News – Page 580 – 105.7 WDNY

Experts say Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can’t be deported without due process

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The detaining of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and Palestinian activist who possessed a green card, has raised questions about the deportation risks faced by lawful permanent residents amid the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on immigration.

President Donald Trump’s administration, which has alleged that Khalil was a supporter of Hamas, has said it has the authority to deport Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

“Secretary [Marco] Rubio reserves the right to revoke the visa of Mahmoud Khalil under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of State has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who are adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States of America,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press conference this week.

Khalil, whose detention has sparked protests this week, is married to an American citizen who is eight months pregnant.

Under the Immigration Nationality Act, which experts say is rarely invoked, the government can charge a green card holder as being deportable without being convicted of a crime if there are reasonable grounds to believe they engaged in certain criminal or terrorist activities.

But experts and immigration attorneys ABC News spoke with said the statute does not give the secretary of state the power to deport green card holders like Khalil without going through a procedure.

“The way the statute is constructed, it doesn’t mean that Secretary Rubio can just say, ‘Oh, I determined this, and therefore we’re just going to deport you out of the country,'” said Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “You would still need to go through a process.”

After the federal government invokes the statute, individuals like Khalil are entitled to argue their case before an immigration judge. Khalil is set to appear before an immigration judge later this month in Louisiana.

“There are some due process and protective procedures that the person is entitled to,” Chen said, “including being given a notice of the charges, and an opportunity to confront that evidence and to bring his or her own evidence in response.”

Chen told ABC News that typically it can take months or even years for immigration cases to “go from start to finish” — but because of Khalil’s “unique circumstances,” a judge can prioritize a case and expedite the process.

Experts told ABC News there are a number of reasons why an individual could lose their green card, including marriage fraud, immigration fraud, violent crimes and other offenses.

Andrew Nietor, an immigration attorney, told ABC News said that while there are cases where the government invokes the Immigration and Nationality Act for certain green card holders with criminal convictions, he said he has never seen a case like Khalil’s.

“I’ve never seen this ground of deportation invoked,” Nietor said. “It’s almost always a green card holder who is almost always in deportation proceedings because of some type of criminal conviction.”

Dad gunned down in Southern California home invasion, 13-year-old son calls 911

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — Authorities are searching for the man who broke into a Los Angeles-area house and gunned down a father while his wife and son were home, officials said.

The 61-year-old victim was attacked at about 6:26 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Arcadia, about 8 miles east of Pasadena, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said.

The 13-year-old son and his mother were pulling into their driveway when the intruder “approached them and forced them into the home” where there was a “confrontation” between the intruder and the father, sheriff’s Lt. Steven De Jong told Los Angeles ABC station KABC.

It’s not clear if the boy and his mom witnessed the shooting, but De Jong called it a “very frightening situation for the entire family.”

The 13-year-old son called 911 to report that his dad was shot by an intruder, De Jong said.

A motive is not known, but De Jong said “it appears that this is possibly personally motivated, from my preliminary inspection of the crime scene.”

“This individual that made entry into the house engaged the male victim,” he explained. “So it appears that maybe he was the intended target.”

A “couple” weapons were recovered at the house, but it’s not clear if they belonged to the suspect or the family, he said.

It’s possible the dad “armed himself and attempted to defend himself,” De Jong said.

No arrests have been made, according to the sheriff’s office.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s homicide bureau at 323-890-5500.

Trump stands firm on tariff plans after threat against EU: ‘I’m not going to bend at all’

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday stood firm on his tariff policy, hours after threatening to escalate a global trade war with a 200% tariff on champagne and other alcohol products from the European Union.

“I’m not going to bend at all,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. When asked whether he would reconsider a fresh round of tariffs set to go into effect on April 2, Trump offered a one-word reply: “No.”

U.S. stocks tumbled, erasing some gains in the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq a day earlier. Shares of large European winemakers also fell on Thursday in apparent reaction to Trump’s tariff threat.

The threat of additional U.S. tariffs came after the EU announced plans to slap tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. goods, including a 50% tariff on whiskey. Those tariffs marked a response to U.S. duties on steel and aluminum imports.

Trump called on the EU to drop its tariff on whiskey, saying the U.S would otherwise “shortly place” a tariff on alcohol products from the EU.

Trump sharply criticized the EU, describing the organization as “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World.”

In a post on X, French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said: “Donald Trump is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash. France remains determined to retaliate together with the European Commission and our partners. We will not give in to threats and will always protect our sectors.”

If Trump moves forward with his tariff threat, the move could have a significant impact on American consumers.

The US is the world’s largest importer of wine and champagne. The US imported nearly $4.9 billion worth of Wine each year, with $1.6 billion imported from France, according to World Bank Data. In 2023, the US imported more than $1.7 billion worth of champagne.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. is urging the U.S. and EU to come to a resolution that gets the industry back to “zero-to-zero tariffs.”

“This is a model that has allowed spirits exports between the U.S. and EU to flourish and is in line with President Trump’s vision for fair and reciprocal trade,” the council’s President Chris Swonger wrote in a statement.

In his first term, Trump also targeted the alcohol industry. A series of tit-for-tat tariffs hit alcohol products in the U.S. and the EU. The Biden administration suspended those tariffs, but now the industry is once again in the crosshairs. The industry has still been recovering from that first tariff spat.

For the past three years, “U.S. distillers have worked hard to regain solid footing in our largest export market,” Swonger added.

The tariff threats on Thursday mark the latest skirmish in a global trade war. In response to U.S. duties on steel and aluminum, Canada announced retaliatory tariffs applied to $20.7 billion in U.S. goods, government officials said. The U.S. imports more steel and aluminum from Canada than from any other country.

The Trump administration last week slapped a 10% tariff on China, doubling taxes on Chinese imports to 20%. In response, China imposed retaliatory duties on U.S. agricultural goods, deepening a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

The trade tensions triggered recession fears on Wall Street. Goldman Sachs last week hiked its odds of a recession from 15% to 20%. Moody’s Analytics raised its gauge of the probability of a recession to 35%.

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

98 protesters arrested at Trump Tower sit-in for detained activist Mahmoud Khalil

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — At least 98 people were arrested Thursday at a protest in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan that called for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil — the pro-Palestinian activist and green card holder arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week.

Protesters are facing charges of trespass and resisting arrest, according to the New York Police Department.

Hundreds of Jewish protesters wearing “Not in Our Name” t-shirts staged a sit-in in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan. Protesters entered the lobby in two groups, including many who entered the public lobby area in civilian clothes hiding their protest gear underneath, according to police.

The NYPD said it is familiar with this protest group and its tactics. As in other Trump Tower incidents, police were only called to the public lobby area once Trump’s security deemed it necessary

The protesters carried banners in support of Khalil, who was a leader of protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University, that said “Jews say Free Mahmoud & Free Palestine” and “Fight Nazis Not Students.”

“As Jews of conscience, we know our history and we know where this leads. This is what fascists do as they cement control. This moment requires all people of conscience to take bold action to resist state violence and repression. Free Mahmoud now,” Jane Hirschmann, a Jewish New Yorker whose grandfather and uncle were abducted by the Nazis during Hitler’s rise to power, said in a statement.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations also announced it is filing a federal lawsuit on behalf of Khalil and other students against Columbia University and the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce over the committee’s request to disclose thousands of student records.

Khalil, who has not been charged with a crime, is currently being held in Louisiana after being detained in New York earlier this week.

His wife, who is 8 months pregnant, said the couple have been preparing for the arrival of their baby.

“Mahmoud has been ripped away from me for no reason at all. I am pleading with the world to continue to speak up against his unjust and horrific detention by the Trump administration,” she said in a statement to ABC News on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump’s administration has alleged that Khalil — who was a leader of the pro-Palestinian encampment protests on Columbia’s campus — was a supporter of Hamas. Baher Azmy, one of Khalil’s lawyers, called his client’s alleged alignment with Hamas “false and preposterous.”

