Latest news with #Manu
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trump Admin Deports 2-Year-Old Girl Who Is American Citizen
A 2-year-old American girl has been left stateless after the Trump administration deported her alongside her family. Emanuelly Borges Santos, known to her family as Manu, was born in a Florida hospital in 2022. She has an American passport and a Social Security card. Nevertheless, Manu and her parents, who are both undocumented, were packed onto a plane with 94 others and shipped to Brazil in February, according to a report from The Washington Post. When they arrived, Brazilian officials were shocked to find the American toddler among the deportees. 'We'd never seen another case like this,' federal police officer Alexsandra Oliveira Medeiros Reis told the Post. Manu is currently living in Brazil on a tourist visa as the government tries to resolve the bureaucratic predicament of the girl's citizenship. In the meantime, she's living with no right to healthcare or schooling in Brazil. Her visa is set to expire within weeks. Manu doesn't qualify for the standard paths to citizenship in the country, so the country is trying to create a new one: 'temporary' citizenship that would expire when she turns 18. In the meantime, her parents are left to worry. 'What if we need to take her to the doctor?' Elioni Gonçalves, her mother, lamented to the Post. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Daily Beast that, in a situation like Manu's, parents are given a choice about what happens to their children. 'The media and Democrat politicians are force-feeding the public false information that U.S. citizen children are being deported,' said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. 'This is false and irresponsible. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will place the children with someone the parent designates.' However, Manu's parents say they were not given a choice. 'They simply deported us,' said her father, Edivan Borges dos Santos. It is not the first time that American kids have been caught up in President Donald Trump's second-term push to deport undocumented immigrants en masse. Last month, three U.S. citizens—ages 2,4, and 7—were sent to Honduras with their undocumented parents. One of the kids had cancer and was shipped away without medication. Trump's Justice Department is currently awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of his day-one executive order ending birthright citizenship. If the court rules in his favor, it would make it all the easier for the government to deport children like Manu. Manu's parents told the Post that they sought asylum in the United States in 2021 after fleeing violence and corruption in Brazil. While the courts in Florida considered their case, Borges took a construction job, and the family settled into a quiet American life. While a judge had stayed their deportation after Manu's birth in December 2022, the family was called into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. They were made to sign forms they did not understand and were swiftly deported. The family's lawyer was incensed after learning what had happened, telling the Post anonymously, 'The U.S. government is deporting their own citizen.' Manu lives a relatively isolated life in Poté, a rural town not far from Brazil's coast, spending most days with her mother and grandparents. 'She sees other kids very rarely,' her mother said.
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
2-Year-Old US Citizen Deported to Country Where She Lacks Legal Status
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A toddler born in Florida has been deported to Brazil with her undocumented parents, despite lacking legal status there and holding a tourist visa set to expire soon, The Washington Post reported. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek on Friday: "The media and Democrat politicians are force-feeding the public false information that U.S. citizen children are being deported. This is false and irresponsible. "Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) will place the children with someone the parent designates," she added. Why It Matters The family's deportation comes amid an immigration crackdown under the Trump administration, during which people with valid documentation—including green cards or visas—have been detained and face legal jeopardy. The administration has been under fire after several United States citizen children have been removed from the country. Government officials maintained that the children were not forcibly removed but accompanied their undocumented mothers, who had been deported. The Trump administration has been accused of disregarding due process protections, especially for vulnerable groups, such as the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. President Donald Trump and his supporters say their efforts are necessary to deter illegal immigration and remove criminals from the country quickly. Trump has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history and has detained and deported thousands of people in recent months. The president has also pushed to end birthright citizenship, a legal issue currently held up in the courts. An Eastern Airlines plane arrives with Venezuelan migrants deported from the U.S. at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, on March 30, 2025. An Eastern Airlines plane arrives with Venezuelan migrants deported from the U.S. at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, on March 30, 2025. AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez What To Know Emanuelly Borges Santos, known as Manu, was born in Fort Lauderdale in September 2022 and has a U.S. Social Security card. Her parents, who are from Brazil, did not have legal status in the U.S. In February, the family was deported to the South American country, along with around 90 other deportees. Elioni Gonçalves, Manu's mother, told The Washington Post that the family was not given a choice about Manu's fate, saying they would have likely stayed together as a family but may have considered leaving her with her uncle in Florida. The DHS refutes this, stating that "Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with someone the parent designates." Gonçalves and her husband, Edivan Borges dos Santos, came to the U.S. in 2021 through Mexico. They reportedly turned themselves in to ICE agents at the Arizona border, with Borges telling The Washington Post they applied for asylum after citing violence and corruption in Brazil. They were granted a stay while the courts reviewed their case. About a year later, in December 2022, the family received a deportation order. In February, Borges was summoned to an ICE office in Florida and brought his family. Unlike her parents, Manu is neither a citizen nor a resident of Brazil and entered the country on a tourist visa. Her temporary status may complicate long-term access to education and health care. What People Are Saying DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek: "Parents, who are here illegally, can take control of their departure through the CBP Home app. The United States is offering illegal aliens $1,000 and a free flight to self-deport now." Edilson Santana, attorney in the Ceará public defender's office, told The Washington Post: This was the "deportation of a national." Erin Hebert, a senior associate at Ware Immigration, in a news release: "Deporting U.S. citizen children is illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral. The speed, brutality, and clandestine manner in which these children were deported is beyond unconscionable, and every official responsible for it should be held accountable." What Happens Next It is unclear what legal steps lie ahead in Manu's case as her family works to obtain at least "temporary" citizenship for her in Brazil. The Supreme Court is reviewing a lower court's decision to halt Trump's birthright executive order.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
This 2-year-old American girl was ‘deported' with her undocumented parents
POTÉ, Brazil — Elioni Gonçalves awoke with a feeling of dread. Her first thought was of her 2-year-old daughter, Manu. Manu is American. She was born Emanuelly Borges Santos in a Fort Lauderdale hospital in September 2022. But in February, she was taken into custody in Florida alongside her mother and father, both of whom were undocumented, and placed on a deportation flight to Brazil, where the family has been plunged into a bureaucratic morass.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Kapkapiii Movie Review: This campy horror comedy has more chuckles than chills
Story: A group of out-of-work boys begin dabbling with an Ouija board just for kicks. At first, it's all fun and games — until strange events start to unfold. What begins as harmless mischief soon spirals into chaos, turning their lives upside down. 'Kapkapiii' is a Hindi remake of the 2023 Malayalam horror-comedy Romancham. Review: Horror comedies flow in a peculiar rhythm that's often hard to perfect. It's a fine balance that has to be maintained between making it too campy, somewhat goofy, and scary enough to make the audience feel just a tinge of fear. Kapkapiii checks these boxes mostly — but not without flaws. Manu (Shreyas Talpade) and his friends Achyut (Dinker Sharma), Nanku (Jay Thakkar), Nirup (Varun Pande) and others are a bunch of nincompoops sharing a room and doing all the aimless things out-of-work boys usually do. Things get mildly exciting when two young girls — Kavya (Siddhi Idnani) and Madhu (Sonia Rathee) — move in next door. But just when romance seems like a possibility, the story takes a sharp, spooky turn when Manu brings home an Ouija board. What begins as casual foolery soon snowballs into a series of eerie events that start to disrupt their lives. The tension gradually builds until it reaches a flashpoint — an unmistakable, unsettling presence in the house. As the plot progresses, more twists stumble out of the closet, adding layers of chaos to the group's already messed-up reality. Directed by the late Sangeeth Sivan best known for comedies like 'Kya Kool Hain Hum', 'Apna Sapna Money Money', and 'Yamla Pagla Deewana 2', leans heavily into the humour more than the horror. The comedy is crude, occasionally borderline offensive, but many of the jokes surprisingly land. The film thrives in its raw, unfiltered moments — thanks to the tapori lingo and the wild ways these boys speak to each other. There's a consistent stream of chuckles, aided by the fact that each character is quirkier than the next. Sivan and writers Saurabh Anand and Kumar Priyadarshi find fertile ground in their concept — throwing a motley bunch of lazy fellas into a haunted house scenario. It's not polished, but it's packed with energy. Unfortunately, the female characters here feel like mere props. Their presence is largely inconsequential, and their romantic tracks do little beyond stretching the runtime. Tusshar Kapoor's entry in the second half is a welcome change of pace. His character Kabir has a very bizarre yet funny trajectory. Tusshar's goofy expressions help but his character could have been fleshed out better. Shreyas Talpade is loud, as expected, but brings the right madness to Manu. Among the supporting cast, Dibyendu Bhattacharya is a total riot even in a short cameo. He has the rare ability to make an impression with minimal screen time. The screenplay, while rooted in a solid concept, feels cluttered with too many characters and too much chaos. While the humour works, the horror often fizzles. Still, the chemistry between the boys keeps things from falling apart. Music by Ajay Jayanthi blends well with the film's overall vibe, keeping it breezy and fun. Overall, 'Kapkapiii' is a harmless fun film that will tickle your funny bone but won't exactly send shivers down your spine.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Malayalam filmmaker Manu Swaraj on his directorial debut, ‘Padakkalam', a sleeper hit at the box office
