News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

U.S. Supreme Court permits deportation of another half million migrants, for now

Published

2 months ago

May 30, 2025

arkansasadvocate.com – Ariana Figueroa – 2025-05-30 11:05:00

by Ariana Figueroa, Arkansas Advocate
May 30, 2025

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Friday said it will allow the Trump administration to remove deportation protections for more than 500,000 nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who were given permission to temporarily remain and work in the United States by the Biden administration.

The move by the high court — which permits the deportations while a lawsuit continues to work its way through the courts — came after a district court in Massachusetts in April blocked the Trump administration from ending the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, or CHNV, program for 532,000 people.

It’s the second decision by the Supreme Court this month stripping immigrants of some form of temporary legal protections, affecting more than 800,000 people in the country without permanent legal status who are now subject to swift deportation.

On May 19, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for 350,000 Venezuelans who were granted the protection from deportation because their home country was deemed too unstable to return to due to the political regime.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin welcomed the ruling.

“Ending the CHNV parole programs, as well as the paroles of those who exploited it, will be a necessary return to common-sense policies, a return to public safety, and a return to America First,” she said in a statement.

Todd Schulte, the president of the immigration advocacy group FWD.us, said in a statement that the high court’s decision “penalizes half a million people for complying with our immigration laws.”

“This decision will have devastating and immediate consequences, and is part of a broader attempt by the executive branch to justify further immigration enforcement crackdowns against families across the country,” Schulte said. “The government failed to show any harm remotely comparable to that which will come from a half million people losing their jobs and becoming subject to deportation.”

Friday’s case is one of several immigration-related emergency requests the Department of Justice has brought to the high court, as the Trump administration aims to carry out mass deportations, wind down temporary legal pathways for immigrants and redefine the constitutional right of birthright citizenship.

No judicial review for parole, DOJ argues

In the emergency filing to the high court in Friday’s case, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the Immigration Nationality Act bars judicial review of discretionary decisions, such as what is called humanitarian parole, for the CHNV program.

He added that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem terminated the program because it does not align with the interests of the Trump administration.

Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

“The Court has plainly botched this assessment today,” Jackson wrote in her dissent. “It undervalues the devastating consequences of allowing the Government to precipitously upend the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens while their legal claims are pending.”

She argued that the Trump administration did not prove it would be harmed by the preliminary injunction. An appeals court previously rejected the government’s request to put the lower court’s order on hold.

“While it is apparent that the Government seeks a stay to enable it to inflict maximum predecision damage, court-ordered stays exist to minimize—not maximize—harm to litigating parties,” Jackson wrote.

President Joe Biden created the CHNV program in 2023. It temporarily granted work permits and allowed thousands of nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to remain in the country if they were sponsored by someone in the United States and passed a background check.

Last updated 1:41 p.m., May. 30, 2025

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

The post U.S. Supreme Court permits deportation of another half million migrants, for now appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

This article primarily reports on the U.S. Supreme Court decision permitting the Trump administration to end deportation protections for immigrants from several countries, emphasizing official statements supporting the ruling and highlighting the administration’s framing of the move as a return to “common-sense” and “America First” policies. While it includes dissenting views from liberal justices and immigration advocates, the language and selection of quotes lean toward validating stricter immigration enforcement aligned with conservative priorities. The coverage remains largely factual but subtly frames the issue in a way consistent with center-right perspectives on immigration policy.

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Judge Reviewing Request For 10 Commandments To Not Be Displayed This School Year

Published

3 days ago

July 18, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-18 22:15:00

SUMMARY: A federal judge is reviewing a lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom. Parents from Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Siloam Springs school districts seek to block the law before it takes effect on August 5th. Represented by the ACLU, they argue the law violates religious freedom by favoring one religion and interfering with diverse faiths. The state contends the law highlights the Ten Commandments’ historical significance, not religion. Any court ruling blocking the law would only apply to the plaintiffs’ districts. The judge plans a decision before August 5th.

