Wednesday, November 26, 2025
The Snapshot
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ conduct during arrests in Colorado has been “unlawful,” a federal judge ruled Tuesday in an order that restricts how immigration officers can arrest people in the state.
The preliminary injunction ruling is a significant victory for immigrants rights groups, who sued ICE last month to stop “indiscriminate” arrests and detentions. The lawsuit alleges that ICE agents are arresting and detaining people in Colorado because of their skin color, accent or perceived nationality, without determining flight risk, to fulfill arrest quotas set by the Trump administration.
ICE must repay the bond money posted by three named plaintiffs in the case, all immigrants arrested in Colorado, remove their ankle monitors and stop making warrantless arrests in the state without determining and documenting each person’s flight risk, according to the the ruling by U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson in Denver.
“ICE’s hubris and violent behavior have been on national display for months,” said Hans Meyer, owner of the Meyer Law Office and an immigration attorney for the plaintiffs. “But as Judge Jackson’s decision makes clear, no one — including ICE — is above the law.”
Amna Nawaz:
A sweeping new investigation by the Associated Press is raising serious questions about what's happening inside America's immigration courts.
White House correspondent Liz Landers has more on how the administration has circumvented the asylum process.
Liz Landers:
Every day, all across the country, asylum cases are being tossed out, and asylum seekers exit the courtroom into the waiting arms and cuffs of immigration officers, that according to a new report from the Associated Press headlined "Migrants thought they were in a court for a routine hearing. Instead, it was a deportation trap."
One of its authors, Josh Goodman, joins us now.
Josh, thank you for joining the "News Hour."
Josh Goodman, Associated Press:
Thank you.
Liz Landers:
In reporting this story, you and your colleagues went to 21 immigration courts. Can you describe the scene as you watch migrants walk into court and then walk out into a legal snare?
Josh Goodman:
Yes, we witnessed multiple arrests over several months. This was a routine practice by which government attorneys would go before a judge, dismiss a case, which would typically be a good outcome for someone trying to stay in the United States.
And as soon as they would leave the courtroom, they would be arrested by ICE agents or federal agents, frequently with masks. Nationwide, it's estimated that there were over 2,000 arrests in this manner. Some of the courts were quite chaotic, arresting people in hallways. People were being trapped in elevators. Journalists were being rough-handled, scenes of fathers being torn from their children, women begging federal agents to let their husbands go.
These are people who wanted to follow the rules. They didn't have a criminal record. They were making an asylum claim and going through all the stages that are required and were completely blindsided by what happened to them.
Liz Landers:
What has changed in these immigration courts under this new Trump administration?
Josh Goodman:
So these immigration courts were kind of structurally flawed from the very beginning. They are not part of the independent judiciary in the way that tax court or federal court or any multiple courts around the United States are.
They are part of the executive branch. They actually are part of the Justice Department. They had a degree of professionalism over time that was built up. And these judges were allowed to really rule like any other court. But they were always very vulnerable to some sort of takeover.
What we have seen now under the second Trump administration, they are effectively exploiting those vulnerabilities, issuing new orders about what judges can and cannot rule on. And they're really narrowing the scope that these judges have to decide the cases.
Liz Landers:
How do the attorneys and judges within the immigration court system feel about the role that they're playing under this new Trump administration tactic?
Josh Goodman:
What I found is that overall these are people who are very patriotic. They signed up to work in the immigration system because they wanted to protect America's borders, root out the true people who need asylum from some of the people who are claiming it for nonlegal reasons or economic refugees, for example.
And they did not sign up for this at all. One of the judges I talked to said, this is really like deciding death penalty cases in a traffic court environment, because they have so few tools to actually mete out justice that — and they have such a huge docket — that they are rushing through these cases without giving them the due consideration that they need.
And I noticed in some of the text messages between the federal agents and the attorneys a great deal of empathy and people kind of saying to themselves, this is cruel and we don't really want to be a part of this.
Liz Landers:
I was struck by that in your reporting, that these attorneys who are arguing in front of these judges are in direct contact, it seems, with the ICE agents who are waiting outside.
Josh Goodman:
This process starts about two weeks in advance. Every attorney is assigned a number of people, like maybe 40 cases that day. They have to come up with a list for the client — the client here is ICE — of people who they would — quote, unquote — call "amenable" to detention.
