Trump admin live updates: Former VP Mike Pence slams ‘Trump tariff tax’
Former Vice President Mike Pence rebuked Trump over his tariff plan in an X post.
Partisan politics in Naperville’s nonpartisan election raises questions over how future races will be run
Just after unofficial results in the race for Naperville City Council rolled in Tuesday night, Ian Holzhauer weaved through supporters to make a speech. Packed into a room at the back of Lou Malnati’s in downtown Naperville, eyes turned to Holzhauer as the incumbent positioned himself under an arch of red, white and blue balloons.
“Look at what we did,” Holzhauer said to the audience, “four out of four.”
Holzhauer joined fellow incumbent Benny White and newcomers Mary Gibson and Ashfaq Syed in securing the four open seats.
In the months leading up to Election Day, the group coordinated their campaigns and were often seen pictured together on flyers and promoting one another in messaging and across social media.
But beyond just aligning themselves, the candidates received the backing of both prominent Naperville Democrats and the party itself, a move that has raised questions over the role political parties are playing in traditionally nonpartisan races.
‘You need to be up front with voters’
Over the first few weeks of March, White, Holzhauer, Syed and Gibson each took to social media to make an announcement: they had been endorsed by Democratic U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood and Bill Foster, both Naperville residents. The candidates circulated pictures of themselves standing alongside the congressional members.
Underwood endorsed through her Farm Team political action committee, which she created in 2019 to help elect candidates to state and local office across Illinois’ 14th congressional district. In addition to weighing in on the council race, Underwood’s PAC also endorsed four candidates for Naperville Park Board: Rhonda Ansier, Leslie Ruffing, Alison Thompson and Aishwarya Balakrishna. Foster issued the same endorsements, according to a campaign spokesperson.
It was a clean sweep for all eight endorsed candidates Tuesday night, with Underwood and Foster’s picks slated to win.
Although they were running for a nonpartisan position, White, Holzhauer, Syed and Gibson deciding to join forces and securing Underwood and Foster’s endorsements sent a clear message about where they stood, they said.
“A lot of this comes down to where your values align,” White said, “and with our congressional representatives, there was synergy as far as alignment on values there.”
“You need to be up front with voters,” Gibson said. “Just because you say I align with one party or the other party doesn’t mean you can’t work with everyone. If we’re all involved with public policy, which we are as council members, you should have opinions on policies. And if you’re saying you don’t, I think it’s a little disingenuous.”
“We were very clear,” Syed said, “about what we are … and very clearly we said yes, ‘I have democratic values, and I am running on these values.’”
That transparency is, in part, what Syed believes stuck a chord with voters Tuesday, he said.
Holzhauer echoed Syed, saying that for him, “I feel like my No. 1 duty is to be truthful to voters. So, if they ask me where I stand on national issues I’m just going to be honest. And I think for a lot of voters that resonated in this election.”
For some, though, the approach has sparked concerns over partisanship bleeding into nonpartisan matters.
‘Unprecedented’ partisanship
To DuPage County Republicans Chairman Kevin Coyne, the tactic was “unprecedented locally,” he said.
“They ran an overtly partisan slate for city council,” he said, a move he says is a “frightening sign of things to come for Naperville.”
DuPage Republicans did not formally endorse anyone in the race for council, Coyne said. Coyne’s political action committee did, however, endorse three candidates: incumbent Jennifer Bruzan Taylor alongside challengers Derek McDaniel and Meghna Bansal. The PAC also backed two candidates for park board, Zachary Jarrell and Natalia Dagenhart.
In unofficial returns, all five lost their respective bids. Bruzan Taylor, who has sat on council since 2021, was out of the running for reelection by just over 2,000 votes, dependent on mail-in ballots yet to be counted. For park board, the difference between the fourth- and fifth- highest vote-getters was 2,281 votes.
DuPage Republicans did, on occasion, signal support for the same candidates on social media but Coyne says that was a reaction to involvement across the aisle.
“It was somewhat of a surprise that you had high-ranking party leaders involved in a local race like that … and so we saw (some candidates) getting out there and getting beat up a little bit by the other side and we wanted to do what we could to help them. Obviously, it wasn’t enough, unfortunately.”
Bansal, who was the sixth-highest vote-getter in unofficial returns, said she was “completely stunned” when results came in Tuesday. “It was very clearly visible that the slate is winning because they are totally attached with one party line,” she said.
