Center Square

With the U.S. Senate sending a roughly $180 billion funding package to the president’s desk Thursday, Congress has now knocked out half of the annual appropriations bills funding federal agencies in fiscal year 2026.
The three-bill minibus, which passed the House last week, grants full-year appropriations for the departments of Commerce; Justice; Energy; Interior; the Environmental Protection Agency, and more.
“For too many years, we’ve had massive omnibus bills written behind closed doors. That’s not how I want to operate,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told lawmakers Thursday. “My hope is that we’ll be able to build on the progress we’ve made this past year to get the appropriations process back to what it should be – an open process that every senator can participate in.”
Among other things, the minibus provides $37 billion for the Department of Justice, $63 billion for water and energy infrastructure, $8.8 billion for the EPA, and $25 billion for the National Nuclear Safety Administration.
Although both parties made compromises, they also scored wins. Democrats are celebrating billions allocated for scientific research, including climate research, while Republicans are highlighting the increased funds for drug enforcement programs.
Lawmakers’ work is far from over, however. Congress has until Jan. 30 to pass the remaining six appropriations bills or else risk a government shutdown.
In order to have a chance of meeting that deadline, the Senate must pass and send to the president’s desk another House-passed minibus by the end of this week, before the upper chamber takes a week-long break.
If they do so, Congress will have knocked out eight appropriations bills, leaving only the last four, which are also the thorniest. According to Thune, appropriators are already assembling those bills into a minibus.
Lawmakers have little appetite for another government closure after the record 43-day shutdown last year, but it is unlikely they will pass all 12 bills by Jan. 30.
Instead, they will likely pass a funding stopgap covering whichever appropriations bills remain unpassed by that deadline to buy themselves more time to finish the funding process.

Banks are pushing back against renewed efforts to cap interest rates for consumers, after President Donald Trump endorsed the move as he seeks to show Americans he’s working to make life in America more affordable ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Trump recently called for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates for a year and has endorsed the bipartisan Credit Card Competition Act, which would require big banks to enable at least two unaffiliated card networks, including one other than Visa or Mastercard. The goal is to increase competition and lower swipe fees, which credit card issuers charge to process transactions. Retailers, including the National Retail Federation, support the Credit Card Competition Act.
The president said banks are overcharging.
“We will no longer let the American Public be ‘ripped off’ by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%, and even more, which festered unimpeded during the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration. AFFORDABILITY!,” Trump wrote in a recent social media post.
The president also encouraged Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act to “stop the out of control Swipe Fee ripoff.”
The American Bankers Association and other credit card issuers called the measure “misguided” and a “surefire way to make life less affordable for Americans.” The group also said the measure would spell the end of credit card reward programs.
“Lawmakers have rightly rejected past attempts at legislation and amendments to mandate the reengineering of the nation’s trusted, resilient and efficient credit card payments system just to boost the profits of the nation’s largest retailers,” a coalition of banking groups wrote in a statement. “This Congress should again reject this harmful proposal. Anyone supporting Durbin-Marshall is voting to make credit card transactions less secure and to take away the credit card reward programs that make life more affordable for millions of Americans.”
U.S. Sens. Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, reintroduced the Credit Card Competition Act to end “the Visa-Mastercard duopoly that is squeezing small businesses – and, ultimately, consumers.”
Marshall and Durbin said Visa and Mastercard control about 85% of the credit card market and won’t negotiate with retailers. They said the average American family pays nearly $1,200 per year in swipe fees, while banks take in $111.2 billion annually from swipe fees.
“The average American family is being ripped off by Big Banks, who profit billions from swipe fees while hardworking Americans pay the price. It’s time to bring real competition to a credit card network market dominated by Visa and Mastercard – and drive down the cost of everyday goods,” Marshall said.
Tommy Aiello, senior director of government affairs at the National Taxpayers Union, said the Credit Card Competition Act could hurt consumers if card issuers are forced to charge higher fees, cut popular reward programs or limit access to credit. He said Trump’s endorsement changed the tone of talks in Washington.
“The president throwing his support out there is definitely dropping a bomb on what was a pretty stagnant conversation,” Aiello told The Center Square.
Trump also said that next Tuesday he would call for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates for one year.
