Congress

Fresh executive order targets sanctuary cities, federal aid for undocumented migrants

Published

1 year ago

February 20, 2025

President Donald Trump signed an immigration executive order late Wednesday designed to target sanctuary cities and ensure undocumented immigrants aren’t receiving federal benefits.

The order directs federal departments and agencies to identify any federal programs providing financial benefits to undocumented immigrants, while in the same breath acknowledging that under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, undocumented immigrants are already mostly barred from public programs.

But the order argues that the Biden administration “undercut the goal of” temporary parole authority, which allows the government to grant migrants temporary permission to live and work in the U.S., by using it too extensively. Trump has already moved to cancel this status for hundreds of thousands of migrants, and Wednesday’s order notes that under parole, undocumented migrants become “qualified non-citizens,” making them eligible for some income-based benefits after five years.

The executive order is vague, but one of the most significant impacts could come from the president’s call for his administration to impose strengthened requirements for how state and local agencies screen people who receive federal benefits, a directive that could affect people regardless of their immigration status, according to immigration advocacy groups.

Trump’s latest move also targets so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that have some limits on their cooperation with the federal government and immigration enforcement — efforts reminiscent of his first term that were the subject of significant legal battles. The president on Wednesday directed the heads of his agencies to ensure that federal funding is not facilitating illegal immigration or “sanctuary policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.”

The action marks Trump’s latest attempt to crack down on illegal immigration. The president has signed a slew of immigration actions during his first few weeks in office, several of which have already been stymied in the courts.

The order will take additional steps from the White House to implement, but it underscores Trump’s desire to deliver on his top campaign priority. Within 30 days, Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Vince Haley, the director of the Domestic Policy Council and the administrator of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, are tasked with identifying other sources of federal funding for undocumented immigrants, presenting a plan for strengthening eligibility verification system, and referring any findings of improper use of federal benefits to DHS and the DOJ.

The clampdown from the White House comes as House Republicans later this month are also poised to call a vote on the “No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act” — legislation that would target jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement priorities. Advocacy groups are casting the bill as part of a larger Republican effort to defund critical services for constituents.

Congress

‘Un-American’: Democrats attack Trump’s uneven disaster response

Published

3 minutes ago

June 17, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democratic senators Wednesday attacked President Donald Trump’s approach to disseminating disaster aid as “unconscionable,” “shameful” and “un-American.”

At a confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominee to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency, three Democrats cited an article by POLITICO showing that the president had approved 89 percent of disaster requests from Republican-led states compared to 23 percent of requests from states led by Democrats. No president has distributed disaster aid at such uneven levels going back to at least 1981, when Ronald Reagan took office.

“Denying over 75 percent of requests from states that are led by representatives of another party is unconscionable,” said Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, displaying a large poster of a chart included in the news article.

“Given this stark data, what other conclusions can one draw other than that the president is using federal disaster assistance to punish states that elect Democrats?” Peters asked Cameron Hamilton, who would be the first permanent FEMA administrator in Trump’s current term. The committee did not vote Wednesday on Hamilton’s nomination.

“The idea that Americans who need help in the wake of a tornado or a flood or a hurricane should be treated differently based upon politics is shameful. It is un-American,” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) told Hamilton.

Hamilton avoided answering questions about the discrepancy as he tried to assure senators.

“If confirmed, my focus will be to ensure that FEMA is objective, is fair and reasonable, follows the law, and is consistent in the approach to how we adjudicate claims and requests for disasters,” Hamilton told Peters.

“You still can’t answer questions about what happened while you were there,” Peters shot back, noting that Hamilton was FEMA’s acting administrator for part of 2025. “I don’t trust that that’s what you’re going to do because it didn’t seem like you did it when you were there before.”

The sharp comments came the day after 16 Democratic senators along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sent a letter to White House budget director Russ Vought citing the Blue Light News article to ask for details about every disaster request Trump has handled, including internal FEMA documents.

“There is no politicization to the President’s decisions on disaster relief,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Blue Light News’s E&E News.

Hamilton ran FEMA from the start of Trump’s term until he was fired on May 9, 2025, after contradicting the administration by testifying that FEMA provides essential services to the country. Trump and then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had said they were considering eliminating the agency.

During Hamilton’s 15 weeks at FEMA last year, Trump denied a disaster request for Washington state that had been submitted by Gov. Jay Inslee (D) in late 2024, shortly before he left office.

FEMA’s own analysis of Inslee’s request found that storms and flooding had caused $34 million in damage, which is more than double the agency’s financial threshold to qualify for disaster aid. Trump and Inslee had harshly criticized each other during Trump’s first term.

Hassan asked Hamilton what he would do if Trump rejected a request for disaster aid to punish Democrats.

“Well, that’s a very odd hypothetical. I don’t believe the president would do that. But I will tell you that my oath of office requires that I follow and obey the law,” Hamilton replied.

“You all are going to have to think about what you will do when he reverses your decision, completely based on politics, which as I said would be immoral and un-American,” Hassan replied.