McDaniel in an emailed statement said, “We ran this campaign the Naperville way — by focusing on issues, not party identity.”
Jaiswal could not be reached for comment but said in a social media statement Wednesday that in a “city polarized by party lines, the outcome did not align” with his “independent agenda.”
Bruzan Taylor said that since the election, she’s had “such an outpouring from people shocked … saying that they’re sad to see this was about partisanship.” She added that she wouldn’t change anything about the campaign that she ran.
“I stayed focused on the issues only,” she said. “I stayed nonpartisan, as these are supposed to be.”
Still, others say partisanship isn’t — and shouldn’t be — necessarily unwelcome.
Drawing on party lines
Dianne McGuire, vice chair of the Democratic Party of DuPage County, says she’s “not a big fan of nonpartisan races, frankly.” They depress turnout, she said.
“I’d like to see more openness about where people are in their value system,” McGuire said, “and party labels say something about where your values are.”
The sentiment was shared — and promoted — across the state.
The Democratic Party of Illinois (DPI) backed 280 candidates in Tuesday’s election, according to DPI Executive Director Ben Hardin. Among those included Naperville’s now eight apparent winners for council and park board.
“It’s something the party hasn’t done in the past, right? Working in these nonpartisan municipal elections,” Hardin said. “We came to the decision (of), you know, screw precedent here. We need to defend our values. And we did.”
DPI supported candidates by sending mail, digital and SMS communications to Democratic voters, Hardin said. Ultimately, of the candidates DPI supported, 222 — or 79% — won their races, Hardin said.
Speaking to the results in Naperville, he said, “We are so thrilled … I mean we, like, cleaned house.”
With TikTok Deadline Looming, Details of a Potential Deal Emerge
The video app is barreling toward a Saturday deadline to change its ownership under federal law or face a ban in the United States.
Will County judge dismisses GOP lawsuit; veto of attempt to stop 143rd widening to stand
A Will County judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed last year by 10 Will County Board Republicans against County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant over a road widening project in Homer Glen, ending the litigation.
The 10 County Board members sued Bertino-Tarrant after she initially signed a resolution that stopped an expansion of 143rd Street to five lanes as planned. Bertino-Tarrant later said she realized her mistake and vetoed the resolution, prompting the lawsuit filed April 18, 2024.
Judge Brian Barrett’s decision Thursday to dismiss the case allows the veto to stand, said Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Pyles, who is representing Bertino-Tarrant.
The County Board initially passed a resolution in February 2024 calling for stopping the widening of 143rd Street and asked the county’s transportation division to explore a less intrusive option.
Bertino-Tarrant said in her veto message the project has been studied for decades, received federal grants and was needed to improve safety and traffic flow.
Pyles said the County Board members were not able to bring a lawsuit in their official capacity and did not have standing to sue as private individuals. The County Board never voted in favor of allowing the 10 members to move forward in filing a lawsuit, Pyles said.
“At the last hearing, the court made the finding that the plaintiffs do not have the capacity to sue as County Board members individually and there was no resolution passed by the County Board to allow for the minority group of County Board members to sue on behalf of the County Board,” Pyles said.
“If individuals could sue over a law they disagreed with, there would be a line outside the courtroom,” he said.
Anything to change the road project would have to be done via legislation by the County Board, Pyles said.
“Today’s ruling confirms that this unfounded lawsuit was not based in the law and served as a frivolous distraction from the County Board’s repeated approval of this project, including by the members who signed onto this litigation,” Mike Theodore, spokesman for the county executive’s office, said in a statement.
“Based on the direction of the County Board, the county has already expended millions of dollars into this project aimed at access and safety of residents,” the state read. “While it was clear from the start that there were no grounds for County Board members to file this lawsuit, this year-long legal fight raises serious questions about the spending of local taxpayer dollars on a political distraction.”
Barrett initially granted the plaintiffs the right to use a special prosecutor since the Will County Board is normally represented by the Will County state’s attorney’s office, but reversed the decision in January after reviewing case law.
Steven Laduzinsky, an attorney for the 10 County Board members, told Barrett via Zoom Thursday the plaintiffs would not file an amended complaint. He said if the judge ruled on Bertino-Tarrant’s motion to dismiss the case, they would rest on the court’s decision.
