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Immigration Judge Ana Partida sat before a mostly empty courtroom on an afternoon in October, her body angled toward a television on one of the side walls. None of the people scheduled to appear before Partida, who hears cases inside San Diegos Otay Mesa Detention Center, were present in person. Thats because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had transferred all of them to other locations around the country, even though their cases were already underway in San Diego. One by one, an ICE attorney asked Partida to move the detainees cases to courts closer to their new locations. All of the people who were transferred had attorneys in San Diego, including some through a county program that represents people in local immigration custody for free. Moving their cases would mean, at least for those with county attorneys, that their lawyers would no longer be able to represent them. Partida said that she felt she had no choice but to move many of the cases because she had been experiencing technology issues and a lack of cooperation from the other detention centers in presenting people for their hearings when she tried to keep them on her docket. During two afternoons, Capital & Main observed the judge having to restart the videoconference software multiple times and struggling with dropped calls from detainees held at other facilities. This has become a very big problem, she told one attorney as she ordered the case moved. ICE started transferring an unusually high number of detainees who already had attorneys out of the facility back in the spring of 2024, according to many attorneys who regularly represent clients there. At the time, the agency told Michael Garcia, head of San Diego Countys free immigration legal defense program, that it had to move people because of an uptick in the number of border crossings in the area. But crossings dropped and still transfer picked up again in fall 2024. ICE said it follows a 2012 agency memorandum regarding transfers that says officers will not transfer people who have documented attorneys on file, family in the area, pending hearings in ongoing cases, or been granted bond or scheduled for a bond hearing unless the local ICE field office director determines that the move is necessary. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials use a network of detention facilities for the intake of individuals detained by the agency, a spokesperson said on behalf of the agency via email. All noncitizen transfers and transfer determinations are nonpunitive and based on a thorough and systematic review of the most current information available. But in many of the cases that attorneys described to Capital & Main, ICE is transferring people who have attorneys, family, and pending hearings in the San Diego area. Garcia said he recently met with ICE again to ask why his attorneys clients keep getting transferred. ICEs position was that this is strictly because of the needs of the facility, Garcia said. They didnt have any numbers that they showed me that indicated an increase in the number of detentions. In September, the month that Garcias team noticed that transfers were ticking up again, Border Patrol agents in San Diego made the lowest number of apprehensions the sector has seen in more than a year, according to Customs and Border Protection data. That month, San Diego agents apprehended people entering the United States roughly 13,300 times. Thats less than half of the roughly 32,500 crossings that agents apprehended in May 2024, when Garcia said transfers first increased dramatically. Several attorneys whose clients have been transferred noted that many of the courts where detainees from Otay Mesa have gone have higher asylum denial rates than the San Diego facility. Studies have shown that having an attorney can make a big difference in asylum outcomes. The county program that offers free legal representation to people detained by ICE in San Diego County was launched partway through 2022. Since then, in the past two fiscal years, Otay Mesa judges denied asylum in roughly 67% of cases, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse of Syracuse University, which gathers government data through public records requests. Judges at the receiving courts denied asylum in 74% to 95% of cases in that same time period, the data show. The court with the highest denial rate during that time period was Adelanto, in San Bernardino County. Thats the court where attorney Aude Ruffings client from Jamaica ended up after his transfer. Ruffing, who contracts with the San Diego County program to take detained cases, said that ICE decided to move her client soon after she