The Associated Press

A federal lawsuit over an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, known as "Alligator Alcatraz," has been paused by an appellate court because of the government shutdown. Earlier this month, U.S. government attorneys requested a stay in proceedings because funding for the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security had expired. The appellate court granted the request on Wednesday. Environmental groups, including Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, had sued over environmental concerns. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams previously ordered the facility to wind down operations, but that injunction was put on hold by an appellate court panel.

The White House has started tearing down part of the East Wing to build the ballroom President Donald Trump wants added to the building. Demolition started Monday. Dramatic photos showed construction equipment tearing into the East Wing façade and windows and other building parts in tatters on the ground. Some reporters watched from a nearby park. The Republican president has said he's adding a 90,000-square-foot ballroom because the East Room, the largest room in the White House with an approximately 200-person capacity, is too small. Trump said last week that the ballroom will fit 999 people.

The public release of a Young Republican group chat that included racist language, jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers has prompted bipartisan calls for those involved to be removed from or resign their positions. Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, has criticized the backlash, labeling it "pearl clutching." Vance compared the dustup to past violent comments by a Democratic candidate In Virginia, arguing that Jay Jones' remarks concerning political violence were worse. Other Republicans, like Vermont's Gov. Phil Scott, are demanding resignations, calling the comments "unacceptable." Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have urged investigations, condemning the messages as discriminatory.

Florida officials have been accused of failing to disclose their application for federal reimbursement for an immigration detention center in the Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz." A public records lawsuit filed Monday by Friends of the Everglades says this led to a false impression before an appellate court panel, which put on hold a judge's order to wind down operations at the facility. Florida applied for federal funding in August but didn't inform either a federal district court or an appellate court panel. Federal officials confirmed that a $608 million reimbursement had been approved for the center earlier this month.

U.S. government lawyers say detainees at the Florida Everglades immigration detention center, known as "Alligator Alcatraz," likely include people who have never been in removal proceedings. This contradicts Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's claims since the facility opened in July. The U.S. Department of Justice made this admission Thursday in a court filing. They argue that detainees don't have enough in common to be certified as a class in a lawsuit over access to attorneys. Civil rights groups allege detainees have been denied proper access to legal counsel, violating their constitutional rights. DeSantis's office hasn't responded to requests for comment.

Detainees arriving at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades are given color-coded uniforms and segregated based on criminal history and flight risk. That is according to a handbook made public as part of a lawsuit over attorney access at the site known as "Alligator Alcatraz." Civil rights and environmental groups have filed three lawsuits over conditions. In one lawsuit, civil rights groups argued the facility operates outside federal law. They asked a federal judge in Fort Myers this week to stop the facility from holding detainees. A different federal judge ordered it closed in August for environmental reasons, but it remains open pending appeals.

Starbucks said Thursday it's closing hundreds of U.S. and Canadian stores and laying off 900 nonretail employees so it can focus resources on its turnaround plan. The Seattle coffee giant wouldn't say exactly how many stores it's closing. But the company expects to end its fiscal year this Sunday with 434 fewer stores than it had at the end of June. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said in a letter Thursday that the company is closing stores that don't have a path to financial stability or have physical spaces that don't meet customers' expectations. Starbucks said employees will be offered transfers to other locations if possible.

A new poll shows Republicans' outlook on the direction of the country has soured dramatically. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll was conducted shortly after last week's assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah. The poll shows the share of Republicans who see the country headed in the right direction has fallen sharply in recent months. Today, only about half in the GOP see the nation on the right course, down from 70% in June. Overall, about one-quarter of Americans say things in the country are headed in the right direction, down from about 4 in 10 in June. Democrats and independents didn't shift meaningfully.

Some of the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic bishops and nuns on the front lines of America's immigration conflict gathered in Washington to decry the Trump administration's hard-line policies. The religious leaders condemned Trump's immigration crackdown, saying its tearing apart families, inciting fear and upending American church life. They shared how they've supported immigrants who are wary of taking their children to school, and going to work or church for fear of being detained and deported. A Trump administration move gives immigration officers more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship. It has been challenged in court by faith groups representing millions of Americans.

Attorneys are still facing obstacles in contacting clients at the immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in Florida. That's according to new court papers filed Thursday. The filings say detainees are often transferred just before scheduled lawyer visits, denying them legal representation. The new court papers were filed a week after a federal appellate court allowed the facility to continue operations by staying a lower court's injunction ordering the center to wind down. Lawyers also claim U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement omits detainee information from its online locator system, complicating efforts to locate their clients.