Up First from NPR - Deported Migrant Returns to US, World Pride in DC, Sports Finals

Episode Date: June 7, 2025

The migrant at the center of a legal storm is back on US soil. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. He now faces criminal charges. Plus, World Pride is wrapping up in Washington DC with thousands set to take part in a parade close to the White House. And the latest sports news on the NBA finals and Stanley Cup.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The migrant at the center of a legal storm is back in the U.S. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador. He now faces criminal charges. This is what American justice looks like. I'm Debbie Elliott. I'm Ayesha Roscoe and this is Up First from NPR News. World Pride is wrapping up in Washington, D.C. this weekend. Thousands are expected to attend a march celebrating LGBTQ rights later today. But the event is taking place with the Trump administration targeting diversity programs.

So how's that affected the party mood? And it's the business end of the season for the NBA. And as hockey fans know, we've got a thrilling Stanley Cup on our hands. Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend. I'm Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. At a time of sound bites and short attention spans, our show is all

about the deep dive. We do long form interviews with people behind the best in film, books, TV, music, and journalism. Here our guests open up about their process and their lives in ways you've never heard before. Listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and WHY. Aaron Ross Powell President Donald Trump is testing the power of the presidency in ways that are stressing global financial markets, federal courts, and changing the United States relationship with the rest of the world. What is Trump trying to do and is it working? Trump's Terms keeps you up to speed. It's a short podcast where we curate NPR's coverage of the Trump administration. Trump's terms. Listen to the NPR app wherever you get your podcasts. On the indicator from Planet Money podcast,

we're here to help you make sense of the economic news from Trump's tariffs. It's called in game theory a trigger strategy or sometimes called grim trigger, which sort of has a cowboy-esque ring to it. To what exactly a sovereign wealth fund is. For Insight every weekday, listen to NPI's The Indicator from Planet Money. The case of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia is at the center of a bitter legal and political fight. For nearly two months, the Trump administration said the migrant would not be brought back to the US after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. But in a surprise move yesterday, Abrego Garcia arrived back in the country

after an arrest warrant was issued. NPR immigration reporter, Jimena Bustillo has been following the case and joins us now. Hi there. Good morning. So why did the administration say he could come back? Well, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in a press conference yesterday that a grand jury

in Tennessee had charged Abrego Garcia of federal crimes. The indictment has one count of alien smuggling and one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. She said that the grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring. The indictment alleges that he made over 100 trips transporting people without legal status between Texas and Maryland and other states.

NPR has not independently confirmed the smuggling accusations. So what has been the response from Abrego Garcia's legal team? His lawyer Simon Sandoval Moschenberg told me that after months of delay in secrecy authorities were bringing his client back to quote not correct their error but to prosecute him. You know as you mentioned Abrego Garcia had been deported to El Salvador by mistake in 2019. He received a protection from deportation to his native El Salvador by mistake. In 2019, he received a protection from deportation to his native El Salvador because he successfully argued before an immigration judge that he could

face gang violence if he was sent there. A federal judge in Maryland ordered that the Trump administration facilitate Abrego Garcia's release and return. And this order was upheld unanimously by the US Supreme Court. But until the indictment, the administration had not been able to communicate its progress in doing this. And Trump officials even said that they would not bring him back. Abrego Garcia has been accused of committing various crimes, as we said. How does this fit into President Trump's broader immigration strategy? Right. Abrego Garcia has been accused of being a member of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang. Trump officials used that allegation as a

justification for removing him in the first place and then not returning him. His lawyers and wife have disputed those claims in court and now he's being indicted by the DOJ and is being returned under that context. President Trump has long campaigned and created policy aimed at making a connection between immigration and criminality. Beyond Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has both said that they want to arrest and remove quote, the worst of the worst, but they have also vowed to arrest and remove anyone without legal status, blurring that line. A Briego-Garcia's case really challenged how far the administration was willing to double down on its claims and in the face of even the highest court's orders. And now the administration is willing to push this into a new sphere of litigation.

Right, and now the administration is seeking to expand the kind of resources it has to make these arrests and removals. What's happening on that front? The Department of Homeland Security has requested 20,000 National Guard troops to help with immigration enforcement. The move comes as the White House is increasing pressure on immigration officers to arrest more people. My colleague Tom Bowman obtained the official request from DHS to the Pentagon for the guards' use. Their duties would really vary. Some would be placed in detention centers, others would help with the transportation and finding

those to arrest, but ultimately used for interior enforcement within the country. How unprecedented is this? You know, fairly. The National Guard of each state is typically deployed at the discretion of each governor. There are different examples of how individual states have already done this within their own borders, but being able to use this across state lines might potentially be unprecedented. Multiple U.S. officials tell NPR that the Pentagon is still working with state governors to determine what states might be able to provide troops. NPR immigration reporter Jimena Bustillo. Thank you. Thank you. Just down the street from the White House today, Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC,

will be closed for traffic for a parade. The Pride Parade, that is. Thousands of people are expected, gay, transgender, queer, young, old, of all races and religions. And this year especially from all over the world. NPR's Selena Simmons Duffin is here to give us a preview of the parade. Thanks for being with us. Hi Debbie. So DC is usually pretty lit up for Pride every June, but this year it seems to be a different level. Why is that? Yeah, so this year World Pride is being celebrated here in the district and that is a roving international version of the Pride parades that happen all over the place in the summer months. The first one was

in 2000 in Rome, it's been in Madrid and Toronto. And this year, it's in DC. So later today is the parade. But it's really a festival. It's been going on for several weeks with concerts and sporting events, art shows, lectures, and more. Tell us what it's like in the city. There seems to be a lot going on politically

with gay and trans people in America. Yeah, that's true. I mean, from its earliest moments, the second Trump administration has passed all sorts of executive orders affecting LGBTQ people from the anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion, DEI, ideology efforts. That has affected LGBTQ people. The White House has declared there are only two sexes and they cannot change. Transgender people cannot compete in sports. There are limits to health care access, military service, and then there's here Washington DC which has a higher

percentage of LGBTQ residents than any state in the nation. There's tension between the federal government and the DC government over its local budget and that tension really ratcheted up this week when the National Park Service decided to close DuPont Circle which is basically the heart of DC's historic gay neighborhood. The reason given was public safety and because of past vandalism, but local leaders had asked to keep it open. I should say the closure doesn't affect the parade route or any official events. Well, has this tension affected the mood, the feeling in the city leading up to the

parade? I would say yes. There is a sense of nervousness, I don't remember, from past years. All of those Trump administration policies we talked about have led some places to warn transgender people against traveling to DC this year.

Here is Zach, who asked NPR to only use his first name because he's a federal worker and fears retaliation for criticizing the Trump administration. Anti-trans and anti-queer policies made a lot of people, especially those in foreign countries, feel like they weren't welcome here. What about the businesses that have traditionally supported the parade? Yeah, corporate sponsorships are down this year, not just when it comes to World Pride in DC, but across the country.

Gravity Research just did a survey of 200 corporations on their participation in pride events and found a third were scaling back this year. Some companies are nervous about being called out by President Trump, so they're trying to lay low in terms of public support while reassuring their employees that they still care, and that's a difficult needle to thread. So with this tension, how is that affecting

the sense of celebration? Well, you're hearing a saying a lot this year, the first pride was a riot, and that's a reference to Stonewall where transgender people fought back against a police raid in New York City in 1969. So pride didn't start because rainbows are pretty, it started because discriminatory laws and societal intolerance pushed queer people to the breaking point and they decided to fight back. So I think this political moment has LGBTQ people thinking about that history and how fighting back when the odds seem stacked against you is something this community knows how to do. That's NPR's Selena Simmons Duffin. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. I don't get to say this often, but it's time for sports.

And there's a lot going on more than a century of college amateurism is over. And then there's the tennis. The women's final of the French Open is taking place today. Throw in a thrilling Stanley Cup and surprising NBA finals and you have a lot to talk about with ESPN's Michelle Steele. Thanks for being here, Michelle. Good morning, Deb. It's a busy morning. So, last night a federal judge signed off on a 2.8 billion dollar settlement, now paving the way for colleges to actually pay athletes directly. This is a remarkable moment in college sports. It's ending more than a century

of the amateur model. What is it going to look like? Yeah, so what's going to happen, Deb, is that starting as early as July, schools will pay their athletes around 20 million dollars annually as part of what's being framed as a revenue sharing deal. This is not salaries, which would kick in all sorts of other implications, right? So I guess the question here is who's going to get the money? Football and basketball, they're the biggest revenue generators. They're going to be the biggest beneficiaries. I think what's interesting to a lot of college football fans is now every NIL deal, these

are name, image, and likeness, sort of endorsement deals, if they're over 600 bucks, they're going to have to go through a clearing house to make sure it's a real endorsement deal and not just a crazy Eddie's car dealership playing a guy to go to Alabama. So we'll see how strict the enforcement is going to be around that after a few years of the Wild West in the NIL, Deb.

You know, my husband mentioned it's, we're going from the hundred dollar handshake to the million dollar deal, right? Yeah, we're not going to have duffel bags of cash, you know, lying around anymore. This is going to be a regulated industry because college sports is a big business now. So the French Open Women's Final is underway. Number one, Irina Sabalenka of Belarus versus number two, Coco Goff of the United States. Goff would become the first American to win a women's single title in Paris in a decade. Does she have a shot? She's definitely got a shot.

She's won a Grand Slam before. In fact, she beat Sabalenka the one time that they met in a Grand Slam final But a lot of experts around tennis are putting their money on Sabalenka You know I spoke to a coach this week who coached the last American woman to reach a French final Sloan Stevens his name is Kamau Murray, and he told me that Sabalenka has the hot hand She's seen as dominant as Martina Navratilova was in her prime So we'll see if Coco can defy those expectations. And like you said, the match is just about to get underway.

On the ice now, the Stanley Cup tied after two games, the defending champs, the Florida Panthers, even things up with a double overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers. Has this cup final rematch from last year been everything you've expected? This series has everything, Deb. You've got the revenge factor for the Oilers, huge stars on both sides.

Andrew Marshand, who's now joined the Panthers after a storied career with the Bruins, he had the double OT winner last night. Great matchup. Both of these games have gone to overtime. You know, I have friends who are covering this series who are going to be ping ponging between Edmonton and Miami, but I hope this series goes seven games. And you know what? They'll get a lot of frequent flyer miles, so it's okay.

And basketball, right? So the Indiana Pacers are the surprise leaders. They're up one over Oklahoma City Thunder after the first game in the NBA finals, thanks to yet another buzzer beater winning shot by Tyrese Halliburton. That makes four stunning late game comebacks for the Pacers in these playoffs. I guess at some point we should stop calling them stunning. The Pacers were underdogs heading into Oklahoma City for that game.

Few expected the Pacers to have a chance. Were we wrong about this team? The short answer, Deb, is yes. You know, I think I can confirm the Pacers are not a fluke. They just refuse to give up. They play at such a high pace. They're so aggressive, even in the face of big deficits. You know, you mentioned this is their fourth late game

comeback in the postseason. And Tyrese Halliburton is him. He had a game winner in every round of the playoffs. It's wild. He is so fun to watch. Oh he is so fun and you know what one of his best friends Deb in Indy, Caitlin Clark. She told me recently that they've got a group text after games. They can just chat about you know the challenges and of course the fun of their high-pressure jobs. So that's pretty cool.

You might see them around India at your local coffee shop. Who knows? That is cool. Thank you so much. That's ESPN's Michelle Steele. Glad you were with us. You bet. See you next time. And that's up first for Saturday, June 7th, 2025.

I'm Debbie Elliot. And I'm Ayesha Roscoe. But wait, we've got one more thing for you today. Here at Up First, we take keeping you informed seriously. Meanwhile, our friends at NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, they take making fun of the news very seriously. Each week, they create a news quiz and we want to give up first listeners the chance to play along.

Now onto our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many Fill in the Blank questions as they can. Each correct answer is now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the score? Can indeed. Nagin has three. Zach and Adam each have two. That means Zach and Adam are tied for second, and I'm going to arbitrarily pick Adam to go first.

So, the clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, Adam, President Trump announced a blank ban targeting 12 countries. Travel. Right. According to a new report, the net worth of the 10 blankest people in America increased $365 billion last year. Richest? Yes. Wealthiest.

This week, U.S. blanks on steel increased to 50%. Tariffs? Right. On Tuesday, a judge ordered the White House to continue offering blank-affirming care to inmates in federal prisons. Gender? Right. This week, the U.S. beat out Australia to become the country that blanks the most in

the entire world. Sleeps? No. Swear. the most in the entire world. Oh. Sleeps? No, swears. On Thursday, a Japanese spacecraft attempting to land on the blank crashed during its descent. Moon? Right. On Thursday, the Switch 2, the newest gaming console from blank, was released. Nintendo?

