National
Technology Law as a Vehicle for Anti-Racism – Nov. 12-13

Student editors of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal have organized a remarkable symposium on “Technology Law as a Vehicle for Anti-Racism.” The two-day event, Nov. 12-13, is open to all and free of charge. Keynote speakers will be Cong. Ro Khanna and former FCC commissioner and acting chair Mignon Clyburn. Academic speakers include Bennett Capers, Anupam Chander, Kami Chavis, Colleen Chien, Maurice Dyson, Brandon Garrett, Elizabeth Joh, Safiya Noble, and Olivier Sylvain. They will be joined by practitioners from the Legal Aid Society of NY, Salesforce, Facebook, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, the Federal Public Defenders Office, Hogan Lovells, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the USPTO according to Executive Director Berkeley Center for Law & Technology Jack Dempsey.
The preface for the agenda to the symposium adds:
“The nexus of technology and the law has played a major role in amplifying racial injustices in many of society’s institutions. The killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Jacob Blake, and many others by police just this past summer alone precipitated a new era of reckoning with the egregious treatment that Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color are subject to in the United States, including the ways modern technology has aided in this treatment. Even as demonstrators and social reformers took to the streets and the Web to protest these injustices, technologies were further weaponized to quell their voices.
But technology and the law can also be instruments for structural change. As future lawyers, the student leaders of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal (BTLJ) are eager to dissect the roles of technology law and policy and investigate how they can be channeled to serve the interests of racial justice.
We have invited leading and rising legal academics, policymakers, and activists to share their research and perspectives on the intersection of technology, law, and race. In conversation with one another, they will help us explore and propose options for anti-racist paths forward for the field of technology law. “
The agenda for sessions include: “On Algorithmic Bias and Its Consequences for People of Color”; “On Net Neutrality, Communications Policy, and Their Impact on Minority Populations”; “On Online Speech, Online Harassment, and Section 230”; “Expanding Access to the Intellectual Property Ecosystem”; “On the Criminal Justice System; Evidence, Expert Testimony, and Race”; “On the Potential Conception of Privacy as a Civil Right”; “On Surveillance, Law Enforcement, and Race” and other sessions to be announced.
CLE (Continued Legal Education) credit is offered for this free event.
To register for one or both days, November 12 and 13 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. log onto: Technology Law Symposium
Activism
“Unnecessary Danger”: Gov. Newsom Blasts Rollback of Emergency Abortion Care Protections
Effective May 29, CMS rescinded guidance that had reinforced the obligation of hospitals to provide abortion services under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) when necessary to stabilize a patient’s condition. Newsom warned that the rollback will leave patients vulnerable in states with strict or total abortion bans.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media
Gov. Gavin Newsom is criticizing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for rolling back federal protections for emergency abortion care, calling the move an “unnecessary danger” to the lives of pregnant patients in crisis.
Effective May 29, CMS rescinded guidance that had reinforced the obligation of hospitals to provide abortion services under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) when necessary to stabilize a patient’s condition.
Newsom warned that the rollback will leave patients vulnerable in states with strict or total abortion bans.
“Today’s decision will endanger lives and lead to emergency room deaths, full stop,” Newsom said in a statement. “Doctors must be empowered to save the lives of their patients, not hem and haw over political red lines when the clock is ticking. In California, we will always protect the right of physicians to do what’s best for their patients and for women to make the reproductive decisions that are best for their families.”
The CMS guidance originally followed the 2022 Dobbs decision, asserting that federal law could preempt state abortion bans in emergency care settings. However, legal challenges from anti-abortion states created uncertainty, and the Trump administration’s dismissal of a key lawsuit against Idaho in March removed federal enforcement in those states.
While the rollback does not change California law, Newsom said it could discourage hospitals and physicians in other states from providing emergency care. States like Idaho, Mississippi, and Oklahoma do not allow abortion as a stabilizing treatment unless a patient’s life is already at risk.