And then, on the day of the hearings, the attorney and the ICE officer in the hallway are coordinating almost in real time so that they can identify what the individual looks like, what kind of shirt, black shirt, a white shirt, whatever they're wearing, as well as if indeed the judge dismissed the case, because that was the hook.
If the judge didn't dismiss the case, they couldn't arrest these individuals. If they're trying to reach a quota every day, it's a lot easier to pick up people at court.
Liz Landers:
One of the stated reasons that the Trump administration has adopted this new policy is to work through the asylum system's yearslong backlog. Is it affecting the backlog and is it affecting other systems?
Josh Goodman:
That's a great question. The backlog is a huge challenge. It has been for many, many years. It keeps growing. The numbers themselves are not 100 percent clear.
The government has said that they have managed to reduce the backlog from about 4.2 million to 3.8 million cases, which is still mind-boggling for only 600 judges nationwide. But they're also benefiting from the fact that the border itself is sealed. In other words, there's not a lot of new people coming in and clogging up the system.
But every time that there are arrests in the streets, any time there are major roundups, those people also get sort of thrown back into the system, and they can actually increase the numbers. So, it's not entirely clear, but I think, at a very minimum, what we can say is that the backlog is not growing as fast as it once was.
Liz Landers:
So you find in this reporting that a number of these judges, these immigration court judges have been laid off. You guys profile in your story a judge in Ohio who had been fired.
Why are immigration judges getting fired right now if there is such a backlog to process these cases?
Josh Goodman:
Yes, I mean, this is a great conundrum. There's about 90 judges that have been fired since February. And the government, Trump administration, very clearly says that they are not targeting anyone from a viewpoint perspective.
But the data speaks for itself. These judges were more favorable to migrants than the national average.
Officials have detained the mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt's nephew amid the Trump administration's ramped-up immigration enforcement efforts, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took the woman into custody in Revere, Massachusetts, this month, the source said.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Bruna Caroline Ferreira is a "criminal illegal alien from Brazil" who overstayed her tourist visa, which expired in June 1999.
The woman has an arrest on suspicion of battery, the spokesperson said. It’s not clear how the case was resolved.
So they have an 11 year old son, Michael Leavitt and Bruna. They were engaged and lived in a condo together until he won a million dollars. Karoline, Michael's sister, had to troll old men to find her a sugar daddy, but Michael won his earnings. And, if you're not following, the woman arrested is the mother of Karoline's nephew. I don't know why the reports struggle on the connection. She's also very pretty -- unlike the porker Michael chose to marry. Karoline apparently hates Bruna and you have to wonder if Homeland Security's been used by Karoline to 'ease family tensions' by getting Bruna out of the country? Homeland Secuirty's got all these neagtive things to say about the woman but no outlet can even find where charges have ever been filed against her. Alexx Altman-Devilbiss (KFOX 14) adds:
Ferriera's sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues, stated on a GoFundMe page to help with legal costs that Ferriera was brought to the United States by her parents in 1998 and "has done everything in her power to build a stable, honest life."
"She has maintained her legal status through DACA, following every requirement, and has always strived to do the right thing," Rodrigues continued.
We've talked about the lies Homeland Security keeps telling. Grace Hall (MIAMI HERALD) notes:
Bicameral introduction follows Trump administration’s shutdown chaos and effort to strip food assistance from millions of Americans; 1 in 9 Washingtonians rely on SNAP benefits to put food on the table
ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on House Passage of “Big, Ugly Betrayal” Cutting Health Care & SNAP for WA State Families to Fund Tax Cuts for Billionaires
Senator Murray briefly relied on food stamps as a child and has always fought to fully fund SNAP benefits; Murray fiercely opposed Republicans when they passed the largest cuts to SNAP in American history this summer by passing their Big Ugly Bill.
