I put my phone down for 5 minutes.

Good timing I guess, bc I missed the city DA apparently attempting to spread a false rumor that the federal government was taking over the Orleans jail from the sheriff due to her incompetence...

Can't really blame the news for thinking a statement from the DA is a reliable source.

Correction: Orleans Parish jail remains under sheriff control, no federal intervention

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/42622003

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg (D) announced on Tuesday that the Kentucky city will begin complying with the Trump administration’s 48-hour immigration detainer requests and, in exchange, the federal government will drop Louisville from its “sanctuary city” list.

Under the new directive, the mayor said, the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections (LMDC) will notify the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at least 48 hours before an inmate with an immigration detainer is scheduled to be released from custody.

The federal government’s 48-hour detainer request is “standard practice” for Kentucky and was followed in Louisville before 2017, when the local policy changed, Greenberg said,. He added that LMDC currently provides DHS with approximately 5-12 hours’ notice before an inmate with an immigration detainer is released.

"I have been assured by the U.S. Department of Justice that, if we reinstate the 48-hour detainers for inmates who’ve been arrested for crimes, Louisville will be taken off the federal sanctuary city list,” Greenberg said in remarks on Tuesday.

Well, as long as you've been assured. I think we can all agree, promises made by the DOJ under Pam Bondi are 100% reliable and trustworthy.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/42595404

A Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent has been indicted on 24 felony charges, including 10 counts of child sex trafficking, the latest in a series of sexual-misconduct convictions or charges against U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees in Arizona.

Willcox border agent Bart Conrad Yager, 39, was also charged with six counts of “pandering,” or encouraging someone to engage in prostitution; one count of attempted child sex trafficking; and two counts of fraud, between July 2023 and March 2024 in Cochise County, indictments from the Cochise County Attorney’s Office show.

A CBP spokesman said the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility arrested Yager in Willcox on June 17, and executed a search warrant based on allegations of child sex trafficking, fraudulent schemes and pandering.

“CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission, and the overwhelming majority of CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe,” an emailed CBP statement said. “An arrest is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

Yager is the latest of several Arizona-based CBP employees, including border agents and a port officer in CBP’s Office of Field Operations, who have been charged with or convicted of sexual misconduct and other crimes.

Yuma Sector border agent Ramon Marquez, 31, was arrested in May and has been charged with 15 felonies, including 14 counts of sexual conduct with a 16-year-old between December 2024 and April 2025, and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, such as filming or photographing the encounter, according to a May 15 indictment in Yuma County Superior Court.

CBP port officer Aaron Thomas Mitchell, 30, was sentenced to 27 years in prison in March, after being convicted on federal charges of abducting and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old Douglas middle school student in 2022. Mitchell now faces state charges in Cochise County.

An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Douglas Police Department found Mitchell approached the student as she waited for school to start, identified himself as a law enforcement officer and ordered her into his car. He then drove her to his home, where he sexually assaulted her for hours, according to a U.S. Justice Department statement.

In January, former Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent Efren Lopez Cornejo was sentenced to two counts of lifetime probation, but no jail time, after he accepted an October 2024 plea agreement, admitting to one count of child abuse and one count of indecent exposure.

Lopez Cornejo was initially charged with 14 felonies in 2021, including child molestation, sexual abuse of a minor and sexual conduct with a minor under 15, which allegedly took place mostly between 2011 and 2017. The two victims were family members, and one was 9 when the alleged abuse started, an interim complaint said.

Under the plea deal, overseen by Pima County Superior Court Judge Casey McGinley, Lopez Cornejo does not have to register as a sex offender.

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said the plea deal came after the trial ended with a hung jury, and prosecutors decided not to pursue a second trial.

“Trials can bring some measure of closure and healing,” Conover said. “But all too often trials are another trauma” for the victims.

Prosecutors pushed for prison time for Lopez Cornejo, in addition to lifetime probation, but ultimately, “it was the judge’s decision,” Conover said.

‘Culture of impunity’ Critics and civil rights advocates say a long-standing lack of accountability and weak oversight within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — the parent agency of CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE — has meant agents haven’t faced consequences for abusive behavior, sexual harassment of colleagues and excessive use of force in the field.

