By REBECCA SANTANA AND ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said Wednesday that an order by President Donald Trump suspending asylum access at the southern border was unlawful, throwing into doubt one of the key pillars of the president’s plan to crack down on migration at the southern border. But he put the ruling on hold for two weeks to give the government time to appeal.

In an order Jan. 20, Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was “suspending the physical entry” of migrants and their ability to seek asylum until he decides it is over.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington said his order blocking Trump’s policy will take effect July 16, giving the Trump administration time to appeal.

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Moss wrote that neither the Constitution nor immigration law gives the president “an extra-statutory, extra-regulatory regime for repatriating or removing individuals from the United States, without an opportunity to apply for asylum” or other humanitarian protections.

The Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to a request but an appeal is likely. The president and his aides have repeatedly attacked court rulings that undermine his policies as judicial overreach.

The ruling comes after illegal border crossings have plummeted. The White House said Wednesday that the Border Patrol made 6,070 arrests in June, down 30% from May to set a pace for the lowest annual clip since 1966. On June 28, the Border Patrol made only 137 arrests, a sharp contrast to late 2023, when arrests topped 10,000 on the busiest days.

Arrests dropped sharply when Mexican officials increased enforcement within their own borders in December 2023 and again when then-President Joe Biden introduced severe asylum restrictions in June 2024. They plunged more after Trump became president in January, deploying thousands of troops to the border under declaration of a national emergency

Trump and his allies say the asylum system has been abused. They argue that it draws people who know it will take years to adjudicate their claims in the country’s backlogged immigration courts during which they can work and live in America.

But supporters argue that the right to seek asylum is guaranteed in U.S. law and international commitments — even for those who cross the border illegally. They say that asylum is a vital protection for people fleeing persecution — a protection guaranteed by Congress that even the president doesn’t have the authority to ignore.

People seeking asylum must demonstrate a fear of persecution on a fairly narrow grounds of race, religion, nationality, or by belonging to a particular social or political group.

In the executive order, Trump argued that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives presidents the authority to suspend entry of any group that they find “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”

Groups that work with immigrants — the Arizona-based Florence Project, the El Paso, Texas-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and the Texas-based RAICES — filed the lawsuit against the government, arguing that the president was wrong to equate migrants coming to the southern border with an invasion.

And they argued that Trump’s proclamation amounted to the president unilaterally overriding “… the immigration laws Congress enacted for the protection of people who face persecution or torture if removed from the United States.”

But the government argued that because both foreign policy and immigration enforcement fall under the executive branch of government, it was entirely under the president’s authority to declare an invasion.

“The determination that the United States is facing an invasion is an unreviewable political question,” the government wrote in one argument.

Spagat reported from San Diego.

By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press

A South Carolina beach town once nicknamed “Dirty Myrtle” because of its rowdy nightclubs and strip joints has become a magnet for retirees in a nation that continues to age.

The number of residents age 65 years and older in the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area grew by 6.3% last year, making it the fastest-growing metro area for senior citizens in the U.S., according to population estimates the U.S. Census Bureau released last week.

During the 2020s, Myrtle Beach’s senior population has grown by more than 22%, also the fastest rate in the United States this decade. Senior citizens now make up more than a quarter of the around 413,000 residents in metro Myrtle Beach, which once was known for being a budget beach destination.

The community with a mile-long boardwalk and 200-foot Ferris wheel used to attract biker rallies which the city tried to end in the late 2000s because of the noise, traffic and rowdiness. But now the noisy streets have had to make room for quiet diners and pickleball courts.

The sun starts setting near the Springmaid Pier, Feb. 4, 2023, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, file)

The COVID-19 pandemic played a role in the area’s senior boom as people in such places as Ohio and New York who had been vacationing for years in Myrtle Beach realized they could retire early or work from home anywhere, said Mark Kruea, a longtime public information officer for Myrtle Beach who is now running to be mayor.

“Many people converted that thought into action,” Kruea said. “The climate’s great, taxes are low, there’s a wealth of opportunities for recreation, dining and shopping.”

A graying United States

The U.S. population age 65 and older rose by 3.1% last year, while the population under age 18 decreased by 0.2%. In the past two decades, seniors have increased from 12.4% to 18% of the U.S. population, while the share of children has dropped from 25% to 21.5%, according to the population estimates.

Maine, Vermont, and Florida were the only three states where older adults outnumbered children as recently as 2020. But four years later, those states were joined by Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia.

Maine last year had the oldest median age at 44.8, while Utah’s was the youngest at 32.4.

Groups that saw the most growth

The share of the U.S. population that is Hispanic reached 20% last year for the first time, helped by an annual gain of 1.9 million Hispanics mostly through migration. In pure numbers, the Hispanic population grew the most last year in the New York, Houston and Miami metro areas. When it comes to growth rates, the biggest gains were in smaller metros such as Ocala, Florida; Panama City, Florida; and St. Joseph, Missouri.

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For Black residents whose growth last year was split between migration and natural increase, the biggest gains were in the Houston, New York and Dallas-Fort Worth metro areas in pure numbers. Bozeman, Montana, and Provo, Utah — metro areas with tiny Black populations to start with — were tops in growth rates.

