A staffer on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign on Monday suggested that Orthodox Catholics, Jews and Muslims should not be allowed to serve on the Supreme Court because of their “intolerant” beliefs.The comments came during a Twitter conversation between Biden campaign deputy data director Nikitha Rai and Brookings Institute senior fellow Shadi Hamid in which Rai attacked Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholic beliefs. A search for Rai's Twitter account now yields a message saying, "This account doesn't exist."Hamid had responded to a tweet that said Barrett was a trustee at a Catholic school that opposed same-sex marriage as homosexual acts are "at odds with Scripture." Hamid replied, “Wait, why is this news? Isn’t this the standard position for any orthodox Catholic?” “Unfortunately yes,” Rai said. When Hamid pointed out that Orthodox Muslims and Jews generally hold the same view, Rai said, “True. I’d heavily prefer views like that not be elevated to SCOTUS, but unfortunately our current culture is relatively intolerant. It will be awhile before those types of beliefs are so taboo that they’re disqualifiers.”> Here’s a @JoeBiden staffer saying that orthodox Christianity, Islam, and Judaism should be made “taboo” and driven from the public sphere. Beneath all the talk of “interfaith” and “pluralism,” this is what they really believe. pic.twitter.com/PrN8S1qaLG> > -- Jeremy McLellan (@JeremyMcLellan) September 29, 2020The former vice president often touts his Catholic faith on the campaign trail, though critics note that some of Biden’s positions — such as his support for abortion and same-sex marriage — stand in opposition to Catholic teachings.Barrett’s faith has been widely scrutinized in the media as “extreme” and cult-like since the president announced he would nominate the 48-year-old Notre Dame professor to fill the vacancy on the Court left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.Barrett, a former clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, has been attacked for her faith for years now, beginning with her 2017 confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee when Democrats questioned whether her Catholicism should disqualify her from being a judge.“Why is it that so many of us on this side have this very uncomfortable feeling that dogma and law are two different things, and I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different,” Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) said at the time.“The conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,” Feinstein added. “And that’s of concern.”

A staffer on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign on Monday suggested that Orthodox Catholics, Jews and Muslims should not be allowed to serve on the Supreme Court because of their “intolerant” beliefs.The comments came during a Twitter conversation between Biden campaign deputy data director Nikitha Rai and Brookings Institute senior fellow Shadi Hamid in which Rai attacked Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholic beliefs. A search for Rai's Twitter account now yields a message saying, "This account doesn't exist."Hamid had responded to a tweet that said Barrett was a trustee at a Catholic school that opposed same-sex marriage as homosexual acts are "at odds with Scripture." Hamid replied, “Wait, why is this news? Isn’t this the standard position for any orthodox Catholic?” “Unfortunately yes,” Rai said. When Hamid pointed out that Orthodox Muslims and Jews generally hold the same view, Rai said, “True. I’d heavily prefer views like that not be elevated to SCOTUS, but unfortunately our current culture is relatively intolerant. It will be awhile before those types of beliefs are so taboo that they’re disqualifiers.”> Here’s a @JoeBiden staffer saying that orthodox Christianity, Islam, and Judaism should be made “taboo” and driven from the public sphere. Beneath all the talk of “interfaith” and “pluralism,” this is what they really believe. pic.twitter.com/PrN8S1qaLG> > -- Jeremy McLellan (@JeremyMcLellan) September 29, 2020The former vice president often touts his Catholic faith on the campaign trail, though critics note that some of Biden’s positions — such as his support for abortion and same-sex marriage — stand in opposition to Catholic teachings.Barrett’s faith has been widely scrutinized in the media as “extreme” and cult-like since the president announced he would nominate the 48-year-old Notre Dame professor to fill the vacancy on the Court left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.Barrett, a former clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, has been attacked for her faith for years now, beginning with her 2017 confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee when Democrats questioned whether her Catholicism should disqualify her from being a judge.“Why is it that so many of us on this side have this very uncomfortable feeling that dogma and law are two different things, and I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different,” Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) said at the time.“The conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,” Feinstein added. “And that’s of concern.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning an enforcement operation next month that would target arrests in cities and jurisdictions that have embraced “sanctuary” policies, according to a new report.U.S. officials told the Washington Post that the operation, known informally as the “sanctuary op,” could begin as early as this week in California before moving on to cities including Denver and Philadelphia.The officials called the plan more of a political messaging campaign than a major ICE operation, as the agency already focuses on immigration violators with criminal records and most arrests fly under-the-radar.While ICE agents in sanctuary jurisdictions can take custody of suspected immigration violators, they receive little-to-no cooperation from the local government. Jurisdictions with such policies generally decline to hold immigrants in jail longer than they are required to in order to allow ICE officers to take detainees into custody. They also refuse to check the legal status of suspects who are arrested or detained for minor offenses. ICE officials have told cities and counties considering sanctuary policies that more agents would be sent to make arrests in their jurisdictions should they adopt such a policy.“We do not comment on any law enforcement sensitive issues that may adversely impact our officers and the public,” said Mike Alvarez, an ICE spokesman, according to the Post. “However, every day as part of routine operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement targets and arrests criminal aliens and other individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws.”Jurisdictions that don’t work with ICE increase risks for agents and the public, Alvarez said. “Generally speaking, as ICE has noted for years, in jurisdictions where cooperation does not exist and ICE is not allowed to assume custody of aliens from jails, ICE is forced to arrest at-large criminal aliens out in the communities instead of under the safe confines of a jail,” he said.Sanctuary policies limit the number of potential deportees who can be easily taken into custody, hindering the agency’s ability to do its job. Seventy percent of the agency's arrests happen after it has been made aware of an immigrant's pending release from jail or state prison.ICE has brought more than 160,000 such “detainers” with local law enforcement agencies since 2019, according to the Post.The policies have also deepened a backlog of “at-large criminal and fugitive aliens ICE seeks to apprehend,” according to the agency.ICE announced on Monday it had arrested a dozen people in Mecklenburg County, N.C., where the county's sheriff had minimized its cooperation with the agency. Six of those arrests included immigrants with criminal convictions who were wanted on immigration violations, ICE said, adding that sanctuary policies left them “free to reoffend until their capture.”ICE official Henry Lucero said in a statement to the Post that the agency “cannot stand by idly while knowing the public is being misled about the role ICE plays in keeping the public safe.”“The fact is local policies prohibiting agencies from working with ICE put you in danger and waste police resources,” Lucero said. “The public should hold its leaders accountable and demand to know what type of criminals are being released from local custody instead of turned over to ICE.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning an enforcement operation next month that would target arrests in cities and jurisdictions that have embraced “sanctuary” policies, according to a new report.U.S. officials told the Washington Post that the operation, known informally as the “sanctuary op,” could begin as early as this week in California before moving on to cities including Denver and Philadelphia.The officials called the plan more of a political messaging campaign than a major ICE operation, as the agency already focuses on immigration violators with criminal records and most arrests fly under-the-radar.While ICE agents in sanctuary jurisdictions can take custody of suspected immigration violators, they receive little-to-no cooperation from the local government. Jurisdictions with such policies generally decline to hold immigrants in jail longer than they are required to in order to allow ICE officers to take detainees into custody. They also refuse to check the legal status of suspects who are arrested or detained for minor offenses. ICE officials have told cities and counties considering sanctuary policies that more agents would be sent to make arrests in their jurisdictions should they adopt such a policy.“We do not comment on any law enforcement sensitive issues that may adversely impact our officers and the public,” said Mike Alvarez, an ICE spokesman, according to the Post. “However, every day as part of routine operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement targets and arrests criminal aliens and other individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws.”Jurisdictions that don’t work with ICE increase risks for agents and the public, Alvarez said. “Generally speaking, as ICE has noted for years, in jurisdictions where cooperation does not exist and ICE is not allowed to assume custody of aliens from jails, ICE is forced to arrest at-large criminal aliens out in the communities instead of under the safe confines of a jail,” he said.Sanctuary policies limit the number of potential deportees who can be easily taken into custody, hindering the agency’s ability to do its job. Seventy percent of the agency's arrests happen after it has been made aware of an immigrant's pending release from jail or state prison.ICE has brought more than 160,000 such “detainers” with local law enforcement agencies since 2019, according to the Post.The policies have also deepened a backlog of “at-large criminal and fugitive aliens ICE seeks to apprehend,” according to the agency.ICE announced on Monday it had arrested a dozen people in Mecklenburg County, N.C., where the county's sheriff had minimized its cooperation with the agency. Six of those arrests included immigrants with criminal convictions who were wanted on immigration violations, ICE said, adding that sanctuary policies left them “free to reoffend until their capture.”ICE official Henry Lucero said in a statement to the Post that the agency “cannot stand by idly while knowing the public is being misled about the role ICE plays in keeping the public safe.”“The fact is local policies prohibiting agencies from working with ICE put you in danger and waste police resources,” Lucero said. “The public should hold its leaders accountable and demand to know what type of criminals are being released from local custody instead of turned over to ICE.”