Transcript

3.11.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Tuesday,
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March eleventh, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, Radio I
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Your reader for today is Cindy Fraser. Today's
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front page headlines from The Washington Post are ex official
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recounts doge Blitz of agency lawsuits, has appointees sought and
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exposed key data from Social Security? Next stock slide, Trump
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digs in White House, downplays quote blips, investors freer tariffs
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will hold regardless of fallout. Our next headline in danger,
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then limbo in Mexico, a man escaped the cartel that
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kidnapped him, but when he got to the U. S border,
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he was told there was no more asylum. Our next headline,
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Preparing for talks. Ukraine battles on hounded in Kursk and
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at home, Kiev hopes to repair relations with US. Next
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standing United d C officials try to stop quote devastating cuts.
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Nearly all city lawmakers head to hill to avert one
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point one billion dollar hit to budget. In the final
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headline from to day's front page, Pivot to West Bank
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has Israeli settlers boasting far right leaders say they had
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long lobbied for military to apply its gaza tactics to
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the territory. Now let's turn to our first item, entitled
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ex official recounts Doze blits of agency lawsuit says appointees
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sought and exposed key data from Social Security Bylisa Rhine,
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they came in aggressively, a former official who witnessed Elon
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Musk's team take over the Social Security Administration said, demanding
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access to sensitive taxpayer data and refusing briefings on how
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the agency ensures the accuracy of its benefit systems. They
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recklessly exposed data in unsecured areas outside Social Security offices,
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the official said, potentially disclosing personally identifiable information on almost
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every American to people not authorized to see it. And
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representative sent by the US Doge Service refused to explain
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why they needed taxpayer information that is protected by law.
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The former official said. Despite their status as political appointees,
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the secretive members of the cost cutting group overseen by
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Musk ignored the normal chain of command, instead communicating directly
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with DOGE. These and other allegations are included in a
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sweeping declaration filed as part of a federal lawsuit Friday
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from Tiffany Flick, the agency's acting chief of staff until
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she was forced out in mid February. Flick describes a
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fast and tension filled takeover of the agency and its
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sensitive data systems by DOGE in what amounted to a
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de facto coup by agency outsiders. The declaration is the
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first in depth public account from a high ranking government
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executive of how Musk's team is operating at one of
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dozens of agencies as it leads a downsizing of the
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federal government under President Donald Trump. Software engineers with no
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government experience, some in their early twenties, have clashed with
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career civil servants at multiple agencies where DOGE has sought
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and in some cases, received, access to systems containing sensitive
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data on federal employees, government payments, taxpayer information, and a
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sensitive child support database. I witness a disregard for critical
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processes like providing least privileged access based on a need
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to know and lack of interest in understanding our systems
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and programs, Flick said in her thirteen page declaration, written
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under oath, that, combined with a significant loss of expertise
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as more and more agency personnel leave, have me seriously
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concerned that SSA programs will continue to function and operate
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without disruption. If social securities, long standing information security policies
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and procedures continued to be ignored by the DOGE team,
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Flick wrote that could result in benefits not being paid
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out or delays in payments. The stakes are high. Flick
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was a thirty year civil servant who started her career
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reviewing retirement and disability claims in a local field office.
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She rose to hold a number of senior positions in
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the budget office and other roles reporting directly to several
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Social Security Commissioners, before becoming acting chief of Staff on
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January twentieth, the day Trump was sworn in into office.
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Flick and Acting Commissioner Michelle King, another career leader, abruptly
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retired on February sixteenth after resisting demands from DOGE to
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provide access to three massive databases containing sensitive taxpayer information.
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In their place, the White House elevated Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek,
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a mid level data analyst who the career leaders believed
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had been improperly sharing information with DOGE. The career leaders
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had placed Dudek on paid leave and opened an investigation
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into his actions before he was promoted. Social Security press
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officials did not respond to requests for comment. In his
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first weeks at the HELM, Dudik has announced plans for
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big job cuts and regional office closures at Social Security,
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which administers the safety Net program used by seventy three
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million retired and disabled Americans. The reductions have a law
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armed Democrats and advocates and some Republicans who fear that
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benefits will be effected. On Friday, The Washington Post reported
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that DOZE representatives are making the decisions at the agency,
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not Dudek, according to detailed notes of what he told
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a group of advocates in a meeting last week. But
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it was the unorthodox and in her mind, improper manner
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used by the chief information officer and another DOGE aligned
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appointee to infiltrate agency headquarters that alarmed Flick, who delivered
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her declaration to lawyers for Democracy Forward. The group is
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representing a coalition of unions and retirees that filed a
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motion for emergency relief in U S. District Court for
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the District of Maryland Northern Division on Friday, seeking to
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hault doges quote unprecedented, unlawful seizure of personal, confidential, private
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and sensitive data. One of the fununda mental responsibilities of
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any Social Security employee is to protect the confidentiality of
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the personal data and information the agency collects and holds.
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Numerous federal laws, including the Privacy Act, and internal regulations
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and policies, govern the data and who can see it.
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If another agency wants to use the information kept by
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Social Security, an agreement takes months and multiple levels of review,
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Flick wrote. In late January, Dudek, then working in an
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anti fraud office, called Flick to tell her that DOGE
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representatives planned to work at agency headquarters in Woodland, Maryland.
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Judik said they had contacted him. Flick told him to
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several contacts with DOGE and refer them to the Commissioner's office.
