The Trump administration scored a victory on Wednesday as an appeals court ruled that it can detain illegal immigrants without bond. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of the Department of Homeland Security’s detention policy, in the case of illegal immigrant Joaquin Herrera Avila. All three judges on the 8th Circuit panel were Republican appointees, one appointed by President George W. Bush and two by President Donald Trump. Avila, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was apprehended in Minneapolis in August 2025. The Department of Homeland Security detained Avila without bond and brought removal proceedings against him. When Avila sued for habeas corpus, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, a Bill Clinton appointee, sided with him. On Wednesday, however, the panel majority rejected the plaintiff’s argument that being in the United States was the same as being legally authorized to enter the country, or “admitted.” It reversed the district court’s ruling that the administration could not detain Avila without bond under the relevant statute. “Being ‘admitted’ does not merely mean being present in the United States; under immigration law, it signifies having made a lawful entry into the country,” stated the opinion by Judge Bobby Shepherd, the Bush appointee, joined by Trump-appointed Judge L. Steven Grasz. Attorney General Pam Bondi, among the officials named as a defendant in the case, praised the decision in a post on X as a “MASSIVE COURT VICTORY against activist judges and for President Trump’s law and order agenda!” MASSIVE COURT VICTORY against activist judges and for President Trump’s law and order agenda!The Eighth Circuit has held that illegal aliens can be detained without bond — following a similar ruling from the Fifth Circuit last month.The law is very clear, but Democrats and…— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) March 25, 2026 She cited two other circuit court rulings that illegal immigrants can be detained without bond. “The law is very clear, but Democrats and activist judges haven’t wanted to enforce it,” Bondi posted. “Imagine how many illegal alien crimes could have been averted if the left had simply followed the law?” Judge Ralph Erickson, a Trump appointee, dissented, writing, “The court does not rely on recent Congressional action or a change in the regulations governing detention but rather engages in a novel interpretation of ‘alien seeking admission’ that eluded the courts and five previous presidential administrations.” The 8th Circuit Court covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. 8th CircDownload The post ‘MASSIVE VICTORY’: Appeals Court Backs Trump Detention Policy appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The White House reaffirmed Wednesday that passing the SAVE America Act remains a top priority of President Donald Trump. While the bill passed the House over a month ago, the Senate battle over voter ID remains relevant for members in the chamber from Ohio, especially vulnerable Democrat incumbents facing reelection. Ohio Sen. Jon Husted is now offering an amendment that will help make clear where his Democrat colleagues stand. The Husted Amendment On Thursday, the Senate will vote on a leadership-backed amendment from Husted for a clean photo ID requirement. Cloture for the amendment was filed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who on Wednesday spoke from the Senate floor about his support for the amendment, framing it as an opportunity for Democrats to show their support for the provision. More than 80% of Americans support photo ID to vote. The Senate will vote tomorrow on my amendment that would implement this simple requirement. We’ll see where our Democrat colleagues stand. https://t.co/iKyPuqWAE5— Senator Jon Husted (@SenJonHusted) March 25, 2026 In promoting his amendment, Husted shared over X how several states represented by Democrat senators already require voter ID. 11 states represented by Democrat senators already require some form of ID to vote. My amendment builds on the voter ID work in those states—a straightforward, clean bill requiring photo ID at the polls. More than 80% of Americans support showing photo ID when voting. I hope… pic.twitter.com/lKAquG7Ocs— Senator Jon Husted (@SenJonHusted) March 25, 2026 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has spoken out against the amendment. As Tony Kinnett highlighted on Tuesday’s episode of “The Tony Kinnett Cast,” the Democrat he refers to as “Chuckles Schumer” was apoplectic in ranting his concerns from the Senate floor, which included claims of “a giant cover up.” Schumer whined about how “98, 99% of [the SAVE America Act] is about suppressing voters, about taking them off the voter rolls, unbeknownst to them…” As Kinnett pointed out, an examination of voter rolls from several states that gave their information to the Department of Justice, which includes Ohio, over 300,000 people were found to have been dead and yet still on the rolls. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon also warned that illegal immigrants have been on the voter rolls. Time will tell if Schumer’s concerns are shared by the rest of his party, given that Democrats have signaled support for the photo ID provision. Landsman’s Claims Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, has lashed out against election integrity laws, including in his own state, and, more recently, about a provision in the SAVE America Act about registering to vote. A clip from Local 12 in Cincinnati shows Landsman claiming it’s “absurd” that people would have to prove they’re a citizen as part of registering to vote. “It would stop tens of millions of Americans from voting, truly. You would have to prove you’re a citizen before you can register to vote, which is absurd, and then most of the IDs that people have wouldn’t work so, again, tens of millions of Americans would be prevented from voting,” Landsman said. The congressman’s comments received the attention of the RNC. “Greg Landsman may think it’s ‘absurd’ that only American citizens should vote in American elections, but Ohioans overwhelmingly support commonsense safeguards to protect our elections. While Landsman fights to keep illegal aliens on voter rolls, Republicans are working tirelessly to pass the SAVE America Act to secure our elections and make it harder to cheat,” RNC spokesman Hunter Lovell shared exclusively with The Daily Signal. From the Senate floor, Husted has promoted voter ID provisions in the context of how “there has been no evidence of voter suppression” and touted his state’s high voter turnout in recent years with election integrity measures in place. The Daily Signal also reached out to Landsman’s office about his comments. Since Ohio required photo ID law at the polls, there has been no evidence of voter suppression.In fact, the 2024 election produced the 2nd highest turnout that we've had in the past 4 presidential elections.We should make this the nationwide standard. pic.twitter.com/5Y8Oo7noEq— Senator Jon Husted (@SenJonHusted) March 23, 2026 What the Polling Says According to last month’s polling from Heritage Action, provisions in this bill are popular with voters in key states, including Ohio. As the poll found, 69% of all voters, including 66% of Democrats, believe non-citizens should not vote in U.S. elections. Further, 71% of all voters, including 55% of Democrats, support requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. The White House earlier this month, in declaring, “The SAVE America Act Is the Most Popular Election Reform in Decades,” highlighted how “Proving citizenship to vote is a no-brainer.” According to last month’s poll from Harvard CAPS/Harris that the White House referenced, 81% of voters support requiring a valid ID to vote. Further, 75% of voters support requiring proof of citizenship, which includes 61% of Democrats. When asked specifically about the SAVE America Act, 71% of voters say they support the bill. The White House also referenced The Heritage Foundation, including analysis from 2007 that found “voter identification requirements, such as requiring non-photo and photo identification, have virtually no suppressive effect on reported voter turnout.” Further, the Heritage Action poll found that 69% of Ohio voters, including 55% of Democrats, support removing non-citizens from voter rolls. The Heritage Action poll also matters to Husted in particular ahead of his special election in November. Asked if voters would be more likely to support their senators if they voted for the SAVE America Act, 55% said they were more likely to support their senator, including 37% who said it made them “much more likely.” Husted was appointed in January of last year by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to replace now Vice President JD Vance. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who lost to now Sen. Bernie Moreno in 2024, is seeking a comeback. The post SAVE America Act Thrusts Ohio Lawmakers Into the News appeared first on The Daily Signal.

After a years-long legal battle, the Supreme Court vindicated a Colorado Christian baker hounded by a “Civil Rights Commission” for the sin of refusing to craft a custom cake to celebrate a same-sex wedding. A woman by the name of Kristen Clarke found that ruling “devastating.” Clarke, who would go on to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division under President Joe Biden, arguably grew to embody the weaponization of civil rights law against conservatives. Yet on Wednesday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hailed Clarke as a “civil rights giant” in announcing her new position as NAACP general counsel. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said Clarke’s “record of fearless advocacy, leadership, and deep commitment to justice makes her the ideal general counsel to help chart our path forward.” What, exactly, would shake the NAACP’s faith in Clarke’s “commitment to justice”? Would the NAACP reconsider if, hypothetically, Clarke had weaponized civil rights law against pro-life protesters, or worked closely with an anti-Christian smear factory, or twisted civil rights law to enforce transgender orthodoxy? Would this storied civil rights institution reconsider hiring her if, let’s say, she sliced open her husband’s hand in 2006 and then lied to cover it up in her Senate confirmation hearings? Weaponizing Civil Rights on Abortion After the Supreme Court’s opinion reversing Roe v. Wade (1973) leaked in May 2022, pro-abortion vandals targeted at least 95 pro-life pregnancy centers and 303 Catholic churches. While the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act protects access to both abortion centers and pro-life pregnancy centers, Clarke’s division brought zero FACE Act charges against pro-abortion vandals in 2022 and only four against them in 2023. By contrast, the division charged 26 pro-lifers in 2022 alone. These cases notably included Catholic pro-life dad Mark Houck, who had allegedly pushed a pro-abortion activist who had been harassing his son. A jury found him not guilty. A former DOJ official told The Daily Signal that Clarke’s division appeared to be “using the FACE Act to intimidate the pro-life population of the country.” The Southern Poverty Law Center Clarke and her Civil Rights Division cultivated a close relationship with the Southern Poverty Law Center, a far-left smear factory that puts mainstream conservative and Christian groups on a “hate map” with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, effectively for the sin of disagreeing with the SPLC’s leftist agenda. The SPLC pushes transgender orthodoxy, and demonizes those who oppose it as “anti-LGBTQ hate groups.” Its education program champions critical race theory (the narrative that America is systemically racist) while the SPLC puts parental rights groups like Moms for Liberty on the “hate map.” The SPLC has suggested the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a hateful document and has effectively admitted that critics were right to call it “anti-Christian.” In 2012, a since-convicted terrorist told the FBI he used the SPLC “hate map” to target the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. While the SPLC condemned the attack, it has yet to remove the council from the map. Amid a racial discrimination and sexual harassment scandal that saw the firing of its co-founder, SPLC staff formed a union. When the SPLC announced layoffs in 2024, the union accused the center of union-busting. The SPLC paid a $3.375 million defamation settlement to a Muslim reformer it had called an “anti-Islamic extremist.” Despite all this, Clarke sought advice on “civil rights matters” from then-SPLC President Margaret Huang. Huang would brag to donors that the administration reached out for advice on countering “the domestic terrorism threat.” Clarke’s division swapped embargoed reports with the SPLC, and staff from the leftist group joined “Quarterly Civil Rights Meetings.” An SPLC staffer briefed DOJ prosecutors in 2023. Transgender Orthodoxy When states passed laws seeking to protect minors from the lifelong effects of experimental “treatments” to make male bodies resemble female bodies or vice versa, Clarke sent a letter to various states suggesting that such commonsense measures may violate federal civil rights law. Her division also misapplied the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020). While the ruling narrowly applied to Title VII of federal civil rights law, Clarke’s division applied it to other parts of federal law to push transgender orthodoxy. A Domestic Dispute Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, questioned Clarke’s “commitment to justice” when he accused her of lying under oath in her Senate confirmation hearings. As my former colleague Mary Margaret Olohan reported, documents indicated Clarke had been arrested for attacking her then-husband, Reginald Avery, with a knife, deeply slicing his finger to the bone in 2006. The pair finalized their divorce in 2009. Clarke had the arrest expunged from her record, and during her Senate confirmation, she denied ever having been arrested or having been accused of committing a violent crime. Back to the Baker When Kristen Clarke took the side of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission against baker Jack Phillips, she revealed the sort of weaponization she’d bring to the Civil Rights Division. In fact, she went on to co-sign a brief against Lorie Smith, a Christian web designer who refused to create websites for same-sex weddings. Clarke isn’t the old-fashioned live-and-let-live liberal. Instead, she uses civil rights law to force her ideology on others. The NAACP’s decision to hire her suggests the Left isn’t reconsidering this strategy. The post NAACP’s Latest Hire Reveals the Left’s Plan to Keep Weaponizing Civil Rights Law Against Conservatives appeared first on The Daily Signal.