California has taken several steps to expand reproductive protections, including the launch of Abortion.CA.Gov and leadership in the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, a coalition of 23 governors supporting access to abortion care.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of June 11 – 17, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 11 – 17, 2025

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
#NNPA BlackPress
Federal Raids Target Migrant Kids, Split Families
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The Trump administration has reportedly removed at least 500 migrant children from their homes across the United States and placed them into government custody, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent
The Trump administration has reportedly removed at least 500 migrant children from their homes across the United States and placed them into government custody, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The children, many of whom were living with family members or other vetted sponsors, were taken during so-called “welfare checks” carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies. According to CNN, the operations are part of a larger campaign launched shortly after President Donald Trump returned to office, with federal authorities setting up a “war room” inside the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review data on children who entered the country alone and were later released to sponsors. Officials have used the room to coordinate efforts between agencies, including ICE and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which oversees the custody of unaccompanied migrant children.
Trump officials claim the effort is aimed at protecting children placed in unsafe conditions or with unqualified sponsors, pointing to cases where children were released to individuals with criminal backgrounds or those involved in smuggling. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the welfare checks have led to the arrests of some sponsors and the transfer of children into ORR custody. Federal data shows more than 2,500 children are currently in ORR custody. CNN reported that the average stay has grown significantly, from 67 days in December 2024 to 170 days by April 2025. Former Health and Human Services officials say new vetting rules—including income requirements, government-issued ID, and DNA tests—have made it far more difficult for parents and guardians, particularly those who are undocumented, to reclaim their children.
In some cases, reunifications that had already been scheduled were canceled. A recent lawsuit details how two brothers, ages 7 and 14, remain in government care because their mother cannot meet new documentation requirements under the revised policies. Mark Greenberg, a former senior HHS official, stated that the approach puts children in a difficult situation. “To the extent, the goal is to determine whether children are in danger or in need of help, this isn’t a good way to do that because it creates fear that anything they say could be used against their parent or family member,” he said. Immigration enforcement agents reportedly have visited children’s homes and asked about their journey to the U.S., school attendance, and upcoming immigration court appearances. Legal advocates say these visits, which sometimes include the FBI, are not standard child welfare procedures and can create fear and confusion among minors.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed the agency’s role, saying, “Protecting children is a critical mission for the FBI, and we will continue to work with our federal, state, and local partners to secure their safety and well-being.” Multiple outlets noted that the Trump administration has not provided clear evidence that large numbers of children are missing. Instead, it has referenced a Department of Homeland Security inspector general report from 2023 that noted more than 291,000 unaccompanied minors had not received notices to appear in immigration court. Former officials note that these figures do not necessarily indicate that the children are missing; some lacked updated addresses or were affected by administrative backlogs.
Within HHS, officials were instructed to expedite policy changes. Former ORR Ombudsman Mary Giovagnoli stated that a senior ICE official, Melissa Harper, was temporarily appointed to lead ORR. Her short tenure was followed by Angie Salazar, another former ICE official who now frequently communicates with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Trump’s team argues the Biden administration allowed thousands of unaccompanied children to enter the country without sufficient oversight. Jen Smyers, a former ORR deputy director, stated that all sponsors underwent thorough vetting, including Department of Justice background checks and reviews of the sex offender registry. “No amount of vetting is a predictor of the future,” she said. The Miami Herald recently reported that a 17-year-old foster child in Florida was removed from his home in shackles and transferred to ICE custody. The boy and his mother had crossed the border without documentation, but he had been living in a state-supervised foster placement. The case raised concerns about the state’s cooperation with federal enforcement and the message it sends to immigrant families. Concerns about federal custody of vulnerable children are not confined to immigration.
In North Carolina, a 7-month-old baby died after being left in a hot minivan by her foster mother, who now faces charges of negligent child abuse and involuntary manslaughter. In Hawaii, dozens of children have been forced to sleep in government offices and hotels due to a shortage of foster placements. In North Dakota, a foster couple has been charged in the death of a 3-year-old after surveillance footage showed the child being repeatedly assaulted. “These cases show what happens when systems meant to protect children fail them,” said Laura Nally, director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights Children’s Program. “There’s a growing concern that these welfare checks are being used to carry out mass detentions of sponsors and unnecessarily return children to government custody.”
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