Democratic lawmakers have called for more formalized steps to prevent the US government from deporting people to countries where their lives would be in danger or they could be subject to torture. The call comes after the US Supreme Court on Tuesday lifted restrictions on the deportations of immigrants to countries that are not their own, while agreeing to hear the issue on its merits in December.
'Indefensible' Decision
Rob Menendez, a congressional Democrat, called the Supreme Court's decision "indefensible," adding: "Taxpayers shouldn't fund tearing people from the only home they've ever known, nor should our legal system fast-track these unilateral deportations." The conservative-dominated high court granted an emergency request by the Trump administration to suspend a lower court ruling that restricted, but did not outright ban, so-called "third-country removals."
Lawmakers Push for Protections
After the ruling, Democratic lawmakers pushed for the tightening of protections to prevent such deportations where lives could be at risk and to uphold due process. "Congress must step in. No one should be shipped off to a country that is not their own without basic due process and a meaningful opportunity to raise legitimate fears for their safety," House Democrat Lois Frankel said on X.
The Trump administration has defended third-country deportations as necessary since the home nations of some of those who are targeted for removal sometimes refuse to accept them.
Other Developments
Donald Trump announced that the heads of the largest US tech and AI companies had signed on to a "morally binding" agreement to put controls on artificial intelligence. Trump did not give further details on the controls, but he suggested that the deal would allow the companies to largely "self-police" their products and technology. Later, Trump signed an executive order calling for "artificial intelligence" to be renamed "super intelligence."
Jack Smith faced Senate lawmakers on the judiciary committee for a contentious hearing that saw a number of Republicans accuse the former special prosecutor of perjury, and conducting a political witch-hunt against Trump when he secured two indictments against the president that were later dismissed when he took office.
A Republican senator blocked a bipartisan bill that would have prevented Donald Trump from demolishing the Kennedy Center without the approval of Congress. Mike Lee, of Utah, objected when the Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley asked the Senate to pass the Protecting Presidential Memorials Act by unanimous consent.
The US Senate rejected along mostly party lines a Democratic resolution that would have forced the state department to report to Congress on violence in the occupied West Bank, including the killings of nine American citizens by Israeli settlers or security forces over the last few years.
JD Vance and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr spoke at the conclusion of the Make America Healthy Again summit in Washington. Several reporters were denied entry to the event.
Federal prosecutors have charged a Venezuelan delivery driver shot by ICE agents in Texas this month with one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer. Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, was shot by federal immigration officers after a traffic stop in Texas on 20 September. The charge echoes similar claims federal immigration officers have made about immigrants and anti-ICE protesters, including Minnesota mother Renee Good, "weaponizing their vehicles."
