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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for Friday, following the Supreme Court’s order requiring the Trump administration to “facilitate” the release of a Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador in error last month.

In an order filed late Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis directed the Trump administration to take all available steps to facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the U.S. “as soon as possible.”

The judge also ordered the Trump administration to file a supplemental declaration from an individual with personal knowledge acknowledging the current physical location of Abrego Garcia and what steps the administration will take to facilitate his immediate return

The hearing is set for 1 p.m. ET Friday.

Earlier Thursday, the Supreme Court largely upheld an earlier order issued by the lower-court judge ordering the Trump administration to take steps to return the man.

“The order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ 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 Supreme Court’s unsigned order stated.

Abrego Garcia — despite having protected legal status preventing his deportation to El Salvador, where his attorneys say he escaped political violence in 2011 — was sent to that country’s notorious CECOT mega-prison following what the government said was an “administrative error.”

The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyers and his wife deny, and argued in legal filings that because Abrego Garcia is no longer in U.S. custody, the courts cannot order him to be returned to the U.S. nor order El Salvador to return him.

“The order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ 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 Supreme Court’s unsigned order stated.

Abrego Garcia — despite having protected legal status preventing his deportation to El Salvador, where his attorneys say he escaped political violence in 2011 — was sent to that country’s notorious CECOT mega-prison following what the government said was an “administrative error.”

The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyers and his wife deny, and argued in legal filings that because Abrego Garcia is no longer in U.S. custody, the courts cannot order him to be returned to the U.S. nor order El Salvador to return him.

In a statement, a Justice Department spokesman said: “As the Supreme Court correctly recognized, it is the exclusive prerogative of the President to conduct foreign affairs. By directly noting the deference owed to the Executive Branch, this ruling once again illustrates that activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the President’s authority to conduct foreign policy.”

Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, the attorney for Abrego Garcia told ABC News that “the rule of law prevailed.”

“The Supreme Court upheld the District Judge’s order that the government has to bring Kilmar home,” said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg. “Now they need to stop wasting time and get moving.”

ABC News’ Alexander Mallin and Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

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(LOS ANGELES) — Eight relatives of the Menendez brothers sat down with ABC News in an exclusive interview the night before the case returns to court to show they are unanimous in supporting Erik and Lyle Menendez’s release from prison.

This marks the first time the brothers’ aunt, Jose Menendez’s sister, Terry Baralt, has spoken out in decades.

“They are like the boys that I didn’t have,” she told ABC News.

“It’s time — 35 years is a long time,” she said. “It’s a whole branch of my family erased. The ones that are gone and the ones that are still paying for it, which were kids.”

Baralt, who is battling colon cancer, said she’s concerned she might not live to see her nephews be released from prison.

“I have tried to go see them as much as I can, but it’s hard because I live in New Jersey and I’m 85. I don’t have that much time,” she said.

“When kids are little and they come to you, you fix the problem. I can’t help them. … There is nothing I can do — just go visit them and cry when I leave,” she said, overcome with emotion. “This is why I don’t give interviews. It’s hard.”

Lyle and Erik Menendez — who are serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez — are fighting to be released after 35 years behind bars.

A hearing will be held on Friday’s on Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s motion to withdraw the brothers’ resentencing petition. Depending on what the judge decides, another resentencing hearing may be set for April 17 and 18.

Last month, Hochman asked the court to withdraw the motion from the previous district attorney, which was in support of resentencing. Hochman argued the brothers hadn’t taken responsibility for their actions and called their claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.”

Because the “brothers persist in telling these lies for the last over 30 years about their self-defense defense and persist in insisting that they did not suborn any perjury or attempt to suborn perjury, then they do not meet the standards for resentencing,” Hochman said.

Hochman told ABC News last month that he would reconsider resentencing only if the brothers admitted to “the full range of their criminal activity and all the lies that they have told about it.”

In October, Hochman’s predecessor, George Gascón, announced he supported resentencing the brothers.

Gascón recommended their sentences of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and said they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately with the new sentence.

Gascón’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.

Over 20 Menendez relatives are pushing for the brothers’ release, arguing they endured horrific abuse, have admitted guilt and apologized, and have used their decades behind bars to help others.

Ahead of Thursday night’s interview, Erik Menendez asked his cousin, Diane VanderMolen, to pass along a message to ABC News.

“They are truly, deeply sorry for what they did. And they are profoundly remorseful,” she said. “They are filled with remorse over what they did. And through that, they have become pretty remarkable people.”

Resentencing is one of three possible paths to freedom for the brothers.

Another path is the brothers’ request for clemency, which has been submitted to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom announced in February that he was ordering the parole board to conduct a 90-day “comprehensive risk assessment” investigation into whether Lyle and Erik Menendez pose “an unreasonable risk to the public” if they’re granted clemency and released.

After the risk assessment, the brothers will appear at independent parole board hearings on June 13, Newsom said.

The third path is the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which they filed in 2023 for a review of two new pieces of evidence not presented at trial: a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse from his father, and allegations from a former boy band member who revealed in 2023 that he was raped by Jose Menendez.

In February, Hochman announced that he was asking the court to deny the habeas corpus petition, arguing the brothers’ new evidence wasn’t credible or admissible.

ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Ashley Riegle contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK CITY) — A tourist helicopter carrying family members from Spain plunged into the Hudson River in New York City, killing six, including three children.

The New York Helicopters chartered chopper, which was carrying a pilot, two adults and three children, fell into the Hudson River by Lower Manhattan in New York City on Thursday afternoon, officials said during a press briefing.

Agustin Escobar, an executive from European automation company Siemens, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, and their children — aged 4, 5 and 11 years old — were killed in the crash along with the pilot, aged 36, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The crash occurred at 3:17 p.m. off the coast of River Drive in Hoboken, New Jersey, just over 15 minutes after it departed from the Wall St. Heliport. The helicopter reached the George Washington Bridge before turning south and crashing, officials said during the briefing.

The five-person family was from Barcelona, Spain, two Spanish officials told ABC News on Thursday.

“Our hearts go out to the family and those on board,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during the briefing.

Video from the crash showed the chopper plunging into the water without a tail rotor or a main rotor blade. Officials said it hit the water inverted.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.

Jersey City Medical Center, where the passengers were transported after the crash, tried as hard as they could, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop told ABC News.

President Donald Trump took to his social media platform on Thursday evening, calling the crash “terrible” and saying that the footage of the accident is “horrendous.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a post to X that the news was “devastating.” He added, “Five Spaniards from the same family, three of them children, and the pilot have lost their lives. An unimaginable tragedy.”

Dani Horbiak told ABC News she watched the helicopter “fall out of the sky” from her apartment window.

“I heard five or six loud noises that sounded almost like gunshots in the sky and saw pieces fall off, then watched it fall into the river,” she said.

“I was walking by and the helicopter went down at a 45-degree angle,” Eric Campoverde told ABC News. “Big splash — it was very scary.”

“It sounded like a sonic boom,” a witness told New York ABC station WABC. He said he saw the “helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off.”

Another witness told WABC, “One propeller broke into pieces.”

The chopper — identified by the Federal Aviation Administration as a Bell 206 helicopter — was on its sixth flight of the day. It was found upside-down in the 50-degree water when rescuers arrived at the scene, which was closer to the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, according to sources.

The Jersey City Police Department is taking the lead on the investigation since the helicopter crashed on the Jersey City side of the river, Fulop told WABC on Thursday.

Fulop said the city has had concerns about the air traffic over the Hudson before and is hoping this brings more attention to their safety concerns.

ABC News’ Leah Sarnoff and Erin Murtha contributed to this report.

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(CAMDEN, N.J. ) — A New Jersey woman has been charged with attempted murder after she allegedly tried to hire someone on Tinder to kill her ex-boyfriend — a police officer — and his teenage daughter, according to prosecutors and a probable cause statement.

Jaclyn Diiorio, 26, was charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

A confidential informant allegedly met Diiorio on the dating app, where they exchanged messages and later met at a Wawa in Runnemede in March, according to the probable cause statement.

The two allegedly exchanged “numerous text messages and phone calls” and Diiorio allegedly said she “wants her ex boyfriend killed,” according to the document.

The couple, whio had met when she was his barber, had split on March 6, the document said.

Diiorio is set to appear in court on Friday for a pretrial detention hearing, according to court records.

The prosecutor’s office was informed of the murder-for-hire plot on April 3.

Diiorio allegedly told the confidential informant that she wanted to have her 53-year-old ex-boyfriend — a Philadelphia Police Department officer — and his 19-year-old daughter killed, according to the prosecutor’s office. She allegedly offered to pay the informant $12,000 to kill both victims, the prosecutor’s office said.

Diiorio met with the informant and gave him $500 in cash on April 4. After the money was exchanged, she was taken into custody, prosecutors said.

She was also found to be in possession of a bottle of suspected alprazolam pills, the generic version of Xanax, according to officials.

An attorney for Diiorio did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

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(NEW YORK CITY) — All six people on board were killed when a helicopter plunged into the Hudson River by Lower Manhattan in New York City on Thursday afternoon, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The helicopter was carrying a pilot, two adults and three children, according to law enforcement sources. The family members were tourists from Spain, sources said.

The helicopter was in the air around Manhattan for about 15 minutes before the crash. Video showed the chopper plunging into the water without a tail rotor or a main rotor blade.

Dani Horbiak told ABC News she watched the helicopter “fall out of the sky” from her apartment window.

“I heard five or six loud noises that sounded almost like gunshots in the sky and saw pieces fall off, then watched it fall into the river,” she said.

“I was walking by and the helicopter went down at 45-degree angle,” Eric Campoverde told ABC News. “Big splash — it was very scary.”

“It sounded like a sonic boom,” a witness told New York ABC station WABC. He said he saw the “helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off.”

Another witness told WABC “one propeller broke into pieces.”

The chopper — identified by Federal Aviation Administration as a Bell 206 helicopter — was on its sixth flight of the day. It was found upside-down in the 50-degree water when rescuers arrived to the scene, which was closer to the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, according to sources.

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

ABC News’ Leah Sarnoff and Erin Murtha contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The wingtip of an American Airlines plane hit another American Airlines plane on a taxiway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

No one was hurt, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said. Both planes returned to gates and airport operations weren’t impacted, the agency said.

Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., tweeted that his plane was “stationary on the runway” when another plane “bumped into our wing.”

“Thankfully everyone is ok!” he added.

“The plane shook violently,” Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., another member of Congress on the flight, told ABC News Live. “It was pretty clear that we got hit.”

“The pilot came on and told us we weren’t going anywhere except back to the gate,” he said.

“This is not a time to be cutting the FAA[‘s jobs] when they’re understaffed already,” he said, calling it “deeply concerning.”

Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., who was also on the flight, agreed with Gottheimer, writing on social media, “I’m grateful no one was hurt today, but this incident underscores this urgent need restore all FAA jobs that keep our runways safe.”

The representatives’ flight was headed to JFK International Airport in New York. The other plane was headed to Charleston, South Carolina.

The FAA said it’s investigating.

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

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(DELANO, Calif.) — An escaped California inmate is now wanted for killing a Mexican police commander who hunts down foreign fugitives — also known as a “gringo hunter” — during a shootout in Tijuana, officials said.

Abigail Esparza Reyes, who was part of a specialized Mexican state police unit responsible for locating foreign fugitives who cross the border, was killed on Wednesday while trying to arrest Cesar Hernandez, an escaped inmate from Southern California, officials said.

Marina del Pilar, the governor of Baja California State, confirmed Reyes’ death in a statement on Wednesday.

“To the family and loved ones of Agent Abigail, we recognize their courage and dedication to the service of their state,” Pilar said on X. “Our wishes for prompt resignation are with you, Abigail’s life will be honored and her death will not go unpunished.”

The shooting took place two days after Hernandez’s 35th birthday.

Surveillance footage shows an individual, who authorities identified as Hernandez, changing into bright yellow worker’s clothing, seeming to blend in after the shooting.

Hernandez escaped from custody on Dec. 2, 2024, shortly after arriving for a court appearance in Delano, California, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Upon arrival, Hernandez “evaded staff custody, jumped out of the van and is currently at large,” officials said at the time.

He was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to 80 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole, officials said. He received 25 years for first-degree murder, a sentence “doubled because it was a second strike,” and discharging a firearm during the crime, officials said. Hernandez also received five years for a prior offense, officials said.

Before his escape, Hernandez was housed at the Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, officials said.

Hernandez is still on the run after the shootout that killed Reyes, officials said.

Reyes was featured in a “Nightline x Impact” episode in 2024 that highlighted the “gringo hunters” and their work to catch fugitives who evade law enforcement by fleeing to Mexico.

In the episode, Reyes is seen leading a mission to arrest a fugitive charged with murder who was found in Tijuana.

ABC News’ Sara Sandrick, Ellie Kaufman, Jen Watts and Alondra De La Cruz contributed to this report.

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(LOS ANGELES) — Authorities in Los Angeles County said they’re searching for the suspect who shoplifted from a discount store before killing a man in a hit-and-run in the store’s parking lot.

The victim was visiting his brother’s shop, Giant Discount Store in South El Monte, when, just after noon on Wednesday, a man came in and stole merchandise, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

The victim chased the shoplifter into the parking lot and the two started fighting, authorities said.

That’s when a second suspect got out of a dark-colored sedan and joined in with the suspect in the fight against the victim, authorities said.

The two suspects then got into the sedan and deliberately drove into the victim, hitting him several times, according to the sheriff’s office.

The victim suffered from blunt force trauma and died at the scene, authorities said.

Jim Yaghoubi said he witnessed the attack that killed his brother, who he identified as Steve Yaghoubi.

His “body under the car was turning all the way from the front tire to the back tire,” Jim Yaghoubi told Los Angeles ABC station KABC.

“I don’t know why this happened, honestly,” he said, overcome with emotion. “I was there at the last minute of his life. I saw his face. I saw his eyes.”

The sheriff’s department urges anyone with information to call its homicide bureau at 323-890-5500.

