Category: National

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s effort to lift U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s block on deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

The appeals court heard arguments Monday over the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act last week to deport more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador with no due process.

The Trump administration’s attempt to remove alleged migrant gang members in that manner deprives the men of “even a gossamer thread of due process,” Judge Patricia Millett wrote in her concurring opinion.

Disregarding their rights simply because they are unpopular or labeled terrorists, Millet wrote, would mean abandoning the “true mark of this great Nation.”

“The true mark of this great Nation under law is that we adhere to legal requirements even when it is hard, even when important national interests are at stake, and even when the claimant may be unpopular,” she wrote. “For if the government can choose to abandon fair and equal process for some people, it can do the same for everyone.”

Trump last week invoked the Alien Enemies Act — a wartime authority used to deport noncitizens with little-to-no due process — by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States. Boasberg temporarily blocked the president’s use of the law to deport more than 200 alleged gang members to El Salvador, calling the removals “awfully frightening” and “incredibly troublesome.”

Boasberg ordered that the government turn around the two flights carrying the alleged gang members, but authorities failed to turn the flights around, saying they were already in international waters.

Judge Millet and Judge Karen Henderson — who was first nominated to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan — determined that Boasberg acted correctly and within his authority when he temporarily blocked any deportations under the AEA.

“The district court entered the TROs [temporary restraining orders] for a quintessentially valid purpose: to protect its remedial authority long enough to consider the parties’ arguments,” Judge Henderson wrote in a concurring opinion.

Judge Justin Walker — a Trump appointee — dissented from the majority because he said the noncitizens should have filed their case in Texas, where they were deported from, rather than Washington, D.C., adding that the lower court’s decisions “threaten irreparable harm to delicate negotiations with foreign powers on matters concerning national security.”

He added that the public interest favors “swiftly removing dangerous aliens” compared to letting the case move through a court that lacks venue over the matter.

“The district court here in Washington, D.C. — 1,475 miles from the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas — is not the right court to hear the Plaintiffs’ claims. The Government likely faces irreparable harm to ongoing, highly sensitive international diplomacy and national-security operations,” he wrote.

Judge Millet pushed back on Walker’s claim that the men should have used habeas corpus to challenge their deportations in a Texas court, writing that such an approach is a “phantasm” of due process because the Trump administration would have removed the men before they could even file a claim.

“The government’s removal scheme denies Plaintiffs even a gossamer thread of due process, even though the government acknowledges their right to judicial review of their removability,” she wrote.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg responded to the Trump administration’s pushback over the publication’s Monday article about a Signal chat discussing a U.S. attack on Houthis in Yemen it says was accidentally shared with Goldberg.

Speaking to ABC News, Goldberg said The White House is engaging in a semantic game by focusing on his use of “attack plans” instead of “war plans” in his followup report, which was published on Wednesday.

“It’s just all nonsense. It’s nonsense. They’re throwing up all these smokescreens to avoid being questioned about why they were so reckless as to have sensitive conversations like this in Signal, and why they invited a journalist and didn’t even know that the journalist was there,” he said on Wednesday. “I mean, war plan, attack plan. I mean, you know, it’s just not nonsense talk, but attack is actually an accurate term for what they were doing.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — A partial solar eclipse will be visible from the U.S. this weekend, but only a select few of the northernmost states are expected to get a glimpse of the cosmic phenomenon.

On early Saturday morning, the moon will pass in front of the sun, casting its shadow for viewers across the Atlantic Ocean, according to NASA. Since the moon, sun and Earth are not perfectly lined up, the movement will result in a partial eclipse, in which the sun will look like a crescent, or like a piece has been taken out of it.

“The moon is not able to block the entirety of the sun,” Lujendra Ojha, an assistant professor at Rutgers University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, told ABC News.

The shadow of the eclipse moves from west to east, opposite the apparent motion of the Sun and the rest of the sky, according to NASA. The orbital motion of the moon, which is the same direction as Earth’s but twice as fast, determines the direction of the eclipse’s shadow.

Sunspots can sometimes be visible during solar eclipse events, according to NASA.

People in Europe, western Africa, eastern Canada and the Northeast in the U.S. are positioned to see a partial eclipse.

When and where to see the partial solar eclipse from the US

Northeast states such as Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York will be able to get the best view of the partial solar eclipse, Matthew Newby, an associate professor of physics at Temple University, told ABC News. Regions to the north of the U.S., such as northeastern Canada and Greenland, will likely get the best view globally, Newby said.

