Page 53 - Donald Trump Administration

Lawsuit challenges Trump administration crackdown on international students

A class action lawsuit filed Friday asks a federal court to reinstate the legal status of international students caught up in a Trump administration crackdown that has left more than a thousand fearful of deportation. The suit filed by several American Civil Liberties Union affiliates seeks to represent more than 100 students in New England and Puerto Rico. "International students are a vital community in our state's universities, and no administration should be allowed to circumvent the law to unilaterally strip students of status, disrupt their studies, and put them at risk of deportation, said Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire. At schools around the country, students have seen their visas revoked or their legal status terminated, typically with little notice. About 1,100 students at more than 170 colleges, universities and university systems have been affected since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements, ...

Judge blocks Trump admin's passport changes affecting transgender Americans

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from enacting a policy that bans the use of X marker used by many nonbinary people on passports as well as the changing of gender markers. In an executive order signed in January, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender. The framing is in line with many conservatives' views but at odds with major medical groups and policies under former President Joe Biden. US District Judge Julia Kobick, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, sided with the American Civil Liberties Union's motion for a preliminary injunction, which stays the action while the lawsuit plays out. The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny

Trump defies court orders on deportation, judges launch investigations

Judges have called out the White House's disregard for their rulings against the deportation flight to El Salvador carrying US citizen Abrego Garcia

Trump admin seeks expansion of nation's immigration detention system

Amid rural Louisiana's crawfish farms, towering pine trees and cafes serving po'boys, nearly 7,000 people are waiting at immigration detention centers to learn whether they will be expelled from the United States. If President Donald Trump's administration has its way, the capacity to hold tens of thousands more migrants will soon be added around the country as the US seeks an explosive expansion of what is already the world's largest immigration detention system. Trump's effort to conduct mass deportations as promised in the 2024 campaign represents a potential bonanza for private prison companies and a challenge to the government agencies responsible for the orderly expulsion of immigrants. Some critics say the administration's plans also include a deliberate attempt to isolate detainees by locking them up and holding court proceedings far from their attorneys and support systems. The acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Todd Lyons, said at a border .

SC to hear arguments on Trump's birthright citizenship order in May

The Supreme Court on Thursday kept on hold President Donald Trump's restrictions on birthright citizenship but agreed to hear arguments on the issue in May. Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of people who are in the US illegally has been halted nationwide by three district courts around the country. Appeals courts have declined to disturb those rulings. The Republican administration had sought to narrow those orders to allow for the policy to take effect in parts or most of the country while court challenges play out. That is expected to be the focus of the high court arguments. Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers in the country illegally. The right was enshrined soon after the Civil War in the Constitution's 14th Amendment. Trump and his supporters have argued that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen, which he called a

DOGE targets community service programme in latest cost-cutting effort

A 30-year-old community service programme that sends young adults to work on projects across the US was the latest target of the Trump administration 's campaign to slash government spending. AmeriCorps' National Civilian Community Corps informed volunteers Tuesday that they would exit the programme early due to programmatic circumstances beyond your control, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. The unsigned memo to corps members said NCCC's ability to sustain programme operations was impacted by the Trump administration's priorities and President Donald Trump's executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency. Members would be officially dismissed April 30. AmeriCorps did not respond Wednesday to an AP email seeking comment. What programme was affected and why? AmeriCorps NCCC, which completed its 30th year last year, employs more than 2,000 people ages 18 to 26 participating for a roughly 10-month service term, according to the programme's webs

California becomes first US state to file lawsuit to block Trump's tariffs

California challenges Trump's sweeping tariffs in court, arguing he overstepped authority under emergency powers law and caused economic harm to the state and nation

Trump exempts 70 coal plants from Biden-era rule on toxic air pollution

The Trump administration has granted nearly 70 coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene. A list quietly posted as of Tuesday on the Environmental Protection Agency's website lists 47 power providers which operate at least 66 coal-fired plants that are receiving exemptions from the Biden-era rules under the Clean Air Act, including a regulation limiting air pollution from mercury and other toxins. The actions follow an executive order last week by President Donald Trump aimed at boosting the struggling coal industry, a reliable but polluting energy source that's long been in decline. Among plants receiving exemptions is the Colstrip Generating Station, a massive power plant in Colstrip, Montana, that emits more toxic air pollutants such as lead and arsenic than any other U.S. facility of its kind, according to the EPA. Other plants with exemptions include Coal Creek Station, a .

Why is Trump targeting Harvard and other universities and what's at stake?

Harvard, Columbia, and over 60 other institutions are facing funding cuts, audits, and federal demands from the Trump administration in the name of combating antisemitism and ideological bias

US judge questions Trump officials' refusal to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A federal judge in Maryland questioned the Trump administration Tuesday about its continued refusal to retrieve Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison, even after the Supreme Court ordered his return to the US. The hearing in a US District Court comes a day after White House advisers repeated the claim that they lack the authority to bring back the Salvadoran national from his native country. The president of El Salvador also said Monday that he would not return Abrego Garcia, likening it to smuggling a terrorist into the United States. Abrego Garcia's deportation has become a national flashpoint as President Donald Trump follows up on campaign promises of mass deportations, including to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, said shortly before Tuesday's hearing that he was working hard to achieve the American dream for his family. That dream was shattered on March 12th when he was abducted and disappeared by the United States ...

Biden warns that Trump administration 'taking hatchet' to social security

Former President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that President Donald Trump has taken a hatchet to Social Security, weighing in on a critical issue for millions of Americans as the 82-year-old Democrat briefly returned to the national stage. Biden, who has largely avoided speaking publicly since leaving the White House in January, delivered his pointed message during an evening speech at the national conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago. The former president, who was largely focused on his prepared remarks but rambled at moments, was speaking as Democrats across the nation offered similar warnings for what they described as a Social Security Day of Action. In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage and so much destruction. It's kind of breathtaking," Biden charged during a speech that spanned just under a half hour. They've taken a hatchet to the Social Security Administration. It was no coincidence that ...

Hardening soft power: US President Donald Trump is undermining the US

The taskforce, which meets each week to supposedly discuss discrimination on college campus and reviewer grants, was ostensibly set up to counter anti-Semitism in universities

Democrats support Harvard's stand as Trump blocks $2.2 bn in federal aid

Harvard faces a $2.2 billion freeze in federal funds after rejecting Trump administration demands to end DEI programme, and change admissions policies

Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard University

The federal government says it's freezing more than USD 2.2 billion in grants and contracts to Harvard University, since the institution said Monday it won't comply with the Trump administration's demands to limit activism on campus. In a letter to Harvard Friday, the administration called for broad government and leadership reforms, a requirement that Harvard institute what it calls merit-based admissions and hiring policies as well as conduct an audit of the study body, faculty and leadership on their views about diversity. The demands, which are an update from an earlier letter, also call for a ban on face masks which appeared to target pro-Palestinian protesters. They also pressure the university to stop recognizing or funding "any student group or club that endorses or promotes criminal activity, illegal violence, or illegal harassment. Harvard President Alan Garber, in a letter to the Harvard community Monday, said the demands violated the university's First Amendment rights

US small businesses challenge Trump's tariff rationale, cite constitution

The Liberty Justice Center filed the suit for five small companies, including a New York wine distributor, Vermont women's cycling brand, and a Virginia producer of educational kits and instruments

White House proposes significant cuts to State dept, UN, Nato funding

The White House's Office of Management and Budget has proposed gutting the State Department's budget by almost 50 per cent, closing a number of overseas diplomatic missions, slashing the number of diplomatic staff, and eliminating funding for nearly all international organizations, including the United Nations, many of its agencies and for NATO headquarters, officials said. The proposal, which was presented to the State Department last week and is still in a highly preliminary phase, is not expected to pass muster with either the department's leadership or Congress, which will ultimately be asked to vote on the entire federal budget in the coming months. Officials familiar with the proposal say it must still go through several rounds of review before it even gets to lawmakers, who in the past have amended and even rejected White House budget requests. Though the proposal is preliminary, it gives an indication of the Trump administration's priorities and coincides with massive job and

Harvard refuses to surrender independence after Donald Trump's threat

Harvard president Alan Garber said in a post on the school's website that the administration demanded new terms late Friday that went beyond prior requests in exchange for maintaining federal funding

Won't be releasing Maryland man back to US, says El Salvador Prez Bukele

US President Donald Trump's top advisers and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, said Monday that they have no basis for the small Central American nation to return a Maryland man who was wrongly deported there last month. Bukele called the idea preposterous even though the US Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return. Trump administration officials emphasised that Abrego Garcia, who was sent to a notorious gang prison in El Salvador, was a citizen of that country and that the U.S. has no say in his future. And Bukele, who has been a vital partner for the Trump administration in its deportation efforts, said of course" he would not release him back to US soil. The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Bukele, seated alongside Trump, told reporters in the Oval Office Monday. I don't have the power to return him to the United States." Should El Salvador want to return Abrego Garcia, the

US Army to take over border land for base, may detain migrants: Officials

A long sliver of federal land along the US-Mexico border that President Donald Trump is turning over to the Department of Defense would be controlled by the Army as part of a base, which could allow troops to detain any trespassers, including migrants, US officials told The Associated Press. The transfer of that border zone to military control and making it part of an Army installation is an attempt by the Trump administration to get around a federal law that prohibits US troops from being used in domestic law enforcement on American soil. But if the troops are providing security for land that is part of an Army base, they can perform that function. However, at least one presidential powers expert said the move is likely to be challenged in the courts. The officials said the issue is still under review in the Pentagon, but even as any legal review goes on, the administration's intent is to have troops detain migrants at the border. The corridor, known as the Roosevelt Reservation

No country 'off the hook': Trump says tariff exemptions will be short lived

This statement came after the US Customs and Border Protection said smartphones, laptops, and other electronics from China would not be included in the recent 145 per cent reciprocal tariffs