Gaby Del Valle

Policy Reporter

Gaby Del ValleApr 8, 2025

A lawyer representing pro-Palestine protesters got his phone searched by CBP.

Makled, whose clients include demonstrators arrested at University of Michigan protests, was asked to hand over his phone to Customs and Border Protection after flying into Detroit with his family.

“I tell them, ‘I know you can take my phone. I’m not going to give you my phone, however ... 90% of my work is on my phone. You’re not getting unfettered access,” he said. “We have an obligation as lawyers to stand up to this stuff.”

Agents looked through Makled’s contacts list but ultimately returned his phone.

Lawyer for U-M protester detained at airport after spring break trip with family

[freep.com]

Trump’s DOJ will no longer prosecute cryptocurrency fraud

Gaby Del ValleApr 8, 2025

Gaby Del ValleApr 7, 2025

Clearview AI’s founder is reportedly obsessed with eugenics.

Hoan Ton-That, the founder and former CEO of Clearview AI, is fixated on “race, IQ, and hierarchy” and “solicited input from eugenicists and right-wing extremists” to build his facial recognition system, Mother Jones reports.

Ton-That, who has had a long history with the far right, reportedly wanted to “totally hire” Danish race scientist Emil Kirkegaard. This part stuck out to me:

Ton-That was fascinated by eugenics and admired the field’s founder, Francis Galton, who inspired Nazi “racial hygiene” programs. After digesting a letter by Galton that argued for Chinese immigrants to move to Africa and supplant the “inferior” Black race, Ton-That declared in an email that Galton was a “true prophet.”

DOGE staffer ‘Big Balls’ has access to immigration agency’s data

Gaby Del ValleApr 4, 2025

Universities are giving up the fight for free speech — students aren’t

Gaby Del ValleApr 3, 2025

Is it safe to travel with your phone right now?

What are your rights? The answer: it depends.

Gaby Del ValleMar 23, 2025

ICE is going after more international students

Gaby Del ValleMar 21, 2025

Gaby Del ValleMar 20, 2025

Mahmoud Khalil’s habeas case is getting moved to New Jersey.

A New York federal judge transferred Khalil’s petition to New Jersey, where the court will determine whether to order Khalil’s release from an ICE detention center in Louisiana.

The government previously argued that the New York court didn’t have jurisdiction over Khalil’s case.

Jurisdiction is paramount: if Khalil is released from detention and allowed to return to New York, he may face a friendlier immigration court than if he’s detained Louisiana.

Mahmoud Khalil's immigration case moves to New Jersey from New York

[npr.org]