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      Cory Booker to visit El Salvador in effort to return wrongly deported man to US

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      Cory Booker plans to travel to El Salvador, a source familiar with the New Jersey senator’s itinerary said, as Democrats seek to pressure the Trump administration to return a wrongly deported Maryland resident.Booker’s trip to the Central American country would come after the Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen traveled there this week to meet with his constituent Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadorian national deported last month in what the Trump administration acknowledged was an “administrative error”. Despite a supreme court ruling saying his administration must “facilitate” Ábrego García’s return, Trump has refused to take steps to do so, and El Salvador’s government on Wednesday denied Van Hollen a meeting with the deportee.Ábrego García’s case has become a rallying cry for Democrats, who argue it is a sign of Donald Trump’s reckless approach to immigration enforcement and willingness to defy court orders. An immigration judge in 2019 had given Ábrego García protection from deportation, finding that he may face retaliation if he returns to El Salvador.Booker wrote on X earlier this week: “The Supreme Court was clear: the Trump administration must act to facilitate the return of Kilmar Ábrego García to the United States. There is no room for debate – yet Trump is refusing, in defiance of a lawful court order.“Every member of Congress should be standing up for the Constitution and demanding that the administration act to return Mr. Ábrego García to the U.S. and to his family.”Trump administration officials have countered by accusing Democrats of caring more about undocumented immigrants than US citizens. On Monday, the Republican congressman Riley Moore toured El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), where US authorities say Ábrego García is being held, and gave a thumbs up in front of a cell packed with inmates.Several other Democratic lawmakers have signaled they would like to visit El Salvador and Cecot, including Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic caucus, and Robert Garcia, Yassamin Ansari and Maxwell Alejandro Frost, all members of the investigative House oversight committee. Delia Ramirez of the House homeland security committee has also asked for a visit to Cecot.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBooker, who ran for president in 2020 and is viewed as a potential candidate again three years from now, has been particularly outspoken against Trump. Earlier this month, he delivered a speech from the Senate floor warning of the “grave and urgent” danger presented by his presidency that ran for 25 hours and five minutes – the longest such speech ever. More

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      in Elections

      Death of Palestinian American Boy in West Bank Sparks Outcry

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      Amer Rabee, 14, was fatally shot Sunday by Israeli forces in the West Bank, according to his family. On Tuesday, community leaders gathered in New Jersey to demand justice.Members of northern New Jersey’s Palestinian community gathered on Tuesday to condemn the recent killing of a Palestinian American boy by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.The boy, Amer Rabee, 14, was shot and killed in the town of Turmus Aya on Sunday, his family said. Two other Palestinian American teenagers who were with Amer at the time were shot and injured by the soldiers, the family said.Amer, who was originally from Saddle Brook, N.J., moved with his family to the West Bank around 2013. The family said that since then, it had divided its time between the West Bank and New Jersey.At a news conference on Tuesday, community leaders stood at a small wooden lectern at the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, N.J., to decry Amer’s death and call on the U.S. government to investigate the shooting. They were joined by Rami Jbara, an uncle of Amer’s, and by Amer’s father, Mohammed Rabee, who called in remotely from the West Bank.“We cannot let this horrific crime be swept under the rug,” said Rania Mustafa, the center’s executive director.“Our stories are consistently ignored,” she added. “Our people are consistently dehumanized. Our deaths are repeatedly ignored.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Cory Booker urges action in first event since historic speech: ‘This is a moment for America’

