🎓🚫 At Least 50 ASU Students Have Had Visas Revoked, Immigration Lawyer Says
🇺🇸🇸🇻 Who Is Kilmar Abrego Garcia? A Mistaken Deportation to an El Salvador Prison 🌿🚫 Once a Migratory Highway, the Darién Gap Now a Ghost Town Under Trump Crackdown
🎓🚫 At Least 50 ASU Students Have Had Visas Revoked, Immigration Lawyer Says
John Washington, Arizona Luminaria.– According to Ami Hutchinson, an attorney representing many, at least 50 international students at Arizona State University have had their visas revoked without clear explanation. The number has skyrocketed from just eight last week, with at least three detained by immigration authorities, including one student held for over 10 days.
Hutchinson says many students are in shock and fearful. “They still think this was a mistake,” she said. Some had been set to graduate this spring but now face deportation, missed degrees, and an uncertain future.
The visa cancellations come amid a national wave of student visa terminations, reportedly targeting up to 1,000 students nationwide, including some allegedly linked to political activism or from Muslim-majority nations, India, or China. Several students are considering lawsuits or reinstatement requests, although legal paths are limited under the current political climate.
The ACLU of Arizona condemned the wave of revocations, calling it “a disturbing effort to silence dissent and target immigrants.”
While ASU is reportedly helping with legal fees, UA and NAU have not disclosed if their students are affected. The statewide student union calls for transparency from all three public universities, warning that silence fuels fear among international communities.
Some students may choose to leave the U.S. voluntarily to escape detention. “They want to go somewhere they’re treated with dignity and respect,” Hutchinson said.
🌿🚫 Once a Migratory Highway, the Darién Gap Now a Ghost Town Under Trump Crackdown
Megan Janetsky and Matías Delacroix, AP.– Once a lifeline for over half a million migrants heading north, the Darién Gap has fallen nearly silent, its jungle trails and Panamanian camps deserted after President Donald Trump’s renewed clampdown on asylum access at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Just last year, more than 1,000 migrants a day passed through the treacherous stretch between Colombia and Panama—risking floods, snakes, and criminal gangs to reach North America. But by April 2025, with Trump in office and Panama closing its southern border, migrant arrivals at reception centers like Lajas Blancas have plummeted to as few as 10 per week.
Officials in Panama, complying with U.S. demands, shuttered access to humanitarian groups, shut down services, and declared the Darién route "eliminated." A reverse exodus has begun, with some migrants attempting to return to Venezuela by boat.
The effects are visible: empty tents, closed food stalls, shuttered NGO stations, and silence where the cries of children and voices of exhausted travelers once echoed. Still stranded in the dust is Hermanie Blanco, a 33-year-old Venezuelan who has nowhere to go. “It’s deserted,” she said. There is no Red Cross, no Doctors Without Borders, no help.”
A sign in four languages still warns: “Darién is not a route, it’s a jungle.” Under Trump, it may now be a dead end.
🏙️💰 Trump Administration Cancels $188M in NYC Migrant Shelter Grants, Adams Vows Legal Fight
Anthony Izaguirre, AP.– The Trump administration has rescinded $188 million in FEMA grants designated to help New York City shelter and support migrants, escalating tensions with city officials who say the cuts are politically motivated and unlawful. FEMA notified the city on April 1 that it had already withdrawn $80 million from its accounts in February and is demanding the return of an additional $106 million.
The funds were part of a federal program to reimburse local governments for migrant-related services. FEMA’s acting director, Cameron Hamilton, said the program is “inconsistent with Trump administration priorities,” citing that the services supported “individuals… in the United States unlawfully.”
Mayor Eric Adams, who is now running for reelection as an independent, denounced the move and pledged legal action: “These steps are unlawful… the money remains in New York City, where it was allocated and belongs.”
NYC has used the grants to lease emergency shelter space, including the historic Roosevelt Hotel. FEMA previously cited alleged gang activity at the Roosevelt as justification for clawing back the funds—claims the city denies. With migrant arrivals decreasing, the city plans to shut down the Roosevelt and over 50 other migrant shelters by June.
Adams’ political balancing act continues under pressure, especially after the DOJ dropped a corruption case against him—a move some observers link to his cooperation with federal immigration policy. Despite some praise for Trump’s border efforts, Adams declared, “We’re going to fight for every penny.”
🇺🇸🇸🇻 Who Is Kilmar Abrego Garcia? A Mistaken Deportation to an El Salvador Prison
Ben Finley, AP.– Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran man mistakenly deported by the Trump administration to a notorious prison in El Salvador, has become a central figure in a growing legal and political firestorm over immigration enforcement and due process.
Abrego Garcia fled gang threats from Barrio 18 in San Salvador at 16 and lived in Maryland, where he married, raised three children with disabilities, and worked in construction. A 2019 immigration judge protected him from deportation, citing credible fear of persecution. Despite this, he was detained and deported in March 2025 amid a Trump administration crackdown on alleged MS-13 members.
ICE cited a confidential informant’s claim—never resulting in criminal charges—that he was part of MS-13. His lawyers say he has no gang ties and that his deportation was an "administrative error." The U.S. is paying El Salvador for his imprisonment at the brutal CECOT facility, where he was reportedly seen being dragged by guards.
The U.S. Supreme Court has intervened, pausing a lower court’s order to bring him back. His case now raises profound questions about immigration policy, civil rights, and the government’s obligation to correct its mistakes.