Gates officially declared his candidacy on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at the Huntington Beach Pier, in front of more than 100 supporters and city leaders. The announcement sets up a potential showdown between Gates and Attorney General Rob Bonta, who shared Sunday that he would seek reelection instead of running for governor.

“Sacramento elites keep scheming for ways to raise our taxes while leaving our streets unsafe for our families and our businesses,” Gates told the crowd, which chanted his name and hoisted large signs reading “Safe Families” and “Safe Communities.”

“When I am your attorney general,” Gates said, “it’ll be my charge, my responsibility to protect our families and keep our communities safe.”

Citing a recent report from the California State Auditor that said several state agencies had “wasted, misused or failed to report” more than $5 million in taxpayer money, he called the investigation a “scathing indictment of our leadership in Sacramento,” Gates said.

Gates, a Republican, also excoriated Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom for high taxes, the cost of living and crime rates in the state.

In an interview after the campaign kickoff, Gates said he had planned to run for Huntington Beach city attorney ' he left the office early last year to join the Justice Department under the Trump administration ' but decided to pursue the state’s top law enforcement role after seeing Republican Steve Hilton’s polling numbers in the gubernatorial race, as well as Bonta’s consideration of the gubernatorial contest.

Some polls have skewed somewhat favorably for Hilton in the governors race, where a solid frontrunner has yet to emerge. Like in the attorney general’s race, the top two vote-getters in the June primary will move on to the general election.

“With Bonta waffling, and thinking about running in the governor’s race, that accelerated my thought process,” Gates said. “We’re going to make this a good, very, very competitive race.”

Should he be elected attorney general, Gates said he would “fully enforce” and fund Prop. 36, a tough-on-crime measure that increased penalties for nonviolent theft and drug crimes; investigate and prosecute fraud and corruption by elected leaders; fund legal defense for local police; and address homelessness by enforcing anti-loitering and anti-camping laws.

On social issues, Gates said he would protect parental rights in libraries and on school boards, as well as ensure that sports and education systems are in “full compliance” with Title IX, the 1972 anti-sex discrimination law that has become a flashpoint in discussions about transgender athletes’ right to compete on women’s sports teams.

Gates also pledged to support the creation of more city-level criminal prosecution programs like the one he established in Huntington Beach in 2017, which he said led to an 11% reduction in the crime rate in the city’s downtown area.

'The real scheme Californians should be concerned about is the one that unfolded right in Huntington Beach, where obstructionist politicians wasted millions in taxpayer dollars defending policies to keep housing supply low and the cost of a home sky-high,' Jonathan Underland, spokesperson for Bontas reelection campaign, said. 'Time and time again, Attorney General Rob Bonta has stood up for the residents of Huntington Beach in court ' racking up victories against these bad actors to bring the cost of living down, keep people safe by protecting critical public safety funding, and defending businesses of all sizes by challenging unlawful, costly tariffs in court.'

Huntington Beach Mayor Casey McKeon, who attended the event with the rest of the City Council, said Gates will be a good champion.

“We need someone with strong backbone, American steel and a spine like Michael Gates: a true fighter, someone that’s not going to back down to the pressure of Sacramento,” McKeon said.

Gabriella Menendez, who said she is an immigrant from Mexico and a long-time Huntington Beach resident, said Bonta’s office has unfairly targeted Huntington Beach by trying to control how the city chooses to address its own issues.

“Sacramento just wants our money and they want to tell us how to live,” Menendez said. “We just want to live in peace and justice and equality.”

Gates was elected city attorney in Huntington Beach in 2014 and held the job until he accepted the role of deputy assistant U.S. attorney general in the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, which took him to Washington, D.C.

But in November, the Department of Justice fired Gates from that position 'for cause,' according to a federal employment document obtained by the Register through a records request. Gates insisted that he left of his own accord to be with his family in Huntington Beach. On Nov. 21, the DOJ said in a letter to Gates that it “rescinds and will remove from your personnel record any previous reference to your termination” and would accept his voluntary resignation.

On Wednesday, Gates noted the many legal battles he waged for the city during his tenure as city attorney ' many of which he said revolved around maintaining local control over municipal issues, such as fights over the state’s housing mandate, the city’s voter ID law and a $25 million settlement that Gates secured in 2023 for a former redevelopment loan.

