The past few weeks have been turbulent, to say the least. In the U.S. alone, the denial of a citizen’s due process and his deportation have occupied headlines and news channels alike. Internationally, the war in Ukraine is showing no sign of stopping, with questionable wording from the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. There’s much to discuss, with many of these events having the possibility of changing the way of life for many people in the states.
To start with the most popular event, the deportation of Kilmar Abrego García to El Salvador. Amid the constant deportations conducted and flaunted by the Trump administration, it was revealed that the Administration had made a mistake by deporting an individual to El Salvador. Initially, they admitted that the deportation of Abrego García was a mistake, but then went back on it, claiming the man was a member of MS13, a ruthless cartel in Latin America. The Administration has attempted to use Abrego García’s tattoos as proof of his affiliation with MS13. For those unaware, members of MS13 get tattoos of some kind to show that they are members of MS13.
The controversy surrounding this event is mainly about the denial of Abrego García’s due process, which everyone is entitled to. Even if someone is an illegal immigrant, they are entitled to due process.
This event has gotten so out of control that the Supreme Court unanimously ordered that the Trump Administration “facilitate” the return of Abrego García. White House Security Advisor Stephen Miller made some statements on the possible return of Abrego García: “No version of this ends with him living here.” Both the Trump Administration as well as El Salvadoran President Bukele have dodged the responsibility for who should return Abrego García. In a press conference, Bukele referred to Abrego García as a terrorist: “I’m not very fond of releasing terrorists into the country.”
Many people’s growing concern over Abrego García’s safety in the El Salvadoran prison he was sent to led to the involvement of Senator Chris Van Hollen from Maryland. Hollen would confirm in numerous TV interviews that his job was to ensure the safety of Abrego García.
Amid the Trump administration’s defense of Israel, both militarily and politically, universities have become a target. Namely, universities where protests against Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip were heavily focused. Many of them were given a set of terms to agree to in order to maintain federal funding, even private schools. One school that has made headlines is Harvard.
The Trump administration is currently planning to withhold two billion dollars in multi-year contracts and $60 million in multi-year grants. This all stems from Harvard being a hotbed for anti-Israel protests, which the Trump Administration claims are “anti-Semitic”. President Trump would go even further on the matter, taking to Truth Social and posting, “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness’?” Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!”
Demands made by the Trump administration range from an “audit” on all Harvard extracurriculars to ensure there’s no “anti-Semitic” behavior occurring to overseeing international students. Trump, as well as MAGA supporters, firmly hold the belief that criticism of Israel is the same as criticism of Jewish people and Judaism as a whole when the two could not be further apart from one another. The president of Havard, Alan Garber, made statements on the various demands, stating that demands of these kinds have never been levied towards the university in the past. He went on to state that the demands are “an attempt to control the Harvard community.” He continued further, “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”
Recently, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt talked about tariffs and possible deals made with other nations in a press conference. The president has claimed that he’s received offers from several tariffed nations. Leavitt added to this claim, stating, “We’ve had more than 15 deals, pieces of paper put on the table, proposals that are actively being considered.” However, no actual details of such deals have been made known to the public. Furthermore, only very few nations have publicly reached out to the U.S. for negotiations, which draws the validity of Leavitt’s claim into question.
Tariffs are already having massive effects on the United States. Recently, heads of Home Depot, Target, and Walmart have all personally warned the president about his tariffs. The companies reportedly claimed that the tariffs are going to lead to “empty shelves” at the stores. The car market has also seen shifts, as companies like Audi and Land Rover have ordered that all shipments to the U.S. are to be halted due to tariffs.
Within the first few weeks of his presidency, Trump signed several executive orders. One order that was immediately challenged in court was that of birthright citizenship via the 14th Amendment. President Trump wished to do away with the amendment through his executive order, but was challenged by judges and courts alike across the country. Trump changed his wording on the matter, wishing for the amendment to be tweaked. He wishes that the amendment will only grant birthright citizenship if the child has at least one parent who is a legal citizen. On May 15, the Supreme Court is going to hear the Trump Administration’s arguments for this change. This would drastically change the amendment as it’s believed that, as of right now, if someone is born in the United States, they are a citizen.
On April 17, numerous news organizations reported the unfortunate school shooting at Florida State University. 6 people were left injured, including the shooter. As a result of the shooting, the University cancelled all events and classes that week. Both President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis expressed their condolences for the victims shortly after the tragedy.
To move onto more international matters, Pope Francis passed away shortly after Easter Sunday. At 88 years old and with numerous health complications, he still managed to preside over Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. Following his death, support from around the world and across all religions poured out for the late pope. Many non-Catholics showed respect for the passing of Pope Francis due to his efforts to bring people together and tear down boundaries. He frequently showed his support for climate protestors and those suffering across the world.
To further continue with our coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict, more Israeli strikes have led to more dead innocents. A recent strike conducted in al-Mawasi, a region in which Palestinian refugees were told to move to by Israel, left 37 dead. Mahmoud Bassal, a civil defense spokesperson, served as a relay for the victims to tell their stories about the attacks. One victim recalled, “It was heartbreaking to watch them die right in front of us, unable to do anything as the flames spread rapidly from one tent to another.” One victim reportedly lost 10 members of their family in the attacks. Israel claims that the targets of the attack were “terrorist cells.”
Alongside with their direct strikes, Israel is occupying two areas, southern Lebanon and the Israeli-Syrian border, overstepping into Syria. The reason for their stationing of soldiers in Syria is because of the recent overthrow of Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad. Their occupation of Lebanon is due to the Palestinian fighter group, Hezbollah, being stationed there. Israel has already agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, but the nation fears that Hezbollah could break the ceasefire and is keeping troops in Lebanon for safety reasons. A member of the Israeli government made a statement when asked about the possible removal of Israeli troops from the region: “(Israel) will remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and (Israeli) communities in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza, as in Lebanon and Syria.”
To conclude, the Russian-Ukrainian war seems to show no sign of stopping. When Russian President Vladimir Putin went on Russian state TV, he expressed an openness to negotiations with Ukraine, and went further to say that Russia has been open to negotiations since the start of the war. He went further to state that Russia has “always looked positively on any peace initiatives. We hope that representatives of the Kyiv regime will feel the same way.”
However, the actions of the Russian Federation speak louder than the words of its leader. A drone strike was conducted on a Ukrainian apartment block, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as “deliberate Russian terror.” In that same statement, he also wished for an extension of the truce the countries had during Easter. He further entailed that he wishes for the end of “any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days.” He would go on to say, “If Russia does not agree to such a step, it will be proof that it wants to continue doing only things that destroy people’s lives and continue the war.”
With that, this news brief comes to a close. If any of the stories sounded at all interesting, we encourage you to delve deeper. We cannot cover all the details of every single story, and strongly encourage you to form your own opinions with your own research. As always, stay informed, be prepared.
