7Federal Judge Blocks Trump Admin From Deporting Sudanese Migrants
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from ending deportation protections for about 200 South Sudanese nationals while a legal challenge proceeds.
U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley, a Biden appointee, said the order does not address the underlying merits of the case but is intended to preserve the status quo.
As such, it allows the migrants to remain in the United States until the court can more fully consider the arguments, The Hill reported.
“Because of the serious consequences at stake, both for the Plaintiffs and the Defendants, the Court finds an administrative stay appropriate, as it would ‘minimize harm,’ while allowing the assigned District Court Judge the time this case deserves,” Kelley wrote in her four-page ruling.
The judge said she will issue a new ruling after reviewing written briefs from the parties, which are due by Jan. 13.
Temporary Protected Status allows nationals of designated countries to remain in the United States and obtain work authorization when conditions such as armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances make return unsafe.
South Sudan was first designated for TPS in 2011 after gaining independence. The country has since faced ongoing instability and violence, and the U.S. State Department currently advises Americans to avoid travel there.
Court filings indicate that approximately 232 South Sudanese nationals are currently covered by TPS, The Hill noted further.
President Trump’s second administration has moved to scale back the Temporary Protected Status program by ending TPS designations for several countries. Legal challenges remain pending over changes affecting Afghanistan, Cameroon, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, and Venezuela.
Last month, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that she had reviewed conditions in South Sudan and determined the country’s TPS designation would be terminated after Jan. 5, the outlet reported.
The decision prompted a lawsuit from individual South Sudanese TPS holders and African Communities Together, which argues that Noem acted unlawfully. The plaintiffs allege the decision was motivated by racial animus against nonwhite immigrants, that required consultations with other federal agencies did not occur, and that the administration lacked sufficient justification for ending the designation, said the report.
Kelley, whose court is in Boston, is expected to consider those claims next month. Her interim order keeps TPS protections in place for now, preventing recipients from becoming subject to deportation as early as next Tuesday, The Hill added.
The plaintiffs urgently appealed to the judge for immediate action, warning that failure to act could result in “irreparable harm, including deadly harm.”
In response, the Trump administration argued against the request, criticizing the plaintiffs for waiting over six weeks after Noem’s announcement before filing the lawsuit. They contended that an administrative stay should only be used to temporarily halt the legal proceedings.
“It should not serve to directly enjoin Executive agency action, which is what Plaintiffs’ requested administrative stay would accomplish,” the Justice Department wrote in court filings Monday.
But Kelley rejected the government’s arguments, writing that its approach could result in imminent deportation for some of the Sudanese migrants.
“Further, if their TPS expires and is eventually restored following a full consideration of the merits, any gap in immigration status for South Sudanese nationals could result in ineligibility for future relief,” Kelley wrote.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts lack the authority to review visa revocations in cases involving sham marriages for immigration purposes, affirming that such decisions fall under the discretion of the Department of Homeland Security.
The unanimous ruling clarified that while courts may review initial visa denials, they do not have the authority to intervene after the Department of Homeland Security revokes an approved visa.
The decision highlights DHS’s broad authority in visa matters and could impact immigration enforcement, including President Trump’s plans to overhaul immigration policies and carry out mass deportations.
Wife of Jill Biden’s Ex-Husband Found Dead After Domestic Dispute Call-lllllllllllll
A 64-year-old woman who was married to Jill Biden’s former husband was found dead in her Delaware home late Sunday after police responded to a reported domestic dispute, authorities said. Linda Stevenson was found unresponsive on the living room floor of the Oak Hill residence she shared with her husband, Bill Stevenson — who was married to Jill Biden from 1970 to 1975 — at about 11:15 p.m., according to the New Castle County Police Department.
Police said officers attempted life-saving measures, but Stevenson was pronounced dead at the scene, according to reports.
“It’s still a murder investigation,” Stevenson’s grieving daughter, Christina Vettori, told the Daily Mail Tuesday afternoon. She added, “I would not like to talk at this time.”
Police denied claims of a murder probe, saying they are treating the case as a “death investigation.”
“Detectives from the Division’s Criminal Investigations Unit were notified and responded to the scene to assume the investigation,” said the department in a news release.
But a 911 dispatch recording from the scene, obtained by TMZ, mentioned a “cardiac arrest.” So far, however, no charges have been filed and the investigation is ongoing, AOL News noted, citing other reports.
Police said Stevenson’s body has been transferred to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science, where an autopsy will be conducted to determine the official cause of death.
Jill Biden was married to Stevenson for five years before the couple separated in 1974 and divorced in 1975. She later married Joe Biden two years after the divorce.
In past public statements, Stevenson has said his marriage ended after he said Jill Biden had an affair with Joe Biden.
According to TMZ, Bill Stevenson called police about a domestic dispute at his Delaware home and was there when authorities pronounced his wife dead.
“Law enforcement in Delaware tells us Bill is the one who picked up the phone and dialed 911 on Sunday night and was waiting at his Oak Hill home when responding officers arrived,” the outlet noted. “Police tell us Bill has spoken with detectives and, as of now, is cooperating with law enforcement.”
Last year, Stevenson said that Jill is “not the same person” he married in 1970 and that she kept her “struggling” current husband on the campaign road because “she wants to be president now.”
“The Dr. Jill Biden who I’ve seen on TV in the last five years is not the same person I married or that I recognize in any way. She’s matriculated into a completely different woman,” Stevenson told The New York Post.
“I just don’t understand why she was so adamant about defending him and keeping him in the race since it appears that he’s struggling. It appears that he’s struggling with everybody these days. I’ve been proud of her at certain moments. I have no hard feelings,” Stevenson added.
“I’m just surprised to see her front and center in the middle of this battle after flying under the radar for so many years. She’s always been very driven. People say she’s the one who wants to be president now,” Stevenson continued.
Stevenson declared: “It makes me cringe every time he calls Trump a liar, because I’m telling you right now, there is no better liar than President Biden. He’s just a bad person. I’m probably one of the few people outside his family who has known him for 50 years.”
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“Look, I’m not a doctor or a psychiatrist but yeah, I felt he lost a step three or four years ago. Now I think it’s more like a couple of steps. Do I feel badly for him? No, because he did some horrible things to me and my family,” Stevenson said.