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      The Democratic senator Cory Booker took a version of his record-breaking Senate floor speech on the road Saturday to a town hall meeting in a New Jersey gymnasium, calling on people to find out what they can do to push back against Donald Trump’s agenda.Booker took questions at suburban New Jersey’s Bergen Community College the same day that more than 1,200 “Hands Off” demonstrations took place around the country. The town hall event was punctuated both by celebratory shouts of “Cory, Cory” as well as at least a half-dozen interruptions by protesters.It was Booker’s first in-person event in his home state since his speech this week, where he held the Senate floor for 25 hours and 5 minutes in opposition to Trump’s policies. In doing so, he broke the record for the longest floor speech, which was set by the segregationist senator Strom Thurmond in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.Questioner after questioner asked what they could be doing to show their disagreement and worry over the president’s policies. Booker told them it only takes a little bit more – could they afford a trip to Washington to lobby against budget cuts? One of the loudest moments of applause came after he addressed a woman who said she worried about what potential Medicaid cuts could mean for her son with autism.“A gathering like this can’t be the end of our activism,” Booker said. “This has got to be a moment in America where all of us begin to say, what more can I do?”The questions and Booker’s response mirror what voters and other Democrats have been hearing during town halls. He said he didn’t want to focus on the Democratic party, which has struggled to find a message since losing the 2024 election. Instead, he said, he would focus on “the people of our country”.“I think the Democratic party lost a lot of elections because people didn’t believe that they cared about them. So let’s stop worrying about the politics and get more focused on the people,” Booker said.After the event, Booker said he was reluctant to tell people the exact tactics to use, citing civil rights activists like the late John Lewis. He said creativity has a role to play.“I know one thing it’s not, is sitting down and doing nothing and just watching on TV and getting stuck in a state of sedentary agitation,” he said. “Everybody has to be taking measures to put the pressure on to change.”Booker, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020, said after the event that he was focused on running for re-election to the Senate in 2026 and that 2028 “will take care of itself”.Booker, 55, is in his second full term in the Senate. He chairs the Strategic Communications Committee, his party’s messaging arm. His team is focused on boosting Senate Democrats’ presence across social platforms through more frequent and casual content.Booker himself has amassed one of the largest followings on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and X, where his commentary appears to connect with the party’s base. But staffers are now focused on how to transfer that success to Booker’s fellow senators, who are often less digitally fluent and face different political landscapes in their home states.That has involved turning the communications committee into a nerve center for testing and coordinating the easiest-to-use formats for lawmakers looking to boost their digital brands.Booker hopes to double the engagement that senators receive with their content directly online and increase the caucus’s appearances with online digital media personalities.The start of Saturday’s event included six disruptions, including by several people who decried the treatment of Palestinians. Police in the gymnasium escorted them from the arena.“I hear you and I see you,” Booker said. More

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      in Elections

      Judge Says Khalil’s Deportation Case Can Be Heard in New Jersey

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      The Trump administration has sought to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate, though he is a legal permanent resident and has not been charged with a crime.A New York federal judge on Wednesday transferred the case of a Columbia University graduate detained by the Trump administration this month to New Jersey, where his lawyers will continue their efforts to seek his release.The order will not have any immediate effect on the detention status of the Columbia graduate, Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of pro-Palestinian protests on the university’s campus, who after his arrest was swiftly transferred from Manhattan to New Jersey and then to Louisiana. The Trump administration has sought to deport him, though he is a legal permanent resident who has not been accused of a crime.The White House has said that Mr. Khalil spread antisemitism and promoted literature associated with Hamas terrorists. Mr. Khalil’s lawyers deny that he has done so and say he is being retaliated against for promoting Palestinian rights and criticizing Israel, views that the Trump administration disagrees with.Mr. Khalil’s legal team had been trying to move his case out of Louisiana since he was transferred there. Had his case been heard there, a conservative appeals court in New Orleans could have set a broad precedent for deportations.The New York judge, Jesse Furman, ordered federal authorities not to remove Mr. Khalil from the country. On Wednesday, in moving the case to New Jersey, he left that order in place.Mr. Khalil himself is expected to remain in Louisiana until a new judge weighs in.Judge Furman noted that Mr. Khalil’s lawyers had accused the government of punishing him for participation in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and that his First and Fifth Amendment rights had been violated.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      13 People Injured as School Bus Overturns on Garden State Parkway

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      The bus overturned near Montvale, N.J., officials said, closing all lanes in the area. It had been traveling from Lakewood, N.J., to Rockland County, N.Y.A school bus with at least 30 passengers on board overturned on the Garden State Parkway near Montvale, N.J., on Monday evening, injuring 13 people, the authorities said.According to the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the bus overturned on the northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway north of Exit 171 at around 7:40 p.m. Monday, temporarily closing all lanes near the area.The bus was traveling from Lakewood, N.J., to Rockland County, N.Y., according to officials. The cause of the crash, the ages of the passengers, and what group the bus might have been associated with were not yet known.Mayor Mike Ghassali of Montvale said in a post on social media that 13 people had been injured and taken to to local hospitals. No fatalities were reported, he said.“I’ve been briefed on a crash on the Garden State Parkway earlier tonight near the James Gandolfini Service Area involving an overturned school bus from Lakewood,” Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey said in a post on social media.The New Jersey State Police and the New Jersey Department of Transportation were on the scene, he said, and an investigation into the incident was underway.The Montvale Police Department directed questions to the New Jersey State Police, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Mark Bonamo More

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      in Elections

      A Constitutional Convention? Some Democrats Fear It’s Coming.