“Setting aside the false and preposterous premise that advocating on behalf of Palestinian human rights and to plead with public officials to stop an ongoing genocide constitutes alignment with Hamas, his speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution, and it should be chilling to everyone that the United States government could punish or try to deport someone because they disapprove of the speech they’re engaged in,” Azmy told ABC News on Monday.

The administration has not provided any evidence showing Khalil’s alleged support for the militant group.

Judge orders thousands of fired probationary federal employees reinstated

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary employees fired last month from a half dozen federal agencies.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the Trump administration to reinstate employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior and the Department of Treasury.

He also prohibited the Office of Personnel Management from issuing any guidance about whether employees can be terminated.

Alsup, a Clinton appointee, also ordered the immediate discovery and deposition of Office of Personnel Management senior adviser Noah Peters, who is aligned with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The judge slammed the attorney representing the Trump Justice Department for refusing to make OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell available for cross examination and for withdrawing his sworn declaration, which the judge called a “sham.”

“The government, I believe, has tried to frustrate the judge’s ability to get at the truth of what happened here, and then set forth sham declarations,” he said. “That’s not the way it works in the U.S. District Court.”

Lawyers representing a group of unions and interest groups asked Alsup to immediately reinstate thousands of probationary government employees who had been terminated allegedly at the direction of Ezell.

“There is a mountain of evidence before the court that OPM directed it. OPM’s actions were unlawful. The plaintiffs have standing, and there is a irreparable harm that is occurring every minute, and it is snowballing,” Danielle Leonard, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said.

Alsup suggested there might be a “need” for an injunction ordering the reinstatement of the employees based on the government’s recent conduct.

“You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You’re afraid to do so, because, you know, cross examination would reveal the truth. This is the U.S. District Court,” he said. “I tend to doubt that you’re telling me the truth.”

If the Trump administration wants to reduce the size of the federal government, they need to follow the process established in federal law, Alsup said.

“The words that I give you today should not be taken as some kind of wild and crazy judge in San Francisco has said that the administration cannot engage in a reduction in force,” he said.

“The reason that OPM wanted to put this ‘based on performance’ was, at least in my judgment, a gimmick to avoid their Reduction in Force Act because the law always allows you to fire somebody for performance,” Alsup said, adding that the employees terminated for “performance” can’t even get unemployment insurance.

The judge also criticized the government for submitting a declaration from Ezell he believed to be false, then withdrew it and made Ezell unavailable for testimony.

“You withdrew his declaration rather than do that. Come on, that’s a sham. It upsets me. I want you to know that I’ve been practicing or serving in this court for over 50 years. And I know how that we get at the truth, and you’re not helping me get to add to the truth. You’re giving me press releases — sham documents,” he said.

While the judge originally suggested the avenue to contest the firings could be administrative, he noted that the Trump administration is attempting to “decimate” and “cannibalize” the Merit Systems Protection Board by firing its head and special counsel Hampton Dellinger.

“I got misled on something that was no jurisdiction,” Alsup said.

The judge also ordered discovery “to get it at the truth because the government is saying one thing, and you’re saying another.”

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s sister receives bomb threat: Police

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — The sister of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was recently targeted with a bomb threat, the Charleston, South Carolina, Police Department said on Wednesday.

Over the weekend, an executive assistant at the Charleston County Sheriff’s Department received an email just before midnight on March 8 with “a threat of a potential explosive device in a mailbox” at the home of Amanda Coney Williams, the sheriff’s department said in a statement to ABC News.

The employee only works during the week, so she did not see the email until Monday morning, the sheriff’s department said. After discovering the email, she notified Sheriff Carl Ritchie “within five minutes of arriving to work,” to which Ritchie forwarded the email to the Charleston Police Department.

