Southwest
Arizona's proof of citizenship law heads back to the courts amid fears of noncitizen voting
An Arizona law that requires residents to show proof of citizenship in order to be able to vote in elections is before the courts again on Tuesday after the Supreme Court allowed parts of the law to be enforced – and amid national concerns about noncitizen voting.
Arizona’s law will be before a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday for oral arguments over the law, which was initially blocked by a lower court earlier this year. The law would require those registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship.
The Supreme Court allowed the enforcement of restrictions that block people from voting in state and local elections, but those who have registered without that proof can still vote in presidential and congressional elections with a different federal form. That form requires them to swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury.
SCOTUS GIVES PARTIAL VICTORY TO GOP TRYING TO ENFORCE PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP TO VOTE IN ARIZONA
The United States Supreme Court (front row L-R) Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, (back row L-R) Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pose for their official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building on Oct. 7, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Neil Gorsuch would have granted the application in full, while Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the application in full. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh provided a compromise of sorts with their deciding votes. The now-stalled 2022 state law requiring proof of citizenship was challenged by civil rights groups and the Arizona Democratic Party.
It comes amid yearslong concerns by Republicans, in particular about the potential for noncitizens voting in U.S. elections. This week, the U.S. Department of Justice said an illegal immigrant reached an agreement to plead guilty to charges related to stealing a U.S. citizen’s identity to vote in multiple elections and fraudulently obtaining an American passport.
Meanwhile, in Congress, Republicans have looked to tie a bill to require proof of citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections to a spending bill extension to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the year. The Biden-Harris administration has come out in strong opposition to the SAVE Act, making clear it would not be signed by the president if passed.
“It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in Federal elections – it is a Federal crime punishable by prison and fines,” reads a statement of administration policy last month.
Arizona residents shared their views with Fox News Digital last month about whether voters should provide proof of citizenship to vote.
“Absolutely,” one voter in Sierra Vista, Arizona, told Fox News Digital. “I have to provide proof of ID to get on a plane to go to New York. So why wouldn’t anybody else have to have an ID to vote for the people that are going to run our country?”
ARIZONA LAW REQUIRING PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP TO VOTE SUPPORTED BY 24 STATE AGS IN EMERGENCY STAY WITH SCOTUS
“I think that’s a decent idea,” one man told Fox in Tucson.
“I think if it’s not there, and you don’t have you don’t have a way to prove it, then you shouldn’t be counted in the voting system,” a resident in Yuma said.
“Absolutely, it’s unconstitutional otherwise,” a resident in Arivaca said.
Immigrants line up at a remote U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 7, 2023 in Lukeville, Arizona. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
“Absolutely, yeah,” another resident in Tucson said.
However, another Tucson resident disagreed. “I don’t think so because I feel like there’s a lot of people here that don’t have papers but still care for this country and care for their environments and their lifestyles, so I feel like those people should have a right to at least vote, or have speech for their own rights too.”
Fox News’ Greg Wehner, Bill Mears, Shannon Bream, Matteo Cina, Julia Johnson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
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