Aiello said price caps have backfired in the past, pointing to gasoline shortages in the 1970s. If Trump were to issue an executive order on cap credit card interest rates, Aiello said he’d expect a legal challenge. He also said the cap wouldn’t help the millions of Americans who don’t carry credit card balances.

A Texas lawmaker is calling for the state legislature to hold hearings on actions the legislature can take to ban Sharia law in the state.
He did so as a new Rasmussen poll published Thursday finding, “The influence of radical Islam in the United States is a cause for concern for a majority of voters, who oppose Muslims forming separate communities here.”
U.S. Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, has called on House Speaker Dustin Burrow, R-Lubbock, to hold interim legislative hearings “to combat Sharia law” in Texas.
The Texas legislature meets every two years and passed hundreds of bills last year, including during special legislative sessions, The Center Square reported. In the interim year between legislative sessions, legislative committees hold hearings and lawmakers begin working on bills for the next legislative term. Next year, both Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have cited property tax reform as a primary agenda for the legislature to address. Both have also proposed competing plans they claim will reduce, and in some cases, eliminate, property taxes, The Center Square reported.
Harrison is also requesting Burrows call for interim hearings to be held to address other issues, including eliminating property taxes, “saving Christian camps,” stopping taxpayer funded “DEI, LGBTQ indoctrination, and liberal Hollywood,” repealing “all excessive spending increases from previous bloated budgets” and banning “taxpayer funded lobbying.”
“Texas is the line in the sand for the future of our country and the future of Western Civilization,” Harrison wrote Burrows. “Bold, conservative leadership from the Texas government has never been more necessary.”
Addressing these issues now are necessary, he says, because last year “the Texas House failed to act on the most pressing issues facing Texans during three sessions.” The governor, lieutenant governor and speaker have all argued the legislature passed a conservative agenda, including passing school choice for the first time in Texas history.
“The House should spend the interim exercising our oversight responsibilities and advancing solutions,” including to “combat the threat from Sharia law in Texas,” Harrison said. “Despite public statements to the contrary, Texas has NOT banned Sharia within our borders. We must explore options to end taxpayer funding, expand prohibitions on Sharia courts to all parts of the Texas code, close loopholes such as the statutory exemption that protected EPIC City, legislatively designate CAIR and Muslim Brotherhood as terror organizations, and gather input.”
Harrison made the plea after Texas leaders are already leading on the issue nationally, The Center Square reported. Abbott has taken multiple actions, including designating CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, launching criminal investigations into them and calling on the U.S. Treasury Department to take action. A Texas mayor has banned Sharia law and the state comptroller has held school choice applications submitted by private schools with potential connections to foreign adversaries, including to Sharia law. Texas congressional members also launched a Sharia Caucus.
The Republican Party of Texas included banning Sharia law in Texas as a proposition on the March Republican primary ballot, The Center Square reported.
According to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey released Thursday, 77% of likely U.S. voters are concerned about the influence of radical Islam in America; 41% say they are very concerned. Only 18% polled say they “aren’t concerned about radical Islam.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order designating the Muslim Brotherhood and its chapters as foreign terrorist organizations, The Center Square reported.

The U.S. plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030 to prepare for future missions to Mars.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy will work together to develop a lunar surface reactor. The agreement advances President Donald Trump’s plan for space superiority, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said.
“America is committed to returning to the Moon, building the infrastructure to stay, and making the investments required for the next giant leap to Mars and beyond,” he said. “Achieving this future requires harnessing nuclear power.”
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said the project “will be one of the greatest technical achievements in the history of nuclear energy and space exploration.”
The goal is to build the reactor and have it operational by 2030.
A cost estimate wasn’t immediately available. A NASA spokesperson said funding for the nuclear project is part of ongoing agency budget work.
NASA and DOE said the fission surface power system would “produce safe, efficient, and plentiful electrical power that will be able to operate for years without the need to refuel.”
“The deployment of a lunar surface reactor will enable future sustained lunar missions by providing continuous and abundant power, regardless of sunlight or temperature,” according to NASA.
