Appeals court grants Trump short-term win over Boasberg in immigration ruling

A U.S. appeals court agreed to pause a lower court order requiring the Trump administration to provide due process to hundreds of Venezuelan migrants deported from the U.S. to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act in a near-term victory for the Trump administration. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted the Justice Department’s request for an administrative stay, putting on hold a lower court order handed down last week by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg.

Last Wednesday, Boasberg ruled that the migrants deported solely on the basis of the Alien Enemies Act immigration law did not have prior notice of their removals or the ability to challenge their removals in court, in a violation of due process.

He ordered the Trump administration to provide migrants deported under the law the opportunity to seek habeas relief, and the opportunity to challenge their alleged gang member status that the administration had pointed to as the basis for their removal.

WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP'S DEPORTATION EFFORTS?

Boasberg had given the Trump administration through Wednesday to submit to the court plans for how it would go about providing habeas relief to the plaintiffs in CECOT, the maximum security prison in El Salvador. 

This week, lawyers for the Trump administration filed an emergency motion to stay the ruling in both the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday, one day before that plan was due, seeking additional time to respond to the underlying merits of Boasberg’s ruling.

Justice Department officials argued that Boasberg did not have jurisdiction in the case, as the migrants are detained in El Salvador, and said his order interfered "with the president’s removal of dangerous criminal aliens from the United States."

Boasberg's final order last week did not attempt to determine who had jurisdiction. Instead, he set the matter aside, and said the individuals could remain in custody at CECOT, so long as the government submitted plans to the court for how they would be provided a chance to challenge their removal under the Alien Enemies Act.

The Trump administration still took umbrage with that ruling, which it blasted earlier this week in their appeal as "unprecedented, baseless and constitutionally offensive."

SUPREME COURT GRANTS TRUMP REQUEST TO LIFT STAY HALTING VENEZUELAN DEPORTATIONS

"The district court’s increasingly fantastical injunctions continue to threaten serious harm to the government’s national-security and foreign-affairs interests," they told the circuit court. 

The court "correctly ruled that the United States lacks constructive custody over the aliens held at CECOT and therefore that this Court lacks jurisdiction over their habeas claims," attorneys for the Justice Department said in their motion. "That should have been the end of this case."

That order sparked fierce backlash from senior Trump officials, who have blasted Bosaberg and other federal judges who have ruled in ways unfavorable to them as "activist judges."

Boasberg, however, was the first federal judge to try to block Trump's attempt to use the law to summarily deport certain migrants to El Salvador earlier this year, putting him squarely in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. 

On March 15, he granted a temporary restraining order attempting to block the first wave of deportation flights to El Salvador, and ordered the administration to "immediately" return to the U.S. all planes that had already departed.

That did not happen, however, and the planes landed hours later in El Salvador.

In the months since, Boasberg attempted to hold various fact-finding hearings to determine who knew what, and when, about the flights. 

He later found probable cause to hold the administration in contempt of the court, citing the government's "willful disregard" for his March 15 emergency order, though those proceedings were later halted by a federal appeals court.

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Hegseth spars with Senate Democrats over Marine deployment to LA anti-ICE riots: 'Not about lethality'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparred with Democratic senators during a hearing Wednesday about the Trump administration's deployment of 700 Marines to Los Angeles amid the ongoing anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots. 

In his opening statement before the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Hegseth reiterated how President Donald Trump charged him to focus on restoring "warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards and readiness" to the Department of Defense – a point Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., later honed in on during his line of questioning for the secretary. 

Reed noted that the Trump administration federalized 4,000 California National Guard members and deployed 700 Marines to Los Angeles. 

Reed said what is happening in Los Angeles comes in addition to the approximately 11,000 military personnel, including active duty soldiers and National Guard members, who have deployed to the southern border in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection – a figure which Hegseth corrected. The Defense secretary said some 13,000 military personnel have deployed to the southern border and that he has visited those troops several times. 

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"People will say that mobilization hurts readiness. When you talk to them, it actually improves their readiness," Hegseth said. 

Reed told Hegseth, "Your whole ethic seems to be revolved on the lethality of the military force. How is this operation with Marines and National Guardsmen improving their lethality?

"Readiness and training and accountability is all about lethality," Hegseth said. "The more ready you are, the more capable you are, the more accountable you are, the higher your standards are, it all makes you more lethal." 

