AFP USA

US Vice President JD Vance met the Vatican’s second-highest official on Saturday, discussing the thorny issue of refugees just two months after Pope Francis incurred the wrath of the White House after lambasting the new US administration over its migration policies.Catholic convert Vance and his delegation held “cordial talks” with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states, according to a Vatican statement.The late morning meeting came just a day after Vance met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and discussed US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.Vance, 40, had been hoping to meet the 88-year-old head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who is recuperating after battling life-threatening pneumonia and spending nearly 40 days in hospital.The Vatican made no mention of any such meeting with the pontiff and Vance’s entourage has not commented on the rest of his programme in Rome.But Francis made a brief appearance at Saint Peter’s Basilica in the late afternoon, greeting visitors from his wheelchair.”During the cordial talks” that praised bilateral relations, “the common commitment to protect the right to freedom of religion and conscience was reiterated,” the Vatican said in a statement.That was a topic Vance brought up during a speech to the Munich Security Conference in February, when he slammed the “retreat” of free speech in Europe.A statement from the White House said that Vance and Parolin “discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace”.- ‘Valuable service to most vulnerable’ -However, there were also discussions on subjects where the two sides do not see eye to eye.”There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners,” the Vatican added.In February, Francis angered the White House after writing a letter to US bishops in which he condemned Trump’s plan to deport migrants en masse, which he described as a “major crisis”.The United States responded by telling Francis to “stick to” religion.Last year, Francis also made a rare foray into the US election season to call harsh anti-migrant attitudes “madness” and criticise right-wing US Catholic figures for overly conservative stances.But following Saturday’s meeting, the Vatican did acknowledge the US Catholic Church’s “valuable service to the most vulnerable people”.Vance has a close relationship with the most conservative fringe of American churches, which have criticised the pope over his stances on migration, LGBTQ rights and certain questions of social justice.The US vice president, his wife and three children attended a Good Friday liturgy at Saint Peter’s Basilica following his meeting with Meloni.There has been no official confirmation of whether Vance, who converted to Catholicism in his mid-30s, will attend Easter mass on Sunday, where the pope is expected to make an appearance to the thousands of worshippers descending on the Vatican for the occasion.In May 2017, when Trump was in his first term, he was received at the Vatican for a half-hour meeting.

The US Supreme Court, in a dramatic nighttime intervention Saturday, paused President Donald Trump’s unprecedented use of an obscure law to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process.The emergency ruling, delivered in two terse paragraphs, noted that two of the most conservative of the nine justices had dissented.The order temporarily prevents the government from continuing to expel migrants under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act — last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II.Trump invoked the law last month to deport Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador.The unusual decision was triggered by imminent plans late Friday to expel dozens more Venezuelans under the Act, meaning they would have been deported with next to no ability to hear evidence against them or challenge their cases.The court said “the government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order.”Trump justifies summary expulsions — and the detention of people in El Salvador — by insisting that he is cracking down on violent Venezuelan criminal gangs now classified by the US government as terrorists.But the policy is fueling opposition concerns that the Republican is ignoring the US constitution in a broader bid to amass power. The row over the Alien Enemies Act comes amid muscular assaults by the administration on big law firms, Harvard and other universities, and major independent media outlets.The American Civil Liberties Union, which took the lead in seeking to halt Friday’s planned deportations, welcomed the Supreme Court ruling.”These men were in imminent danger of spending their lives in a horrific foreign prison without ever having had a chance to go to court. We are relieved that the Supreme Court has not permitted the administration to whisk them away the way others were just last month,” lead attorney Lee Gelernt said.- Tattoos and due process -Trump’s election last November was won in large part on his aggressive promises to combat what he has repeatedly claimed is an “invasion” of violent migrants.While there is no evidence to support the narrative of the United States being “invaded,” Trump’s rhetoric about rapists and murderers descending on suburban homes resonated with swaths of voters who have long been concerned about high levels of illegal immigration.Trump has sent troops to the Mexican border, imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for allegedly not doing enough to stop illegal crossings, and designated narco-gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13 terrorist groups.However, Democrats and civil rights groups have expressed alarm at an erosion of constitutional rights.Under Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act — previously seen only during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II — migrants have been accused of gang membership and sent to El Salvador without ability to go before a judge or being charged with a crime.Attorneys for several of the Venezuelans already deported had said their clients were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.In the most publicized case, Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported last month to the infamous El Salvador mega-prison without charge. The Trump administration said he had been included in a bigger batch of deportees due to an “administrative error” and a court ruled that it must facilitate his return.However, Trump has since doubled down, insisting that Abrego Garcia is in fact a gang member, including posting an apparently doctored photo on social media Friday that showed MS-13 on his knuckles.Most of the deported migrants are currently held in El Salvador’s maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a mega-prison southeast of the capital San Salvador with capacity for 40,000 prisoners. Inmates are packed in windowless cells, sleep on metal beds with no mattresses, and are forbidden visitors.

