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DOJ Immigration Judge Firings Rock Court System

DOJ
Department of Justice seal (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has executed a sweeping removal of immigration judges amid the Donald Trump‑administration’s aggressive push to shut down what it views as a broad asylum loophole. While figures vary, one report puts the number of judges fired at more than 80, though DOJ counters that the figure is under 55.

Reports indicate that in recent months dozens of immigration judges under the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) began receiving notices of termination or non‑renewal—some of them right after their probationary period ended or before being sworn in. The firings span states including California, New York, Maryland, Washington and Texas. Critics argue this move risks undermining due‑process protections just when the immigration‑court backlog is at historic levels.

The DOJ responded to the reporting by saying it does not “target” or “prioritise” judges for removal based on their background, prior rulings or how many asylum cases they granted. It stated that immigration judges are evaluated on conduct, impartiality, adherence to law, productivity and professionalism, and that they serve as “inferior officers” appointed and removable by the Attorney General under Article II of the Constitution.

Supporters of the policy note the enforcement shift aligns with the Trump administration’s goal of cracking down on what it calls rampant abuse of the asylum system. They point to data showing rising numbers of denied asylum claims and deportation orders, and a shrinking backlog of cases as evidence the changes are working. The administration has characterised the reductions in the judge corps as part of a broader reform to speed adjudication and relieve the backlog.

Opponents warn the purge of judges threatens judicial independence and impartiality. They describe a culture of fear among court employees, where terminations appear to correlate with resistance to fast‑track removal policies. Some veteran judges argue that replacing experienced adjudicators with novices or political appointees risks due‑process violations and undermines the integrity of the immigration court system.

This development will remain under close scrutiny as the administration advances major changes in immigration adjudication. It raises profound questions about the balance between enforcement objectives and the rule of law, patience for the court system’s institutional safeguards and the future role of immigration judges in the U.S. justice system.

New Country Joining Abraham Accords

(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

President Trump is expected to welcome Kazakhstan into the Abraham Accords, signaling cooperation in relations with Israel.

“This is going to show that the Abraham Accords is a club that many countries want to be a member of and it will be a step for turning the page on the war in Gaza and moving forward towards more peace and cooperation in the region,” a U.S. official told Axios.

In May, President Donald Trump urged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords.

In June, Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told CNBC that the historic Abraham Accords agreement may soon expand.

“One of the President’s key objectives is that the Abraham Accords be expanded, that more countries come into it, and we are working on that, in my team and in coordination with the Secretary of State and the entire State Department,” Witkoff said. “We think we’re going to have some pretty big announcements on countries that are now coming into the Abraham Peace Accords.”

Witkoff explained that the Trump administration is hoping for “normalization across an array of countries that maybe people would have never contemplated would come in.” He added that a possible expansion would be a “stabilizer in the Middle East.”

The Abraham Accords were a set of agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan in 2020. The accords declared that the countries “recognize the importance of maintaining and strengthening peace in the Middle East and around the world based on mutual understanding and coexistence, as well as respect for human dignity and freedom, including religious freedom,” and “encourage efforts to promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue to advance a culture of peace among the three Abrahamic religions and all humanity.”

Lawsuit Exposes California Power Grab

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California Governor Gavin Newsom (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)

A federal lawsuit filed by the California Republican Party aims to block Prop 50, arguing that it “unconstitutionally gerrymanders districts in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments.”

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court against Governor Gavin Newsom and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, declares that state lawmakers violated the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments upon drawing “new congressional district lines based on race, specifically to favor Hispanic voters, without cause or evidence to justify it.”

“California’s Hispanic voters have successfully elected their preferred candidates to both state and federal office, without being thwarted by a racial majority voting as a bloc,” the lawsuit says. “This is unsurprising because Latinos are the most numerous demographic in the state and California voters nearly always vote based on their party affiliation, not their race.”

“Plaintiffs ask the Court to invalidate the unconstitutional racially gerrymandered Proposition 50 map and require that any future use of race in drawing lines comply with the Equal Protection Clause to ensure all Californians enjoy equal protection under the law,” the filing adds.

Responding to the lawsuit on X, Newsom’s press office said, “We haven’t reviewed the lawsuit, but if it’s from the California Republican Party and Harmeet Dhillon’s law firm, it’s going to fail.”

“Good luck, losers,” the press office stated.

Prior to the redistricting vote, California Republicans have called for the state’s Supreme Court to block Newsom’s plan.

