Protesters arrested in NYC over possible ICE-related activity near Chinatown
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(NEW YORK) — Multiple people who were protesting possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Lower Manhattan were arrested Saturday, the New York Police Department said.
The protesters were seen near Centre Street in Chinatown blocking vehicles and shouting, “ICE out of New York,” according to video obtained by ABC News. At one point, the protesters were observed blocking a van from coming out of a garage.
While the NYPD declined to comment on any possible activity by federal agents, it said in a statement that officers “observed multiple people blocking the street and were told multiple times to disperse but they did not comply.”
The NYPD said that “multiple” persons were taken into custody but didn’t immediately provide more details on the numbers or the charges.
Saturday’s protest came a month after federal agents carried out an immigration enforcement action that targeted vendors on Canal Street in Chinatown. At least 9 people were arrested during that raid, according to federal officials.
Four U.S. citizens were arrested and held for “nearly 24 hours” without any federal charges following that incident, according to U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, who represents the area.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt turns 100 on Wednesday, Aug. 21,2019. Sister Jean is surprised after she’s given an NCAA Final Four ring before the Loyola Ramblers play the Nevada Wolf Pack in 2018 at Gentile Arena in Chicago, Ill. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the team chaplain for the Loyola University Chicago basketball team who became a national celebrity during the school’s 2018 underdog March Madness run, has died at 106.
“This is a tremendous loss of someone who touched the lives of so many people. We appreciate everyone’s thoughts & prayers during this difficult time,” the university said in a statement.
In an announcement last month, just a month after her 106th birthday, the university said Schmidt was retiring and stepping back from official duties at the school.
In a letter to students and other members of the university community sent on her birthday in August, Schmidt said she was unable to travel to campus to celebrate due to a “bad summer cold and other health issues.”
She wrote, “That makes me very sad, but you can still celebrate,” and encouraged students to “make new friends. Talk to your old friends. Enjoy your move-in and your preparations for class.”
Schmidt became a nationally recognized figure during the 2018 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, when Loyola University Chicago, which entered March Madness as an 11-seed, reached the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.
Schmidt’s presence courtside — always adorned in the team’s maroon and gold colors — and her enthusiastic cheering on of the team drew attention from fans and national broadcasters.
“In many roles at Loyola over the course of more than 60 years, Sister Jean was an invaluable source of wisdom and grace for generations of students, faculty, and staff,” Loyola President Mark C. Reed said in a statement. “While we feel grief and a sense of loss, there is great joy in her legacy. Her presence was a profound blessing for our entire community and her spirit abides in thousands of lives. In her honor, we can aspire to share with others the love and compassion Sister Jean shared with us.”
Born Dolores Bertha Schmidt in San Francisco on Aug. 21, 1919, she joined the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1937, taking the name Sister Jean Dolores, according to a university obituary.
A basketball player in her youth, Schmidt later became a nun, then a grade school teacher, and started girls’ sports programs before her time on the college basketball sidelines.
She came to the university’s Lake Shore campus in 1961 to teach at Mundelein College, which affiliated with Loyola in 1991.
She first became an academic adviser for the men’s basketball team in 1994 and later became the team chaplain.
She released a memoir in 2023, “Wake Up with Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years.”
In a 2023 interview with ABC News, Schmidt said, “I think sports [are] very important because they help develop life skills, and during those life skills you’re also talking about faiths and purpose.”
U.S. National Guard in Washington D.C. (Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — A federal judge on Sunday extended her order blocking President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland, continuing the legal battle over the president’s power to use the military on American cities.
Following a three-day trial last week, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the deployment of troops from any state’s National Guard into Portland through at least Friday.
Judge Immergut concluded that the attempt to send troops into Portland stemmed from exaggerated claims of violence in the city, where isolated protests were already contained by federal and local law enforcement.
“Based on the trial testimony, this Court finds no credible evidence that during the approximately two months before the President’s federalization order, protests grew out of control or involved more than isolated and sporadic instances of violent conduct that resulted in no serious injuries to federal personnel,” she wrote.
Judge Immergut also concluded that the Trump administration likely violated a federal law that allows the takeover of the National Guard in the case of rebellion or invasion, as well as infringed on the state sovereignty of Oregon. The protests in Oregon, Immergut wrote, at most resulted in “sporadic isolated instances of violent behavior toward federal officers and property damage to a single building” and fell short of the standard definition of a “rebellion.”
