NewsFlash

 

A federal judge has temporarily restored funding to three clean energy nonprofit organizations, in a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration canceled almost $14 billion in grants by launching a shaky criminal investigation. The three groups — Climate United Fund, Coalition for Green Capital and Power Forward Communities Inc — were set to access grant money in February and March through accounts at Citibank, until Trump administration appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency began publicly railing about the Biden-era financial awards and terminated the grants.

Leadership at the Justice Department also pushed for a criminal investigation around the funding in recent weeks, leading to the resignation of a top prosecutor who believed there was not enough evidence to prompt grand jury actions and the lockdown of the money held by the bank. Judge Tanya Chutkan of the federal District Court in DC wrote on Tuesday night: “There are serious due process concerns and questions of whether EPA Defendants’ actions were ‘arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, otherwise not in accordance with law.’”

MORE - https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-administration-presidency-03-19-2025?t=1742398899611

President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that seeks to shift responsibility for disaster preparations to state and local governments. The order as written “enables state and local governments to better understand, plan for, and address the needs of their citizens by reducing the complexity of federal preparedness and response policies.”

FROM https://www.wcax.com/2025/03/19/vt-towns-recover-flooding-trump-launches-fema-changes/

SEE ALSO - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-signs-order-to-shift-disaster-preparations-from-fema-to-states-local-governments/ar-AA1BcmVS

[Translation:  They're going to gut FEMA, so when there are huge natural disasters, there won't be much in the way of federal aid flowing to help people get back on their feet.]

Le Monde is reporting that a French scientist on the way to a conference in the USA was denied entry because he had expressed disagreement with US research policies under Trump in an email that he had sent to a colleague on his device. ICE also confiscated the device.

I would suggest that if you are traveling to the USA you remove anything referencing the USA leaders, policies, politics, etc., from your electronic devices in such a way as they cannot be reconstituted (i.e., don't just "delete" that information).

SEE - https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2025/03/19/etats-unis-un-chercheur-francais-refoule-pour-avoir-exprime-une-opinion-personnelle-sur-la-politique-menee-par-l-administration-trump_6583618_3210.html

Here is a version in The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

A French scientist was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration, said a French minister.

“I learned with concern that a French researcher who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled,” Philippe Baptiste, France’s minister of higher education and research, said in a statement on Monday to Agence France-Presse published by Le Monde.

“This measure was apparently taken by the American authorities because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy,” the minister added.

Article written by a recent ICE detainee from Canada who was released because of the publicity around her case. It pretty much verifies what I thought was going on.


You’re Not a Criminal, But You’re Going to Jail: My ICE Detention Story as a Canadian Citizen
by Jasmine Mooney


I am unable to get the URL to post. It's at  Medium.com

US Republican lawmakers voice alarm over possible Pentagon command shake-up     WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - The top two Republican lawmakers who lead the Pentagon's oversight committees in the U.S. Congress issued a rare, joint statement on Wednesday expressing alarm about a potential shake-up in U.S. military commands by the Trump administration. The statement from the offices of Senator Roger Wicker and Representative Mike Rogers cited press reports, including that the Trump administration is weighing relinquishing the U.S. role as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe.  FROM - https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-republican-lawmakers-voice-alarm-over-possible-pentagon-command-shake-up-2025-03-19/

Aside from possibly abandoning the huge role at the NATO, five of the U.S. military's 11 combatant commands may also be consolidated under the plan currently being discussed, as per the two defense officials.  FROM https://www.ibtimes.com/gop-leaders-decry-report-trumps-plan-shake-pentagon-command-possibly-affecting-nato-role-3767050

GOP chairs ‘very concerned’ over report of Trump changing military commands - The Republican chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees issued a joint statement Wednesday criticizing the idea of the U.S. drastically changing its military combatant command structure, saying they “will not accept” those changes without coordination with Congress and other agencies. The statement marks one of the first major instances of Republican lawmakers pushing back on President Trump in his second term. FROM https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-chairs-very-concerned-over-223840613.html

"Elon Musk says he's shocked at the level of Tesla hate and vandalism happening: 'I've never done anything harmful'"

Reference - https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-tesla-protest-hate-2046937



Oh. My. God.