The United States and Iran on Saturday resumed high-stakes talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, a week after an initial round of discussions that both sides described as “constructive”.The Oman-mediated talks in Rome began at around 0930 GMT, according to a US official and Iranian state television.Images broadcast by Iranian state television showed Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arriving in the Italian capital, with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff also set to participate in the talks.Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the “two delegations are in two different rooms” at the Omani ambassador’s residence, with Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi passing messages between them.The meeting comes a week after the two sides had what Iran called indirect talks in Muscat. Those were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.Following his return to office in January, Trump revived his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Iran.In March he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging renewed nuclear talks while also warning of military action if diplomacy failed.”I’m not in a rush” to use the military option, Trump said Thursday. “I think Iran wants to talk.”On Friday, Araghchi said Iran “observed a degree of seriousness” on the US side during the first round but questioned their “intentions and motivations”.In a social media post early Saturday, Baqaei said Tehran was “aware that it is not a smooth path but we take every step with open eyes, relying also on the past experiences”.The leader of mediator Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, is due in Moscow in the coming days, according to his office and the Kremlin, which said he would discuss with President Vladimir Putin “current questions on the international and regional agenda” and other issues.- ‘Crucial stage’ -In an interview published on Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb.During Trump’s first term, Washington withdrew from the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers which offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.Tehran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.Araghchi was a negotiator of the 2015 deal. His US counterpart in Rome, Witkoff, is a real estate magnate Trump has also tasked with talks on Ukraine.Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to decide on whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October this year.Iran has previously warned it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism were triggered.Grossi, who met Iranian officials in Tehran this week, said the US and Iran were “at a very crucial stage” in the talks and “don’t have much time” to secure a deal.- ‘Non-negotiable’ -Iranian officials have insisted that the talks focus only on its nuclear programme and lifting of sanctions.Araghchi said a deal with the US was “likely” if Washington refrained from “making unreasonable and unrealistic demands”, without elaborating.Analysts had said the United States would push to include discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for militants in the Middle East.Araghchi said Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “non-negotiable”, after Witkoff called for its complete halt. Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the ceiling set by the 2015 deal.On Friday US ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a “clear course of action” to prevent this.Khamenei on Tuesday said Iranians should not pin hopes on progress in the negotiations which “may or may not yield results”.