Huntington Beach Councilmember Pat Burns said Gates will continue “fighting for the people” from the state’s capital, the same way he has for the city for so many years.

“He’s going to fight for local control because individual cities have got to run their own cities,” Burns said. “Sacramento cannot run cities from Sacramento.”

BANGKOK (AP) ' Iranian demonstrators ability to get details of bloody nationwide protests out to the world has been given a strong boost, with SpaceXs Starlink satellite internet service dropping its fees to allow more people to circumvent the Tehran governments strongest attempt ever to prevent information from spilling outside its borders, activists said Wednesday.

The move by the American aerospace company run by Elon Musk follows the complete shutdown of telecommunications and internet access to Irans 85 million people on Jan. 8, as protests expanded over the Islamic Republics faltering economy and the collapse of its currency.

SpaceX has not officially announced the decision and did not respond to a request for comment, but activists told The Associated Press that Starlink has been available for free to anyone in Iran with the receivers since Tuesday and that the company has gone even further by pushing a firmware update to help circumvent government efforts to jam the satellite signals.

The moves by Starlink came two days after President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he was going to reach out to Musk to ask for Starlink help for protesters, a call later confirmed by his press secretary, though its not clear if that is what prompted Musk to act.

'Starlink has been crucial,' said Mehdi Yahyanejad, an Iranian whose nonprofit Net Freedom Pioneers has helped smuggle units into Iran, pointing to video that emerged Sunday showing rows of bodies at a forensic medical center near Tehran.

'That showed a few hundred bodies on the ground, that came out because of Starlink,' he said in an interview from Los Angeles. 'I think that those videos from the center pretty much changed everyones understanding of whats happening because they saw it with their own eyes.'

Since the outbreak of demonstrations Dec. 28, the death toll has risen to more than 2,500 people, primarily protesters but also security personnel, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Starlink is banned in Iran by telecommunication regulations, as the country never authorized the importation, sale or use of the devices. Activists fear they could be accused of helping the U.S. or Israel by using Starlink and charged with espionage, which can carry the death penalty.

Cat-and-mouse as authorities hunt for Starlink devices

The first units were smuggled into Iran in 2022 during protests over the countrys mandatory headscarf law, after Musk got the Biden administration to exempt the Starlink service from Iran sanctions.

Since then, more than 50,000 units are estimated to have been sneaked in, with people going to great lengths to conceal them, using virtual private networks while on the system to hide IP addresses and taking other precautions, said Ahmad Ahmadian, the executive director of Holistic Resilience, a Los Angeles-based organization that was responsible for getting some of the first Starlink units into Iran.

Starlink is a global internet network that relies on some 10,000 satellites orbiting Earth. Subscribers need to have equipment, including an antenna that requires a line of sight to the satellite, so must be deployed in the open, where it could be spotted by authorities. Many Iranians disguise them as solar panels, Ahmadian said.

After efforts to shut down communications during the 12-day war with Israel in June proved to be not terribly effective, Iranian security services have taken more 'extreme tactics' now to jam Starlinks radio signals and GPS systems, Ahmadian said in a phone interview. After Holistic Resilience passed on reports to SpaceX, Ahmadian said, the company pushed its firmware update to avoid jamming.

Security services also rely on informers to tell them who might be using Starlink, and search internet and social media traffic for signs it has been used. There have been reports they have raided apartments with satellite dishes.

'There has always been a cat-and-mouse game,' said Ahmadian, who fled Iran in 2012 after serving time in prison for student activism. 'The government is using every tool in its toolbox.'

Still, Ahmadian noted that the government jamming attempts had only been effective in certain urban areas, suggesting that security services lack the resources to block Starlink more broadly.

A free Starlink could increase the flow of information out of Iran

Iran did begin to allow people to call out internationally on Tuesday via mobile phones, but calls from outside the country into Iran remain blocked.

Compared to protests in 2019, when lesser measures by the government were able to effectively stifle information reaching the rest of the world for more than a week, Ahmadian said the proliferation of Starlink has made it impossible to prevent communications. He said the flow could increase now that the service has been made free.

