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The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Wednesday made an emergency request to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the revocation of legal status for more than 350,000 Haitians, opening them up to deportations.  U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer  asked the justices to block a lower court’s ruling that found the Trump administration unlawfully ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti.  TPS is a status given to nationals who hail from a country deemed too dangerous for return. The program grants work permits and deportation protections through renewal cycles ranging from six to 18 months.  As President Donald Trump aims to carry out mass deportations, the administration has moved to revoking legal status, such as TPS, for millions of immigrants, which means they then may be deported.   Administration argues status is temporary In court filings, Sauer argued that the decis...

Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville (right) speaks with Sen. Matt Woods, R-Jasper (left) on the floor of the Alabama Senate on March 10, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. A Senate committee passed his bill to expand the number of members to the Public Service Commission from three to seven. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday approved legislation that would expand membership on the state’s public utility regulator but not address a rate-making process that critics say locks the public out and keeps power bills high. SB 360 , sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville and filed on Tuesday, would change the make-up of the Alabama Public Service Commission from a president and two commissioners elected statewide to seven members, one elected from each congressional district in the state. The bill would also create a state secretary of energy, appointed by the governor, who would set agendas for the commission and administer ...

Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, speaking to a House colleague on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 25, 2026, in Montgomery, Alabama. The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would require the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) to create an anaphylactic response policy and train all licensed day care centers on its implementation. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would require the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) to create an anaphylactic response policy and train all licensed day care centers on its implementation. HB 332 , sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, requires DHR to create the policy by Oct. 1, 2027, and train all day care staff by Jan. 1, 2028. A message seeking comment from DHR was sent Tuesday afternoon.  “This would actually save lives in the long run. We have more and more allergens out there, whether it’s drugs or food or latex or other things that trigger this,” sa...

Pentagon officials ascend stairs on March 10, 2026, as they leave a classified briefing for members of the U.S. Senate on Capitol Hill. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats tasked with overseeing defense left a classified briefing Tuesday incensed about President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, as the United States and Israel continue their joint bombardment and families prepare to bury seven American service members killed in the conflict. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he left the briefing “more doubtful than ever that there is clarity on objectives or exit strategy.” “I emerged from this briefing as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate. I am left with more questions than answers, especially about the cost of the war,” Blumenthal said. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that since the beginning of the war in Iran, “ap...

Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, stands on the floor of the Alabama Senate on Feb. 5, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Albritton Tuesday asked a Senate committee to delay consideration of a bill aimed at resolving a dispute over the state's Internet sales tax. . (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama Senate committee delayed a vote on a bill on Tuesday that aimed at resolving a battle between cities and counties over the state’s Internet sales tax. SB 347 , sponsored by Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, increases the frequency of population calculations used to determine how proceeds from the levy, known as the Simplified Sellers Use Tax (SSUT), are distributed. “We got that bill drafted, it was dropped, (SB) 347, on Thursday afternoon, and then we started looking at the numbers,” Albritton said at the Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee meeting. “And this proves one thing; this matter is a lot more complicated than they thought it was.” While t...

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, speaks on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Jan. 27, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill sponsored by England aiming to make it more likely that crime victims will receive compensation. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) An Alabama House committee approved legislation last week aiming at making victims of crime more likely to receive restitution. HB 481 , sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, requires any money collected from people convicted of a crime to be first allocated toward restitution for victim compensation, before payments are distributed to fines, fees and court costs. “I filed it a few weeks ago,” England said in an interview last Wednesday. “I think the public would be shocked to find out that while the system is set up to do two things, punish people and compensate victims who are victims of crime, the last thing that gets paid after court cost...