Austin Mooney

The cable, sent to all U.S. missions on December 2, orders U.S. consular officers to review resumes or LinkedIn profiles of H-1B applicants - and family members who would be traveling with them - to see if they have worked in areas that include activities such as misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance and online safety, among others.

Holy shit.

Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

Private Law Firms Are Quietly Powering State Privacy Enforcement (via Passle) A quiet shift with major consequences is underway in consumer protection enforcement. Across the country, we are seeing states file headline-grabbing la...

1 weird trick class action firms are using to get around PRA bans

Does Attorney-Client Privilege Survive When AI Listens? Discover how using AI tools in legal workflows may jeopardize attorney-client privilege and what steps can help preserve confidentiality.

Interesting writeup. I haven't found a use for AI in my practice, but I think the answer is more clearly "yes"--lawyers can use AI without waiving privilege. Just need to adhere to same confidentiality as other law firm IT by, e.g., ensuring AI providers don't train models using privileged info.

US Senate strikes AI regulation ban from Trump megabill The Republican-led U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to remove a 10-year federal moratorium on state regulation of artificial intelligence from President Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill.

Senate lawmakers have removed from the budget bill what would've been a years-long restriction on state-level AI regulations: www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Dinner with a view #biglaw

“Upon careful consideration of the parties' submissions, ' their arguments during the hearing on the motions, and the plaintiffs' supplemental declarations, the Court concludes the following: (1) the plaintiffs' removals were unlawful because although the plain text of the PCLOB's organic statute does not include an express textual removal restriction, the Board's structure and function clearly indicate that Congress intended to create such a restriction on the President's removal power; (2) the restriction as it applies to the plaintifis is constitutional; and (3) the plaintiffs' requested declaratory and injunctive relief is both available and appropriate under the circumstances presented to the Court in this case. Accordingly, the Court must grant the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and deny the defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment.”

“In response to the 9/11 Commission Report, Congress created an independent, multimember board of experts and tasked its members with the weighty job of overseeing the government's counterterrorism actions and policies, and recommending changes to ensure that those actions and policies adequately protect privacy and civil liberties interests. And, as the Court has now concluded, that responsibility is incompatible with at-will removal by the President, because such unfettered authority would make the Board and its members beholden to the very authority it is supposed to oversee on behalf of Congress and the American people. To hold otherwise would be to bless the President's obvious attempt to exercise power beyond that granted to him by the Constitution and shield the Executive Branch's counterterrorism actions from independent oversight, public scrutiny, and bipartisan congressional insight regarding those actions. And, when the President contravenes a statutory scheme designed by Congress to ensure that these interests are adequately protected, it is spocifically the "province and duty" of the independent Judiciary to "say what the law is." Marbury, S U.S. at 177. Fulfilling that obligation, the Court concludes for the foregoing reasons that it must grant the plaintifis' motion for summary judgment and deny the defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment.”

“ORDER. In accordance with the Memorandum Opinion issued on this same date, it is hereby ORDERED that the 10 Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. It is further ORDERED that the 12 Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED. It is therefore DECLARED that the terminations of the plaintiffs, Travis LeBlanc and Edward Felten, were unlawful, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000ee, and therefore null and void. It is further ORDERED that the plaintiff Travis LeBlanc remains a member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board ("PCLOB" or "the Board"), having been appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to a term expiring on January 29, 2028, and he may be removed by the President prior to expiration of his term only for cause. It is further ORDERED that the plaintiff Edward Felten remains a member of the PCLOB, having been appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to a term expiring on January 29, 2025, and being eligible to serve at his discretion until either his successor is confirmed or one year after the date of the expiration of his current term, i.e., January 29, 2026, whichever occurs first, and he may be removed by the President prior to expiration of his holdover term only for cause or upon the confirmation of a successor to his position on the Board. It is further ORDERED that the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, defendant Beth A. Williams, defendant Jenny Fitzpatrick, and defendant Trent Morse, as well as their subordinates, agents, and employees, are ENJOINED from…”

Just in: A federal judge rules against Trump’s attempted purge of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, saying the firings of Travis LeBlanc and Ed Felten were illegal. The court voids the firings and orders the members be reinstated. 70 PAGES: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Cato has published my comprehensive review of the ~240 Venezuelans the US government renditioned 2 months ago to Salvador’s notorious prison. We identified FIFTY who came legally, never violated any immigration law, but are imprisoned at the US government’s request and at US taxpayer expense.

DHS Terminating Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan WASHINGTON – Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem today announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan. The TPS designation for the country expires on May 20, 2025, and the termination will be effective on July 12, 2025. At least 60 days before a TPS designation expires, the Secretary, after consultation with appropriate U.S. government agencies, is required to review the conditions in a country designated for TPS to determine whether the conditions supporting the designation continue to be met, and if so, how long to extend the designation. “This administration is returning TPS to its original temporary intent,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation. Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country. Additionally, the termination furthers the national interest as DHS records indicate that there are recipients who have been under investigation for fraud and threatening our public safety and national security. Reviewing TPS designations is a key part of restoring integrity in our immigration system.” After consultation with interagency partners, Secretary Noem determined that conditions in Afghanistan no longer meet the statutory requirements. The Secretary’s decision was based on a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services review of the country conditions and in consultation with the Department of State. The Secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions. She further determined that permitting Afghan nationals to remain t…

NEW: As the Trump admin is flying Afrikaners here today to be resettled as "refugees," @Sec_Noem is terminating Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan — meaning they may start deporting women and allies who protected our troops to the Taliban to be persecuted or killed!

The most daming claim in this statement IMO:

Within 15 minutes of DOGE accounts being created…
Attackers in Russia tried logging in using those new creds.
Correct usernames and passwords.

2 options here. The DOGE device was hacked. And I don't think I need to explain the 2nd.

Have had this quote in the home office for years, mostly as a gag. Hits different these days

These are both one-sided reports, so caution is warranted. But now there are two reports, a week apart, of U.S. lawyers stopped at the border in which border agents wanted access to their phones.

(1) 4/7/25
freep.com/story/news/l...

(2) 4/15/25
nbcnewyork.com/news/nationa...

Top I.R.S. Officials Said to Resign After Deal to Give ICE Migrants’ Data The agreement is a major departure from the Internal Revenue Service’s previous stance encouraging migrants to file their taxes.

IRS sharing legally protected data with DHS is a major privacy scandal that raises the question: what other surveillance laws are currently being flouted that we don’t know about? www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/u...

Board Member Mactaggart reiterates his longstanding concerns about overstepping statutory authority, litigation risks to the agency, and the cost of the regulations. He brought a motion to pause the rulemaking and have the new Executive Director study the legal risks and costs of the rulemaking.

Can I Teach the First Amendment If I Only Have a Green Card? Protections on free speech look weaker than they did when I became a permanent resident.

Great article by @evelyndouek.bsky.social

American progress in peril As the U.S.'s global lead is contested and competition for the world's top talent gets stiffer, the Trump administration is disrupting the system that has propelled the country.

40% of U.S.-affiliated Nobel Prize winners in the sciences — physics, chemistry and medicine — between 2000 and 2023 were immigrants.
www.axios.com/2025/03/31/u...

If you ever wondered what SCOTUS thinks about the trolley problem:

Webinar: GDPR Enforcement, Trump 2.0, and Max Schrems GDPR Enforcement, Trump 2.0, and Max Schrems March 25, 2025, at 2 PM ET In this webinar, Professor Daniel Solove will discuss with Max Schrems the future

The firing of the 2 Democratic FTC Commissioners will surely be a topic in my conversation with Max Schrems next Tues, 3/25, 2 PM ET. Register here: teachprivacy.com/webinar-gdpr... @maxschrems.bsky.social (noyb)

Interesting question: couldn’t FTC Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya just keep showing up for work? Precedent for it seems pretty clear.

Slaughter too, apparently. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

…aaand Bedoya was fired.

Post on X by FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya: “I am a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The president just illegally fired me. This is corruption plain and simple.”

BIG: FTC commissioner says he was just illegally fired by President Trump. x.com/bedoyaftc/st...

Some Migrants Sent by Trump to Guantánamo Are Being Held by Military Guards The Times has obtained a list of 53 Venezuelan men the Trump administration has put in a wartime prison built to hold Al Qaeda suspects.

The Trump admin says ICE has custody of migrants sent to Guantanamo, but it's DOD guards in Camp 6, a war-on-terror prison. It won't say who is being held incommunicado there, but we are publishing a list of 53 men in Camp 6.
w/ @carolrosenbergnyt.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/u...

Trump DOJ confirms they will ask SCOTUS to overrule Humphrey’s Executor rather than defend independent agencies / multi member commissions like the FTC, etc.

(So they’re arguing Trump can fire the boards and commissioners that lead these agencies)

The ABA supports the rule of law. Read full message: www.americanbar.org/news/abanews...

Major implications for US federal privacy enforcement if (big if) these removals survive legal challenge. FTC commissioners are subject to the same “for cause” removal provisions that Trump is flouting here. The case they would have to overturn—Humphrey’s Executor—is a case about the FTC.

Update: it did not, they were fired, per anonymous source to @therecordmedia.bsky.social

Spoke too soon it seems. It was just reported that they were terminated

Interesting that the Jan. 23 deadline for PCLOB appointees to resign or be fired passed without anyone resigning or getting fired, after widespread criticism that it would undermine the EU-US DPF. Did a data deal with Europe just save the US’s surveillance oversight agency?

Highly significant to see this comment this coming from noyb, Max Schrems’s NGO. Schrems III imminent?