT CRISIS Separately, the White House has requested an additional $14 billion in emergency funding for border operations, which includes an additional $1.4 billion in grants to help local governments and nonprofits. Meanwhile, more Democrats in the Empire State see the crisis as a problem. A new survey from the Sienna College Research Institute found that 75% of New York Democrats see the migrant crisis in the state as a “very serious” or a “somewhat serious” problem, with 47% of the respondents saying it’s dire and 28% saying its somewhat consequential. Fox News’ Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.
ICE deports illegal immigrant wanted for murder, had been detained seven times at border
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported an illegal immigrant who is wanted for murder in Mexico and had been living illegally in the U.S. despite having been stopped at the border more than half a dozen times previously. Juan Martinez Merida, a Mexican illegal immigrant, was deported in October, authorities said in a recent press release. He had previously been detained at least seven times at the border, and had been allowed to depart voluntarily — where an illegal immigrant is allowed to leave the country by themselves and therefore avoid being given a final order of removal. He then escaped into the country as a got-away at an unknown time, according to ICE. ICE ARRESTS BRAZILIAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILD RAPIST IN MARTHA’S VINEYARD He was arrested in August by ICE’s branch in Philadelphia, and was charged with inadmissibility. Last month an immigration judge ordered his removal to Mexico, since there is an active warrant for his arrest. In a statement, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) said Merida was wanted for murder in Mexico. “ERO Philadelphia is dedicated to ensuring that individuals seeking to evade justice in their home countries are removed from our communities and returned home to face justice,” ERO Philadelphia Field Office Director Cammilla Wamsley said in a statement. It’s the latest instance of a criminal wanted in other countries for serious crimes who has escaped into the U.S. via the southern border. DENVER SPENDS MILLIONS ON TRANSPORTING MIGRANTS TO OTHER PARTS OF US Fox reported this week that ICE arrested an illegal immigrant Brazilian fugitive – who is wanted in his home country for failing to serve a prison sentence for raping a 5-year-old child — in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. ICE said the Brazilian, identified as 37-year-old Saulo Cardona Ferreira, had received “multiple criminal convictions” in Brazil in 2019 for raping the child and had been sentenced to 14 years in prison, but he had fled the country. The town of Sorriso, Mato Grosso, had issued a warrant for his arrest. There were more than 600,000 gotaways last fiscal year, while in the new fiscal year agents have recorded more than 1,000 got-aways each day.