Assembly member Tri Ta announced on social media in August that he joined his colleagues in “filing a lawsuit challenging the rushed redistricting process. California’s Constitution requires bills to be in print for 30 days, but that safeguard was ignored. By bypassing this provision, Sacramento has effectively shut voters out of engaging in their own legislative process.”

The Rise of Lawlessness

lawlessness
Photo by Martin Podsiad, Unsplash

When Scripture speaks of “the mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7), it implies that this rebellion is not random—it’s spiritual. It moves beneath the surface of nations, institutions, and hearts. It is both systemic and deeply personal. Lawlessness is not merely the absence of law; it’s the rejection of it. It’s the defiant cry that says, “No one will tell me what to do. . .

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Supreme Court Upholds Biological Sex

Supreme Court
Bill Mason/Unsplash

The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can require that individuals list their biological sex on U.S. passports.

“Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth—in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment,” the order says.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, wrote in a dissenting opinion that “senseless sidestepping of the obvious equitable outcome has become an unfortunate pattern.”

In September, the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, urging the justices to block an order mandating that passports be rooted in gender identity rather than biological sex.

“President Trump issued an Executive Order that defined ‘[s]ex’ as ‘an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female,’ and required the Department of State to issue passports that ‘accurately reflect the holder’s sex’ based on that definition,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in the application, going on to declare that the policy is “eminently lawful.”

“The Constitution does not prohibit the government from defining sex in terms of an individual’s biological classification,” he wrote, adding, “U.S. passports are official government documents, addressed to foreign nations. The Executive Order in this case is an exercise of power conferred on the President both by the Constitution and by statute to determine the contents of U.S. passports.”

The matter surrounds President Trump’s January order, where he directed officials to “implement changes to require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex.”

Tennessee ‘Open for Business’ for New Yorkers

Tennessee Capitol (Brandon Hooper/Unsplash)

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) has invited New Yorkers to come to the state amid the election victory of socialist Zohran Mamdani.

“If you’re a New York business owner who doesn’t like the direction your city is headed, we have a message for you: Tennessee is open for business. Strong economy. Low taxes. Government won’t get in your way. TN is the place for people who value opportunity, security & freedom,” he wrote on X.

Lee said in a video,  “If you are a New York City business owner and you don’t like the direction your city has headed, I have a message for you — Tennessee is open for business.”

He hailed the states as having “one of the strongest economies in the country” and having “one of the lowest tax bases in the country.”

“In fact, Tennessee is one of the most moved-to states for families, for people, for companies from around the globe, because we believe that opportunity, security, and freedom are important for everyone,” he added, explaining the state also values the “power of law enforcement” and understands that “men and women who keep our families and communities safe need to be supported.”

Similarly, New Yorkers are quickly moving to Florida amid Mamdani’s election victory.

“What happens is a leftist politician gets in, whether it’s destroying a state like California, Illinois, New York, whether it’s a city like New York City or Chicago, and the people it tends to drive off are the center-right voters,” Governor Ron DeSantis said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, noting that when the migration occurs, the “resulting electorate is actually more liberal.”

“We’re not asking for anyone to move. People have talked about putting a tariff on people moving in at this point, because so many have done so,” DeSantis added. “And I know a lot of people in Florida would think that that would be necessary, but here’s just the truth: You look at all 49 other states since I’ve been governor, look at who’s migrated to Florida.”

Lawmakers Question Narco-Boat Strikes

(Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

A group of bipartisan lawmakers is demanding answers from the Trump administration as to the ongoing strikes against drug-trafficking boats.

The lawmakers, Reps. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jason Crow (D-CO), and Mike Turner (R-OH), have requested that the administration clarify the purpose of the strikes.

“In a notification to Congress dated September 15, 2025, your administration provided a justification for the use of lethal military force, and on October 30, 2025, representatives briefed members of the House Committee on Armed Services on the strikes,” the lawmakers wrote. “We remain committed to public safety and have questions about the strategy and legal status of these strikes.”

The letter called for information as to why the Trump administration has employed “lethal strikes” instead of “law enforcement-based interdiction and arrest operations,” as well as requesting the administration provide evidence that “confirms that those killed were cartel operatives, rather than coerced, deceived, or trafficked civilians.”

The lawmakers noted that they “strongly support the effort to reduce the flow of narcotics into this country,” emphasizing that the effort “must be done within the legal, moral, and ethical framework that sets us apart from our adversaries.”

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado honored President Trump for taking action against the narco boats. Speaking during the America Business Forum, she said, “The strategy of President Trump towards this criminal narco-terrorist structure is absolutely correct, because Nicolás Maduro is not a legitimate head of state, he is the head of this narco-terrorist structure that has declared war on the Venezuelan people and the two democratic nations in the region.”