US Vice President JD Vance met with the Vatican’s second-highest official on Saturday, in which they discussed the thorny issue of refugees just two months after Pope Francis incurred the wrath of the White House after lambasting the new US administration over its migration policies.Catholic convert Vance and his delegation held “cordial talks” with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states, according to a Vatican statement.The meeting came just a day after Vance met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and discussed US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.Vance, 40, had been hoping to meet with the 88-year-old head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who is recuperating after battling life-threatening pneumonia and spending nearly 40 days in hospital.The Vatican made no mention of any such meeting with the pontiff and Vance’s entourage has not commented on the rest of his programme in Rome.”During the cordial talks” that praised bilateral relations, “the common commitment to protect the right to freedom of religion and conscience was reiterated,” the Vatican said in a statement.That was a topic Vance brought up during a speech to the Munich Security Conference in February, when he slammed the “retreat” of free speech in Europe.- ‘Valuable service to most vulnerable’ -However, there were also discussions on subjects where the two sides do not see eye to eye.”There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners,” the Vatican added.In February, Francis angered the White House after writing a letter to US bishops in which he condemned Trump’s plan to deport migrants en masse, which he described as a “major crisis”.The US responded by telling Francis to “stick to” religion.Last year, Francis also made a rare foray into the US election season to call harsh anti-migrant attitudes “madness” and criticise right-wing US Catholic figures for overly conservative stances.But following Saturday’s meeting, the Vatican did acknowledge the US Catholic Church’s “valuable service to the most vulnerable people”.Vance has a close relationship with the most conservative fringe of American churches, which have criticised the pope over his stances on migration, LGBTQ rights and certain questions of social justice.The US vice president, his wife and three children attended a Good Friday liturgy at Saint Peter’s Basilica following his meeting with Meloni.There has been no official confirmation whether Vance, who converted to Catholicism in his mid-30s, will attend Easter mass on Sunday, where the pope is expected to make an appearance to the thousands of faithful who will descend on the Vatican for the occasion.In May 2017, when Trump was in his first term, he was received at the Vatican for a half-hour meeting.

US Vice President JD Vance arrived at the Vatican on Saturday morning ahead of a meeting with the Holy See’s second-highest official, just two months after Pope Francis lambasted the new US administration.Catholic convert Vance and his delegation arrived at the pope’s official residence, the Apostolic Palace, just before 10:00 am (0800 GMT) and were due to hold a meeting with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states.The meeting comes just a day after Vance held talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni where US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs were discussed.Vance is hoping also to meet with the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who is recuperating after battling life-threatening pneumonia and spending nearly 40 days in hospital.The 40-year-old US vice president, his wife and three children attended a Good Friday liturgy at Saint Peter’s basilica following his meeting with Meloni.There has been no official confirmation whether Vance, who converted to Catholicism in his mid-30s, will attend Easter mass on Sunday, where the pope is expected to make an appearance to the thousands of faithful who will descend on the Vatican for the occasion.Any meeting between Vance and the pope could be a tense affair.In February, Francis incurred the wrath of the White House after writing a letter to US bishops in which he condemned Trump’s plan to deport migrants en masse, which he described as a “major crisis”.The US responded by telling Francis to “stick to” religion.Last year, Francis made a rare foray into the US election season to call harsh anti-migrant attitudes “madness” and criticise right-wing US Catholic figures for overly conservative stances.Vance has a close relationship with the most conservative fringe of American churches, which have criticised the pope over his stances on migration, LGBTQ rights and certain questions of social justice.In May 2017, when Trump was in his first term, he was received at the Vatican for a half-hour meeting.

The US Supreme Court on Saturday paused the Trump administration’s deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members under an 18th-century law.US President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) last month to begin rounding up Venezuelan migrants accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang before expelling them to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.The obscure law has only previously been used during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.”The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court,” the Supreme Court’s brief order issued early Saturday said.The order came after rights lawyers filed an emergency appeal to halt the deportation of migrants currently held in a facility in the southern state of Texas.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in its emergency filing on Friday night that the group of Venezuelans held in Texas had been told “they will be imminently removed under the AEA, as soon as tonight.” Attorneys for several of the Venezuelans previously deported had said their clients were not members of Tren de Aragua, had committed no crimes and were targeted largely on the basis of their tattoos.Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to expel millions of undocumented migrants, has accused Venezuela of “perpetrating an invasion” of the United States through the entry of alleged Tren de Aragua members.The Supreme Court said this month that anyone facing deportation under the AEA must first be given an opportunity to legally challenge their removal.- ‘Imminent removal’ -The ACLU said in its filing on Friday that the migrants in Texas were in danger of “being removed from the United States without notice or an opportunity to be heard.””Many individuals have already been loaded on to buses, presumably headed to the airport,” the rights group said.The Trump administration went ahead with the initial deportations of alleged Tren de Aragua members under the AEA in March despite an order by federal judge James Boasberg blocking the move.Judges and lawmakers are now wrangling with Salvadoran officials over the fate of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was deported last month due to what the White House later said was an “administrative error.”The Supreme Court lifted the block on April 7, in the same decision where it said people facing deportation are entitled to due process.The deported migrants are currently held in El Salvador’s maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center, a mega-prison southeast of the capital San Salvador with capacity for 40,000 prisoners.Inmates there are packed in windowless cells, sleep on metal beds with no mattresses and are forbidden visitors.

