Greg Casar

Ohio Democrats head into this year's elections with what analysts call their best shot in years to break the GOP's grip on statewide offices, though Republicans retain a clear structural advantage. Separately, a new state law requires mailed absentee ballots to reach county election offices by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day with no grace period, prompting Secretary of State Frank LaRose to urge voters to use drop boxes or deliver ballots in person. The Ohio Auditor's office also took its web systems offline after a cyberattack possibly involving foreign actors, though officials say no financial data appears compromised. LaRose separately sought a federal probe into a voter-registration group's activity in Cuyahoga County.

Austin city leaders and other elected officials are calling for an independent investigation after an ICE agent shot a Venezuelan man Sunday afternoon during a vehicle pursuit while he was making a DoorDash delivery. The man, identified by his attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, says ICE officers sideswiped his car twice without warning before he was shot in the back of the neck. He was released from a hospital into ICE custody with the bullet still lodged near his spine, held at the Pearsall detention center without pain medication, and briefly returned to the hospital Monday night after complaints of untreated pain. DHS says he had a final order of removal after entering under a Biden-era asylum program later ended by Trump; his attorneys say the order stemmed from a missed hearing notice sent to an old address. Federal sources say ICE had been conducting targeted enforcement using license plate checks when they identified his vehicle.

Austin officials say the city's own EMS was requested by Austin Police, not ICE, though bystander video shows an ICE agent also asking whether an ambulance was en route; federal sources say the agent has been placed on administrative leave, standard practice in such incidents. Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI are leading the probe, with Austin Police and Texas Rangers investigating separately. Mayor Kirk Watson, Police Chief Lisa Davis, DA Jose Garza, and Congressman Greg Casar are demanding transparency and local involvement, noting this is one of at least 28 such shootings by federal immigration agents since 2024.

The China Grove, Texas City Council voted 3-0, with one abstention, to ratify a memorandum of agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The provision lets local police assist ICE with immigration enforcement; China Grove operates under the Task Force Model, allowing officers to check immigration status during routine stops like traffic enforcement. City officials say the arrangement has generated roughly $192,000 in federal reimbursement.

The vote followed pressure from Democratic officials, including U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar and Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, who urged withdrawal over racial-profiling and civil-rights concerns. ACLU of Texas and Immigrant Legal Resource Center representatives echoed those objections at the meeting, while Police Chief Ralph Sramek defended the program, saying no racial-profiling complaints have been filed since 2014.

Scrutiny intensified after China Grove police stopped mariachi musician Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro in June, leading to his 16-day ICE detention. China Grove's agreement is among 2,462 active 287(g) partnerships nationwide.

Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar held a San Antonio press conference urging six Bexar County municipalities — Hollywood Park, China Grove, St. Hedwig, Balcones Heights, Sandy Oaks, and Von Ormy — to end their 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agreements, entered under the Task Force model, let trained local police question people about citizenship status during patrols, access ICE databases, and arrest suspected undocumented immigrants.

Castro accused ICE of racial profiling and called the agency "rogue" and "abusive" under the Trump administration, citing conditions at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, which he has visited repeatedly and wants closed. He also suggested financial incentives, not just policy, are driving cities to sign on. Casar called on mayors to stop enrolling police in federal immigration enforcement. Texas law requires counties operating jails to participate in 287(g), a provision dating to 1996 legislation signed by President Bill Clinton, complicating efforts to unwind local participation.