Those with the best view may see up to 90% of the sun covered, but the further south you go, the less coverage there will be, Newby said. Maine is expected to experience 80% coverage, while New Hampshire will see about 50% coverage and New York about 30% coverage, Newby said.

The viewing window starts between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. ET for most locations in the U.S. NASA published a list of start times by city.

In the rest of the U.S., the central part of the moon’s shadow will appear to completely miss the Earth, so viewers won’t be able to see the event, according to NASA.

Newby recommended that viewers contact local astronomers to get the most accurate viewing information in your area.

“It should be a beautiful partial eclipse,” Ojha said.

The next partial solar eclipse will take place in September and will be visible from Australia, Antarctica, the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, according to NASA.

A total solar eclipse will be visible in Greenland, Iceland, Spain and Russia in August 2026.

The next solar eclipse to be visible from the U.S. will take place in January 2028.

How to view the partial solar eclipse safely

Anyone who plans to watch the partial solar eclipse will need safe solar viewing glasses to protect their eyes, according to NASA.

While it is always dangerous to stare directly into the sun, the presence of an eclipse actually gives people a reason to look at it, increasing the likelihood of cases of injured corneas, Newby said.

UV radiation, whether from natural sunlight or artificial rays indoors, can damage the surface tissue, cornea and lens of the eye, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

“Looking at it with your unaided eye can cause permanent vision damage, and staring at the sun with any sort of magnifier that’s not perfectly safe can instantly blind you,” Newby said.

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(WASHINGTON) — In February 2023, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele posted to social media a tightly edited video with dramatic music showing thousands of men, with their heads pushed down, being transferred to the country’s newest prison: the Terrorism Confinement Center.

“Early this morning, in a single operation, we transferred the first 2,000 gang members to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT),” Bukele said on X. “This will be their new home, where they will live for decades, unable to do any more harm to the population.”

Two weeks ago, Bukele posted a similar video on X in which hundreds of men in white uniforms, with their heads shaved, are seen running bent over while being moved into the mega prison. But this time, the individuals weren’t criminals who were arrested in El Salvador.

The video showed CECOT receiving over 200 Venezuelan migrants who are alleged to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The migrants were sent to El Salvador by U.S. authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, as part of a $6 million deal the Trump administration arranged in their effort to crack down on illegal immigration.

CECOT, one of Latin America’s largest prisons, was opened as part of a crackdown on criminal gangs in El Salvador, whose incarceration rate is one of the highest in the world. The mega prison, which can hold up to 40,000 detainees, has been criticized by human rights groups over alleged human rights violations.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was scheduled to visit the prison on Wednesday along with the Salvadorian minister of justice.

The move by the Trump administration to deport alleged migrant gang members to a notorious prison in another country, without due process, has sparked an outcry from relatives of some of the detainees and by immigration advocates and attorneys who say that some of those deported were not Tren de Aragua gang members.

An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week acknowledged in a sworn declaration that “many” of the noncitizens deported last week under the Alien Enemies Act did not have criminal records in the United States. Administration officials have not been clear about the evidence they have that shows the detainees are gang members.

In a subsequent sworn declaration, ICE Acting Field Office Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations Robert Cerna argued that “the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose” and “demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”

The declaration was included in the Trump administration’s recent motion to vacate Judge James Boasberg’s temporary restraining order blocking deportations pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act.

“While it is true that many of the [Tren de Aragua gang] members removed under the AEA do not have criminal records in the United States, that is because they have only been in the United States for a short period of time. The lack of a criminal record does not indicate they pose a limited threat,” Cerna said.

Ivannoa Sanchez, who told ABC News that her husband, Jose Franco Caraballo Tiapa, is being held at CECOT, said that he has never been in trouble with the law.

“He has never done anything, not even a fine, absolutely nothing,” said Sanchez.

“I can’t rest, I don’t even eat, I haven’t even had juice or water because I know he isn’t eating either,” Sanchez said.

Juanita Goebertus, the director of the Americas Division of the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, told ABC News that detainees in CECOT, as well as other prisons in El Salvador, are denied communication with their relatives and lawyers, and only make court appearances in online hearings, often in groups of several hundred detainees at the same time.

“The Salvadoran government has described people held in CECOT as ‘terrorists,’ and has said that they ‘will never leave,'” Goebertus said, adding that the Human Rights Watch is not aware of any detainees who have ever been released from CECOT.

