The FBI, seeking Apple’s cooperation in hacking an iPhone belonging to one of the assailants in the San Bernardino terrorist attacks, received a boost in its efforts when a federal magistrate ordered the tech giant to comply. Apple has resisted, saying the company “the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create.” The case has been long in the making, and advocates believe the government chose this particular fact pattern to press its demands on the tech sector to help develop backdoors to penetrate encryption because it is a sympathetic one.

Grantee Center for Democracy and Technology sided with Apple and readied itself for the long haul battle, saying in a statement that “if the order stands, Apple and other technology companies could be ordered to build backdoors—essentially defects—into other devices, rendering them insecure and vulnerable to attack by law enforcement and by others as well. We will fight against this result.”

New York officials joined forces in denouncing the Obama budget’s call for a $90 million cut in anti-terrorism funds for New York City, pointing to the Paris and San Bernardino attacks and the fact that a Homeland Security threat analysis has rated NYC as the nation’s leading target for terrorist attacks. In response, the White House took pains to tweak Sen. Schumer, who had broken with the administration by opposing its Iran nuclear deal.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that it was making three new additions—Somalia, Libya and Yemen—to its list of countries with significant restrictions to the U.S. visa waiver program. The changes make it harder for people to enter the U.S. if they have visited those countries within the last five years or have dual citizenship with any of those nations. The three join a list already featuring Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan.

Grantees and other advocates stepped up a coordinated campaign to pressure the Senate to take up President Obama’s nomination to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Media Matters challenged the framing of coverage at major outlets such as The New York Times, arguing that it played into GOP hands. Forces arguing the president has a constitutional duty to nominate, and the Senate has a constitutional duty to deliberate on the nominee, got a boost when retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor urged swift action to fill the vacancy. Among other grantees joining the effort: America’s Voice, the American Constitution Society (which held a conference call with former Solicitor General Walter Dellinger and Professor Erwin Chemerinsky), the Brennan Center, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and MoveOn.org.

Noted Supreme Court observer Linda Greenhouse, longtime court correspondent for the New York Times, wrote an influential piece arguing that the conservative majority, led by the late Justice Scalia, “is permitting the court to become an agent of partisan warfare to an extent that threatens real damage to the institution.”

President Obama announced he would not be attending the funeral, sending Vice President Joe Biden instead.

At a mass in Ciudad Juarez, Pope Francis laid flowers at the edge of the Rio Grande, in honor of those migrants who had fallen attempting to cross the border. A few hours later, at a mid-air press conference, the Pope blasted Donald Trump, arguing that the GOP candidate’s support for building a wall to keep immigrants out of the U.S.  “is not Christian.” The comment, and Trump’s sharp retort, quickly commandeered the daily campaign narrative.

As South Carolina Republicans prepare to vote in Saturday’s primary, Marco Rubio was targeted by robocalls, in Spanish, attacking him as a supporter of amnesty for immigrants.  On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders blasted Hillary Clinton’s criticism of his immigration record as “totally hypocritical,” prolonging a debate over ill-fated reform efforts in 2007 during which both candidates appear to have voted for a poison pill amendment.  Clinton’s camp launched a new ad making an emotional appeal for Hispanic votes. The two face off in Nevada’s Democratic caucuses, also on Saturday.

Advocates battling Islamophobia circulated an article about a US military reservist who was turned away by a gun range when he identified himself as Muslim.

Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist who made national news when he came out as undocumented, is launching a new news site exploring race, immigration and life in multicultural America.

Among other grantee activities:

--The Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual report on extremism in America, documenting a 14 percent increase in the number of hate groups operating in 2015, which it dubbed “a year of deadly action for extremists.” Media Matters pointed out that two organizations newly designated by SPLC as anti-Muslim hate groups are in regular rotation on Fox News.

--Human Rights First continued its campaign to have U.S. officials lean on their French counterparts to prevent them from extending the state of emergency, with its attendant limitations on civil liberties, in response to the Paris attacks.

--Grantee Linda Sarsour decried a news report on opposition to a proposal to build a Muslim cemetery in rural Massachusetts.

--The Center for American Progress’s ThinkProgress documented an ICE raid in which authorities used fake texts—suggesting a cousin had been in a car accident-- to coax an undocumented immigrant out of a church and into custody. Advocates have decried the government’s tactics.