Homer Glen residents have protested the widening for more than a year. Residents opposed to it said it will seize their property, increase traffic, destroy mature trees and invite semi trucks down their rural street. Residents said the street is lined with farms, schools and homes and does not need to be a bustling five-lane road.
Stopping the road project was a major theme that emerged during the past campaign season. All three candidates projected to win a trustee seat on the Homer Glen Village Board said they want to fight the widening.
Homer Glen Village Manager Joe Baber said officials has monitored the lawsuit and will consider other options in light of Thursday’s court decision.
Steve Balich, the Will County Board member representing Homer Glen and one of the plaintiffs, said he would like to introduce legislation at the County Board level to stop the widening as planned. He said he might be able to get the votes to alter the project, but doubts he would have enough votes to override any potential veto.
Balich said he will ask to get a resolution on the agenda so the board could discuss the project, noting there are a few new board members who took office in December.
Balich, also the outgoing Homer Township supervisor, said the township financially contributed to the County Board’s lawsuit, but he will leave any decisions about fighting the expansion to incoming Supervisor Susanna Steilen and the new township board, which assumes office in May.
Homer Glen resident Bernard Czerwinski, whose home backs up to 143rd Street, said he was disappointed in the judge’s decision. His deck is roughly 20 feet from a proposed sound barrier, and the county wants some of his land to expand the road.
Czerwinski said 20 years ago, the town’s population was expected to balloon by more than 20,000 residents, but that hasn’t occurred. The population has been stable. The area is still a farm community, and trees will have to be torn down for the widening project, he said.
Czerwinski said he’s attended meetings and talked with residents and elected officials for more than a year. Homer Glen doesn’t support the county’s plans, and residents are frustrated, he said.
“Absolutely nobody,” is in favor of the expansion, Czerwinski said. “They don’t have the will of the people behind them.”
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Senators introduce bipartisan bill to limit Trump on tariffs
As world markets slumped in reaction to President Trump’s tariffs, Democratic and Republican senators’ bill would require Congress to approve new tariffs.
5 surprises from Trump’s sweeping new tariffs
The rollout of President Trump’s new reciprocal tariffs included some big surprises, as economists and trading partners sifted through which countries were hit the highest rates, and who was spared.
Questions swirled over the calculations and decision-making process within the White House while administration officials and Republicans hit the airwaves to defend the tariffs, urging investors and the broader public to trust Trump as stocks plunged on Thursday morning.
Here are five surprises from Trump’s new tariffs.
The scale and scope
After months of walking back, delaying and watering down previous tariff proposals, many on Wall Street wondered if Trump was serious about imposing major tariffs on all U.S. imports.
It appears he was.
“The reciprocal tariff announcement by President Trump was significantly bolder than market expectations, ushering in new uncertainty,” Ed Mills, Washington policy analyst at investment firm Raymond James, wrote in a Thursday analysis.
The analysts said Trump’s Wednesday announcement amounted to $600 billion in new taxes on Americans, bringing the average tariff rate up to 25 percent — far higher than the 10-15 percent expected by the market.
“We have seen a variety of countries seek to lower trade barriers, reduce tariffs, and directly engage the Trump administration. This has not seemed to have prevented the reciprocal tariffs from being announced,” Mills wrote.
“We expect that President Trump and his administration will begin to engage in negotiations, but given the enormity of the announcement, this will take time.”
Uninhabited territories included
The Heard and McDonald Islands, which are Australian territories and considered some of the most remote places in the world, were hit with a 10 percent tariff. The sub-Antarctic volcanic islands are populated mainly by penguins and seals.
Other Australian territories — Norfolk Island, Cocos Island, and Christmas Island— were also included on the list, getting hit with 29 percent, 10 percent and 10 percent respectively. The population of Norfolk Island is under 2,000 people, while Christmas Island has just under 1,700 people and Coco Island just over 500.
Another small territory, Diego Garcia, is a British territory that is made up mostly of military personnel, including some from the U.S. It is being hit with 10 percent tariffs.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that targeting these low-population territories is a sign that “nowhere on earth is safe,” The Guardian reported . While Norfolk Island faces a 29 percent tariff, Australia was only hit with a 10 percent tariff.
Russia, North Korea not included
Russia and North Korea, as well as Belarus and Cuba, were not included in the tariffs, while dozens of other countries that are historic allies and close trading partners with the U.S. were hit with up to 40 percent tariffs.
