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Hurricane Melissa was cutting a deadly path in the Caribbean on Saturday night, with rapid intensification expected over the weekend as it took a worryingly slow course toward Jamaica and the island of Hispaniola, forecasters said.As a Category 1 storm packing winds of 100 miles (155 kilometers) per hour, Melissa was already blamed for three deaths in Haiti earlier in the week, as its outer bands brought heavy rains and landslides to the impoverished nation.In the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, a 79-year-old man was found dead after being swept away in a stream, local officials said Saturday. A 13-year-old boy was missing.Melissa was expected to set off “life-threatening and catastrophic” flooding and landslides in Jamaica, as well as in southern portions of Hispaniola, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.”Rapid intensification is forecast to continue over the next day or so, and Melissa is forecast to become a major hurricane” Sunday, NHC officials said, adding “it is expected to still be a major hurricane when making landfall in Jamaica early next week.”On Saturday evening Melissa was about 130 miles southeast of the Jamaican capital Kingston, and about 260 miles southwest of Haiti’s Port-au-Prince. The hurricane was moving at crawl of 3 mph.Melissa could batter both countries for multiple days before heading north and threatening eastern Cuba.In the Dominican Republic, Angelita Francisco fled her Santo Domingo neighborhood after her house was inundated by floodwater, causing her refrigerator to float away as trash bobbed around the home.”You feel powerless, unable to do anything, just run away and leave everything behind,” the 66-year-old homemaker told AFP through tears.The country’s emergency operations center said nine of 31 provinces were on red alert Saturday due to risk of flash floods, rising rivers, and landslides.Melissa could bring total rainfall of 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 cm) in portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica, the NHC said, with isolated areas receiving as much as 40 inches.Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Friday urged residents of flood-prone areas to heed warnings and be prepared to evacuate.”If you live in an area that was flooded before, expect that it will flood again,” he said.Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.The last major hurricane to impact Jamaica was Beryl in early July 2024 — an abnormally strong storm for the time of year.Beryl brought downpours and heavy winds to Jamaica as it moved past off the island’s southern coast, leaving at least four people dead.

An unknown local lawmaker just a few months ago, leftist Zohran Mamdani has burst onto New York’s political scene and is closing in on becoming the first Muslim mayor of America’s most populous city.Since his surprise victory in the Democratic Party primary in June, New Yorkers have become used to seeing his bearded, smiling face on television — and on badges proudly worn by his young supporters. The 34-year-old election frontrunner was born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin and has lived in the United States since he was seven, becoming a naturalized US citizen in 2018. He is the son of filmmaker Mira Nair (“Monsoon Wedding,” “Salaam Bombay!”) and Mahmood Mamdani, a professor and respected Africa expert — leading some of his detractors to call him a “nepo baby.” He followed a path trodden by other youngsters from elite liberal families, attending the elite Bronx High School of Science followed by Bowdoin College in Maine, a university seen as a bastion of progressive thought.Under the alias “Young Cardamom,” he ventured into the world of rap in 2015, influenced by hip-hop outfit “Das Racist” made up of two members of Indian origin who played with references and tropes from the subcontinent.Mamdani’s attempt to break into the competitive world of professional music did not last, with the performer-turned-politician calling himself a second-rate artist. He was bitten by the politics bug when he learned that rapper Heems (Himanshu Suri) was supporting a candidate for city council — and joined that campaign as an activist.Mamdani went on to become a foreclosure prevention counselor, helping financially struggling homeowners avoid losing their homes. He was elected in 2018 as a lawmaker from Queens, a melting pot of predominantly poor and migrant communities, representing the area in the New York State Assembly. – ‘Disaffected voters’ -The self-proclaimed socialist, who has been re-elected three times, forged an image that has become his trademark — a progressive Muslim just as comfortable at a Pride march as he is at an Eid banquet.He has put the goal of making the city affordable for everyone who are not wealthy, the majority of its approximately 8.5 million residents, at the heart of his campaign. He has promised more rent control, free day care and buses, and city-run neighborhood grocery stores. Mamdani is also a long-standing supporter of the Palestinian cause, although his positions on Israel — which he has called an “apartheid regime” while branding the war in Gaza a “genocide” — have drawn the ire of some in the Jewish community. In recent months he has made a point of vocally denouncing antisemitism. Mamdani has attracted scorn from President Donald Trump, who calls him a “little communist” but — like the president — he is something of an establishment “outsider,” according to Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University. “He has managed to galvanize support from disaffected voters and others in New York City who are dissatisfied with the status quo and with an establishment that they perceive to be overlooking their needs and policy preferences,” he said.Mamdani, a keen soccer and cricket fan, recently married US illustrator Rama Duwaji, and put his experience of activism to work in a strategically coordinated canvassing and leafleting campaign that he has paired with a massive and often humorous use of social media. “He really is a kind of an hybrid of a great 1970s campaign and a great 2025 campaign,” said Lincoln Mitchell, a Columbia University professor.

