By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia was due to check-in with immigration authorities on Friday, some 14 hours after he was released from detention on a judge’s orders.

Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown earlier this year when he was wrongly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. He was last taken into custody in August during a similar check-in.

Kilmar Abrego García arrives to his home in Beltsville, Md., Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, after being released from ICE custody. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Abrego Garcia, who was scheduled to appear at the Baltimore Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, first stopped at a news conference outside the building, escorted by a group of supporters chanting “We are all Kilmar!”

“I stand before you a free man and I want you to remember me this way, with my head held up high,” Abrego Garcia said through a translator. “I come here today with so much hope and I thank God who has been with me since the start with my family.”

He urged people to keep fighting.

“I stand here today with my head held high and I will continue to fight and stand firm against all of the injustices this government has done upon me,” Abrego Garcia said. “Regardless of this administration, I believe this is a country of laws and I believe that this injustice will come to an end.”

After Abrego Garcia spoke, he went through security at the field office, escorted by supporters.

The agency freed him just before 5 p.m. on Thursday in response to a ruling from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland, who wrote federal authorities detained him after his return to the United States without any legal basis.

Mistakenly deported and then returned

Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen with an American wife and child who has lived in Maryland for years. He immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager to join his brother, who had become a U.S. citizen. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported back to his home country, where he faces danger from a gang that targeted his family.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been moved several times since his arrest in March. (AP Digital Embed)

While he was allowed to live and work in the U.S. under ICE supervision, he was not given residency status. Earlier this year, he was mistakenly deported and held in a notoriously brutal Salvadoran prison despite having no criminal record.

Facing mounting public pressure and a court order, Trump’s Republican administration brought him back to the U.S. in June, but only after issuing an arrest warrant on human smuggling charges in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and asked a federal judge there to dismiss them.

A lawsuit to block removal from the US

The 2019 settlement found he had a “well founded fear” of danger in El Salvador if he was deported there. So instead ICE has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries. Abrego Garcia has sued, claiming the Trump administration is illegally using the removal process to punish him for the public embarrassment caused by his deportation.

In her order releasing Abrego Garcia, Xinis wrote that federal authorities “did not just stonewall” the court, “They affirmatively misled the tribunal.” Xinis also rejected the government’s argument that she lacked jurisdiction to intervene on a final removal order for Abrego Garcia, because she found no final order had been filed.

ICE freed Abrego Garcia from Moshannon Valley Processing Center, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh, on Thursday just before the deadline Xinis gave the government to provide an update on Abrego Garcia’s release.

He returned home to Maryland a few hours later.

Immigration check-in

Check-ins are how ICE keeps track of some people who are released by the government to pursue asylum or other immigration cases as they make their way through a backlogged court system. The appointments were once routine but many people have been detained at their check-ins since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.

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Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said he’s prepared to defend his client against further deportation efforts.

“The government still has plenty of tools in their toolbox, plenty of tricks up their sleeve,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said, adding he fully expects the government to again take steps to deport his client. “We’re going to be there to fight to make sure there is a fair trial.”

The Department of Homeland Security sharply criticized Xinis’ order and vowed to appeal, calling the ruling “naked judicial activism” by a judge appointed during the Obama administration.

“This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary.

Sandoval-Moshenberg said the judge made it clear that the government can’t detain someone indefinitely without legal authority and that his client “has endured more than anyone should ever have to.”

Abrego Garcia has also applied for asylum in the U.S. in immigration court.

Charges in Tennessee

Abrego Garcia was hit with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling charges when the U.S. government brought him back from El Salvador. Prosecutors alleged he accepted money to transport within the United States people who were in the country illegally.

The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Body camera footage from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer shows a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. However, Abrego Garcia was eventually allowed to continue driving with only a warning.

A Department of Homeland Security agent testified at an earlier hearing that he did not begin investigating the traffic stop until after the U.S. Supreme Court said in April that the Trump administration must work to bring back Abrego Garcia.

By LEAH WILLINGHAM and LAURA BARGFELD, Associated Press

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — One baby Jesus lays in a manger in the snow, wrapped in a silver emergency blanket with his wrists zip-tied. Mary stands nearby outside the Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, wearing a plastic gas mask and flanked by Roman soldiers in tactical vests labeled “ICE.”

An “ICE WAS HERE” sign is posted in the spot for the baby Jesus at a nativity display at St. Susanna Church, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In another Chicago suburb, not far from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility that has drawn protests over detentions, a sign at the manger outside the Urban Village Church says “Due to ICE activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding.” And more than a thousand miles away, the Christ child went missing from a Nativity scene at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, replaced by a hand-painted sign: “ICE was here.”

These and other stark reimaginings of Christ’s birth are drawing praise and outrage as churches turn the Christmas tableau into a commentary on federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. Their creators say they are placing the ancient story in a contemporary frame, portraying the Holy Family as refugees to reflect on the fear of separation and deportation that many families — including their own parishioners — are experiencing today.

Supporters of the displays say the Bible is on their side, but critics call the scenes sacrilegious and politically divisive, accusing the churches of abusing sacred imagery and some arguing they should lose their tax-exempt status. The archdiocese in Massachusetts ordered that the manger must be “restored to its proper sacred purpose.”

The debate comes as immigration enforcement intensifies in states and cities whose leaders object to the immigration crackdown. In September alone, a combined total of at least 2,000 people were arrested in Illinois and Massachusetts, according to federal arrest figures released by immigration authorities.

‘A grave scandal for Catholics’

For churches, Christmas is a time “when we have public art out on the lawn and we get an opportunity to say something,” said Rev. Michael Woolf, senior minister at Lake Street. Another Nativity scene created by the Baptist congregation one recent year showed Jesus in rubble — a “plea for peace” in Gaza, he said.

St. Susanna parishioners locked baby Jesus in a cage in 2018 to protest how President Donald Trump’s first administration was separating families at the border. Another year, they depicted the infant floating in water polluted with plastic to highlight climate change.

A mannequin representing the Mother Mary wears a mask in the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Boston Archbishop Richard Henning ordered this year’s display taken down. As of Thursday, Father Steve Josoma was seeking a meeting and had yet to comply.

“The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship — not divisive political messaging,” a diocesan spokesperson said.

Some Catholic activists want the priest punished.

“This is really a grave scandal for Catholics, and I think he’s playing with fire,” said C.J. Doyle, director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts. “The archbishop can remove him as pastor, suspend him from active ministry — he can even close the parish and sell the property right out from under him.”

The community’s reality

Josoma said the display’s purpose is to move “beyond static traditional figures and evoke emotion and dialogue” in response to the fear many parishioners face as federal forces arrest more than undocumented immigrants, sweeping up longtime legal residents and spreading anxiety.

A sign of explanation is part of the Nativity scene outside of Lake Street Church of Evanston, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

In Illinois, the detention campaign has left bystanders choking on chemical sprays and children traumatized at the site of neighbors and teachers being taken away, prompting state and local investigations.

“We wanted to reflect sort of the reality that our community is experiencing,” Jillian Westerfield, associate minister at the United Methodist church in Evanston.

After the figure of Joseph blew down and was damaged, leaving Mary alone with the baby, they put up an explanatory sign: “Joseph didn’t make it. We hold this spaced to honor and remember all the victims of immigration enforcement terror.”

Critics either don’t fully understand the message or “find it really challenging to their conscience and are lashing out at the art rather than engaging with what the actual message is,” Westerfield said.

‘Not a stunt’

Phil Mandeville, who sits on St. Susanna’s Parish Council and coordinates a multi-church refugee support committee, said long-standing relationships make the parish resolute about keeping the display.

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The committee has worked with about 10 refugee families since 2019, helping them find housing, enroll in school, learn English and secure work. Much of the effort is done in partnership with the federal government, which puts families through extensive vetting before they arrive, he said.

“Just to emphasize the reason for all of this — it’s not a stunt,” Mandeville said. “We work on a daily basis with refugees. But people get upset about a bit of plaster. I care more about individuals than I do a manger scene. I understand what it represents — I don’t understand why no one cares about these human beings.”

“Look at the Gospel just before Christ was executed — that was political,” he added. “We were always taught: when you’re unsure how to act, ask, ‘What would Christ do?’ Now we’re doing that, and it doesn’t seem to jibe.”

Divided reaction

The controversy in Evanston drew volunteers from a nearby synagogue, who stood outside during Lake Street’s services to help worshippers feel safe. Reactions outside the Dedham church ranged widely.

Walter Niland snapped a selfie and said he disagreed with the display. “I believe that the church enjoys a tax-exempt status,” said Niland, a Catholic from a neighboring town. “We should speak to spiritual matters, not matters of political division.”

Others came to challenge the parish directly — including one man who livestreamed his attempt to pull on locked church doors.

Steve Grieger, a former Catholic schoolteacher, drove an hour from Worcester to show his support.

“The Archdiocese says, ‘Oh no, that goes against our tradition.’ Well, we’re living in times that are totally abnormal. We can’t just proceed as normal,” Grieger said. “If we’re following the scriptures of Jesus, then we have to recognize that these ICE raids, and all of these terrible things going on, are totally against that.”