The United States and Iran are set to resume high-stakes talks Saturday on Tehran’s nuclear programme, a week after an initial round of discussions that both sides described as “constructive”.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Rome, images broadcast early Saturday by Iranian state television showed, where he was set to join Oman-mediated talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.Iranian state television reported that the talks in the Italian capital would begin at 0830 GMT.The meeting comes a week after the two sides conducted what Iran called indirect talks in Muscat. Those were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.Following his return to office in January, Trump revived his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Iran.In March he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging renewed nuclear talks while warning of military action if diplomacy failed.”I’m not in a rush” to use the military option, Trump said on Thursday. “I think Iran wants to talk.” On Friday Araghchi said Iran “observed a degree of seriousness” on the US side during the first round but questioned their intentions.”Although we have serious doubts about the intentions and motivations of the American side, in any case we will participate in tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) negotiations,” he said at a press conference in Moscow.In a social media post early on Saturday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran was “aware that it is not a smooth path but we take every step with open eyes, relying also on the past experiences”.- ‘Crucial stage’ -In an interview published on Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb. During Trump’s first term, Washington withdrew from the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers which offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. Tehran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.Araghchi was a negotiator of the 2015 deal. His US counterpart in Rome, Witkoff, is a real estate magnate Trump has also tasked with talks on Ukraine.Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to decide on whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October this year.Iran has previously warned it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism were triggered.Grossi, who held talks with Iranian officials during a visit to Tehran this week, said the US and Iran were “at a very crucial stage” in the talks and “don’t have much time” to secure a deal. – ‘Non-negotiable’ -Iranian officials have insisted that the talks only focus on its nuclear programme and lifting of sanctions.Araghchi said a deal with the US was “likely” if Washington refrained from “making unreasonable and unrealistic demands,” without elaborating.Analysts had said the United States would push to include discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme as well as Tehran’s support for militants in the Middle East.Araghchi said Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “non-negotiable”, after Witkoff called for its complete halt. Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the ceiling set by the 2015 deal.On Tuesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the country’s military capabilities were off limits in the discussions.Iran’s regional influence and its missile capabilities were among its “red lines” in the talks, the official IRNA news agency reported.On Friday US ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a “clear course of action” to prevent this.Khamenei on Tuesday said Iranians should not pin hopes on progress in the negotiations which “may or may not yield results.”

Donald Trump’s simmering discontent with the US Federal Reserve boiled over this week, with the president threatening to take the unprecedented step of ousting the head of the fiercely independent central bank.Trump has repeatedly said he wants rate cuts now to help stimulate economic growth as he rolls out his tariff plans, and has threatened to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell if he does not comply, putting the bank and the White House on a collision course that analysts warn could destabilize US financial markets.”If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me,” Trump said Thursday, referring to Powell, whose second four-year stint as Fed chair ends in May 2026. Powell has said he has no plans to step down early, adding this week that he considers the bank’s independence over monetary policy to be a “matter of law.””Clearly, the fact that the Fed chairman feels that he has to address it means that they are serious,” KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk told AFP, referring to the White House. Stephanie Roth, chief economist at Wolfe Research, said she thinks “they will come into conflict,” but does not think “that the Fed is going to succumb to the political pressure.”Most economists agree that the administration’s tariff plans — which include a 10 percent “baseline” rate on imports from most countries — will put upward pressure on prices and cool economic growth, at least in the short term.That would keep inflation well away from the Fed’s long-term target of two percent, and likely prevent policymakers from cutting rates in the next few months.”They’re not going to react because Trump posted that they should be cutting,” Roth said in an interview, adding that doing so would be “a recipe for a disaster” for the US economy.