 

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Boston Thursday will consider pumping the brakes on a controversial Trump administration policy of removing migrants to countries where they have no prior connection without allowing them to raise concerns about their safety.

A group of noncitizens with final removal orders filed a federal lawsuit challenging the policy last month, arguing that being removed to countries like El Salvador, Honduras or Panama — despite having no connection to those countries — risks their safety and violates their rights.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee who temporarily blocked the policy last month, will consider extending his order and certifying a class of noncitizens who would be protected from removal to a so-called third country.

“The need for preliminary injunctive relief in this case is vital,” lawyers representing the men argued in a recent court filing. “Indeed, it may be the difference between safety and torture, life and death, for many noncitizens, including ones who have been living and working in this country for decades.”

The hearing also comes as the Trump administration faces new allegations that they violated Judge Murphy’s order by removing more than a dozen migrants to El Salvador last month despite the judge’s order barring such transfers.

The plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit argue that the Department of Homeland Security’s policy results in the removal of migrants to third countries without providing them a chance to raise concerns about potentially being persecuted, tortured, or killed. In one instance, they allege that the Trump administration removed a Guatemalan man to Mexico without giving him the chance to raise concerns that he was previously raped there and now fears prosecution in that country.

“Defendants have resorted to violating noncitizens’ clear statutory rights to apply for protection from removal to countries where they face persecution or torture,” the lawyers wrote.

Lawyers with the Department of Justice have argued that Judge Murphy lacks the jurisdiction to intervene in DHS’ policies after a final order of removal has been issued by an immigration judge.

They have also argued that a preliminary injunction is no longer necessary because DHS implemented a new policy of getting “diplomatic assurances that aliens removed from the United States will not be persecuted or tortured,” or screening noncitizens for their eligibility for protections under the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture.

“As this Court indicated during the hearing on Plaintiffs’ motion, Defendants are entitled to issue guidance to satisfy any potential due process concerns. Defendants have now done so,” they argued.

But lawyers for the men who brought the lawsuit have argued that those measures are “woefully inadequate” and pointed to two recent examples where they allege that DHS potentially violated the court’s temporary order.

Two days after Judge Murphy blocked the deportations, the Trump administration announced that it had removed 17 alleged members of Tren de Aragua and MS-13 to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison. According to the plaintiffs, at least two of the men on those flights had final orders of removal to Venezuela and were never given the right to challenge their removal to El Salvador.

According to the plaintiff’s lawyers, one of those men is Maiker Espinoza Escalona, who entered the United States last year with his partner Yorely Bernal Inciarte and their one-year-old baby.

After the three turned themselves in to immigration authorities, they were separated, their family told ABC News. Inciarte has been detained at a detention center in El Paso, Texas, their baby has been in government custody, and Escalona is detained at CECOT in El Salvador, according to Inciarte’s mother.

The Trump administration alleged that Escalona is a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, an accusation his family denies.

“They are liars,” said Inciarte’s mother Raida of the Trump administration. “I cannot believe that half of Venezuela is Tren de Aragua. That can’t be.”

“For them to be sent [to El Salvador] you have to investigate and prove they are what they are being accused of,” Raida said. “We’re distraught, I don’t wish this on anyone.”

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(NEW YORK) — Asian and European markets rallied in Thursday trading in response to President Donald Trump’s dramatic decision to suspend planned tariffs on nearly all American trading partners for 90 days — with the exception of China.

Key Asian indices recorded notable recoveries on Thursday — marking a reprieve for most after a week of turbulence and selloffs driven by fears of escalating trade wars and recessions.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed 9.1% and the broader TOPIX index closed up 8%. South Korea’s Kospi closed up nearly 6.6%.

Taiwan’s Taiex index jumped 9.3% and Australia’s ASX 200 rose 4.5%.

Key Chinese markets were also in the green, despite Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to a cumulative total of 125%. The president alleged a “lack of respect” from Beijing to explain the latest hike, his latest broadside coming after China announced 84% reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods on Wednesday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 2%, the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.1% and the Shenzhen Component Index rose 2.2%.

In Europe, the pan-continental STOXX 600 index jumped more than 7%.

Upon opening, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 6%, France’s CAC 40 6.4%, Germany’s DAX 8%, Italy’s FTSE MIB 7.5% and Spain’s IBEX 7.2%.

U.S. markets closed after major rebounds on Wednesday following Trump’s announcement that most of his sweeping tariffs would be paused.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2,962 points, or 7.8%, marking the index’s best day since 2020. The S&P 500 jumped 9.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 12.1%.

U.S. stock futures dipped ahead of Thursday’s trading session. As of early Thursday morning, Dow futures were down 1.1%, S&P 500 futures down 1.53% and Nasdaq futures down 1.8%.

ABC News’ Max Zahn contributed to this report.

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