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      Some Republicans have said that a constitutional convention is overdue. Many Democratic-led states have rescinded their long-ago calls for one, and California will soon consider whether to do the same.As Republicans prepare to take control of Congress and the White House, among the many scenarios keeping Democrats up at night is an event that many Americans consider a historical relic: a constitutional convention.The 1787 gathering in Philadelphia to write the Constitution was the one and only time state representatives have convened to work on the document.But a simple line in the Constitution allows Congress to convene a rewrite session if two-thirds of state legislatures have called for one. The option has never been used, but most states have long-forgotten requests on the books that could be enough to trigger a new constitutional convention, some scholars and politicians believe.Some Democratic officials are more concerned than ever. In California, a Democratic state senator, Scott Wiener, will introduce legislation on Monday that would rescind the state’s seven active calls for a constitutional convention, the first such move since Donald J. Trump’s election to a second term.Mr. Wiener, who represents San Francisco, and other liberal Democrats believe there is a strong possibility of a “runaway convention.” They say that Republicans could call a convention on the premise, say, of producing an amendment requiring that the federal budget be balanced, then open the door for a free-for-all in which a multitude of other amendments are considered, including some that could restrict abortion access or civil rights.“I do not want California to inadvertently trigger a constitutional convention that ends up shredding the Constitution,” Mr. Wiener said in an interview.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Expect an Icy Commute for Parts of the Northeast on Monday Morning

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      Light snow and freezing rain are expected in parts of Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania starting Sunday night and could make for a hazardous commute on Monday, forecasters said.A light snowfall and some sleet that will begin on Sunday evening in parts of Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania are expected to make roads icy for Monday morning commuters.The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory, in effect until 10 a.m. Monday for parts of northeastern Pennsylvania and until 11 a.m. for parts of New Jersey, as well as the Lower Hudson Valley in New York.Parts of Connecticut are also expected to be affected, including northern areas of Fairfield, New Haven and northern Middlesex Counties.In northeastern Pennsylvania, forecasters predict up to four inches of snow and sleet, which will turn into a light glaze of ice accumulation Monday morning. Most parts of New York and New Jersey will get less than an inch of snow starting on Sunday evening, spreading eastward into southwestern Connecticut overnight.By late Sunday night, the snow is expected to transition to freezing rain, creating hazardous, icy conditions, particularly on untreated roads and in higher elevations. The morning commute on Monday could be especially dangerous, with icy roads posing significant challenges for drivers, forecasters said.Ice accumulations are forecast to range from a light glaze to a few hundredths of an inch across most areas, while western Orange County may get up to an inch of ice. Higher elevations in the Poconos of Pennsylvania will get the heaviest snow and ice accumulations on Sunday evening, potentially up to four inches.Mike Kistner, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Binghamton, N.Y., said the forecast for freezing rain and ice is what pushed the Lower Hudson Valley and parts of New Jersey to be under a winter weather advisory, though the snowfall should be light.While the cold air and below-freezing temperatures Monday morning will likely keep roads icy during the morning rush, Mr. Kistner said as it heats up later in the morning and throughout the day, conditions should clear. Bridges and overpasses may remain icy even if the main roads are wet, he added.Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for the New York State Thruway Authority, said workers were ready to clear the roads and have pretreated them for freezing rain, though she warned drivers to take it easy on Monday morning.“Give yourself some extra time in the morning,” Ms. Givner said. “And just slow down. I think that’s always the best way to travel in this weather.”Winter weather advisories were also issued for areas in western Maryland, western Virginia, and eastern West Virginia, which could get up to two inches of snow and sleet.The Weather Service warned about slippery roads in those areas. Those advisories were in place until 1 a.m. on Monday.In West Virginia, northwestern Pocahontas County and southeastern Randolph County were under winter storm warnings until 1 a.m. on Monday as strong winds, snow and ice moved in Sunday night. More

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      Mayorkas says no known foreign involvement in mass drone sightings

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      Alejandro Mayorkas, the US homeland security secretary, has said federal authorities “know of no foreign involvement” in the apparent mass drone sightings across the nation’s north-east region, though social and political anxieties nonetheless continued surging over the weekend amid a lack of official information.“I want to assure the American public that we are on it,” Mayorkas said.He called for “extended and expanded” authority to shoot down drones, beyond only those that pass over restricted military airspace. And the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, announced on Sunday that the federal government was prepared to deploy a high-tech drone detection system in response to the spate of sighting there, in New Jersey and Connecticut, where state and local officials are demanding more assertive federal action – with one calling the drones a “very considerable danger”.The Democrat US Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, later added his name to the request for drone detection technology. And congressman Mike Waltz of Florida, who has been chosen as the incoming White House national security adviser, said the drone issue points to gaps in security between federal agencies, and with local law enforcement.“Americans are finding it hard to believe we can’t figure out where these are coming from,” he told CBS’s Face the Nation. “From the defense department standpoint, they’re focused on bombers and cruise missiles. It’s pointing to gaps in our capabilities and in our ability to clamp down on what’s going on here.”Meanwhile, reports that an Iranian drone ship is patrolling off the US east coast were discarded as unfounded.The US domestic security chief told ABC News that there are “thousands of drones flown every day in the United States, recreational drones, commercial drones”. He also pointed out that – in September 2023 – aviation regulators enacted rules allowing drones to be flown at night, leading to more such activity.US authorities are anxious to avoid vigilantes’ responding to New Jersey’s drone invasion, fearing that innocent bystanders could be hit by falling debris or that legitimate commercial aviation could be mistaken for unexplained drones.“We want state and local authorities to also have the ability to counter drone activity under federal supervision,” Mayorkas said.Hoping to counter the relative impotence of officials to quell the public anxiety stemming from the drone sightings, Mayorkas said some were drones and others manned aircraft mistaken for drones.“There’s no question … people are seeing drones,” Mayorkas remarked. “And I want to assure the American public that we, in the federal government, have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology, to assist … in addressing the drone sightings.”A Chinese national was arrested on 9 December in California, allegedly for flying a drone over Vandenberg air force base, used for space launches and missile testing. Other military bases have also reported drone over-flights.“If we identify any foreign involvement or criminal activity, we will communicate with the American public accordingly,” Mayorkas added.Meanwhile, as Donald Trump prepares to begin his second presidency, he has demanded greater official transparency around what he has called “mystery drone sightings all over the country”.“Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge? I don’t think so,” Trump added. “Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down.”On Sunday, the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie was asked if the state’s residents were experiencing an outbreak of mass hysteria.“To say that this is not unusual activity is just wrong,” Christie said. “I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life and this is the first time I’ve noticed drones over my house.”Christie said that a lack of official information had allowed conspiracy theories to overwhelm authorities’ officialese.“If you don’t fill that vacuum then all the conspiracy theories get filled in there,” Christie added. “So you get congressman Jeff Van Drew saying there’s an Iranian mothership off the coast which is provably not true.”Joe Biden’s outgoing presidential administration and state authorities have to be more vocal and let people know what they’re doing, he added.Pointing to a newish technology used in conflict zones as weapons, Christie said it was understandable that people were concerned.Hochul on Saturday joined a chorus of other elected US officials pressuring the White House for a federal response after runways at Stewart international airport were temporarily closed due to what was described as “drone activity in the airspace”.Phil Murphy, the New Jersey governor, has also contacted Biden to voice “growing concern about reports of unmanned aircraft systems”. In Connecticut, another state with elevated drone sightings since mid-November, US senator Richard Blumenthal said the aircraft should be shot down “if necessary”.But the lack of a coherent response by officials has set residents off on their own search for answers.The director of the Rebovich institute at Rider university,Micah Rasmussen, told NJ.com that the Biden administrations’ response was “a textbook case of exactly how misinformation happens and disinformation happens.“When people don’t know what to believe, they don’t believe anything,” Rasmussen said, “and that’s a dangerous position for us to be in”.The federal response had achieved the near impossible by bring Republicans and Democrats in the state together over the issue, said the New Jersey Republican assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia.“I don’t know who’s running crisis communication from the White House, but it’s embarrassing,” Fantasia told the outlet. “You know, we’re at the point now where I feel like I’m watching Star Search from the ‘80s, and they’re just auditioning spokesmodels to say stupid things.”Another New Jersey political figure, Democratic congressman Josh Gottheimer, said that hundreds of reports of drones flying overhead in federally-controlled airspace “leaves a large vacuum of information”.Since 13 November, when an unauthorized drone was spotted flying near Picatinny Arsenal, a US army research facility in New Jersey, hundreds more sightings of unidentified flying objects have been reported.Some have been described as “SUV-sized”. Some were reportedly flying in coordinated clusters. Domestic security agencies have consistently maintained they do not pose any national security or public safety threat.But military officials have confirmed 11 sightings over Picatinny base and multiple sightings over a naval weapons station, fueling anxiety.The done sightings come after the Biden administration sought to downplay a Chinese spy balloon crossing the US in early 2023 before it was ultimately shot down off the east coast.The White House national security spokesperson John Kirby has said that “it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully”.But that hasn’t satisfied New Jerseyans, Rasmussen told NJ.com.He said: “You only get so many chances to explain something before people say, ‘I’ve heard enough from you. I don’t believe what you have to say. I’m done listening to you now, because clearly you’re going to insult my intelligence.’” More