"The mission in Los Angeles, as you know well, sir, is not about lethality," the secretary continued. "It's about maintaining law and order on behalf of law enforcement agents who deserve to do their job without being attacked by mobs of people. We are very proud that the National Guard and the Marines are on the streets defending the ICE agents, and they will continue." 

A Defense official told Fox News that the Marines who arrived in Los Angeles are an infantry unit and are still undergoing training, including in nonlethal weapons and use of force protocols in a domestic setting, at Seal Beach. They have not yet been tapped to respond to street demonstrations as of Wednesday morning.

Reed argued that "law and order is a civil function under the Constitution," but Hegseth said that "there is plenty of precedent for the U.S. supporting law enforcement officers." 

"What your military is doing right now is laying concertina wire, guarding buildings, maintaining vehicles for other services," Reed said. "This is not only, I think, illegal, but also a diminution of the readiness and the focus of the military." 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the Trump administration for federalizing the National Guard to respond to the riots and for tapping the Marines. A federal judge on Tuesday night declined California's request for an immediate restraining order to block Trump's use of military personnel and scheduled a court hearing to further weigh the legality of the matter for Thursday. 

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In a separate line of questioning at the Senate hearing Wednesday, Hegseth said Newsom "wants to play politics." 

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, had asked another witness, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. John D. Caine, if the United States had been "invaded by a foreign nation" or if "there is a rebellion somewhere in the United States." 

Caine deferred to the Department of Homeland Security to answer border-related questions in terms of a potential invasion and added on the question of a rebellion that, "there are certainly some frustrated folks out there." 

"It’s quite easy to point out that there has been an invasion of 21 million illegals in our country under the previous administration, so this administration was elected to get a hold of that," Hegseth added. "And when you have ICE officers being attacked with concrete blocks, they should be allowed to do their jobs." 

Schatz interjected, telling Hegseth he would "really like not to create a viral moment." 

The senator said he was trying to "understand the scope of the order," which, he says, does not specify a location or which Marines or which Guard members would be mobilized. 

"Did you just mobilize every guard everywhere and every service member everywhere? I mean, create the framework for that," Schatz said. 

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Hegseth said an initial order federalized 2,000 National Guard troops in California and there was a follow-up order for an additional 2,000 members because the situation there "required more resources in order to support law enforcement." 

"So part of it is getting ahead of a problem, so that if in other places, if there are other riots in places where law enforcement officers are threatened, we would have the capability to surge National Guard there if necessary," Hegseth said. "And thankfully, in most of those states, you'd have a governor that recognizes the need for it, supports it, and mobilizes it, him or herself. In California, unfortunately, the governor wants to play politics with it." 

Fox News' Liz Friden contributed to this report.

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From Rodney King riots to LA today: When presidents have deployed troops inside the US

President Donald Trump drew sharp criticism from Democrats when he mobilized U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in response to anti-immigration enforcement riots. 

The battalion of about 700 Marines has stationed itself near the city, ready to respond but has not yet done so. If called in, they will be armed with shields and batons but will not have the authority to arrest. 

The move, while rare, is not without precedent. Under the Insurrection Act, presidents have historically deployed active duty forces during moments of national emergency – despite long-standing legal restrictions under the Posse Comitatus Act.

Here is a look back at key moments when commanders in chief ordered troops into American cities to restore order.

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After a jury acquitted four LAPD officers in the brutal beating of Rodney King, riots erupted across Los Angeles. The chaos prompted then-California Gov. Pete Wilson to request federal assistance.

Then-President George H.W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act, deploying 4,000 U.S. Army soldiers and 1,500 Marines in addition to National Guardsmen. The riots left more than 60 people dead, thousands injured and large swaths of the city burned.

Bush condemned the violence in a televised address.

"What followed Wednesday's jury verdict in the Rodney King case was a tragic series of events… nearly 4,000 fires, staggering property damage, hundreds of injuries, and the senseless deaths of over 30 people."

A notable incident underscored the challenges of military-civilian coordination. During a tense exchange, a police officer reportedly yelled "Cover me!" to nearby Marines, asking them to watch his back during a domestic disturbance response. Trained in combat response, they misunderstood the command and fired over 200 rounds into a house, believing they were providing covering fire, according to an article printed in an Army War College publication. 

The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sparked violent unrest in dozens of U.S. cities. The most intense rioting took place in the nation’s capital.

Then-President Lyndon B. Johnson deployed 13,000 federal troops, including active duty Army units, to Washington, D.C., on April 5, 1968. Soldiers patrolled streets, enforced curfews and restored calm within days.