'This time around they really shut it down, even fixed landlines were not working,' he said. 'But despite this, the information was coming out, and it also shows how distributed this community of Starlink users is in the country.'

Musk has made Starlink free for use during several natural disasters, and Ukraine has relied heavily on the service since Russias full-scale invasion in 2022. It was initially funded by SpaceX and later through an American government contract.

Musks involvement had raised concerns over the power of such a system being in the hands of one person, after he refused to extend Ukraines Starlink coverage to support a planned Ukrainian counterattack in Russian-occupied Crimea.

As a proponent of Starlink for Iran, Ahmadian said the Crimea decision was a wake-up call for him, but that he couldnt see any reason why Musk might be inclined to act similarly in Iran.

'Looking at the political Elon, I think he would have more interest … in a free Iran as a new market,' he said.

Starlinks moves to circumvent Tehrans efforts to shut down communications is being watched closely around the world. The satellite service has expanded rapidly in recent years, securing licenses in more than 120 countries, including some with authoritarian rulers who have persecuted journalists and protesters.

Julia Voo, who heads the International Institute for Strategic Studies Cyber Power and Future Conflict Program in Singapore, said there is a risk of activists becoming reliant on one company as a lifeline, as it 'creates a single point of failure,' though currently there are no comparable alternatives.

China has been exploring ways to hunt and destroy Starlink satellites, and Voo said the more effective Starlink proves itself at penetrating 'government-mandated terrestrial blackouts, the more states will be observing.'

'Its just going to result in more efforts to broaden controls over various ways of communication, for those in Iran and everywhere else watching,' she said.

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Bernard Condon in New York contributed to this report.

The laws, passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, came in the wake of the Trump administration’s illegal immigration raids in Southern California in the summer, during which masked, unidentified federal officers detained people as part of the president’s mass deportation program.

Related: Can California Democrats require ICE agents to unmask and show IDs?

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the state laws were unconstitutional and endanger federal officers.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued California, Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta in September, challenging what the federal government claims is an “unconstitutional” attempt to impede federal law enforcement by imposing the mask ban and identification requirement on officers.

The laws made California the first state in the nation to prohibit federal law enforcement, including agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from hiding their identities, and requiring non-uniformed federal law enforcement to visibly display identification information, including agency, name or badge number during enforcement duties.

Senior U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder, a nominee of President Bill Clinton, heard the DOJ’s arguments for a preliminary injunction that aims to pause the ordinance.

The laws took effect Jan. 1, but are not being enforced while their constitutionality is challenged in court.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, alleges that the No Secret Police Act and the No Vigilantes Act threaten the safety of officers facing harassment, doxing and violence while carrying out enforcement duties. The DOJ also says the laws violate the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, under which states have no power to control the operations of the federal government.

“Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe, and they do not deserve to be doxed or harassed simply for carrying out their duties,” Bondi said in a statement. “California’s anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents. These laws cannot stand.”

The complaint states that the federal government does not intend to comply with the challenged laws.

“Assaults against federal agents have exploded over the last few months, thanks in part to (reckless) political rhetoric aiming to de-legitimize our brave agents,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California said when the suit was filed.

“Unconstitutional laws such as this one further endanger our brave men and women protecting our community. Our immigration enforcement will continue unabated and unhindered by unconstitutional state laws enacted by irresponsible politicians.”

WASHINGTON (AP) ' Organ donations from the recently deceased dropped last year for the first time in over a decade, resulting in fewer kidney transplants, according to an analysis issued Wednesday that pointed to signs of public mistrust in the lifesaving system.

More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are on the list for an organ transplant. The vast majority of them need a kidney, and thousands die waiting every year.

The nonprofit Kidney Transplant Collaborative analyzed federal data and found 116 fewer kidney transplants were performed last year than in 2024. That small difference is a red flag because the analysis traced the decline to some rare but scary reports of patients prepared for organ retrieval despite showing signs of life.

Those planned retrievals were stopped and the U.S. is developing additional safeguards for the transplant system, which saves tens of thousands of lives each year. But it shook public confidence, prompting some people to remove their names from donor lists.

