Colorado
Federal judge says immigration officers can only arrest those at risk of fleeing
DENVER (AP) — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that immigration officers in Colorado can only arrest people without a warrant if they think those people are likely to flee.
U.S. District Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson issued the order in a legal challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and other lawyers.
They’re representing four people, including asylum-seekers, who were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without warrants this year as part of President Donald
Trump’s increased immigration enforcement. The lawsuit accuses immigration officers of indiscriminately arresting Latinos to meet enforcement goals without evaluating what’s required to legally detain them.
Jackson said each of those who sued had longstanding ties to their communities and no reasonable officer could have concluded they were likely to flee before getting a warrant to arrest them.
Before arresting anyone without a warrant, immigration officers must have probable cause to believe both that someone is in the country illegally and that they are likely to flee before an arrest warrant can be obtained, under federal law, he said. Jackson also said immigration officers needed to document the reasons for why they are arresting someone.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, called it an “activist ruling” and said the department follows the law.
“Allegations that DHS law enforcement engages in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE,” she said in a statement.
The ruling is similar to one made earlier this year in a case brought by another chapter of the ACLU in California involving arrests by Border Patrol agents. The government has appealed that ruling.
Another judge had also issued a restraining order barring federal agents from stopping people based solely on their race, language, job or location in the Los Angeles area after finding that they were conducting indiscriminate stops. The Supreme Court lifted that order in September.
McLaughlin suggested the government would appeal the Colorado ruling.
“The Supreme Court recently vindicated us on this question elsewhere, and we look forward to further vindication in this case as well,” she said.
California
Man who fatally attacked a San Francisco grandmother will get life in prison
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man convicted of beating a San Francisco grandmother who later died is facing life in prison, a judge said Tuesday.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Eric Fleming said Keonte Gathron, 25, will likely be sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole in the death of Yik Oi Huang. The judge postponed sentencing until next week because the defendant had not received a presentence report, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Gathron was convicted earlier this month of murder, carjacking, robbery, elder abuse, child endangerment and other charges stemming from a two-week crime rampage in January 2019.
Authorities say he targeted victims of Asian descent or who spoke little English.
Huang, 88, was attacked on her morning walk. She was found injured at a playground in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood where she lived. Her skull, arms and neck were broken. Her home was burglarized minutes afterward.
Huang received long-term care at a hospital but died in January 2020. Her assault preceded the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic and rattled the city’s Asian American community.
Gathron represented himself and denied culpability but produced no evidence. He also accused police of manipulating surveillance video, DNA and other evidence.
Fleming announced he intends to sentence Gathron to two life sentences — one with the possibility of parole — and over 30 years for other offenses. Gathron plans to appeal.
Huang’s three daughters and several grandchildren spoke in court, in English and Cantonese. They described Huang as a hard-working wife, mother and garment factory employee in China who made sure her children were fed. She realized a dream of moving to the U.S. and owning a home in San Francisco.
A tearful Gathron said he “understood the pain and loss” but insisted he was innocent.
The park where Huang died was renamed Yik Oi Huang Peace and Friendship Park last year.
New Hampshire
Political consultant defies court order in lawsuit over AI robocalls that mimicked Biden
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A political consultant who sent artificial intelligence-generated robocalls mimicking former President Joe Biden to New Hampshire Democrats said Tuesday he will not pay $22,500 to three voters despite a recent federal court order.
The order, issued Friday in a lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters, came five months after a jury acquitted Steve Kramer of voter suppression and impersonating a candidate. In the civil case, the judge entered a default judgement after Kramer failed to appear in court.
“I never responded to them because I was already acquitted on 22 counts,” Kramer said in an email, insisting that the lawsuit was a publicity stunt that wasted the court’s time. He also has refused to pay a $6 million fine issued by the Federal Communications Commission.
Though jurors sided with Kramer in the criminal trial, the judge in the civil case not only ordered him to pay $7,500 to each voter who sued but banned him from engaging in the same conduct nationwide. Caren Short, director of legal and research at the League of Women Voters, described the decision as a “critical precedent against the weaponization of artificial intelligence in elections.”
Plaintiffs will explore further action if Kramer doesn’t pay up, said Courtney Hostetler of Free Speech for People, which provided the League with legal assistance.