Federal law gives presidents exclusive authority to approve or deny requests for disaster aid. FEMA recommends whether aid should be approved or denied based on an estimated cost of repairs.

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D) recalled what she described as an unusual action by Trump after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) sought disaster aid last year following an ice storm that demolished electricity infrastructure in northern Michigan. Trump approved some disaster aid but denied Whitmer’s request for aid to repair the damaged equipment. Trump eventually reversed his denial and approved the infrastructure aid after heavy lobbying from Michigan officials.

“It’s just hard to rationalize how many disasters have been approved for aid in Republican states versus Democratic states,” Slotkin said. “Republicans would be screaming bloody murder if the stats were reversed.”

Congress

OMB nominee touts plan to give Trump appointees power to kill grants

Published

2 hours ago

June 17, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump’s nominee for the No. 2 post at the White House budget office told lawmakers Wednesday that the administration will stop federal cash from flowing to “divisive ideologies” under new grant rules in the works.

Hal Duncan, who is seeking Senate confirmation to serve as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, said during his confirmation hearing that the White House will ensure federal grants are aligned with Trump’s priorities by changing the way more than $1 trillion is approved each year.

“The ultimate deciders of these grants will be the political employees at the agencies,” Duncan noted in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The White House proposed changes last month that would put political appointees in charge of blessing or nixing awards to state and local governments, community groups, education institutions and nonprofit organizations. The result, Duncan said, will be that the administration will more easily head off fraud and no federal dollars will go to “divisive DEI ideologies, woke gender ideologies, illegal immigration.”

The administration is expected to finalize these plans as soon as this summer.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) touted the proposal as a way to ensure federal money goes to “things that President Trump actually ran on — his causes.”

But Democrats are raising concern that the Trump administration will use the new approval process to deny federal support for groups or governments that don’t boost Trump.

“That really sounds to me like you all are trying to turn the entire federal government into this one big slush fund to reward those aligned with the administration and punish everyone else,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, told Duncan on Tuesday, during his first confirmation hearing before the Budget Committee.

Both committees must vote in the coming weeks to advance Duncan’s nomination to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote by the full chamber. He is already serving in the role as acting deputy director.

Congress

The Democratic Socialists of America are leaving it all on the field in NYC

Published

9 hours ago

June 17, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

NEW YORK — The Democratic Socialists of America are facing a reckoning in New York City — and there’s a lot on the line.

Two members of the hard-left group’s New York City chapter are running for congressional seats in this month’s primaries, vying to topple more mainstream Democrats — including one incumbent.

If the DSA’s candidates, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, prevail, it will prove the ascendent organization can capitalize on the momentum generated by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s once-improbable 2025 election win. Victories for Valdez and Avila Chevalier would expand socialist influence on Capitol Hill as the Democratic Party continues to grapple with its ideological identity after getting shellacked in the 2024 elections. And it would likely embolden the DSA to expand its political footprint — accelerating its evolution from insurgent movement to political institution.

But if one or both candidates lose, the DSA’s growth arc in New York would experience its first major dip since November, raising the prospect that the pendulum for Democrats may be swinging toward the middle. Defeat would also reflect poorly on Mamdani, who expended significant political capital to endorse Valdez and especially Avila Chevalier, who’s challenging a veteran New York congressional delegation member with deep ties to party leadership.

“Our goal is to win major races that show the Democratic Party establishment that our agenda is what working class New Yorkers demand,” Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the DSA’s New York City chapter, told Blue Light News. “The stakes couldn’t be higher for us.”

There’s a third insurgent candidate challenging an incumbent House member in New York City’s June 23 primaries: Former City Comptroller Brad Lander, who’s hoping to unseat Rep. Dan Goldman.

Lander isn’t a DSA member and hasn’t earned the group’s endorsement. But he’s campaigned to the left of Goldman, giving that primary a sense of importance for the broader progressive movement — especially since Mamdani is Lander’s top endorser.

There are currently only two members of Congress who qualify themselves as DSA comrades: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). To that end, the DSA could double its presence in Congress if both Avila Chevalier and Valdez win their races.

In a sign that the three competitive New York City primaries are important for democratic socialism on a national level, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the patriarch of the modern American left, plans to headline a rally Thursday in Brooklyn with Valdez, Avila Chevalier and Lander. Sanders — who has endorsed democratic socialist candidates across the country this year — is also expected to be joined on stage by Mamdani.

The DSA’s influence in New York has increased considerably since Mamdani’s rise, but it hasn’t been without growing pains.

Take New York’s 7th Congressional District. Valdez, a state Assembly member, is facing off against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and City Council member Julie Won in a race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

Velázquez, a matriarch of local progressive politics and an early supporter of Mamdani’s 2025 run, has soured on the mayor — and the DSA as a whole — after they threw their weight behind Valdez despite the outgoing incumbent’s wishes to be succeeded by Reynoso.

