Most travelers must have a REAL ID now to fly in US, or face extra screening

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — REAL ID requirements for those flying within the United States begin Wednesday after nearly 20 years of delays.

The day ahead of the deadline, people lined up at government offices across the country to secure their compliant IDs. In Chicago, officials established a Real ID Supercenter for walk-in appointments, while officials in California and elsewhere planned to continue offering extended hours for the crush of appointments.

“I’m here today so I won’t be right on the deadline, which is tomorrow,” said Marion Henderson, who applied for her REAL ID on Tuesday in Jackson, Mississippi.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday assured people who don’t yet have a REAL ID but need to take a domestic flight Wednesday that they will be able to fly after clearing additional identity checks.

Some complained about the need to secure the ID after waiting in line for hours.

Michael Aceto waited in line at a DMV in King of Prussia, in the Philadelphia suburbs, for about two and a half hours Tuesday before getting his REAL ID.

“It’s a pain in the butt. It’s really a lot of time. Everybody’s got to take off from work to be here,” he said. “It’s a big waste of time as far as I’m concerned.”

The Transportation Security Administration warned people who don’t have identification that complies with REAL ID requirements to arrive early at the airport and be prepared for advanced screening to avoid causing delays.

The new requirements have been the subject of many Reddit threads and Facebook group discussions in recent weeks, with numerous people expressing confusion about whether they can travel without a REAL ID, sharing details about wait times and seeking advice on how to meet the requirements.

Noem told a congressional panel that 81% of travelers already have REAL IDs. She said security checkpoints will also be accepting passports and tribal identification, like they have already been doing.

Those who still lack an identification that complies with the REAL ID law “may be diverted to a different line, have an extra step,” Noem said.

“But people will be allowed to fly,” she said. “We will make sure it’s as seamless as possible.”

REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that Homeland Security says is a more secure form of identification. It was a recommendation by the 9/11 Commission and signed into law in 2005. It was supposed to be rolled out in 2008 but the implementation had been repeatedly delayed.

¨The whole idea here is to better validate those individuals that were encountering a checkpoint to ensure they are who exactly they say they are,” said Thomas Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director in New Jersey.

Carter said those without a REAL ID should give themselves extra time to clear security.

“If they do that, I do not have a belief that this will cause people to miss their flights if they take that additional time in,” he said.

Besides serving as a valid form of identification to fly domestically, people will also need a REAL ID to access certain federal buildings and facilities.

State government offices that issue driver’s licenses and state IDs have seen a significant increase in demand for REAL ID and some have extended their office hours to meet the demand. Some officials have recommended people wait for a while to get REAL ID compliant licenses and cards if they don’t have flight planned in the next few months.

“We are encouraging people who have passports or other REAL ID-compliant documents and people who don’t have travel plans in the next few months to wait until after the current rush to apply for a REAL ID,” said Erin Johnson, a spokesperson with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Johnson said that the department has seen a significant increase in demand for REAL ID in recent weeks. In February, there were more than 48,000 applications for a REAL ID; that has nearly doubled to over 99,000 in April, she said.

Kentucky bourbon exports at risk as Trump-Canada trade tensions escalate

Bryan Woolston/Getty Images

(FRANKFORT, KY) -- Kentucky's bourbon industry faces potential devastation as President Donald Trump's latest tariff dispute with Canada threatens to halt $43 million in annual whiskey exports. During Tuesday's Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump maintained his hard stance on tariffs, declaring that Canada would need to make significant concessions to see any relief.

The dispute is part of a broader trade conflict that has particularly impacted American spirits, with Canadian retaliatory tariffs targeting bourbon producers.

Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY), chair of the Congressional Bourbon Caucus, expressed concern about the meeting's outcomes in an interview with ABC News.

"With Kentucky, Canada is our largest trading partner," McGarvey said. "We're going to lose tens of millions of dollars in bourbon sales in Ontario province alone, not to mention the whole country, because of what Trump's policies are doing."

The congressman highlighted how the administration's shifting tariff policies are affecting Kentucky's distilleries. When asked about conditions for ending the tariffs, Trump indicated there were none, a stance McGarvey found particularly troubling.

"If you're using tariffs as a negotiating tactic, but then you say there's nothing you can do to get rid of it, that's going to be problematic," McGarvey noted.

McGarvey criticized the administration's approach to trade policy, highlighting the chaos it has created for local businesses.

"There was one week I was working with the bourbon companies in my district where, quite literally, on Monday, the tariffs were on. On Tuesday, they were off. On Wednesday, they were on. On Thursday, they were off again," he explained.

The impact extends beyond just sales figures. Kentucky's bourbon industry supports over 22,500 jobs and contributes $9 billion annually to the state's economy. The ongoing trade dispute threatens this economic engine, with some distilleries already reporting decreased international orders and considering production cutbacks.