Judge Reviewing Request For 10 Commandments To Not Be Displayed This School Year

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Crawford County appeals injunction of Arkansas library law, citing dispute over legal fees

Published

3 days ago

July 18, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Tess Vrbin – 2025-07-18 16:03:00

p>by Tess Vrbin, Arkansas Advocate
July 18, 2025

Crawford County officials have joined the appeal of a federal judge’s award of over $441,000 in attorneys’ fees in a case that resulted in blocking parts of a 2023 Arkansas law affecting what books are available in public libraries.

Crawford County and County Judge Chris Keith filed a notice of appeal and a request to stay the monetary judgment on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Keith and the county were among the defendants, along with Arkansas’ 26 prosecuting attorneys, in 18 plaintiffs’ challenge of two sections of Act 372 of 2023.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks permanently blocked the challenged sections in December, determining they violated the First Amendment. In addition to giving city and county governing bodies authority over library content, Act 372 would also have altered libraries’ material reconsideration processes and created criminal liability for librarians who distribute content that some consider “obscene” or “harmful to minors.”

Crawford County Library will foot the bill for lawsuit over segregation of LGBTQ+ children’s books

Crawford County and Keith were among the defendants that lost a separate lawsuit over library content in September. U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes ruled in favor of three parents who claimed the Crawford County Library’s segregation of LGBTQ+ children’s books into separate “social sections” violated the First Amendment.

The case was reassigned from Holmes to Brooks, who ordered the defendants to pay the plaintiffs nearly $113,000. The Crawford County Quorum Court voted unanimously in April to accept the library’s governing board’s offer to pay the fees. The board was among the defendants along with Keith, the county, the quorum court and county library director Charlene McDonnough.

In May, Brooks ordered the defendants in the Act 372 case to reimburse the plaintiffs $441,646.49 in total.

“At this time, the Plaintiffs and Crawford County have been unable to reach a settlement for the fees and costs,” the county’s attorneys wrote in Thursday’s motion to stay the execution of the payment. “Therefore, Crawford County will appeal the award of attorney fees and costs.”

Crawford County stay

Twice last year, the Crawford County defendants asked Brooks to dismiss them from the Act 372 lawsuit. Brooks denied the motions, ruling that the county and Keith would be responsible for implementing Act 372 if it went into effect and if appeals of challenged material reached the county government.

Attorney General Tim Griffin appealed the ruling on behalf of the rest of the Act 372 defendants in January.

Crawford County officials cited Act 372 as a reason to maintain the library’s “social sections” of LGBTQ+ children’s books that only adults could access. McDonnough’s predecessor, Deidre Grzymala, created the sections as a “compromise” after public outcry between December 2022 and January 2023, a few months before Act 372 became law.

In May, Grzymala sued Crawford County and a member of the library board, alleging defamation and breach of contract over her February 2023 resignation and severance package.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

The post Crawford County appeals injunction of Arkansas library law, citing dispute over legal fees appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

This content leans center-left, primarily due to its focus on defending First Amendment rights and opposing laws that restrict access to certain books, particularly those involving LGBTQ+ themes. The article highlights legal challenges to Arkansas legislation seen as limiting library content, emphasizing the unconstitutionality of such restrictions. While the tone remains factual and legalistic, the perspective aligns with protecting free expression and inclusivity, which are commonly associated with center-left viewpoints.

News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

New prison would exacerbate Fort Smith’s current water transmission challenges

Published

4 days ago

July 17, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-17 20:29:48

SUMMARY: Fort Smith has declined to provide water for a proposed 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County due to existing water transmission limitations. A recent engineering report revealed that the city’s current maximum water production of 50 million gallons per day is sometimes exceeded, and adding the prison would worsen supply issues. While alternatives like sourcing water from Ozark or the Arkansas River are being considered, Fort Smith’s infrastructure—built in the 1930s—is only partially upgraded. A new 48-inch pipeline is planned, but only the first phase is complete. Full completion may take over a decade, even with unlimited funding, officials say.