| By Jayakumar MadalaApril 18, 2025 |
| Good morning, I’m Jayakumar Madala, filling in for Sarah Naffa. In the news today: The Kilmar Abergo Garcia case pulls Democrats into the immigration debate Trump wants to have; a deep staff cut at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the latest step in an extraordinary reshaping of the federal government; and survivors talk about the lessons of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Also, scientists find possible chemical signs of life on a faraway planet.  Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, right, speaks with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in a hotel restaurant in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Thursday. (Press Office Senator Van Hollen, via AP)POLITICSThe Abrego Garcia case pulls Democrats into the immigration debate Trump wants to haveFor Democrats, the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case is about fundamental American ideals — due process, following court orders, preventing government overreach. For the Trump administration and Republicans, it’s about foreigners and gang threats and danger in American towns and cities. Read more. |
| Recent developments:This dichotomy is playing out as Democrats double down on their defense of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man mistakenly deported and imprisoned without communication. On Thursday evening, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen posted photos of himself meeting in El Salvador with Abrego Garcia. The lawmaker did not provide an update on the status of Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys are fighting to force the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S. In defending his administration’s position, Trump says he is doing what he was elected to do and justifying the need to deport millions. “I was elected to get rid of those criminals — get them out of our country or to put them away, but to get them out of our country. And I don’t see how judges can take that authority away from the president,” Trump said Thursday. |
The Jamestown Comet 