Overall, the multi-stage Artemis program could cost more than $100 billion. NASA’s acting inspector general told Congress in 2024 that he expected the agency’s total Artemis campaign costs to reach $93 billion between fiscal years 2012 and 2025.
The inspector general also projected the SLS/Orion system and related ground launch infrastructure will cost at least $4.2 billion per launch for the first four Artemis missions. That does not include $42 billion in formulation and development costs spent over the past 12 years.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis delivered his last State of the State to a joint session of the Colorado General Assembly on Thursday.
In his speech, the Democratic governor called out Republicans, reflected on his past seven years in office, and looked to policy priorities for his last 10 months in office.
Since the Trump administration took office one year ago, the Democrat-led Colorado state government has often faced off against the federal government over policies and funding cuts. Polis reflected on that.
“Over the past 12 months, it seems like Washington has often been in it to … make life harder and less affordable, to make Americans feel more fearful, more belligerent and more vulnerable,” Polis said. “In the last month alone, the Trump administration has threatened over $1 billion in funding for Colorado.”
As reported by The Center Square, Colorado has filed dozens of lawsuits to challenge federal Republican policies and cuts.
Polis promised to keep up those efforts, while calling out Republicans.
“We are fighting hard to protect every federal dollar owed to Colorado,” he said. “In partnership with Attorney General [Phil] Weiser, our state has successfully defended nearly $900 million. There remains over a billion dollars or more that’s at risk or lost from cuts. Sadly, Washington Republicans — once the self-proclaimed party of states’ rights and small government — today are too often the party of socialism, overreach and intrusion.”
Polis, who was first elected Colorado governor in 2018, pointed to universal free preschool, a rise in electric vehicles, and cuts to the state income and property tax as wins from his time as governor.
He said these were great accomplishments, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We came together … under extraordinary conditions to deliver on promises we made long before the pandemic hit,” Polis said. “Democrats, Republicans, [and] my administration all working together to keep Colorado safe … When we work together, we truly can do big things.”
Looking forward, Polis promised to address rising homeowner insurance costs, lower the state income tax, continue prioritizing transportation improvements and focus on implementing additional wildfire preparedness measures.
He also addressed Colorado’s ongoing budget struggles, which left it in an $800 million shortfall this year. Polis blamed Republicans for this, but promised a balanced budget.
“The current administration of Washington leaves states in the lurch,” Polis said. “My balanced budget proposal includes support to monitor and protect Coloradans against the rising threats of political violence and extremism, along with support for emergency preparedness, response and recovery.”
This year, Colorado will celebrate its 150th anniversary of statehood as the Centennial State. Polis ended his State of the State, his last as governor, by reflecting on that and what it means for Colorado.
“In this time of great division, now more than ever, we must come together as Coloradans — leading with kindness, with respect — to move … our great state forward. Our state is strong, resilient, loving, innovative, free and ever bright with the promise of a Colorado for all.”

U.S. senators, led by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, have introduced a bill to amend federal law to address federally funded childcare provider fraud. The bill, if signed into law, would also address concerns raised about childcare centers being funded by groups associated with or that fund terrorism.
The Stop Fraud by Strengthening Oversight and More Accountability for Lying and Illegal Activity (Stop Fraud by SOMALIA) Act, which has several Republican cosponsors, would amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 “to debar childcare providers who commit fraud from receiving certain financial assistance.”
It was filed after extensive fraud has been uncovered in Minnesota perpetrated primarily by Somali immigrants, including those illegally in the country. At least 98 people have been charged, including 85 Somalians, for their role in a fraud scheme targeting 14 high-risk Medicaid-funded services through Minnesota Department of Human Services programs, The Center Square reported. Sixty have already been found guilty, with some pleading guilty last month.
Most of the fraud involved Medicaid funds being spent on affordable housing and other programs that don’t have to do with childcare facilities, with investigations going back years.
Last year, Cornyn and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, both Texas Republicans, filed a bill to make defrauding the federal government a deportable offense. The Deporting Fraudsters Act, filed with cosponsors, would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify that “aliens who have been convicted of defrauding the United States Government or unlawfully receiving public benefits are inadmissible and deportable,” The Center Square reported.
