Politics

Four masked men in police tactical vests surround a young scooter rider, cuffing his hands behind his back. One person, whose face is fully obscured with a cap, sunglasses and a balaclava, is heard on eyewitness video telling the scooter rider: “You came into this country as a J1, as an exchange student. You didn’t show up … You lied, ok?”

Philadelphia’s transit system plunged into crisis on August 24, when the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) slashed bus, trolley, subway, and Regional Rail service by 20%. SEPTA eliminated 32 bus routes, shortened 16 more, and reduced the frequency of other bus and train lines. The crisis occurred as a result of state lawmakers failing to close a USD 213 million budget gap. The funding standoff left the city’s 746,500 SEPTA riders stranded and pushed the nation’s sixth-largest transit agency toward what officials call a “death spiral” – which has deeply impacted the disproportionately Black and lower-income SEPTA ridership. Nearly three-quarters of Philadelphia transit riders don’t own a car; more than half are Black, and nearly half earn under USD 30,000 a year.

Democratic state lawmakers are asking Gov. Brian Kemp to recall Georgia National Guard members recently sent to Washington. Kemp announced on Friday that Georgia is sending about 300 soldiers and […]

Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is planning to recruit and train special agents who will be able to make arrests, carry firearms, and execute warrants against people who have allegedly violated immigration laws. A final rule published today in the federal register authorizes the director of USCIS to conduct “law enforcement activities to enforce civil and criminal…

NBC News, citing a White House official familiar with the matter, has reported that advisers will also be present at the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Amid escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric and legislative crackdowns at the state and federal levels, private prison corporations are once again expanding their grip on U.S. detention policy. In fact, today roughly 90 percent of detained immigrants are held in privately operated facilities, the highest share in history. This industry exists despite years of promises to phase out for-profit…