Dr. Andrew Howard, who leads the Kidney Transplant Collaborative, said last years dip in kidney transplants would have been larger except for a small increase ' about 100 ' in transplants from living donors, when a healthy person donates one of their kidneys to someone in need. The collaborative advocates for increased living donations, which make up a fraction of the roughly 28,000 yearly kidney transplants.

With the exception of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging, organ transplants have been rising year-to-year. Last years decline in deceased donors didnt translate into fewer transplants overall: There were just over 49,000 compared with 48,150 in 2024. Transplants of hearts, livers and lungs continued to see gains, according to federal data. Howard said that was likely due to differences in how various organs are evaluated and allocated for transplant.

The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations wasnt involved in Wednesdays analysis but expressed alarm, calling on its members, hospitals and federal regulators 'to unite in restoring public trust and strengthening this critical system.'

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The reopening around midday came three months ahead of schedule, and business owners say that should give travelers plenty of time to plan their spring and summer road trips. The highway is famously a must for California visitors traveling between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

'Today is a monumental milestone for us,' said a relieved Colin Twohig, general manager of the Big Sur River Inn. 'Were hitting the light at the end of the tunnel after three long years.'

The first shutdown came in January 2023 when a series of powerful atmospheric rivers triggered a major landslide. The highway was buried by mud and rocks again the following year during another wet winter, and a lane also collapsed down a cliff near the Rocky Creek Bridge.

The traffic stoppage between Carmel and Cambria cut off access to Big Sur, an isolated stretch of the states central coast where misty, forested mountains rise up from the ocean. What used to be a short drive between the southern and northern sections ' with tiny Big Sur Village roughly in the middle ' became an eight-hour trek inland and then back toward the seashore.

The isolated area, home to fewer than 2,000 residents, is known for its panoramic hiking trails along high cliffs and craggy beaches where seals and sea lions sometimes sprawl out. The late 'Tropic of Cancer' author Henry Miller lived there for nearly two decades starting in the 1940s, and theres now a library devoted to his work.

There were multiple closures at various locations throughout the past three years, and the last stretch that remained shut was a 7-mile (11-kilometer) span near Lucia, according to the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the opening on social media, thanking Caltrans for the speedy work in 'reviving a vital economic lifeline for local business owners and residents affected by the closure.'

Caltrans, which has called Highway 1 the jewel of the state highway system, deployed remotely operated bulldozers and excavators to safely remove tons of debris in steep terrain. Then crews drilled 4,600 steel bars into the slopes in a grid to patch layers of the hillside together and reduce the risk of future slides, the department said.

California Assemblymember Dawn Addis, a Democrat whose district includes Big Sur, said the restoration will provide a much-needed fiscal boost to the region.

'This turning point will help restore revenue, access to our state parks, support jobs, public safety, and economic stability for many of our residents,' Addis said in a statement.

Twohig said he looks forward to seeing tourists in cars and motorhomes back on the road.

He estimated that his inn, with 22 guest rooms, a large restaurant and a general store, saw a 20% drop in business. He said the road closure directly following COVID-19 restrictions was a one-two punch. The inn spent the down time making improvements and marketing heavily to entice California residents to visit during the off-seasons.

'When you have a hospitality business, you really rely on the busy season, and when there is no busy season, it can be a hard pill to swallow,' he said. 'Having that lifeline back is huge.'

Video of the protester — who family members have identified as 21-year-old Kaden Rummler — being shot in the face by a federal officer with a less than lethal weapon during a Friday night confrontation outside the federal building in Santa Ana drew controversy this week as it circulated widely on social media.

Based on the video — which also captures the lead-up and aftermath to the shooting — the federal officer who shot Rummler appeared to have been using a FN 303 less lethal launcher, an air powered weapon similar to a pepper ball launcher that instead shoots plastic projectiles, said Spencer Fomby, a retired police captain who serves as section chair for the National Tactical Officers Association Public Order Section after a decades-long career in the Berkeley Police Department and the Boise Police Department.

“There is really no reasonable explanation for that person being shot in the face,” Fomby said of Rummler’s shooting after watching the video footage.

The federal officer likely believed Rummler was going to interfere in their arrest and may have thought he was approaching in an aggressive way, Fomby said. Whether their overall decision to open fire at Rummler was “objectionably reasonable” would depend on if there was an immediate threat, he added. DHS officials have alleged the officers were facing a large, violent crowd.

