The Latest: Supreme Court lets Trump end humanitarian parole for 500,000 people from 4 countries

Independent

6 days ago

A Supreme Court ruling Friday lets President Donald Trump end humanitarian parole for 500,000 people from 4 countries. The ruling exposes migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to arrest and pushes the total newly exposed to deportation to nearly 1 million.
The Department of Homeland Security meanwhile says 500 so-called 'sanctuary jurisdictions' around the country could lose federal funding for obstructing immigration enforcement.
Trump's Friday agenda includes an Oval Office goodbye for billionaire Elon Musk and a rally in Pennsylvania to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control.
CDC
The nation's top public health agency posted new recommendations that say healthy children 'may' — not should — get COVID-19 vaccinations.
The change comes days after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women.
The updated guidance on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website does not speak to any change in recommendations for pregnant women, which was heavily criticized by medical and public health experts.
CDC and HHS officials did not immediately respond to questions about the new guidance.
Government investigates impersonation of Trump's chief of staff
Senators, governors, business executives and other prominent figures reportedly received messages from someone impersonating Susie Wiles.
A White House official said Friday that the cybersecurity of its staff is taken seriously and the matter is under investigation. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The FBI did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the text messages and phone calls appeared to be from someone who gained access to the contacts in Wiles' personal cellphone, but did not come from her number. As a co-manager of Trump's campaign before taking on the lynchpin role in his new administration, Wiles has amassed a powerful network of contacts.
Recipients heard a voice that sounded like Wiles that may have been generated by artificial intelligence, or received text messages they initially thought were official White House requests, according to the report.
Supreme Court dissent: Migrants now must flee or risk losing everything
Justice Jackson echoed what U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in ruling that ending the legal protections early while a legal challenge continues in Boston would leave people with a stark choice: flee the country or risk losing everything. Talwani, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, found that revocations of parole can be done, but on a case-by-case basis.
The Justice Department argues that the protections were always meant to be temporary, and the Department of Homeland Security has the power to revoke them without court interference. Taking on each case individually would be a 'gargantuan task,' Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued.
Biden used humanitarian parole more than any other president, employing a special presidential authority in effect since 1952. Beneficiaries included the 532,000 people who have come to the United States with financial sponsors since late 2022, leaving home countries fraught with 'instability, dangers and deprivations,' as attorneys for the migrants said.
Supreme Court lets Trump end humanitarian parole for over 500,000 people from 4 countries
The Supreme Court ruling on Friday again cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip temporary legal protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants, pushing the total number of people who could be newly exposed to deportation to nearly 1 million.
The justices lifted a lower-court order that kept humanitarian parole protections in place for more than 500,000 migrants from four countries: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The court has also allowed the administration to revoke temporary legal status from about 350,000 Venezuelan migrants in another case.
Trump's administration filed an emergency appeal after a federal judge in Boston blocked its push to end the program.
In a dissent joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the majority is having 'the lives of half a million migrants unravel all around us before the courts decide their legal claims.'
Some cities say they don't belong on DHS 'sanctuary' list
DHS says the list is based on numerous factors including whether the cities or localities identify themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions, how much they have complied with federal immigration enforcement and whether they restrict information-sharing or otherwise protect people in the country illegally. It promises regular updates.
Mayor Brandon Scott said on X that Baltimore is 'not a sanctuary city,' and does not control its jails, where ICE often asks for advance notice before immigrants are released. But Baltimore is proud to be a 'welcoming city' and is preparing for litigation if needed to protect its immigrants and federal money, Scott said: 'We are better because of our immigrant neighbors, and are not about to sell them out to this administration.'
The Las Vegas government said on X that it isn't sure why DHS included it on the list, and they hope to 'clear up this misunderstanding.' The city said its law enforcement and jail authorities comply with federal law.
Trump pressures more than 500 'sanctuary jurisdictions' with public list
The Department of Homeland Security's list puts these cities, counties and states on notice that the administration sees them as standing in the way of the president's mass deportations agenda.
There is no specific or legal definition of what constitutes a 'sanctuary jurisdiction.' DHS says each one will receive formal notification of noncompliance with immigration enforcement, including any criminal violations. Trump's executive order then tasks federal agencies with suspending or terminating federal grants or contracts with jurisdictions on the list.