The White House defended the decision to leave those four countries out, telling The Hill that they are not subject to the new tariffs because they “are already facing extremely high tariffs and our previously imposed sanctions preclude any meaningful trade with these countries.”
Among the countries being targeted with reciprocal tariffs are China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, India, South Korea, Thailand, Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and the European Union.
China will face the highest reciprocal tariffs, with a 35 percent tariff announced Wednesday going on top of a previously implemented 20 percent for a total 54 percent tariff on goods.
A White House official also noted that Trump has “recently threatened to impose strong sanctions on Russia” to further explain leaving out Moscow from Wednesday’s action.
Trump said last month he is weighing additional sanctions and tariffs on Russia as a way to bring them to the negotiating table to end the war in Ukraine. Russia said weeks later that it expects the U.S. to ease certain sanctions as part of an agreement for a limited ceasefire with Ukraine.
Unclear calculations
Trump and top administration officials said during Wednesday’s announcement that they calculated individual reciprocal tariff rates using a model that factored both tariff and non-tariff trade barriers.
Several analysts, however, figured out that the White House’s reciprocal tariff rates were calculated by taking the total trade deficit between the U.S. and that nation, dividing it by the total value of U.S. good imports, and then either dividing that number in half or setting the rate at 10 percent.
The White House insists tariff and trade barriers were part of the calculation.
“No we literally calculated tariff and non tariff barriers,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said on X , which received a community note explaining the formula. X is owned by Trump adviser and close ally Elon Musk.
When pitching the upcoming tariffs, Trump said for weeks they would be reciprocal as a way to create fairness. He argued that countries should be charged what they charge the U.S. on imports.
On a call with reporters just before the announcement on Thursday, White House officials said that the reciprocal tariff rate would be lower and “we’re only charging half because the president is lenient and kind.”
‘Not a negotiation‘
Trump has often used tariffs to push countries toward trade deals and other agreements, and said Wednesday that trading partners could rid themselves of the new burden with good behavior.
But top White House officials have offered conflicting opinions on whether Trump would be willing to ease tariffs or strike agreements.
“We’re very focused on getting this tariff regime in place,” a senior White House official said on Wednesday, just ahead of Trump’s announcement. “This is not a negotiation, it’s a national emergency.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick offered conflicting guidance Thursday, insisting that Trump wouldn’t “back off” his tariffs, but would also be open to deals.
“This stuff has got to stop. America has got to stop being exploited, and you’re going to see America prosper. And then, and only then, will Donald Trump make a deal with each country when they’ve really, really changed their ways,” Lutnick said.
“That’s not back off. That is, let the dealmaker make his deals when and only if, these countries can change everything about themselves, which I doubt they will.”
And, the president’s son, Eric Trump, advised that countries facing new tariffs should act quickly to negotiate for the president to drop them.
“I wouldn’t want to be the last country that tries to negotiate a trade deal with @realDonaldTrump,” the younger Trump wrote on X.
Los Bravos buscan recuperarse al debutar en casa como el único equipo sin victorias en MLB
Por CHARLES ODUM
ATLANTA (AP) — El peor inicio sin victorias de los Bravos de Atlanta desde 2016 ha dejado al manager Brian Snitker desesperado por una reacción que espera comience con el primer partido en casa del equipo contra Miami el viernes por la noche.
Atlanta desperdició una ventaja 5-0 y perdió 6-5 con un jonrón de Shohei Ohtani en la novena entrada el miércoles por la noche. La derrota dejó a los Bravos con foja de 0-7, su peor inicio desde su apertura de 0-9 en 2016, cuando terminaron últimos en el Este de la Liga Nacional.
Los Bravos son el único equipo en las mayores que aún busca su primera victoria, y el dolor del lamentable inicio se ha agravado con la pérdida de dos jugadores.
El jardinero izquierdo Jurickson Profar, el primero al bate y la principal incorporación de la temporada baja, fue suspendido por 80 juegos por uso de sustancias para mejorar el rendimiento. El lanzador derecho Reynaldo López fue colocado en la lista de lesionados de 15 días debido a una inflamación en el hombro.
Snitker, quien ha estado al frente en una racha de siete postemporadas consecutivas, incluido el campeonato de la Serie Mundial de 2021, y seis títulos consecutivos de la división, no intentó ocultar el dolor de la última derrota.