Cornyn’s SOMALIA Act also would amend the INA to make it a crime for childcare providers to receive funds from organizations that support terrorism and terrorist organizations, including Al-Shabaab and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. It also would make convicted childcare providers who are in the country illegally or in the country on another immigration status inadmissible, deportable and permanently barred from asylum eligibility. It would require mandatory federal criminal referrals, mandatory detention and expedited removal.
“The Minnesota scandal has exposed a deep-rooted, morally bankrupt fraud empire, and it is clear more must be done to rid our nation of these heinous criminals,” Cornyn said in a statement. “I applaud President Trump for his efforts to end this corruption, and I’m proud to take it a step further with the Stop Fraud by SOMALIA Act, which would ensure these consequences are enshrined into law before any more funds are misused or sent overseas to fund American-hating terrorist networks like we saw in now-disgraced Governor Walz’s state.”
The bill also requires mandatory permanent debarment from all federally funded childcare assistance programs, repayment of fraudulently obtained funds and would require states to enforce the federal ban.
Currently, the INA doesn’t include welfare fraud in a list of crimes that make foreign nationals inadmissible or deportable.
It’s not just Medicaid fraud that’s been reported but SNAP fraud as well, more recently perpetrated by Haitians and Yemenis, The Center Square reported.
“Illegal aliens who falsify documents, steal identities, and cheat the system to gain public benefits meant for American citizens, including SNAP or Medicaid, should unquestionably be deported,” Cornyn said. “By ensuring any illegal alien who defrauds the U.S. government can be removed from our country, this commonsense legislation would end the America-last policies of Joe Biden and rightfully put Americans first.”
In February, President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to stop funding public benefits for illegal foreign nationals, The Center Square reported. The order cites federal law, including the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, that “generally prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.”
Texas has sought to end public benefits for those in the country illegally. In 2021, Texas and 13 states sued to ensure that a federal public charge rule remained in effect, which requires foreign nationals to prove they can financially support themselves prior to being admitted to the U.S., The Center Square reported.

Taxpayer-funded medical costs for noncitizens at Texas hospitals totaled more than $1 billion last year, according to newly released state data.
The data spans ten months in fiscal 2025, which goes from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. The data only includes visits and costs from November 2024 through August 2025.
It was released in compliance with an August 2024 executive order issued by Gov. Greg Abbott directing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect information on illegal foreign nationals who receive inpatient and emergency care at Texas public hospitals. It also requires HHSC to annually report all inpatient and emergency care costs incurred for illegal foreign nationals to the governor and state legislature in order for the state to seek reimbursement from the federal government, The Center Square reported.
The order states that current federal law “contributes to the growth of uncompensated medical costs by requiring that any individual must be allowed to obtain emergency medical treatment, regardless of that individual’s immigration status, or willingness or ability to pay for such treatment.” As a result, “the state of Texas absorbs a large percentage of the costs associated with medical care for individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.” It also notes that Texans ultimately bear the costs in the form of higher taxes.
Abbott directed hospitals, including acute care hospitals enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and any other providers HHSC identifies, to collect data on medical care provided to illegal foreign nationals statewide.
The data is broken down by number of visits and associated costs reported by hospitals’ emergency rooms and inpatient services that do or do not receive Medicaid and CHIP funds. It excludes non-hospital providers that provide medical care to illegal foreign nationals at taxpayers’ expense.
The categories include Emergency Department–Medicaid/CHIP; Emergency Department– NonMedicaid/Non-CHIP; Inpatient Discharges–Medicaid/CHIP; and Inpatient Discharges– NonMedicaid/Non-CHIP.
In the first category, there were 21,845 illegal foreign national visits to hospital emergency rooms reported, totaling $24,332,064 billed to taxpayers, according to the data.
In the second category, there were 230,480 illegal foreign national visits to emergency rooms reported that weren’t billed to Medicaid or CHIP, costing taxpayers $205,542,492.
In the third category, there were 20,470 illegal foreign national inpatient discharges billed to Medicaid/CHIP, totaling $255,352,904, according to the reported data.
In the fourth category, there were 40,947 illegal foreign national inpatient discharges reported not billed to Medicaid or CHIP, totaling $565,415,404.
Combined, total illegal foreign national visits were 313,742, costing taxpayers $1.05 billion, according to the data.
