Reckless Ben Could Go To Jail Over LEGO Scandal Finale & Why Everyone Turned on WatchMojo

PDS Published 06/09/2026

• WatchMojo Promotes AI Song in Video About Dead YouTubers

  Watch Mojo made a video called "Ten YouTubers Who Made Videos When They Knew They Were Dying." They monetized it and then used that to plug their new AI music — and you're seeing the internet lose its collective mind over this.

  The backlash has been intense. For those who don't know, Watch Mojo is a huge YouTube channel. It's been around since 2006. They mostly specialize in listicle style videos, and they have nearly 26 million subscribers. But recently they've gotten a ton of backlash — in part because of the video about dead YouTubers, which, yeah, for many was already a pretty bad look. But then it got worse.

  Now, one thing that I have to note here is that Watch Mojo appears to have edited the video and description, which we're going to touch on in a bit. But before they made those changes, you had Jack Douglas, a.k.a. JacksFilms — a YouTube OG — who posted a video where he was able to capture key parts of that first version.

  "Want to see if they put ads on this. Oh, fucking God. So they monetized 'Ten YouTubers Who Made Videos When They Knew They Were Dying.' But yeah, this is an ad for the Backrooms. Ad one of two."

  So Watch Mojo's already ghoulish enough to monetize a video all about dead YouTubers — but then literally in the middle of talking about the death of YouTuber TotalBiscuit, they cut to an ad for a new album on their music channel, SoundMojo, and play what appears to be an AI rock cover of a famous piece of classical music. And so with that you had Jack saying:

  "In between documenting the deaths of TotalBiscuit and Technoblade, Watch Mojo has the gall to shoehorn a plug for their AI music channel."

  You did not hallucinate that. And so this pissed off a ton of people, including the wife of one of the late YouTubers featured — TotalBiscuit — who said:

  "My late husband being mentioned in a monetized lazy listicle video by Watch Mojo called 'Ten YouTubers Who Made Videos When They Knew They Were Dying' is tasteless. Plugging their AI slop music project in it as well? Unforgivable. You should be ashamed. They knew exactly what they were doing. I've been sick to my stomach ever since I saw it. Just have no words for this new low in content creation. It's ghoulish."

  You've had no shortage of people agreeing with her or thinking that the video itself is tasteless and that the choice to plug music from their new SoundMojo venture was even worse. Some writing: "Watch Mojo, you were the original slop before AI came. Now you're cashing in on even sloppier content by using deaths to promote it."

  And more and more you're hearing creators speaking up. For example, Moyes saying:

  "In the middle of talking about the passing of these YouTubers, you then plug your AI music. Even if it wasn't AI, it wouldn't change anything. If you're just plugging your music — playing 'Smoke on the Water' or whatever and delivering the tabs for it through SoundMojo — it's still a crazy way of trying to financially capitalize off these tragedies. Your grandma died? R.I.P. grandma. Now here's an ad."

  You also had him calling out SoundMojo for not clearly and transparently disclosing that the song was AI.

  "It should be clearly stated that it's AI. Now, in the case of SoundMojo here, you don't even really need that disclaimer because it is so blatantly AI — it is immediately recognizable as phony baloney garbage. But I believe there's even a YouTube rule about disclosure when it comes to AI-generated content, which that is."

  And Watch Mojo actually ended up editing the video and description so that it no longer plugs that AI rock cover — with a comment saying: "We recognize the unintended and accidental insensitivity. We do listen and take all feedback seriously. We can and do get things wrong, and we really and truly appreciate it when you let us know about an oversight, mistake, or concern." They also added that 100% of the proceeds from this video will go to their charitable initiative, Mojo Gives, which donates to charities including colon cancer research.

  But at least for right now, it doesn't appear like these changes have helped them at all — because even the newest comments on the video are just slamming Watch Mojo for making this video and promoting the song in the first place. And actually, when it comes to the song itself, they uploaded a full video of it on a separate account for SoundMojo, where again you have people just calling it AI — and there you have the Mojo account basically arguing with everyone who's calling the song AI.

  That's not actually a new controversy. That account has been spending a month engaging in comment wars about AI, with them telling one person that "anyone who can appreciate that lacks taste" — which is ironic because the anti-AI crowd is big on thinking they have taste. They also tried to argue that "musicians use AI the same way many in Hollywood do. Get over yourself," and calling those who are complaining "hysterical."