In a cobbler’s workshop in Los Angeles, the footprints of Hollywood history are stacked floor to ceiling, watched over by a man who says his profession is dying.Yellowing boxes hold the lasts — foot-shaped molds — used to create footwear for everyone who was anyone in America’s entertainment capital for more than half a century.Elizabeth Taylor lies toe-to-toe with Peter Fonda, Tom Jones and Harrison Ford.In another stack sit the lasts for Sharon Stone, Liza Minnelli and Goldie Hawn.Action heroes Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzeneggar are also present.”There’s a bit of everybody here,” says shoemaker Chris Francis, the custodian of the famous feet molds.Francis came into the collection a few years after the 2008 death of Pasquale Di Fabrizio, an Italian cobbler known in Los Angeles as the “shoemaker to the stars.””Di Fabrizio made for everyone, from the casino owners to the actors, the performers in Vegas, Broadway, Hollywood, for film — just anybody you could think of who was performing from the 1960s until 2008.”Some of the aging boxes contain autographs or dedications from the A-listers.Others, like those of Sarah Jessica Parker or “Sound of Music” songstress Julie Andrews, hold drawings from television or film productions.- ‘Something that nobody else had’ – Hollywood was once the ideal place for a shoemaker, says Francis, with its voracious creative industry that churned out a constant stream of people who needed to make themselves stand out from the crowd.”Celebrities would brag about how much they paid for a pair of shoes, and they would want something that nobody else had,” he said, pulling down a box containing the lasts of Adam West, the actor who played Batman in the original 1960s TV series.Francis began his own couture journey making clothes, and was given his first gig after being discovered stitching a leather jacket on a park bench.”Here in LA, it is easy to be in the right time in the right place,” he laughed.But it was footwear that he really wanted to create, and began practicing in his kitchen at home.”They were sort of crude at first; I was just teaching myself how to do it,” he said.In search of someone to teach him the art, Francis traipsed around Los Angeles looking for an internship.”These guys are all old Armenian, Russian guys. They’re all from like the old world — guys from like Iran, Syria.”They wouldn’t talk, or they didn’t speak very good English. So you just have to watch and learn, and then just learn by making over and over and over again.”And if you don’t pay attention, it can all go wrong, he said.”There’s no forgiveness in a shoe. If you miss a step, if you cut a corner, then the next 20 steps after that might suffer. So everything has to be on point the whole time.”- Mass production -But in a changing world, such meticulous craftsmanship is not always rewarded.Where Burt Reynolds or Robert De Niro might once have been happy to shell out thousands of dollars for a pair of handmade shoes, the whole industry has been turned on its head.”I’m finding more and more celebrities wanting shoes for free, which is just killing shoemakers like me,” said Francis.With his aging rockstar looks, Francis says in darker moments he wishes he had taken the advice of some of the old cobblers who taught him the trade.”They told me to go join a band,” he said.”When I first started, (one man) said: ‘Why in the world do you want to be a shoemaker? They can buy shoes for $20 these days.'”Francis, 48, says some of the old-time shoemakers have given up trying to create footwear from scratch, and now just fix the mass-produced shoes that have put them out of business.”As a profession, it’s extremely difficult to survive,” he says.

