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US judge halts Trump’s calls for mass firings by agencies

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — A California federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ordering the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies to carry out the mass firings of thousands of recently hired employees.

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U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said during a hearing that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management lacked the power to order federal agencies to fire any workers, including probationary employees who typically have less than a year of experience.

Alsup ordered OPM, the human resources department for federal agencies, to rescind a January 20 memo and a February 14 email directing agencies to identify probationary employees who should be fired.

Alsup said he could not order the Defense Department itself, which is expected to fire 5,400 probationary employees on Friday, and other agencies not to terminate workers because they are not defendants in the lawsuit brought by several unions and nonprofit groups.

Andrew Tate, charged with crimes in Romania, lands in the US

(Reuters) — Internet figure and self-described misogynist Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from Romania on Thursday, shortly after prosecutors lifted a travel ban related to criminal charges against them.

The Tate brothers are under criminal investigation in Romania on accusations of forming an organised criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering. They have denied all wrongdoing.

“We have no criminal record anywhere on the planet, ever,” Andrew Tate told reporters as he left the Florida airport on Thursday, saying he and his brother were innocent and the victims of lies.

He did not respond to reporters who asked why the brothers had come to Florida, or whether U.S. President Donald Trump had helped get their travel ban lifted.

Migrant arrests at US-Mexico border at record low in February

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in February is on pace to be at or near a record monthly low, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson and two other sources told Reuters.

U.S. Border Patrol is on pace to have arrested around 8,500 migrants at the border in February as the end of the month nears, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. Two other sources said the monthly total would be at or near a record low.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, took an array of actions to deter illegal immigration after returning to the White House on January 20, saying a crackdown was needed after high levels of migration under his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

Trump’s moves included implementing a sweeping ban on asylum at the border and surging military troops to assist border security.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration over the ban earlier this month, arguing it violated U.S. asylum law and international treaties.