'These sanctuary city politicians are endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens,' DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a press release.
▶ Read more about Trump's crackdown on 'sanctuary jurisdictions'
Trump attacks conservative activist for judges who have raised legal concerns about his agenda
The president is blaming his many courtroom losses on the Federalist Society, which recommended judicial nominees to him during his first term.
Trump's Thursday social media post specifically targets 'a real 'sleazebag' named Leonard Leo,' who was formerly a vice president of the Federalist Society and leads conservative political groups.
Trump says judges are to blame for blocking his policies on tariffs, deportations and cuts to university funding and federal worker layoffs.
'The ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade is so wrong, and so political!' Trump posted on Truth Social. 'Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY. Backroom 'hustlers' must not be allowed to destroy our Nation! The horrific decision stated that I would have to get the approval of Congress for these Tariffs.'
Billions endure more extreme heat as Trump deprioritizes climate change
A new scientific analysis says 4 billion people, about half the world's population, experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat because of human-caused climate change from May 2024 to May 2025.
It comes as the Trump administration is encouraging more energy to be made from fossil fuels that release planet-warming gases, rolling back pollution regulations and dismantling much of Biden's climate-related policies and initiatives.
Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, was one of the regions hit the hardest by additional extreme heat days.
▶ Read more about the latest science on extreme heat
Allies in Asia worry about US commitment to their defense
Hegseth told reporters before he boarded his plane for Singapore that Washington's policies are meant to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
'We seek no conflict with anybody, including the Communist Chinese,' Hegseth said. 'We will stay strong for our interests. And that's a big part of what this trip is all about.'
The Trump administration has threatened China with triple-digit tariffs. But there's some uncertainty in the region over how committed the U.S. is to the defense of Taiwan, which also faces possible 32% American tariffs. Trump has taken more of a transactional approach to diplomacy and seems wary of foreign engagements.
China claims the self-governing democracy as its own, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has not ruled out taking it by force. China sends military aircraft, ships and spy balloons every day to harass Taiwan, and has an aircraft carrier in the waters southeast of the island.
▶ Read more on developments from the security conference
Emmanuel Macron warns against abandoning Ukraine amid potential China conflict
The French President says the U.S. and Indo-Pacific nations risk a dangerous double standard. His remarks Friday night in Singapore come as the U.S. considers withdrawing troops from Europe. He says abandoning Ukraine would eventually erode U.S. credibility in deterring any potential conflict with China over Taiwan, as Russia also seeks to destabilize Asia.
Macron and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are among the world leaders, diplomats and top defense officials at the Shangri-La security forum focusing on China's growing assertiveness, the global impact of Russia's war on Ukraine and the flare-up of conflicts in Asia.
In its published Indo-Pacific strategy, France asserts the need to 'preserve a rules-based international order' in the face of 'China's increasing power and territorial claims' and its global competition with the United States. And in remarks to reporters, Macron said there's room in Asia for more than just the two superpowers.
Trump's tariffs have yet to noticeably push up prices, while American incomes jumped
Friday's Commerce Department report shows consumer prices rose just 2.1% in April from the year before, down from 2.3% in March and the lowest since September.
Excluding volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.5% from a year earlier, below the March figure of 2.6%. Economists track core prices because they typically provide a better read on where inflation is headed. Inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve said at their most recent meeting that inflation remains elevated above their target of 2%.
Economists and some business executives have warned that prices will likely rise as Trump's widespread tariffs take effect, though the timing and impact of those duties are now in doubt after they were struck down late Wednesday. The court ruling ruled unlawful Trump's duties on imports from Canada, Mexico, China and more than 50 other countries. But they remain in place pending appeals.
Trump accuses China of violating agreement on trade but doesn't offer details
Trump declared that he'll no longer be 'Mr. NICE GUY' with China on trade.
He said the country had broken an agreement with the United States. It's unclear what agreement Trump was referring to in his post on Truth Social.
But the president's rhetoric was a sharp break from the optimism expressed recently when Trump lowered his 145% tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% for 90 days so that talks could happen.
Trump said the tariff reduction had 'quickly stabilized' the economy. But he then said 'that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!'
