John Kelly says even ‘single DUI’ can start deportation process

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Sunday said under the Trump administration's tougher immigration rules, even a "single DUI" can start the deportation process. "It is fair to say that the definition of criminal has not changed, but where on the spectrum of criminality we operate has changed," Kelly said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

San Francisco seeks ban on ‘sanctuary city’ order: report

San Francisco asked a federal judge Friday to halt enforcement of President Trump's executive order blocking federal money from so-called "sanctuary cities," according to a new report. The city argued in a request alongside nearby Santa Clara county that Trump cannot withhold federal funds without approval from Congress, NBC News reported Friday .

House Democrats back bill prohibiting Mass. inmates from working on Trump’s wall

Several senior ranking House Democrats threw their weight behind a proposal on Thursday to prohibit inmates from being used to build President Donald Trump's border wall as part of their efforts to provide a check on the White House's impact in Massachusetts. The working group created by House Speaker Robert DeLeo to guide the House's response to the Trump administration also voted to recommend a bill that would essentially block state law enforcement from participating in a federal program to train local officers as immigration enforcement agents.

Blackstone Valley Democrats eager to turn energy into action

U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern told a crowd at the Uxbridge Progressive Club Thursday night that, like pretty much all the others in the room, he was unhappy with the presidential election, the conflicts of interest, and the "tweets, the temper tantrums, the erratic behavior" coming from President Donald J. Trump. "We worry very much about our country in a way we never did before," the Worcester Democrat told some 70 people at Go Blue in the Blackstone Valley, an event hosted by the Uxbridge Democratic Town Committee to re-energize Democrats in the region. Democrats from not only Uxbridge, but Northbridge, Milford, Westboro, Douglas, Worcester, Blackstone and Charlton filled the room.

Obama said there was never a better time to be alive. Trump thinks a…

President Trump listens as he and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg participate in a news conference in the East Room of the White House on April 12. Addressing the United Nations last fall, President Obama took a moment to highlight for fellow world leaders what he called "the most important fact" about the state of the global affairs: human existence on planet Earth is good - and getting better. War is down, he said, while life expectancy is up.

Tough Texas ‘sanctuary cities’ bill moves closer to approval

A tough Texas anti-"sanctuary cities" bill that threatens to throw county sheriffs and small-town constables in jail if they refuse to help enforce federal immigration law looks to be on the fast-track toward passage in the state's Republican-controlled Legislature. The proposal cleared a House committee 7-5 without debate Wednesday, setting up a floor vote soon.

‘Full Measure’: Immigration & schools

In the debate over illegal immigrants, sanctuary cities and walls, there's a great deal of existing policy undergoing reexamination. In March, a 17- and 18-year-old who allegedly entered the country illegally and were enrolled in ninth grade were charged with raping a 14-year-old girl at their Maryland school .

Highlights from in and around the world of Texas politics

A tough Texas anti-"sanctuary cities" bill that threatens to throw county sheriffs and small-town constables in jail if they refuse to help enforce federal immigration law looks to be on the fast-track toward passage in the state's Republican-controlled Legislature. The proposal cleared a House committee 7-5 without debate Wednesday, setting up a floor vote soon.

Trump suspends weekly immigration reports including New Orleans and…

Three weeks later , the Trump administration has suspended its weekly reports listing cities and local law enforcement that "limit cooperation" with federal immigration authorities. The reports listed jurisdictions that declined Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers requesting local law enforcement to maintain custody of people living in the country illegally - New Orleans landed on that list for the New Orleans Police Department's policy to "not honor a detainer without a judicial order or criminal warrant," according to the report.

2 top Trump immigration advisers linked to alleged hate groups

Two hard-line opponents of illegal immigration who have held leadership posts at two organizations labeled as hate groups have obtained high-level advisory jobs at federal immigration agencies in the Department of Homeland Security. Jon Feere, a former legal policy analyst for the Center for Immigration Studies, or CIS, has been hired as an adviser to Thomas D. Homan, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan.

During border visit, Sessions outlines immigration plan

Attorney General Jeff Sessions toured the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday and unveiled what he described as a new get-tough approach to immigration prosecutions under President Donald Trump. The nation's top law enforcement official outlined a series of changes that he said mark the start of a new push to rid American cities and the border of what he described as "filth" brought on by drug cartels and criminal organizations.

Sessions makes case for increased criminal prosecutions of migrants at U.S. border

In an unusual move for the head of the U.S. Justice Department, Attorney General Jeff Sessions traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border to speak with Department of Homeland Security personnel on Tuesday to make the case for increased prosecutions of migrants. Sessions, a long-time proponent of tougher immigration enforcement during his time in the U.S. Senate, told U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Port of Nogales in Arizona that more illegal immigrants should be prosecuted as criminals.

In 2018, it’s Hogan’s race to lose

Gov. Larry Hogan emerged from the 2017 General Assembly session upbeat about what he had just accomplished. And why not? He came into the year with the most ambitious legislative package of his term, touching on a wide variety of issues beyond the economic and taxation themes that animated his campaign, including proposals dealing with the environment, public health, education, ethics and even paid sick leave for workers.