Southeast
Appellate panel hesitant to overturn NC Senate districts in redistricting suit
An appeals court on Thursday weighed a plea to halt the use of two new North Carolina state Senate districts starting this year on arguments the boundaries approved by the Republican-controlled legislature illegally weaken the ability of Black voters in a large region to elect their favored candidate.
But a majority on the three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that heard oral arguments sounded hesitant to reverse last month’s refusal by U.S. District Judge James Dever to issue a preliminary injunction and order new lines. Dever ruled in part that voting was not racially polarized at legally significant levels to justify new districts.
There are no March 5 primaries for the 1st and 2nd Senate Districts being challenged, and an attorney for two Black voters who sued in November said no other districts would have to be disturbed if the panel sides with her clients. Election officials have said they could administer primary elections for retooled districts in mid-May, but legal resolution would have to come quickly. The panel didn’t say when they would rule.
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But lawyers for the Republican legislative leaders helping defend the boundaries have said redistricting rules under the state constitution would force a statewide redraw of the Senate map that would require new candidate filing and ballots. Courts often cite a legal principle discouraging voting rule changes close to an election to avoid confusion.
Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson mentioned the state’s abundance of redistricting litigation — almost continuous since the early 2010s — as something to consider when examining Dever’s findings and conclusions. And at least three other redistricting lawsuits challenging congressional and legislative maps drawn in October for use through the 2030 elections are pending.
The North Carolina state Capitol is photographed in Raleigh, North Carolina. (LOGAN CYRUS/AFP via Getty Images)
“At some point, doesn’t North Carolina deserve a certain amount of stability in its electoral system, so that candidates will know what district they can run (in)?” asked Wilkinson, who was nominated to the Richmond, Virginia, court by President Ronald Reagan. He also said such decisions should be determined in light of successes for Black electoral candidates in the state since passage of the U.S. Voting Rights Act in the 1960s.
But Elizabeth Theodore, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said what her clients consider a clear violation of the Voting Rights Act can’t be ignored. The General Assembly broke up a politically cohesive unit known as the “Black Belt” region when it redrew the two northeastern districts.
“They literally take the Black Belt and they slice it down the middle. I mean, it’s really reprehensible,” Theodore said during online arguments. “You can’t trade off the rights of Black voters in these districts because of the possibility that a Black voter somewhere else in the state may have an opportunity to elect a candidate of choice.”
Theodore’s clients have proposed remedial districts, one of which would have a Black voting age population of nearly 50% or slightly above it, depending on the counting method.
Wilkinson and Circuit Judge Allison Rushing, a nominee of President Donald Trump, sounded skeptical about findings from an expert that the plaintiffs used to build their case that Black voters would be unable to elected their preferred candidates under the new districts. Dever had expressed similar doubt.
Circuit Judge Roger Gregory pushed back against arguments offered by Phil Strach, an attorney for the GOP legislators, including that it was already too late in the 2024 election cycle to act.
A federal court is supposed to “protect statutes that are meant to help protect the rights many times of the dispossessed and those who are least able to protect themselves,” said Gregory, who was first appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton.
Strach responded: “And the court also has an obligation to protect voters from disruption and confusion.”
Republicans currently hold 30 of the Senate’s 50 seats, the minimum required to override vetoes if the GOP caucus stays united. The two current senators representing the region are white Republicans. A ruling ultimately favoring the plaintiffs likely would ensure a Democrat winning one of the seats, which could help break that GOP veto-proof majority.
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Southeast
Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’
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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is calling on Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ensure local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials by handing over an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who allegedly killed a woman earlier this week at a Virginia bus stop.
Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, arrested an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone earlier this week on charges of second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally stabbed a woman, Stephanie Minter, 41, who was found dead at a local bus stop with several wounds to the upper body.
The alleged suspect, Abdul Jalloh, 32, also has a criminal history of more than 30 arrests, according to DHS, including for rape, malicious wounding, assault, identity theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, assault and pick-pocketing.
The request from the Trump administration comes after the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia signed an executive order to end cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement, a move several Democratic Party governors have taken recently amid President Donald Trump’s move to increase deportation operations around the country.
The DHS request asking Virginia officials to cooperate with ICE also comes after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered someone just days after being released from jail for a separate crime in December.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)
“We are calling on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
“This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people.”
Spanberger’s representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012, according to DHS, and immigration officials lodged an immigration detainer against him in 2020, whereupon he was granted a final order of removal by a judge who said he could be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone.
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Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
DHS indicated that ICE cooperation to ensure Jalloh’s deportation is evident after a case Fox News covered in December when a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, Marvin Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly killed a man just a day after Fairfax County jail officials let him go.
The immigrant from El Salvador had been in custody on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a gun, but police released him after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, led by George Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano, dropped the charges.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s office to inquire about why the man had not been handed over to ICE.
The sheriff’s office said, “ICE was aware of Morales-Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody.
Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is living in the country illegally, was released from Fairfax County custody and then allegedly committed a murder the next day. (Fairfax County Police Department/Getty Images)
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital at the time. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC.”
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The same sheriff’s office did not get back to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry for this story on DHS urging officials to cooperate with federal officials.
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Southeast
Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work
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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said.
Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.
During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said.
Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said. (Getty Images )
“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”
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This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)
Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said.
His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education.
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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer.
Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE.
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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).
Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.
GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.
A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)
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Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.
This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.
The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.
Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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