By quarter, the greatest number of visits were reported between December and February of last year, totaling 149,619 and costing more than $330 million, according to the data.
Abbott issued the hospital directive three years after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued his, The Center Square reported. Texas’ reported costs are more than quadruple what was reported by Florida hospitals in previous years, The Center Square reported.
Abbott’s directive was also issued three years after he issued a disaster proclamation on May 31, 2021, which remains in effect. It states an historic surge of illegal border crossers during the Biden administration posed an “imminent threat of disaster for a number of Texas counties and for all state agencies affected by this disaster.”
Beginning April 21, 2021, and over the next few years, at least 55 counties declared an invasion and 60 counties issued disaster declarations citing the border crisis, The Center Square exclusively reported. These declarations also remain in effect.
At the height of the border crisis, Texas saw the most illegal border crossers in recorded history. In fiscal years 2022 and 2023, illegal entries in Texas totaled 1.4 million each year; gotaways, those who illegally enter to evade detection, totaled several hundred thousand each year, The Center Square exclusively reported. When combined, illegal entries in Texas totaled roughly two million each year at the height of the border crisis.
In fiscal 2023, Border Patrol agents reported nearly 450,000 known gotaways in Texas, The Center Square exclusively reported. That’s nearly double the number of illegal entries reported in Texas in fiscal 2025 – which saw an historic drop under the Trump administration, The Center Square reported.
Abbott maintains that the federal government should reimburse Texas for all of its costs associated with Biden administration “open border policies.” These are costs “which the state had no notice and which it could not have anticipated when agreeing to shared health funding mechanisms on the premise that the federal government would follow federal laws,” Abbott said.

A federal judge has given a green light for construction to resume on New York’s largest offshore wind project that was abruptly shut down by the Trump administration last month.
In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Court judge Carl Nichols granted Empire Offshore Wind LLC a preliminary injunction that allows construction activities to resume on the wind project while he considers the broader legal challenge by the company. It’s the second ruling in a week blocking the Trump administration’s effort to stop several offshore wind projects.
In a statement, Norway-based Equinor said it looks forward to resuming construction of the Empire Wind I project, which, when completed, will provide enough energy to power 500,000 homes and “deliver a critical new, near-term source of electricity for New York and bolster grid reliability at a time of rapidly growing demand.”
“Empire Wind will now focus on safely restarting construction activities that were halted during the suspension period,” the company said. “In addition, the project will continue to engage with the U.S. government to ensure the safe, secure and responsible execution of its operations.”
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In its legal challenge, Equinor said the Interior Department’s stop-work order is “unlawful” and threatens the progress of ongoing work with significant implications for the project, which is nearly 60% complete.
President Donald Trump has pledged to end federal support for wind and other clean energy projects as he focuses on boosting fossil fuel production as part of broader efforts to improve the nation’s energy independence. He and other Republicans argue that the higher energy costs paid by many in the Northeast are being driven in part by the embrace of clean energy policies.
In December, the Interior Department announced it is halting federal leases for Empire and other large-scale offshore wind projects currently under construction. Besides Empire, the halt included Sunrise Wind, Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind off the New England coast and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.
Earlier this week, a federal judge allowed the Revolution Wind project to resume construction while a separate legal challenge filed by its developers is considered by the court.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum cited unspecified national security risks posed by the offshore wind turbines in pausing federal permits for the projects, but said the move is aimed at “protecting” the American people.
But Nichols, a Trump appointee, said in his order that the federal government’s national security concerns didn’t outweigh the “irreparable harm” Empire Wind would suffer if Trump’s order is not paused.
Speaking at an event on Thursday, Hochul praised the ruling and renewed criticism of the Trump administration for issuing the stop-work order just before Christmas, impacting thousands of workers.
“I’m sick and tired of having to go to court time and time and time again to stop these decisions,” she said in remarks. “They’re designed to do nothing other than hurt workers, hurt our states, hurt our economy and hurt our energy future.”

Democratic New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander says she is being investigated by federal prosecutors for participating in a video message urging service members to refuse “illegal” orders.