Trump to appear with Musk in Oval Office
When Musk announced that he was leaving the administration earlier this week, Trump was conspicuously quiet. But now the two men are scheduled to appear together in the Oval Office.
'This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way,' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday evening. 'Elon is terrific!'
The event is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET.
Musk is leaving his job having accomplished far less than he set out to do, although his tumultuous tenure will likely leave a lasting mark on the federal government.
White House acknowledges problems in RFK Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' report
The White House will fix errors in a much-anticipated federal government report spearheaded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which decried America's food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs.
Kennedy's wide-ranging 'Make America Healthy Again' report, released last week, cited hundreds of studies, but a closer look by the news organization NOTUS found that some of those studies did not actually exist.
Asked about the report's problems, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the report will be updated.
Kennedy has repeatedly said he would bring 'radical transparency' and 'gold-standard' science to the public health agencies. But the secretary refused to release details about who authored the 72-page report, which calls for increased scrutiny of the childhood vaccine schedule and describes the nation's children as overmedicated and undernourished.
Leavitt said that the White House has 'complete confidence' in Kennedy.
▶ Read more about Kennedy's report
Trump's big plans on trade and more run up against laws of political gravity, separation of powers
On Wednesday, an obscure but powerful court in New York rejected the legal foundation of Trump's most sweeping tariffs, finding that Trump could not use a 1977 law to declare a national emergency on trade imbalances and fentanyl smuggling to justify a series of import taxes that have unsettled the world. Reordering the global economy by executive fiat was an unconstitutional end-run around Congress' powers, the three-judge panel of Trump, Obama and Reagan appointees ruled in a scathing rebuke of Trump's action.
The setbacks fit a broader pattern for a president who has advanced an extraordinarily expansive view of executive power.
The laws of political gravity, the separation of powers and geopolitical realities are proving to be tougher to conquer than Trump will publicly admit. As various legal skirmishes play out, he may have to choose between bowing to the limits of his power or trying to ignore the judicial system.
▶ Read more on reality checks on Trump's assertions of authority
Trump's latest pardons benefit an array of political allies and public figures
A governor who resigned amid a corruption scandal and served two stints in federal prison. A New York Republican who resigned from Congress after a tax fraud conviction and who made headlines for threatening to throw a reporter off a Capitol balcony over a question he didn't like. Reality TV stars convicted of cheating banks and evading taxes.
FILE - Todd Chrisley, left, and his wife, Julie Chrisley, pose for photos at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Todd and Julie Chrisley, who are in prison after being convicted on federal charges of bank fraud and tax evasion, are challenging aspects of their convictions and sentences in a federal appeals court.(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
All were unlikely beneficiaries this week of pardons, with Trump flexing his executive power to bestow clemency on political allies, prominent public figures and others convicted of defrauding the public.
The moves not only take aim at criminal cases once touted as just by the Justice Department but also come amid a continuing Trump administration erosion of public integrity guardrails, including the firing of the department's pardon attorney and the near-dismantling of a prosecution unit established to hold public officials accountable for abusing the public trust.
▶ Read more about Trump's pardons
Trump has long warned of a 'deep state.' Now in power, he's under pressure to expose it
Four months into his second term, Trump has continued to stoke dark theories involving his predecessors and other powerful politicians and attorneys — most recently raising the specter of nefarious intent behind former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign papers. The administration has pledged to reopen investigations and has taken steps to declassify certain documents, including releasing more than 63,000 pages of records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Yet many of Trump's supporters say it's not enough.
Some who take him at his word are beginning to get restless as they ask why his administration, which holds the keys to chasing down these alleged government secrets, is denying them the evidence and retribution they expected.
His Justice Department has not yet arrested hordes of 'deep state' actors as some of his supporters had hoped it would, even as the president has been posting cryptic videos and memes about Democratic politicians.
▶ Read more about Trump and the 'deep state'
Trump holding Pennsylvania rally to promote deal for Japan-based Nippon to 'partner' with US Steel
Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control.
Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker's bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, he changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as 'partial ownership' by Nippon. It's not clear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured.
Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country's supply chain, industries like auto manufacturing and national security.
U.S. Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed 'partnership' but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement.