J
Joshua Wilburn
Guest
By: MEGA
Donald Trump and his administration suffered two major legal setbacks as federal judges in California and Rhode Island ruled against key policies pursued by the White House.
States vs. Trump
By: MEGA
In California, U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Thurston ordered the release of Salam Maklad, a Syrian national from the Druze religious minority, who had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers earlier this summer. In Rhode Island, Senior District Judge William Smith blocked the administration from imposing new restrictions on domestic violence funding programs connected to the presidentโs recent executive order targeting what he described as โgender ideology.โ Details of both rulings were shared by Politicoโs legal affairs reporter, Kyle Cheney, on X.
Trump White House
By: MEGA
With Republicans in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, the judiciary has become a critical check on Trumpโs agenda. Courts have previously halted efforts to penalize law firms representing cases against Trump, blocked attempts to revoke protections for Haitian migrants and struck down sanctions aimed at employees of the International Criminal Court. The California case centered on Maklad, who entered the United States in 2002 without valid documentation and applied for asylum. Court records show she later married a man who was granted asylum, which her legal team argued made her eligible for legal immigration status. ICE recently detained her after she attended what she believed was a routine โcheck-inโ meeting and subsequently placed her in expedited removal proceedings and threatened her with deportation. Thurston emphasized Makladโs clean record and lack of flight risk, writing that โthe balance of the equities and public interest weigh in favor of Ms. Maklad.โ
Judgeโs orders
By: MEGA
The judge ordered her release and barred authorities from rearresting her without โcompliance with constitutional protections, which include, at a minimum, pre-deprivation notice โ describing the change of circumstances necessitating her arrest โ and detention, and a timely bond hearing.โ Thurston further ruled that โRespondents are PERMANENTLY ENJOINED AND RESTRAINED from rearresting or re-detaining Ms. Maklad absent compliance with constitutional protections. โฆ At any such hearing, the Government SHALL bear the burden of establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, that Ms. Maklad poses a danger to the community or a risk of flight, and Ms. Maklad SHALL be allowed to have her counsel present.โ On the same day, Judge Smith ruled against the administration in a case tied to President Trumpโs Executive Order 14168, titled โDefending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.โ The directive, issued earlier this year, declared that sex is an โimmutable biological classification as male or femaleโ and instructed federal agencies to โprioritize investigations and litigation to enforce the rights and freedomsโ tied to this definition.
โGender ideologyโ
By: MEGA
Following the order, the Office on Violence Against Women revised its grant policy in May 2025 to prohibit funding for โinculcating or promoting gender ideology.โ A coalition of 17 nonprofit groups challenged the restrictions, arguing they undermined their work with survivors of domestic violence. Judge Smith sided with the organizations, ruling that the new requirements โcould result in the disruptionโ of critical services for victims of sexual and domestic violence. Together, the rulings marked another day of judicial pushback against the Trump administrationโs efforts to reshape immigration enforcement and federal gender policy.
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