“No le desearía esto a nadie, honestamente, ya sabes, en un entorno competitivo”, dijo Snitker a los periodistas. “Y lo que estamos pasando es difícil. Muy difícil.”
Los Bravos fueron barridos por San Diego en cuatro juegos para abrir la temporada antes de tres derrotas consecutivas en Los Ángeles.
La falta de bateo fue la debilidad más evidente durante la mayor parte de la devastadora gira. Después de anotar apenas nueve carreras en sus primeros seis juegos combinados, los Bravos parecieron salir de su letargo al tomar una ventaja temprana de 5-0 el miércoles por la noche.
No lograron anotar después de llenar las bases sin outs en la sexta. El cerrador Raisel Iglesias permitió el jonrón de Ohtani en la novena que les dejó tendidos en el terreno.
“No hay nada que puedas hacer más que seguir luchando para salir de esto y presentarte”, dijo Snitker.
“Es una pena que lo hayamos perdido. Pero, ¿sabes qué? Eso depende de nosotros. Quiero decir, lo teníamos ahí. No pudimos liquidarlo”, afirmó.
Los Bravos ocupan el último lugar en las mayores con su promedio de bateo de .151 y el puesto 28 con 14 carreras — apenas dos por juego.
Buscando respuestas, Snitker cambió su alineación en Los Ángeles.
El campocorto Nick Allen tuvo un total de tres hits como titular en los últimos dos juegos. Los jardineros Michael Harris II y Jarred Kelenic descansaron el miércoles por la noche. Stuart Fairchild, quien fue adquirido en un intercambio con Cincinnati el lunes por dinero en efectivo, se fue sin hits.
“¿Qué vamos a hacer? ¿No anotar?” preguntó Snitker antes del juego al discutir la nueva alineación. Era su forma de decir que las cosas no podían empeorar mucho más.
Matt Olson, Austin Riley y Harris están bateando por debajo de .200. Olson y Riley aún no han conectado un jonrón.
“Desde un punto de vista ofensivo, no hay excusas”, dijo Riley a los periodistas después del juego. “Es vergonzoso”.
Los lanzadores están esquivando al bateador designado Marcell Ozuna, quien lidera las mayores con 13 bases por bolas.
“Es bastante evidente que no han querido lanzarle”, dijo Snitker. “… Eventualmente, algunos de los muchachos detrás de él van a empezar a funcionar como un todo. Lo haremos como equipo.”
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La escritora de deportes de AP Beth Harris en Los Ángeles contribuyó a este informe.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Incendios en Carolina del Sur controlados; adolescentes acusados de iniciarlos con cigarrillos
PICKENS, Carolina del Sur, EE.UU. (AP) — Dos incendios forestales que estallaron uno cerca del otro en las montañas de Carolina del Sur están casi contenidos, informaron las autoridades.
Cuatro adolescentes que no apagaron completamente sus cigarrillos mientras caminaban han sido acusados de causar el mayor incendio forestal en Table Rock Mountain, que comenzó el 21 de marzo, informó la Comisión Forestal de Carolina del Sur.
Ese incendio y el incendio de Persimmon Ridge, a unos 13 kilómetros (unas ocho millas) de distancia, quemaron alrededor de 64 kilómetros cuadrados (25 millas cuadradas) durante los 10 días que ardieron en las Montañas Blue Ridge.
La lluvia del pasado fin de semana, junto con un clima más húmedo, ayudó a los bomberos a finalmente construir cortafuegos y revisar toda el área alrededor del incendio en busca de puntos calientes el miércoles, indicó Mike Brod, jefe del equipo federal que ayuda a combatir el incendio.
“Eso no fue una hazaña pequeña, sin duda. Hubo más de 60 millas (96 kilómetros) de perímetro de incendio”, expresó Brod.
No se reportaron lesiones causadas por el incendio ni daños estructurales importantes.
Las detenciones por iniciar el incendio se realizaron a principios de esta semana, señalaron autoridades.
Cuatro adolescentes que estaban entre los siete excursionistas rescatados de la montaña cuando comenzó el incendio fueron acusados de permitir negligentemente que el fuego se propagara a tierras o propiedades de otros, informó la Comisión Forestal del estado. Las órdenes de arresto indicaron que hay evidencia de que los adolescentes estaban fumando cigarrillos y no los apagaron adecuadamente.
