1 week Ago By Sarah K. Burris
A Trump administration official fired off a new threat this week to an old foe — sanctuary cities. Florida Immigration Coalition policy expert Thomas Kennedy posted a letter on X from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatening to withhold funding from local governments if they don't comply with President Donald Trump's mass immigration efforts. "As recipients of such DOT funds, you have entered into legally enforceable agreements with the United States Government and are obligated to comply fully with all applicable Federal laws and regulations.
These laws and regulations include the United States Constitution, Federal statutes, applicable rules and policy requirements, including, among others, those protecting free speech and religious liberty and those prohibiting discrimination and enforcing controls on illegal immigration," the letter said. It goes on to say that any DEI goals and practices "presumptively violates federal law." Other parts of the letter cite specific statutes in an attempt to support its demands.
ALSO READ: Trump is doing it all in broad daylight because he thinks no one will stop him "In addition, your legal obligations require cooperation generally with Federal authorities in the enforcement of federal law, including cooperating with and not impeding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal offices and components of the Department of Homeland Security in the enforcement of federal immigration law," the letter continues.
It did not define what "cooperation generally" means, however. "Noncompliance with applicable federal laws, or failure to cooperate generally with federal authorities in the enforcement of federal law, will jeopardize your continued receipt of federal financial assistance from DOT and could lead to a loss of federal funding from DOT," the letter threatens. No state or municipality has stated whether they will challenge the letter in court.
Read the full document here. President Donald Trump is fighting battles on multiple fronts, from foreign conflicts to self-inflicted trade wars. But it was an NFL snub that caught the MAGA leader's attention Friday afternoon.
University of Colorado star Shedeur Sanders — son of Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders — was widely expected to be drafted in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. But reports surfaced of concerns within front offices after Sanders chose not to throw at the NFL Combine, and teams expressed wary about his’ personality. ALSO READ: 'Alarming': Small colleges bullied into silence as Trump poses 'existential threat' Despite being a high-profile prospect and projected to be a top pick, Sanders slid out of the first round, with even quarterback-needy teams opting against taking a chance on the Colorado star.
That didn't sit well with Trump. "What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID? Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart! Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES , and is all set for Greatness.
He should be 'picked' IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur, and say hello to your wonderful father! Venezuela's attorney general accused Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele of "human trafficking" and suggested he face international justice for accepting cash to jail deportees from the United States. Over 230 Venezuelans were flown in March to Bukele's notorious CECOT prison, along with around a dozen Salvadorans, under a $6 million deal struck by President Donald Trump's government.
Venezuela reacted furiously to the deportations -- which have also prompted a fierce legal debate in the United States -- and has demanded the men's "unconditional release." In an interview with AFP in Caracas late Thursday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab took aim at Bukele, suggesting he was little better than a people smuggler. "He is committing the crime of human trafficking," the prosecutor said.
"It is a dirty business." "International justice will be done against Bukele on this issue," said Saab, who along with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been subject to US sanctions for years over allegedly suppressing their country's democratic opposition. The Trump administration has painted the deported men as dangerous blood-crazed gang members, a claim for which they have provided scant evidence.
Some have been charged in US courts with violent offenses, but many have not. Family members for several of the men staunchly deny any link to gangs and say their loved ones were scooped up for little more than being Venezuelan, migrants and having tattoos. Slickly produced footage of their arrival in El Salvador -- including chained and tattooed men having their heads shaved and being frog-marched by masked guards -- was widely promoted by both the Salvadoran and US governments.
US judges have ruled that at least one Salvadoran and one Venezuelan were wrongly deported and should be returned to the United States, orders that Trump and his ally Bukele have so far ignored. "The Venezuelans who were deprived of their liberty in El Salvador resided in the United States without having previously committed any crime in that country" said Saab "much less in El Salvador." The White House insists that aside from having gang links, the men were in the United States illegally and are therefore criminals.
- Bedfellows - Bukele has dubbed himself the "world's coolest dictator." His hardline rhetoric against El Salvador's powerful gangs has made him one of the world's most domestically popular leaders. But he has also been accused of overseeing mass human rights violations, epitomized by the huge, brutal prison known as CECOT.
In 2021, his government was accused by the administration of then-president Joe Biden of secretly striking deals with gang leaders. Bukele's embrace of Trump and his willingness to help earned the Salvadoran leader a mutually fawning Oval Office meeting earlier this month. During the meeting Trump thanked Bukele for "helping us out" and called him a "hell of a president", as both enjoyed several minutes criticizing the media and talking about transgender athletes in women's sports.
By contrast, Venezuela's leftist leader Maduro delighted his political base by frequently sparring with Bukele. Bukele has in turn taunted the Venezuelan government about the detained men, offering to exchange them for political prisoners in Venezuela. Saab called that offer "cynical" and demanded a complete list of the detained migrants.
After President Donald Trump's administration revoked hundreds of student visas and threatened deportation for participants of pro-Palestinian campus protests, international students told AFP they were reconsidering their dreams of earning degrees in the United States. Trump has launched a crackdown on higher education in recent weeks, accusing universities including Columbia and Harvard of allowing anti-Semitism on their campuses. In response more than 130 international students across the United States have joined a federal lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully canceling their visas, jeopardizing their legal status in the country.
But others have been deterred from stepping foot in America in the first place. German Tariq Kandil turned down an opportunity to spend six months on exchange at the University of California , Davis, fearing he would be targeted by the US government for his social media posts criticising Trump and speaking about Palestine. "I didn't want to have to censor myself just to be able to enter the country," the 21-year-old told AFP.
"The United States is supposed to be the country of free speech." Kandil said he was "afraid of being arrested when entering or leaving the country and finding myself in detention awaiting deportation." He was also worried his name would attract undue scrutiny.
"Tariq Kandil isn't a typical name when you come from Europe." - 'Study in fear' - More than 1.1 million international students attended college or university in the United States during the 2023/24 academic year, a record figure, according to a report published by the State Department's educational bureau and the Institute of International Education.
Now Trump is aggressively targeting top universities where students protested over Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza , cutting off federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport student demonstrators, including those with green cards. Rania Kettani, a Moroccan student currently living in Abu Dhabi, joined protests against Israel's conduct in the Gaza conflict while studying at New York University in 2023. "It is inconceivable to me that, in today's context, doing the exact same thing could lead to deportation and cut short my studies," Kettani told AFP.
The 22-year-old had planned to apply for a master's degree at an American university. "Seeing the number of students whose visas were revoked, I gave up," she said. "I don't want to live and study in fear.
" - 'A bit hostile' - Naveen, a 26-year-old who asked to be identified with a pseudonym, is in the process of applying for a US visa after being admitted to a university there. To prepare for his studies, he has joined online forums that share the "do's and don'ts" of being an international student in the United States. The current situation is "a bit hostile.
" he told AFP. But Naveen said he believes that revoked student visas and deportations are targeting "immigrants not following the law properly and doing illegal practices." He is hopeful the atmosphere around higher education will improve "in a year or two.
" Naveen said he sees a bright future for himself in America, and wants to help the US "economy and people." The United States could "go back to being a really happy place where people won't feel these kinds of uncertainties or any doubts in the back of their minds," he told AFP..
