DC plane crash marks first major commercial crash in US since Buffalo crash in 2009
Map of the area around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the layout of Runway 33, which the regional American Airlines jet was approaching at the time of the collision with the Army Black Hawk helicopter, according to officials. Via ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — The crash involving a regional aircraft and a Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday marks the first major commercial crash in the United States since 2009.
The last crash took place on Feb. 12, 2009, when Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed during landing near Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 people onboard.
There have been other deadly incidents in the U.S., such as the Asiana runway crash at San Francisco International Airport in 2013. Three people died when Flight 214 came in to the airport too low and too slow, hit a seawall and sheared the tail section and left engine off the plane as it spun down the runway.
One of the three who was killed was run over by an emergency vehicle responding to the crash.
Nearly 200 people were also injured in that crash, which was blamed on the Asiana Airlines pilots mismanaging the autopilot system, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The last fatality on a plane in the U.S. came in 2018 when a woman was partially sucked out of a Southwest Airlines window.
Passenger Jennifer Riordan died in that incident, when Flight 1380 suffered engine failure and had to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia.
(TEXAS) — A large part of South Texas is reeling from life-threatening flooding that began overnight and continued into Friday morning.
Thunderstorms began Wednesday, with another round of heavy rainfall on Thursday afternoon and evening. The rain is expected to continue through Friday afternoon, forecasts show.
The National Weather Service issued flash flooding emergency warnings multiple times on Thursday and overnight for South McAllen and Harlingen — both located in the Rio Grande Valley in the southernmost parts of Texas.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation,” the NWS said in a statement issued Thursday night, urging people to avoid travel unless fleeing a region subject to flooding or are under an evacuation order.
The region received between 6 inches and a foot of rain or more in some areas, according to the NWS. McAllen got more than 6 inches of rain, while more than 14 inches was recorded at the Valley International Airport in Harlingen.
The NWS received reports for several vehicles stranded on Interstate 2 in waist-deep water, according to the agency. Dozens of water rescues took place as a result of the flash flooding.
Video shows first responders in inflatable boats rescuing people stranded on roadways. The South Texas Health System hospital in McAllen experienced minor flooding on its first floor.
Flooding continued into Friday morning, with rivers nearly overflowing. A flood watch is in effect for parts of South Texas and southern Louisiana.
Water levels at the Arroyo Colorado River at Harlingen are nearing a record-breaking 30 feet. There is no precedent for the kind of damage a 30-foot water level in the Arroyo Colorado River could do, according to the NWS. The previous record water levels measured at the Arroyo Colorado River was 24 feet.
The flooding stemmed from a stationary boundary — a front between warm and cold air masses that moves very slowly or not at all. A band of significantly heavy storms was forming over the same hard-hit areas on Friday morning. A storm with 3-inch rain rates was forming over Harlingen on Friday morning.
The system also conjured up a tornado, with a twister reported near Edcouch, Texas, about 25 miles northeast of McAllen, that damaged several structures.
The potential for showers and thunderstorms in this region is expected to continue through the afternoon, with the threat ending Friday evening, forecasts show.
(NEW YORK) — In recent weeks stories have emerged about college students whisked off campuses by immigration agents – targeted for deportation based on their writings or activism – and detained in federal custody despite never being charged with a crime.
While the number of impacted students appears to be small — with Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicating around 300 students were targeted last week — the actions, part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, have sparked fear and questions about the rights these students have, especially free speech.
Experts, immigration attorneys and advocates told ABC News the Trump administration has been using an unprecedented application of immigration law to expedite their removals. The administration, for its part, maintains that it is following the law and has accused some of the students detained of showing support for Hamas and participating in movements that are “creating a ruckus,” Rubio said.
While legal experts have said that noncitizens are generally guaranteed the same free speech as American citizens, the Trump administration has argued that their presence in the United States is a privilege. As their cases move through federal courts, the students challenging their removals have the potential to reshape the law related to free speech and immigration, according to legal experts.
In the meantime, the students caught in the Trump administration’s crosshairs may be detained for months despite never being charged with any crimes because of the massive backlog of cases in U.S. immigration courts.
Here’s what the experts say there is to know about their rights:
What rights do student visa or green card holders have if they are threatened with deportation?