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The next day, Mike Rusoe, who has a private sector
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technology background, joined as chief Information Officer and introduced himself
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as a DOGE reperive, according to Flick's declaration. Then a
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software engineer named Akosh Boba joined after career officials were
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pressured by the Trump administration to rush him on board
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despite issues with his credentialing process. Flick said, I did
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not understand the apparent urgency with which mister Boba needed
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to be onboarded and given access to ssay's system and data,
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which are highly sensitive. Flick wrote, the administration became increasingly
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impatient for Boba to get access. Russeo hung up on
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a reporter who called seeking comment Sunday. Boba did not
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respond to a request for comment. Russo never clarified what
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DOGE wanted to do with the social security data, but
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Flick concluded that the goal was to examine various types
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of alleged benefits fraud. She considered the concerns to be
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invalid and based on an inaccurate understanding of asssay's data
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and programs. Flick wrote. The Commissioner's office offered to brief
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Russo on areas related to potential fraud and what measures
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the agency takes to combat it. However, mister Russo seemed
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completely focused on questions from DOGE officials based on the
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general myth of supposed widespread social security fraud rather than facts,
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Flick wrote. Russo also was having conversations with other agencies,
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including the Treasury, Homeland, Security, and Education departments. About sharing
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social security data with them. While data's sharing with these
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agencies is normal, mister Russo's lack of transparency was not,
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Flick wrote. Russo's office finally said it had trained Boba
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to carry out a special project requested by DOGE. Flick wrote,
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but she was worried. I do not believe mister Boba
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had a sufficient understanding of the sensitive nature of SSA
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data or the ways to ensure its confidentiality, she wrote.
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She determined that Boba could have read only anonymous access
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to a database known as the Numidant, which contains information
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to assign and maintain social security numbers, but because the
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file was provided to him in such haste, the data
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had technical glitches. Flick said. Boba was analyzing the data
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at the Office of Personnel Management, where he was living
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and working. Flick worried that others may have had access
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to the information, which was not kept in a private
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location where systems and data could be protected from unauthorized access.
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Then Russo and DOJE officials demanded more data immediately. They
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wanted full access to the massive database containing not just
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the Numidant files, but two others containing extensive information about
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anyone with a Social Security number, including work history, spouses
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and dependents, financial and banking information, marital status and immigration
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and citizenship status, and detailed information about anyone who applies
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for or receives retirement or disability benefits. Flick was alarmed.
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Even with read only access, the DOGE representatives could copy
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and paste, export, end, screenshot the data, or otherwise compile
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it for analysis, she wrote, but full access would allow
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them to change the data in the system. Russo was
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evasive when Flick repeatedly asked him why DOGE wanted social
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Security data. He repeatedly stated that mister Boba needed access
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to everything, including source code, Flick wrote, referring to instructions
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written by programmers. Social Security would normally not provide this access,
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even to our most skilled and highly trained experts, she wrote.
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The pushback from career officials led Russo to appeal to
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the Chief Information Officer at the White House Budget Office,
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polytical appointee, who wrote an opinion giving DOGE workers access
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to whatever they wanted. The tension came to a head
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on President's Day weekend, Dudick was placed on paid leave
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regarding allegations of multiple inappropriate actions. Flick wrote that prompted
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the White House to elevate him to Acting Commissioner. King
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and Flick were out, and Dudek gave Doge the data
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they wanted. Flick wrote that she is deeply concerned about
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Doge's access to SSA systems and the potential to inappropriately
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and inaccurately disclose this information, especially given the rush nature
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in which we were required to bring the team to
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Social Security. Flick said the problem isn't existing fraud, but
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that the Doge approach to taxpayer's data might create opportunities
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for fraud in the system. I'm not confident that DOGE
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associates have the requisite knowledge and training to prevent sensitive
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information from being in certently transferred to bad actors, she wrote,
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describing political appointees at the Personnel Agency who have never
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been vetted by SSA or trained on SSA data systems
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or programs. Now with access to data that was previously
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protected from almost everyone in such a chaotic environment, the
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risk of data leaking into the wrong hands is significant,
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Flick wrote. Our next item from today's front page is
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entitled stocks slide, Trump digs in White House downplays quote blips.
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Investors fear tariffs will hold regardless of fallout by Jeff Stein,
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Shannon Nosmology, and Aaron Gregg. President Donald Trump's senior advisors
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downplayed fresh economic turbulence Monday, as the administration's escalating trade
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ward deepened a sell off on Wall Street and renewed
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fears about the stability of the U S economy. Though
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all three major U S stock indexes slumped, Trump's team
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projected confidence that the volatility would prove temporary and that
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an economic boom set up by tax cuts would follow
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later this year. But investors had been unsettled by Trump's
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willingness to impose tariffs that go even beyond his sweeping
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campaign promises. With hundreds of billions in new import duties
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already levied and trillions more about to take effect April second,
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the federal government could shut down this weekend too, if
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Congress doesn't extend federal funding, a possibility Trump acknowledged reporters
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Sunday night. The growing conviction that Trump will stick by
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massive new tariffs regardless of the economic fallout, amplified by
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the President's refusal on Sunday to rule out a recession,
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fueled the drop across equity markets. The Dow Jones Industrial
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Average closed down eight hundred ninety points, or two point
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one percent, while the S and P five hundred fell
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two point seven percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted
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four percent. There are a lot of reasons to be
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extremely bullish about the economy going forward, but for sure
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this quarter there are some blips in the data. White
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House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Monday.
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What's going to happen is the first quarter is going
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to squeak into the positive category, and then the second
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quarter is going to take off as everybody sees the
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reality of the tax cuts. Hassett's comments appeared not to
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immediately convince investors, who have grown increasingly skittish about the
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effect of Trump's tariff policies in his first weeks in office.
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The president last week implemented twenty five percent duties on
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all imports from Canada and Mexico, the nation's two biggest
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trading partners, before pairing those plans so they don't affect
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goods imported under the North America Trade Pact reached during
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Trump's first term. Trump added an additional ten percent to
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tariffs on all Chinese products last week, bringing the total
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tax on some imports from China to forty five percent.
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The tariffs, though already farther reaching than those implemented throughout
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Trump's first term, may still only represent the earliest of
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his trade tsavos. The President has said he plans to
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place reciprocal tariffs against all trading partners that levy tariffs
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on U S goods on April second, a move that
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could affect trillions more in annual trade. Trump's trade actions
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have thus far affected roughly one point three trillion dollars
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in imports, but the reciprocal tariffs could also effect the
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remaining one point eight trillion dollars, although there is huge
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uncertainty about what precisely the administration means. According to Kimberly Closing,
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who served as a top economist in President Joe Biden's
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Treasury Department and is now at UCLA and the per
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Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington based think tank,
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other analysts have also raised alarms about the tariffs and
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rapidly shifting economic policies. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase
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last week downgraded their forecasts for first quarter economic growth.