  In a lot of the comments, you have the account linked to a blog post by Watch Mojo's CEO explaining SoundMojo's philosophy — and there you have him writing that he was initially apprehensive about using AI, but then recognized it could serve as a powerful tool for producing music. With them making it clear that they did indeed use AI for those demos, writing: "We refined our prompts and better articulated each song's vision. The outputs improved." And adding: "Technology has always expanded the boundaries of music, from electric guitars to synthesizers," saying: "I believe AI represents the next frontier, enabling artists to experiment, iterate, and create new ways. I remain cautious about fully embracing it. I see it as a powerful tool for prototyping."

  Now with all that, it seems like the CEO is trying to spin this as using AI tools to help augment the creative process. But then you had Jack noting that when you actually look at the credits of the song, it says the CEO did the lyrics, concept, and direction — and then gives two other credits for sound architecture and music orchestration and video. But hey, what do you notice about that? Did you see "singer" anywhere? That makes me think a robot is singing this.

  But you also have Jack claiming that it's actually the CEO leaving all these comments going after people online — noting that the tone and the language are similar to posts that he's made on social media. He's also pointing to another incident with Watch Mojo that gained a lot of attention in the YouTube community last year — Watch Mojo crashing out and leaving a really bizarre comment on a video posted by a small creator titled "Watch Mojo's Downfall." In addition to using the same weird tone, language, and phrasing, the account also linked to the same blog post explaining the move to AI.

  But with that, I'll say we do not know definitively who's actually leaving those comments. I'm just noting that it's speculation. And overall, it's just a wild situation and one that has appeared to kind of bring the community together to some degree.

• Reckless Ben Served Restraining Order in Bricks & Minifigs Lawsuit

  Parts of different communities have been coming together throughout all the twists and turns of this Bricks & Minifigs Lego theft drama.

  I'm going to link to all my previous coverage of this story in the description down below if you want to have a fun Tuesday night and didn't know anything about the situation before this video. Otherwise here's a three-sentence recap: This guy, Brian Menzel, had a deal to sell his father's $100,000 to $200,000 Lego collection to a Bricks & Minifigs franchise — when corporate seized the store and gave it to new owners. Brian said that he lost his Legos and didn't get paid. So he teamed up with this YouTuber, Reckless Ben, to get them back.

  And in the first two episodes of the series, Ben comes up with all these wacky schemes — too many to kind of recount here — but he ends up getting arrested multiple times and sued by Bricks & Minifigs.

  Well, at least for now it appears that Ben's trilogy is done. Because he just announced that he has finished episode three, but there's a problem — if he posts it, then according to him, he's going to go to jail. He'll lose his $300,000 lawsuit against the store owners, and all the money raised on GoFundMe for Brian — over $450,000 — will go straight to Bricks & Minifigs.

  "I cannot even mention this company or I will be in jail and lose everything."

  That appears to be because Bricks & Minifigs apparently convinced the judge in their lawsuit against Brian, Ben, and his team that they had engaged in a pattern of unlawful activity which has caused the company to suffer immediate and irreparable injury. You have the judge concluding, after reviewing the evidence, that Ben and his team have "engaged in a campaign of extortion, harassment, defamation, nuisance, interference, trespassing, stalking and intimidation," and the judge saying that Bricks & Minifigs is "substantially likely to prevail on the merits of the claims."

  Though Ben calls the whole thing unfair:

  "This company was telling the court that I was making bomb threats, that I was planning on murdering the manager and employees — which obviously I didn't do, and you can see that in the footage. The only problem is I was not given a chance to share my side. The court just heard their perspective, not mine."

  But regardless, you have the judge granting Bricks & Minifigs's request for a temporary restraining order against Ben and his team. So now to go through their list: They cannot threaten the plaintiffs, cannot dox them, can't go near the properties, can't impersonate people to obtain information, can't deface their property with signs, can't interfere with their business, can't recruit undercover agents, can't create fake raffles or contracts, can't deter people from calling 911, can't destroy evidence. And last but not least, Ben can't create, post, publish, republish, or disseminate any false, misleading, harassing, interfering, defamatory, or unlawful images or content about the plaintiffs.

  And so presumably all of this is why he's not uploading part three of the series, and he's refraining from even saying the company's name in his latest update video.

  "Normally I would be like, screw the big guy telling me what to do — I'm going to do what's morally right. But in this situation, if I do that, then all my friends get screwed with this lawsuit and we lose all the GoFundMe money we raised. Like, immediately."

