Court upholds 'sanctuary' states' funding
NEW YORK -- President Donald Trump's administration can't withhold over $29 million from six states and New York City in a clash over their immigration policies as "sanctuary" jurisdictions, a federal judge said Friday in the latest of several similar rulings around the country.
Friday's decision involves Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington state, and the state and city of New York. It follows similar opinions by federal courts in California, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
However, there's no nationwide ruling -- at least for now -- on whether the federal government can block states, cities and counties from receiving grants from a long-existing public safety program if they limit their cooperation with immigration officials.
The federal Department of Justice declined to comment on Friday's ruling.
Trump has emphasized cracking down on illegal immigration and often casts it as a public safety threat. Shortly after taking office last year, he issued an order barring federal grants to "sanctuary" cities in many circumstances.
Targeted states and cities challenged the action in court, saying that turning police into de facto immigration agents discourages immigrants from reporting crimes or aiding investigations.
U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos agreed, ruling that the information-sharing requirement "impinges on [the states' and city's] sovereign authority and their citizens' liberty to be regulated under their preferred state and local policies," he wrote.
U.S. Marshal killed in Tuscon shootout
PHOENIX -- A deputy U.S. marshal serving a fugitive arrest warrant against a man accused of stalking a female police sergeant after she seized a handgun and ammunition from him last year has been shot and killed outside a Tucson house.
The suspect had recently visited the Tucson Police Department, where he confronted the sergeant in person, then filed an online complaint about last year's seizure of his weapon, demanding that she and other officers be "arrested" and warning of the possibility of a "shootout at the OK Corral," authorities said.
Chase White, 41, was shot while serving the warrant Thursday night. White died later at a hospital, the U.S. Marshals Service in Washington said Friday.
The suspect, Ryan Phillip Schlesinger, 26, was arrested after an hour-long standoff at the home when he emerged from the house wearing body armor and a ballistic helmet.
Friday filings in federal court show that Schlesinger was charged with first degree murder of a federal officer.
The complaint against Schlesinger said the Marshals Service was serving a warrant at a home on the city's north side when the suspect fired, striking White. Schlesinger was not wounded when agents returned fire.
Man deported after year living in church
DURHAM, N.C. -- A Mexican immigrant who sought refuge in a North Carolina church for nearly a year was deported Thursday, federal authorities said.
Samuel Oliver-Bruno, 47, was removed from the U.S. and taken to Mexico at 8:45 p.m., said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox.
Oliver-Bruno was arrested Nov. 23 at an immigration office near Raleigh after he left the church to have his fingerprints taken as part of an application to stay in the U.S. to financially support his son and ailing wife. His application to stay in the U.S. was denied earlier this week. He had been living in the Durham church since late 2017 to avoid immigration officers.
ICE previously said Oliver-Bruno, who has lived in the U.S. for two decades, pleaded guilty in 2014 to using false documents to try to re-enter the U.S. in Texas after a trip outside the country.
Since his arrest, rallies have been held and a campaign has been organized to push federal officials to reverse their decision. Democratic U.S. Reps. David Price and G.K. Butterfield, both of North Carolina, had urged Homeland Security to release him, calling his treatment unacceptable.
Troopers suspended in teen's beating
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two West Virginia state troopers have been suspended and the governor has ordered an investigation into a traffic stop in which the troopers were seen on a dashboard camera video beating a 16-year-old male suspect.
The troopers in Martinsburg were suspended without pay amid an ongoing criminal and internal investigation, state police spokesman Maj. Reginald Patterson said in a statement Thursday.
Patterson identified them as Trooper First Class Derek R. Walker and Trooper First Class Michael W. Kennedy.
Patterson said the white teen was involved in a crash with a sheriff's office cruiser on Nov. 19 before a pursuit ensued. The spokesman said the troopers' actions during the incident "came into question and led to the suspensions."
He said the teen was treated at a hospital and released. The statement did not provide details of the traffic stop, Patterson said.
Patterson says further statements won't be issued until the investigation is complete.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 12/01/2018