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Citing tariffs and broader uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration's economic policies,
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BNP Parabos said it anticipates lasting damage to global economic
17:30
activity even if the recently imposed tariffs are removed, with
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substantially greater damage to be priced into the market the
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longer teriffs day. In fact, worries among Americans that their
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household financial situations would deteriorate rose considerably in February to
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the highest level since November twenty twenty three, according to
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a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report out Monday.
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What's happening is very straightforward. Tariffs are what is called
18:00
causing the sell offs across markets and the risk of
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a slower pace of growth in the US economy, said
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Joe Brussulas, chief economists at tax and consulting firm RSMUS.
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During Trump's first term, his administration repeatedly backed off new
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tariffs when they led to a decline in the stock market,
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but the president has gone out of his way in
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recent days to suggest that will not be the case
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in his second term. He said Thursday that he is
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not looking at the stock market, and said in an
18:31
interview broadcast Sunday that it will take a little time
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before Americans see a payoff from his policies. Trump also
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declined to rule out a recession. I hate to predict
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things like that, the president said. He and other advisors
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have also said that the measures are necessary to rebalance
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the global trade system, which they argue has hurt the
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United States by giving foreign countries a competitive advantage in
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production and many There is a period of transition because
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what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back
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to America, Trump said. Economists of both parties have criticized
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Trump's justification for his trade war, pointing to research finding
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that the terrace of his first term caused US manufacturing
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to decline. The White House has already twice imposed stiff tariffs,
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only to quickly modulate, leading to wild ups and downs
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on Wall Street. Last week, the sm P five hundred
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and NASDAC tumbled three percent and three point four percent, respectively,
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while the Dow dropped two point three percent. Including Monday's slide,
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the Dow is now down four point five percent since
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the beginning of last week. Uncertainty in the market extended
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to the tech sector, where growth oriented stocks linked to
19:53
artificial intelligence and chips could see a shake up as
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a Trump administration imposes harsh news duties on China, said
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Wedbush senior analyst Dan Ives. Apple closed down nearly four
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point nine percent on Monday, while Navidia lost five point
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one percent. The street can't take not knowing the rules
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of the game under Trump, with recession fears growing, and
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this is causing a mini panic for tech investors, I've
20:22
said in an email. Tex Stock's historically strong performance, particularly
20:27
among a handful of top performing Magnificent seven stocks that
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include Apple and Navidia, has led market growth in recent years.
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The recent seloff might reflect investor's desire to lock in
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gains in those areas and a retrenchment from the more
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speculative future growth stocks on the Nasdaq toward more stable
20:47
offerings such as utilities, said Mark mahonney, managing director and
20:53
the head of the Internet research team at Evercore. In
20:56
a sign of the increased turmoil, the se Bo Volatility Index,
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known as Wall Street's fear gauge, jumped nineteen point five
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percent by the end of the trading day. Investors will
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be closely watching the inflation report coming Wednesday, Annalys said.
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Next is an item entitled in Danger then limbo. In Mexico,
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a man escaped the cartel that had kidnapped him, but
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when he got to the U. S border, he was
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told there's no more asylum. Barelis r Ernandez from Siouda
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Forrees Mexico. The business man arrived at the border in
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a freshly pressed shirt and polished leather shoes. In his
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backpack were the records detailing how he'd been kidnapped, sodomized,
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and stuffed in a closet by members of a Mexican cartel.
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JC walked to the midpoint of the international bridge that
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connected the industrial Mexican city known for its violent past
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and the US one that has drawn droves of migrants
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seeking a future in America. Days before, President Donald Trump
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had taken office and quickly shuttered the border to almost
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everyone who didn't have a visa or a US passport. JAC,
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who spoke with The Washington Post on the condition that
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his full name not be used out of fear his
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assailants will target him, hoped to convince immigration officials that
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he needed to be let in anyway. There were still
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healing scars on his face, wrists, and legs. He had
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records from Mexican prosecutors corroborating the cartel savagery. His life
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depended on it. As he approached, he said, US immigration
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officials quickly turned him away. There is no more asylum,
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he recalled them, saying, minutes before Mexican officers stationed on
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the bridge chased him away. The right to seek protection
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from persecution in one's homeland has been a bedrock principle
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in the United States since the aftermath of World War II.
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By law, anyone who reaches US soil and demonstrates a
23:02
credible fear of returning has the right to apply for asylum,
23:07
regardless of how they entered. But the US asylum system
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has been under intensifying scrutiny as illegal border crossing sword
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under President Joe Biden, and immigration became a political lightning
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rod during the twenty twenty four election. Policy advisers and
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legal scholars across the political spectrum agree the system is
23:28
not working as it was designed to function. Immigration courts
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are overwhelmed and cases can drag on for years. Migrants
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must prove they face persecution based on their race, religion, nationality,
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political opinion, or belonging to a particular social group hardship
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based on, for instance, an economic collapse or humanitarian disaster
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is not sufficient. People are allowed to stay while they
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wait for their cases to be heard, and those who
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are not granted protection are rarely deported. Biden enacted rules
24:05
last year aimed at curtailing illegal immigration that also reduced
24:10
how many people could enter on a given day and
24:12
request asylum. Now Trump has enacted executive orders that have
24:17
helped reduce illegal border crossings to their lowest levels in
24:21
decades and simultaneously made it essentially impossible to seek refuge
24:26
at the border. We may lose a whole array of
24:30
humanitarian measures out of this very strong and nasty backlash
24:34
that we're seeing that comes out of the chaos of
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the last few years, said David Martin, a professor emeritus
24:40
at the University of Virginia School of Law who was
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involved in writing the nineteen eighty Refugee Act that outlines
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the requirements for seeking asylum in the United States and
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remains in place today. The President's decision to declare a
24:54
national emergency at the US Mexico border to protectigans and
24:59
an invasion and almost immediately expel anyone who tries to
25:04
enter has put the United States at a crossroads as
25:08
it weighs its historical decisions to offer protection against the
25:12
current age of mass migration. Immigrant rights groups have sued
25:16
the Trump administration, saying is justification for the border's shutdown
25:21
violates federal law. They say that in the rush to
25:25
end illegal migration, the restrictions are squeezing out people like JC,
25:30
whom the asylum laws are meant to protect. The Washington
25:34
Post took steps to independently verify Jc's experiences through publicly
25:39
available information the Mexican government provided and documents he furnished
25:44
bearing official insignia. The dates and many of the details
25:48
matched information Mexican prosecutors released. The Post also interviewed experts
25:53
on cartel violence, human rights officials in Mexico and the
25:57
United States, and family members to cross read reference Jac's story.