  But of course, this restraining order only applies to Ben and anyone working with him. It doesn't say anything about the other 340 million people in this great country of ours. And so who knows what's going to happen next. But this entire thing, it's a PR nightmare for Bricks & Minifigs as a brand. If you go online, there are people who have gone to these places for years, and also people that had no idea they existed, hating on this company right now.

  Even if this restraining order prevents Ben from continuing the series, for many it arguably reinforces this narrative that there's a conspiracy of some sort between Bricks & Minifigs — maybe the Mormon church, the police, the courts — that they're trying to silence Ben and cover up their Lego theft. So it's going to be very interesting to see what happens from here. Is Bricks & Minifigs successful in trying to kill the flame, or does it just provoke more outrage? Do we see more people going, "Well, if Ben isn't able to do this, I'm going to do this"?

  Though I also have to note that Ben has explicitly discouraged viewers from going to these stores, especially as we're seeing reports of a ton of people calling Utah 911 and others maybe harassing brands that have nothing to do with this dispute.

  Yeah, for now, let me know your thoughts, opinions, and reactions in those comments down below.

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• Immigration Crackdown Threatens World Cup as Travelers Are Denied Entry

  Diving right back into the news — the World Cup is back in the US for the first time in decades. But hotels are filled with empty rooms, tickets aren't selling, and everyone from players to fans to stadium workers is on edge. It's largely thanks to Donald Trump and his immigration crackdown.

  It's all set to start on Thursday. In addition to the United States, games are also being played in Canada and Mexico. But many fans from dozens of countries — including countries playing in the tournament — have almost no shot of seeing the games in the United States, thanks to Trump's travel bans and other restrictions.

  In fact, a referee from Somalia — one of 52 people chosen to officiate the World Cup and one of only seven from Africa — was denied entry into the US. He reportedly arrived in Miami over the weekend but was taken aside, questioned overnight, kept in a holding cell for several more hours, and then put on a plane back. With US Customs and Border Protection saying in a statement that he had been determined to be inadmissible due to "vetting concerns," without elaborating. But you then also had the ref claiming that he had the right papers and the right visa — telling the New York Times: "I think that they have a problem with my country." Which, yeah, may not be entirely off. His administration has seriously restricted travel and immigration from Somalia. Trump himself has also disparaged Somali immigrants with racist remarks. And that's also as our Pentagon has been working with Somalia's government to launch airstrikes against militant groups in their country.

  That's also not the only complicated relationship on display with this World Cup. You have Iran competing — which I think makes this the first men's football World Cup in which the host nation is, let's say, welcoming the team of a country they are at war with. "Welcome" might not even be the right word, because for months it wasn't even clear whether the Iranian team would be allowed to compete. But last week they finally got their visas just ten days before the first match is scheduled in LA. At the same time, more than a dozen members of the team and support staff were denied visas — with an Iranian embassy official slamming what it called "deliberate and discriminatory treatment" and calling for FIFA to hold the US accountable for violations of its obligations. A US official told Reuters that the administration had issued the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup.

  But then also beyond difficulties for foreign fans and players entering the US, there are also fears about what they might experience while here. More than 128 groups in the US have issued an advisory warning visitors that they risk serious rights violations, including arbitrary denial of entry and risk of arrest, detention, and/or deportation; violent and unconstitutional immigration enforcement, including racial profiling and cruel and inhumane or degrading treatment; and even death while in ICE detention or custody.

  Then on top of that, even fans who live in the US are worried that ICE is going to carry out arrests in and around the stadiums — a concern you're even seeing with people working at the venues. This is actually part of the reason why you have some stadium workers as well as hotel workers threatening to go on strike — including workers in Seattle, where six games are held, and more than 2,000 workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, which is going to host eight matches. Along with fair pay and better employment protections, they're asking for guarantees that ICE will not be allowed to conduct deportation operations inside or outside of the stadiums. This is coming after the union in LA, along with the ACLU of Southern California and other local advocacy groups, filed a complaint with the state over FIFA's policy requiring people to share immigration information in order to purchase tickets.

  Because of all of these concerns and fears, there are concerns that the economic benefits from the World Cup coming to town are going to be diminished. You have 80% of hotel owners and managers in host cities saying that they're booking fewer rooms than expected, according to a survey by the American Hotel and Lodging Association. 65 to 70% say that visa barriers and broader geopolitical concerns are significantly suppressing international attendance. And at least as of yesterday, tickets for the US team's opening match still have not sold out — with Viva's website showing more than 100 tickets still available and third-party resale platforms showing thousands more are still out there.