“Defendants have not, however, proffered any evidence demonstrating that those episodes of violence were perpetrated by an organized group engaged in armed hostilities for the purpose of overtaking an instrumentality of government by unlawful or antidemocratic means,” she wrote.
The trial and decision follow a prolonged legal battle over the use of the National Guard in Portland. After Judge Immergut last month blocked the use of the Oregon National Guard, the Trump administration moved to send in troops from Texas and California.
She similarly blocked those troops from being sent into the city, and the Trump administration then appealed her order.
The Ninth Circuit briefly lifted her decision but agreed to rehear the case en banc, — when the entire court hears the case, rather than just a panel — thereby restoring the block on the deployment.
With both Immergut’s previously issued orders set to expire on Sunday, she issued a preliminary injunction tonight that will expire on Friday, at which time she plans to issue a complete ruling based on the testimony and evidence presented at trial.
A scenic view of the Farmingdale Long Island Railroad station near by the Bethpage State Park Golf Course on August 11, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York.
(LONG ISLAND, N.Y.) – – President Donald Trump has agreed to establish an emergency board to review the dispute between the Long Island Rail Road and the unions that represent its employees, according to an executive order released by the White House.
A coalition of unions representing about half of Long Island Rail Road employees averted a strike earlier this week by asking President Donald Trump to establish an emergency board, as they seek a pay increase.
Service will continue on the busiest commuter railroad in North America while this emergency board process is underway. A strike could occur next May, however, if a compromise with the MTA isn’t reached.
The news comes after the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen announced on Monday that 99.9% of its 529 active LIRR union members voted to authorize a strike.
The coalition of unions, however, agreed to formally request Trump to establish an emergency board to attempt to resolve the issues between the union and the LIRR and come to a new contract, staving off a potential strike that would have begun Thursday.
If BLET does not agree to a new contract by May, however, it could be the first time LIRR employees strike in over 30 years. LIRR unions last went on strike in 1994, but the walkout only lasted for two days before a new contract for LIRR employees was settled.
“These passengers, they’re our friends, our neighbors, our family, and they should be treated much better than we’ve seen over this past week,” said BLET Vice President James Louis. “This is why the five unions decided to be the grown-ups in the room and request President Trump to appoint a presidential emergency board per the Railway Labor Act and allow both sides to present the proposals to the board.”
The strike would potentially affect more than 270,000 daily commuters in New York, as five unions representing 55% of the LIRR workforce are demanding a 16% raise over a four-year period.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul decried the idea of a strike on Monday, stating that it would hurt LIRR employees and passengers.
“A strike would hurt not only the riders who rely on the LIRR, but also many hardworking LIRR employees and their families, who will be left without pay because of unrealistic demands and their union leadership’s refusal to negotiate,” Hochul said in a press release. “There is a fair offer on the table, and I have directed the MTA to be ready to negotiate anytime, anywhere.”
According to the MTA, which runs the LIRR, the unions planning to strike next year have already rejected one deal that offered them a 9.5% wage increase over a three-year period, which would keep LIRR workers as the highest-paid railroad employees in the country. LIRR engineers currently make $160,000 a year on average and top out at $350,000, according to the agency.
LIRR President Rob Free has lambasted the collective bargaining effort by the unions, citing it as a cash grab that would overpay LIRR employees who already earn almost $50 an hour on average, per MTA figures, which is 7% higher than industry norms, he said.
“These five labor organizations, who are amongst the highest paid in the nation, want 6.5% more than everyone else, without any concessions, including outdated work rules, that significantly increase salaries, including providing multiple days’ pay for one day of work,” Free said in a press conference last week.
However, the LIRR unions maintain they are trying to achieve fair wages for their members, as they have been without a pay raise for over three years and run almost 1000 daily trains.
Gil Lang, the General Chairman for the BLET’s LIRR engineers, said the unions are trying to keep pace with the rising cost of living in New York.
“We are only asking for a fair contract — one that provides modest wage gains, or at the very least, maintains real wages,” Lang said. “Our members would not ratify anything short of that.”