 

Article written by a recent ICE detainee from Canada who was released because of the publicity around her case. It pretty much verifies what I thought was going on.


You’re Not a Criminal, But You’re Going to Jail: My ICE Detention Story as a Canadian Citizen
by Jasmine Mooney


I am unable to get the URL to post. It's at  Medium.com

Here is her story


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky.

There was no explanation, no warning. One minute, I was in an immigration office talking to an officer about my work visa, which had been approved months before and allowed me, a Canadian, to work in the US. The next, I was told to put my hands against the wall, and patted down like a criminal before being sent to an Ice detention center without the chance to talk to a lawyer.

Administration’s Details on Deportation Flights ‘Woefully Insufficient,’ Judge Says

A federal judge in Washington edged closer on Thursday to holding the Trump administration in contempt for possibly having violated an order he issued last weekend pausing the deportation of scores of Venezuelan immigrants under a rarely invoked wartime statute. In an angrily written order, the judge, James E. Boasberg, told the administration to explain to him by Tuesday why officials had not violated his instructions when they allowed two flights of immigrants to continue on to El Salvador even after he directed the planes to return to the United States. Judge Boasberg also called out efforts by the Justice Department to repeatedly stonewall his attempts to get information about the timing of the flights. “The government again evaded its obligations,” he wrote, adding that the Justice Department’s most recent filing about the flights was “woefully insufficient.”

The order by Judge Boasberg, the chief judge in Federal District Court in Washington, was the latest turn in his nearly weeklong effort to get the administration to tell him — under seal, if needed — what time the two planes departed the United States, what time they left American airspace and what time they landed. He originally instructed the Justice Department to provide him with that data by noon on Wednesday. He then extended that deadline by another day after department lawyers asked for more time as they considered whether to invoke a rare doctrine called the state secrets privilege in an effort to get out of turning over the information.

On Thursday, the government filed court papers to Judge Boasberg under seal, but hours later he revealed in his order that the papers “repeated the same general information about the flights” that department lawyers had already given him in previous court filings and hearings.

FROM - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/politics/trump-deportation-venezuela-tren-de-aragua.html

SEE ALSO

Plaintiffs suing the Trump administration over use of a war authority to deport alleged gang members warned that failing to block the president from its use would mean anyone could be treated as an enemy alien. The lawyers for Venezuelan migrants suing the government said Tuesday in an appellate court filing: "The implications of the government's position are staggering. If the President can designate any group as enemy aliens under the Act, and that designation is unreviewable, then there is no limit on who can be sent to a Salvadoran prison, or any limit on how long they will remain there."

FROM https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-deportation-flights-details-response-to-judge/


Here are the names of the people deported in this fiasco:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuelans-deported-el-salvador-names/

 

Washington — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the White House's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing systems at the Social Security Administration containing the sensitive information of millions of Americans, delivering another setback to President Trump's efforts to overhaul the federal government. U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander wrote in a 137-page decision that a group of unions challenging DOGE's access to systems of records at the SSA was likely to succeed on its claims that the efforts violated the Privacy Act and a federal law that governs the agency rulemaking process.

She granted a request for a temporary restraining order that was sought by the labor unions, which filed a lawsuit in February that challenged the legality of the SSA's decision to allow DOGE to get its hands on sensitive, personal and confidential information pertaining to millions of Americans. "The defense does not appear to share a privacy concern for the millions of Americans whose SSA records were made available to the DOGE affiliates, without their consent, and which contain sensitive, confidential, and personally identifiable information," wrote Hollander, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

The judge's order blocks officials at the SSA from granting DOGE access to systems containing Americans' personal information. It also requires Elon Musk, DOGE and its team members at the agency to delete all non-anonymized personal information that they obtained from the SSA, and prevents them from accessing any agency computer or software code.