  I'll also say that part of that might have to do with the record-breaking costs. The most expensive regular seats for the US opening game, for example, are priced at nearly $3,000. That's more than the final cost of the 2022 World Cup final. And the cheapest are a little over $1,000. You even had our now-billionaire president saying he wouldn't pay those prices — telling the New York Post last week: "I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn't pay it either, to be honest."

  Now, with everything that we've talked about here, I will note that you've had some local organizers and officials — including in California — claiming that immigration agents are only going to be helping out with general security. The administration's response has not been all that reassuring. The Department of Homeland Security, in one statement, said it would work with federal and local partners "in line with federal law and the US Constitution, as we do with every major sporting event," adding that "international visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about" and "what makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the US. Full stop."

  But of course, you have many not taking them at their word — especially because there are plenty of people who are in this country legally who have been swept up in Trump's immigration crackdown. That includes citizens and permanent residents. The way that ICE has profiled people — whether legal or not — has been based on the way that they look, the language they speak, and the work that they do. Especially because the conservative Supreme Court effectively gave them the green light to do so.

  Even as some DHS statements have suggested that agents are going to be focused on criminal activity, the White House has repeatedly cast undocumented immigrants as criminals — even when they haven't been convicted or even charged with any crime. Just this week, you had Border Czar Tom Homan saying that he looked over a plan to send more ICE agents — and you've ever seen — to New York City, which is also jointly hosting some World Cup matches with New Jersey.

  Now Homan has repeatedly threatened to send more ICE agents to New York. It actually appears largely over a bill that Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law at the end of last month, which barred state and local law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities. And so we're gonna have to see if he follows through this time.

  But also in the meantime, you had New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani say that his administration will not take an "ICE invasion," writing on Twitter: "Soccer would not exist without immigrants. Immigrants play and coach the game, work in the stadiums, fill the stands, and make celebrations like the World Cup possible. Six of the players on the US men's national team are immigrants. And we will not allow ICE or anyone else to sow fear in our communities, especially as the world comes to our city. We will stand proudly with our immigrant neighbors and reject these attacks for what they are — an attempt to divide."

  And that actually brings us to the UK, where we have another story where politicians are using immigration to stoke division.

• Leaders Call for Calm After Belfast Stabbing

  Though this one is a little different. Because last night, a man in his 40s was brutally stabbed in the streets of Belfast in Northern Ireland. A video of this is going viral right now — it's way too graphic for us to show in this video — but you can immediately see the victim's face just covered in blood. And in this censored still, you can see that the suspect was on top of him as he stabbed him. Eventually you had bystanders stepping in to chase him off, with one even swinging a hurling stick at him.

  As far as the victim, reports are saying he is currently in the hospital in serious condition after sustaining injuries to his face, neck, and back.

  You've got people like Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling the attack sickening, sending his thoughts to the victim, and applauding the citizens who intervened. And as far as what we know about the suspect — to start off, he's been arrested and charged with attempted murder. Currently, we don't have an official motive, and while officers are working with counterterrorism officials as they investigate, right now there's no sign that this was a terrorist attack, or that he was working with anyone else.

  As far as more specifics, police say the suspect is a Sudanese man in his 30s — though they initially identified him as Somali and had to update their statement. He apparently arrived in Northern Ireland in 2023. He was granted asylum with approval to be there through 2028. Right now police say his status when he crossed the border is undetermined, but they said that he flew from Sudan to Paris to Dublin and then reached Belfast.

  And the fact that this suspect is from Sudan has become a major angle of the story. Because the stabbing comes in the wake of the killing of 18-year-old Henry Novak. While he was killed back in December, they recently released body camera footage that prompted massive protests in the UK last week. When police responded to that scene, the person who was responsible — Vikram Digga — told them that he had been the victim of a hate crime, and the officers believed that Henry was a suspect. When Henry told the police over and over that he had been stabbed, they initially didn't believe him. And he died from his wounds.

  This prompted a ton of outrage — generally in the country, but especially among far-right leaders who have been using it to claim anti-white prejudice, arguing that in Britain "the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities." A number of them told people to respond with rage and anger. And in fact, they did — 11 officers were injured during a protest in Southampton last week.

  And so now that there's been another tragic stabbing and the suspect is not white, you have people fearing that this is going to happen again — that leaders are going to use this, are going to point to this to stir up political tensions, racism, anti-immigration sentiments, and to encourage unrest.