Deadly storm Melissa strengthened Saturday afternoon into a Category 1 hurricane, with rapid intensification expected over the weekend as it cut a worryingly slow course toward the Caribbean island of Jamaica, forecasters said.Currently packing winds of 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour, Melissa was expected to set off “life-threatening and catastrophic” flooding and landslides in Jamaica, as well as in southern portions of Hispaniola, the island comprised of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.”Rapid intensification is forecast to occur over the next couple of days and Melissa is forecast to become a major hurricane by Sunday,” the NHC said in a Saturday afternoon bulletin, referring to storms with sustained winds in excess of 111 miles (178 kilometers) per hour.Melissa was about 145 miles southeast of the Jamaican capital Kingston, and about 235 miles southwest of Haiti’s Port-au-Prince. The hurricane was moving at crawl of 1 mph.Three people in Haiti have already been killed this week as storm bands from Melissa lashed the impoverished nation with heavy downpours, provoking landslides.Haiti could see hurricane conditions by late Saturday, the NHC said. Tropical storm conditions were expected in Jamaica by Saturday night, with hurricane conditions expected by Sunday or Monday. Melissa could batter both countries for multiple days before heading north and threatening eastern Cuba.Fears were growing that Melissa’s extreme winds and rains could provoke life-threatening floods in the mountainous terrain of eastern Jamaica and western Haiti.Melissa could bring total rainfall of 15 to 25 inches (38 to 64 cm) in portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica, the NHC said, with isolated areas receiving as much as 35 inches.Residents in southwestern Haiti should begin “immediate preparations to protect life and property,” the NHC said, warning the storm will likely cause “extensive infrastructural damage and potentially prolonged isolation of communities.”Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Friday urged residents of flood-prone areas to heed warnings and be prepared to evacuate.”If you live in an area that was flooded before, expect that it will flood again,” he said.Rains from Melissa already flooded several roads in Kingston, images from local media showed.Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.The last major hurricane to impact Jamaica was Beryl in early July 2024 — an abnormally strong storm for the time of year.Beryl brought downpours and heavy winds to Jamaica as it moved past off the island’s southern coast, leaving at least four people dead.

It’s nearly 10:00 pm on Friday night, and a group of children shine their flashlights on the imposing skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex.Though the scene seems like something out of a movie, it is in fact a whimsical sleepover at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.Once a month, and for a not insignificant fee, parents and kids can once again spend the night at the venerable institution — a program that had been suspended since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.”We live really close to this place. So we can come here anytime we want,” said eight-year-old Jake Nelson. “It’s crazy to sleep (here) — like, I don’t know who would come up with this crazy idea.”Jake, nestled into his sleeping bag on a cot underneath the museum’s gigantic suspended model of a blue whale, said he was “so happy to be here.”The museum first launched its “Night at the Museum” programs in 2006, riding the success of the movie of the same name, released that year, starring Ben Stiller as a security guard who realizes that the animals and fossils come to life overnight.The return of the sleepovers is good news for the museum and its visitors.”They were an iconic part of our itinerary here, and very sought after by all of our visitors,” Aaron Anleu, senior director of visitor service, told AFP.”Unfortunately, during the pandemic, we had to pause the experience for a few years, but we really wanted to take a pause and understand how we can make this experience exciting and memorable for our visitors, and now we’re here.”Friday’s overnight visit was sold out, as are the November and December events, but in the end, a few cots were empty when the lights dimmed.A few hundred children ages six to 12 arrived at the museum at 6:00 pm with their parents or other caregivers, sleeping bags and pillows in tow. Some were already wearing their pajamas.For a fee starting at $225 a person, attendees get flashlight tours of exhibits including the fossil halls, do scavenger hunts, play trivia games and have bedtime snacks. Breakfast is served before the event ends. Admission also includes a souvenir and a voucher for free admission during regular hours.- Tours and karaoke -Amid the games, crafts, live presentations and self-guided visits to the live insect displays, one of the most popular events is…. karaoke.Kids belt out a mix of Broadway tunes, viral YouTube hit “The Duck Song” and the inescapable soundtrack from the Netflix animated film “KPop Demon Hunters.”Shortly before midnight, the children get into their beds to listen to a live reading of the 1993 children’s book “The Night at the Museum” by Milan Trenc — the inspiration for the film.Wake-up comes early at 7:00 am, before the event ends at 8:30 am.”It’s magical. I’m a lifelong New Yorker, and I’ve never done anything like this,” said Jaclyn Rice Nelson, Jake’s mother. “There’s the whale above us.”Her son skipped a few hours of the night’s activities to read a Harry Potter book in the unusual setting. “This is tiring,” Jake said. “I think I’ve done a lot of stuff.”His mother explained that the pair had indeed visited several exhibits.”We went up to the dinosaurs, and all the lights were off, and so it was like walking around with flashlights with these big, kind of scary dinosaurs. And that’s just a very, very special experience,” she said.Hollywood media outlets have reported that a new “Night at the Museum” film is in the works. Stiller starred in the first three installments. So the magic is set to endure.

