US court Rejects Maintaining COVID-19 Asylum Restrictions; Florida Pastor, Son Arrested for Allegedly Using Church’s COVID Loan for $3.7M Mansion, and other C-Virus related stories
US court rejects maintaining COVID-19 asylum restrictions:
Restrictions that have prevented hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum in the US in recent years remained on track to expire in a matter of days after an appeals court ruling Friday, as thousands more migrants packed shelters on Mexico’s border with the US
The ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals means the restrictions known as Title 42 are still set to be lifted Wednesday, unless further appeals are filed.
A coalition of 19 Republican-leaning states were pushing to keep the asylum restrictions put in place by former President Donald Trump at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Migrants have been denied rights to seek asylum under US and international law 2.5 million times since March 2020 on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The public-health has left some migrants biding time in Mexico.
Advocates for immigrants had argued that the US was abandoning its longstanding history and commitments to offer refuge to people around the world fleeing persecution, and sued to end the use of Title 42. They’ve also argued the restrictions were a pretext by Trump for restricting migration, and in any case, vaccines and other treatments make that argument outdated. —>READ MORE HERE
Florida pastor, son arrested for allegedly using church’s COVID loan for $3.7M mansion:
A Florida pastor and his son were arrested Wednesday for allegedly fraudulently obtaining $8.4 million in COVID relief funds — much of which went towards the purchase of a luxury mansion on Disney World property.
Evan Edwards and his son Josh — the respective president and vice president of the so-called ASLAN International Ministry — were taken into federal custody from their family home in New Smyrna Beach, a city about 15 miles south of Daytona Beach, NBC News reported.
Wednesday’s arrest came after the Edwards’ Paycheck Protection Program funds were seized by the Secret Service way back in April 2020 after the feds suspected their family ministry was bogus.
“I’m glad they got arrested,” a neighbor, who requested anonymity, told NBC. “It’s a long time coming.”
Josh applied for the loan in April 2020, claiming his family’s religious nonprofit ASLAN had 486 employees and a $2.7 million monthly payroll, according to a federal forfeiture complaint.
ASLAN’s actual number of employees and payroll expenses were “significantly lower, or entirely nonexistent,” the indictment states. —>READ MORE HERE
Follow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
Court rejects bid by GOP-led states to keep Title 42 in place
WSJ: U.S. Offers Free At-Home Covid-19 Tests Again as Cases Rise
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates
NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest
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