Severe thunderstorms and flash flooding expected to hit the Plains and South
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Following wet weather at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, parts of the Plains and the South are expected to be hit with powerful thunderstorms beginning on Sunday, potentially bringing large hail and strong wind gusts.
A storm system in the West is slowly making its way to the center of the country with dangerous weather impacts possible across several states to start the week.
The severe thunderstorm threat, which will begin late Sunday across parts of New Mexico and west Texas, will persist into Monday and Tuesday as it shifts east.
These areas could be faced with flash flooding and frequent lightning due to stronger, slow-moving thunderstorms with torrential rain.
Flood watches are now in place for parts of northern New Mexico and the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma.
The storm system has also brought strong winds to the Southwest, with air quality alerts in effect through Sunday evening from Palm Springs, California, to Phoenix.
These powerful winds will bring an elevated fire danger to parts of southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and the northern Plains on Sunday afternoon, with red flag warnings in effect.
On Tuesday, the system will continue to hit the Central U.S., bringing another round of thunderstorms and heavy rain to portions of the Plains and the South.
The greatest risk for flash flooding will be focused over portions of east Texas, southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana and western Mississippi.
Other areas like Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston and Little Rock, Arkansas, are under an elevated risk for flash flooding. Some have already seen significant rainfall over the past week, making the ground very saturated and allowing for flash flooding to develop when heavy rain falls.
Along with storms in the Plains and the South, rainfall is also possible across the Northeast in the coming days, with locally heavy downpours and isolated flash flooding possible, especially in urban, poor-drainage areas.
(DALTON, GA) — A 19-year-old college student from Georgia remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after a traffic stop led to her detainment, records show.
Ximena Arias-Cristobal was arrested on May 5 in Dalton, Georgia, when her dark gray truck was mistaken for a black pickup that made an illegal turn.
The Dalton Police Department announced on Monday that a review of dash cam video showed she was not the driver who committed the traffic violation and all charges against her have been dropped.
City officials — including the city administrator, prosecuting attorney and city attorney — confirmed the stop was in error and notified Arias-Cristobal’s legal team.
Despite the dismissal of charges on Monday, the 19-year-old Dalton State College student had been taken into ICE custody following the traffic stop and remained in custody on Monday, triggering concerns about her immigration status.
Arias-Cristobal, who is undocumented, has lived in Whitfield County since she was 4 years old, her family told ABC News’ Tennessee affiliate WTVC.
Her family said that Arias-Cristobal was not eligible to register in the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program because it had ended.
Arias-Cristobal is being held at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, ICE records show.
Her attorney, Charles Kuck, said in a statement to ABC News that despite the charges being dropped, Arias-Cristobal is “inside the Trump deportation machinery” and is still facing deportation.
Arias-Cristobal has a bond hearing next week, her attorney said.
According to WTVC, Arias-Cristobal’s father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, was similarly detained by police in Tunnel Hill, Georgia, two weeks ago for going 19 miles over the speed limit.
The family told the outlet that he is being housed at the same ICE detention center.
(HONOLULU) — Hawaii has passed legislation to increase people staying at hotels to help the islands cope with the increasing pressures from climate change.
The bill, SB1396, adds a 0.75% levy to existing taxes on tourist lodging within the state — including hotels rooms, timeshares and vacation rentals starting Jan. 1, 2026. It also imposes an 11% tax on cruise ship bills for each night the ship is in a Hawaiian port.
The new legislation is expected to raise nearly $100 million a year, and will be used for environmental protection and defenses against natural disasters amplified by climate change, including rising sea levels, coastal erosion and shifts in rainfall patterns. The state sees up to 10 million visitors per year, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Among the projects needed on the island are coral reef protections and clearing invasive grasses that can fuel wildfires.
The new tax will be added to the existing 10.25% tax Hawaii imposes on short-term rentals, raising the total to 11%. In addition, counties in Hawaii charge a separate 3% lodging tax. Travelers also pay a 4.712% general excise tax that applies to virtually all goods and services.
Come Jan. 1, the state’s total tax on short-term rentals will climb to 18.712%.
The bill passed by a large margin in the state’s House and Senate. Gov. Josh Green also supports the bill and intends to sign it, according to a statement released on Friday.
It represents “a generational commitment” to protect the ‘āina — a Hawaiian word that mean “land” but also signifies the deep connection between people and the environment — Green said. It is also the nation’s first statewide tax on lodging meant specifically to address the impacts of climate change, Green said.
“Hawai’i is truly setting a new standard to address the climate crisis, and I want to thank lawmakers for their unrelenting work these past two years in bringing this to fruition,” Green said.
Green told The Associated Press that he predicts visitors will be willing to pay taxes that help to protect the environment.
Care for ‘Āina Now, a local environmental advocacy group, estimates a $560 million gap for environmental stewardship on the Hawaiian islands.
A higher tax increase was initially proposed but was pared down after legislators heard concerns from the travel industry, AP reported.
The governor has until July 9 to sign the bill into law.
Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Fifteen minutes before a scheduled hearing in wrongful deportation case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration said in their daily status report to the court that it is “prepared to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s presence in the United States in accordance with those processes if he presents at a port of entry.”
“I have been authorized to represent that DHS is prepared to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s presence in the United states in accordance with those processes if he presents at a port of entry,” said Joseph Mazarra, the Acting General Counsel for DHS.
However, Mazarra said, since Abrego Garcia is “being held in the sovereign, domestic custody” of El Salvador, DHS does not have the authority to forcibly extract him “from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation.”
If Abrego Garcia does present at a port of entry, he would become subject to detention by DHS, due to his alleged membership in the criminal gang MS-13, said Mazarra.
The development came a day after a highly anticipated Oval Office meeting in which the president of El Salvador said he would not return Abrego Garcia to the United States.
The federal judge who ordered his return is scheduled to hear from Trump administration attorneys at a court hearing Tuesday afternoon.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is entering his second month in an El Salvador mega-prison after he was deported there on March 15 despite being issued a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country.
Trump administration officials say Abrego Garcia, who escaped political violence in El Salvador 2011, is a member of the criminal gang MS-13, but to date they have provided little evidence of that assertion in court.
He is being held in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, along with hundreds of other alleged migrant gang members, under an arrangement in which the Trump administration is paying El Salvador $6 million to house migrants deported from the United States as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, in an Oval Office meeting Monday with President Trump and the visiting El Salvador president, said that Abrego Garcia’s return is “up to El Salvador.”
“If El Salvador … wanted to return him, we would facilitate it,” she said.
Asked by reporters about Abrego Garcia, President Bukele responded, “I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”
In a motion filed Tuesday in advance of the hearing, lawyers for Abrego Garcia argued that the Trump administration has not taken any steps to comply with the orders to facilitate his release.
“There is no evidence that anyone has requested the release of Abrego Garcia,” they wrote in the filing.
The attorneys also took issue with the government’s interpretation of the word “facilitate,” which the administration has argued in court filings is limited to removing any domestic obstacles that would impede the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States.
Interpreting the term in that manner, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys argued, would render “null” the Supreme Court’s order that the government facilitate his release.
“To give any meaning to the Supreme Court’s order, the Government should at least be required to request the release of Abrego Garcia. To date, the Government has not done so,” they wrote in their motion.
After U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the government to “facilitate and effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return, the Supreme Court last week unanimously ruled that Judge Xinis “properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”
“The intended scope of the term ‘effectuate’ in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority. The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs,” the Supreme Court wrote, which the Trump administration has interpreted as prohibiting the district court from ordering the executive branch to take any action that would violate the separation of powers.
Judge Xinis subsequently amended her ruling to remove the word “effectuate,” leaving the order to “facilitate.”
In an interview Monday evening with ABC News’ Linsey Davis, an attorney for Abrego Garcia said he hopes Tuesday’s hearing “lights a fire under the government to comply with the Supreme Court’s order” to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release.
“What we’re asking [of Trump] is exactly what the Supreme Court told him,” attorney Benjamin Osorio said. “I personally have worked with DHS before to facilitate the return of several other clients who were deported and then won their cases at circuit court levels or at the Supreme Court, and ICE facilitated their return.”
“So we’re not asking anybody to do anything illegal,” Osorio said. “We’re asking them to follow the law.”
“It feels a little bit like the Spider-Man meme where everybody’s pointing at everybody else,” Osorio said of Bukele’s claim that he doesn’t have the power to return Garcia. “But at the same time, I mean, we are renting space from the Salvadorans. We are paying them to house these individuals, so we could stop payment and allow them to be returned to us.”
Asked if he is confident that Abrego Garcia will be returned, Osorio said he was concerned but hopeful.
“I’m worried about the rule of law, I’m worried about our Constitution, I’m worrying about due process,” he said. “So at this point, I am optimistic to see what happens in the federal court hearing.”