“Mr. Kramer has shown a consistent disregard for the law and the rights of voters,” she said. “His plan to defy the court’s order continues this pattern, and reinforces the importance of the injunction and the damages award.”
Kramer, 56, of New Orleans, admitted orchestrating a message sent to thousands of voters two days before the state’s Jan. 23, 2024, presidential primary. Recipients heard an AI-generated voice similar to Biden’s that suggested that voting in the primary would preclude voters from casting ballots in November.
“It’s important that you save your vote for the November election,” voters were told. “Your votes make a difference in November, not this Tuesday.”
Kramer, who would have faced decades in prison if convicted, testified that he wanted to send a wake-up call about the potential dangers of AI when he paid a New Orleans magician $150 to create the recording. He said he was getting frequent calls from people using AI in campaigns, and, worried about the lack of regulations, made it his New Year’s resolution to take action.
“This is going to be my one good deed this year,” he recalled while testifying in Belknap County Superior Court in June.
Kramer argued that the primary was a meaningless straw poll, and therefore the state’s voter suppression law didn’t apply. The primary was held in defiance of the Democratic National Committee, which had dislodged New Hampshire from its traditional spot in the nominating calendar, though the state’s delegates were still seated at the national convention. Biden did not put his name on the ballot or campaign there but won as a write-in.
Lingo Telecom, the company that transmitted the calls, agreed to pay $1 million in a settlement with the FCC in August 2024. The agency, which did not respond to requests for comment, was developing AI-related rules when Donald Trump won the presidency, but it has since shown signs of a shift toward loosening regulations.
And though multiple states have enacted legislation targeting the use of video or audio content that mimics candidates in political campaigns, Trump is considering pressuring states to stop regulating artificial intelligence. Trump and some Republicans argue that such regulation will dampen innovation, while critics worry about allowing big AI companies to operate with little oversight.
On Tuesday, attorneys general in 36 states, including New Hampshire, sent a letter to Congress opposing the preemption of state laws addressing the risks of AI.
California
Lawsuit challenges ?arrests of people who show up to ICE check-ins
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A week before Chancely Fanfan was scheduled to attend an immigration court hearing in San Diego, he received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security instructing him to show up for what he thought would be a routine check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his hearing.
After the 31-year-old Haitian man showed up with his wife and 11-month-old baby to his court hearing and ICE check-in on Oct. 20, immigration officers arrested him, providing no reason other than that the government required it, his attorneys said.
Fanfan had no criminal history and showed up to all his court hearings and check-ins with ICE since his arrival in the U.S. last year, according to the petition filed Tuesday in the Southern District of California. The Center for Immigration Law and Policy and the Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law are challenging the October detentions of Fanfan and two others following their check-ins with immigration officers.
“Petitioners have had no criminal contact since their prior releases from DHS custody, and two petitioners have no criminal history of any kind,” according to the petition.
The petitioners were detained after entering through or between U.S. ports of entry when they came to the country. After vetting, they were released from federal custody.
The lawsuit alleges immigrants are being deprived of due process after previously being declared fit for release, only to be arrested and detained when suddenly summoned to reappear at an ICE office. Many cases involve people whose cases in immigration court were reopened.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday.
The UCLA School of Law’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy said the detentions in San Diego alone “are certainly in the dozens, and likely exceeds 100.” The lawsuit is asking the judge to certify the class, which could mean that others who were arrested and detained in similar circumstances could benefit from a favorable ruling.
A gardener from Mexico who has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years sat on the floor of a long hallway outside a packed waiting room at ICE’s San Diego office on Monday. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition that only his first name, Lorenzo, be published because he feared potential consequences.
About 10 years ago, Border Patrol arrested Lorenzo at a highway checkpoint in Southern California. He went before an immigration judge who closed his case and spared him from being deported. For years, he had heard nothing from immigration authorities until last week, when he was told his case was being reopened and that he was to report to ICE on Monday. He didn’t follow up with the AP after his check-in.
Arrests at ICE check-ins appear to have accelerated since early October in San Diego. Lynn Devine, a volunteer observer, saw one woman who checked in being escorted to an elevator in handcuffs by two officers on Monday.
“She was looking at the floor. I told her I was praying for her,” Devine said.
A federal judge will be deciding whether to release the three petitioners and whether to declare such detentions unlawful.