Right. This week, officials in Washington state had to release a warning to drivers after a truck tipped over on the highway while carrying blank. Um, oh, I heard about this. Was it a bunch of coins? No, it was millions of bees. According to the local sheriff, millions of bees escaped from a cargo truck after it tipped over near the Canadian border. Fortunately, less than 24 hours later, a group of volunteer beekeepers helped recover most

of them, and they swear they're definitely the escapees, not just a bunch of new ones. You can tell because they're still wearing their tiny orange jumpsuits. Bill, how did Adam do in our quiz? Very well. Six right, 12 more points, total of 14 puts him in the lead. All right, so Zach, you are up next. Here we go. Fill in the blank.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the so-called Big Beautiful Blank would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit. Bill. Right. On Wednesday, the U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution calling for immediate ceasefire in blank. Gaza. Right. On Tuesday, flash floods hit parts of Kansas after over a month's worth of blank fell in just one day. Rainfall. Right. Yes. This week, a dedicated Door Dash driver in Chicago drove onto blank while trying to deliver an order.

Lakeshore Drive? No. That would be scary. He drove onto the tarmac at O'Hare Airport. On Tuesday, food safety inspectors said that some ground beef sold at Whole Foods may be contaminated with blank. E. coli?

Right. After their playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers, the New York Blanks fired their head coach. Nicks. That doesn't seem nice. Yes. This week, a man in Norway was shocked when he woke up Right after their playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers, the New York Blanks fired their head coach. Nicks. That doesn't seem nice, yes. This week, a man in Norway was shocked when he woke up and discovered

that he had slept through blank. The pandemic? No, a 450-foot-long cargo ship crashing into his front yard. Same, same. Which happened to be on the ocean. Authorities have determined that the ship's watch officer fell asleep while on duty, leading to the vessel veering off course and right into the guy's front yard. Also asleep, the house owner, who did not wake

up, when the ship, which was very large, crashed right there. Call it a disaster if you want, but I think it's a touching story of two men miles apart napping. Bill, how did Zach do on our quiz? Well, he did very well. Five right, 10 more points, totaled 12. He's in second place behind Adam.

All right. Also known as last. We're encouraging here. All right, then. So how many does Nagin need to take it? Six to win, Nagin. Here we go, Nagin. OK.

This is for the game. Fill in the blank. Following a series of surprise drone attacks from Ukraine, Trump and blank had a 75-minute phone call. Putin? Right. This week, the White House said it was suspending international visas for new students at blank university.

Harvard. Right. On Wednesday, the mayor of Baltimore confirmed that a blank spill had stained part of the waterfront red. Oil? Right. This week, a woman in China who said she cried for three days after her boyfriend broke up with her finally got her revenge by blanking.

Getting rid of his Twitter account. No, sending 2,000 pounds of onions to his house. In order to avoid spreading outbreaks overseas, the CDC suggested travelers get the blank vaccine before flying. The foot and mouth vaccine? The measles vaccine. On Wednesday, the trailer for the second part

of the film adaptation of the musical Blank was released. The musical Once Upon a Mattress. No. A little deep hole, thank you. The musical Wicked. Wicked for good. This week, a man in Colorado escaped with just minor injuries after he was hit by a car while he was in a blank.

Uh, in doing ketamine. No, he was in a porta potty. Apparently, the driver who had veered off the road and ran straight into this porta potty, and you know, okay, we've all been there, you have an emergency, you're desperate, you see an old, uncared for porta potty, and you're sitting in there and you think, well, at least this couldn't get any worse. Bill, did Nagin do well enough to win? Well, she got three right for six more points, total of nine goes to the Irishman.

He's our champion, Adam Burke. See how closely you followed the week's news and have some fun by listening to the podcast Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz every Saturday. It's available in the NPR app and wherever you get your podcasts. Keeping up with the news can feel like a 24 hour job. Luckily, it is our job every hour on the NPR News Now podcast. We take the latest, most important stories happening and we package them into five minute episodes so you can easily squeeze them in between meetings and on your way to that thing.

Listen to the NPR News Now podcast, now. NPR's through line wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everybody, it's Ian from How to Do Everything. On our show, we attempt to answer your how to questions. We don't know how to do anything. So we call experts. Last season, both Tom Hanks and Martha Stewart stopped by to help. Our next season is launching in just a few months. So get us your questions now by emailing howto at npr.org or calling 1-800-424-2935.