Beyond trade concerns, McGarvey also addressed proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid that could impact Kentucky residents.

"The Republican budget that Donald Trump has been pushing will cut Medicaid, 46% of the kids in Kentucky have health insurance through Medicaid," he said, emphasizing that Kentucky receives more federal Medicaid dollars than its entire state budget.

The congressman, who serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee, also expressed strong opposition to recently announced VA staffing cuts.

"Cutting 80,000 people from the VA workforce is not going to help our veterans access their benefits," McGarvey stated. "We made them a promise, both a legal and a moral obligation, that we would take care of them after their service."

As negotiations continue with Canada, uncertainty remains about whether a deal can be reached before the 90-day pause expires. McGarvey and his colleagues continue to push for what he calls "serious, certain strategic trade policies that are beneficial to American workers and consumers."

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Failed Soviet-era spacecraft expected to crash back to Earth within days

NASA

(MOSCOW) -- A failed Soviet-era spacecraft that became trapped in Earth’s orbit by mistake more than 50 years ago is forecast to make a crash landing back on Earth in the early morning hours of Saturday, according to space experts.

Cosmos 482, launched in 1972 as part of the Soviet Union's Venera program, which intended to explore Venus, is expected to return to Earth at 3:34 a.m. ET, according to SatTrackCam Leiden, a satellite tracking station in Leiden, the Netherlands.

But because of the uncertainty with its decaying orbit, the lander could come down as early as Friday evening and as late as Saturday afternoon, according to estimates from the European Space Agency, SatTrackCam Leiden and The Aerospace Corporation.

As of Thursday, the landing location was estimated to be anywhere between 52 N and 52 S latitude, according to NASA. This large swath contains the United States, as well as most of the continents on Earth.

Since 70% of the planet is covered with water, it’s likely the probe will land in the ocean but there is a small chance it could hit a populated area.

The craft is about 3.2 feet across and weighs about 1,190 pounds.

The risk of Cosmos 482 striking people on the ground is low, but not impossible, Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, wrote on his website last month.

"No need for major concern, but you wouldn't want it bashing you on the head," McDowell wrote.

Cosmos 482 experienced a successful initial launch on March 31, 1972, and temporarily orbited Earth.

However, the unmanned spacecraft did not achieve sufficient velocity to launch into a Venus transfer trajectory, NASA said, and the payload -- or the portion of the craft significantly related to the craft's primary mission -- was unable to exit Earth's orbit.

Astronomers hypothesize that a malfunction on a timer caused the engine to burn prematurely, NASA said.

The spacecraft separated into four pieces. Two of the pieces, which remained in low orbit, decayed within 48 hours. Orbital decay refers to an incremental decrease in altitude, gradually closing a craft's distance to Earth, according to NASA.

The other two pieces -- including the large lander probe -- became stuck in Earth's higher orbit. It has experienced orbital decay for decades, NASA said, and that decay has brought it close enough to reenter the planet's atmosphere around May 10.

Because the probe was designed to withstand entry into Venus' atmosphere -- which is 90 times denser than Earth's -- it is possible that parts of it could survive reentry and continue onward to the planet's surface, according to NASA.

Astronomers are increasingly monitoring space junk left near Earth during launches of satellites and other spacecraft. There are currently more than 1.2 million known pieces of space debris, 50,000 of which measure more than 4 inches across, according to a 2025 report by the European Space Agency.

"Even if we created no new space debris, it would not be enough to prevent a runaway series of collisions and fragmentations," the ESA said in a statement.

ABC News' Matthew Glasser contributed to this report.

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Severe weather leaves extensive damage across East Texas

Severe weather leaves extensive damage across East TexasTYLER – According to our news partner KETK, the City of Frankston said the city has nearly 25 homes with trees toppled on them and one injury as a result of severe weather.

East Texas was slammed with severe weather Tuesday afternoon that caused quite a scare for people in Frankston. Even though the storm has passed, the damage has left its mark on the community. At one Frankston home, more than five trees fell directly on top of the roof.

The Frankston Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Gerald Hall said the path of the storm is quite noticeable in the city.

In a separate neighborhood, one person went to the hospital with a broken ankle after a tree fell on the person’s home. Continue reading Severe weather leaves extensive damage across East Texas

Why it feels like allergy season is getting longer, more severe

Angelika Warmuth/picture alliance via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) -- Temperatures are beginning to warm up, indicating the arrival of spring -- and of allergy season for millions of Americans.

Research shows that allergy seasons may be hitting people harder by starting earlier, lasting longer and creating more pollen.

Growing seasons -- the time of year that conditions allow plants to grow -- start earlier and last longer than they did 30 years ago, according to a report from the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America.

