U.S. Briefs: Florida’s immigration law meets court resistance

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau and National Governors Association

President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda isn’t the only one getting struck down in federal court. A U.S. District Court judge in Miami on April 4 temporarily blocked Florida’s new immigration law from taking effect. Judge Kathleen Williams ruled the law “unlawfully encroaches” on the federal government’s authority to regulate immigration. The Florida law, passed earlier this year, made it a first-degree misdemeanor for an illegal immigrant to enter or attempt to enter the state, with punishments of a minimum of nine months in prison for the first offense and at least two years if the immigrant has two or more prior convictions. Florida lawmakers approved the measure during a three-day special session in February centered on helping the Trump administration crack down on illegal immigration. Florida public universities also support the clampdown: The University of Florida joined Florida Atlantic University and the University of South Florida in signing agreements to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The new policy deputizes campus police to act as immigration ­officers and to report immigrants residing in the state illegally. —Addie Offereins

Alabama

State employees and public school teachers will soon receive two months of paid vacation time after giving birth or experiencing a stillbirth or mis­carriage after 12 weeks’ gestation, or adopting a child 3 years old or younger. Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill April 2 giving female employees eight weeks of leave, while male workers who become parents will receive two weeks off. If both parents who adopt a child work for the state, both can take leave, although only one can take the full eight weeks. The benefit does extend to abortions, but only if performed to prevent “a serious health risk to the unborn child’s mother.” Employees must have worked for the state for at least a year and agree to stay on the job for at least eight weeks after returning to work. The law takes effect July 1. —Todd Vician

Tennessee

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department on April 2 released its final report on the Covenant School shooting, wrapping up more than two years of investigation. The 48-page report concluded that the shooter’s goal was to die while achieving notoriety. The shooter killed three 9-year-old students and three adults at her former school on March 27, 2023. She left no single manifesto explaining her attack, according to the report: Instead, investigators pieced the shooter’s motivations together from years’ worth of journals and personal records. Her writings contained rants against Christian values, but she wrote she had no animus against the school or its students and enjoyed her time there. She planned to kill at least 40 people, mainly children, to ensure she was remembered. —Elizabeth Russell

Aaron Ontiveroz / The Denver Post

Colorado

The Democrat-controlled Colorado General Assembly passed a bill April 6 that supporters say aligns state law with new pro-abortion constitutional changes. In November, Colorado voters approved a referendum adding abortion rights to the state constitution and repealing language that prohibited taxpayer funding for abortion. The bill requires the state to begin covering abortions on Jan. 1, 2026, in state-funded healthcare plans for Medicaid recipients and state employees. During a committee hearing, House Speaker Julie McCluskie touted saved tax dollars as a reason to support the legislation. “That savings comes from the averted births that will not occur because abortions happened instead,” she said. “A birth is more expensive than an abortion.” A fiscal analysis says the new law will save the state $286,000 in the 2026 fiscal year and another $573,000 the following year. Pro-life scholar Michael New of the Charlotte Lozier Institute noted state abortion funding typically leads to an increase in abortions, which could ultimately cost Colorado more than the analysis predicts. —Leah Savas

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SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau and National Governors Association

Connecticut

Two residents sued the state’s Department of Social Services April 10, claiming the state’s Medicaid income limit—set lower for severely disabled people than for non-­disabled people—harms their health and violates the equal protection clause of the Connecticut Constitution. The federal and state monthly income limit for low-income adults and pregnant women is $1,800 (138% of the federal poverty level). Connecticut also offers coverage for disabled residents, but allows them to earn only up to $1,370 a month ($2,198 for a couple) and have less than $1,600 in assets ($2,400 for a couple). The plaintiffs say they have income between $1,370 and $1,800, making them ineligible for all state Medicaid programs. States are allowed to set eligibility for severely disabled people at any income level, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs acknowledge they can receive federal Medicare coverage, but note the program doesn’t provide certain benefits, such as coverage for hearing aids, dental care, or eyeglasses. —Todd Vician

Illinois

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, an influential seminary in Bannockburn beset by financial strain and declining enrollment, will merge with its Canadian sister university, school leaders announced April 8. Trinity, affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church and known as TEDS, will continue to hold classes on its campus north of Chicago during the 2025-2026 school year before moving in 2026 to the Trinity Western University campus in Langley, British Columbia. The merger comes amid a $7.6 million deficit, according to Trinity’s 2024 audit, and nearly a decade of declining enrollment—from 753 full-time equivalent students in 2015 to just 403 in fall 2024, according to Religion News Service. Since its inception in the 1940s, the school has figured prominently in the wider evangelical world. TEDS employed Gospel Coalition co-founder Don Carson and theologians such as Carl F. H. Henry and Walter Kaiser. Nationwide, seminary enrollment is up, with Baptist seminaries including Liberty University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary drawing the most students, according to annual data from the Association of Theological Schools. —Mary Jackson