According to human rights advocates and immigration attorneys, CECOT prisoners only leave their cell for 30 minutes a day and sleep on metal beds in overcrowded cells.

“They only have about half an hour outside of their windowless cells to be outside in a hallway of the prison,” Margaret Cargioli, an attorney for the nonprofit Immigrant Defenders Law Center, told ABC News. “They are overcrowded within each of the cells, and they’re sleeping on metal.”

For years, Amnesty International has published reports on detention centers and prisons in El Salvador, and has alleged systematic abuse of detainees and “patterns of grave human rights violations.” Those findings were acknowledged in a 2023 human rights report published by the U.S. Department of State that said there have been significant human rights issues in Salvadoran prisons.

Ana Piquer, the Americas director at Amnesty International, called the detainment in El Salvador of the Venezuelan migrants a “disregard of the U.S. human rights obligations.”

“Amnesty International has extensively documented the inhumane conditions within detention centers in El Salvador, including the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) where those removed are now being held, ” Piquer said in a statement. “Reports indicate extreme overcrowding, lack of access to adequate medical care, and widespread ill-treatment amounting to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.”

Attorneys representing some of the Venezuelan migrants told ABC News that the lack of communication is a special concern — as opposed to the U.S., where detainees can communicate with their families and attorneys.

“There’s no communication with family or counsel,” Cargioli said of CECOT. “The concern just raises to an entirely other level.”

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(ACWORTH, Ga.) — A Georgia mother recounted the moment she was “tug-of-warring” with a man she said tried to snatch her 2-year-old son from her while in a Walmart.

Caroline Miller was shopping at a Walmart in Acworth with her two young children last week when the incident occurred. They were in a motorized wheelchair at the time because her 4-year-old daughter wanted to ride it, she told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB.

The suspect first approached the family and asked for help finding Tylenol, she told the station.

“When I pointed my arm out this way to point to the direction of where it was, that is when he reached down, put both of his hands on Jude, and grabbed him out of my lap,” Miller told WSB this week.

“I’m like, ‘No, no, no, what are you doing? What are you doing?'” she told the station. “He pulled him. I pulled him back. We’re tug-of-warring.”

The mother was able to break away with her son and the suspect fled the store, according to police.

“I’m just glad that he’s still home with us,” Miller told WSB.

Officers responded to the Walmart on March 18 “after receiving a call of a male who attempted to snatch a juvenile away from their mother,” the Acworth Police Department said in a press release.

The child was not injured in the incident, police said.

Detectives spoke to witnesses and reviewed surveillance cameras and Flock safety surveillance cameras installed in the area, Acworth police said. They subsequently identified a suspect and secured a warrant, police said.

“We were able to see the car he got into, and followed the cameras, and used our Flock cameras in the city and was able to get a tag number and track him down,” Sgt. Eric Mistretta with the Acworth Police Department told WSB.

Mahendra Patel, 56, of Kennesaw, was arrested on Friday and has been charged with kidnapping, simple battery and simple assault, police said.

He remains in custody at the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office with no bond, online jail records show. Online records do not list any attorney information.

Miller said her children now know how to respond in dangerous situations.

“As much as we would think it would never happen, it will and does, and to be prepared for when it does,” she told WSB.

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(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) — The family of former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber, who was found dead on Saturday at a home in Virginia, said the 43-year-old suffered from epilepsy, calling her sudden death a “tremendous sorrow” in a statement Wednesday.

Aber, 43, died in her sleep, her family said.

Police in Alexandria, Virginia, said in an update amid the investigation on Tuesday that “detectives have found no evidence suggesting that her death was caused by anything other than natural causes.”

Her family reiterated that it is believed Aber died from natural causes and said she “suffered from epilepsy and epileptic seizures for many years.”

The case will remain open until the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner rules on the manner and cause of death, police said.

“We expect more information from the medical examiner in the coming weeks,” her family said. “Our family is in shock and grieving deeply and we respectfully request privacy as we attempt to navigate through our unspeakable loss.”

Police in Alexandria, Virginia, said they were called to a home in Alexandria, a suburb of Washington, D.C., on Saturday morning for the report of an unresponsive woman and found Aber dead inside.

A friend of the family told ABC News on Sunday that police believe the death was the result of a longstanding medical issue.

