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Homecoming chance, helicopter tragedy and Columbia bound

 
Today's IMMIGRATION story

Supreme Court backs return of wrongly deported migrant

What happened
The Supreme Court last night unanimously ruled that the Trump administration must work to "facilitate" but not necessarily "effectuate" the return of Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadoran man erroneously deported to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador last month alongside hundreds of Venezuelan alleged gang members.

Who said what
The unsigned ruling was a "significant rejection of the Trump administration's claim that it lacked any power — and therefore could not be compelled — to attempt to remedy its admitted error" in deporting Ábrego García, Politico said. It "doesn't explicitly mention" bringing him back, but it "leaves in place the bulk of U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis' order that specifically required his 'return' to the United States."

Xinis "properly" required the government to "'facilitate' Ábrego García's release from custody in El Salvador," but her "intended scope of the term 'effectuate'" was "unclear and may exceed the district court's authority," the Supreme Court said. Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested in a concurring statement, joined by her two liberal colleagues, that she would have compelled the administration to "correct its egregious error" and refuted its implication it "could deport and incarcerate any person, including U.S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene."

What next?
The Supreme Court's ruling "does not mean Ábrego García will be returned immediately," The Washington Post said. The justices sent the case back to Xinis to "clarify" her "directive, with due regard for the deference owed" the president in "the conduct of foreign affairs," and ordered the government to "share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps."

"The rule of law won today," Ábrego García's lawyer Andrew Rossman said. "Time to bring him home." The Justice Department highlighted the "deference owed" part of the ruling and made no mention of working toward bringing the migrant back to his American wife and kids.

 
 
Today's Aviation disaster story

New York helicopter crash kills tourist family, pilot

What happened
A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed into the Hudson River yesterday, killing all five passengers — a family of Spanish tourists — and the pilot. 

Who said what
Emergency boats with divers surrounded the Bell 206 helicopter soon after it crashed into the Hudson near Jersey City, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. "Four victims were pronounced dead on scene, and two more were removed to local area hospitals, where, sadly, both succumbed to their injuries." The dead included Agustín Escobar, an executive at tech company Siemens, his wife and three kids, The New York Times and The Associated Press said. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the crash an "unimaginable tragedy."

Video of the crash showed the Bell 206, operated by New York Helicopters, tumbling downward without its main rotor blades attached. Once the pilot "loses both the tail and the rotor, there’s nothing left to do," aviation lawyer Jim Brauchle told The Washington Post "It's an unrecoverable event, unfortunately."

What next?
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, the "latest U.S. aviation disaster," the AP said. "At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977," including fatal tourist helicopter crashes in 2009 and 2018. "Tens of thousands of tourist helicopter flights depart from heliports in and around New York City" each year, the Times said.

 
 
Today's EDUCATION Story

White House pushes for oversight of Columbia

What happened
The Trump administration is seeking to lock Columbia University into a legally binding consent decree, giving the White House oversight of the university for years to come, The Wall Street Journal said yesterday. The proposal is a significant escalation of President Donald Trump's expanding effort to exert power over top-tier U.S. universities by withholding federal research funds.

Who said what
After Trump withheld $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia, accusing the school of insufficiently protecting Jewish students from harassment during 2024 Gaza War protests, the university "agreed to an initial set of demands," the Journal said. A consent decree would legally bind Columbia to those and future concessions, giving a judge the power to levy fines for noncompliance.

The Trump administration calls its cancellation of research funds and foreign student visas a "campaign against antisemitism on college campuses," The Associated Press said. Critics call it a "crackdown on free speech" and academic freedom.

What next?
A consent decree with Columbia "could serve as a model for other schools seeking to negotiate with the White House," The New York Times said. B ut the university would have to agree, and negotiations "could require an extended process." Judges "can't just wave a wand and turn an agreement into a consent decree absent a lawsuit," said University of Pennsylvania law professor Tobias Wolff.

 
 

It's not all bad

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved gepotidacin, sold under the brand name Blujepa, to treat urinary tract infections, one of the most common medical issues affecting women. This is the first new antibiotic class cleared to treat UTIs in 30 years. Most UTIs are caused by E. coli bacteria, and Blujepa "works differently than existing antibiotics," said Time, targeting two enzymes found in E. coli and blocking them from replicating.

 
 
Under the radar

An American lecturer in Thailand has been arrested on charges of offending the country's monarchy. Paul Chambers, who teaches political science at Thailand's Naresuan University, was detained earlier this month before being charged. The U.S. State Department is now involved, as the teacher potentially faces years behind bars.

The arrest warrant stems from a "brief online description of a webinar last October about Thailand's military and police forces, where Dr. Chambers was the featured speaker," said The New York Times. He was charged under Thailand's lèse-majesté laws, a set of rules prohibiting any criticism of the monarchy.

Lawyers have denied that Chambers' actions broke the country's laws, which have been previously used to "punish critics of the government and the military," said The Associated Press. It "just feels like they wanted to deter Chambers from doing his work and research, which often touches on topics like the economics of the Thai army," his wife, Napisa Waitoolkiat, told the AP.

The U.S. is "alarmed by the arrest of U.S. citizen Paul Chambers in Thailand" and is "closely monitoring the situation," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. Chambers has been denied release on bail by Thai courts because of the "'severity of potential punishment,' his status as a foreigner and the police's objection to granting it," said the AP. 

Chambers faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Since 2020, said Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, more than 270 people have been charged under lèse-majesté laws.

 
 
On this day

April 11, 1970

Apollo 13 launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, intending to complete the third moon landing. However, an electrical explosion forced the mission to turn around, ending with the daring rescue of the three astronauts. NASA plans to return to the moon with the Artemis missions in the coming years.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

Donald Trump's "trade clash with China rattles exporters" and "farmers are bracing for loss of a major market," The New York Times says on Friday's front page. "U.S.-China battle spares no one," and "Trump's tariffs flip threatens bargaining position," The Wall Street Journal says. Trump's team faces "a scramble to make progress in trade talks," The Washington Post says. "U.S., China division putting global trade system on brink," The Boston Globe says, but for the U.S., "the economic damage is already done." The "GOP fears a political payback from tariffs," USA Today says. 

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Support claws

A Nevada man was arrested after police found seven tigers in his home. Karl Mitchell, 71, told officers the big cats were "emotional support" animals he had "rescued" from "Tiger King" Joe Exotic, the disgraced Oklahoma zookeeper and Netflix star. Mitchell, who did not have a special permit to own the tigers, was charged with resisting a peace officer. The tigers have been evaluated by a veterinarian and are now being cared for at a sanctuary.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Alex Wong / Getty Images; Lokman Vural Elibol / Anadolu via Getty Images; Barry Williams / New York Daily News / Tribune News Service via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images