Extremism Headlines: Ghana Anti-LGBTQ bill, SB4 and immigration rhetoric

Texas Senate Bill 4

• A federal appeals court put a controversial Texas immigration law back on hold late Tuesday night after the Supreme Court decided to allow Texas law enforcement to stop individuals based on their perceived immigration status, CNN reported. A three-judge panel at the voted 2-1 to overturn a previous ruling that had temporarily put into effect Senate Bill 4, the Texas law that allows state officials to arrest and detain individuals suspected of illegal entry into the country. The panel that issued this order is scheduled to hear arguments on Wednesday morning regarding Texas’ request to reinstate Senate Bill 4, pending the state’s appeal of a federal judge’s block on the law.

Trump rhetoric

• Former President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against immigrants by stating that some who are accused of crimes are "not people" at an event in Ohio on Saturday. "I don’t know if you call them people," he said at the event. "In some cases, they’re not people, in my opinion. But I’m not allowed to say that because the radical left says that’s a terrible thing to say."
• Trump’s comments have sparked controversy. Hatewatch has previously reported on anti-immigrant rhetoric seeping into mainstream political discourse.

Ghana anti-LGBTQ bill could cost the country billions

• Fortune reported on Wedneday about the potential impact of an anti-LGBTQ bill in Ghana on the global chocolate industry. The bill, which could impose jail time for LGBTQ relationships and their supporters, has drawn international attention. The article states that Ghana "stands to lose $3.8 billion in funding" from international financial organizations, "including $600 million in support this year alone, because the bill is counter to anti-discrimination policies of the International Monetary Fund."
• However, major players in the $119 billion global chocolate market, reliant on cocoa beans from the region, have remained silent, according to the article. The silence from the chocolate confectioners comes amid a 215% surge in the price of cocoa, Fortune reported. 
• Hatewatch has previously reported on U.S.-based anti-LGBTQ organizations, their attempts to make inroads with African leaders and their influence on discriminatory legislation in Uganda.

Judge refuses to throw out case against Sovereign citizen farmer

• County Judge Thomas Sponaugle in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has refused to dismiss the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's (PDA) lawsuit against Amos Miller, a sovereign citizen farmer, local outlet LNP reported on Wednesday. Federal and state authorities have repeatedly tried to enforce food safety rules on Miller's farm. State agriculture inspectors raided the farm in January, following two illnesses traced back to his raw eggnog in New York and Michigan. The judge gave Miller 20 days to respond to PDA's suit.
• Hatewatch outlined Miller's case in last week's edition, which you can read here: Extremism Headlines: Sovereign Citizen farmer, Far-Right Fraternal Order

Above photo: GHANA, Eastern region, a person harvests and processes cocoa beans dry in the sun after fermentation at a cocoa farm in Nkawkaw (Joerg Boethling / Alamy)