
FAA Defends Reagan Airport's Controller Staffing Levels on Night of Deadly Midair Collision
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators probed that issue on Thursday, on the second day of their fact-finding hearing into the deadliest crash in American aviation since November 2001.

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San Francisco Chronicle
6 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Stanford Daily sues Trump administration over deportation threats
Stanford's student newspaper sued the Trump administration on Wednesday for threatening to deport any noncitizen who criticizes Israel or U.S. foreign policy, saying the government is violating freedom of speech and intimidating campus journalists into censoring their own articles. 'In the United States of America, no one should fear a midnight knock on the door for voicing the wrong opinion,' lawyers for the Stanford Daily, the university's independent 133-year-old publication, wrote in a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose. They said staff writers holding legal U.S. visas 'are declining assignments related to the conflict in the Middle East, worried that even reporting on the conflict will endanger their immigration status.' One editor resigned from the newspaper, another editor and present and former reporters have asked to have their articles removed from the website and 'international students have also largely stopped talking to Stanford Daily journalists,' the suit said. It was filed a day after Stanford officials announced that they might lay off 363 non-teaching employees this fall because of a $750 million tax increase imposed by President Donald Trump's budget bill. The lawsuit is among multiple legal challenges to the Trump administration's attacks on pro-Palestinian protesters and their universities. A central issue, cited by the newspaper's lawyers, is Secretary of State Marco Rubio's claim that he can order deportation of any noncitizen for statements he considers 'anti-American' or 'anti-Israel.' Rubio cited a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that allows the secretary of state to revoke a noncitizen's legal status if the secretary decides the person's 'beliefs, statements or associations … compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest.' He invoked that provision against Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University who was arrested in March and held in a Louisiana jail for 104 days before a federal judge ordered his release. Other campus activists have also been jailed, and Stanford reported that the visas of six students were revoked less than two weeks after Rubio's announcement in March. The lawsuit said Rubio's claim that a student's criticism of Israel harms a 'compelling United States foreign policy interest' is questionable — but regardless, his actions violate the Constitution's First Amendment, which protects noncitizens under a 1945 Supreme Court ruling. 'The First Amendment cements America's promise that the government may not subject a speaker to disfavored treatment because those in power do not like his or her message,' wrote the attorneys, Marc Van Der Hout of San Francisco and Conor Fitzpatrick of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. They asked a federal judge for an injunction that would halt the threats of deportation against critics of Israel or U.S. foreign policy. Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security in the Trump administration, called the suit 'baseless.' 'DHS takes its role in removing threats to the public and our communities seriously, and the idea that enforcing federal law in that regard constitutes some kind of prior restraint on speech is laughable,' McLaughlin said in a statement. She said the United States has 'no room' for 'the rest of the world's terrorist sympathizers.'


Chicago Tribune
6 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Stanford paper sues Trump administration over deportation fears
Stanford University's independent student newspaper sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, citing fears of deportation for noncitizen reporters at the Stanford Daily. Two of the Stanford Daily's writers, who are international students, say that they have refrained from reporting on campus protests, vigils and other events related to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza out of fears that their visas would be revoked. The students, who are not identified, say that creates a chilling effect on their free speech rights. 'Writers present on student visas are declining assignments related to the conflict in the Middle East, worried that even reporting on the conflict will endanger their lawful immigration status,' according to the lawsuit, filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression in federal court in San Jose, California. The Departments of State and Homeland Security didn't immediately respond to requests to comment. The lawsuit challenges a section of immigration law that the government has said allows it to deport noncitizens if the Secretary of State determines them to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy. That's the same law that the government is using as it attempts to deport several students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses, including Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil. 'Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration are trying to turn the inalienable human right of free speech into a privilege contingent upon the whims of a federal bureaucrat, triggering deportation proceedings against noncitizens residing lawfully in this country for their protected political speech regarding American and Israeli foreign policy,' the complaint argues. The case is Stanford Daily v. Rubio, Case No. 25-cv-06618, US District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose). More stories like this are available on

Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
U.S. Rep. Messmer announces re-election bid in 8th District
U.S. Rep. Mark Messmer, a Jasper Republican, on Tuesday announced he is seeking re-election to the Indiana Eighth District seat in the U.S. House. President Donald Trump is endorsing Messmer's re-election campaign, the candidate said in a news release, quoting Trump as saying: 'Congressman Mark Messmer is a Fantastic Representative for the Great People of Indiana's 8th Congressional District!' Messmer, who won his first term in 2024, serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, House Armed Services Committee, and House Committee on Education and Workforce. The congressman said he is working with Trump in crucial areas to ensure Americans have a secure and prosperous future. He also said he is an advocate for making the Trump tax cuts permanent, supports the elimination of 'harmful and divisive policies like DEI,' and is working to increase opportunities for entrepreneurs and local farmers, according to his news release. Of his reasons for seeking office, Messmer said, 'We must be bold and unapologetic in fighting for the principles of the American Founding. We have a leader in the White House who is working every day for the American people and not special interests, and we need members in Congress who will fight with President Trump to make sure America continues to be an exceptional nation filled with promise for the next generation. I will work tirelessly in the days and weeks ahead to earn your vote and continue to fight for Indiana and our conservative principles in my next term.' The Eighth District, which includes Terre Haute, spans 21 southwestern Indiana counties and sprawls from the Ohio River to Interstate 74 in Fountain County and is considered solidly Republican. Mary Allen, an Evansville City Council member, on Monday announced her intent to run as a Democrat for the Eighth District seat. The primary elections in Indiana are Tuesday, May 5, 2026.