26:02
J C left the International bridge leading into El Paso,
26:05
uncertain of what to do. He could stay in the
26:08
Mexican border city of Forrez and hope the United States
26:12
might craft a new way for people like him to
26:14
apply for asylum, or he could go home and hope
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his assailants would not find him. A kidnapping j C
26:24
fifty two said he was abducted and forced to know
26:27
black suv in November as he was walking back to
26:30
his home in central Mexico. He had built a marketing
26:34
firm that provided services to local businesses and the state government,
26:38
and was living a life of relative security and comfort.
26:42
A devorese with adult children. He kept to himself in
26:45
a mostly quiet existence, but he said his modest financial
26:50
success made him a target. Jace left his home, a
26:55
humble one story, three bedroom abode, to grab a snack
26:58
at a convenience store l one night. On his way back,
27:02
he said he noticed a man sitting on a public
27:05
bench near the entrance to his property. The man greeted him,
27:09
Jase said he ignored him. Then Jase heard his dog growling.
27:14
The stranger had followed him on to his property. As
27:18
the man approached Jace, more assailants jumped out of an
27:21
suv parked in front of his house. According to an
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official statement to prosecutors that Jasey shared with the Post,
27:29
they entered and ransacked his home and began kicking and
27:32
punching him. They asked for phone numbers for his relatives
27:35
and demanded a ransom. Then they pushed him into their
27:38
vehicle and drove away. When the car stopped, Jase said
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he found himself in a residential neighborhood filled with concrete homes.
27:48
His kidnappers walked him past a pile of blood stained machetes.
27:52
They told him they'd used the knives to dismember him.
27:56
One of his assailants joked they were going to have
27:58
fun with him. They beat him and kicked a dildo
28:02
into his rectum, According to the official statement to prosecutors,
28:06
Jace told prosecutors the men hid his head and back
28:09
with a wooden stick until he lost consciousness. Then they
28:13
put him in a closet where there were at least
28:15
two other victims, one of whom appeared dead. Jase said
28:20
he could hear the screams of another man being tortured
28:23
when he awoke, but when things got quiet, he realized
28:27
there was enough slack in the rope they'd used to
28:29
bind his hands for him to try to loosen it.
28:33
He spent the night slowly undoing the restraint and covering
28:36
himself with a blanket whenever anyone walked in. Around eight
28:41
a m. Jaci tried to persuade a fellow prisoner to
28:44
try to escape while their captors were asleep. If they
28:48
didn't try, he said, they would be killed. I'd rather
28:52
they put a bullet in my head than dismember me.
28:54
Jasie told him. The other man stayed, but JACEI waited
28:59
for the moment to run and climb over a wall
29:02
that surrounded the property. Then he bolted to a home
29:05
down the street and asked for help. The police arrived
29:08
and interrogated j C. He told police he saw the
29:12
faces of his kidnappers and described them in detail, according
29:15
to an investigative file from a Mexican federal prosecutorial team
29:20
focused on kidnapping investigations. Local media covered the police's rescue
29:25
of two victims from the property. J C said he
29:27
had been held at shortly after, the state Prosecutor's office
29:31
put out a news release announcing the arrests of two
29:34
men who were part of a network devoted to kidnapping, homicide, extortion,
29:39
and vehicle robberies. Officers recovered firearms, bulletproof vess and marijuana.
29:46
The operation was heralded on social media by Mexico's top
29:50
law enforcement officer, the Secretary of Security and Civilian Protection,
29:55
but it also put j C squarely in the cartel's
29:58
cross hairs. I was happy. Ja C recovered in a
30:04
hospital from his injuries, including fractured fingers and ribs, and
30:07
swollen ankles and knees that were so painful he struggled
30:11
to walk. While he was there, he said he overheard
30:15
guards discussing how they had tipped off cartel members about
30:18
his location. He managed to limp out of the facility
30:22
in fear for his safety. Jace's family knew he'd been assaulted,
30:27
but he said he spared them the details for their
30:30
own safety. He wanted to keep them out of it.
30:33
Federal prosecutors enrolled him in a witness protection program, but
30:37
his checkered history, including cases in which participants have ended
30:41
up slain, didn't make him feel safe. He arrived home
30:46
on Christmas Eve, but said that when he went to
30:48
buy groceries, cartel members spotted and surrounded him. They told
30:53
him to sit on a bench until they could take
30:55
him away, but the streets were full of people who
30:58
had gathered for the holiday festivities. As a family walked
31:02
in front of him, j C said he fled into
31:04
a shopping center, where store owner agreed to hide him
31:07
until closing time. The next day he boarded a flight north.
31:13
Jac knew that if he reached the border in late
31:15
December and managed to cross into the United States, he
31:19
could surrender to border patrol agents and request asylum, But
31:23
on his first day in Horez, Jace learned from Mexican
31:26
immigration officials that was no longer an option. The Biden
31:30
administration was asking anyone seeking protection to first request an
31:34
appointment for entry through an app called CBP one. In
31:39
January twenty twenty three, the Biden administration began using the
31:43
digital portal to dissuade would be asylum seekers from crossing illegally.
31:48
It was a tool designed to reduce the number of crossings,
31:51
and critics on both sides of the political isle called
31:54
it an imperfect solution to a much bigger issue. For
31:58
those advocating for more pathways for legal immigration, the app
32:02
unlawfully restricted asylum, while critics on the right so the
32:06
process that people who would never qualify for asylum into
32:10
the country. By the time jac reached the border, nearly
32:14
one point five million people had been parolled into the
32:17
United States through the app and a sponsorship program the
32:20
Biden administration created for Cubans Haitians, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans. Once
32:27
in the United States, many then submitted asylum claims. The
32:31
number of people who filed for asylum climbed to nearly
32:34
nine hundred thousand in the twenty twenty fourth fiscal year,
32:38
almost double the previous year, and largely by people who
32:42
were already in removal proceedings. Trump had spent much of
32:46
the election highlighting examples of migrants who had crossed the
32:49
boardy illegally and committed heinous crimes. The vast majority of
32:54
immigrants commit crimes at a much lower rate than the
32:58
US born population, according to US criminal Justice data, but
33:02
the cases of young women assaulted and slain by border
33:05
crossers fueled widespread resentment towards people seeking asylum. The cases
33:11
quickly outpace the immigration court's ability to educate them, leading
33:15
to a backlog of more than three point six million cases.
33:20
Trump has argued that migrants are coached to tell sob
33:23
stories and often lose their asylum cases. His supporters point
33:28
to increasing asylum denials and absconders as proof the people
33:33
are gaming the system to obtain a free stay in
33:35
the United States. While the courts move glacially. Immigrant rights
33:40
groups say migrants are availing themselves are the only legal
33:44
pathway that exists for people fleeing danger of any kind.
33:48
At first, jac stayed at a hotel in Horez, but
33:52
he was burning through his savings. While he waited to
33:54
get a CVP one appointment, An official in Mexico's Witness
33:58
Protection program told him about a Baptist pastor with a
34:02
network of shelters. He asked the pastor for a place
34:05
to stay. I was happy and my life was good,
34:09
he said, before turning his thoughts to the cartel that
34:12
kidnapped him. They took all that from me waiting at
34:17
the border. The whitewashed cinder block compound in Horez is
34:22
run by a Texas base passer, Rosalio Sosa, who established
34:26
a shelter as a number of people trying to cross
34:29
a border was rising in twenty eighteen. An inner courtyard
34:33
separates the men's and women's quarters. Linens are strung out
34:37
to dry on a clothes line. Children ply on a
34:40
rickety wooden swing set as their parents peer aimlessly at
34:43
their phones. The firewood lined up along a back wall
34:47
provides their only source of heat when Jacy arrived in January.
34:52
There were several dozen people staying at the shelter, heading
34:55
from El Salvador, Venezuela, Honduras, and other parts of Mexico.
35:01
All were hoping to apply for asylum in the United States,
35:05
though their cases indicated varying degrees of persecution and need
35:08
for protection. Some, like JC, had experienced specific threats against them,
35:15
while for others, their migration was rooted in a generalized
35:18
fear and opposition to a hostile government. Victor Perez thirty nine,
35:24
a former Venezuelan military officer, said he was expelled from
35:28
the armed forces after refusing to obey orders in support
35:32
of strong man Nicolas Mandura. He began working for a
35:35
state run health clinic, but said his opposition to the
35:38
government cost him that job too, as repression intensified. Marto
35:44
Contreras was also at the shelter. The Venezuelan Hairstylists had
35:48
campaigned for opposition leader at Mundo Gonzalez in last year's
35:52
presidential election, but when Maduro claimed victory in a vote
35:56
that was widely considered fraudulent, she decided to leave the
36:01
government was arresting hundreds of people who had supported the
36:04
opposition candidate. Her youngest son was getting threats from local
36:08
delinquents aligned with the government after posting in favor of
36:11
the opposition online. They both had CBP one appointments to
36:15
enter the United States on January twenty first, the day
36:19
after Trump's inauguration. Maria, who asked the Post not to
36:24
publish her full name out of fear for her safety,
36:27
said she fled an abusive spouse in another part of Mexico.
36:31
Her husband was scheduled to be released from jail within
36:34
days of Trump's inauguration. She had photos showing the bruises
36:38
and cuts she'd endured. The migrants said they understood U
36:42
S lawmaker's concerns about immigrants with criminal backgrounds, but they asked,
36:47
was it fair to block everyone? Please don't judge us
36:51
by the actions of a few Contreres, said the successive cases,
36:56
like theirs, can vary widely depending on the US immigration judge,
37:00
the evidence they provide, and whether they have adequate legal representation.
37:06
The migrants at the shelter circled around Sosa on a
37:09
recent afternoon and peppered him with questions, should I go back?
37:13
Is it over? Is there any way to get a
37:15
worker visa. My child can't take much more of this.
37:19
This is when your faith gets to work, Sosa told
37:22
the migrants sitting in chairs round the kitchen's wood burning stove.
37:26
He advised them to stay positive and together, the group
37:30
resided a Bible verse from the Gospel of John, where
37:33
Jesus says, you do not realize now what I am doing,
37:37
but later you will understand. Let's wait and see what
37:40
Trump says, the pastor said, but Jace didn't think he
37:45
had time to wait. He paced through the courtyard smoking
37:48
a cigarette. He wanted to leave. My story is real.
37:54
Even here in the far northern reaches of Mexico, jay
37:58
c did not feel safe. The cartel that had attacked
38:01
him had a presence nationwide. After his failed attempt to
38:06
cross a border bridge, Jacey decided to try his luck
38:09
at the U. S Consulate in Wires. He thought the
38:13
quickest way to get into the United States legally and
38:16
apply for asylum would be to request a tourist visa
38:19
that is available to some Mexican citizens. Once he got
38:23
to the United States, he reasoned he could apply for protection,
38:26
as the law allows. One of his daughters was living
38:30
in Florida, and while out running the cartel, Jacey learned
38:34
she had suffered a serious health set back the doctors
38:37
thought could be cancered. He hoped the consulate officials would
38:41
grant him the visa to see her. Two days after
38:44
Trump's inauguration, he went to the consulate for an interview.
38:48
He confidently gathered his papers, his money, and his passport
38:52
into a backpack, but he returned hours later without a visa.
38:57
Consulate workers gave him a form saying he didn't meet
39:00
the requirements. The denial meant he could not request the
39:04
visa again for another four years. I don't understand, he said, sobbing.
39:11
My story is real, This is real. There were few
39:15
options left. Soso told him that the Trump administration said
39:19
it would bring back the Migrant Protection Protocols or Remain
39:23
a Mexico program which forces asylum seekers to stay in
39:27
Mexico while pursuing their cases at makeshift courts along the border,
39:32
but it hadn't yet begun. Department of Homeland Security officials
39:36
did not respond to questions about whether any part of
39:39
that program is operational. Jacey's mental health rapidly deteriorated. Thieves
39:45
outside the US consulate stole his phone. He arrived at
39:49
the shelter late at night, breaking the strict rules designed
39:52
to protect those inside. After it happened two more times,
39:56
he wasn't allowed back in, Jace used a little money
40:00
he had left on a hotel for he continued his
40:03
streak of sleepless nights. Carla, whose last name the post
40:08
is withholding to shield her father's identity, said she had
40:12
never seen ja c like this. She consulted with attorneys
40:15
who told there there were no other options. Every client
40:20
they had tried to accompany to ports of entry to
40:22
request asylum in recent months had been unsuccessful. All he
40:27
wants to do is save his life, she said, if
40:30
I could, I would go get him myself. Desperate, Jace
40:35
reached out to contacts to see whether it was possible
40:37
to cross the border eagally. Smugglers took him to a
40:41
popular Horrece crossing point, but decided the increased US true
40:45
presence made it too risky. They wanted to charge more
40:49
than he could afford to try again in a more
40:51
remote location, jac said, Finding no other recourse, he boarded
40:56
a flight home to Central Mexico, but he had no
41:00
no where to go. His relatives had his home torn
41:03
down to convince his pursuers that jac had left for good.
41:08
For a while, Jace wore a disguise to conceal his identity,
41:12
but the stress of his ordeal had already disfigured him.
41:15
He walks with a limp, his hands shake. His savings
41:19
are gone. He doesn't want to endanger friends by seeking help.
41:24
He appealed to local senators and went back to the
41:27
prosecutor's office for assistance. Jay c said few people have
41:31
offered to aid him. When he feels all is lost,
41:35
he wonders if this is the end for him. Maybe
41:38
it's better, he wrote in a text message to a reporter,
41:42
if I just let them kill me. Next is an
41:46
item entitled Preparing for Talks. Ukraine battles on hounded in
41:51
Kursk and at home, Kiev hopes to repair relations with
41:56
the U S. By Catherine Belton and Kostanna Kudov from Kiev.
42:03
Ukrainian forces battled to stave off fierce Russian attacks both
42:07
inside Russia and along Ukraine's front lines, as the country's
42:11
officials prepared Monday for high stakes talks in Saudi Arabia,
42:15
with increasingly skeptical ally, the United States Ukraine hopes the talks,
42:21
set to begin Tuesday, will restore relations after a bruising
42:25
week in which President Donald Trump paused a provision of
42:28
military aid and intelligence sharing vital for Ky to repel
42:32
Russian attacks. After Russian advances in the Kursk region, where
42:37
Ukrainians hold a sliver of Russian territory, the Ukrainian military
42:42
said the situation was stabilizing. The Ukrainian officials will seek
42:47
to convince the US delegation that they are ready for
42:49
a swift end to the war, and they are set
42:52
to present a case for partial ceasefire after Ukrainian President
42:56
Volodime Zelensky said last week he would push for our
43:00
ban on long range drone and missile attacks, as well
43:03
as on military operations in the Black Sea. Trump appeared
43:08
to indicate a softening of the pressure on Ukraine when
43:11
he told reporters late Sunday that the United States had
43:15
just about ended a suspension of intelligence sharing with Ki
43:19
and said he expected good results from the talks. US
43:23
military and intelligence support for Ukraine may resume if its
43:27
leaders commit to a peace process. Secretary of State Marco
43:30
Rubio told reporters Monday, Rubio said the initial suspension of
43:35
aid came about because we felt the Ukrainians were not
43:38
committed to negotiations. But if that changes, US policy will
43:42
probably change too, he said as he landed in the
43:45
Red Sea port city of Jetta. My hope is we'll
43:49
have a really good meeting tomorrow and be in a
43:51
different place. He added. The Ukrainian delegation will be led
43:55
by Zelenski's top aid Andrea Yermakinsky will not attend the meeting,
44:01
but is in Saudi Arabia on a separate trip following
44:05
a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salomon on Monday.
44:09
Zelensky said Ukraine's position in the talks will be fully constructive.
44:14
In a post on x Zelensky said the pair discussed
44:18
the steps and conditions needed to end the war and
44:21
secure a reliable and lasting peace, which the Ukrainian president
44:25
said included the release of prisoners and the return of
44:28
children taken during the conflict. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
44:34
said he had spoken with Trump ahead of the U
44:36
s Ukraine talks and said he hoped for a positive
44:40
outcome to the talks that when enable US aid and
44:43
intelligence sharing to be restarted. British officials had been speaking
44:47
to their Ukrainian counterparts over the weekend and they remain
44:51
committed to a lasting peace, he said. Zelensky is under
44:55
pressure to support Trump's diplomatic drive to bring a quick
44:58
end to the war, despite the lack of any promises
45:02
for US security guarantees to prevent new Russian incursions into Ukraine.