MORE at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doge-social-security-administration-judge-blocks/

 

 A federal judge on Thursday ruled the Trump administration could not deport Georgetown fellow Badar Khan Suri, who the university said was detained by the Department of Homeland Security as the Trump administration continues its immigration clampdown. US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles said that while she reviews Khan Suri’s petition in court challenging his detention, the administration is not to remove him from the country unless she issues another ruling to the contrary, according to the order. In an earlier letter obtained by CNN, Georgetown University Interim President Robert Groves told its Board of Directors that Khan Suri, an Indian national who was in the US on a visa “to continue his doctoral research on peace building in Iraq and Afghanistan,” had been detained by DHS and his visa had been revoked. “We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity and we have not received a reason for his detention,” the letter continued.

... Khan Suri is married with children, but his family has not been given any information about his detention, his sister, Khushnuma Khan, told CNN. That includes their parents who live in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Khan said. “We know only as much as anyone else, which is what is reported in the media. We are currently confused about how and why this is happening to him,” she said. Khan suggested her younger brother may have been targeted because of his wife. “My brother’s wife is from Gaza. So maybe that is why this is happening,” Khan said....

FROM - https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/20/politics/badar-khan-suri-georgetown-university-fellow-detained-dhs/index.html

SEE ALSO  https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/georgetown-student-badar-khan-suri-deport-trump-rcna197268




"Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian student at Columbia University, self-deported from the US after the Trump administration revoked her visa. Federal agents came to her apartment looking for her several times. The 37-year-old decided to leave the country in haste and took a flight to Canada."

[Apparently she was caught up in a neighborhood sweep as she was coming back from a departmental picnic to her apartment one evening. All charges were dropped. She did not mention the incident on her visa renewal because all charges were dropped and those are the grounds ICE was using to cancel her visa.  Apparently also she was on the phone with the International Student Services Office at Columbia, who was telling her everything was going to be fine, while ICE was knocking on her front door. Neither she nor her roommate opened the door, so ICE could not enter to arrest her. They came back more than once. She is said to have made a dash for the airport and caught a flight to Canada before they realized she was gone. She was a Fulbright Scholar working on a PhD in Urban Planning.]

https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/ranjani-srinivasan-indian-student-columbia-university-self-deports-canada-13871992.html

Trump signs order gutting Department of Education

...Trump is directing McMahon to take "all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States," the order said. The order also calls for the "uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely." It's still unclear how the administration plans to accomplish that. Sources said the administration has been looking into how to move some of the key programs to other agencies....

However, several Democrats and education advocates slammed the order. "This is a code red for every public school student, parent and teacher in this country," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said. "Trump is telling public school kids in America that their futures don't matter. Billionaires like Trump and Musk won't feel the difference when after school programs are slashed, class sizes go up and help for families to pay for school gets cut. But working families, students, and teachers will pay a heavy price." "Shutting down the Department of Education will harm millions of children in our nation's public schools, their families and hardworking teachers," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a Thursday statement. "Congress created the Department of Education and only an act of Congress can eliminate it. We will stop this malignant Republican scheme in the House of Representatives and in the Courts."

House Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Bobby Scott, D-Va., said the order will cause "irreparable harm" to students and educators. "By dismantling ED, President Trump is implementing his own philosophy on education which can be summed up in his own words, 'I love the poorly educated,'" he added.... Critics argue the department is needed for vital financial assistance and grant programs. Education experts suggested that shuttering the Department of Education could gut public education funding and disproportionately affect high-need students across the country who rely on statutorily authorized programs, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title 1, which provides funding for low-income families.... "Legality aside, dismantling ED will exacerbate existing disparities, reduce accountability and put low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities and rural students at risk," Scott said....

...The National Parents Union also condemned the order as unconstitutional and said students will suffer from a lack of a federal Department of Education.  "Let's call this what it is: An assault on our kids' future and playing chicken with a constitutional crisis with the willful disregard of Congressional authority," it said in a statement. "This isn't fixing education. It's making sure millions of children never get a fair shot. And we're not about to let that happen without a fight."...

