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Immigrant in US Custody ‘simply disappeared’

(NYTimes) — In late January, Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a Venezuelan immigrant living in Detroit, took a wrong turn — into Canada. U.S. authorities detained Prada, 32, when he attempted to return; he was ordered deported. He told a friend March 15 that he expected to be repatriated to Venezuela. Then, as the friend put it, he “simply disappeared.” He was not on a list of people who were deported to El Salvador that day. After The New York Times published a story about Prada’s disappearance Tuesday, a Homeland Security spokesperson said he had been sent to El Salvador, raising questions about whether others may have been deported with no record of it.

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Justices seem set to allow opt-outs from LGBTQ stories in schools

(NYTimes) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday considered whether public schools in Maryland must allow parents with religious objections to withdraw their children from classes in which storybooks with LGBTQ+ themes are discussed. In an argument that gave close consideration to a handful of books for young readers, questions from members of the court indicated that the parents were likely to prevail. Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that the school board had initially allowed parents to withdraw their children when the books were to be discussed but reversed course. “I’m not understanding why it’s not feasible,” he said. The school system’s lawyers said the opt-outs were hard to administer and led to absenteeism.

Measles surge in Southwest is now the largest single outbreak since 2000

(NYTimes) — The spread of measles in the Southwest now constitutes the largest single outbreak since the United States declared the disease eliminated in 2000, federal scientists told state officials in a meeting Monday. The New York Times obtained a recording of the meeting. Until now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had not publicly described the outbreak in such stark terms. More measles cases were reported in New York City and New York state in 2019, but health officials regard those as separate outbreaks. Texas health officials have reported 624 cases since late January. Two young, unvaccinated girls have died, the first measles deaths in a decade in the country.

Female soldiers will have to pass ‘sex-neutral’ physical test, US Army says

(NYTimes) — Women in U.S. Army combat roles will be expected to pass the same “sex-neutral” physical test as male soldiers, that military branch announced Monday, weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the elimination of lower physical fitness standards for women in combat. The change could hinder the Army’s ability to recruit and retain women in particularly dangerous military jobs. The new scoring standards will be phased in beginning June 1, the Army said. If currently enlisted close combat unit members cannot pass the new test, they would be required to change their military occupation, said Sgt. Maj. Christopher Mullinax.

Businesses plead for tariff breaks after Trump spares iPhones

(NYTimes) — Top lobbying groups for the agriculture, construction, manufacturing, retail and technology industries have pleaded with the White House in recent days to relax more of its tariffs, with many arguing that there are some products they must import simply because they are too expensive or impractical to produce in the United States. Many businesses say they want to satisfy the president’s demands and begin producing or purchasing more of their goods domestically. But they have also tried to impress on President Donald Trump that they cannot reconfigure their complicated global supply chains overnight, especially if steep import taxes on machinery and other critical components result in substantially higher manufacturing costs.

Palin loses libel retrial against New York Times

(NYTimes) — A federal jury on Tuesday ruled against Sarah Palin, a former governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential nominee, in her yearslong defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. The jury reached the verdict after two hours of deliberations. Palin sued the Times in 2017 after the newspaper published — and then swiftly corrected and apologized for — an editorial that wrongly suggested that she had incited a deadly shooting in Arizona years earlier. It is unclear whether the verdict will be the end of the lawsuit’s eight-year run or whether Palin’s lawyers will again appeal.

Costa Rica tells Trump deportees they can stay and integrate, or leave

(NYTimes) — Costa Rican authorities this week said they would make it possible for dozens of migrants deported from the United States to legally stay in the country — or leave if they so choose. Omer Badilla, the head of Costa Rica’s migration authority, said that starting Monday, officials were returning passports to people who since February had been detained in a remote facility hours from the capital. He also said that a resolution passed by the government Monday would open up a path so that the deportees could stay and integrate into Costa Rican society. Badilla told The New York Times that officials had only retained the passports as a protective measure.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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