But law enforcement officers are supposed to be trained to aim the launcher at someone’s legs or torso and to avoid their face, neck, groin or spine, Fomby said.

“Impacts to the head and face are the most dangerous,” Fomby added, noting they can lead to loss of vision or traumatic brain injuries.

The launchers are usually fired generally toward crowds from further away, Fomby said. Those using the launcher should be trained to aim low, Fomby added, so that an errant shot will strike the ground rather than inadvertently hit someone in the head or face.

A DHS official previously wrote in an emailed statement that “a mob of about 60 rioters threw rocks, bottles and fireworks at law enforcement officers outside the federal building in Santa Ana” as part of a “highly coordinated campaign of violence where rioters wielded shields.”

DHS officials said that two “violent rioters” were arrested and two officers were injured during the confrontation.

Federal officials and family members confirmed Wednesday that Rummler was issued a citation for disorderly conduct — a misdemeanor — after the shooting. His injuries required extensive surgery and left him hospitalized for days.

Katelyn Skye Seitz — another demonstrator, who identified themself as Skye Jones during a Tuesday news conference — faces a more serious charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer with physical contact for their alleged role in the confrontation with federal law enforcement, according to a criminal complaint filed on Sunday.

Video of the confrontation showed Rummler seemingly attempting to intervene in Seitz’s arrest when Rummler is seriously injured by the less than lethal round.

A Homeland Security agent in a sworn probable cause statement alleged that Seitz ignored an order for protesters to leave federal property, threw an orange cone toward federal officers and struck an agent in the shoulder and groin while allegedly resisting arrest. The statement, which was filed along with the criminal complaint, says the officer sought medical attention, but does not outline what specific injuries they were alleged to have sustained.

Seitz, during the Tuesday news conference, indicated they had spent the weekend in custody at the Santa Ana City Jail, but declined to discuss their arrest or the criminal allegations they are facing. Asked by a reporter if they believed they were “fairly charged,” Seitz said “no,” adding “That is common and typical for protests to see charges being thrown at people because the goal is to bank on us cowering, the goal is to silence people who dare to stand up.”

A supporter who set up a GoFundMe for Rummler — which has taken in more than $32,000 in donations as of Wednesday afternoon — wrote in a post that Rummler has been released from the hospital. Rummler’s family appeared concerned he could potentially face accusations beyond the initial citation.

'With our government, he can be accused of a crime,” said Bobby Rees, Rummler’s uncle. “Its pretty clear when we look at the videos who is in the wrong here but we know what the government is capable of when it comes to blaming the victim.'

The less than lethal round left plastic, metal and glass shards embedded in Rummler’s skull, he said in statement read by a friend at Tuesday’s news conference. He said a piece of metal had ended up only millimeters from his carotid artery, which, if hit, would have likely been a fatal injury.

Even after extensive surgery, the doctors told Rummler they couldn’t get all the shrapnel out of his skull, according to the statement. Rummler, in his statement, also described two of the people who were detaining him until an ambulance arrived “laughing at the fact I would never see out of my left eye again.”

The exact number of protesters who were outside the federal building when the confrontation took place could not be independently verified. Hundreds gathered earlier that day in downtown Santa Ana to peacefully protest the fatal shooting by a federal officer of Renee Good in Minnesota and the ongoing mass deportations by the Trump administration. But by the time the confrontation began the crowd had already shrunken and dispersed, leaving a much smaller group of activists.

The confrontation itself was captured on video taken by OC Hawk, whose footage of breaking news events in Orange County is routinely used by local media organizations.

The video footage shows protesters standing on steps leading up toward the federal building throwing traffic cones at federal officers wearing body armor and standing in front of the entrance to the building. An agent is shown moving toward the crowd holding what appears to be a less than lethal weapon. Based on the audio, the agent appeared to have fired some less than lethal rounds toward the crowd, as some protesters quickly move back.

A different federal officer is seen grabbing a protester, identified in the federal criminal complaint as Seitz. As Seitz appears to struggle to escape, three other protesters — including Rummler quickly move toward the federal officers and Seitz.

