WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Washington Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis announced in a message to staff that he is stepping down, the newspaper's White House bureau chief Matt Viser posted online on Saturday, after the newspaper carried out widespread layoffs this week.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington)
A month after Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis, her partner spoke out on Saturday, condemning the federal government's immigration crackdown that took Good's life and urging the city to remember those whose names are never known.
In a rare statement issued through her attorney, Becca Good thanked the city and said she was "so proud to call Minneapolis my home."
She also criticized the federal government's immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities, during which federal law enforcementkilled her partnerand ICU nurseAlex Pretti, 37.
"Renee was not the first person killed, and she was not the last," she said. "You know my wife's name and you know Alex's name, but there are many others in this city being harmed that you don't know — their families are hurting just like mine, even if they don't look like mine."
"They are neighbors, friends, coworkers, classmates. And we must also know their names," she added. "Because this shouldn't happen to anyone."
Becca Good has seldom spoken publicly since her partner's killing on Jan. 7.
The killing occurred about a month after the Trump administration surged 3,000 immigration agents to the Twin Cities in what officials have dubbed Operation Metro Surge. Agents descended on Minnesota after right-wing influencers renewed scrutiny in a state fraud scandal involving Somali nationals.
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More than 4,000 undocumented immigrants have been apprehended since the operation began in December,according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The operation, which has led to the apprehensions of some children, has sparked near-daily protests in the Twin Cities. It has alsotransformed the daily livesof many who live there, with people volunteering to deliver groceries to undocumented immigrants and safeguard their neighborhoods from immigration authorities.
A representative for DHS did not immediately return a request for comment.
Weeks after Good's killing, Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Customs and Border Protection agents. Trump administration officials initially defended the agents, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem calling Pretti a "domestic terrorist." However, days after his killing, the administration said it would be drawing down its operation in the state. This week, officials said they wouldsend home 700 agents.
The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights probe into Pretti's death but has not done so for Good.
"Renee and I chose kindness. We believed that every life deserves the same care, treatment, and dignity, no matter who they are or what they look like," Becca Good said in her statement. "That shouldn't be radical. If it is, then I want Renee and our family to be known for how we practiced radical kindness every day."
The killings have prompted calls toreform DHS and forNoem to resign. Two of Renee Good's brothers addressed lawmakers this week at a public forum to raise concerns about the violent tactics used by DHS.
"The deep distress our family feels because of Nee's loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress and desperation for change," Luke Ganger, one of the brothers, testified.
Five-year-oldLiam Conejo Ramosand his family will have more time to make their case for asylum.
At a Friday court hearing for the family's asylum case, a judge granted a continuance, which postpones the case to a later date, family attorney Danielle Molliver told CNN.
There is no indication when the next hearing is expected, said Molliver, who added, "We're grateful for the outpouring from the community and we remain committed to the family and this community."
Attorneys for the family had asked the court for more time to respond to the motion by the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the family is not slated for expedited removal and the motion is standard procedure.
"There is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation's immigration laws," she said in a statement to CNN.
Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Liam's school district, Columbia Heights Public Schools, said Friday's ruling "provides additional time, and with that, continued uncertainty for a child and his family," as she stressed the family is asking for privacy.
"Our concern remains centered on Liam and all children who deserve stability, safety and the opportunity to be in school without fear. We will continue to advocate for outcomes that prioritize children," Stenvik said.
The 5‑year‑old and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, weretaken from their snowy suburban Minneapolis drivewaylast month to a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, sparkingwidespread outrageafter images of a federal agent clutching the boy's Spider‑Man backpack as he looked on beneath a cartoon bunny hat circulated.
After more than a week at the Dilley center, the preschooler and his Ecuadorian father areback home in Minneapolisafter a judge ordered them to be released, which ended their detention but left their future in the United States in limbo.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, the Texas Democrat who helped escort them back to Minnesota on Sunday, emphasized at a Friday news conference the father and son "don't have a criminal record" and represent no threat to the community.
"They should leave Liam alone," Castro told reporters, referring to the federal government.
"His family came in legally through the asylum process," Castro said. "And when I left the Dilley detention center, one of the ICE officers explained to me that his father was on a one-year parole in place, so they should allow that to continue."
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For 10 hours, a Chinese village sat in the dark – and a pig dangled from the sky.
A farmer, who was using a drone to transport a pig to a slaughterhouse, had accidentally shut down the local power supply after the drone's rope carrying the animal became tangled in an electrical line.
Images shared on social media showed the silhouette of the pig suspended in the air against a grey sky, dangling limply from the drone above, as bemused onlookers gathered below.
The farmer, who has not been identified, said the remote location of his village in Tongjiang county, Sichuan province, makes it difficult to transport pigs by vehicle, prompting him to use drones instead.
On Jan 24, he set out to airlift several pigs from the mountainous area.
The first attempt ended abruptly when the pig became suspended mid-air after the rope attached to the drone caught on a high-voltage power line – turning "when pigs fly" from an expression into a logistical problem.
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The farmer blamed poor visibility for the mishap. He had planned to transport more than 10 pigs throughout the day, but had to abandon the project.
An employee from the local power supply authority said the village experienced a 10-hour blackout as a result. "We sent 12 workers to repair the line. The repair costs are about 10,000 yuan (£1,100)," she was quoted as saying.
Local authorities said the farmer is suspected of breaking the law by operating the drone in a no-fly zone.
"We are still collecting evidence. If he is confirmed to have breached the law, he will face an administrative punishment and need to compensate for electricity equipment losses," an officer said.
The use of drones in agriculture is widespread in China's rural areas, although their role does not typically extend to suspending pigs above electricity lines.
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By Nate Raymond
Feb 6 (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court upheld on Friday the Trump administration's policy of placing people arrested in its immigration crackdown in mandatory detention without an opportunity to be released on bond.
The decision by a conservative 2-1 panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marked the first time an appeals court had upheld the policy and came despite hundreds of lower-court judges nationally declaring it unlawful.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the ruling on social media as dealing "a significant blow against activist judges who have been undermining our efforts to make America safe again at every turn."
The ruling is expected to impact thousands of people as the court's jurisdiction covers Texas and Louisiana, which are dotted with detention centers and house the most immigration detainees.
Other appeals courts are slated in coming weeks to take up the issue, which the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately need to resolve.
Under federal immigration law, "applicants for admission" to the United States are subject to mandatory detention while their cases proceed in immigration courts and are ineligible for bond hearings.
Bucking a long-standing interpretation of the law, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last year took the position that non-citizens already residing in the United States, and not only those who arrive at a port of entry at the border, qualify as applicants for admission.
The Board of Immigration Appeals, which is part of the U.S. Department of Justice, issued a decision in September that adopted that interpretation, leading to immigration judges nationally employed by the department to mandate detention.
A flood of lawsuits ensued from people arguing they were wrongly detained. Among them were the plaintiffs in the cases before the 5th Circuit, Mexican nationals Victor Buenrostro-Mendez and Jose Padron Covarrubias, both of whom had convinced lower-court judges they were wrongly denied bond hearings.
But U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones said the administration's re-interpretation of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 was correct.
"The text says what it says, regardless of the decisions of prior administrations," she wrote for the panel's majority, which included two judges named by Republican presidents.
U.S. Circuit Judge Dana Douglas, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, dissented, saying the Congress that passed the 1996 law "would be surprised to learn it had also required the detention without bond of two million people."
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; additional reporting by Kristina Cooke; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