  In fact, it looks like we're already seeing some of that play out. For example, far-right MP Rupert Lowe wrote a letter to the Prime Minister demanding "full details of this savage's nationality, immigration status, and religion," also writing: "I want to know exactly what that Somalian scumbag is doing in our country. How did he arrive? What visa is he working on? Benefits?" — though again, among other things, the suspect has since been identified as Sudanese, not Somali.

  Britain's Reform Party responded by posting in favor of mass deportations and writing: "Do not make peace with evil. Destroy it." You also have leaders in Nigel Farage's Reform Party saying they have plans for a total ban on visas for anyone from Sudan. Right-wing voices like Tommy Robinson are similarly calling to send immigrants back and arguing that white people are under attack. And we're seeing this also from people outside of the UK — like Elon Musk calling for people to protest repeatedly and loudly. Right-wing American influencers are also posting the stabbing video and sharing it far and wide.

  So then with all of that, you're seeing tons of others trying to push back against this — saying people are trying to take individual instances to villainize entire groups, urging the public to remain calm and allow police to investigate. With people like the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland saying: "What we need today is calm across Northern Ireland, across our communities. Any kind of disorder only serves to wreck our own communities. It doesn't serve any purpose." You also had officials urging people to stop sharing the video as to protect and not retraumatize the victim's family. Also, people condemning those who are trying to either politicize or say anything that could incite chaos or protests:

  "I understand that last night's attempted murder will leave people feeling enraged, with emotions from fear to anger. Do not let people who know nothing about Northern Ireland impact the behaviors of our people in Northern Ireland from afar through social media. If there are any concerns about immigration, let's have those through a political debate. Let the criminal justice process take its course. And let's just remember that all of our communities in Northern Ireland almost entirely contribute positively to this place. Don't be fooled or duped into a trap by people online inciting awful behavior."

  And you've had others echoing that, calling on people who aren't from Northern Ireland but are still trying to put their outrage at the center of the story — with one MP writing: "Horrific scenes in North Belfast should not be used by English right-wing politicians to further their own ends. Don't ever remember them commenting on any of the other hellish things that community has experienced over the years."

  Actually, right now, to at least some degree, it does seem that certain right-wing officials are urging their own people to calm down — though not necessarily in the same way. With, for example, Rupert Lowe writing: "Patriots, if you are protesting tonight in Belfast or elsewhere, do not give Starmer what he wants. Stay calm, keep your heads. Do not attack the police. Saying the state will show you no mercy — the 'dangerous far right' will be blamed and your life will be ruined forever. It will be that brutal. However angry you are feeling now, it is not worth it. Protest. But do it loudly. Do it peacefully."

  For now, we'll have to wait to see what happens. And of course, yes, I want to know everyone's thoughts here — but especially if you're over in the UK or over in Northern Ireland, what are your thoughts? Then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute.

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• Nithya Raman Advances to Face Karen Bass in LA Mayoral Runoff

  But then for our final block today, more news you need to know before I let you go. Don't cry. Don't cry because it's almost over. Smile because it happened.

  Words that I meant for you — but maybe they also work for Spencer Pratt. Because Nithya Raman has now officially beaten out Spencer Pratt to go on to the runoff with Karen Bass for LA mayor.

  With that, Trump — who had been rooting on Pratt — was definitely not posting: "Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the LA runoff after the big lead he had. Third world nation rigged elections." Right. And Pratt — he also teed up some conspiracies ahead of the final results, so do not be surprised if you hear more from him on that very soon.

  But for now, I'll say we are in for a pretty interesting race. Because, among other things, Raman made a last-minute slide into the mayoral race after initially endorsing Bass for reelection. She's the more progressive, left-leaning candidate. So it's going to be kind of a litmus test to see really how far left Angelenos are — especially in regards to a number of the hot-button issues there: homelessness, potholed roads, rent.

  And then on the other side, you have Bass representing more of the Democratic establishment, which has had pushback and controversy one after the other. And this election really showed that — Bass is the incumbent and she didn't exactly shine at the top of the ticket. That's why people are saying her lead in the race was a victory with an asterisk, arguing that it would be wrong for Karen Bass to think that this is a ringing endorsement of the work she's currently doing.

  With that, you had Raman saying: "If you were as frustrated by the broken status quo as I am, I hope you'll join our movement to build a city that works for everyone. For too long, City Hall has prioritized giving political advantage to powerful interests that fund elections. Meanwhile, working people pay the price in higher rents, depleted services, and a city that has stopped working for them."

