Up First from NPR - Who's Been Paying Tariffs, DHS Surveillance Tools, Israel Holds Florida Teen

Episode Date: November 8, 2025

U.S. consumers have not borne the full brunt of President Trump's tariffs but that may change if they are held up, all or in part, by the Supreme Court. The Department of Homeland Security is employing powerful new tools to surveil foreigners. A Floridian, arrested by Israel earlier this year at age 15 in a rock-throwing incident, faces 20 years in prison.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to be able to do. I'll do some. I certainly won't do as much. As the sound of tariffs, seeding into one consumer's plans for the holidays. We do the numbers today on the podcast. I'm Aisha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon with Up First from NPR News. Now seven months into President Trump's tariffs, with arguments about them this week at the Supreme Court, we take a look at who's been footing the bill. Then powerful new surveillance tools for the Department of Homeland Security will ask what you need to know. And the case of a Florida team facing 20 years in an Israeli prison. So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend. Lots of questions this week regarding President Trump's tariffs at the Supreme Court.

how wide is a president's latitude to conduct foreign affairs, what powers are exclusively the legislatures, are tariffs mainly to regulate trade or to raise revenue? And the biggie for us consumers as we launch ourselves into the holidays, who's paying? That's the money NPR's Julianna Kim has been following. She joins us now, Juliana. Thanks so much for being with us. Happy to be here. Have we seen retail prices change in the past seven months? So far, prices have gone up, you know, for coffee, clothing, furniture, things that are almost exclusively imported. But interestingly, only about 20% of the tariff burden has actually made it to retail prices. That's according to Erica York, an analyst at the Tax Foundation,

a group that advocates for simplifying the tax code. She told me companies probably had stockpiles of products before tariffs hit, and also a lot of businesses held off changing prices, while there was some uncertainty around tariff rates. But that strategy is beginning to change, and companies are starting to pass higher costs to the consumer. Economists say that's going to become more common in the months ahead. What could cost look like in the next year? So there's some different numbers floating around.

The Tax Foundation estimates that if tariffs stay in place throughout next year, a household could face an average burden of $1,600. I also asked this question to Kent Smetters, the faculty director at the Penn Wharton budget model, and he estimates that existing tariffs could tack on as much as 1% to your average spending. So if you spend $50,000 a year, that's an extra $500. Keep in mind, prices are just one part of the story. You know, tariffs can also lead companies to slow hiring or cut wages, which isn't good news for an already weakening job market. Of course, exit polls from key races this week show that the cost of living and the economy

are the biggest concerns for voters. How do you think tariffs have played into that? Tariffs have pushed prices higher, but for the most part, the increases have been fairly modest. That being said, many Americans are struggling with inflation fatigue. I spoke to Michelle Floreo, a paraprofessional in New Jersey, as she says she's held off buying a new car and a mattress because tariffs have made them too expensive,

and even her holiday plans are changing. I have been giving baked goods as gifts for 53 years, and now I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to be able to do. I'll do some. I certainly won't do as much. This week, she voted for Mikey Sherrill, a Democrat, to be the next governor. Part of it had to do with local issues, but Florio says a big factor was choosing a candidate she felt really cared about the cost of living.

Of course, President Trump says that his tariffs will protect U.S. jobs and products. and create revenue. Do we see that happening? So our colleagues, Scott Horsley, reported that the Treasury Department is collecting nearly four times as much tariff revenue as it did a year ago. And that equates to tens of billions of dollars. When it comes to American products, though, York from the Tax Foundation points this out. When you demand more domestically produced goods, the prices of those goods rise. She says that's already started to happen with some domestic products.

And then, of course, at the Supreme Court this week, the justice has heard arguments over the president's authority to impose broad tariffs, and a decision could come soon. How much of the administration's tariff policy rests on what the court will say? Yeah, you know, large share of Trump's tariffs are in question. The Tax Foundation estimates that if the justices decide those tariffs are illegal, a household's annual average burden could drop to $400 instead of the $1,600 figure I mentioned. earlier. But even if the Supreme Court rules against the tariffs, York from the Tax Foundation says Trump still has other ways to add more. And here's Julianna Kim. Thanks so much. Thank you. The Department of Homeland Security is increasing detentions and aggressive tactics as it strains to meet President Trump's promise of mass deportations. Now DHS is outfitting its agencies with new capabilities.

Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE are stepping up surveillance. And critics warned the technologies they're using can violate privacy and civil liberties. And as Jude Joffey Block joins us. Jude, thanks for being with us. Oh, thank you. What are some of the tools that ICE agents are using these days? Well, they've got new contracts to monitor social media and help find people's locations. ICE has also revived a contract with a company called Paragon Solutions, which is known for making spyware that can hack into cell phones. But one big thing that's new is an app ICE and Border Patrol agents have in the field.

Social media videos show they're using it to scan people's faces during encounters on the street in an attempt to identify them and figure out if they're deportable. Jude, how does this app work? Well, there's still a lot that's unknown. But one of these videos that was first reported by 404 media was shot outside of Chicago, and you see Border Patrol agents approaching two young people. If you tell me that you were born here and give me an ID, you'd be good. The young man filming the encounter says he doesn't have ID, and then the agent turns to his colleague and asks,

Can you do facial? Can you do facial, he says. And his colleague pulls out his phone and holds it up and appears to scan his face, though it's possibly took a photo. The video was posted by someone claiming to be the cousin of one of the boys who was stopped. The poster didn't respond to a request about the post, but NPR was able to verify exactly where it was taken. We did get a statement from ICE, and they didn't answer questions about this app, but said, nothing new here for years law enforcement across the nation has leveraged technological innovations to fight crime.