“Abuse by CBP agents is not an issue of just a few rogue agents, but is a systemic problem across the agency that has existed from its very start,” said Ricky Garza, border policy counsel for the Southern Border Communities Coalition, which advocates for “rational” immigration policies, humane and accountable border-enforcement practices and quality of life in border communities.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the U.S. Department of Justice is targeting him after the federal government requested a list of incarcerated undocumented immigrants.

During a news conference on Thursday, Luna said the federal government has threatened to charge him if his agency does not cooperate.

"I've personally received, I'm going to call it, threatening letters from the federal government to make sure that we are cooperating with them, doing civil immigration enforcement," Luna said. "A lot of them say, if you don't, there's going to be consequences up to the point of you being charged federally."

The Justice Department said they have sent requests to sheriff's departments across California asking "for lists of all inmates in their jails who are not citizens of the United States, their crimes of arrest or conviction, and their scheduled release dates."

Luna said he hasn't seen the request. He added that even if he did, the Sheriff's Department wouldn't be able to help the DOJ.

"We don't ask for immigration status," Luna said. "I don't know how we're going to provide a list to anybody, whether it's the fed or anybody else."

Sanctuary laws in California and Los Angeles also bar local law enforcement from sharing information with immigration agents unless the federal government has a warrant. Luna said federal agents secured warrants for 20 incarcerated people this year, but the Trump administration is requesting more data without warrants.

"At least for this year, there's 435 people that they've asked for in 2025," Luna said. "We have not fulfilled any of them because of state law."

Republicans said California's sanctuary laws are hurting public safety.

"You're not allowed to talk to ICE. You're not allowed to coordinate," Rep. Kevin Kiley said. "You're not allowed to coordinate. You're not allowed to honor a detainer request. So, what happens is that these individuals get released back out into the community."

Luna emphasized that his department is not conducting immigration enforcement.

"We cannot do our jobs without public trust in our community," Luna said.

The Trump administration has granted Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents access to the personal information of 75 million Medicaid recipients, enabling the federal government to verify the citizenship status of all individuals. The database also has home addresses. Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will fight against any attempt to access information on those enrolled in MediCal, which is paid for with state revenue.

The chief judge of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court held Sheriff Susan Hutson in contempt of court Wednesday, capping a heated hearing on Hutson's recent alleged failure to transport arrestees to court from the jail.

The conviction carries penalties of up to six months imprisonment or a fine up to $500. Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier set sentencing for Aug. 4 and said Hutson must comply with the judge's earlier order for weekend and holiday transport of arrestees until then.

Hutson left court without taking questions from reporters.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Magistrate Court operated seven days a week.

In a July 11 letter, Hutson offered to hold weekend and holiday court sessions instead at the jail, which has two courtrooms on the first floor.

"Given the existing challenges for OPSO, our OJC in-person courtrooms, and the past success of virtual hearings, we believe that the continued use of these (alternatives), especially on weekends and holidays, remains the most responsible course under current conditions," Hutson wrote in the two-page letter.

An OPSO paralegal attempted to deliver that letter, along with a motion from Hutson to stay the court order, on Monday before contempt proceedings were ordered. But a clerk with Criminal District Court said the office couldn't accept the document because it contained a technical error, according to OPSO.

Louisiana's law around "constructive contempt" covers court clerks, sheriffs and others charged with assisting the court in "the administration of justice." Those guilty of "willful neglect or violation of duty" could be subject to jail time, according to the law.

The latest turn in a tumultuous two months for Hutson.

In Louisiana, natural gas—a planet-heating fossil fuel—is now, by law, considered “green energy” that can compete with solar and wind projects for clean energy funding. The law, signed by Republican Governor Jeff Landry last month, comes on the heels of similar bills passed in Ohio, Tennessee, and Indiana. What the bills have in common—besides an “updated definition” of a fossil fuel as a clean energy source—is language seemingly plucked straight from a right-wing think tank backed by oil and gas billionaire and activist Charles Koch.

Louisiana’s law was based on a template created by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative organization that brings legislators and corporate lobbyists together to draft bills “dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism.” The law maintains that Louisiana, in order to minimize its reliance on “foreign adversary nations” for energy, must ensure that natural gas and nuclear power are eligible for “all state programs that fund ‘green energy’ or ‘clean energy’ initiatives.”

It's incredible the kind of shit you can apparently spin as long as you're Republican and cite "protection from foreign adversaries."

“Louisiana is a classic example of a captured state,” Peterson said. “Their state economy is just so dependent on fossil fuels and petrochemicals.” (The amount of money the fossil fuel industry brings to Louisiana’s people, though, has been on the decline since the turn of the century.)

The state accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s natural gas production and holds about 6 percent of U.S. natural gas reserves. Natural gas is already used to generate about three-quarters of the state’s electricity, and building out more pipeline projects to carry liquefied natural gas, or LNG, won’t necessarily make electricity bills cheaper for residents, Peterson said.

“Building LNG infrastructure is not going to lower anyone’s energy prices in the short term,” since it takes many years to build a pipeline, Peterson said. “And there’s a lot of research that shows that overreliance on gas leaves power grids vulnerable to extreme weather, which Louisiana has a lot of.”

Landry plans to make the giant LNG plant he is building a part of his Huey Long legacy. Most of the local support he gained for this plant is due to his claims of job creation for locals.

It's important to keep in mind, that last year, Landry also changed the existing state rules so that industrial corporations no longer have to actually provide jobs in order to receive corporate welfare.

•Tax breaks for LNG facilities will cost Louisiana parishes $21 billion: report

•Louisiana’s LNG terminals cost taxpayers $7 million for every person they employ

•Landry removes job requirements, trumps local authority for industrial tax breaks

Just in time for the Federal government (and fellow Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson) to add this bullshit work requirements for Mediciad recipients.

TLDR: Corporations in Louisiana get hand outs for doing jack shit. Landry's legacy LNG plant has no incentive to actually create jobs to receive those handouts, and any jobs they do create are actually projected to cost the tax payers more money.

Meanwhile residents in the second most Medicaid dependent state in the country are being told they are lazy leeches, and if they want healthcare they will have to earn it by working for it. Yet there are no jobs...

While standing on the deck of a friend’s yacht last week in Bermuda, Gov. Jeff Landry praised a new Louisiana tax break on boat purchases in a short video he shared to social media.

“Louisiana’s been known as a sportsman’s paradise, but it’s not always treated our sportsmen friendly,” Landry said in the recording posted July 3.

“This year, we made Louisiana sportsman-friendly by capping the amount of taxes you pay when you buy you a new boat or register your boat in Louisiana,” the governor said as the wake of the multimillion-dollar vessel churned behind him.

What the governor didn’t mention is the tax break, which took effect July 1, only applies to boats worth $200,000 or more.

The yacht owner hosting Landry, Shane Guidry, is the governor’s close friend, political adviser and top campaign donor. Guidry told the Illuminator he personally suggested the tax break for luxury boats to the governor.

In their defense, If you drain the whole swamp where are you supposed to park your yacht? I feel like most Americans can relate.

NEW ORLEANS – A controversial new state law that creates criminal penalties for local law enforcement officers who do not fully cooperate with federal immigration investigations is set to go into effect next month, putting the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office in a legal quagmire.

For more than a decade, under a legal settlement in a federal civil rights case, the sheriff’s office, which runs the New Orleans jail, has maintained a policy that places tight restrictions on how its employees can interact with federal immigration authorities.

But beginning on Aug. 1, under Act 399 of 2025, Orleans Parish deputies who follow that policy could be charged with committing a felony and face up to 10 years in prison. On the other hand, if the sheriff’s office goes against the policy and obeys the new state law, it risks violating a longstanding federal court settlement.

Council member Lesli Harris was asking the right questions.

Couple of important points from the meeting:

1. ICE and state police are confirmed to already be using the technology via unregulated cameras owned by Project Nola.

2. The police chief keeps arguing the fact that they're already using it, is why she wants this ordinance. That way the city can actually regulate the publicly owned cams.

She keeps mentioning in Oakland there were ways to protect data from the federal government, but that was a sanctuary city protected within a sanctuary state.