FROM - https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-expected-sign-order-gutting-department-education-sources/story?id=119967268

SEE ALSO - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgl039j87x0o

The United Kingdom has updated its travel advice for British citizens planning to visit the United States, warning of potential arrest or detention if travelers fail to comply with entry requirements. It comes amid President Donald Trump's large-scale crackdown on illegal immigration. "You should comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry. The authorities in the U.S. set and enforce entry rules strictly. You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules," the guidance reads.

FROM - https://www.newsweek.com/britain-issues-travel-warning-us-deportations-2047878

SEE ALSO

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-beefs-up-travel-warnings-over-us-border-enforcement-2025-03-20/
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5205650-uk-updates-advice-us-immigration/
https://globalnews.ca/news/11090470/uk-germany-travel-advice-us-detentions/



Understatement of the week.



Seriously, this goes beyond "following the rules" and into "be sure you can't be linked to saying anything negative about the Trump administration". Also from the NY Times:

What rights do visitors have?

U.S. federal law gives government agents the right to search people’s property, including their phones and laptops, at border entry points. They do not need to be suspected of wrongdoing in order to be searched, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

All visitors have the right to remain silent. But the burden of proof rests with visa holders. For example, if an officer asks if someone plans to work on their tourist visa, and that person remains silent, the officer is likely to deny them entry, Mr. Joseph said.

If a person is found inadmissible during questioning, they can withdraw their intent to enter the country and may then be allowed to travel back to their home country. Their visa is canceled and they often get the next flight home. But an officer can deny the withdrawal, at which point the visitor is detained.

Because these confrontations occur technically outside the country, the rights outlined in the U.S. Constitution do not apply, Mr. Joseph said, and detainees are not necessarily entitled to a lawyer. The government has about 90 days to deport people. That period can be extended if detainees don’t cooperate by providing the correct travel documents, at which point they can be subject to criminal proceedings. Following an order of removal, people are barred from entering the U.S. for five years.


https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/travel/us-border-crossing-international-visa.html

From the NY Times: 

The Pentagon was scheduled on Friday to brief Elon Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China, two U.S. officials said on Thursday.

President Trump threatened to attack Iran if its support for the Houthi militia in Yemen continued, accusing Iran in a post on social media of directing the actions of the Houthis and providing the group with weapons, money and intelligence. Any further attack by the Houthis, Trump wrote, “will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible.”

Small Business Administration cutting 43% of staff in latest move to downsize executive branch.  Washington — The Small Business Administration on Friday said it is cutting more than 40% of its staff as part of the Trump administration's wider effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy. Roughly 6,500 people, or less than half-a-percent of the entire federal workforce, are employed at the SBA, according to the most recent data available. The agency said in a statement that it will "reduce its workforce by 43%" and said the cuts would save more than $435 million a year by next fiscal year. "The strategic reorganization will begin a turnaround for the agency by restoring the efficiency of the first Trump Administration, as well as its focus on promoting small businesses," the agency said. "Core services to the public, including the agency's loan guarantee and disaster assistance programs, as well as its field and veteran operations, will not be impacted."

FROM https://www.cbsnews.com/news/small-business-administration-40-percent-staff-cuts/


This is the department that Trump says is going to take over the Federal Student Loan system. "I have decided the the SBA, the Small Business Administration ... will handle all of the student loan portfolio. We have a portfolio that's very large, lots of loans," Mr. Trump said. Trump administration officials had previously said such programs would eventually be transferred to another federal agency, such as the Treasury Department, Commerce Department or SBA.

FROM https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-education-department-executive-order-student-loan/

SEE ALSO https://www.10news.com/us-news/education/uncertainty-looms-for-student-loan-borrowers-amid-department-of-education-cuts


[Hear that whistle blowing? I do believe it's a train heading straight for that first train, head-on, on the tracks....       ]