Additionally, pollen concentrations have increased up to 21% across North America over the last three decades, data from the USA National Phenology Network shows.

Allergists told ABC News a mix of climate change and more carbon emissions has led to plants in many areas having longer growing seasons and higher pollen counts.

"Research has definitely shown that the seasons are indeed expanding," Dr. William Reisacher, an otolaryngic allergist at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, told ABC News. "We're seeing longer pollinating seasons. We're seeing higher levels of pollen."

What causes seasonal allergies?

Allergies occur when the immune system views food, medicine, plants or something else as a harmful substance and overreacts.

Some seasonal allergies, also known as allergic rhinitis or hay fever, occur due to pollen, which are tiny grains that are dispersed from certain flowering plants.

"Allergies are essentially your immune system overreacting to things that you're exposed to in your environment," Dr. Thanai Pongdee, a consultant allergist-immunologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told ABC News. "So, for example, if you have hay fever and are allergic to tree pollen or grass pollen this time of year, when you breathe that pollen in, your immune system recognizes it and causes a cascade of events where various chemicals get released -- one of the main ones being histamine, and these chemicals cause the symptoms that many experience."

This leads to symptoms including runny nose, sneezing, congestion and itchy, watery eyes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reactions can range from mildly annoying symptoms to life-threatening reactions including anaphylactic shock, which can cause multiple organs to fail.

As of 2021, an estimated 25.7% of U.S. adults and 18.9% of U.S. children have seasonal allergies, according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Why are allergy seasons getting longer?

Allergy season typically begins in the spring, around March, and typically ends in the fall, lasting as late as November.

"When we refer to seasonal allergic rhinitis, we are usually referring to allergic symptoms that occupy a certain time of the year," Reisacher said.

"So, springtime, at least in the northeast, is typically when the trees are pollinating whereas in the summertime, we see the grass is pollinating, and then in the fall, it's all about the weeds," he continued. "Ragweed is the most common pollen present at that time of the year."

However, research has suggested that allergy seasons are getting longer and worse.

"Allergy season is getting longer -- in fact it is an average of 13 days longer compared with 20 years ago," Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergist and immunologist at NYU Langone Health, told ABC News.

A 2022 study from the University of Michigan found that, by the end of the century, pollen emissions could begin 40 days earlier in the spring than occurred between 1995 and 2014, meaning there could be an additional 19 days of high pollen counts.

Allergists say climate change is one of the biggest reasons why allergy seasons are getting longer.

A 2021 study found human-caused climate change is worsening North American pollen season, causing them to lengthen by 20 days on average between 1990 and 2018.

Reisacher said that as the globe experiences warmer temperatures each year, more storms are occurring, which kicks up more pollen.

"It travels for many more miles on the wind, and it makes it more allergenic, so it gets deeper into our body, into our lungs and even through the tissues that protect our body," he said.

The warming planet also means that it's taking longer to see the first frost, which usually occurs in the fall and hold pollen underground, he said. A longer time to get to the first frost means pollen has a longer time to stay in the air.

Reisacher said greenhouse gases are another reason for the longer allergy season. He said more carbon dioxide has been released into the air due to fossil fuels. Plants feed off carbon dioxide, and this has released more pollen into the air.

"There has been a direct correlation between the levels of [carbon dioxide] in the atmosphere and the amount of pollen that plants, including ragweed, are producing," he said. "So, it's hard to deny that that is a factor."

Reisacher and Parikh say this means there will likely be more people who experience seasonal allergies over the next several years.

How to treat seasonal allergies
Allergists said there are a number of over-the-counter medications that people can try as well as nasal sprays and rinses.

Some are tailored to relieve symptoms while others are used to prevent symptoms. Additionally, only certain medications work for certain symptoms.

"Start with 24-hour antihistamines. They last longer with fewer side effects," Parikh said. "[You] can also add nasal steroid or antihistamine sprays as well as eye drops. However, if you aren't improving, please see an allergist."

Pongdee said allergy shots may be effective for those who are looking for long-term solutions and are not relief from daily medication.

Reisacher recommends starting medications a few weeks before allergy season starts because they need time to take effect.

He said there are also steps people can take to at home to prevent pollen from coming indoors including keeping windows closed in the early morning when pollination is higher, using air conditioner filters. separating indoor and outdoor clothing and showeing to get pollen off skin and out of hair.

"You want to create a safe haven, and that's your bedroom," Reisacher said. "You want to create a pollen-free environment in your bedroom so that at least you have seven or eight hours that your immune system can rest without having to react to pollen."