Federal judge says immigration officers can only arrest those at risk of fleeing
DENVER (AP) — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that immigration officers in Colorado can only arrest people without a warrant if they think those people are likely to flee.
U.S. District Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson issued the order in a legal challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and other lawyers.
They’re representing four people, including asylum-seekers, who were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without warrants this year as part of President Donald
Trump’s increased immigration enforcement. The lawsuit accuses immigration officers of indiscriminately arresting Latinos to meet enforcement goals without evaluating what’s required to legally detain them.
Jackson said each of those who sued had longstanding ties to their communities and no reasonable officer could have concluded they were likely to flee before getting a warrant to arrest them.
Before arresting anyone without a warrant, immigration officers must have probable cause to believe both that someone is in the country illegally and that they are likely to flee before an arrest warrant can be obtained, under federal law, he said. Jackson also said immigration officers needed to document the reasons for why they are arresting someone.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, called it an “activist ruling” and said the department follows the law.
“Allegations that DHS law enforcement engages in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE,” she said in a statement.
The ruling is similar to one made earlier this year in a case brought by another chapter of the ACLU in California involving arrests by Border Patrol agents. The government has appealed that ruling.
Another judge had also issued a restraining order barring federal agents from stopping people based solely on their race, language, job or location in the Los Angeles area after finding that they were conducting indiscriminate stops. The Supreme Court lifted that order in September.
McLaughlin suggested the government would appeal the Colorado ruling.
“The Supreme Court recently vindicated us on this question elsewhere, and we look forward to further vindication in this case as well,” she said.
California
Man who fatally attacked a San Francisco grandmother will get life in prison
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man convicted of beating a San Francisco grandmother who later died is facing life in prison, a judge said Tuesday.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Eric Fleming said Keonte Gathron, 25, will likely be sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole in the death of Yik Oi Huang. The judge postponed sentencing until next week because the defendant had not received a presentence report, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Gathron was convicted earlier this month of murder, carjacking, robbery, elder abuse, child endangerment and other charges stemming from a two-week crime rampage in January 2019.
Authorities say he targeted victims of Asian descent or who spoke little English.
Huang, 88, was attacked on her morning walk. She was found injured at a playground in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood where she lived. Her skull, arms and neck were broken. Her home was burglarized minutes afterward.
Huang received long-term care at a hospital but died in January 2020. Her assault preceded the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic and rattled the city’s Asian American community.
Gathron represented himself and denied culpability but produced no evidence. He also accused police of manipulating surveillance video, DNA and other evidence.
Fleming announced he intends to sentence Gathron to two life sentences — one with the possibility of parole — and over 30 years for other offenses. Gathron plans to appeal.
Huang’s three daughters and several grandchildren spoke in court, in English and Cantonese. They described Huang as a hard-working wife, mother and garment factory employee in China who made sure her children were fed. She realized a dream of moving to the U.S. and owning a home in San Francisco.
A tearful Gathron said he “understood the pain and loss” but insisted he was innocent.
The park where Huang died was renamed Yik Oi Huang Peace and Friendship Park last year.
New Hampshire
Political consultant defies court order in lawsuit over AI robocalls that mimicked Biden
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A political consultant who sent artificial intelligence-generated robocalls mimicking former President Joe Biden to New Hampshire Democrats said Tuesday he will not pay $22,500 to three voters despite a recent federal court order.
The order, issued Friday in a lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters, came five months after a jury acquitted Steve Kramer of voter suppression and impersonating a candidate. In the civil case, the judge entered a default judgement after Kramer failed to appear in court.
“I never responded to them because I was already acquitted on 22 counts,” Kramer said in an email, insisting that the lawsuit was a publicity stunt that wasted the court’s time. He also has refused to pay a $6 million fine issued by the Federal Communications Commission.
Though jurors sided with Kramer in the criminal trial, the judge in the civil case not only ordered him to pay $7,500 to each voter who sued but banned him from engaging in the same conduct nationwide. Caren Short, director of legal and research at the League of Women Voters, described the decision as a “critical precedent against the weaponization of artificial intelligence in elections.”
Plaintiffs will explore further action if Kramer doesn’t pay up, said Courtney Hostetler of Free Speech for People, which provided the League with legal assistance.