“Using a 1×8-inch threaded galvanized pipe, end caps, a kitchen timer, some wires, metal clips and homemade black powder, I’ve constructed a pipe bomb which I recently placed in Amy Coney Barrett’s sister’s mailbox at her home,” according to the email obtained by the Charleston Police Department.

The email also said the “device’s detonation will be triggered as soon as the mailbox is next opened,” with the suspect signing off the email with “Free Palestine,” police said.

Officers arrived at the residence at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Monday and inspected the mailbox, police said.

CPD’s Explosive Device Team along with local fire and emergency medical services crews were also on the scene, according to police.

The incident was determined to be a false alarm, police said.

Investigators spoke to David Williams, the husband of Amanda Coney Williams, who said he was not sure who would target their residence, but stated “an unknown person possibly related to the sender of the email had attempted pizza deliveries to some households related to Amy Coney Barrett, sometime over the weekend,” police said on Wednesday.

The investigation is still active, police said.

Justice Barrett was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term. She is a devout Catholic, mother of seven children and was the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas in 1991.

Judge order fired probationary federal employees reinstated

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration reinstate thousands of probationary employees who were fired last month from a half dozen federal agencies.

U.S. District Judge Charles Alsup ordered the Trump administration to reinstate employees at the Veterans Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of the Treasury.

He also prohibited the Office of Personnel Management from issuing any guidance about whether employees can be terminated.

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

Putin responds to US-Ukraine ceasefire proposal, says Russia ‘for it’ but has concerns

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — In his first public remarks on the proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Russia is “for it” but that he wants his own security guarantees.

Putin raised questions regarding a 30-day ceasefire during a press briefing in Moscow on Thursday, as President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff landed in the city to discuss the proposal.

“It seems to me, it would be very good for the Ukrainian side to reach a truce for at least 30 days. And we are for it. But there is a nuance,” Putin said, highlighting concerns regarding Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces pushed into last year in a surprise offensive but in recent weeks have seen Russian forces retake significant ground.

“If we stop the hostilities for 30 days, what does it mean? Does it mean that everyone who is there will leave without a fight?” Putin said. “Or the Ukrainian leadership will give them an order to lay down their arms and just surrender? How will it be? It is not clear.”

Putin said he also wants guarantees that during a 30-day ceasefire, Ukraine will not regroup, and he wondered who would determine if there were any violations of a ceasefire.

“These are all issues that require careful investigation from both sides,” he said.

Putin suggested Russia should talk with Trump to discuss his concerns, while adding, “But the idea itself is to end this conflict with peaceful means. We support it.”

At the top of his remarks, the president thanked Trump “for his attention to Ukraine’s settlement.”

“We believe that this ceasefire should lead to a long-term peace and eliminate the initial causes of this crisis,” Putin said.

Trump’s Middle East envoy landed in Moscow on Thursday morning for discussions on the proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine — a step leaders in Kyiv and Washington, D.C., hope will facilitate a larger peace deal to end Russia’s three-year-old invasion of its neighbor.

Witkoff’s trip is “part of our continued efforts to press Russia to agree to a ceasefire and stop its brutal war against Ukraine,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a Wednesday briefing.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that American negotiators were traveling to Moscow on Thursday. “Contacts are planned,” Peskov told a press briefing, adding of the potential outcomes, “We will not prejudge, we will tell you later.”

Witkoff will meet with Putin on Thursday night in a closed format, according to Russian foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.

Putin will not speak with Trump on Thursday, according to Ushakov.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials agreed to a total 30-day ceasefire during talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, earlier this week. The ball is now “truly in their court,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said of Russia following the talks in Jeddah.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram of the ceasefire plan, “Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take this step. The United States of America needs to convince Russia to do so.”

“We agree, and if the Russians agree, the silence will take effect at that very moment,” he added. “An important element in today’s discussions is America’s readiness to restore defense assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready for peace while Russia seeks to “postpone peace.”

“Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made,” he said on X on Thursday. “This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that U.S. pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war.”