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and other Democratic colleagues in introducing the Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act of 2025. The legislation would repeal all the devastating cuts made by Republicans to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” the partisan Republican reconciliation bill that was signed into law in July. U.S. Representatives Jahana Hayes (D-CT) and Angie Craig (D-MN) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Republicans’ partisan One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the
largest SNAP cuts in history—breaking a 50-year bipartisan commitment—in
order to fund new tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. Congressional
Republicans approved cuts that the Congressional Budget Office estimates
will eliminate $187 billion in food assistance over the next decade—as
grocery prices rise and President Trump’s tariffs raise costs on
Americans across the board. These Republican SNAP cuts will take
meals from millions of Americans, including children, seniors, veterans,
workers, and people with disabilities, while harming farmers, ranchers,
small businesses, and grocers who rely on SNAP dollars. Additionally,
the Republican legislation creates a massive unfunded mandate on state
governments that could force deep cuts or even eliminate SNAP entirely
in some states. SNAP is a lifeline for over 42 million Americans,
including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, 4 million people with
disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans. In Washington state,
over 888,000 residents received SNAP benefits in Fiscal Year
2024—approximately 11 percent of the state’s population, or one in nine
Washingtonians.
“SNAP is an investment in people and a commitment we make that, in the richest country on earth, kids and families should not be forced to go hungry,” said Senator Murray. “But Republicans broke that commitment with their Big Ugly Bill that made the largest cuts to SNAP in history—taking food away from families who need it the most, to fund new tax breaks for billionaires who need them the least. And during the Republican shutdown, the Trump administration did everything they could to deny SNAP benefits to struggling families—even going to court to block benefits from reaching people who needed them. I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this bill to fully repeal Republican cuts to SNAP and I will keep doing everything in my power to speak out and fight back against these terrible cuts to programs Americans rely on to meet their basic needs.”
Additionally, nearly 1,500 national, state, and community-based organizations joined a letter voicing support for this effort.
In addition to Senators Murray, Luján, Klobuchar, and Merkley, and Leader Schumer, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA.), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The full text of the bill can be found HERE.
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Tuesday, November 25, 2025
The Snapshot
In particular, just after the shooting, DHS put out a statement claiming that the agents in question had been “boxed in by 10 cars” and that Martinez’s vehicle “rammed” theirs. The statement also suggests she threatened the agents with a “semi-automatic weapon.” All this “forced” an agent to shoot Martinez, who then “drove herself to the hospital.” DHS added that she’d previously doxed agents online. In short, the shooting was wholly justified: The victim was the one doing the terrorizing—of law enforcement.
Yet these claims are undermined by the criminal complaint against Martinez. It only mentions two cars menacing the agents, not 10. It doesn’t mention her gun, let alone her threatening of the agents with one. It says she was taken to the hospital by ambulance. And as the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Martinez’s lawyer says body-cam footage even contradicts the claim that she directly threatened the officers with her vehicle and shows that the agent said, “Do something, bitch,” before opening fire.
A judge dismissed charges Thursday against Marimar Martinez, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent multiple times in Chicago and accused of using her car to assault and impede federal law enforcement.
The move came after federal prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss their own case. Martinez's case has been one of the most high-profile examples of civilians being accused by federal authorities of ramming into a vehicle driven by immigration agents.
Martinez and co-defendant Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz pleaded not guilty last month to Justice Department charges that they used “their vehicles to assault, impede, and interfere with the work of federal agents in Chicago.”
Andrew S. Boutros, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, filed court documents Thursday morning to dismiss the charges.
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis granted the government’s motion to dismiss the charges Thursday evening, court documents show. The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning Martinez and her co-defendant cannot be filed again against them.
Prosecutors said Border Patrol agent Charles Exum shot Martinez in self-defense after she and Santos Ruiz allegedly rammed their cars into a federal vehicle on Oct. 4.
“After striking the agents’ vehicle, the defendants’ vehicles boxed in the agents’ vehicle, the complaint states,” prosecutors said in a statement when charges were announced last month. “The agent was unable to move his vehicle and exited the car, at which point he fired approximately five shots from his service weapon at Martinez, the complaint states.”
Martinez’s legal team had argued that it was federal agents who rammed her car with their vehicle and that the shooting was unjustified and an excessive use of force.
The motion to dismiss comes after it was revealed last week at a court hearing that the Customs and Border Protection agent who shot Martinez multiple times had bragged about it in messages to other officers.
According to Reuters, records presented at the hearing showed that in a group Signal chat with other agents, Exum wrote: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.”
In a message to another recipient, Exum sent a news article about the event followed by the message: “Read it. 5 shots, 7 holes,” Reuters reported.
