On today’s show: Aboard a U.S. deportation flight of mostly Asian migrants to Costa Rica, half were minors, NBC News reports. Meanwhile, hundreds of people deported from the U.S. are being held in a Panama hotel, according to BBC News. Ankush Khardori, a senior writer at Politico Magazine, joins this week’s Apple News In Conversation to examine how Trump is testing the boundaries of executive authority. A Trump Cabinet selection received a rare Republican grilling. The Atlantic has more on the hearing for the president’s labor-secretary nominee. Plus, Israel said the body of Shiri Bibas was not included in an exchange on Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul will not remove Eric Adams as mayor of New York, former Spanish soccer head Luis Rubiales was convicted of sexual assault, and an asteroid thought to have a chance of hitting Earth likely will not. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic of this episode?
Good morning. It's Friday, February 21st. I'm Shamitza Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, testing the boundaries of executive power, why Trump's labor secretary nominee might not win full Republican support, and a change in the asteroid forecast means we're safe for now.
But first, as the Trump administration continues to deport undocumented immigrants, some are being flown to places they never called home and getting detained upon arrival. One flight that landed in Costa Rica on Thursday carried about 135 people. Almost half were children and there were at least two pregnant women. They're mostly from countries like China, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
NBC reports that some of those countries, like China and Afghanistan, will not easily agree to repatriate people. So U.S. officials say Costa Rica is a bridge arrangement until international authorities can figure out how to get people back to their home countries. None of these migrants have criminal records, but they are undocumented, according to Costa Rican authorities.
Meanwhile, the BBC reports that around 300 deported people, predominantly from Asian countries, are being held in Panama under a similar bridge agreement with the U.S. At first, they were locked up in a hotel for roughly a week, with no access to phones, internet, or legal counsel. Images emerged in recent days of people standing by the windows, trapped in their rooms.
One person wrote, help us, on their window using lipstick. Another held up a message that said, we are not safe in our country. Panama's government previously said these migrants had no criminal records. Reporters at The New York Times were able to contact some of them. Here's Andy's bureau chief, Julie Turkowitz, speaking with MSNBC.
Working with my colleagues, I'm working with several other colleagues who have a broad variety of language skills and have been able to speak. All of us have been able to speak to a group of these people who have said that they are being held against their will.
They came to the United States to seek asylum, were swiftly deported by the United States and wound up in Panama, never expecting, of course, to be there.
Some people in this group, including eight children, were recently moved to a camp on the outskirts of the jungle in the Darien province. That's a region connecting Panama and Colombia, infamous as a dangerous crossing route for migrants traveling north to the United States. One Panamanian official insisted it's not a detention camp, but a migrant camp. Here's Turkowitz again.
Another hundred or so of them have said, no, we don't feel that it's safe to go back to our countries. And those are the folks who have now been transferred to this camp near the Darien jungle.
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Chapter 2: How are deported migrants being handled by the U.S. and Central American countries?
Do you support the PRO Act?
Thank you, Ranking Member Sanders, and I appreciate the conversation. I support the American worker.
President Trump— Okay, I don't mean to be rude.
No, you're not rude.
We don't have a lot of time. I understand. I'm gathering that you no longer support the proact, is what I hear. That you support the American worker, that's what everybody here will say.
Several senators asked her about her stance on right-to-work laws, which limit union organizing. Here's her exchange with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.
I signed on to the PRO Act because I was representing Oregon's 5th District. But I also signed on to the PRO Act because I wanted to be at that table and have those conversations. But I fully, fairly, and support states who want to protect their right to work. I have said that to every senator that I have visited.
So you no longer support the aspect of the PRO Act that would have overturned state right to work laws? Yeah.
There were so many parts.
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