The Kremlin had so far been noncommittal on the U.S.-Ukrainian proposal. Officials were “scrutinizing” the publicly released statements, Peskov said on Wednesday. Russia, he added, “doesn’t want to get ahead of itself” on the potential ceasefire.

Ushakov — who took part in last month’s meeting with U.S. negotiators in Saudi Arabia — described the proposed ceasefire as “a hasty document.”

“It should be worked on, and our position should also be considered and taken into account,” he told journalists. “For now, only the Ukrainian approach is outlined there,” Ushakov added, suggesting the 30-day pause in fighting would be an opportunity for Ukrainian forces to regroup.

“We believe that our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement, we are striving for it, a peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country, our known concerns,” Ushakov said. “Some steps that imitate peaceful actions, it seems to me, no one needs in this situation.”

Ushakov said he outlined Russia’s position to national security adviser Mike Waltz. “I myself have recently been in fairly regular telephone contact with Mike Waltz,” he said. “Yesterday he called me and informed me about the main results of the talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Jeddah.”

ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova, Joe Simonetti and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

Europe saw highest number of measles cases last year in more than 25 years: WHO

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Europe saw the highest number of measles cases last year in more than 25 years, according to a new report published Thursday from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

There were an estimated 127,350 measles cases in the European region last year, which is double the number of cases for 2023 and the highest number since 1997. The region consists of 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia.

Children under 5 years old accounted for more than 40% of cases in the region, and more than half of the cases required hospitalization, according to the report. Additionally, a total of 38 deaths were reported based on preliminary numbers.

The European region accounted for one-third of all measles cases globally last year, with 500,000 people missing their first dose of the measles vaccine.

“Measles is back, and it’s a wake-up call. Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security,” Dr. Hans P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said in a press release. “As we shape our new regional health strategy for Europe and Central Asia, we cannot afford to lose ground. Every country must step up efforts to reach under-vaccinated communities. The measles virus never rests — and neither can we.”

It comes as global vaccination rates for measles have been on the decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a higher number of cases and outbreaks worldwide.

A WHO report published last year found a 20% increase in measles cases between 2022 and 2023 — infecting a total of 10.3 million people globally in the latter year.

More than 22 million children missed their routine measles vaccine in 2023. Only 83% of children received their first measles dose that year, and only 74% received their second dose.

A threshold of 95% vaccination coverage is needed to prevent outbreaks from occurring, according to the WHO.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is dealing with its worst measles outbreak since 2019. More than 250 cases have been reported in an outbreak in Texas and New Mexico, which is close to the 285 total measles cases reported in the entirety of last year nationwide.

Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, health officials said.

Two likely measles deaths have been reported so far in the U.S. One is a confirmed death associated with measles, while the other occurred in a New Mexico resident who tested positive for measles after dying and the cause of death remains under investigation.

The death in Texas of an unvaccinated school-aged child was the first measles death recorded in the U.S. in a decade, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Similarly to global rates, CDC data showed U.S. vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years.

During the 2023–24 school year, just. 92.7% of kindergartners met vaccination requirements for the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, according to an October 2024 CDC report. The report also found that exemptions from school vaccination requirements increased to 3.3% from 3% the year before.

Pete Buttigieg won’t seek Senate, Michigan governor jobs amid presidential bid speculation

March 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LANSING, Mich.) — Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday morning that he will not run for U.S. Senate or governor in the state of Michigan, potentially clearing the way to possibly mount a run for president in 2028.

“I care deeply about who Michigan will elect as Governor and send to the U.S. Senate next year, but I have decided against competing in either race,” Buttigieg wrote on X. “I remain enthusiastic about helping candidates who share our values – and who understand that in this moment, leadership means not only opposing today’s cruel chaos, but also presenting a vision of a better alternative.”

Buttigieg’s announcement comes as Democrats grapple both with being locked out of power in Washington and the prospect of defending multiple key Senate seats in the 2026 midterms.

Buttigieg was expected to potentially announce a run for the seat being vacated by incumbent Sen. Gary Peters, who announced in January that he would not run for reelection.

+ More