In a video posted Wednesday night, Goodlander acknowledged that she is among other Democrats being investigated by the Justice Department for their video post in November, which encouraged U.S. military service members to “defy” orders from their superiors if they believe it violates the Constitution.
“No matter the threats, I’m not backing down,” Goodlander said in Wednesday’s video. “It is sad, telling and downright dangerous that simply stating a bedrock principle of American law caused the President, our Commander in Chief, to threaten violence against me and to weaponize the Department of Justice against me.”
Goodlander, a former Navy intelligence officer, posted the video with five other Senate and House Democrats who have served in the military or worked as intelligence officers, including Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. It was posted as the Trump administration was considering the deployment of National Guard to several U.S. cities to help enforce immigration policy.
“No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution,” the lawmakers said in the video. Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home. You must refuse illegal orders.”
Trump blasted the video in social posts that accused the lawmakers who participated in it of “seditious behavior” and called for their arrest and prosecution by federal authorities.
“Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand. An example MUST BE SET.”
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon would censure one of the lawmakers who appeared in the video, Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy combat pilot.
In response, Kelly sued Hegseth and the Pentagon, claiming the government is retaliating against him for speech protected by the First Amendment.
Several media outlets have reported this week that besides Goodlander, Reps. Jason Crow, of Colorado and Chrissy Houlahan, of Pennsylvania, have also received inquiries from U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro asking for an interview with them or their attorneys. Pirro’s office hasn’t confirmed or denied any ongoing investigations.

With ongoing protests across the commonwealth over the actions of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, 18 Pennsylvania legislators have issued a statement signaling their opposition to federal policy.
The lawmakers highlighted the shooting death of Renee Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis as well as the nonfatal shooting of two people by U.S. Border Patrol in Portland and the recent death of Upper Darby resident Parady La after losing consciousness in an ICE detention center.
Of Good, the legislators wrote, “Building a community of respect, care, and support is a sacred responsibility entrusted to each of us. For doing this vital work, on Wednesday, January 7, ICE agents in Minneapolis, MN murdered Renee Nicole Good—a mother, poet, and community member who was onsite to document ICE’s violence against her neighbors.”
Federal officials maintain that Good attempted to run over ICE agent Jonathan Ross before he fired his gun three times, shooting Good in the head. Observers and video analysis have disputed this claim, saying that her front wheels were pointed away from Ross whose legs were at a 90 degree angle from the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
“We know the circumstances of Ms. Good’s death because of community members who showed up to prevent their neighbors from being disappeared—people who knew what to look for and what to do in these difficult times,” wrote the legislators. “Without their quick and skillful action, the only story being told would be the lies of ICE officials and of the administration that endowed them with a budget larger than most of the world’s militaries.”
The incident has led to protests and unrest across the country, while videos of tense and violent encounters between ICE agents and residents proliferate. President Donald Trump Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell protests.
Trump called protesters “professional agitators and insurrectionists,” underscoring claims that Good and her wife had ties to anti-ICE activism. Six federal prosecutors have resigned over the push for an FBI investigation into the shooting victims. Vice President JD Vance told The Center Square he had “no evidence” that Good was a paid agitator.
“Since his return to the White House, President Trump has directed ICE to embark on a reign of terror and chaos in our communities, with violence that has torn apart families, shuttered small businesses, and hollowed out public spaces,” reads the statement. “In the past year, ICE agents have shot at least 16 people, and 33 people have died in detention centers across the country, including here in Philadelphia just last week.”
An account of La’s death in Philadelphia reported on the ICE Newsroom under the category “Detainee Death Notifications” reads as follows:
“Parady La, a 46-year-old criminal illegal alien from Cambodia, died Jan. 9 at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. La was being housed at and receiving treatment for severe drug withdrawal at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Philadelphia, following his Jan. 6 arrest. The next day, La was found unresponsive in his cell. FDC officers immediately administered CPR and several doses of NARCAN and called for medical assistance.”
Legislative efforts highlighted by members of the Philadelphia Delegations to the General Assembly include “solidifying” Pennsylvania’s status as a welcoming state, limiting state and local law enforcement “entanglement” with ICE, prohibiting the use of face-coverings by law enforcement officers to hide their identities, prohibiting unlawful ICE arrests and detainments, and agricultural workers’ rights.