Once the Trump administration attempts to revoke a visa or green card – which grants permanent residency rather than a short-term stay in the US for a specific purpose — students still have the right to an immigration hearing to determine if their deportations are justified, according to Cheryl David, a New York immigration attorney.
“The level of due process that they may be entitled to will depend on what immigration status they have in the United States, and whether or not the Trump administration has a basis for revoking their lawful status in the United States that has any reasonable basis in law or not,” said Elora Mukherjee, a professor at Columbia Law School and director of its Immigrants’ Rights Clinic.
During those removal proceedings, noncitizens have the right to access a lawyer but are not guaranteed one like they would in a criminal court. If they are detained while they await their removal hearing, the noncitizens also have the right to file a habeas petition to challenge their detention.
Even though all the recent students who have had their visas revoked do not have criminal records, the Trump administration has insisted that they be detained while their cases play out, meaning they could spend more than six months behind bars without being charged with any crimes, according to retired Cornell Law School professor Stephen Yale-Loehr.
“The Trump administration has been a lot more aggressive than past administrations on putting people who have not been convicted of crimes into immigration detention,” said Yale-Loehr.
The Trump administration had justified the detentions by arguing that some of the students have supported terrorist activities, pose an ongoing threat to the United States, or threaten the country’s foreign policy interests.
Have past administrations revoked student visas?
The Trump administration’s policy of revoking student visas marks the most aggressive approach in more than two decades, according to immigration attorney Renata Castro.
“Because presidents have direct control over policies on the issuance of student visas by embassies and consulates, they are able to dial up or down the heat when It comes to issuing student visas from individuals of certain countries,” Castro said.
Following the 9/11 terror attacks, the George W. Bush administration implemented stricter immigration and student visas policies based on national security concerns. According to Castro, what makes the Trump administration’s revocations unique is that they are sometimes rooted on the exercise of free speech – a basis that could eventually be challenged in court.
“The government is looking at speech – the exercise of free speech – and using that to dig into perceived immigration violations so that they can revoke student visa,” she said.
What role might colleges and universities have related to deportations?
If a college or university expels a student for their campus activism, the students face a heightened risk of removal because they no longer have the student status required by their visa.
“If the school is not cooperating and they are still going to school, they’re not in violation of their student status,” said David. “Then the government would have to find another way to say that they’re removable from the United States.”
According to Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Trump administration’s recent crackdown has included more aggressive enforcement action on campuses, where some universities have cooperated with law enforcement.
“I have not seen before the kinds of aggressive tactics ICE is now taking to apprehend students in their dormitories, on campus or near campus for immigration enforcement,” said Chen.
Can a student be deported because they threaten U.S. foreign policy?
In some instances, the Trump administration has invoked a rarely-used law to justify removing noncitizens based on their impact on foreign policy. Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil and Georgetown University fellow Badar Khan Suri were both detained based on the law.
The provision, 8 U.S.C. § 237 (a)(4)(C)(i), allows the removal of noncitizens if their presence in the United States could have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
According to an analysis of past immigration cases conducted by political scientists Graeme Blair and David Hausman, the United States has invoked that law only 14 times in history as a basis for a removal, including only two times since 2000 when it was the sole basis for removal.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years. I’ve never seen this used,” said Cheryl David, a longtime immigration attorney.
To prove that a noncitizen threatens U.S. foreign policy, Yale-Loehr said the administration will have to submit sworn declarations or evidence to prove the person’s impact on foreign policy.
“If it is this foreign policy ground, you need a statement from the secretary of state saying the magic words, this person’s presence would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” he said.
Mukherjee, of Columbia University’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, called the use of the law “unprecedented and unconstitutional” and believes the policy will be shot down by the courts because it is at odds with the First Amendment.
“It’s important for the American public to keep in mind that the First Amendment protects the right to freedom of speech for all people in the United States, regardless of their immigration status. This is long established constitutional law ruled on by the Supreme Court over decades,” she said.
The Trump administration has argued that the invocation of the law is a justified, lawful, and protects US interests.
What basis is the Trump administration using for the removals?
The Trump administration has alleged that some students have supported terrorists as a basis for their removal. To prove that, David said, they will need to demonstrate that they did more than simply practice their free speech.
“Because a person you know necessarily does an op-ed saying we think that Israel is committing genocide, that’s not going to be enough,” David. “But if they are handing out flyers and promoting activities that the government thinks are related to terrorism, then that could be grounds to say they did engage in terrorist activity.”