Aber, who served as U.S. attorney in Virginia for most of the Biden administration, took office in October 2021 after being unanimously confirmed by the Senate and stepped down in January, shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

As U.S. attorney, Aber oversaw a staff of some 300 prosecutors and other staff and handled federal prosecutions in the state.

ABC News’ Jack Moore contributed to this report.

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(SAN DIEGO) — 
Sea lions on the California coast are reportedly displaying strange behavior, likely due to a harmful algae bloom impacting the region, according to marine researchers.

There have been reports of the marine mammals acting aggressively in some cases, and in others, they appear lethargic, Jeni Smith, rescue supervisor at SeaWorld San Diego, told ABC San Diego affiliate KGTV. Smith described one sea lion who appeared to be “star-gazing.”

“Some animals seem very, very sleepy, maybe right after having a seizure, Smith said. “They may be abnormally aggressive.”

The sea lions are likely being poisoned by domoic acid, a neurotoxin within the algae blooms, which they ingest through the fish they eat, according to marine experts. Ingesting domoic acid can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans and marine mammals, according to the Marine Mammal Care Center.

Harmful algal blooms occur when colonies of algae grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful affects on people, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some blooms produce toxins that can kill fish, mammals and birds. In some cases, the algal blooms can cause illness or death in humans, according to NOAA.

The toxic algae blooms typically only form every four to seven years, but warming temperatures and an increase of pollution can increase the growth and occurrences, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Recently, marine researchers in Southern California have witnessed consecutive years of harmful algal blooms, Dave Bader, chief operations and education officer at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, told KGTV.

The Marine Mammal Care Center has taken in nearly 150 sea lions since February, Bader said. There have been reports of dolphins and seabirds falling ill as well, and this event could be worse than the bloom that occurred in 2023, which killed 1,000 sea lions, according to the marine conservation group.

RJ LaMendola said he was surfing when he was attacked at Oxnard State Beach in Ventura County, California, by a “demonic” sea lion that bit him and dragged him off his board, he wrote on Facebook on Friday.

LaMendola described the sea lion as “feral” and “almost demonic.” The decades-long surfer was struck that the mammal was “devoid of the curiosity or playfulness” he usually associates with sea lions, he wrote.

“This isn’t normal sea lion behavior — it’s something darker, something dangerous,” he wrote, saying he won’t be surfing again “anytime soon.”

Smith urged the public to do their part to create a better environment for marine life and prevent pollution.

“Throwing away their trash, not allowing anything toxic to go down the storm drain, because everything goes back to the ocean,” Smith said.

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(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione violated the “special treatment” he was afforded for his last court appearance when handwritten notes were concealed inside a pair of argyle socks he was allowed to wear, New York City prosecutors said Wednesday in a new court filing.

Mangione, who is accused of gunning down United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December, was given special accommodations for his “fashion needs” when he was allowed to change out of his jail-issued clothing before his Feb. 21 court appearance, according to the filing.

The defense team gave a court officer a bag of clothes, which included a new pair of argyle socks wrapped around cardboard, the filing said.

“Secreted in the cardboard were two personal heart-shaped notes, one addressed to an unknown person named ‘Joan’ and the other to Luigi stating in part ‘know there are thousands of people wishing you luck,'” the Manhattan district attorney’s office said.

“In spite of this, the defendant was permitted to wear the argyle socks, which he first changed into and later changed out of because he felt that ‘they did not look good,'” prosecutors said.

Mangione ended up appearing sock-less at the court appearance, with shackles around his ankles.

“Fortunately, the items smuggled were handwritten notes and not contraband capable of harming the transporting officers,” prosecutors noted.

The sartorial detail was included in a filing that responded to defense accusations that prosecutors withheld grand jury witness testimony and copies of electronic devices seized upon Mangione’s arrest, in violation of discovery obligations.

Prosecutors conceded they have not provided the testimony of civilian witnesses before the grand jury because they “constituted a fraction of the testimony before the Grand Jury,” comprising four of the 23 witnesses called. Otherwise, the DA’s office said there have been ample discovery disclosures to the defense.

Prosecutors also said in Wednesday’s court filing that Mangione does not need his own “specially formulated laptop” in jail because he “fails to show a necessity” to receive one.

Mangione’s attorneys asked that he be provided with a laptop “modified to the detention center’s regulations” so he can view videos, photos and other evidence.

“Without the laptop, which allows Mr. Mangione to review discovery outside the presence of counsel, there are not enough visiting hours that would allow the defense to view all discovery with the defendant (including thousands of hours of video) and also meet the Court’s current motion schedule,” the defense said.