- Fed independence ‘absolutely critical’ – Many legal scholars say the US president does not have the power to fire the Fed chair or any of his colleagues on the bank’s 19-person rate-setting committee for any reason but cause. The Fed system, created more than a century ago, is also designed to insulate the US central bank from political interference.”Independence is absolutely critical for the Fed,” said Roth. “Countries that do not have independent central banks have currencies that are notably weaker and interest rates that are notably higher.”Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told AFP that “we’ve had strong evidence that impairing central bank independence is a really bad idea.” – ‘Can’t control the bond market’ -One serious threat to the Fed’s independence comes from an ongoing case in which the Trump administration has indicated it will seek to challenge a 1935 Supreme Court decision denying the US president the right to fire the heads of independent government agencies. The case could have serious ramifications for the Fed, given its status as an independent agency whose leadership believes they cannot currently be fired by the president for any reason but cause. But even if the Trump administration succeeds in court, it may soon run into the ultimate guardrail of Fed independence: The bond markets.During the recent market turbulence unleashed by Trump’s tariff plans, US government bond yields surged and the dollar fell, signaling that investors may not see the United States as the safe haven investment it once was. Faced with the sharp rise in US Treasury yields, the Trump administration paused its plans for higher tariffs against dozens of countries, a move that helped calm the financial markets. If investors believed the Fed’s independence to tackle inflation was compromised, that would likely push up the yields on long-dated government bonds on the assumption that long-term inflation would be higher, and put pressure on the administration. “You can’t control the bond market. And that’s the moral of the story,” said Swonk.”And that’s why you want an independent Fed.”

Sara Lopez hugs the wall of the mall as she hurries back to her car after a shopping trip just outside Washington.”I’m afraid of being arrested while walking in the street,” the 41-year-old undocumented migrant said.Lopez left El Salvador three years ago to move in with her husband near the American capital, home to a large Salvadoran community, second only to that of Los Angeles.It was near here in March that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was arrested — a Salvadoran migrant hustled off to a prison in his home country by the Trump administration despite a 2019 court order that was supposed to protect him from deportation.American authorities have acknowledged an “administrative error” in Abrego Garcia’s case, but they have dug in over seeking his return to the country.The Trump administration claims that Abrego Garcia belonged to the Salvadoran gang MS-13, which it has dubbed a “foreign terrorist organization” — and said he is guilty of domestic violence.”There should be a good investigation into this case, because we can’t all be tarred with the same brush,” Washington resident Lopez said.”We came here to work,” she insisted, adding that “we don’t do any harm to anyone.”In Mount Pleasant, a Washington neighborhood peppered with Salvadoran restaurants, 31-year-old Keylie said that in her community, “some are working two part-times, even three part-times, just to make ends meet.”The daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, she declined to give her family name.Keylie was born in the United States, and so holds citizenship, but said she still feels afraid.”Just by looking at me, you can tell I’m Hispanic. I could be targeted just because of that,” she said.- Divided views –The Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return from a notorious Salvadoran prison.Alberto Garcia, who is not related to Abrego Garcia, hailed the justices’ decision.The jailed man is the victim of an “injustice,” Alberto Garcia said, adding, “They didn’t give him the right to defend himself.”Some of the Salvadorans to whom AFP spoke, however, offered more nuanced takes on the case.”The governments here and there (in El Salvador) have apparently discovered that he was part of a gang,” said Saul Mercado with a shrug.The sunglasses-wearing 60-something, who was granted political asylum after fleeing El Salvador’s 1979-92 civil war, said he agrees with the policies Trump has pursued since returning to the White House in January.The billionaire president won the votes of more than four in 10 Latinos in the November election, gaining substantial support among the community since 2020.”He’s cleaning up all the crime,” Mercado said, comparing Trump to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who he said has his own country “making progress.”During a White House visit Monday, Bukele ruled out any flexibility in Abrego Garcia’s case, saying he was unable to send the man back.The Salvadoran president has boosted his popularity at home by waging relentless war on the gangs that once terrorized the Central American country.Abrego Garcia’s case “creates conflict” for many Salvadorans in the United States, said Abel Nunez, director of Carecen, a local group that aids Latin American migrants.”They can see that this young man was a victim, they are aware of that, but they are not necessarily blaming Bukele for it. For them, he’s just a jailer,” added Nunez, who is Salvadoran.”This case has more to do with the US as a whole, and not only with our community,” he said. “Kilmar’s expulsion opens the door for anyone to be sent outside of the country — and that includes citizens.”Trump himself has floated the idea of sending US citizens to be jailed abroad, saying on Tuesday that he “would love” to send “homegrown criminals” to El Salvador’s prisons.

