Trump Is Reviving a WWII-Era National Immigration Registry
[link removed]

As Donald Trump pushes increasingly extreme measures to advance his mass deportation agenda, the risk of abuse and civil rights violations for immigrants and people of color continues to mount. And one such measure is the president’s directive for a national registry of all immigrants, for use by immigration enforcement.
* Trump signed an executive order ([link removed]) on his first day back in office that directed DHS to enforce an obscure and discredited provision of the 1940 Alien Registration Act — used to help facilitate the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II — to force millions of noncitizens to register.
* A national registry of non-citizens forces immigrants to make a difficult decision, advocacy groups ([link removed]) say ([link removed]) , between being punished and detained for failing to register or seeing their registry information used to locate or detain them.


On Thursday, we sued multiple immigration enforcement agencies ([link removed]) for records that could shed light on Trump’s revival of the WWII-era law, including any directives or guidance related to the policy.
* Our lawsuit ([link removed]) against DHS, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services seeks records that would help explain how the registration provision is being implemented, what its anticipated effects on immigrant communities are, and whether it is being used as a pretext for mass detainment and deportations.
* As our lawsuit notes, exploiting immigrants’ efforts to comply with the law “belies the Administration’s claims that their mass deportation agenda focuses on dangerous criminals.”


That suit is one of hundreds filed against the administration since Trump reentered the White House, with cases related to his anti-immigrant efforts at the forefront. And many of those cases, too, have been the subject of the administration’s brazen defiance of judicial orders.
* A new Washington Post ([link removed]) analysis of 337 lawsuits against the administration found that courts ruled against it in 165 cases — and that the administration is accused of defying or frustrating court orders in 57 of those cases, a rate of about 35 percent.
* The findings underscore a dangerous and unprecedented pattern that undermines our legal system and the power of the judicial branch, and could ultimately lead to the collapse of the system of checks and balances that keeps our government accountable to the people.
* In her dissent of the Supreme Court’s decision last month allowing Trump to continue carrying out third-country deportations, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote ([link removed]) , “The Government has made clear in word and deed that it feels itself unconstrained by law, free to deport anyone anywhere without notice or an opportunity to be heard.” The dissent, also signed by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown-Jackson, said the court’s ruling “expos[ed] thousands to the risk of torture or death.”


The administration’s disdain for the rule of law is also evident in Trump’s nomination of Emil Bove ([link removed]) , a top Justice Department official, to a federal judgeship. According to recent whistleblower allegations ([link removed]) , Bove had suggested willfully violating court orders that would slow or stop deportations.
* On Thursday, the Senate advanced ([link removed]) Bove’s nomination to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to a final vote.
* We’re suing ([link removed]) for records that could shed light on Bove’s actions at the Justice Department, and have renewed our request ([link removed]) for a formal bar investigation of Bove’s potential misconduct.


Hegseth Must Resign

The Washington Post ([link removed]) reported this week that the Pentagon inspector general had evidence that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s messages in the famous Signalgate group chat ([link removed]) used to coordinate a bombing campaign in Yemen had originated from a classified email — directly contradicting Hegseth and the Trump administration’s claims that no classified information had been shared.
* American Oversight called for Hegseth’s resignation ([link removed]) in response to the report. “Pete Hegseth risked our national security, endangered the lives of our brave men and women in uniform, and repeatedly lied about it to the American people. He must resign,” our executive director Chioma Chukwu said.
* “Hegseth’s actions undermine our national defense, violate the law, and betray the oath he swore to uphold. His continued leadership at the Pentagon and service in the administration is not just indefensible — it is dangerous,” Chukwu continued. “He must step down or be removed from office immediately.”


We’ve been investigating Hegseth’s ([link removed]) problematic record-keeping practices and chaotic management at the Defense Department. The latest revelations about the reckless sharing of classified information is an alarming demonstration of his brazen disdain for the rules and protocols government officials are required — and trusted — to follow.
* The news about the inspector general’s investigation showcases the important role such independent agency watchdogs — who have long been targeted by Trump ([link removed]) — play in holding our leaders accountable. It also might not have been possible were it not for us having successfully obtained a court order ([link removed]) in late March protecting the messages from automatic deletion.
* Our ongoing ([link removed]) litigation ([link removed]) against Hegseth and other cabinet members seeks to prevent any further destruction of important records related to the administration’s problematic and widespread use of Signal.



** On the Records
------------------------------------------------------------


Behind Texas’s DHS Voter Citizenship Check Agreement

Records ([link removed]) we obtained from the Texas secretary of state’s office, reported on by the Texas Tribune ([link removed]) , reveal multiple changes ([link removed]) made to a previously unseen final agreement allowing the office to check voters’ citizenship status using a DHS data service known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE ([link removed]) ). The tool has recently been expanded under Trump in the service of his lies about non-citizen voting and election fraud. Several of the edits made during drafting of the agreement, which was signed in March, appear to reverse key voter protections.
* One edit weakened a requirement for voters to be provided notice and due process before their voting rights are threatened, limiting outreach to “only if necessary,” instead of requiring it in every case, and replacing the words “right to vote” with vague language about voter roll maintenance.
* The records included emails revealing that, as of May, Texas had uploaded at least 1,657 voter records for citizenship checks through SAVE, with nearly 20 percent producing errors, making the lack of due process all the more alarming.