Jude, do we know if this technology can be used to identify essentially everybody, U.S. citizens? Well, a group of Democratic senators has been trying to get answers to that question and others about this app since September, but haven't gotten them from ICE. They've called on ICE to stop using this technology and reiterated that demand on Monday. My colleague Martin Costi spoke to Democratic Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey. This type of on-demand surveillance is harrowing, and it should put all of us on guard. It chills speech. It erodes privacy. It ultimately undermines our democracy. He expressed concern that this tool could be used against people who criticize the government or protesters.

What safeguards exist to try to ensure that these technologies are not abused? Well, I asked that to ICE and DHS, and we didn't hear back. I also spoke with legal and privacy experts who told me that our current legal and regulatory framework just isn't robust enough to ensure that these kinds of new tools are used with the appropriate oversight and accountability that's really needed. Emily Tucker is with Georgetown Law School's Center on Privacy and Technology. Immigration powers are being used to justify mass surveillance of everybody. And she says it's a mistake to think this doesn't affect every one of us. And here's you, Joffie Block. Thanks so much.

Thank you. And lastly today, Mohamed Ibrahim. This weekend, and is raised. military court is weighing the Floridians fate. Ibrahim is a Palestinian American who was arrested in February at age 15 charged with throwing stones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He faces a 20-year prison sentence if convicted. Ibrahim is one of more than 9,000 Palestinians, and that number includes hundreds of children detained in the West Bank since the Gaza War began, according to official Palestinian figures. And Pierre's Lauren Ferry,

met with Muhammad Ibrahim's family this week and joins us now. Lauren, thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me, Scott. Please tell us about this case. So last February, when Muhammad Ibrahim was 15 years old, Israeli soldiers came to his family's house in the West Bank in the middle of the night. This family splits their time between the West Bank in Florida. Soldiers pounded on the door, asked for Muhammad, said he'd been seen throwing stones. They blindfolded and handcuffed him, according to his mother, and took him away. I visited his mother, Ramuna Ibrahim, who's pretty distraught. Yes, may no mother go through what I went through.

We expected, like, he'll come out within one week, you know, because he's a U.S. citizen. And we're just keep waiting. It's been nearly nine months. In Israeli prison, Mohammed is not allowed family visits or phone calls. 27 members of the U.S. Congress have signed a letter calling for his release. U.S. consular officials have been able to visit him. the family says they told them he's suffering from scabies, a skin parasite, and has lost nearly a third of his body weight. And what's he charged with? Two counts of stone throwing. And the law says that

throwing a stone or object at a person or property carries a 10-year maximum prison sentence. At a moving vehicle, it's 20 years. These penalties also to apply to anybody who acts in concert with a stone thrower. And that's what Muhammad is charged with. He and three other teens were all arrested on the same day. I've seen some of the court documents which say that under interrogation, Muhammad admitted to throwing a stone near a road but says he did not hit anything and didn't try to. I also asked the Israeli military about his case. They refused to comment specifically on his case but said military juvenile courts in the West Bank are kept secret to, quote, protect the privacy of minors. 20 years for a juvenile accused of throwing a stone sounds pretty severe. Why are the

penalties so severe. Possibly to encourage plea bargains. Most minors in cases like these serve far fewer than the 20-year maximum. But stone throwing hits a particular nerve, Scott, for Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. It was widespread in both Palestinian intifadas. More than a thousand Israelis were killed altogether in those uprisings and many times that number of Palestinians as well. Also, this is not the regular Israeli penal code. Muhammad is charged under special security. laws that Israel imposed in the West Bank after those Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. I spoke to an Israeli lawyer, Leah Semel. She is not representing Muhammad, but told me how he's likely to be treated under those security laws. Even a boy, even a younger boy than this one,

is considered a security prisoner and will be limited and denied of any right, including food, real food, including family visits. Hardly they can see a lawyer here and there. And that's in line with what U.S. officials and Mohamed's family say is happening. The Israeli military disputes that, though. In a statement, it told me Muhammad is entitled to a lawyer, all the evidence is made available to the defense and that there is due process here. And what's happening this weekend? Muhammad has another hearing in Israeli military court tomorrow Sunday. His father, Zahar Ibrahim, told me the past ones have been Kafkaesque.

You know, this will be his probably 10th hearing, you know. And their hearings here is not like in America. You wait nine, nine hours, eight hours, seven hours. There's no time when his court starts. And you walk in and they say next court delayed until next month. That's how it's been nine months almost now. He's hoping the court frees him this time, possibly as part of a plea bargain, but it also could announce a conviction, a sentence, or keep postponing.

And here's Lauren Frere in Tel Aviv. much. You're welcome, Scott. That's up first for November 8th, 2025. I'm Ayesha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon. Michael Radcliffe produced today's podcast with Danny Hensel, Gabe O'Connor, and Fernando Naro. Our editor was Ed McNulty, along with D. Parvaz, Hadeo Al-Souchi, Avi Schneider, Jeff Brumfield, and James Heider. Andy Craig directed. Our technical director is David Greenberg with engineering support from Mission Highness, So Van Gonhoven, and Damien Herring. Our senior supervised editor is Shannon Rhodes.

E.B. Stone is our executive producer. And Jim Kane is our deputy managing editor. Tomorrow on the Sunday story, what does it mean to survive a war? One vet's struggle to set aside the combat mindset. That's here on the podcast. There is so much more on the radio. So please find your local NPR station at stations. npr.org.org.