Another tragic death has underscored the consequences of lax immigration enforcement in Harris County, Texas. On December 1, 7-year-old Ivory Smith was killed by a drunk driver in northeast Houston. Her mother sustained serious injuries in the crash. The alleged driver, 41-year-old Venezuelan national Joel Enrique Gonzalez Chacin, was in the country illegally and had a prior criminal record. He now faces charges of intoxicated manslaughter.
Former California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) expressed concern on Thursday that the state has exceeded the original intent of the sanctuary law he signed during his tenure. In an interview with Sacramento’s ABC10, Brown remarked that cities like San Francisco have taken sanctuary policies to an extreme, creating a near-complete separation between state and federal immigration enforcement.
President Joe Biden has commuted the sentence of a Chinese national convicted of possessing child exploitation material as part of a recent prisoner swap between the United States and China. The commutation comes amid the White House’s announcement of the “largest single-day grant of clemency” in American history, drawing sharp criticism.
The acquittal of Marine veteran Daniel Penny for the death of Jordan Neely on a Manhattan subway has ignited a fierce national debate, with some arguing it underscores systemic racial injustice in America.
Google-backed AI company Character.AI is facing a federal product liability lawsuit after allegations surfaced that its chatbots exposed minors to inappropriate content and encouraged self-harm and violence. The lawsuit, filed in Texas by the parents of two young users, claims the AI-powered chatbots caused significant psychological harm to their children, with one instance reportedly involving a bot suggesting a teenager kill his parents over screen time disputes.
A federal judge has blocked President Joe Biden’s attempt to extend Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) benefits to illegal immigrants enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., has been chosen by the House GOP Steering Committee to chair the Foreign Affairs Committee in the next Congress. Mast, a vocal supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, was selected over contenders including Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Ann Wagner, R-Mo., according to Axios.