In a candidate forum last week, Reynoso, a non-DSA progressive, suggested the socialist group has turned into a “machine” with Mamdani as its “boss” — language that harkens back to an era when the heads of the city’s county parties ruled local politics and could handpick whoever they wanted for any given elected office.

“She is beholden to the powers of the new administration, the same way all political machines are,” Reynoso said of Valdez at the June 8 forum hosted by WNYC.

There are indeed aspects of the DSA’s operational structure that resemble the component parts of a political machine.

With Mamdani as its figurehead, the DSA’s leaders rarely criticize him — even when he stakes out policy positions that run afoul of their dogma — a reticence that evokes how the county bosses of yesteryear were loath to tolerate dissent among their ranks (the group did issue a rare rebuke of Mamdani last week over his support for increasing the NYPD headcount this year).

The DSA has also shown itself highly capable of deploying thousands of loyal volunteers on canvassing efforts for its preferred candidates — another hallmark of a machine.

Basil Smikle, a political scientist and former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, said the DSA is on its way to becoming a full-fledged political machine, but argued it’s not quite there yet.

“If they start creating local political clubs in individual neighborhoods, push to create its own ballot line and, frankly, just win more elections so they have more members in positions of power, that’s when it really starts to become the sort of machine that’s systemic and more similar to the old school political machines,” he said.

Frank Carone, an attorney who has been deeply involved in the Brooklyn Democratic Party for decades, said he “can certainly see why” Reynoso would draw the comparison, noting that the DSA’s canvassing prowess is undeniable.

But Carone, an ardent DSA critic and confidant of former Mayor Eric Adams, said Reynoso’s attempt to use the machine term as a cudgel against the socialist group is “bullshit.”

“Same way he did against county back then, he’s doing it against DSA now,” Carone said, referring to Reynoso’s longrunning beef with the Brooklyn Democratic Party. “Any time you’re invoking emotion to do this type of name-calling, it’s bullshit. It’s essentially cowardly.”

In an interview last Wednesday, Valdez also took a dig at Reynoso for the machine jab.

“The Brooklyn borough president doesn’t understand where DSA’s power comes from,” she said. “Our membership is the boss of this organization. We steer the ship, and it’s a misunderstanding to say there’s a single figurehead.”

As it relates to the looming election, Valdez said “the power” the DSA has built in New York won’t dissipate even if she and Avila Chevalier lose their races. If they win, “it would cement this organization as a major power-player in New York City,” said Valdez, who first joined the DSA in 2019.

Polling has been scant in the race for the 7th District, which spans gentrifying parts of Brooklyn and Queens. A PIX11 survey released on May 21 showed Valdez and Reynoso neck-and-neck, with Won far behind in third place.

Asked how much is at stake for the DSA in the race, Reynoso told Blue Light News he’s “glad to see this much energy on the left.”

“The only way any of us actually delivers for working people is by working together instead of fighting over who gets the credit,” he said. “With Trump back in the White House and ICE tearing families apart, that is the fight that matters, and I intend to be a partner to every group ready to roll up their sleeves and get something done.”

On the other side of the East River, Avila Chevalier has emerged as the DSA’s riskiest gamble this election cycle.

A first-time candidate known for her pro-Palestinian activism, Avila Chevalier is challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who has over the years built a political machine of his own in upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx.

As in the Valdez-Reynoso-Won race, there hasn’t been much polling in the contest between Espaillat and Avila Chevalier. A survey conducted last week on behalf of a pro-Espaillat super PAC found him leading Avila Chevalier by a 35-27 percentage point margin. A second poll commissioned at the beginning of this month by Justice Democrats, a progressive group supportive of Avila Chevalier, showed her beating Espaillat by a 39-35 margin, though that survey only had a sample size of 319 likely voters.

For the DSA, any momentum stands to be blunted, however, by a torrent of old social media posts from Avila Chevalier. In her since-deleted missives, she denigrated Democratic politicians, the police, Israel and private property. The posts have surfaced since Mamdani and the DSA got behind her. Espaillat and super PACs that support him have seized on her social media history, airing ads that characterize her past online screeds as evidence she’s too extreme.

“This is what it looks like when movements stop asking for a seat at the table and start building our own,” Avila Chevalier said in a statement when asked about the DSA’s impact on her campaign. “Our movement is fighting for and powered by the people, and I look forward to bringing it home for our community on June 23.”

Ironically for the DSA, Lander seems like the most potent progressive running for Congress in New York City this cycle. Polls are showing him ahead of Goldman by double digits, and he has benefited greatly from an endorsement from Mamdani, who won Goldman’s Manhattan and Brooklyn district by a wide margin in last year’s mayoral election.

The DSA generally doesn’t endorse candidates who aren’t dues-paying members. Lander, who’s Jewish, left the DSA in late 2023 over the group hosting a rally ostensibly celebrating Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack against Israel shortly after it happened.

Gordillo, the DSA co-chair, would not comment on Lander’s race. But speaking generally, he said he’s bullish about pickups in New York City.

“Last year’s mayoral election showed there’s a citywide constituency for democratic socialist politics,” he said.