Authorities are also looking closely at visa applications.
Federal authorities alleged that Columbia graduate student and legal permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil – who was first detained based on his alleged impact on foreign policy — lied on his green card application. Experts said that examining visa applications may become a broader strategy for the Trump administration to justify deportations.
“If you don’t disclose information on a green card application that the government thinks was material to whether or not they would have admitted you to the United States, then they can allege that you committed fraud on that application,” said David.
Can a removal decision be appealed?
Noncitizens generally have the right to challenge an immigration judge’s decision with the Board of Immigration Appeals or in federal court; however, David noted that they might not be able to fully exercise their appeal if they are already in U.S. custody and removed before their appellate rights are exhausted.
“Unless a federal judge saves that deportation, that person is going to be deported from the United States,” David said.
While other presidents – including Barack Obama – have embraced a policy of swift deportations, the Trump administration appears to be testing the limits of the law, experts said.
Does the location where a noncitizen is detained during their immigration proceedings matter?
According to Castro, keeping the students detained while their cases move through the courts could prompt more people to self-deport – a policy the Trump administration has actively encouraged.
“When an individual is kept in detention, it’s almost to break their spirit, because now they don’t have the ability to work. They don’t have access to free legal representation. Their life is falling apart,” she said. “Migrants who self deport are usually the ones who haven’t committed a crime and look at themselves in the mirror and think, ‘I’m being treated like a criminal, even though I’m not one.’”
The process of granting a bond in immigration court is a “marathon” according to Castro that takes at least three weeks, and judges in some jurisdictions infrequently hear habeas cases filed by noncitizens.
In some cases, the Trump administration has relocated noncitizens from the district where they were arrested to ICE holding facilities in other states. The location where they are currently held could be impactful if or when they file a habeas petition in federal court, according to Nicholas Espíritu, deputy legal director at the National Immigration Law Center.
For noncitizens held in the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, they would end up filing their habeas petition in the more conservative Western District of Louisiana and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The move to another state could also complicate their legal representation and make it harder to communicate regularly with lawyers, said Espíritu.
“These individuals are students, and the idea that they are going to have the resources necessary kind of on their own to be able to secure that robust legal protection just demonstrates the way in which the actions taken by the federal government are really seeking to undermine, quite frankly, the ability for these individuals to have their case heard in court,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — At least one person is dead after severe weather hit Butler County, Missouri on Friday night, officials said.
There were previous reports of three deaths due to the storm, but Robert Myers with the Butler County Emergency Management Agency confirmed to ABC News that there was some miscommunication in the field and when comparing notes with the sheriff and coroner.
Emergency management is working through the damage now this morning, but Myers said daylight will give them a better idea of the amount of destruction.
The Black River Coliseum has been opened as shelter and Myers said that there are people with injuries in nearby hospitals but did not have an exact number.
Millions of Americans across the country are on alert for a severe weather outbreak as violent, long-track tornadoes with damaging winds of up to 80 mph and large hail is expected across the Midwest and South as the cross-country storm moves east.
There is a rare high risk warning issued for violent tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama on Saturday afternoon and into the evening.
So far there have been 23 reported tornadoes overnight across four states – Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois and Mississippi as the severe weather outbreak continues into Saturday. Winds gusted up more than 80 mph causing damage in the Midwest from Missouri to Wisconsin.
Tornado watches remain in effect for parts of five states, from Alabama to Ohio, as the storm pushes eastward on Saturday with gusts of winds over 70 mph in some areas.
The Storm Prediction Center said that numerous significant tornadoes, some of which could be long-track and potentially violent, are expected and cities in the high risk areas include Hattiesburg, Jackson, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.
The most dangerous tornado threat should begin Saturday during the late morning to early afternoon hours in Louisiana and Mississippi before spreading into Alabama late afternoon into the evening, followed by the western Florida panhandle and into western Georgia through late Saturday night.
The severe storms are expected to be weaker on Sunday as the storms reach the East Coast from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic.
Damaging winds, large hail and brief tornadoes on Sunday afternoon will be possible for the Southeast, while heavy rain and damaging wind threat will reach the Northeast Sunday evening into the overnight.
The severe weather outbreak is all part of a major cross-country storm system that is also prompting fire danger and red flag warnings across the Plains.