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Fed holds interest rates steady, defying pressure from Trump

Vincent Alban/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) -- The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, just weeks after President Donald Trump intensified calls for lower borrowing costs and voiced eagerness about the potential "termination" of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

In recent days, Trump has dialed back his attacks on Powell, saying he will not fire Powell before the end of the top central banker's term next year. Trump has reiterated his displeasure with the level of interest rates, however, urging the central bank to lower them.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Powell said the economy remains in "solid shape" but warned Trump's tariff policy could cause higher inflation and an economic slowdown.

"If the large increase in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they're likely to generate a rise in inflation and a slowdown of economic growth," Powell said Wednesday.

"All of these policies are evolving, however, and their effects on the economy remain highly uncertain," Powell added.

When asked about Trump's call for lower rates, Powell shrugged off criticism from the president.

"It doesn’t affect our doing our job at all," Powell said. "We’re always going to consider only the economic data, the outlook, the balance of risks – and that’s it."

The move marked the Fed's second consecutive decision to maintain the current level of interest rates, repeating an approach taken in January. Before that, the Fed had cut rates at three consecutive meetings.

"For now, it does seem like a fairly clear decision for us to wait and see," Powell said.

"Risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen," the FOMC said in a statement.

Last month, Powell raised the possibility that Trump's tariffs may cause what economists call "stagflation," which is when inflation rises and the economy slows.

If the Fed raises interest rates as a means of protecting against tariff-induced inflation under such a scenario, it risks stifling borrowing and slowing the economy further. On the other hand, if the Fed lowers rates to stimulate the economy in the face of a potential slowdown, it threatens to boost spending and worsen inflation.

Still, Powell pointed to solid economic performance as a reason to take a patient approach as policymakers await the impact of tariffs.

"For the time being, we are well-positioned to wait for greater clarity," Powell told an audience at the Economic Club of Chicago.

Powell noted the possibility of a shift in economic conditions, saying, "Life moves pretty fast."

The rate decision arrives days after fresh data showed robust job growth in April.

Despite flagging consumer sentiment and market turmoil, the labor market has provided a bright spot since Trump took office. Meanwhile, inflation cooled in March, the most recent month for which data is available.

Even so, recession fears are mounting on Wall Street as Trump's tariffs threaten to upend global trade. Goldman Sachs earlier this month hiked its odds of a recession from 35% to 45%. JPMorgan pegged the probability of a recession this year at 60%.

A government report last week showed the U.S. economy shrank over the first three months of 2025, much of which took place as Trump's flurry of tariff proposals stoked uncertainty among businesses and consumers.

U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, declined at a 0.3% annualized rate over three months ending in March, according to government data released on Wednesday. The figure marked a sharp dropoff from 2.4% annualized growth over the final three months of 2024.

The rate decision on Wednesday also marks the first adjustment of borrowing costs since Trump's closely watched "Liberation Day" tariff announcement on April 2, which triggered the biggest single-day stock market drop since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Days later, Trump suspended a major swathe of the tariffs, sending the market to one of its largest ever single-day increases. A simultaneous escalation of tariffs on Chinese goods kept the effective tariff rate at its highest level in more than a century, the Yale Budget Lab found.

The White House is seeking to strike trade agreements with dozens of U.S. trade partners before the 90-day suspension of so-called "reciprocal tariffs" expires in July.

"As we gain a better understanding of the policy changes, we will have a better sense of the implications for the economy," Powell said last month.

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Milwaukee struggles through growing lead crisis — with federal help nowhere to be found

Kat Cisar and her six-year-old twins, who attend a Milwaukee school that was found to have hazardous lead in the building. (ABC News)

(MILWAUKEE) -- Kat Cisar, a mother of 6-year-old twins, found out in late February that her kids were potentially being exposed to harmful lead paint and dust at their Milwaukee school. By May, their school was on a growing list of eight others across the city, found to have degrading, chipping interiors that were putting children at risk.

Several schools have had to temporarily close for remediation efforts, including the one Cisar's kids attend.

"We put a lot of faith in our institutions, in our schools, and it's just so disheartening when those systems fail," Cisar said.

Milwaukee's lead crisis began late last year, when a young student's high blood lead levels were traced back to the student's school.

Since then, health officials have been combing through other Milwaukee schools to find deteriorated conditions that could harm more children. The plan now is to inspect roughly half of the district's 106 schools built before 1978 -- when lead paint was banned -- in time for school to return in the fall. They plan to inspect the other half before the end of the year.

In the last few months, tests have turned up elevated blood lead levels in at least three more students, and the health department expects that number to grow as it continues to offer free testing clinics around the city.

Lead exposure — especially harmful for young children — can cause growth delays, attention disorders and even brain damage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Cisar's own children's tests for lead levels showed no acute poisoning, but Cisar said they'll have to keep monitoring it. Her children attended the school for three years.

"When you have little kids who are 3, 4, 5, 6 years old in a classroom like that, that's worrisome," she said.

