Elise Matthesen

DOJ opens the door to DOGE. Justice Department officials have granted DOGE employees access to the names and locations of millions of immigrants in the U.S., documents reveal. The database, maintained by the office that oversees immigration courts, includes detailed information on people’s interactions with courts and law enforcement, and confidential interviews with asylum seekers. It’s the latest government database, from housing to Medicare, infiltrated by DOGE in an effort to ramp up deportations. The Washington Post

He couldn’t speak. Police shot him within seconds. The police killing of Victor Perez, a teen in Idaho who was nonverbal and had autism, is sparking conversation about police violence against people with disabilities. Perez was experiencing a mental health crisis and wielding a knife when police shot him nine times. Advocates say Perez’s killing is part of a larger pattern, and are calling for police to get mandatory training on autism and other developmental disabilities. NBC News Related: The Trump administration is slashing budgets for autism programs across multiple agencies. Time TMP Context: When police encounters with people with autism turn fatal. The Marshall Project

Another Venezuelan man vanishes. Amid President Donald Trump’s pledge of mass deportations, a Venezuelan man ordered to be deported has disappeared from government records. Last month, Ricardo Prada Vásquez told a friend he was in a Texas detention center and would be deported. That evening, three planes carried Venezuelan migrants from the facility to El Salvador, but Prada’s name does not appear on a list of those migrants. No one has heard from him since. The New York Times The similar case of Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel, whose family is searching for his whereabouts. Miami Herald Related: From a detention center in Louisiana, Mahmoud Khalil listened by phone as his wife gave birth to their first child more than 1,000 miles away. The New York Times

A string of deaths with no answers. More than two dozen people have died in the Tarrant County, Texas, jail since 2021. Their deaths have not been fully investigated. The sheriff’s department has defended its practices, and state regulators say they have no power to compel further review. Meanwhile, family members continue to protest and picket, demanding to know what happened to their loved ones inside. Bolts

ICE agents aren’t allowed on New York City’s Rikers Island, for now. The state Supreme Court temporarily blocked a decision by Mayor Eric Adams to allow immigration officials to set up an office on the island, which houses the city’s jail. Gothamist Meanwhile, one of Rikers’ most famous detainees, Harvey Weinstein, is using his case to decry “hellhole” conditions at the facility. The New York Times

Consistent understaffing and cost-cutting at a tony mental health facility in Illinois boiled over into assault and death, a New York Times investigation found. At least four residents at Timberline Knolls said they were sexually assaulted by a staff member, and two people died by suicide while under the facility’s supervision. The New York Times

Lawmakers in Florida are reversing course on gun laws, which temporarily became more restrictive after the 2018 Parkland shooting. In 2023,the state eliminated license and training requirements for carrying concealed guns. State officials have considered several measures, including Gov. Ron DeSantis’ calls to repeal the red flag law. The state’s attorney general also refused to enforce restrictions on rifles. The Trace

The retrial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, began yesterday amid a media circus and a mounting online movement to exonerate her. The Boston Globe Why has this case captured so much national attention? The Boston Globe

The sole abortion provider in Wyoming can again provide care, after a judge paused two state laws that had effectively halted all abortions. Residents seeking to terminate a pregnancy had been forced to travel out of state since Feb. 28, when one of the rules was signed. The Associated Press

When the helpline is a restricted number. Overdoses behind bars are rising, but addiction services for prisoners remain scarce. “If you request treatment for a drug or alcohol problem, you will find confusing information and empty promises,” writes Jeffrey McKee from the Washington State Penitentiary. Prison Journalism Project

Why the Evergreen State should take on the GEO Group. Tacoma, Washington, is home to one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country. It’s time for Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson to require more transparency and taxation of the private prison behemoth. The Urbanist

Is crime decreasing? Crime across the nation is likely down, according to Jeff Asher’s analysis of available data from the first few months of 2025. However, Asher warned that it is still early in the year and year-to-date crime statistics can sometimes be unreliable. Using data from multiple sources, including the nationwide Real-Time Crime Index, individual police departments and the Gun Violence Archive, he wrote that the data points to a very large, across-the-board, decline in crime nationally. Jeff-alytics

Do more with less. The Trump administration has continued to fire immigration judges while also trying to speed up deportations. Trump has claimed on social media that it’s “not possible” to give a hearing to every immigrant facing removal. NPR Related: The court where preschoolers have to represent themselves. Gothamist

Out of prison but detained forever. Across the country, civil commitment laws can keep certain people convicted of sex offenses behind bars indefinitely, even after they’ve completed a criminal sentence for their crimes. One treatment program in Minnesota did not release a single person in a 20-year span, but had hundreds die in their custody. The Appeal

$350 million. That’s how much Walgreens could end up paying, after a settlement with the U.S Justice Department, over the chain pharmacy’s role in the opioid crisis. In a federal complaint, Walgreens is accused of illegally filling millions of opioid prescriptions “despite clear red flags.” The Associated Press

Judges fight back. Facing rising violence, federal judges are sounding the alarm and advocating for measures to protect themselves. Threats against federal judges doubled between 2021 and 2023, and continued to rise in 2024, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Leading the charge are women like Julie Kocurek, a district judge in Texas who was shot in her driveway 10 years ago. The 19th