Due process

Democratic state Sen. J.D. Ford has defeated Republican incumbent Victoria Spartz in Indiana's Fifth Congressional District, a seat Republicans had held for roughly 30 years and one Donald Trump carried by double digits. The Associated Press and CNN called the race for Ford, who finished with about 51.7% of the vote to Spartz's 48.3% with nearly all ballots counted. Spartz, seeking a fourth term after winning her previous two races by wide margins, saw the result mark an unexpected swing in traditionally Republican territory. Ford, the first openly LGBTQ+ member of the Indiana General Assembly, campaigned on affordability, healthcare and utility costs, while Spartz emphasized limited government.

Analysts point to farm-country frustration over inflation and tariffs as a possible factor in the upset, with the outcome drawing attention as a potential signal of broader national trends ahead of the midterms.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly held Attorney General Todd Blanche, Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin, and an acting ICE field office director in civil contempt after Nain Vasquez Gonzalez, a Salvadoran man she had ordered released following 38 months of detention, was rearrested by ICE agents in New Jersey hours later. Kelly said officials gave "inconsistent stories" and failed to produce body camera footage, with one agent's camera reportedly uncharged. She criticized ICE's use of masks to conceal agents' identities, calling it "unamerican," and imposed sanctions covering attorney's fees. Immigration attorneys called the contempt finding unusual but an even-handed application of court authority.

Gun rights remain a central flashpoint in Ohio's 2026 elections for U.S. Senate and governor. Republican Jon Husted, who led concealed-carry reform as Ohio House Speaker, faces Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown, criticized by gun-rights advocates for backing assault weapons bans, red-flag laws, and universal background checks. In the governor's race, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy opposes gun registration and red-flag orders, while Democrat Amy Acton, former state health director, frames gun ownership as a public health issue and backs expanded background checks. Republicans have poured over $200 million into the Senate race, with Trump and Vance rallying for Husted amid economic frustrations that analysts say could narrow GOP margins statewide.

Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a search warrant Monday at Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington, D.C. residence, seizing her phone, passport and computers, as part of a probe into whether she or her late father falsified her citizenship paperwork decades ago. The investigation could potentially lead to denaturalization proceedings against the congresswoman. Members of Minnesota's Somali community, including Minneapolis City Council Vice President Jamal Osman, denounced the raid as an abuse of power and an escalation of Trump's rhetoric against Omar and Somali Americans. Omar called the raid an "outrageous abuse of power" meant to intimidate a political opponent. Trump said the matter was up to the Department of Justice, calling Omar a "terrible person."

Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez has introduced the "Reimagining Safety Act," legislation that would abolish the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, replacing DHS with a new Department of Community Safety. The move follows a federal raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home, where Homeland Security Investigations agents searched the property early Monday as part of a Justice Department probe into decades-old paperwork, seizing her phone and issuing subpoenas to relatives. Omar called the raid an "outrageous abuse of power"; President Trump denied involvement.

Ramirez's 71-page bill would shift immigration enforcement to the Justice Department, customs to Treasury, and TSA/Coast Guard to Transportation, while redirecting DHS funds toward Medicare for All, housing, and education. It has fewer than seven co-sponsors and faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress. Republicans have called the proposal "utterly insane," while some moderate Democrats also oppose abolishing ICE. Separately, Ramirez joined advocacy groups to unveil a broader immigration reform platform with 19 congressional co-sponsors and backing from 54 civil rights organizations.

Tennessee voters will decide on Amendment 3, a constitutional measure that would replace the state's existing 1998 victims' rights provision with an expanded version modeled on the national Marsy's Law movement. The amendment would guarantee crime victims rights including notice of proceedings, participation in parole decisions, protection from harassment and intimidation, restitution, a speedy case resolution, and information about an offender's sentence and release date.

Supporters, including Sen. John Stevens, argue the current constitutional language is largely "aspirational" and unenforceable, and that only a constitutional amendment can lock in protections that a future legislature could otherwise weaken through ordinary statute. Critics, including Democratic Sens. Heidi Campbell and Jeff Yarbro, have raised concerns about unknown costs to an already strained court system, since no funding has been budgeted for implementation. The measure includes language intended to preserve due process rights for the accused. To pass, it needs majority support and "yes" votes exceeding half the total votes cast in the governor's race.

A federal judge in Arizona has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate the return of Ahmed Soliman, 31, a Phoenix man deported to Equatorial Guinea in April without due process. District Judge John C. Hinderaker found the third-country removal violated U.S. law and Soliman's Fifth Amendment rights, citing "irreparable harm" after months of arbitrary detention, beatings, threats, and incommunicado confinement. DHS must take "all reasonable steps," including issuing travel documents and arranging transport at its own expense, and file status reports every three days. DHS attorneys did not dispute Soliman's account of abuse or that he was deported without a fear screening. The agency has 30 days to appeal.

Soliman, granted protection from removal to Egypt as a gay man, was targeted after speaking out about conditions facing dozens of U.S. deportees held at a decommissioned hotel in Equatorial Guinea under a secretive $7.5 million U.S.-brokered agreement. His case echoes that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and feeds into an ongoing Supreme Court dispute over third-country deportation protections, with more than 20 others still detained at the hotel.