  You also have Bass's team taking aim at Raman, running a campaign against Nithya Raman "who allows encampments near schools and cuts the police force." Bass is looking forward to the race, but one thing we'll have new polling on somewhat soon — and two, anything could happen from now until then.

• JD Vance Refers Tim Walz & Minnesota AG to DOJ for Fraud Investigation

  Also moving on from California to Minnesota — JD Vance has referred Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and AG Keith Ellison to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation.

  This is coming after a House Oversight Committee released another report this week on the ongoing fraud investigation in Minnesota, alleging that fraud warnings were elevated to the most senior levels of the Minnesota state government, meaningful corrective action was delayed or avoided, and payments continued long after credible signs of fraud emerged.

  Even before that, it seemed like there was an official investigation on the way for a while:

  "When I hear about a report that says to the governor, 'Here's all this fraud,' and he doesn't do anything about it, I ask myself: Was anybody engaged in criminal wrongdoing? Was anybody in his office engaged in criminal wrongdoing? Again, I'm not going to say yes, but I am going to promise the American people — we're going to look into that stuff, we're going to investigate it, and we're going to take it seriously. Because if there was criminal wrongdoing, then people ought to go to prison for it."

  With his most recent report, you had House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer penning a letter to Vance saying that he should directly appropriate executive branch agencies to conduct a thorough review of all of Minnesota's social services program integrity measures, oversight processes, reimbursements, and enrollment from 2019 to the present.

  And so with that, Vance announced the investigation on Twitter: "Minnesota state officials are not above the law. And if they facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed and intimidated whistleblowers, they must face justice."

  He said more about it in an interview with Jesse Watters:

  "We are not going to do what the Biden administration did and make judgments of the law before all the facts are in. But here's what's particularly troubling about this to me, Jesse — you had people within Governor Walz's office who were saying, 'You know what, this looks like fraud. It looks like these Somali immigrants are doing something that's very shady.' And then you had people who shut them down, who shut these whistleblowers down and said, 'You're a racist' or 'You're a xenophobe.'"

  At this point, Walz and Ellison haven't said anything — to be honest, there's probably nothing they can say that they haven't already said since all these fraud probes took off. Walz has maintained that he welcomes the federal help, saying joint investigations help secure justice, even adding that securing justice depends on cooperation. But also when the administration got more aggressive — even holding back Medicaid funding at one point — Walz said that these moves have nothing to do with fraud, adding: "This is a campaign of retribution. Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota."

  So well, for many at this point, this seems like another strong-arm tactic from the administration. We're going to have to wait to see what happens with this investigation and keep an eye on it.

• Judge Strikes Down Trump's $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas

  And then the final thing today — a federal judge just struck down the $100,000 fee that they put on H-1B visas late last year. The US District Court judge decided that the executive branch had violated the Administrative Procedure Act — in other words, he said that the fee was unlawful because Congress never approved it. That's right. Trump used a presidential proclamation to put the fee in place, saying that it would help prevent foreign workers from taking American jobs. H-1B visas are supposed to be used for foreigners working high-skilled jobs and fields like tech, education, and medicine.

  When they implemented the fee, you had Trump's team saying "his common sense action on H-1B visas discourages companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas."

  You had many noting that H-1B visa applications already cost thousands before the fee — so it made it very difficult to fill important vacancies for jobs like physicians, nurses, and researchers. In the 20 states that sued over it, officials said that the extra costs made things even harder.

  With this ruling, you had officials saying: "Today's victory protects the integrity of the H-1B visa program as a tool to address severe labor shortages in vital industries like education, healthcare, and medical research."

  And it was not music to Trump's ears. He said: "These federal judges are really giving us a hard time. It's really crazy what's going on with the court system. They are giving us a very, very hard time and they shouldn't be doing it. They're hurting our country very badly."

  Also with this decision, Trump's DHS said: "This is blatant judicial activism, dismantling President Trump's historic efforts for immigration reform." And so for now, Team Trump says that they're confident that this order will be reversed on appeal — so we'll all see sometime soon.

  And so you should definitely subscribe to stay in the loop on that and really anything else we've covered today and so much more. But that, my friend — you beautiful bastard — is the end of your Tuesday Philip DeFranco Show. Thank you so much for watching. Like, share, and leave a comment. Let me know what you think. There's more that you can watch — just click away.

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