Manu Swaraj was heartbroken when his directorial debut, Padakkalam, opened to not-so-positive reviews. But over three weeks into its release, he is a happy man, with the movie, a fantasy entertainer, emerging a sleeper hit at the box office. Padakkalam is the story of four close friends who are engineering students — Jithin (Sandeep Pradeep), Kannan (Saaf Boi), Ramsad (Arun Pradeep) and Nakul (Arun Ajikumar). The fantasy element kicks in when Jithin, an introvert trying to get over a break-up, discovers that one of their professors, Renjith TS (Sharafudheen) has a superpower which he uses to control his professional rival, Shaji KK (Suraj Venjaramoodu). Jithin too becomes a prey to Renjith's power. As the four friends set out to solve this, things go out of hand, leading to a laugh riot. 'They are frontbenchers,' Manu says. 'We have so many films that talk about the backbenchers and mostly about their mischief or unlawful activities. The world we created did not resonate with some of the reviewers. Thankfully word-of-mouth publicity brought in more viewers for the movie.' Manu, 30, specifies that the idea was born on February 23, 2023, while he was working out in a gym! He shared it with Nithin C Babu, his classmate, who has co-written the film. 'I prefer to call him the writer and myself the co-writer. The thought came at a time when our script pitches were getting rejected. I felt that this might be our last chance and so we decided that even if we did not get a producer, we would make the film somehow. We were that excited about the concept,' says Manu, who hails from Karamana in Thiruvananthapuram. Manu and Nithin have used some of their character traits in the film. 'For example, Jithin's mannerisms in the first half are Nithin's and the second half, mine.' Manu, an engineer, used to make short films even while in school. 'I did engineering because I wanted a degree and the subject interested me. But there was no plan to go along that path further.' The turning point was when he submitted one of his short films, Corridor, to an inter-college festival, while in his first year of engineering. 'I was not enthused about taking part in the contest. But the fact that my film will be projected on a big screen excited me. That decision changed my life,' he says. 'Basil Joseph, who had by then established his credentials with his short films and was assisting Vineeth Sreenivasan in Thira, was a judge of the competition. He appreciated the work and even suggested introducing a new award category — one for best upcoming talent and I won that honour. He also asked me to get in touch with him. When I called him, he asked if I was interested in assisting him in his debut film, Kunjiramayanam. That was an offer I couldn't resist.' Since Basil insisted that he finish his course before joining films, Manu did not work in his sophomore film, Godha. In 2019, Basil called him to assist in Minnal Murali. Even though Manu was asked to join as an assistant in the art direction team, he eventually 'worked in almost all the departments for the next two years. It was exciting, especially working with the VFX and special effects team. Those two years were like a film school. Working closely with Basil chettan helped me understand his process and approach to cinema.' It was Basil who was instrumental in greenlighting Padakkalam. 'Once the script was almost ready, I realised that it was a structure I learnt from Basil chettan and I was sure he would say yes to the project. I wanted him to play Renjith. Even though he loved the story, he couldn't do it because he had no dates. He was the one who told us that the project would need a big production house. He helped us get in touch with (producer) Vijay Subramaniam who brought in his close friend and producer, Vijay Babu. That helped us a lot because Vijay Babu came to our rescue on occasions when the shoot had almost got stalled.' Arriving at the cast Manu says Suraj was the only choice to play Shaji. 'The Malayali audience has given the license to do mad-cap comedy to a few actors and he is one of them.' There were several choices to play Renjith until Sharaf said yes. To play Jithin, they had approached 'a marketable actor', but that did not materialise. 'However, casting Sandeep for the role was the right decision. He understood the script and nuances in the first sitting itself. As for the other three boys, I chose Arun (Pradeep) after watching his YouTube videos. The character was curated for him. Saaf Boi and Arun (Ajikumar) impressed us with their rapport on and off the screen.' Discussing his approach to comedy, Manu says, 'The film worked because we did not deliberately generate laughs. It is the irony that created humour. I learnt it from Basil chettan. There is irony in the premise and we tapped into it. The biggest advantage we had were actors such as Suraj chettan and Sharaf ikka who can make comedy from thin air.' Manu notes that he is disappointed that not many makers are keen about making comedy films. 'If a comedy film flops that is a serious thing and that is why many filmmakers refrain from taking that risk. The golden era of Malayalam cinema has had some amazing comedy movies and I wish to see more such films.' That Manu is a die-hard comics fan, read DC Comics, is a given once you watch the movie. 'Nithin and I are hardcore DC fans. I am an atheist, but I always say that DC is my religion and Batman is my God! In fact, our actors had no clue about the DC characters and so we created a WhatsApp group, DC Boys, to educate them!' And the highpoint post release? Meeting Rajinikanth in Kozhikode where he was shooting for Nelson Dilipkumar's Jailer 2. 'We met him because of Suraj chettan who is acting in it. I still have not processed what all happened when we met him in his caravan. After watching the trailer, he said in the typical Rajini swag, Intha padam hit appa (This movie is a hit buddy)!' Before signing off, Manu says that he plans to make movies of all genres except 'first world, feel-good movies.' Padakkalam is running in theatres.
