The briefing for Friday, September 25.

A federal appeals court ruling issued just before midnight Wednesday threw a core Trump administration immigration policy into question, forcing the cancellation of a deportation flight carrying 70 people and prompting an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clarified an earlier ruling against third-country deportations, saying a prior order allowing such flights to continue during litigation was no longer in effect. The reversal came hours after plaintiffs told the court they had learned of a planned flight from Louisiana to Burundi, Rwanda and the Central African Republic.

Administration officials reacted angrily, with Attorney General Todd Blanche saying the order stripped authorities of "an entirely legal and valuable tool" for immigration enforcement. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to halt the appellate ruling, arguing it would force unreasonable delays and require reworking diplomatic agreements with foreign governments. The lower court order does not ban third-country deportations outright but requires that people be given a meaningful chance to object before being sent to a country other than their own.

The policy has already sent thousands of people to more than two dozen countries, from Liberia to Guyana, often under secretive agreements. Some deportees have ended up in nations they had never heard of and been held there against their will; lawyers for two men sent to Equatorial Guinea this month said they were beaten and held at gunpoint. A Homeland Security official said 25,000 people have been deported to third countries, calling the practice essential to public safety, while critics say the lack of process raises serious safety risks for people fleeing persecution.

California's Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco's seizure of roughly 650,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election was unlawful, ordering their return. The court found that California law requires ballots to remain in the custody of election officials even during a criminal investigation. Bianco, a Republican, said he disagreed with the ruling but would comply.

Bianco seized the ballots in February to investigate claims from a local citizens group that found what it said was a discrepancy between ballots cast and received in the vote on Proposition 50, a Democratic-backed redistricting measure. Riverside County's registrar said the group had misread the data and that the actual gap was just 103 ballots, well within the normal margin of error. Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta had sued immediately after the seizure, arguing the sheriff had no authority over election materials.

The case drew national attention as officials and civil rights groups brace for the possibility that Trump allies could attempt similar ballot seizures ahead of November's midterms; the Trump administration itself seized election materials from a Georgia office in January. Bonta called the ruling clear confirmation that such defiance "cannot stand" and that ballots belong in the custody of election officials. Bianco, who ran unsuccessfully for governor this year, has said he will seek reelection as sheriff in 2028.

Yemen's internationally recognized government pressed the United Nations on Thursday for help against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who this month seized the port city of Mokha and key Red Sea islands, giving them a stronger position near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. About 12% of global trade passes through the waterway. The Houthis have declared a blockade on Saudi shipping and claimed to have fired dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia's Jazan province Thursday; Saudi officials said they intercepted six ballistic missiles aimed at other targets.

Yemen's government vice president, Abdullah Abdulkader al Alimi-Bawzer, told the U.N. General Assembly that the Houthis are using "the safety of navigation as a tool for blackmail" that threatens the global economy, and urged nations to keep weapons from reaching the rebels. Iran denies arming the Houthis, though U.N. experts have documented extensive military ties. The renewed fighting risks a full return to Yemen's civil war, which killed more than 150,000 people before a 2022 truce.

The human toll is already severe. The Associated Press reported that hospitals across Yemen are being overwhelmed, with fewer than 10% of affected health centers fully equipped for trauma care. Nearly 130,000 people have been displaced, and aid groups say pregnant women and malnourished children are among those struggling to get treatment as medicine runs short and some health workers flee fighting near the coast.

The instability adds pressure on global markets already watching the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively controlled since a U.S.-Israeli strike on the Islamic Republic in February. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Washington will honor its defense commitments to Saudi Arabia, but has not renewed direct military involvement despite Saudi requests for support.

Fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front escalated into what a TPLF official called "full-blown war" this week, effectively ending the 2022 peace agreement that stopped a conflict estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of people. TPLF fighters seized control of three airports from federal police, prompting Ethiopian Airlines to cancel flights to the region. Ethiopia's army said Thursday it had repelled attacks in the Amhara region near the Tigray border, though the claims could not be independently verified.

Tensions had been building for months, with the TPLF removing a federal-aligned regional leader in May and replacing him with former wartime leader Debretsion Gebremichael. On Sunday, the TPLF announced a new alliance with six other armed groups — including factions from the Amhara, Oromo and other regions — aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from power. Both sides deny starting the latest round of fighting, and most combat is reportedly occurring in remote, mountainous areas.

Analysts say the new alliance marks a significant shift from the earlier war, since some allied groups previously fought each other, and Eritrea — which backed Ethiopian forces in the last war — may now support the opposition. The African Union and regional bloc IGAD have called for de-escalation, while the U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia called the TPLF's offensive a "poor decision." Residents of the regional capital, Mekelle, described a tense calm amid economic disruption, with banks running short on cash and public workers going unpaid for months.

The Trump administration has taken a series of steps this year to limit how schools can address racial disparities that arise from policies not explicitly designed to discriminate, a concept known as systemic or disparate-impact discrimination. This summer, the Education Department rescinded a rule that allowed schools to compare outcomes across racial groups, such as enrollment in advanced classes, as a way to spot potential bias. It also told schools that considering race in discipline policy is illegal, even when one racial group is suspended or expelled more often than others.

The Justice Department has separately stepped back from school desegregation enforcement, announcing this week it has closed more than 50 desegregation cases since Trump took office, with more dismissals planned. Previous administrations of both parties used such cases to hold schools accountable for disparities in discipline, facilities or access to advanced coursework. An Education Department spokesperson said prior administrations had "weaponized disparate impact" in ways that undermined student learning and classroom safety.

Critics, including Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., argue the rollback risks making it easier for discrimination to go unaddressed, comparing the shift to pre-1954 conditions before school desegregation was mandated. Data has long shown that Black students are suspended and expelled at higher rates than their peers for similar infractions, and research links suspension to worse academic outcomes. A Denver Public Schools case alleging disproportionate discipline of Black male students with disabilities, for instance, stalled after the new policies took effect, even after state authorities found civil rights violations.