State / Local

IMMIGRATIONICE’s Heavy‑Handed Immigration Enforcement Was Tried Once Before – by Arizona’s Notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the Early 2000s
By Jonathan van Harmelen
From 2006 to 2017, Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, implemented his own immigration detention program, instructing deputies to detain anyone who did not carry a valid identification and did not speak English. One U.S. Department of Justice attorney characterized Arpaio as overseeing “the worst pattern of racial profiling by a law enforcement agency in U.S. history.”
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DEMOCRACY WATCHDemocrats Sue to Block Trump’s “Unconstitutional” Mail Ballot Order
By Jonathan Shorman
Democrats sued over President Donald Trump’s executive order clamping down on mail ballots. The order, which would create a national list of voting-age American citizens and directs the U.S. Postal Service to place limits on mail-in ballots, constitutes an extraordinary and illegal attempt by Trump to intervene in the voting process, election experts said.
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DEMOCRACY WATCHAs Trump Demands Voter Data, This Fiercely Independent Red State Says No
By Audrey Dutton and Jen Fifield
Wary of federal intrusion, Idaho passed a law three decades ago allowing it to sidestep so-called motor-voter laws. The exemption and the sentiment behind it are fueling resistance to President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.
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WATER SECURITYWhy Colorado River Negotiations Stalled, and How They Could Resume with the Possibility of Agreement
By Karen Schlatter and Sharon B. Megdal
The seven U.S. states that make up the Colorado River basin are struggling to agree on how best to manage the river’s water as its supply dwindles due to climate change and a period of prolonged drought.
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THE PROBLEM WITH ICESix Deaths in Six Weeks: What to Know About ICE Detentions in Texas
By Lomi Kriel and Colleen DeGuzman
Last year was the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades. Nearly a quarter of those deaths occurred in Texas.
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DEPORTATIONSCommunities Fight ICE Detention Centers, but Have Few Tools to Stop Them
By Kevin Hardy
Communities across the country are facing the prospects of ICE building massive detention centers – without any input from local authorities about the communities’ permitting, planning, and zoning processes. The reason: The federal government doesn’t have to follow local zoning rules. Congress has given ICE $45 billion for increased immigration detention. by Congress last summer.
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THE ICE PROBLEMMayors Describe ICE Presence in Their Cities
By Robbie Sequeira
As federal immigration enforcement agents continue to clash with protesters in cities around the country, U.S. mayors gathering last week in Washington, D.C., said they’re anxious about what might be coming next. “We were told the actions would be precise. They were not,” said Edina, Minnesota, Mayor Jim Hovland.
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THE ICE PROBLEMState Lawmakers Stand Ready to Help ICE — or Impede It
By Amanda Watford
Tensions rise nationwide over aggressive enforcement tactics and deadly encounters. As lawmakers convene for this year’s state legislative sessions, immigration has surged to the top of the agenda.
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THE ICE PROBLEMDemocratic AGs Stress Importance of Citizen-Generated Evidence in Challenging ICE
By Erika Bolstad
Cellphone video has emerged as a powerful rebuttal to Trump’s – and Trump officials’ — version of events, at a time when the federal government has restricted state and local investigators from accessing potential evidence to pursue their own investigations into excessive force and fatal shootings by immigration agents in their jurisdictions.
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ELECTIONSTrump Administration Sues Another State for Sensitive Voter Data
By Kevin Hardy
The Trump administration has sued another state — Virginia — in its quest to obtain sensitive voter data, despite two recent legal setbacks in suits against other states. The suit against Virginia is the latest in a monthslong quest to obtain voters’ private information.
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WAR ON VACCINESStates Go Their Own Way as RFK Jr. Shifts Federal Vaccine Policy
By Tim Henderson
In response to the new federal vaccine guidance, advanced by anti-vaxx activists now determining vaccine policy at HHS, many states have created formal alliances to share health information and formulate science-based policies for their residents. “The science is clear. Vaccines remain the best protection for keeping children and communities healthy,” the Northeast Public Health Collaborative said in a statement.
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U.S. MUSLIMSTwo States Designate Muslim Group as Terrorist, but Other GOP Governors Mum
By Johnny Edwards, The Center Square
The governors of Texas and Florida have declared the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group a foreign terrorist organization, but they may stand alone. None of their Republican counterparts in other states seem ready to follow suit.
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DEPORTATIONS“Construction Can’t Continue": South Texas Builders Say ICE Arrests Have Upended Industry
By Berenice Garcia
More than 300 people attended an impromptu meeting that industry leaders in the Rio Grande Valley hosted to draw attention to the chilling effect ICE arrests have had on construction.
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WATER SECURITYFeds Demand Compromise on Colorado River While States Flounder Amid Water Shortage
By Jeniffer Solis
Western states that rely on the Colorado River have less than two months to agree on how to manage the troubled river – and pressure is mounting as the federal government pushes for a compromise and a troubling forecast for the river’s two biggest reservoirs looms.
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CRITICAL MINERALSA Huge Cache of Critical Minerals Found in Utah May Be the Largest in the U.S.
By Leia Larsen
A Utah company says it has unearthed a massive deposit of minerals crucial for building electric vehicles, semiconductors, satellites, magnets, and more. The discovery could reshape the clean energy supply chain.
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