The local impacts of federal cuts

Despite public health officials' requests, federal help is not coming to Milwaukee -- for now. The CDC's National Center for Environmental Health was gutted on April 1, as part of the Trump administration's effort to lay off 10,000 employees at the Health and Human Services Department (HHS), which oversees agencies like FDA and CDC.

The cuts included lead exposure experts who were planning to fly to Milwaukee later that month to help the city respond to the situation.

That has complicated the on-the-ground response, Milwaukee Commissioner of Health Mike Totaraitis told ABC News.

"We rely on the federal government for that expertise," Totoraitis said. "So to see that eliminated overnight was hard to describe, to say the least."

Erik Svendsen, division director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health before it was eliminated, said the layoffs have left Milwaukee on its own.

"Without us, there is no other unit at the federal level that is here to support them in doing what they need to do," Svendsen told ABC News.

And not just when it comes to this lead crisis, Svendsen said. Milwaukee -- and other cities -- won't have CDC assistance for other environmental threats that affect the buildings people use, the air people breathe and the water they drink, he said.

"States and local public health departments are on their own now as we prepare for the heat, wildfire, algal bloom, tornado, flood and hurricane seasons," Svendsen said.

An HHS spokesperson told ABC News the CDC's lead prevention work will be consolidated under a new division under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — though Svendsen said he and his team have not been rehired.

Without the experts, Svendsen said the future of the work is still in limbo.

For his part, Totoraitis, the Milwaukee health commissioner, said he empathizes with the frustration expressed by parents -- some of whom argue that the issue began at a local level and should be solved there.

"Putting my feet in the parents' shoes… thinking, 'Hey, I'm sending my kid to school, it should be safe, it should be free of lead hazards' — and unfortunately, that's not what we found," Totoraitis said.

"We found that systemic issues of poor maintenance and poor cleaning had left countless hazards across multiple schools that really put students at danger," he said.

But the extent of the problem, Totoraitis said, only furthered his department’s reliance on the experts at the CDC, with whom he said they’d been constantly in contact with for the last few months.

Funding crunch: Hire more teachers or paint a wall?

Buildings in the U.S. built before 1978 can be properly maintained by locking the old paint under layers of fresh new paint. But budget constraints in Milwaukee delayed that upkeep, officials said.

"Underfunding in schools for many, many years has really put districts at a very difficult choice of whether they should have teachers in the classroom and lower class sizes or have a paraprofessional to support -- or whether they paint a wall," said Brenda Cassillius, who started as Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent one month ago.

"And so I think now we are learning and growing," Cassillius said, to "make sure that we have the resources in place to deal with these really serious infrastructure issues."

Cisar, whose twins are back at their school after cleanup efforts, said she still feels like there's lots of blame to go around.

The lack of CDC resources, she said, has only compounded a longstanding issue in Milwaukee. But she said the lack of federal support has been disheartening, nonetheless.

"Maybe that would have just been a little bit of help -- but it really sends the message of, 'You don't matter,'" she said.

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A man with an open asylum case was deported. His lawyers want to know if there are others

BALTIMORE (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia has become a household name as the Trump administration is engaged in an intense legal campaign to keep him locked up in an El Salvador prison despite his mistaken deportation. But his case isn’t the only one of its kind inching through the U.S. court system.

Nearly two months have passed since a 20-year-old Venezuelan native, known only as Cristian in court filings, was deported to El Salvador despite having a pending asylum application. Now his lawyers want to know if there are others like him.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher stopped short of ordering the Trump administration to produce a list of any others who are in the same legal situation as Cristian. But the judge made it clear during a hearing Tuesday that she won’t second-guess her earlier order for the Trump administration to facilitate Cristian’s return to the U.S.

Gallagher, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, said it is a “fair inference” that the administration has done nothing to comply with her April 23 decision. She gave the government until Thursday to appeal her ruling before she considers ordering specific steps to comply with the order.

Gallagher said the case isn’t about whether Cristian is entitled to asylum if he is able to return to the U.S.

“The issue is and always has been one of process,” the judge said. “People are entitled to that.”
How does Cristian’s case compare to Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s?

Abrego Garcia and Cristian both were deported on March 15. Dozens of other people were flown from the U.S. to El Salvador after Trump issued a proclamation calling for the arrest and removal of Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law.

Cristian had been transferred into federal custody from a jail in Harris County, Texas, in January. Abrego Garcia was arrested in Maryland, where he lived with his wife — a U.S. citizen — and their children.

Unlike Cristian, Abrego Garcia is a native of El Salvador. A U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 protected him from being sent there because he likely faced persecution by local Salvadoran gangs that terrorized him and his family.

Gallagher ruled that the government violated a 2019 settlement agreement when it deported Cristian. She said she was guided by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ ruling that Trump’s Republican administration must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.

