Beat of Hawaii: Why These Hawaii Travelers Were Jailed And Deported

Two young German travelers expected their Hawaii trip to be the highlight of a months-long world adventure. Instead, their visit ended in handcuffs, jail time, and deportation — a stark reminder of the risks some international visitors face at U.S. borders.

This story was first reported in Germany’s Ostsee-Zeitung newspaper, a major regional daily that has been published for over seventy years. The German Foreign Office confirmed its involvement in the case, providing consular support after the travelers were detained in Honolulu.

(Beat of Hawaii more…)

Newsweek: German Tourists Deported From US for Not Booking Hotel

CPJ.org: CPJ issues safety advisory for journalists traveling to the United States

• NPR: Haunted by hopelessness: 12 Zambians share their stories as HIV drugs run out

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  People are falling ill because the U.S.-funded clinics where they got their HIV medications and care have suddenly been shuttered. The staff is gone. The electricity has been shut off. Some patients have already run out of their daily pills that keep HIV at bay — and they have started to feel the physical consequences of the virus surging back.
  

  
  
  
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• NY Times: Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat

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  Unlike the chat in which The Atlantic was mistakenly included, the newly revealed one was created by Mr. Hegseth. It included his wife and about a dozen other people from his personal and professional inner circle in January, before his confirmation as defense secretary, and was named “Defense | Team Huddle,” the people familiar with the chat said. He used his private phone, rather than his government one, to access the Signal chat.
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• Judd Legum: Federal immigration authorities wrongfully detain U.S. citizens

  
  
  
  • Jose Hermosillo
  • Julio Noriega
  • Bachir Atallah and Jessica Fakhri

  The aggressive tactics that have ensnared U.S. citizens are not resulting in the increased deportation of migrants; the Trump administration has not increased the overall pace of deportations as compared to the prior administration.

  According to Reuters, “Trump deported 37,660 people during his first month in office, previously unpublished U.S. Department of Homeland Security data show, far less than the monthly average of 57,000 removals and returns in the last full year of Joe Biden’s administration.”
  (Judd Legum more…)

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• Hill: Van Hollen says El Salvador wanted Abrego Garcia meeting to ‘look like he was in paradise’

  Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, wanted his meeting with the mistakenly deported Maryland man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to “look like he was in paradise.”
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  “No, it wasn’t a trap,” Van Hollen said. “My goal was to meet with him and make sure I could tell his wife and family he was OK. That was my goal. And I achieved that goal.”
  (Hill more…)

  Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – April 20, 2025

  Yesterday, on the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Americans across the country protested against President Donald J. Trump, his billionaire sidekick Elon Musk, and the administration in general. The decentralized 50501 movement, which stands for “50 protests in 50 states on 1 day,” was one of the organizers of the protests, planning more than 700 events. Spokesperson Hunter Dunn described 50501 as a “pro-democracy, pro-Constitution, anti-executive-overreach, nonviolent grassroots movement.” Notably, protests have spread to small towns all around the country, including towns in Republican-dominated areas.

  One of the signs in Miami read, “I’m here fighting for your due process,” a right the Trump administration has abandoned with its rendition of men to CECOT, a notorious terrorist prison in El Salvador.
  (Heather Cox Richardson more…)

  Steven Beschloss: Due Process for One and All

  The refusal by the Trump regime to provide Kilmar Abrego Garcia due process endangers every American’s civil liberties
  

  
  
  
  (Steven Beschloss more…)

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• NY Times: Bukele Proposes Deal That Would Free Deported Venezuelans

  President Nayib Bukele said he would free the Venezuelans that the Trump administration deported to El Salvador if Venezuela releases the same number of prisoners, including members of the opposition.
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• Hayden Wright: Trump’s Russia Obsession Has Reached Its Tipping Point

  If Trump were a foreign agent, would he be doing anything differently?
  

  
  
  
  Fox just listed Kyiv, Ukraine as a Russian city and still hasn’t apologized.
  (Hayden Wright more…)

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• Bulwark: If Ukraine-Russia Negotiations Fail, Victory Remains an Option

  The secretary of state and the top American commander in Europe just gave two very different perspectives on the war.

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• Bulwark: The Bizarre Right-Wing War on…Empathy?

  It’s hypocritical and often misogynistic—and echoes totalitarian rhetoric.

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