The federal officer with the less than lethal weapon can be seen pointing it at Rummler. He appears to fire the the weapon as Rummler moves toward him, since Rummler is seen on the video quickly dropping to the ground and then doubling over.

One federal officer is seen continuing to pull a still-struggling Seitz toward the entrance to the federal building. A different federal officer grabs Rummler by the hood of his jacket and pulls him backward toward the building. That federal officer is shown tripping over a discarded cone and falling down, then getting up and continuing to drag Rummler to the entrance to the building.

At one point, as Rummler is being dragged toward the building, the video captures blood streaming down his face and his attempts to reach toward his neck and his apparent struggle to breathe. As the federal officers pull Rummler and Seitz away, the crowd could be heard chanting “Leave him the (expletive) alone.”

Another snippet of video shows a federal officer inside the building kneeling on top of Rummler.

It is difficult to tell from the video footage how many people were in the crowd. Less than a dozen are seen on the stairs to the federal building at the time of the confrontation, but it isn’t clear if there are any other people out of frame on the sidewalk or the street. The video footage did not appear to capture any rocks, bottles or fireworks being thrown at the federal officers or any shields held by the protesters.

Other video footage from that night shows dozens of demonstrators walking through a nearby street chanting “ICE out of Santa Ana” at one point and what appears to be a much smaller crowd chanting anti-ICE slogans while standing on a nearby sidewalk, but it is unclear how long before the confrontation those recordings occurred. The footage also shows a federal agent at one point using a portable speaker to order the group to disperse.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ' A man shot and wounded by a Border Patrol agent during an immigration stop in Portland, Oregon, last week pleaded not guilty Wednesday to aggravated assault on a federal employee and damaging federal property.

Luis David Nino-Moncadas public defender entered the plea on his behalf during a hearing in U.S. District Court. He was indicted on the charges Tuesday and remains in custody, with a release hearing scheduled for next week. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman set a five-day jury trial for March.

The shooting, which came one day after a federal agent shot and killed a driver in Minneapolis, prompted protests over federal agents aggressive tactics during immigration enforcement operations.

The FBI said in a court filing that it had found no surveillance or other video of the shooting, in which a Border Patrol agent shot and wounded Nino-Moncada and passenger Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras while they were in a pickup truck in the parking lot of a medical complex. The Department of Homeland Security has said the two people entered the U.S. illegally and were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Portland Police Chief Bob Day confirmed last week that the pair had 'some nexus' to the gang. He said the two came to the attention of police during an investigation of a July shooting believed to have been carried out by gang members but they were not identified as suspects.

Zambrano-Contreras was previously arrested for prostitution, Day said, and Nino-Moncada was present when a search warrant was served in that case.

Border Patrol agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire after Nino-Moncada put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper.

FBI Special Agent Daniel Jeffreys wrote in an affidavit supporting the charges that Nino-Moncada used the vehicle as a weapon. The agents feared for their own safety and that of the public, the document said.

Zambrano-Contreras was being held Wednesday at a private immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, according to an online detainee locator system maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She faces a charge of illegal entry into the U.S., which federal prosecutors in Texas filed last week. The federal public defenders office for the Western District of Texas did not respond to a request for comment.

WASHINGTON (AP) ' At a time of tightening immigration restrictions, the Department of Homeland Security is attempting to make it easier for visa-holding religious workers to serve their U.S. congregations with less disruption.

DHS announced on Wednesday a regulatory change aimed at reducing visa wait times abroad for the foreign nationals many U.S. religious communities depend on to serve as pastors, priests, nuns, imams and rabbis. These religious workers face a yearslong backlog to obtain legal permanent U.S. residency, but congregations can bring them into the country on temporary visas called R-1.

DHS introduced a fix to one issue affecting clergy that advocates had requested ' removing the requirement for R-1 religious workers to leave the U.S. for one year after reaching their five-year visa maximum. That visa time used to be plenty to get a green card, but in 2023 the government made a change in processing that lengthened it so much most had to leave the country. Now, they will still need to depart the U.S. but can apply to re-enter right away.

'We are taking the necessary steps to ensure religious organizations can continue delivering the services that Americans depend on,' the DHS statement said. 'Pastors, priests, nuns, and rabbis are essential to the social and moral fabric of this country. We remain committed to finding ways to support and empower these organizations in their critical work.'

