Federal Appeals Court Holds That DHS Can Detain Illegal Alien Without Bond

Earlier this week, a federal appeals court held that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could detain an illegal alien without bond pending his removal proceedings after he was arrested in Minneapolis in 2025. In journeyman fashion, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals interpreted the applicable immigration laws as written and applied common sense to reach its decision.   That law, 8 U.S.C. § 1225, a nearly three-decade-old statute, requires detention without bond for “an alien who is an applicant for admission if … an alien seeking admission is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted.” This case could be a game-changer in the administration’s efforts to hold illegal aliens pending their removal…

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Tentative Senate deal reaffirms back pay, reverses RIFs for federal employees

The Senate’s initial agreement toward ending the longest-ever government shutdown includes provisions that would secure back pay for all federal employees, as well as reverse the Trump administration’s recent reductions in force. Though much is still up in the air and subject to possible changes, the early steps in the process indicate that, if the Senate bill’s current language is maintained, both excepted and furloughed federal employees would receive back pay dating to Oct. 1, the day the shutdown began. Federal employees, regardless of whether they are furloughed or excepted,…

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Beyond the Shutdown, Federal Appropriations Challenges Loom

In a press call hosted by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and the House Freedom Caucus, Republican members of Congress weighed in on the future of federal appropriations whether or not the stopgap spending continuing resolution languishing in the Senate is passed.  “Republicans have been moving their committee stuff forward as best they can, but … you can’t do everything during a government shutdown. You can’t talk about what the next one is going to be until you open it up in the first place,” Emmer told The Daily…

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Lawmakers seek to revise pay, benefits for some federal employees under shutdown

As Congress still appears far from reaching a spending agreement to end the partial government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are expecting to miss their first full paychecks this Friday. Many excepted and furloughed federal employees received partial paychecks around Oct. 10, for the pay period that ended Oct. 4 — although they were only paid for workdays through Sept. 30. But while the shutdown drags on, some members of Congress are looking at other options to try to secure pay and benefits for certain employees impacted by…

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