One of the most violent civil disturbances in U.S. history broke out after a police raid on an unlicensed bar in Detroit. The five-day riot left 43 dead, more than 1,000 injured and 400 buildings destroyed.

Then-Michigan Gov. George Romney called in 8,000 National Guardsmen. Johnson followed by deploying 4,700 federal troops from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions to support overwhelmed local forces.

POSSE COMITATUS ACT AT CENTER OF TRUMP-NEWSOM NATIONAL GUARD DISPUTE IN LA

Three years after Brown v. Board of Education declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional, nine Black students attempted to enroll at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas.

Then-Gov. Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block their entry. In response, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Guard, ordering them instead to protect the children and quell unrest around the school, and dispatched the 101st Airborne Division to escort the students safely into school. It marked the first time since Reconstruction that federal troops were sent to enforce civil rights.

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During the Civil War, the Union’s first draft law allowed wealthy men to pay $300 to avoid military service—sparking resentment among working-class Irish immigrants.

The protests quickly descended into four days of racially charged riots, with mobs targeting Black Americans and overwhelming local police. Then-President Abraham Lincoln redirected battle-hardened Union troops from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to quell the violence.

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Man found guilty in shooting death of New Jersey councilwoman

A New Jersey jury convicted Rashid Ali Bynum of murder on Monday in the gunning down of a Republican councilwoman earlier this year.

The victim, Eunice Dwumfour, was serving as the first Black member of the Sayreville city council. Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Joseph Paone has set Bynum's sentencing date for Aug. 18. He faces 30 years to life in prison.

Bynum was a member of Dwumfour's congregation years ago, according to Christian Onuoha, who was Dwumfour's colleague on the borough council and also a member of her church.

"She was his pastor around 2018," he told Fox News Digital. "That was the last time any of us remember seeing him."

EUNICE DWUMFOUR MURDER: NEW JERSEY POLICE ARREST MAN MONTHS AFTER SLAYING OF REPUBLICAN COUNCILWOMAN

Bynum has a lengthy rap sheet, including allegations of fraud, forgery and theft stretching back to 2013, the records reveal. He faced firearms charges in Virginia in 2015 and again in Maryland in 2019.

In the 2015 case, he pleaded guilty to illegally carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor, and received a sentence of three years' probation, court records show.

Dwumfour's husband, Peter Akwue, also known as Eze Kings and a pastor in the church but based in Africa, told Fox News Digital last month that he did not know Bynum.

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The 30-year-old Dwumfour was a former EMT, an IT consultant and active in her local church as well as in nonprofit groups and was on the Sayreville Borough Council's Human Relations Commission, serving at-risk communities.

She won an upset election as a new candidate in November 2021 over the incumbent Democrat.

Police found her riddled with gunshot wounds in her white Nissan SUV around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2023.

Bynum was originally arrested in late May in his home in Chesapeake City, Virginia. He was then transferred to New Jersey.

Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

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Johnson says Hegseth possibly sending Marines to anti-ICE riots not heavy-handed: 'Deterring effect'

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's suggestion that he could send U.S. Marines to quell anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots in Los Angeles would not be a heavy-handed approach. 

In an appearance on ABC’s "This Week," Johnson was asked to respond to President Donald Trump sending in National Guard troops to Los Angeles. 

Trump said he would pursue the federal government taking control of the California National Guard if Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass "can’t do their jobs" to protect Los Angeles against rioting and looting. 

"I have no concern about that at all," Johnson told ABC host Jonathan Karl. "I think the president did exactly what he needed to do. These are federal laws and we have to maintain the rule of law, and that is not what is happening. Gavin Newsom has shown an inability or an unwillingness to do what is necessary there, so the president stepped in. That’s real leadership, and he has the authority and the responsibility to do it." 

PRESIDENT TRUMP SENDS NATIONAL GUARD AS VIOLENT ANTI-ICE RIOTS ERUPT IN LOS ANGELES

Karl also asked about a message posted by Hegseth, who wrote on X Saturday that the Department of Defense was mobilizing the National Guard "IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angles," and "if the violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized – they are on high alert."

"One of our core principles is maintaining peace through strength," Johnson said in response Sunday. "We do that on foreign affairs and domestic affairs as well. I don’t think that’s heavy-handed. I think that’s an important signal…." 

"You don’t think sending the Marines into the streets of an American city is heavy-handed?" Karl interjected. 

"We have to be prepared to do what is necessary, and I think the notice that that might happen might have the deterring effect," Johnson said. 