Paramount Skydance made deals with Trump prior to gaining merger approval, now reportedly admin favorites to take over Warner Bros.
Senators warn that botched merger review could raise costs, reduce choices for Americans
“The American people deserve full confidence that the federal government is enforcing these laws independently, transparently, and free from political pressure or financial influence.”
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in writing to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater, warning that a potential Warner Bros. deal could be tainted by political favoritism and corruption. Warner Bros., in an upcoming formal auction process, is expected to receive bids from major media companies potentially including Paramount Skydance, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and Comcast, raising the specter of a new, massive media giant that drives up costs and reduces choices for American families.
Recent reporting revealed that the Trump administration prefers for Paramount Skydance to win the bid, raising questions of political favoritism. The close relationship between the Trump administration and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison could politicize the merger approval process. In July, the Trump administration approved the merger between Paramount and Skydance, just weeks after Paramount donated $16 million to Trump’s Presidential Library — and after Ellison reportedly agreed to a secret “side deal” to run millions of dollars’ worth of pro-Trump ads.
“The Department of Justice (DOJ) must guarantee that any review of a potential Warner Bros. transaction is conducted transparently, independently, and in accordance with federal antitrust and anti-corruption laws — not politics,” wrote the lawmakers. “Regardless of which bidder is selected, the combination of one of these companies with Warner Bros. would further consolidate the media market — risking higher prices and less variety for consumers.”
The lawmakers demanded that the review of any potential transaction involving Warner Bros. follow the law and avoid the taint of corruption and political favoritism. If the review is botched and a new media giant emerges, the company would have even more market power to raise costs at a time when working- and middle-class Americans are already being squeezed by skyrocketing costs across the board.
To ensure the DOJ review is fact-based and transparent, the senators are pressing for answers on interactions that might bias the transaction review process. In particular, the senators ask whether DOJ officials have discussed any matters related to a potential Warner Bros. transaction with lawyers, lobbyists, or consultants hired by Warner Bros. or any of the reported bidders. They also seek further clarification on whether conversations have been held with non-DOJ lawyers, as well as White House officials or Donald Trump, relating to transaction review at the DOJ, including a potential transaction involving Warner Bros.
“A transparent and lawful merger review process ensures that antitrust and public interest laws function as intended — to protect competitive markets, prevent concentration of power, and safeguard American families from higher prices and fewer choices,” the lawmakers concluded. “The American people deserve full confidence that the federal government is enforcing these laws independently, transparently, and free from political pressure or financial influence.”
Senator Warren has consistently fought back against corrupt corporate media consolidation:
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On October 10, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) questioned Skydance’s refusal to address President Donald Trump’s reported secret side deal.
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On August 1, Senator Warren released a statement in response to Paramount’s and Skydance’s responses to her letters to each of the companies, describing the responses as “dodgy” and calling for “a full, independent investigation” into whether the companies or their executives engaged in any criminal behavior connected to the approval of the companies’ multi-billion-dollar merger.
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On July 24, Senator Warren responded to the Trump administration’s approval of the Paramount-Skydance megamerger, saying “bribery is illegal no matter who is president.”
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On July 23, Senator Warren published an op-ed in Variety: “Elizabeth Warren on Colbert 'Late Show' Cancellation: Is the Paramount Trump Payoff a Bribe?”
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On July 21, Senators Warren, Sanders (I-Vt.), and Wyden (D-Ore.) pressed David Ellison, CEO of Skydance, about reports of a secret deal between Skydance and President Trump—and how it may be related to Paramount’s recent multi-million-dollar settlement agreement with Trump.
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On July 17, Senators Warren and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and lawmakers in Congress, unveiled the Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act to close loopholes that allow presidential libraries to be used as tools for corruption and bribery.
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On July 15, Senator Warren released a new report exposing how companies, special interests, and foreign governments may be pledging donations to President Trump’s future Presidential Library as a corrupt tool to secure favorable outcomes from his administration.
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On July 2, Senator Warren called for an investigation into Paramount’s settlement with Trump.
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On May 19, Senators Warren, Sanders, and Wyden wrote to Shari Redstone, Chair of Paramount, with concerns regarding whether Paramount may be engaging in potentially illegal conduct involving the Trump Administration in exchange for approval of its megamerger with Skydance.
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