In pure numbers, the New York, Dallas-Fort Worth and Seattle metro areas had the biggest Asian population gains, and the growth came primarily from migration. The largest growth rates were in three metro areas with small Asian populations: Farmington, New Mexico; Bismarck, North Dakota; and Burlington, North Carolina.

The non-Hispanic white population in the United States declined slightly last year, but it grew the most in the Nashville, Tennessee; New York and Charlotte, North Carolina metro areas in pure numbers. The biggest growth rates for the white population were in the Myrtle Beach; Daphne-Fairhope, Alabama; and Wilmington, North Carolina metro areas.

The decline in the white population was driven by deaths outpacing births.

Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

Good news for suburban eaters: Chef Thomas Boemer has been named the culinary director for The Wondrous Collective restaurant group.

The group owns more than a dozen restaurants in the Twin Cities area, from Mean Miners street tacos in Eagan and Apple Valley to Minnesota Burger Company in Apple Valley and Farmtown Brew Hall in Farmington.

Boemer, a James Beard Award nominee who was co-owner of Revival, Corner Table and In Bloom, all closed now, is known for his takes on southern cuisine and smoked and wood-fired meats.

The Wondrous Collective owner Tony Donatell announced Boemer’s hire in a news release, which read in part:

“We’ve developed a reputation for bold, boundary-pushing cocktail programs and a talent for building spaces that feel like a celebration of everyday life. But we’ve always known there was more we could do with the food. Today, I’m proud to share that we’ve found the missing piece.”

Boemer has already begun tweaking the menu at The Farmer’s Cellar, a Lakeville cocktail bar, and has just unveiled a full menu refresh at Revolve Hall in Apple Valley. Within that food hall, Boemer has debuted his first new concept for the restaurant group: The Wanderer: Adventure-Inspired Provisions. It’s described as “a fast-casual kitchen built on live-fire, flavor and a love for the road less traveled.”

The Wondrous Collective: wondrouscollective.com

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By PHILIP MARCELO

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — The leader of an MS-13 clique in the suburbs of New York City was sentenced Wednesday to 68 years in prison in a federal racketeering case involving eight murders, including the 2016 killings of two high school girls that focused the nation’s attention on the violent Central American street gang.

Alexi Saenz pleaded guilty last year for his role in ordering and approving the killings as well as other crimes during a rash of bloody violence that prompted President Donald Trump to make several visits to Long Island and call for the death penalty for Saenz and other gang members during his first term in the White House.

Saenz’s lawyers sought a sentence of 45 years behind bars, but prosecutors wanted the judge to impose the maximum sentence of 70 years. Prosecutors, who previously withdrew their intent to seek the death penalty, said Saenz deserves to live out his days in prison for his “senseless” and “sadistic” crimes.

Judge Gary Brown, in handing down the sentence, said the reduction of two years from the maximum recognized Saenz’s role in pleading guilty and avoiding a painful and costly trial, as well as his efforts in convincing his younger brother, the gang’s second-in-command, to do the same.

“This small adjustment is more than what was afforded to his victims,“ the judge said, “none of whom will ever enjoy another day on this planet.“

Saenz’s lawyers had argued for leniency, saying in their own legal filings that the now-30-year-old is remorseful and “on a journey of redemption” while incarcerated.

“With the passage of time and much reflection, it is hard for Mr. Saenz to reconcile the person he is today with the person he was when he committed the crimes,” their sentencing memo reads. “He is profoundly sorry, and although he knows the families may not accept his apology, it is sincere, and he accepts full responsibility for his participation in these crimes.”

Saenz’s lawyers also say he suffers from intellectual disabilities and lasting trauma from an abusive father and a difficult upbringing in his native El Salvador. They say Saenz was recruited and unwittingly “groomed” into MS-13 because he was an “easily influenced” and “gullible” high school student on Long Island.

Prosecutors, however, countered that Saenz remained “firmly entrenched” in MS-13 while in a federal lockup in Brooklyn for the past eight years.

They cited photos of him posing with other gang members behind bars and displaying gang signs and gang paraphernalia. They also said Saenz was disciplined for assaulting other inmates, refusing staff orders and possessing sharpened metal shanks, cellphones and other contraband.

“Indeed, the same pattern of violence and mayhem that has marked his life on the street has not waned with the passage of time,” prosecutors wrote.

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Saenz, also known as “Blasty” and “Big Homie,” was the leader of an MS-13 clique operating in Brentwood and Central Islip known as Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside.

He admitted last July that he’d authorized the eight killings and three other attempted killings of perceived rivals and others who had disrespected or feuded with the clique.

Saenz also admitted to arson, firearms offenses and drug trafficking — the proceeds of which went toward buying firearms, more drugs and providing contributions to the wider MS-13 gang.

Among the killings Saenz oversaw were the deaths of Kayla Cuevas, 16, and Nisa Mickens, 15, lifelong friends and classmates at Brentwood High School who were slain with a machete and a baseball bat.

Other victims included Javier Castillo, 15, of Central Islip, who was befriended by gang members only to be cut down with a machete in an isolated marsh.

Another victim, Oscar Acosta, 19, was found dead in a wooded area near railroad tracks nearly five months after he left his Brentwood home to play soccer.

MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, is a transnational criminal organization believed to have been founded as a neighborhood street gang in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s by people fleeing civil war in El Salvador.