That is not anywhere near the current situation in Louisiana. Not only is this not a sanctuary state, the Senate bill that just passed, SB-15, makes it a crime for any public employee in Louisiana, including Police, to hinder or delay with federal immigration. This means refusing to hand over access or control of the city owned cameras to the federal government, or any of the state agencies partnering with the federal government on immigration via Operation Geaux, could be considered a crime..

3. One of the pro facial recognition arguments made was that the studies showing it is flawed and biased were from 10 years ago, and the tech has improved.

The parish next door to Orleans (Jefferson Parish), literally just had to settle with someone this month for $200K after they issued a warrant for an innocent man's arrest using facial recognition tech. He spent 6 days in jail for crime committed in a place he'd never even been to.

4. As far as the argument that the private cameras are already using this technology, it turns out the city of Portland was able to ban use of facial recognition technology by private companies in public spaces. This wasn't discussed at the meeting, but seems to be the only way to protect the general public from being targeted.

NOTE: The City Council’s criminal-justice committee is slated to discuss surveillance cameras at 10 a.m. today (Monday).

The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) is spying on you and lying about it. On May 29th, 2025, the Washington Post revealed NOPD’s secret collaboration with Project NOLA to use banned Chinese facial recognition cameras all over New Orleans to spy on you. There are more than 5,000 cameras across NOLA. All of them are run by Project NOLA executive director Bryan Lagarde, a former NOPD cop.

I had no idea they were meeting about this today in one hour! I even checked the meeting agenda last night, and didn't see anything related to surveillance.

I was prepared for the meeting on July 10th, and once again, I only found out about this bc I went out of my way looking for any mention of this.

Zero information from City officials or any mainstream local news. Only one mention from a small independent publisher that has been tracking this bullshit since the Palantir scandal of 2018.

I am getting so sick of this evasive bullshit!

Anyone that happens to see this, please watch the live stream at 10 am if you can:

https://cityofno.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=185

If it doesn't work on mobile, it should work on desktop. If they do that pre-meeting, meeting adjourned BS again, close out the window and re-open the Livestream.

October 2024

Police in Belize have temporarily paused their deal with U.S. facial recognition company Biometrica following concerns over moving data overseas.

The project was created to improve the tracking and identification of suspects in the popular Central American tourist destination. The collaboration, however, would have required sharing the county’s criminal database, including biometric fingerprint data, with Biometrica.

Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams said that the agreement is on hold while they are looking for ways to keep data from Belizeans from being taken abroad. If this is not possible, Belize will look for a different software provider, the commissioner added.

“Perhaps if it is that they can develop a software and then we just get that software without the exchanging of data where we can keep our data in-house then we may be able to go with that,” says Williams. “But even the company itself had also called to say that they could not go through with the agreement because of some issue with the software they had developed.”

Williams also noted that Biometrica’s software is facing issues in other Caribbean countries, as reported by the local news outlet Channel 5 Belize. Biometric Update has reached out to the company for more information.

Biometrica has been working with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. The company’s eMotive criminal background checking software was integrated by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) to track potential child abductors and traffickers with facial biometrics.

Belize has been working on a national biometric strategy that was approved by the Cabinet in June.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto's office has agreed to pay six figures to a Georgia man who was jailed for nearly a week over a bad identification using facial recognition technology.

The $200,000 payout to Randal Quran Reid was sealed last month in federal court in New Orleans, a transcript shows. It resolves a civil rights lawsuit that Reid, now 31, filed against Lopinto's office over his arrest in DeKalb County, Georgia on a warrant signed by Jefferson Parish Judge Paul Schneider.

The affidavits supporting all of those warrants make no mention of facial recognition. They cited only "a credible source" for the suspects' identities. Schneider signed the warrants for all three. The case highlights the pitfalls of a technology that more police agencies are adopting in Louisiana and across the country — including in New Orleans, where some officials are pressing to expand its use.

The case highlights the pitfalls of a technology that more police agencies are adopting in Louisiana and across the country — including in New Orleans, where some officials are pressing to expand its use.

This is the same sheriff that recently made news after he left his personal gun in his unlocked car.

Sheriff’s gun stolen from car, “Do as I say, not as I do”