NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Columbia Graduate Student Arrested by ICE, Queens Residents Demand Crackdown on Illegal Truck Parking, and Lawmakers Push for Gender-Affirming Care Bills

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

A Columbia University graduate student and activist who helped lead campus protests has been arrested by immigration authorities. Meanwhile, residents near JFK Airport say illegally parked commercial vehicles are overwhelming their neighborhoods. Plus, city and state lawmakers are working to pass legislation that would expand access to gender-affirming care for transgender, non-binary, and intersex individuals.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, March 10th. Here's the morning headlines from Veronica Del Valle. An activist and graduate student at Columbia University who helped lead protests on campus has been arrested by immigration officers. WNRC's Catalina Ginella reports. Mahmoud Khalil's attorney, Amy Greer, says, ICE agents told him his student visa had been revoked as they arrested him. But she says Khalil isn't in the U.S. on a student visa. He has a green card. Greer says that didn't stop officers

from taking him into custody. Colombia confirmed reports that ICE had been on campus. The university says ICE isn't allowed in non-public spaces on campus without a warrant, but didn't address Khalil's arrest. The New York Civil Liberties Union says it's a violation of his First Amendment rights. A Department of Homeland Security spokesman confirmed the arrest, saying it was, quote, in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism and in coordination with the Department of State. Queen's residents in the shadow of JFK Airport say their neighborhoods is inundated with legally parked cars and other commercial vehicles. Mayor Eric Adams in 2021 vowed to crack down on truckers, but locals say the issue persists.

Sandra Long lives in Rosdale. She tells WNIC how truckers flat the law. Sometimes they separate the tractor trailers from the trailer from the tractor, and they'll take the trailer, the tractor away, and leave the trailer. Long took WNIC on a tour of the area where 17 vehicles were parked legally. The sidewalk was littered with bags of trash and empty liquor bottles. The Port Authority says they've already added 100. truck parking spaces at the airport. The NYPD says officers have issued more than 100 tickets in the area since December. City and state legislators are scrambling to pass bills that will

establish gender-affirming care to transgender, gender non-conforming, non-vary, and intersex people. City and state legislators have introduced bills in the City Council and in the State Assembly in Albany after a recent executive order from President Trump. Trump's sweeping Executive Order aims to block access to gender-affirming medical care for anyone under 19. It prohibits federal funding for procedures including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery. As for the weather, 48 and clear, but it'll feel like spring today. Today's sunny with a high near 61. Tonight, mostly clear with a low around 45. Tomorrow, sunny with a high near 61. And on Thursday, mostly cloudy and 50.

This is NYC Now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.