NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-17-2025 3AM EDT

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. The Trump administration is refusing to budge on the case of Kilmar Obrego-Garcia. He's the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this month. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says Obrego-Garcia is a gang member who will never live in the U.S. again. And the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the president of the United States and the secretary of state could not be compelled to forcibly retrieve this citizen of El Salvador

who is currently locked up in a maximum security prison in his home country due to his MS-13 membership. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return and to process him as if he never left. Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen says he was denied access to Abrego Garcia during a trip to El Salvador on Wednesday. More than 20 tribes and nonprofits across the nation were awarded around $350 million

to address critical infrastructure needs. But the Trump administration has frozen those funds, as NPR's Nate Perez reports. The money came from the EPA's community change grants, funded through the country's first significant climate policy, the Inflation Reduction Act. The Tabona Foundation received $20 million to replace homes contaminated with asbestos and lead for the native village of Tyonic in Alaska. The foundation's executive director, Vaide Croto, says that money would have changed people's lives.

Everything is in limbo and the bills still come in, the rent still comes in. Now dozens of tribes don't know if or when they will have funds that were awarded to them under the Biden administration. The EPA spokesperson, Molly Vaslou, says that community change grants are under review to see how they align with the administration's priorities. Nate Badez, NPR News. NPR News Students in schools run by the Defense Department are suing the administration for allegedly removing books and changing curricula. Kentucky Public Radio Sylvia Goodman reports. Jessica Henninger has three children in a school run by the Department of Defense Education activity in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She says books and curriculum have been removed

and a project celebrating Black History Month canceled. My husband fights for our constitutional rights and our freedoms in this country. And to see those rights being taken away from my children was just absolutely something that I could not abide." The curriculum list marked Do Not Use includes a fourth grade reading called A Nation of Immigrants. Other DOD-led academies have also cut books, including nearly 400 from the U.S. Naval Academy. A spokesperson for DODIA told NPR he cannot comment on active litigation, but the military schools are committed to providing an excellent educational experience. For NPR News, I'm Sylvia Goodman in Louisville, Kentucky.

U.S. futures are higher in after-hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. A massive power outage has left Puerto Rico's 1.4 million residents in the dark. Hotels were near capacity and using generators on Wednesday as thousands of tourists prepared to celebrate Easter on the island. Hunters of thousands of residents had no water. The cause of the outage is unclear, although Puerto Rico has struggled with repeated blackouts since a 2017 hurricane damaged its already aging power grid. The United Nations Humanitarian Response Arm says it plans to cut its workforce by 20 percent

because of funding shortages. Details from NPR's Vaught-Mitanas. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, also known as OCHA, is facing a funding gap of $60 million. In a note to staff the head of OCHA, Tom Fletcher said the organization would have to regroup and cut a fifth of its overall workforce. OCHA will also scale back its operations in several countries including Colombia, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Fletcher said OCHA was facing its toughest ever moment with the humanitarian community quote underfunded, overstretched and literally

under attack. Vital life-saving work is ending, Fletcher said. These cuts come in the wake of the Trump administration's dismantling of US foreign aid. Other countries around the world have also pulled back from humanitarian funding. Fatma Tanis, NPR News. FATMA TANIS, NPR NEWS ANCHOR ANCHOR again, U.S. futures are higher in after hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia Pacific markets, shares are also higher, up 1 percent in Hong Kong and in Tokyo. This is NPR News.