45:07
Officials in Kivar A still smarting from last week's sudden
45:11
pulling of military support, which left many in Ukraine feeling
45:15
betrayed and leaders across Europe questioning the future of the
45:18
Transatlantic Alliance. The situation is fragile and it's based on
45:24
things that often we don't understand at all. I don't
45:27
want to make any forecasts anymore because it is completely unpredictable,
45:32
one Ukrainian official said. Tomorrow's meeting will be very important
45:36
for Ukraine, said another senior Ukrainian official, adding that he
45:41
expected the situation to still change many times. Both officials
45:45
spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation.
45:51
The senior official warned that last week's decision to pause
45:54
military aid could open the way for Russian propaganda to
45:58
convince Ukrainians that they had fought and died for empty
46:03
promises from the West, allowing Russia to potentially make political
46:06
inroads to destabilize a government. People will ask for what
46:11
did we pay a huge price? What was the reason
46:14
for this? So that one day the Americans said, thank you?
46:18
It was a proxy war, he said. Russian propaganda will
46:22
attempt to say, you died not for your interests, but
46:26
for the interests of Uncle Sam. And after this Uncle
46:29
Sam betrayed you. Believe me, we will have enough politicians
46:33
who will repeat it. The pausing of large portions of
46:37
intelligence sharing appeared to have had an immediate effect on
46:41
the battlefield. Russian forces advanced on Friday in Russia's Curs region,
46:45
seeking to encircle Ukrainian troops and cut off supply lines.
46:50
By Monday, however, the situation appeared to be stabilizing after
46:54
Ukraine sent reinforcements and was mostly able to repel a
46:58
daring attempt by Russian forces on Saturday to break into
47:02
Ukraine's strategic stronghold in the town of Suza by crawling
47:06
through a gas pipeline. A spokesman for the Army, Dmitro
47:11
Lekhovy said Ukrainian forces had been able to destroy most
47:15
of the Russian attack force by blowing up a segment
47:18
of the pipeline, but added that the situation on the
47:21
front line was still dynamic. Russian ground forces from the
47:25
Kursk region were making repeated attempts to cross Ukraine's northeastern
47:29
border in small groups in a relentless effort to try
47:33
to encircle Ukrainian forces. Lekovy said. This is how they
47:38
are managing to build up a presence, he said. Ukraine's
47:41
commander in chief Alexandr Skirsky, on Monday, said that Ukrainian
47:46
units were not currently under threat of encirclement. The situation
47:51
is difficult because they controlled the logistic routes, said a
47:54
Ukrainian fighter from the eighty second Brigade who goes by
47:57
the khalsign Krim. Under military rules, soldiers typically speak on
48:02
the condition that they are identified only by call sign
48:06
or first name they attempt meet grinder assaults. The soldiers
48:11
said that the events of recent weeks had left him
48:13
feeling like her in some kind of surreal TV show
48:17
rather than reality, adding that it was obvious that Tromp
48:21
was on Russian President Vladimir Putin's side and will pressure US.
48:26
Current and former Ukrainian officials said the withdrawal of U
48:30
s support last week could effect future trust in the
48:33
United States across Europe, as well as morale among the
48:36
Ukrainian armed forces. If things go the way they are going,
48:41
it is very serious damage to American soft power, said
48:44
Ole Ribatchuk, former chief of staff to ex President Viktor Yushenko,
48:50
one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution, in which
48:52
Ukraine first sought to break free from Moscow's orbit twenty
48:56
years ago. The US pause of military assistance also impacted
49:01
the provision of satellite imagery services, affecting commercial providers such
49:06
as Maxar that had signed contracts with Ukraine. Grivachuk said
49:10
the decision would undermine trust in US weaponry and technology.
49:15
Can you imagine the shock of the Europeans who realized
49:18
that if this is how Ukraine is being treated, that
49:21
this could happen to them. They have all purchased trillions
49:25
of dollars worth of US equipment and now they are
49:29
not sure if that equipment will work. Russia has intensified
49:33
its efforts to retake Ukraine's sliver of Kursk in recent weeks,
49:37
sending in elite units of paratroopers and marines, as well
49:41
as several thousand reinforcements of now battle hardened North Korean
49:45
soldiers who began fighting in Kursk in the autumn. According
49:50
to estmonds by military experts, Russia has retaken about half
49:54
of the territory it lost in the summer. Britain's Defense
49:57
Ministry said Monday the Ukrainian forces probably maintained control of
50:01
about one hundred fifteen square miles or three hundred square
50:05
kilometers of Kersk. Lekovi said Russian and North Korean forces
50:10
now far outnumber Ukrainian troops in Kirsk, but the change
50:14
in focus meant Russia was now losing ground in Pokorovsk
50:18
in the east. He said, they are sending new forces
50:22
and possibly because of this, they have reduced pressure in Pokorovsk.
50:26
In Donevsk, he said, there we have been able to
50:29
stabilize the situation and in some places restore control over
50:33
territories we lost before. Andrea, a drone unit commander operating
50:38
in Kersk, told The Washington Post that the Ukrainian troop
50:42
withdrawal from some parts of kersk was to preserve personnel.