“Standing by and taking no action is not facilitation,” Gallagher wrote. “In prior cases involving wrongfully removed individuals, courts have ordered, and the government has taken, affirmative steps toward facilitating return.”

Gallagher said her order requires the government to make “a good faith request” for the government of El Salvador to release Cristian to U.S. custody.
What’s the latest on Abrego Garcia’s case?

Xinis, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. The judge set May deadlines this month for administration officials to testify under oath about what they have done to comply.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said the administration was moving toward bringing him back when it asked for a pause in the court case last month.

“We agreed to that request because we understood it to be made in good faith,” the lawyers said in a news release. “Unfortunately, one week later, it remains unclear what, if anything, the government has done in the past seven days to bring our client home to his family.”
What’s next in Cristian’s case?

The Justice Department is likely to appeal Gallagher’s rulings in Cristian’s favor. Any appeal would be heard by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In the meantime, Gallagher refused Tuesday to suspend her April 23 decision.

The judge scheduled Tuesday’s hearing to find out what, if anything, the government has done to comply with her order to facilitate Cristian’s return. Justice Department attorney Richard Ingebretsen merely told her that the State Department was notified of her ruling.

“That is the extent of the information,” Ingebretsen added.

One of Cristian’s attorneys, Kevin DeJong, dismissed that response as a “non-answer” and expressed concern that the administration is trying to avoid complying with the judge’s order.

Ingebretsen said immigration officials have determined that Cristian isn’t entitled to asylum. But the man’s lawyers said he has a right to get a ruling on the merits of his asylum application by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Meanwhile, Cristian’s lawyers want to know if the U.S. has deported other people who are covered by the same settlement that benefited him.

“There may well be other class members removed and we don’t know about it,” DeJong said. “It’s not acceptable.”

In one day, two separate judges rule Trump improperly used 18th century wartime act against gang

NEW YORK (AP) – Two separate federal judges 2,000 miles apart ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump improperly used an 18th century wartime law to try to speed the deportations of people his administration labels members of a Venezuelan gang, adding to mounting judicial skepticism over the president’s attempt to avoid deportation hearings by invoking a measure last used in World War II.

First, District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in New York found the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 cannot be used against the Tren de Aragua gang because it is not attacking the United States. “TdA may well be engaged in narcotics trafficking, but that is a criminal matter, not an invasion or predatory incursion,” Hellerstein wrote barring deportations from most of New York City and surrounding areas.

Hours later, District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney reached a similar conclusion, expanding on an earlier order that barred the removals of Venezuelans accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua from Colorado. She was aghast at administration arguments that no one can second-guess the president’s designation of the gang as a foreign invader.

That contention “staggers. It is wrong as a matter of law and attempts to read an entire provision out of the Constitution,” Sweeney wrote.

The double-barreled rejections of Trump come a week after a Trump-appointed judge in South Texas became the first in the nation to reject the president’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, also barring the administration from removing people from that region. None of the orders prevent deportations for reasons other than the act.

The decisions are the latest in a long line of judicial setbacks for the Trump administration’s effort to speed deportations of people in the country illegally. The president and his supporters have increasingly complained about having to provide due process for people they contend didn’t follow U.S. immigration laws.

In his ruling, Hellerstein, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, also ruled that the government cannot use the Alien Enemies Act to shortcut the legal process for deportations that Congress has laid out.

Several other judges across the country are hearing cases challenging Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act in their jurisdictions. Those follow a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court last month that challenges to Trump’s use of the law have to occur in areas where immigrants are being detained for deportation. The high court unanimously ruled that people held under the Alien Enemies Act had the right to contest their removal in court.

That led the Supreme Court to have to weigh in a second time, in an unusual post-midnight ruling that barred the deportation of people from northern Texas who, the ACLU argued, were about to be shipped out of the country without adequate chance to appeal their designation.

The Trump administration has deported people designated as Tren de Aragua members to a notorious prison in El Salvador where it argues U.S. courts cannot order them freed. Hellerstein referred to the facility as a “notoriously evil jail.”

North Dakota is 11th US state with a measles outbreak. Here’s what to know

North Dakota is the 11th state in the U.S. with a measles outbreak, logging its first cases since 2011.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s confirmed measles case count is 935, more than triple the amount seen in all of 2024. The three-month outbreak in Texas accounts for the vast majority of cases, with 702 confirmed as of Tuesday. The outbreak has also spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness.

Other states with active outbreaks — which the CDC defines as three or more related cases — include Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

North America has two other ongoing outbreaks. One in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 1,243 cases from mid-October through April 29. And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 922 measles cases and one death as of Tuesday, according to data from the state health ministry. Health officials in Mexico and the U.S. say all three outbreaks are of the same measles strain.