“Mr. Kramer has shown a consistent disregard for the law and the rights of voters,” she said. “His plan to defy the court’s order continues this pattern, and reinforces the importance of the injunction and the damages award.”
Kramer, 56, of New Orleans, admitted orchestrating a message sent to thousands of voters two days before the state’s Jan. 23, 2024, presidential primary. Recipients heard an AI-generated voice similar to Biden’s that suggested that voting in the primary would preclude voters from casting ballots in November.
“It’s important that you save your vote for the November election,” voters were told. “Your votes make a difference in November, not this Tuesday.”
Kramer, who would have faced decades in prison if convicted, testified that he wanted to send a wake-up call about the potential dangers of AI when he paid a New Orleans magician $150 to create the recording. He said he was getting frequent calls from people using AI in campaigns, and, worried about the lack of regulations, made it his New Year’s resolution to take action.
“This is going to be my one good deed this year,” he recalled while testifying in Belknap County Superior Court in June.
Kramer argued that the primary was a meaningless straw poll, and therefore the state’s voter suppression law didn’t apply. The primary was held in defiance of the Democratic National Committee, which had dislodged New Hampshire from its traditional spot in the nominating calendar, though the state’s delegates were still seated at the national convention. Biden did not put his name on the ballot or campaign there but won as a write-in.
Lingo Telecom, the company that transmitted the calls, agreed to pay $1 million in a settlement with the FCC in August 2024. The agency, which did not respond to requests for comment, was developing AI-related rules when Donald Trump won the presidency, but it has since shown signs of a shift toward loosening regulations.
And though multiple states have enacted legislation targeting the use of video or audio content that mimics candidates in political campaigns, Trump is considering pressuring states to stop regulating artificial intelligence. Trump and some Republicans argue that such regulation will dampen innovation, while critics worry about allowing big AI companies to operate with little oversight.
On Tuesday, attorneys general in 36 states, including New Hampshire, sent a letter to Congress opposing the preemption of state laws addressing the risks of AI.
California
Lawsuit challenges ?arrests of people who show up to ICE check-ins
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A week before Chancely Fanfan was scheduled to attend an immigration court hearing in San Diego, he received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security instructing him to show up for what he thought would be a routine check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his hearing.
After the 31-year-old Haitian man showed up with his wife and 11-month-old baby to his court hearing and ICE check-in on Oct. 20, immigration officers arrested him, providing no reason other than that the government required it, his attorneys said.
Fanfan had no criminal history and showed up to all his court hearings and check-ins with ICE since his arrival in the U.S. last year, according to the petition filed Tuesday in the Southern District of California. The Center for Immigration Law and Policy and the Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law are challenging the October detentions of Fanfan and two others following their check-ins with immigration officers.
“Petitioners have had no criminal contact since their prior releases from DHS custody, and two petitioners have no criminal history of any kind,” according to the petition.
The petitioners were detained after entering through or between U.S. ports of entry when they came to the country. After vetting, they were released from federal custody.
The lawsuit alleges immigrants are being deprived of due process after previously being declared fit for release, only to be arrested and detained when suddenly summoned to reappear at an ICE office. Many cases involve people whose cases in immigration court were reopened.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday.
The UCLA School of Law’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy said the detentions in San Diego alone “are certainly in the dozens, and likely exceeds 100.” The lawsuit is asking the judge to certify the class, which could mean that others who were arrested and detained in similar circumstances could benefit from a favorable ruling.
A gardener from Mexico who has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years sat on the floor of a long hallway outside a packed waiting room at ICE’s San Diego office on Monday. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition that only his first name, Lorenzo, be published because he feared potential consequences.
About 10 years ago, Border Patrol arrested Lorenzo at a highway checkpoint in Southern California. He went before an immigration judge who closed his case and spared him from being deported. For years, he had heard nothing from immigration authorities until last week, when he was told his case was being reopened and that he was to report to ICE on Monday. He didn’t follow up with the AP after his check-in.
Arrests at ICE check-ins appear to have accelerated since early October in San Diego. Lynn Devine, a volunteer observer, saw one woman who checked in being escorted to an elevator in handcuffs by two officers on Monday.
“She was looking at the floor. I told her I was praying for her,” Devine said.
A federal judge will be deciding whether to release the three petitioners and whether to declare such detentions unlawful.