50:47
He said. The troops there had yet to feel the
50:49
impact of the suspension of American military support. The Russians
50:53
are pressing from all directions now. It's tough, but we
50:57
are holding on gradually, he said. John Hudson in Jettah,
51:01
Saudi Arabia and Rachel Pennitt in Wellington, New Zealand contributed
51:06
to this report. Our next item is entitled standing United
51:11
d C officials try to stop quote devastating cuts. Nearly
51:16
all city lawmakers head to hill to avert one point
51:20
one billion dollar hit to budget by Macan Flynn and
51:25
Jenny Gathwright, d C Mayor Muriel E. Bauser, Democrat and
51:30
almost every d C lawmaker stood on the lawn of
51:33
the U. S Capital on Monday and implored House Republicans
51:37
to reverse course on the one point one billion dollars
51:40
in cuts to d C services. They said the GOP
51:44
spending bill would cause to its twenty one billion dollar
51:47
local budget if the measure passed. A rare show of
51:50
solidarity across all corners of district government that underscored the
51:55
depth of city officials fears the GOP's stopgap funding bill,
52:01
called a continuing Resolution, would treat d C as a
52:04
federal agency and force the city to revert to fiscal
52:08
twenty twenty four spending levels for the next six months,
52:12
amounting to the effective cancelation of the city's active twenty
52:16
twenty five budget. Bowser, joined by members of her cabinet,
52:21
Delicate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat, and almost the entire
52:25
d C Council, warned that the city would have to
52:28
find more than one billion dollars in immediate across the
52:31
board cuts, affecting every area of d C government, probably
52:36
including teachers, law enforcement officers, and other critical frontline workers.
52:43
Basser called the prospect devastating. There could be immediate layoffs
52:48
and cuts to city services that touch Washingtonian's everyday lives.
52:52
Official stressed, there's no way to cut that kind of
52:56
money in the time that we have this fiscal year,
53:00
not to affect police, not to affect teachers, and not
53:04
to affect some of the basic government services that allow
53:07
us to keep our city clean, safe, and beautiful, she said.
53:12
But Bowser said, Congress can fix this. They can fix
53:17
this one point one billion dollar problem that we have
53:20
brought to their attention, she said, and work to reverse
53:24
what I like to think of as a one point
53:26
one billion dollar mistake. And the thing about mistakes is
53:30
they can be corrected. Norton, the district's non voting representative
53:35
in the House, had introduced an amendment in the House
53:39
Rules Committee intended to resolve the problem, but it failed,
53:43
meaning the House will proceed Tuesday with a vote on
53:46
a bill that, in an effort to avoid a government shutdown,
53:50
would also blow a hole in DC's budget. Because DC
53:55
is now tied up in the stakes of a national
53:57
government shutdown, it is un clear what additional avenues the
54:01
city could have to prevent the anticipated cuts, or whether
54:06
they would be able to stave off the problem if
54:08
the Continuing Resolution passes and heads to the Senate. At
54:13
the heart of the issue is that Congress has to
54:15
approve DC's budget during its annual appropriations process, but when
54:20
their process is delayed as it is now, lawmakers have
54:25
for the past two decades included a provision in the
54:28
Continuing Resolution that allows DC to continue spending at its
54:32
current budget levels. In this case, that would be twenty
54:37
twenty five. That language is what House Republicans omitted House
54:43
up Leadership Aids said over the weekend that the language
54:47
was omitted to treat d C as a federal agency
54:50
and to treat all federal agencies equally by keeping all,
54:54
including the city, at twenty twenty four spending levels. A
54:59
spokeswoman for House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana, insisted
55:04
that DC officials will have what they need to cover
55:07
operations for the next six months until the city's fiscal
55:10
year ends September thirtieth. In a hearing at the House
55:14
Rules Committee on Monday afternoon, Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole,
55:19
Republican Oklahoma, said he did not think the continuing Resolution
55:24
as is would have any impact on DC's day to
55:28
day operations, framing it as a minor adjustment that would
55:32
mostly affect inauguration funding that the city did not need
55:36
any more. It's time to move on. We've not taken
55:40
anything out of there that substantially affects the day to
55:42
day operation of municipal services. Cole said. This is mostly
55:47
things like we don't have an inauguration again. Call's testimony
55:52
suggested that House Republicans may not intend to cut one
55:55
billion dollars in city services, but House Democrats question whether
55:59
they really that is the actual effect of omitting the
56:03
provision allowing DC to continue spending its fiscal twenty twenty
56:07
five budget without disruption. Representative Rosa de Lario, Connecticut, the
56:13
top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, and Representative Jim McGovern,
56:18
Democrat from Massachusetts, informed Cole that he was mistaken repeating
56:23
warnings from the DC government that the effect of the
56:25
missing provision would impact the entire local budget. DC passed
56:31
a budget for this fiscal year, a balanced budget, I
56:34
might add, but now Republicans are blowing up their budget
56:38
with no warning, McGovern said, and I think it will
56:41
impact safety, cops, firefighters, teachers, and I think it's shameful, regrettable.
56:50
A spokeswoman for the House Appropriations Committee did not immediately
56:53
respond to a request for comment, nor did spokespeople for
56:56
Johnson Norton's amendment that failed at the House Rules Committee,
57:01
sought to insert the language allowing the city to continue
57:04
spending at its current budget levels. That language has been
57:08
in every continuing resolution going back two decades for the
57:12
purpose of avoiding roping the district into political standoffs or
57:16
federal budget chaos. House Republicans did not inform d C
57:20
they were omitting that language in this continuing resolution. City
57:24
officials said, with this bill, House Republicans have intentionally committed
57:30
nothing short of fiscal sabotage against d C. Norton said
57:35
Congress must pass a stopgap funding bill by Friday to
57:39
avoid a government shutdown, but Democratic leadership came out against it,
57:44
and its passage in this form is uncertain given the
57:48
GOP's thin margins. Should the bill pass as is, the
57:52
Bowsard administration said in a memo sent a House leadership,
57:56
d C would have to slash sixteen percent of its
57:59
remaining to comply. D C public schools and charter schools
58:05
could see more than three hundred million dollars in cuts,
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while d C Police could experience sixty seven million dollars
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in cuts, and the Department of Human Services, which serves
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the city's poorest residence and provides homeless services, could see
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twenty eight million dollars in cuts. Due to time constraints,
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we will not be able to complete this item. This
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concludes a reading of the Washington Post for Today, Tuesday,
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March eleventh, twenty twenty five. Your reader for today has
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been Cindy Fraser. If you have any questions, comments, or
58:38
suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call us
58:42
at eight five nine four two two six three nine zero.
58:46
Thank you for listening, and now please stay tuned for
58:49
continued programming on Radio I