Bargfeld reported from Evanston.

By JOSH BOAK and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — This holiday season isn’t quite so merry for American shoppers as large shares are dipping into savings, scouring for bargains and feeling like the overall economy is stuck in a rut under President Donald Trump, a new AP-NORC poll finds.

The vast majority of U.S. adults say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Kashish Ali shops for groceries before filling a One Love Community Fridge, Nov. 15, 2025, in Brooklyn, New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Roughly half of Americans say it’s harder than usual to afford the things they want to give as holiday gifts, and similar numbers are delaying big purchases or cutting back on nonessential purchases more than they would normally.

It’s a sobering assessment for the Republican president, who returned to the White House in large part by promising to lower prices, only to find that inflation remains a threat to his popularity just as it did for Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. The poll’s findings look very similar to an AP-NORC poll from December 2022, when Biden was president and the country was grappling with higher rates of inflation. Trump’s series of tariffs have added to inflationary pressures and generated anxiety about the stability of the U.S. economy, keeping prices at levels that many Americans find frustrating.

The president has insisted there is “no” inflation and the U.S. economy is booming, as he expressed frustration that the public feels differently.

“When will people understand what is happening?” Trump said Thursday on Truth Social. “When will Polls reflect the Greatness of America at this point in time, and how bad it was just one year ago?”

Most U.S. adults, 68%, continue to say the country’s economy is “poor,” which is unchanged from December 2024, before Trump returned to the presidency.

Americans are feeling strained as they continue to see high prices

White House officials plan to send Trump barnstorming across the country in hopes of bucking up people’s faith in the economy before next year’s midterm elections. But the president this week in Pennsylvania defended the price increases tied to his tariffs by suggesting that Americans should buy fewer dolls and pencils for children. His message is a jarring contrast with what respondents expressed in the poll, even among people who backed him in the 2024 election.

FILE – Shoppers browse through Kohl’s department store for Black Friday deals, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Megan Varner, File)

Sergio Ruiz, 44, of Tucson, Arizona, said he is using more buy now, pay later programs to spread out over time the expense of gifts for his children. He doesn’t put a huge emphasis on politics, but he voted for Trump last year and would like to see lower interest rates to help boost his real estate business. He believes that more Americans having higher incomes would help to manage any affordability issues.

“Prices are up. What can you do? You need to make more money,” Ruiz said.

The poll found that when they do shop, about half of Americans are finding the lowest price more than they would normally. About 4 in 10 are dipping into their savings more than at other times.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they’re cutting back on expenses or looking for low prices, but many Republicans are budgeting more than usual as well. About 4 in 10 Republicans are looking for low prices more than they usually would, while a similar share are shopping for nonessential items less than usual.

Views are largely similar to when Biden was president

People felt similarly dismal about holiday shopping and the economy when Biden was president in 2022. Inflation had spiked to a four-decade high that summer. Three years later, inflation has eased substantially, but it’s still running at 3%, a full percentage point above the Federal Reserve’s target as the job market appears to have entered a deep freeze.

The survey indicates that it’s the level of prices — and not just the rate of inflation — that is the point of pain for many families. Roughly 9 in 10 U.S. adults, 87%, say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for groceries in the past few months, while about two-thirds say they’ve experienced higher prices than usual for electricity and holiday gifts. About half say they’ve seen higher than normal prices for gas recently.

FILE – A Utah Food Bank volunteer carries groceries at a mobile food pantry distribution site Dec. 21, 2022, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

The findings on groceries and holiday gifts are only slightly lower than in the 2022 poll, despite the slowdown from an inflation rate that hit a four-decade peak in the middle of that year.

Consumer spending has stayed resilient despite the negative sentiments about the economy, yet Trump’s tariffs have caused changes for shoppers such as Andrew Russell.

The 33-year-old adjunct professor in Arlington Heights, Illinois, said he used to shop for unique gifts from around the globe and buy online. But with the tariffs, he got his gifts locally and “this year, I only bought things that I can pick up in person,” he said.

Russell, who voted Democratic in last year’s election, said he worries about the economy for next year. He thinks the investment in artificial intelligence has become a bubble that could burst, taking down the stock market.

Little optimism about an economic rebound in 2026

Few people expect the situation to meaningfully improve next year — a sign that Trump has done little to instill much confidence from his mix of tariffs, income tax cuts and foreign trips to attract investments. Trump has maintained that the benefits from his policies will begin to snowball in 2026.

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About 4 in 10 U.S. adults expect next year will be economically worse for the country. Roughly 3 in 10 say conditions won’t change much. