gAlienLifeform

Salah Sarsour, a US permanent resident for nearly three decades, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March. He was released after a federal judge found he had probably been detained in retaliation of his advocacy for Palestinian rights, which the federal judge said would render his detention unlawful.

Despite that ruling, the administration pressed forward and fast-tracked Sarsour’s immigration case – a separate legal track – and on Tuesday night an immigration judge ruled he is “removable”.

Judge Jayme Salinardi, who was brought in from out of state to oversee the case, announced he would be retiring shortly after issuing the decision.

In a statement, Sarsour’s attorneys called the ruling “a setback for free speech rights”.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260930180204/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/30/salah-sarsour-mosque-president-deportation-wisconsin

Five men arrested over a suspected bomb plot at RAF Fairford have been released on bail as police investigate why they were so close to the airbase in three vans with suspicious material in the back.

The five suspects were revealed to be British men, all in their 20s and from London. They had been arrested in the Gloucestershire countryside early on Sunday morning on suspicion of explosives offences and preparing an act of terrorism, with an Iranian link a key line of inquiry.

Their release on police bail suggests detectives believe it is unlikely they were on the brink of a mass casualty attack by exploding a bomb close to the base, sources said.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260929160719/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/28/men-arrested-raf-fairford-counter-terrorism-police

Archived at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/AAXTu

Better article/source, Erin in the Morning: "Texas Dem. Senate Candidate Talarico Clarifies He Still Opposes Statewide Ban On Trans Athletes" (arc)

Texas’s state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for Senate, has clarified his stance on equal rights protections for trans athletes during a Sept. 24 interview at The Texas Tribune Festival. Talarico sat down for a one-on-one live event with The Tribune’s Matthew Watkins.

“You say, ‘I will oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness,” the moderator said. “This contrasts with your vote on SB 15 that banned this practice statewide. Have you changed positions on this topic?”

“No, my position is exactly the same,” Talarico jumped in. “The reason I opposed that bill is because it was a blanket statewide ban without any appreciation for nuance.”

...

“I supported an amendment to that bill to allow local officials—education officials, local sports officials—to decide on an athlete by athlete, sport by sport basis, if there’s safety and fairness. That has always been my North Star and it’s gonna continue to be my North Star,” he continued.

“I’m also always gonna stand up to politicians who bully students, who bully kids, to score political points. My faith teaches me that every child is made in the image of God. And so I’m always gonna push back against efforts to grandstand, when it comes to our students, and I’ll always fight to make sure … every sport is safe and fair.”

“Those are not mutually exclusive goals,” Talarico concluded. “That’s exactly what I did in the state house. It’s exactly my position now. It’ll be my position in the US Senate.”

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260925192719/https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/texas-dem-senate-candidate-talarico

The U.S. Supreme Court has revived for now a federal data system the Department of Homeland Security revamped into a tool to check the citizenship of millions of Americans on voter rolls. The tool has mistakenly flagged some eligible voters as potential noncitizens.

The news comes as the Trump administration has been pouring resources into searching for noncitizens on voter rolls ahead of the upcoming election. The Supreme Court's decision opens the way for the administration to use its expanded version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements data system — known as SAVE — in that hunt, as well as in its unprecedented project of compiling lists of adult citizens in each state.

...

Even though Election Day is just over a month away and voting is underway, the Trump administration could try to make use of the expanded version of SAVE right away in its quest to check registered voters' citizenship.

An executive order President Trump signed in March calls for federal agencies to consult SAVE data, along with other federal records, to create state-by-state lists of adult U.S. citizens. The same order directs the U.S. attorney general to prioritize investigating and prosecuting election officials who provide ballots to ineligible voters. Even though the executive order says such state lists are to be completed 60 days before an election and that deadline has already passed, federal officials have indicated the project is still underway — although it is facing a legal challenge.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260925155813/https://www.npr.org/2026/09/25/nx-s1-5976804/supreme-court-trump-save-noncitizen-voting

According to ICE, Carlos Josué Marchena Marchena was declared dead after he was found unresponsive. He had Type 1 diabetes, and family members said he complained of deteriorating health as he missed meals and insulin shots while being shuttled between ICE jails in multiple states.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260924205348/https://www.democracynow.org/2026/9/24/headlines/costa_rican_immigrant_with_diabetes_dies_in_ice_custody_after_missing_food_insulin_shots

According to Georgia State Patrol, the situation started when ICE agents tried to stop a van on the Liberty Expressway Thursday morning. ...

...

The man’s family identified him as Edgar Cabrera Gomez. They refute the claims that Gomez was the driver.

“He said he was not driving and the only reason why he was injured is that the ICE agents themselves had run him over while he was running,” a family member said.

Dougherty County authorities said ICE agents are still looking for the other two people who were in the van.

No further information was released from the scene.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260924174341/https://www.kjct8.com/2026/09/18/man-run-over-by-ice-patrol-car-while-running-agents-state-patrol-says/

White House reporters for MS NOW, CNN and Politico are back in the White House as of midday Thursday, after days of being barred entry because President Trump said the news outlets "purposely write negative news."

In a ruling issued shortly after midnight, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly for the District of Columbia granted a 14-day temporary restraining order to CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which had press credentials of their journalists covering the White House revoked on Saturday.

Yet early on Thursday, the news outlets said some of their journalists were denied entry to the White House. They asked the court for an immediate hearing. Kelly gave the Trump administration until 12:30 p.m. ET to respond.

In a declaration filed shortly before that deadline, Micah Stopperich, the director of White House press operations, says his team began to work on restoring access after receiving word at 7:10 a.m. The job took just under three hours to complete.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260924154642/https://www.npr.org/2026/09/24/nx-s1-5979582/judge-order-trump-restore-access-white-house

Earlier story, POLITICO, CNN, MS NOW barred from White House after court ruling restoring access - https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/24/politico-barred-from-white-house-after-court-ruling-restoring-access-01091263 (arc)

By a 12-point margin, registered voters say they'd prefer to elect a Democrat to Congress over a Republican, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.

The poll finds more voters think Democrats would do a better job dealing with gas prices, the economy, and foreign policy than Republicans amid rising prices and the war in Iran. A majority also say it is more important to back candidates with new ideas who will bring about change than those with experience and a proven record.

President Trump continues to sit at near record low approval ratings, with just 39% approving of his job and the highest share of strong disapproval — 53% — since the question was first asked in 2017.

In the final weeks of the 2026 campaign, Democrats have a notable edge in voter enthusiasm and support from independents as a building wave of backlash to the party in power comes into focus.

The survey of 1,280 respondents was conducted September 14-15 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points, meaning results could be about 3.8 points higher or lower. Respondents were reached by live caller, text and online.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260923121152/https://www.npr.org/2026/09/23/nx-s1-5977613/trump-poll-democrats-congress

LEILA FADEL, HOST: Nearly three years since the start of the war in Gaza in response to a devastating Hamas attack on Israel, journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed has written an account detailing the period, October 7, 2023, to January of 2025. It's focused on the Biden administration's decisions in that time. And it's called "Crossing The Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, And Israel's War In Gaza."

...

FADEL: I'm thinking of a line that you had kind of near the end of your book. And you wrote, in less than two years, Joe Biden irreversibly changed America's role in Israel-Palestine and may have permanently altered America's approach to foreign affairs. Say more.

AHMED: The Biden administration's Gaza policy created a more dangerous world for us all. It's a period that reshapes the standards of warfare. It becomes a question not only of danger and influence globally, but a question of democratic accountability to what Americans want their country to be doing on the world stage.

FADEL: Right, because all of the leading officials that were involved are still successfully employed.

AHMED: And positioning themselves for future administrations. A lot of these officials are now saying, well, in retrospect, I would've done things differently, but under President Biden, it wasn't possible. My book makes the argument and offers significant evidence that we shouldn't let that line be sufficient, that we actually should hold these officials responsible for their choices at junctures where they could have saved Palestinian lives and also Israeli lives - and gotten us off a path, I really feel, a path from enabling Israeli escalation in Gaza, consistent escalation then into Lebanon, into now the Iran war and real risk to American lives and many others.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260921173548/https://www.npr.org/2026/09/21/nx-s1-5761237/crossing-the-red-line-examines-the-biden-administration-and-israels-war-in-gaza

Is JD Vance a craven political opportunist? A true believer in a post-Trump, MAGA agenda? Or is the presumptive 2028 GOP frontrunner waiting for the chance to be his own man? And what does his wife, Usha, think about all of it? The answers may lie in Vance’s pivotal years at Yale Law. Chris Whipple returns to the school—and talks to the VP’s professor and mentor, “Tiger Mom” Amy Chua.

Archived at https://archive.ph/uLKaZ

Archived at https://archive.ph/2vrVX

The Los Angeles district attorney has dropped felony charges against a police officer who secretly recorded his colleagues making racist remarks.

Los Angeles Police Department Officer Daniel Flores was charged in July with 16 felony counts after submitting audio to internal affairs in early 2025. The tapes, recorded within the LAPD's recruitment division, captured officers making explicit remarks and were first disclosed by the Los Angeles Times.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman had initially charged Flores under California's decades-old eavesdropping statute, which mandates the consent of all parties present to legally record conversations. The original charges carried a maximum sentence of 13 years in prison.

The charges sparked swift backlash, particularly from Flores' attorney, Alan Jackson. Speaking to the LA Times in July, Jackson warned that the case communicated that “if you document bigotry inside the LAPD, you will be the one who ends up in a courtroom. It tells them the safe move is to hear slurs and say nothing.”

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260821132859/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/lapd-officer-daniel-flores-secret-recordings-charges-b3035944.html