“These criminal structures sustain themselves under the money that comes from drug trafficking and you need to cut those cash flows, and that’s precisely what President Trump is doing to protect millions of lives of American citizens, Latin American citizens and certainly Venezuelan citizens,” Machado added.

Swastikas at Jewish School Shock NYC After Mamdani Victory

mamdani
(Photo by Yuki Iwamura-Pool/Getty Images)

Hours after socialist mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s win, red swastikas appeared on the walls of Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn, sparking outrage and an antisemitism investigation. Parents arriving Wednesday morning found at least four Nazi symbols graffitied on the school building, according to Yeshiva World News. Staff quickly covered the hate symbols with an Israeli flag and paper while police launched a hate crime probe.

Magen David Yeshiva, one of New York City’s largest Sephardic Jewish schools with more than 1,200 students, became the latest target in a disturbing trend of anti-Jewish vandalism. As of Thursday, Mamdani—who has long faced scrutiny for anti-Semitic rhetoric—had not commented on the attack.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) condemned the silence from Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul, who endorsed his campaign. “This is reprehensible and unacceptable and should serve as a wake-up call that Mamdani is ushering in the pro-terrorist antisemitic takeover of NYC aided and abetted by the Worst Governor in America @KathyHochul,” Stefanik wrote on X. “Both Mamdani and Hochul are SILENT and have failed to condemn.”

During his campaign, Mamdani defended the chant “globalize the intifada” and pledged to drop New York City’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism. He also campaigned with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The NYPD confirmed a hate crime investigation remains active. No arrests have been made.

The Great Lego Heist: How One Man Hit 23 Target Stores Before Capture

Police say Winston Love’s cross-city crime spree has come to an end — but not before he allegedly pulled off one of the strangest retail theft operations in Texas history. The 28-year-old suspect is accused of stealing more than $37,000 worth of Lego sets from nearly two dozen Target stores across 14 cities, a spree authorities are calling part of a larger Lego theft ring.

According to the Watauga Police Department, Love is “believed to be part of an organized retail theft ring operating in Texas and Oklahoma, many involving Lego merchandise.” Police said Love struck stores in Dallas, Watauga, Irving, Plano, Fort Worth, Frisco, and more.

“It’s incredibly brazen,” said Watauga Police Chief Jim Lewis. “When you watch video of the individual committing these crimes, he truly goes shopping through the store, determines what merchandise he wants, and this individual specifically targets Lego products… and literally walks right out the door.”

Lewis added that the appeal of Lego sets for thieves is simple: “It’s easy to sell those products online at nearly their retail value, so the risk versus reward for them becomes worth it.”

Love was arrested Friday after allegedly stealing $1,200 worth of merchandise from a Watauga Target. A subsequent search of his home turned up more stolen goods, narcotics, a vehicle, and $5,000 in cash. He now faces state jail felony theft charges and multiple outstanding warrants across several counties.

“This case highlights the excellent work and collaboration between our officers and regional law enforcement partners,” said Chief Lewis.

Trump Drug Deals Save American Wallets

(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

President Trump announced deals with pharmaceutical companies Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly that will cut the cost of weight loss drugs.

The agreement represents a “historic reduction in prices for Americans on the two drugs with the highest annual expenditures in the United States, both of which help adults struggling with diabetes, heart disease (Ozempic and Wegovy only), obesity, and other conditions,” a White House fact sheet says.

The prices of Ozempic and Wegovy will fall to $350 when purchased through TrumpRx. Prices of Zepbound and Orforglipron will fall to an average of $346.

Furthermore, the agreement guarantees that Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will provide “MFN prices on all new medicines that they bring to market, repatriate increased foreign revenue on existing products, and provide every State Medicaid program in the country access to MFN drug prices on their products.”

Other medications, such as Emgality, Trulicity, NovoLog, and Tresiba, will also see reduced pricing.

Eli Lilly Chair and CEO David Ricks said the agreement is a “pivotal moment in U.S. health care policy and a defining milestone for Lilly, made possible through collaboration with the Trump Administration.”

The Trump administration announced in September that it reached a deal with Pfizer to lower drug prices.

A fact sheet explains the agreement will provide “every State Medicaid program in the country access to [most-favored-nation] drug prices on Pfizer products” and “ensures foreign nations can no longer use price controls to freeride on American innovation by guaranteeing MFN prices on all new innovative medicines Pfizer brings to market.”

Amgen also announced that it will offer discounted, direct-to-consumer sales of the injectable drug Repatha, which is used to treat high cholesterol.

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