Donald Trump met Saturday with Qatar’s leaders to discuss the fragile truce in Gaza, stopping in the emirate on his way to Asia and talks with China’s Xi Jinping that the US president predicted could yield a “comprehensive deal.”Trump’s refueling stop in Qatar, a key ally in the Gaza negotiations, came as Israel conducted an air strike targeting an alleged Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza, despite the ceasefire brokered by the US president.Trump is set to meet Xi in South Korea on the last day of his regional swing in a bid to seal a deal to end the bruising trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. Trump has also said he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his trip.He will also visit Malaysia and Japan on the trip, his first to Asia since he returned to the White House in January in a blaze of tariffs and international dealmaking.Aboard Air Force One at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, when asked about ending the trade row with Beijing, Trump said: “I think we have a really good chance of making a really comprehensive deal.”Such an agreement would stave off further 100 percent tariffs on China that are due to come into effect on November 1.During the pit stop at the base, which hosts the regional headquarters for the US military, Trump greeted Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.”What we’ve done is incredible peace to the Middle East, and they were a very big factor in it,” Trump said.Ahead of the long trip, the US president fueled speculation that he could meet Kim for the first time since 2019, saying: “I’m open to it.”Asked if he would consider North Korea’s demand to be recognized as a nuclear state as a precondition for talks, Trump replied: “Well, I think they are sort of a nuclear power… They got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”Kim has said he would also be open to meeting the US president if Washington drops its demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear arsenal.- Peace and trade deals -Trump’s first stop will be Malaysia, where he arrives on Sunday, for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit — a meeting he skipped several times in his first term.Trump is set to sign a trade deal with Malaysia, and will witness the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia in his continued quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.He said he also expected to meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties with the leftist leader after months of bad blood.The US president’s next destination is Tokyo. He will meet Japan’s first woman prime minister Sanae Takaichi, a conservative, on Tuesday.Takaichi said Saturday that she had a “good and candid” initial conversation with Trump.Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States.”- Trump and Xi -The highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.Trump will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an APEC lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner on the sidelines of the summit in the city of Gyeongju.He will meet Xi on Thursday for the first time since his return to office.Global markets will be watching closely to see if they can halt the trade war sparked by Trump’s sweeping tariffs, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing’s rare-earth curbs.Trump said he would also discuss fentanyl with Xi, as he raises pressure on Beijing to curb trafficking of the powerful opioid and cracks down on Latin American drug cartels.burs-jhe/sst/acb

US President Donald Trump met Saturday with the emir and prime minister of Qatar — a key ally in preserving the fragile Gaza peace deal — en route to Asia and high-stakes trade talks with China’s Xi Jinping.The talks came as Israel conducted an air strike targeting an alleged Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza, despite the ceasefire brokered by the US president.Trump is set to meet Xi in South Korea on the last day of his regional swing in a bid to seal a deal to end the bruising trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, and said he would also like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his trip.He will also visit Malaysia and Japan on his first trip to Asia since he returned to the White House in January in a blaze of tariffs and international dealmaking.Aboard Air Force One at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the regional headquarters for the US military, Trump greeted Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.”What we’ve done is incredible peace to the Middle East, and they were a very big factor in it,” Trump said.He did not take questions before reporters were ushered out.Earlier, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he hoped for a “very good meeting” with Xi, adding that he expected China to make a deal to avoid further 100 percent tariffs that are due to come into effect on November 1.He also fueled speculation that he could meet Kim for the first time since 2019, when they met in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas during the Republican’s first term in office.”I’m open to it,” Trump said.Asked if he would consider North Korea’s demand to be recognized as a nuclear state as a precondition for talks, Trump replied: “Well, I think they are sort of a nuclear power… They got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”Kim has said he would also be open to meeting the US president if Washington drops its demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear arsenal.- Peace and trade deals -Trump’s first stop will be Malaysia, where he arrives on Sunday, for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit — a meeting he skipped several times in his first term.Trump is set to sign a trade deal with Malaysia, and will witness the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia in his continued quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.He said he also expected to meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties with the leftist leader after months of bad blood.The US president’s next destination is Tokyo. He will meet Japan’s first woman prime minister Sanae Takaichi, a conservative, on Tuesday.Takaichi said Saturday that she had a “good and candid” initial conversation with Trump.Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States.”- Trump and Xi -The highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.Trump will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an APEC lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner on the sidelines of the summit in the city of Gyeongju.He will meet Xi on Thursday for the first time since his return to office.Global markets will be watching closely to see if they can halt the trade war sparked by Trump’s sweeping tariffs, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing’s rare-earth curbs.A US Treasury spokesman told AFP that US and Chinese officials in Malaysia had concluded a day of “very constructive” trade talks, which are expected to resume on Sunday.Trump said he would also discuss fentanyl with Xi, as he raises pressure on Beijing to curb trafficking of the powerful opioid and cracks down on Latin American drug cartels.burs-jhe/ami-sst/des

