NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-21-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

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Janine Herbst Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been removed from his post. MPs Joel Rose reports the shakeup at ICE comes amid frustrations in the Trump administration at the pace of deportations. Joel Rose President, Trump picked a career ICE official, Caleb Vitello, as the acting head of the agency.

Now Vitello has been removed from that post, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, though he will remain at ICE, leading the office that's responsible for arrests and deportations. ICE arrests are up compared to the previous administration, but not enough to satisfy the White House. President Trump promised during the campaign to build the biggest deportation operation in U.S. history. Administration officials have said they want to see at least 1,200 immigration arrests per day nationwide, but ICE field offices have been falling well short of those goals. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington. The Trump administration plans to gut the federal office that funds homelessness programs.

Imperious Jennifer Ludden reports massive staff cuts would come as the number of people without housing is at a record high. Trump's efficiency team, DOGE, wants to cut staff at the federal housing agency by half, but the office that funds homelessness would lose more, 84%, according to a document NPR has seen. Anne Oliva with the National Alliance

to End Homelessness, says that would go far beyond Washington, D.C. We are talking about staff who directly support their communities in field offices all over the country. A spokesperson says the housing agency continues to carry out its critical functions. Local nonprofits are waiting to receive several billion dollars for rent and other support to keep people off the streets. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Washington. Health officials say the measles outbreak in West Texas has now grown to 90 cases.

As vaccination rates drop and cases rise across the country, experts say some groups of adults may need to get re-vaccinated. And Piers Maria Godoy has more. Measles is incredibly contagious. Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University says the best defense is vaccination. If you have been vaccinated with two doses of vaccine as per routine, you have a 95 plus percent chance of being completely protected throughout your life.

However, if you were vaccinated before 1968, talk to your doctor about getting re-vaccinated because early versions of the measles vaccine did not work as well as the current shot. People vaccinated between 1968 and 1989 got one dose of the vaccine. In most cases, experts say that's plenty of protection. Certain people, such as those living amidst the measles outbreak, should ask their doctor if they need a second dose. Maria Godoy, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has dismissed Fire Chief Kristen Crowley, who led the response to last month's deadly wildfires.

McKenna Seiferson of member station LAist has more. Bass said in a news conference that she's acting in the best interest of LA's public safety and the operations of the fire department. We all know that a thousand firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke were instead sent home on Chief Crowley's watch. Crowley, who was sworn into office nearly three years ago, was the department's first female and LGBTQ fire chief. Former chief deputy Ronnie Villanueva will serve as the interim fire chief while a national search is underway. Bass has faced criticism for being abroad the day the fires began. She has faulted Crowley for failing to alert

her about the potentially explosive fire conditions. For NPR News, I'm McKenna Sievertson in Los Angeles. The Associated Press is suing the Trump administration for barring it from major events over its refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. President Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office renaming the body of water between Mexico and Florida, but that only pertains to the U.S. The AP says the Constitution does not allow the government to control speech. Mexico's president Claudia Schoenbaum this week threatened to sue Google because it's changed the name on its maps to reflect Trump's EO and call it the Gulf of America.

Wall Street, Charpeley Lower by the closing bell. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington.