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Chicago mayor says police won’t assist ICE in migrant sweep

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the city’s police department will not participate in an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement roundup of migrant families who have been ordered out the country.

ICE agents have been directed by President Donald Trump to conduct pre-dawn raids in major U.S. cities on Sunday, according to published reports.

In a statement released Friday, Lightfoot says she has directed the Chicago Police Department to terminate ICE access to its databases related to federal immigration enforcement activities. She says Superintendent Eddie Johnson confirms the order has been carried out.

Lightfoot said she has spoken to ICE officials in Chicago and voiced her objection to any roundup of migrant families.

In her statement, Lightfoot said Chicago “will always be a welcoming city and a champion for the rights of our immigrant and refugee communities.”

Missouri rejects license renewal for lone abortion clinic

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri’s only abortion clinic lost its license to perform the procedure on Friday, though it remains open at least temporarily under a judge’s order.

The state health department notified the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis that its abortion license will not be renewed. A letter from the state cited “serious and extensive” deficiencies.

The state’s decision came at the deadline set by St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer. During a brief hearing, Stelzer said a preliminary injunction he previously issued would remain in place, meaning the clinic can continue to perform abortions at least until he issues a final ruling outlining the next steps. He offered no timetable for that ruling.

M’Evie Mead, director of Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri, stressed after the hearing that the bottom line is that the clinic remains open.

“You can still come to Planned Parenthood today for all of your reproductive health care, and that is a good day for women,” Mead said.

The fight between the Republican-led Missouri state government and Planned Parenthood has raged since the state health department allowed the clinic’s license to lapse effective June 1. Stelzer ruled earlier this month that the state needed to be more definitive and set the Friday deadline to either approve or deny the license.

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