Threats to Muslims living in Texas are nothing new, but lately the vile phone calls to Imran Chaudhary have ramped up.The cause?Chaudhary’s early plans for construction of 1,000 new homes, a community center, school, hospital and — controversially — a mosque and Islamic private school to serve the growing Muslim community near East Plano, in a thinly populated corner of east Texas.One anonymous caller says, in an expletive filled message, “I suggest you get the fuck out of America while it’s still an option.” The conservative, white, and Christian authorities tied to President Donald Trump in this state aren’t exactly welcoming either, launching investigations into the project’s legality.Chaudhary says the pressure is misguided.”We’ve been trying to follow every single law that is out there, from the state perspective to the federal perspective,” he said.But just this week, Senator John Cornyn called for an investigation into the constitutionality of Chaudhary’s project, an offshoot of an existing site called the East Plano Islamic Center or “EPIC.”The center “could violate the constitutional rights of Jewish and Christian Texans,” he said.Texas governor and Trump ally Greg Abbott characterized the project as an attempt to install Islamic law. “To be clear, Sharia law is not allowed in Texas. Nor are Sharia cities. Nor are ‘no go zones’ which this project seems to imply,” he wrote on social media. Texas is one of more than a dozen states that have enacted “anti-Sharia law” bills, which anti-hate group Southern Poverty Law Center calls “one of the most successful far-right conspiracies to achieve mainstream viability.”The conspiracy theory holds that Islamic law, known as sharia, is encroaching on the American legal system, a claim the American Civil Liberties Union and other legal experts refute.Chaudhary denies that he envisions a Muslim-only town, saying that it’s “open to all, anybody can use our services, community center, our school.”As president of Community Capital Partners, which develops EPIC properties, Chaudhary told AFP, “We never even discussed sharia. From day one we’ve consulted with our attorneys what is the best way for us to do this project, to make sure that we follow all the state laws, we follow all the federal laws.”In a show of goodwill, Chaudhary invited the governor to a Texas-style barbeque over social media. Abbott didn’t respond.- Fear vs optimism -The EPIC Islamic community settled in Plano north of Dallas some 20 years ago, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the new community they want to build near Josephine.The Plano settlement of around 5,000 people now have their own mosque. Iman Yasir Qadhi leads prayers there.Born in Houston to a Pakistani family, Qadhi said Muslims like Texas because of the warm weather, low taxes and good food.”Organically, when the mosque was built, a lot of people began moving in here and we found that our space wasn’t sufficient for us,” he said. “Because of the influx of people we are looking to expand.”Only 313,000 Muslims reside in Texas, which has a population of more than 31 million, according to World Population Review.Prospective EPIC residents can reserve lots by putting down 20 percent, with single townhouse pads starting at $80,000 and 1-acre lots going for $250,000. Maps posted online indicate more than two dozen lots have already been sold.But at an April town hall meeting in Collin County, an overflow crowd showed up to speak out against EPIC’s project. And the developers’ lawyer Dan Cogdell said all the negative publicity will slow approvals down.”The lies and the misinformation that Abbott’s putting out is striking,” he said.Qadhi said he is worried about hate crimes. He said he himself has been accused of terrorism but “they are the ones terrorizing us.”Moitree Rahman, a 38-year-old mother of two from Bangladesh, says she remains optimistic and looks forward to the expanding EPIC community.”All the rhetoric that we are seeing and hearing, it’s not true,” she said. “That’s why we felt very confident in investing.”