Immigration attorneys and faith leaders welcome new rule

The DHS rule loosens an immigration restriction at a time when the Trump administration has tightened many other immigration pathways. The DHS statement emphasized a commitment to protecting religious freedom and minimizing disruptions to faith-based communities.

'Its a huge deal,' said Lance Conklin, a Maryland immigration attorney who represents evangelical churches with R1 visa holders. 'It would potentially allow people not to disrupt the organization by having someone have to leave for a year, because thats a major imposition now.'

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called it a 'truly significant step to support essential religious services in the United States.'

In a joint statement, Archbishop Paul Coakley, the USCCB president, and Bishop Brendan Cahill, chair of the USCCB committee on migration, expressed their gratitude for the administration’s work on the issue. 'The value of the Religious Worker Visa Program and our appreciation for the efforts undertaken to support it cannot be overstated.”

'Hallelujah!' said Olga Rojas, immigration counsel for the Archdiocese of Chicago. 'Were happy the administration made this change. It is helpful to us so we dont have to lose valued religious workers that are contributing so much to our parishes and schools.'

The U.S. Catholic Church has long relied on foreign-born clergy amid a priest shortage. Other traditions, ranging from Buddhism to Pentecostal Christianity, also recruit foreign-born clergy to serve growing non-English-speaking congregations or because they have specialized training from international institutions steeped in the religions history.

A 2023 change extended wait times

The five-year R1 visa used to provide enough time for congregations to petition for green cards under a special category called EB-4, which would allow the clergy to become permanent residents.

Congress sets a quota of green cards available per year divided into categories, almost all based on types of employment or family relationships to U.S. citizens. In most categories, the demand exceeds the annual quota.

Citizens of countries with especially high demand get put in separate, often longer 'lines,' where it can take decades to process applications.

Also in a separate line were migrant children with 'Special Immigrant Juvenile Status' ' neglected or abused minors ' from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Hundreds of thousands sought humanitarian green cards or asylum after illegally crossing into the U.S. since the mid-2010s, though the Trump administration recently cracked down on the program.

In March 2023, the State Department under President Joe Biden suddenly started adding the minors to the general green card queue with the clergy.

It created new backlogs that threatened the ability of religious workers to remain in the United States. No exact numbers exist, but it is estimated that thousands of religious workers are backlogged in the green card system or havent been able to apply yet.

In summer 2024, the Catholic Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, and five of its affected priests sued DHS, the Department of State and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The lawsuit argued that the 2023 change 'will cause severe and substantial disruption to the lives and religious freedoms' of the priests and the faithful they serve. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed in fall 2025 'to allow for Agency action and/or rulemaking that will render moot the relief Plaintiffs sought from the Court,' according to court documents.

'Were getting the resolution we wanted, which is ultimately keeping the priests in the United States,' Raymond Lahoud, the dioceses attorney in the lawsuit, said Wednesday. 'But the underlying issue is they still have to wait a decade for a green card. So the uncertainty continues until Congress will work together on comprehensive immigration reform.'

In spring 2025, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate and House calling for a small fix similar to Wednesdays DHS rule, allowing for an extension of religious workers visas as long as their green card application is pending.

Dell’Orto reported from Minneapolis.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

At least 45 people in nearly two dozen states have been sickened with salmonella food poisoning tied to a brand of 'super greens' diet supplement powder, federal health officials said Wednesday.

Superfoods Inc., which makes Live it Up-brand Super Greens powder, recalled products including its original and wild berry flavors with expiration dates of August 2026 to January 2028. Consumers should not eat, sell or serve the products and should throw them away or return to the place of purchase.

lllnesses tied to the supplement were reported from Aug. 22 to Dec. 30, 2025. At least 12 people were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The products were distributed nationwide. Case have been reported in 21 states: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

An FDA investigation is continuing and additional products could be contaminated, the agency said.

Symptoms of salmonella poisoning usually start within hours or days of eating a contaminated food product. They include diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. Most people recover without treatment within a week, but infections can be serious in children younger than 5, adults 65 and older and people with weakened immune systems.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.