submitted the paperwork for his asylum claim. She said the transfer caused a several-month delay in the case getting to trial. Ruffing said she felt bad for her client but that he has been dealing with the situation surprisingly well. Hes just been really patient, she said. Hes been a real trooper through the process. Meanwhile, the transfers are complicating cases at the Otay Mesa courts. On the afternoon in October, the first person on Judge Partidas docket, a man from Nicaragua, wasnt in the courtroom or on the video conference system. He was still in ICE custody, but the agency hadnt produced him for his case. Capital & Main isnt identifying the Nicaraguan man or other asylum seekers in this article due to the uncertain fate of their ongoing cases. Partida asked the ICE attorney what they should do. I dont know how counsel and the court want to proceed if the respondent is not here, ICE attorney David Aronlee told the judge, using the legal term for someone who has a case before the court. I dont have an answer for how we can proceed at this point. The mans legal representative, Victor Valdez-Gonzalez, complained that the organization that had offered to do a psychological evaluation for his clients asylum application could no longer complete it because the man had been moved out of state. On another afternoon in October, a slim man sat alone in his blue detainee uniform in front of Partida. She asked why the mans wife wasnt in court. His wife had previously been held at Otay Mesa as well, but Partida soon learned that ICE had transferred the woman to Louisiana. ICE hadnt been able to produce the wife via video because of the time difference, ICE attorney Antonio Estrada told Partida. At the couples last hearing in September, Partida had combined their cases so that they could be heard together and get one decision for both husband and wife, saving time for the court. Having both partners at the same detention center wouldve also meant that they could both testify in the case. At the October hearing, Partida separated the cases and sent the wifes case to aLouisiana judge. She said the couple would now have to write statements to be used in each others cases since ICE wouldnt arrange for them to testify in person for each other. When the couples attorney pushed back, Partida said she couldnt count on being able to hear the woman via video for their scheduled hearings. There is nothing this court can do to bring the respondent back to Otay Mesa, Partida said. Many of the people that ICE has transferred in this second push already had their final hearings scheduled, according to Garcia, meaning that they were almost done. The transfers meant delays in those cases, further contributing to the immigration courts ever-worsening backlog. Garcia said that in May, when ICE transferred 43 of his attorneys cases, 37% had already scheduled their trials, known in immigration court as merits hearings. In September, ICE transferred 31 of his programs cases and 74% were at that final stage, he said. Once you get the individual hearing set, thats when you have done all the work, you have presented all the evidence, you have worked with the client for months, thats when ICE sends them to another detention center, said Rocio Sanchez Flores, an immigration attorney who contracts with the county program. Sanchez Flores represents an Afghan woman who fled the Taliban with her husband, who had worked as a translator for the Afghan National Directorate of Security communicating with U.S. forces, Sanchez Flores said. The couple were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border when they requested asylum. The wife was held at a detention facility in California while the husband was sent to one in Washington. The husbands case was scheduled to finish earlier than the wifes, Sanchez Flores said. A few days after her final hearing was scheduled, ICE transferred the wife to Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. In October, the husband won his case, Sanchez Flores said, meaning that his wife could now get asylum through him. Sanchez Flores contacted the ICE attorney on the wifes case to ask for a joint motion to close. Instead, Sanchez Flores said, another ICE attorney made a motion to change venue and move the wifes case out of the San Diego court. This came as a shock to me because its way easier to just terminate the case, Sanchez Flores said. The government doesnt have to waste resources. She can get released and obtain asylum through her husband. As a result, the wife spent an extra month in ICE custody. Kate Morrissey, Capital & Main This piece was originally published by Capital & Main, which reports from California on economic, political, and social issues.
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Efforts to diversify workplaces and promote equality are under attackmost recently with a sweeping crackdown from the Trump administration. But advocates and professionals who’ve dedicated their careers to diversity, equity, and inclusion are still committed to seeing the work continue.“We’ve been here for years,” said Amira Barger, executive vice president of communications and head of DEI advisory at Edelman. “I’m still encouraged, even in the midst of all this backlash.”While a number of prominent companies have recently changed or scaled back their DEI initiatives, other big names have worked to reinforce commitments to diversity and inclusion. Barger expects the majority to find a way to continue these efforts and stresses that leaders need to stand up and defend the work now more than ever.Barger recently spoke with the Associated Press. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Q: Tell me about your work at Edelman.A: I actually wear two hats here at Edelman. So 50% of my time is focused on communications specifically for the health ecosystem. That’s everything from pharma to hospital systems, medical schools, you name it. And then the other 50% of my time is broader U.S. DEI advisory, which is sector agnostic.Every day is a little bit differentdepending on what’s happening in the world, what our clients are focused on and the goals that have been set for the year. Our teams work to help counsel clients on anything from executive orders that might come out around DEI rollbacks and initiatives, like we’re seeing today, to how to frame a particular communication for a multicultural audience in ways that are honoring people’s lived experiences.Q: We’ve seen a handful of big names pull back from their DEI efforts recently. What has that been like to witness?A: The pendulum continues to swing on the world of diversity, equity and inclusion. And what I’m feeling right now, in this moment of pushback that has been happening in this space, is that we’ve been here before.A lot of people earmark 2020 as a milestone for corporate DEI effortsin the movement following the murder of George Floyd. But we’ve been in the background doing this work quietly and sustainably for decades, going back to the writing of the Civil Rights Act. With all of the backlash and executive orders we’re seeing today, I think that’s probably what’s going to happen again. The work will continue, but executives might be a little more quiet about it.I foresee the majority of companies to continue efforts, but they might change the words or evolve in other ways. We’re seeing a lot of that, and it’s not new. We’ve also seen some big names reinforce their commitments to DEI, like Costco and Apple.Q: What other impacts do you anticipate from Trump’s actions to dismantle DEI initiatives at the federal level?A: Specific language from Trump’s recent executive orders dismantling federal DEI initiatives labels these efforts as being forced “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.” My concern here is that it undermines progress and ignores the systemic inequities that these programs are trying to address.And the orders may carry several implications for federal contractors. DEI initiatives could be deprioritized or deemed less relevant in the bidding process. Companies might encounter compliance or restructuring challenges. Suppliers that promote DEI principles may also face reduced preference in government contracting, potentially impacting existing partnerships. And businesses may find themselves navigating polarized stakeholder reactions.Q: What message would you give businesses navigating all of this?A: When DEI initiatives are attacked, companies need to be prepared to address the criticism by being really clear about demonstrating positive impacts of this kind of work. That means defending the work with facts. From increased innovation to a greater sense of belonging among employees, there are very real outcomes that companies can use to show measurable progress because of the existence of these programs. And it’s also important to invite input and take it seriously.What we need in this moment are leaders who have the nerve to be brave and to stand up for this work. There’s a lot of fear-mongering and uncertainty right nowand I think that can drive people to do things outside of what they might believe is true or rightso we need leaders to show that nerve in really big and powerful ways. My hope is that we’ll see some of that over this next year, even in the midst of a new administration that is clearly very anti-DEI. Wyatte Grantham-Philips, AP Business Writer
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Former President Jimmy Carter has won a posthumous Grammy award.Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, died in December at age 100. Prior to his passing, Carter was nominated in the audiobook, narration, and storytelling recording category at the 2025 Grammys for “Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration,” recordings from his final Sunday School lessons delivered at Maranatha Baptist Church in Georgia. Musicians Darius Rucker, LeAnn Rimes, and Jon Batiste are featured on the record.It’s Carter’s fourth Grammy. His posthumous Grammy joins his three previous ones for spoken word album.If the former president won before his death, he would’ve become the oldest Grammy award winner in history.Jason Carter, Jimmy Carter’s grandson who now chairs The Carter Center governing board, received the award on his behalf. “Having his words captured in this way for my family and for the world is truly remarkable,” he said in an acceptance speech. “Thank you to the academy.”In the category, Jimmy Carter beat out Barbra Streisand, George Clinton, Dolly Parton, and producer Guy Oldfield.If Streisand won instead of Carter, it would have been her first Grammy win in 38 years.Currently, the oldest person to win a Grammy was 97-year-old Pinetop Perkins in 2011.“He’s such an enormous music fan. He loves the creative aspect of music,” Jason Carter said backstage about his grandfather. “It’s been an important part of his political life, an important part of his personal life. He’s an artist in many ways.”Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have two Grammys apiece. First ladies Michelle Obama and Hilary Clinton have also each won.Former presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Richard Nixon were all nominated, but didn’t win. AP Entertainment Writers Andrew Dalton and Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report. For more coverage of this year’s Grammy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/GrammyAwards Maria Sherman, AP Music Writer
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