La lluvia del fin de semana y un aguacero adicional tarde en la noche del miércoles fueron de gran ayuda para apagar los incendios, pero el peligro está lejos de haber terminado.
Millones de árboles caídos por el huracán Helene del otoño pasado siguen proporcionando combustible para futuras llamas y también dificultan los esfuerzos para combatir incendios, afirmó el director forestal de Carolina del Sur, Scott Phillips.
Los bomberos de Carolina del Sur combatieron casi 400 incendios forestales en marzo. Abril es típicamente el peor mes para los incendios forestales y los meteorólogos vaticinan más días calurosos y secos.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Deranged Trump Says Things Are Going Really Well As US Economy Burns
PoliticusUSA is honest journalism with no ads or corporations. Please support us by becoming a subscriber.Subscribe nowThe stock market is collapsing. The American people have reached a state of anxiety
Boston Judge Mark Summerville Should Go Back to Law School
Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville must have flunked Constitutional Law 101 from whatever law school he managed to graduate from. He apparently doesn’t realize that he can’t go after federal agents for enforcing federal immigration law .
Summerville held an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent named Brian Sullivan in contempt for detaining an illegal alien charged by local authorities with lying on a driver’s license application. The judge even ordered the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office to investigate the ICE agent for “obstruction of justice.”
The alien, who was going under the alias of Wilson Martell-Lebron in Summerville’s courtroom, is actually a Dominican named Juan Carlos Baez with prior drug convictions who is illegally in the country. ICE picked Baez up as he was leaving the municipal court.
A Constitutional Law Tutorial for the Judge
Since you, Judge Summerville don’t seem to understand basic constitutional law, here is an explainer.
The Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution provides that the Constitution and all federal laws “shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby” no matter what their state laws or state constitutions may provide “to the Contrary.” That means state court judges like you, Summerville. It means that federal immigration laws override state laws that would prevent enforcement of those federal laws.
And local DA’s prosecuting federal agents under state law for carrying out their duties under federal law? You can’t do that, judge. If you hadn’t skipped class, you would have no doubt read the seminal U.S. Supreme Court case on this issue, In re Neagle (1890).
In that case, a local sheriff in California tried to prosecute for murder a deputy U.S. Marshal who was protecting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Field from an assassination attempt by a disgruntled former member of the California state supreme court, who was unhappy over court rulings that went against his wife.
You would expect to see this kind of unbelievable plot in a Hollywood movie, which is why the case is so well known.
The key point: The U.S. Supreme Court said that federal officers and agents who are acting within the scope of their federal authority and carrying out their duty to enforce federal law are immune from prosecution by state and local prosecutors. That means you, judge, as well as the Suffolk County District Attorney.
A “Disturbing Case”? Check Out the Case of Your Colleague
You, judge, are quoted as saying what ICE did was “a disturbing case” and “a case of obstruction of justice.” Really? How ironic. Here’s a suggestion. Review the federal criminal indictment in 2019 of your colleague, Massachusetts state court Judge Shelley M. Richmond, for obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and obstructing a federal proceeding.
She was indicted for helping an illegal alien who was also in her courtroom on local charges avoid being taken into custody by a waiting federal agent on a federal immigration detainer warrant. She instructed her bailiff to release the alien through the backdoor of the courthouse so the alien would not encounter the waiting federal agent in the courthouse lobby—after ordering the agent out of her courtroom.
The only reason Richmond did not go to trial was because she accepted a generous plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department. Justice dismissed the federal charges conditioned on her submitting herself to the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct for her misbehavior.
Lesson concluded, your Honor. You will be tested.
Punishing ICE Agents for Doing Their Job is What’s “Disturbing”
Federal agents carrying out their duties to detain illegal aliens under federal immigration law are immune from punishment or prosecution by judges and local prosecutors who want to obstruct such enforcement. But local judges and other local officials, including law enforcement officials, are not immune from federal prosecution for violating federal laws that prohibit concealing, harboring, transporting, or taking other actions intended to protect aliens illegally in the United States.
Summerville is correct when he says this is a disturbing case. But what is disturbing is his attempt to punish an ICE agent for doing his job and his attempt to order the local DA to go after that agent. The only individual involved in this “disturbing case” who is trying to “obstruct justice” as the judge claims, is the judge himself.
He should have learned all this in law school.
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