Newsom responded to Hegseth's threat on X, writing: "The Secretary of Defense is now threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens. This is deranged behavior." 

"Deranged = allowing your city to burn & law enforcement to be attacked," Hegseth hit back Sunday morning. "There is plenty of room for peaceful protest, but ZERO tolerance for attacking federal agents who are doing their job."

"The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE," the defense secretary added. 

In his initial message Saturday, Hegseth said, "The violent mob assaults on ICE and Federal Law Enforcement are designed to prevent the removal of Criminal Illegal Aliens from our soil; a dangerous invasion facilitated by criminal cartels (aka Foreign Terrorist Organizations) and a huge NATIONAL SECURITY RISK. Under President Trump, violence & destruction against federal agents & federal facilities will NOT be tolerated. It’s COMMON SENSE." 

Generally, the U.S. military is not allowed to carry out civilian law enforcement duties against U.S. citizens except in times of emergency.

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An 18th-century wartime law called the Insurrection Act is the main legal mechanism that a president can use to activate the military or National Guard during times of rebellion or unrest. But Trump didn’t invoke the Insurrection Act on Saturday.

Instead, the president's memorandum called "into Federal service members and units of the National Guard under 10 U.S.C. 12406 to temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions, including the enforcement of Federal law, and to protect Federal property, at locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur based on current threat assessments and planned operations." 

The federal law cited in the memo allows the president to federalize National Guard troops under three circumstances: When the U.S. is invaded or in danger of invasion; when there is a rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the U.S. government, or when the president is unable to "execute the laws of the United States," with regular forces. But the law also says that orders for those purposes "shall be issued through the governors of the States." 

The National Guard is a hybrid entity that serves both state and federal interests. 

It’s not immediately clear if the president can activate National Guard troops without the order of that state’s governor. 

It's also not clear if military personnel can be deployed. 

Under the Posse Comitatus Act, troops under federal orders cannot be used for domestic law enforcement, but units under state control can. Enacted in the late 1800s during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, the federal law limits the powers of the federal government to deploy the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement reasons "except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress." 

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Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act during the height of 2020 rioting in the wake of George Floyd's death, but ultimately did not do so. He did deploy federal agents to several U.S. cities, including Portland, where rioters attempted to breach a federal courthouse, clashing with law enforcement officers and targeting the building with Molotov cocktails and other projectiles for over 100 consecutive nights.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ruthless England seal series clean sweep v Windies

Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt finishes unbeaten on 57 as England thrash West Indies by nine wickets at Taunton to secure a series clean sweep.

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Billy Joel jokes about aging, cremation after brain disorder diagnosis

Legendary singer Billy Joel is remaining in good spirits despite his serious health battle. 

While Joel, 76, was notably absent from the premiere of his new documentary, "And So It Goes," due to his brain disorder diagnosis, he made sure to send fans a message. 

"Billy wishes he were here tonight, and he asked us to convey his greetings to you all," director Susan Lacy, along with Jessica Levin shared with the crowd at the Tribeca Film Festival, according to Variety.

BILLY JOEL OPENS UP ABOUT AFFAIR THAT LED TO TWO SUICIDE ATTEMPTS

"He said ‘getting old sucks, but it’s still preferable to getting cremated’, Joel said in his message to fans. 

"He will be back," Lacy added. 

As the "Piano Man" had been sidelined by his health, Joel made sure to send fans a message that was equal parts heartfelt and darkly humorous. It’s the first public message from Joel since news broke of his brain disorder diagnosis.

BILLY JOEL CANCELS ALL CONCERTS DUE TO BRAIN DISORDER DIAGNOSIS

On May 23, Joel announced he was canceling all his shows since he'd been diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), which affects his vision, hearing and balance. According to Yale Medicine, it is a rare condition.

NPH is a condition that happens when cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside the skull and presses on the brain. This condition is most likely to occur in people over 65. Treating this condition involves surgery to implant a shunt to drain excess fluid from the inside of the skull, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

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The singer-songwriter took to his social media to share a statement with his fans.

"This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance," it read in part.

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"Under his doctor’s instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period. Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritizing his health."

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Joel concluded, "I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you for understanding."

His wife, Alexis Roderick Joel, shared a statement with Fox News Digital.

"Thank you for the outpouring of love and support. We are so grateful for the wonderful care and swift diagnosis we received. Bill is beloved by many, and to us, he is a father and husband who is at the center of our world. We are hopeful for his recovery. We look forward to seeing you all in the future," she said.

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