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had a message for Democrats who voted against reopening the Department of Homeland Security during a 40-day shutdown. “For the Democrats in Congress, the cruelty of this shutdown is the point,” Leavitt said. At Wednesday’s White House press briefing, she told the story of a father of three who recently quit his job at the Transportation Security Administration for another job to feed his family. Nearly 500 Transportation Security Administration officers have resigned since the shutdown began, due to their paychecks being delayed. Leavitt read a letter from the father: “I think the hardest thing is seeing the struggle that my wife was going through and not trying to bring more stress to her … but seeing her cry every night, how am I going to feed my family? How am I going to survive?” Senate Democrats have demanded changes to immigration enforcement policy as a condition of funding the agency. They sent a counteroffer on Wednesday to Republicans to reopen the department, according to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., quickly rejected the proposal. “Our offer is a reasonable, good faith proposal that contains some of the very same asks Democrats have been talking about now for months,” Schumer said.  Democrats want “chaos,” Leavitt said on Wednesday. “Democrats in Congress are forcing American travelers to wait in hours-long lines at airports across the country, robbing TSA officers and other federal workers of their hard earned paychecks that they use to feed their families,” Leavitt said, “and causing billions of dollars in damage to our economy.” “They want to distract, I think, from the success of our military overseas right now,” she said, “totally obliterating the Iranian regime.” As hundreds of TSA agents have resigned and thousands more have called in sick during the shutdown, President Donald Trump has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to support security at airports. “For all of the critics of this solution a few days ago when it was proposed by the resident, it is yielding results,” Leavitt said. “Wait times have improved since ICE arrived, and they are doing everything in their power to help their fellow federal service members. But it’s important to take a step back and remember why is this even happening in the first place.” “For nearly six weeks, Democrats in Congress have kept DHS shut down because they care more about illegal aliens than American citizens,” she continued. “You have Democrat elected representatives in states across the country who are willing to inflict massive pain on their own constituents to fight for illegal aliens who broke our nation’s laws to come here.” The post ‘Cruelty’ Is the ‘Point’: Leavitt Slams Dems on Day 40 of DHS Shutdown appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Kristi Noem, the former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Corey Lewandowski, her former top adviser, are reportedly facing a criminal investigation. The Homeland Security inspector general has launched an investigation into Noem and Lewandowski over allegations that the agency awarded billions of dollars in no-bid contracts, the Daily Mail reports. Sources told the outlet that the inspector general has sent notices to dozens of people who were allegedly involved in approving a “wide range” of contracts, including ad campaign contracts. No crimes have been alleged in the ongoing investigation, according to the Daily Mail. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump tapped then-Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, to replace Noem following reports that the president was “furious” with her over her testimony before the House and Senate. At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pressed Noem on her department’s large ad campaign aimed at discouraging illegal immigration. “The president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?” Kennedy asked Noem during the hearing. “Yes,” Noem answered. While Noem said Trump approved of the ads, the president later told Reuters he did not sign off on the campaign. Trump has appointed Noem to serve as the special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a new security initiative focused on the Western Hemisphere. Noem thanked Trump in a post on X on Tuesday for allowing her to serve as homeland security secretary. “In one year, the patriots at DHS delivered the MOST secure border in American history, 3 million illegal aliens have left the U.S., located 145,000 unaccompanied children, delivered disaster relief at a 100% faster rate, ushered in the golden age of travel, saved the American taxpayer $13 billion, and revitalized the U.S. Coast Guard,” Noem wrote. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the 8th Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.I want to thank President Trump for entrusting me to lead the department leading the fight to Make America Safe Again. In one year, the patriots at DHS delivered the MOST…— Secretary Kristi Noem (@EnvoyNoem) March 24, 2026 Trump swore Mullin in on Tuesday as the ninth homeland security secretary. “I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with the 260,000 outstanding DHS employees and their families to keep our nation safe,” Mullin wrote on X. The new secretary says his first priority is to “end the partisan fighting and reopen the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a matter of national security.” The post DHS Inspector General Reportedly Investigating Noem, Lewandowski  appeared first on The Daily Signal.