SAVE ([link removed]) has been used for years to determine immigrants’ eligibility for government benefits. Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order ([link removed]) directing DHS to provide states free access to SAVE to check registered voters’ citizenship statuses.
* Multiple states have since entered agreements with DHS allowing election officials to use the tool — raising the risk of potential voter disenfranchisement.
* The records ([link removed]) also include emails from the Ohio secretary of state’s office, which reached out to Texas in January to discuss the SAVE system and followed up in March about “state to state voter data sharing.”


** Other Stories We’re Following
------------------------------------------------------------


**
------------------------------------------------------------

Trump Administration Accountability
* Trump officials accused of defying 1 in 3 judges who ruled against him (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Trump installs new GSA acting administrator, sidelines DOGE leaders (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Trump denies he will cut Elon Musk’s federal subsidies (Politico ([link removed]) )
* High-ranking DOGE official and Elon Musk ally, Antonio Gracias, has left government (NBC News ([link removed]) )
* Trump's new AI policies keep culture war focus on tech companies (NPR ([link removed]) )
* Trump administration looking to slash environmental protection rules for rocket launches (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* Pentagon suspends participation in think tank events (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Kennedy rescinds endorsements for some flu vaccines (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* IRS considers eliminating non-English language tax services (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Marines will begin withdrawing from Los Angeles (New York Times ([link removed]) )


Voting Rights
* U.S. Department of Justice seeks Wisconsin voter registration data and information on fraud (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )
* Trump’s Justice Department seeks voter rolls from Michigan, a key battleground (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Supreme Court keeps a pause for now on a ruling that weakens the Voting Rights Act (NPR ([link removed]) )


State and National News
* What happens when someone dies inside one of America’s worst jails? (Marshall Project ([link removed]) )
* NJ public defender’s office sues over ‘secret’ state police DNA database (New Jersey Monitor ([link removed]) )

* Justice Department told Trump in May that his name is among many in the Epstein files (Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) )
* Supreme Court lets Trump fire consumer product safety regulators (New York Times ([link removed]) )


LGBTQ+ Rights
* U.S. Olympic officials bar transgender women from women’s competitions (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Hospitals are limiting gender treatment for trans minors, even in blue states (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* Children’s National Hospital to end gender-transition care (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* Kaiser Permanente to pause gender-affirming surgeries for patients under age 19 (San Francisco Chronicle ([link removed]) )
* Yale New Haven Health to cut youth gender-affirming care services (Connecticut Mirror ([link removed]) )
* Kim Davis again asks Supreme Court to hear her case, hopes to overturn gay marriage (Lexington Herald-Leader ([link removed]) )


Abortion and Reproductive Rights
* Under Trump, a new focus for a birth control program: helping women get pregnant (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* The FDA held a misinformation fest about antidepressants in pregnancy (Mother Jones ([link removed]) )
* Missouri AG sues Planned Parenthood for allegedly lying about dangers of abortion drugs (The Hill ([link removed]) )
* Telehealth abortion access could be challenged nationwide in new lawsuit (19th News ([link removed]) )
* Reproductive rights groups revive abortion aid in Alabama after court victory (Alabama Reflector ([link removed]) )


Threats to Education
* White House eyeing education cuts for next funding clawback package (Politico ([link removed]) )
* Department Of Education suspends student loan forgiveness under IBR (Forbes ([link removed]) )
* Columbia to pay $221 million in federal settlement over discrimination probes (Gothamist ([link removed]) )
* Federal funding uncertainty risks destroying adult education programs in SD, directors say (South Dakota Searchlight ([link removed]) )
* The man who brought you Trump bibles in schools is truly back at it again (Slate ([link removed]) )


Government Transparency and Public Records Law
* Nearly 300 pages of Atlanta’s ‘Cop City’ records released after first-of-its-kind ruling (Guardian ([link removed]) )
* FOILED again: How NY police put up barriers to accessing free public records (Poughkeepsie Journal ([link removed]) )


Immigration
* The men Trump deported to a Salvadoran prison (ProPublica ([link removed]) )
* Louisville dropping ‘sanctuary city’ policy (The Hill ([link removed]) )
* Inside ICE’s supercharged facial recognition app of 200 million images (404 Media ([link removed]) )
* Border Patrol hiring spree offers lessons as another immigration agency embarks on massive growth (Associated Press ([link removed]) )
* 2,000 National Guard troops expected to be called up to assist at ICE detention facilities, sources say (CNN ([link removed]) )
* Feds make it a crime to give PPE to ICE protesters (Intercept ([link removed]) )
* ICE moves to shackle some 180,000 immigrants with GPS ankle monitors (Washington Post ([link removed]) )
* 20 states sue over federal effort to deny migrants access to safety net (New York Times ([link removed]) )
* ICE arrests in Wisconsin double under Trump, sharpest jump involves people without criminal records (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed]) )
* Trump sues NYC over ‘sanctuary city’ policies (Politico ([link removed]) )

Donate to American Oversight ([link removed])

Thank you again for following our latest news. We are grateful for your support and for helping us hold government accountable.
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] Tweet ([link removed])
American Oversight
1030 15th Street NW
Suite B255
Washington, DC xxxxxx
USA
unsubscribe ([link removed])