Few inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn are given laptops.

Prosecutors said Mangione “has ample access to desktop computers” that he can use to review evidence, conduct legal research, send emails and draft motions.

“Ironically, the defense repeats at every opportunity that defendant is being treated differently than other defendants similarly situated. Yet, that’s precisely what the defense seeks — special treatment for defendant, without circumstances that warrant it,” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said.

On Dec. 4, Mangione allegedly shot and killed Thompson in a premeditated attack outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan as the CEO headed to an investors conference.

According to a newly disclosed court document, the backpack Mangione was carrying when he was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the murder was full of items that could suggest he intended to remain on the run and, possibly, kill again.

The backpack had a gun, a Glock magazine, 9 mm cartridges and a silencer, along with a knife, phone charger, duct tape, passport, zip ties, clothes, a computer and handwritten notes, the automatic discovery form said.

Authorities also found receipts for items purchased at a CVS and for registration at a New York City hostel under the name Mark Rosario, which matches the name on a fake New Jersey driver’s license Mangione allegedly carried.

Prosecutors extracted data from devices linked to Mangione, including a Motorola cellphone he allegedly dropped while fleeing, the document said.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state charges.

He has not yet entered a plea to federal charges. One of the federal charges, murder through use of a firearm, makes Mangione eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

He is due back in court on April 18.

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(BOSTON) — A Tufts University PhD student on a visa was arrested by immigration authorities outside of Boston on Tuesday night, according to the school and the student’s lawyer.

The student, Rumeysa Ozturk, is a Turkish national, according to her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai.

“Rumeysa Ozturk is a Turkish national who was maintaining valid F-1 status as a PhD student at Tufts University,” Khanbabai said in a statement. “Rumeysa was heading to meet with friends to break her Ramadan fast on the evening of March 25th when she was detained near her home in Somerville, MA by DHS agents. We are unaware of her whereabouts and have not been able to contact her.”

“No charges have been filed against Rumeysa to date that we are aware of. I filed a habeas petition requesting that she not be moved out of the District of MA which was granted by Judge [Indira] Talwani last night,” according to her lawyer.

ABC News has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ozturk is listed in the ICE database as “in custody.”

In an email to students on Tuesday, the school said it was informed that her visa status was “terminated,” and is seeking to find out more information.

“The university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event, and the location where this took place is not affiliated with Tufts University,” the school wrote.

“From what we have been told subsequently, the student’s visa status has been terminated, and we seek to confirm whether that information is true. The university has no additional information at this time about the cause or circumstances of the student’s apprehension and is attempting to learn more about the incident,” it continued, in part.

“Following university protocol, the Office of University Counsel will assist in connecting the student to external legal resources should the individual request our assistance,” it added.

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(PHOENIX) — Sweltering weather across the West is expected to continue on Wednesday.

Phoenix hit 99 degrees on Tuesday, setting a new daily record. The Arizona city is expected to get up to 93 on Wednesday.

Temperatures across the West are expected to be 10 to 20 degrees above normal on Wednesday, even up in the Pacific Northwest, where Seattle and Portland, Oregon, could set new daily records.

Seattle is forecast to hit 70 degrees on Wednesday, while Portland is expected to get up to 78. Elsewhere, Salt Lake City is forecast to get into the upper 70s, which would near a daily temperature record of 79; and Grand Junction, Colorado, is expecting 80-degree weather, which is nearing the 81-degree record.

Texas is forecast to see 80-degree temperatures from El Paso to Dallas.

But a slow-moving warm front forecast for southern Texas later Wednesday is expected to bring heavy rain and possible flash flooding through Friday morning.

Parts of the Texas Gulf Coast could see 5 to 10 inches of rainfall between Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning with places such as Rockport and Corpus Christi expected to get the biggest soaking, possibly up to 15 inches in some isolated spots.

The wet weather could turn dangerous due to hard soils amid drought conditions. In the last 30 days, the region, including Corpus Christi, has gotten less than 5% of normal rainfall. Houston has seen less than 50% of normal rainfall over the last month.

The weather is also expected to take a dramatic turn in the Pacific Northwest as a storm pushing ashore later Wednesday could produce large hail, damaging wind gusts and possibly spawn tornadoes west of the Cascade Mountains.

The same system is forecast to track into the Rockies on Thursday, bringing strong winds and rain, but no severe storms.

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