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

As the virus takes hold in U.S. communities with low vaccination rates, health experts fear that spread could stretch on for a year. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S.
How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico?

Texas state health officials said Tuesday there were 19 new cases of measles since Friday, bringing the total to 702 across 29 counties — most of them in West Texas. The state also added two hospitalizations to its count Friday, for a total of 91 throughout the outbreak.

State health officials estimated about 1% of cases — fewer than 10 — are actively infectious.

Fifty-seven percent of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has had 403 cases since late January — just over 1.7% of the county’s residents.

The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Local health officials in Texas said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of “what the child’s doctor described as measles pulmonary failure.” A unvaccinated child with no underlying conditions died of measles in Texas in late February — Kennedy said age 6.

New Mexico was steady Tuesday with 67 total cases. Seven people have been hospitalized since the outbreak started. Most of the state’s cases are in Lea County. Three are in Eddy County, two in Don?a Ana County and one in Chaves County.
How many cases are there in Indiana?

Indiana confirmed two more cases April 21 in an outbreak that has sickened eight in Allen County in the northeast part of the state — five are unvaccinated minors and three are adults whose vaccination status is unknown.

The cases have no known link to other outbreaks, the Allen County Department of Health has said.
How many cases are there in Kansas?

Kansas added nine cases Wednesday for a total of 46 across eight counties in the southwest part of the state. Gray County is up to 15 cases. The state also reported its first hospitalization.

Kansas’ health department didn’t elaborate Wednesday about a discrepancy in the number of new cases at the state and county levels beyond noting that case counts are “fluid as the outbreak progresses.”

The state’s first reported case is linked to the Texas outbreak based on genetic testing.
How many cases are there in Michigan?

Montcalm County, near Grand Rapids in western Michigan, has an outbreak of four cases that state health officials say is tied to the Ontario outbreak. The state had nine confirmed measles cases as of Friday, but the remaining five are not part of the Montcalm County outbreak.
How many cases are there in Montana?

Montana state health officials announced five cases April 17 in unvaccinated children and adults who had traveled out of state, and later confirmed it was an outbreak. All five are isolating at home in Gallatin County in the southwest part of the state.

They were Montana’s first measles cases in 35 years. Health officials didn’t say whether the cases are linked to other outbreaks in North America.
How many measles cases are there in North Dakota?

North Dakota announced its first measles case since 2011 on Friday, and by Tuesday, there were nine cases.

All are in Williams County in western North Dakota on the Montana border. The state health department said Monday that three of the confirmed cases are linked to the first case — an unvaccinated child who health officials believe got it from an out-of-state visitor.

The other five cases, announced Tuesday, were people who were not vaccinated and did not have contact with the other cases, causing concern about community transmission. The state health department said four people diagnosed with measles attended classes while infectious at a Williston elementary school, middle school and high school.
How many cases are there in Ohio?

The state has two outbreaks. Ashtabula County near Cleveland has 16 cases. And Knox County in east-central Ohio has 20 — 14 among Ohio residents and the rest among visitors.

The Ohio Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 33 measles cases and one hospitalization. That count includes only Ohio residents. Defiance County in the northwestern part of the state has logged its first case.

Allen and Holmes counties have had one case each.
How many cases are there in Oklahoma?

Oklahoma added one case for a total of 14 confirmed and three probable cases as of Tuesday. The outbreak is linked to Texas and New Mexico.

The state health department is not releasing which counties have cases, but Cleveland, Oklahoma and Sequoyah counties have had public exposures in the past couple of months.
How many cases are there in Pennsylvania?

There are eight measles cases in Erie County in far northwest Pennsylvania, officials said Friday. The county declared an outbreak in mid-April. The state has said it has 13 cases overall in 2025, including international travel-related cases in Montgomery County and one in Philadelphia.
How many cases are there in Tennessee?

Tennessee had six measles cases as of last week. Health department spokesman Bill Christian said all cases are the middle part of the state, and that “at least three of these cases are linked to each other” but declined to specify further. The state also did not say whether the cases were linked to other outbreaks or when Tennessee’s outbreak started.

The state health department announced the first measles case March 21, three more on April 1 and the last two on April 17, but none of the news releases declared an outbreak. However, Tennessee was on a list of outbreak states in a CDC report April 17.
Where else is measles showing up in the U.S.?

Cases also have been reported in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

Cases and outbreaks in the U.S. are frequently traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles.
What do you need to know about the MMR vaccine?

The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old.

Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says. People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s don’t need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles vaccine made from “killed” virus should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said.

People who have documentation that they had measles are immune and those born before 1957 generally don’t need the shots because most children back then had measles and now have “presumptive immunity.”

In communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called “herd immunity.”

But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots. The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60.
What are the symptoms of measles?

Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash.

The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC.

Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.
How can you treat measles?

There’s no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.

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AP Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Body found of girl swept away by floodwaters in Texas

BRENHAM (ABC) — The body of a 10-year-old girl was found on Tuesday after she was swept away by floodwaters in Texas. The sad end to the search comes as a a storm threat continues to impact millions in the South and Northeast on Tuesday.

Two sisters were walking home from school in Brenham, Texas, on Wednesday afternoon when an adjacent creek rose quickly and one of the girls, 10-year-old Dhava Woods, got swept away in the water, officials told Houston ABC station KTRK.

A male neighbor saw what happened and got in the water to try and rescue the child. He was able to make contact with her, but couldn’t hold on, officials said. A Brenham police officer also saw the child farther down the creek, but was unsuccessful in rescuing her due to the swift waters, officials said.

“With more severe weather anticipated, we ask the community to keep everyone involved in your thoughts and prayers during this challenging time,” the Brenham Fire Department said in a statement on Monday.

Brenham city officials announced on Tuesday that Woods’ body was recovered at 10 a.m.

“Our hearts are with the student’s family, and we ask our community to keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” the girl’s school district said in a statement.

This incident came amid nearly 100 storm reports across 10 states — along with one tornado in Jamesville, North Carolina — overnight on Monday.

Severe storms and flash flooding will continue to threaten parts of the south-central U.S., with over 24 million people placed on flood watches across nine states on Tuesday.

A tornado watch has been issued for portions of central, east and southeastern Texas until 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

The threat for severe weather will shift farther east on Tuesday, stretching from the Texas Panhandle to Louisiana.

Cities including Houston, Dallas and Austin remain under a slight risk for severe weather and parts of east Texas are now under an enhanced risk. These areas could see damaging winds, very large hail and storms that could produce strong tornadoes.

A widespread flash flooding threat expands farther east into Wednesday, extending from southeastern Colorado all the way to Alabama. Parts of the Deep South, including most of Louisiana, southeastern Mississippi and eastern Texas, face the greatest threat for flash flooding.

Parts of the lower Mississippi River could receive the most rain over the next few days, with the potential for another 3 to 6 inches. Additionally, parts of southern Louisiana and southeastern Mississippi could see rainfall totals exceed 6 inches over the next two days, with some areas receiving up to 12 inches.

Another 1 to 4 inches of rainfall is expected in parts of north Texas, the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and the rest of the Lower Mississippi River Valley through Thursday. These areas have already seen significant rainfall over the last few weeks and are still recovering from river flooding.

Parts of eastern Pennsylvania, northwest New Jersey and southern New York state are also under a slight risk for severe storms on Tuesday, which could generate damaging winds and hail.

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Crews recover the body of a 10-year-old girl lost in floods

BRENHAM (AP) — The body of a 10-year-old girl who was swept away in rapidly rising floodwaters has been recovered, Brenham Police Chief Mark Donovan said Tuesday.

Her body was found as forecasters warned that Tuesday could bring more heavy rains and flooding to the Houston area and the state’s coast.

Teams of people scoured the city of Brenham on Monday night, using drones with thermal imaging and dogs to try to find the girl. The water rescue operation was scaled back overnight when heavy thunderstorms moved through the area, but four swift water rescue teams resumed operations early Tuesday, the Brenham Fire Department said in a social media post.

The department was working with around a dozen supporting agencies to find the girl, who was last seen at about 4 p.m. Monday.

She was a student from Brenham Elementary School and support services will be available for students and staff, according to a Brenham Independent School District social media post.

“Our hearts are with the student’s family, and we ask our community to keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” the district said.

The next round of severe storms could bring as much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain Tuesday to parts of southeastern Texas, according to the National Weather Service in Houston. Strong rip currents and flooding along Gulf-facing beaches, especially during high tides, was also in the forecast.

A large swath of Texas and parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi were under flood watches early Tuesday.

Just last week, storms drenched much of southern Oklahoma and northern Texas, washing out roads and causing hundreds of flights to be canceled or delayed at major airports.

Police offer $6k for information in 2013 cold case murder

Police offer k for information in 2013 cold case murderHALLSVILLE – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is seeking answers in relation to a murder that occurred in 2013 in Hallsville and has yet to be solved, according to our news partner KETK.

51-year-old Lillian Desiree Descoteau’s body was found by two truck drivers near FM 450 ramp onto IH-20, just south of Hallsville on October 7, 2013, according to officials.

“She had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled. Descoteau’s body was only clothed in a light blue pullover, a white bra and a shiny diamond stud earring in one ear,” DPS said.

Descoteau had lived in several states across the country, including Alaska, Colorado, Ohio, Georgia and lastly Irving, Texas, where she worked as a commercial driver for a brief period. Continue reading Police offer $6k for information in 2013 cold case murder