US President Donald Trump headed Saturday for Asia and high-stakes trade talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, saying that he would also like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his trip.Trump is set to meet Xi in South Korea on the last day of his regional swing in a bid to seal a deal to end the bruising trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.He will also visit Malaysia and Japan on his first trip to Asia since he returned to the White House in January in a blaze of tariffs and international dealmaking.During a refueling stop on the way there, Trump is expected to meet Saturday with the emir and prime minister of Qatar — a key ally in preserving the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal.Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he hoped for a “very good meeting” with Xi, adding that he expected China to make a deal to avoid further 100 percent tariffs that are due to come into effect on November 1.A US Treasury spokesman told AFP that US and Chinese officials in Malaysia concluded a day of “very constructive” trade talks, which are expected to resume on Sunday.As he left Washington, Trump added to speculation that he could meet Kim for the first time since 2019 while on the Korean peninsula.”I’m open to it,” Trump said aboard the presidential plane. “I had a great relationship with him.”Asked if he was open to North Korea’s demand to be recognized as a nuclear state as a precondition for talks, Trump replied: “Well, I think they are sort of a nuclear power… They got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”The two leaders last met in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas during Trump’s first term. Kim has said he would also be open to meeting the US president if Washington drops its demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear arsenal.Seoul’s reunification minister has said there is a “considerable” chance that Trump and Kim will meet while the US leader visits South Korea.- Peace and trade deals -Trump’s first stop will be Malaysia, where he arrives on Sunday, for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit — a meeting he skipped several times in his first term.Trump is set to sign a trade deal with Malaysia, and will witness the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia in his continued quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.He said he also expected to meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties with the leftist leader after months of bad blood.The US president’s next destination is Tokyo, where he arrives Monday. He will meet conservative Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday after she was named this week as Japan’s first woman prime minister.Takaichi said Saturday in a post on X that she had a “good and candid” initial conversation with Trump.Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States.”- Trump and Xi -The highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due to land in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.Trump will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an APEC lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner on the sidelines of the summit in the city of Gyeongju.He will meet Xi on Thursday for the first time since his return to office.Global markets will be watching closely to see if they can halt the trade war sparked by Trump’s sweeping tariffs, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing’s rare-earth curbs.Trump initially threatened to cancel the meeting and announced the fresh 100 percent tariffs during that row, before saying he would go ahead after all.He said he would also discuss fentanyl with Xi, as he raises pressure on Beijing to curb trafficking of the powerful opioid and cracks down on Latin American drug cartels.burs-jhe/ami/des

The US government wants to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man at the center of a row over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, to Liberia and possibly by month’s end, a court filing showed Friday.The case of Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported to El Salvador in March and then sent back to the United States in June, has become a lightning rod for those opposed to Trump’s efforts to carry out mass deportations across the United States.The Trump administration alleges he is a violent MS-13 gang member involved in smuggling other undocumented migrants.His lawyers have filed a suit contesting his deportation, and a federal judge in August blocked an attempt to send Abrego Garcia, who is married to a US citizen and denies all wrongdoing, to Uganda.In Friday’s filing, government attorneys say they have identified the west African country of Liberia as a site for “removal,” as it was not on a list of countries that Abrego Garcia’s attorneys had rejected out of hand.”Liberia is a thriving democracy and one of the United States’s closest partners on the African continent,” attorneys said in the filing in a US federal court in Maryland.The government noted that Liberia is an English-speaking country and is “committed to the humane treatment of refugees.” It said it could complete the deportation “as soon as October 31.”Abrego Garcia’s lawyer Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said ICE is seeking to deport his client “to Liberia, a country with which he has no connection, thousands of miles from his family and home in Maryland.””Costa Rica stands ready to accept him as a refugee, a viable and lawful option. Yet the government has chosen a course calculated to inflict maximum hardship. These actions are punitive, cruel, and unconstitutional,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said in a statement on his law firm’s website.Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country.He then became one of more than 200 people sent to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison in March as part of Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants.But Justice Department lawyers admitted that the Salvadoran had been wrongly deported due to an “administrative error.”Abrego Garcia was returned to US soil months later, only to be detained again in Tennessee on human smuggling charges, a separate case from the Maryland proceedings.Right-wing supporters praise the Republican president’s toughness, but legal scholars and human rights advocates have blasted what they say is a haphazard rush to deport people without even a court hearing, in violation of basic US law.