Newscast 250410

For Columbia Radio News, I’m Flora Warshaw.

Instead of submitting evidence to an immigration judge regarding the federal government’s attempted deportation of activist Mahmoud Khalil, A brief memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio was submitted instead. The memo says that Khalil’s action would compromise U.S foreign policy interests and therefore the federal government have the right to deport him.  The letter was released by AP today and is the only piece of evidence submitted for the case. 

There is a hearing tomorrow to determine whether Khalil can continue to be detained during the remaining immigration proceedings.

Attorneys for Khalil said the memo proved the Trump administration was targeting Khalil’s free speech rights. 

President Trump said today that he is "working on papers" to withhold federal funding to all U.S. sanctuary cities. Sanctuary cities, such as New York,  provide legal refuge to undocumented immigrants. On a post on Truth Social earlier today, Trump said Sanctuary cities quote “protect the Criminals, not the Victims".

Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch have announced the formation of a new “Quality of Life” division of the NYPD. This division is made up of existing NYPD community roles,  like neighborhood and youth coordination officers, and the Mayor and Police Commissioner say it will improve police responses to issues specifically concerning “quality of life concerns”. This includes noise complaints, illegal parking, outdoor drug use, and homelessness issues. 

No need to hold in your bladder while you’re out and about! Members of the City Council are voting today on a new bill that would expand the number of public bathrooms in New York City.

They intend to double the amount of restrooms in the city to more than 2,100 and make it easier for New Yorkers to know where to go, so the plan includes a comprehensive online map of all city public bathrooms.

And finally, Spring may be here but you still need to wrap up. Highs are 45° today with a low of 31°.

For Columbia Radio News, I’m Flora Warshaw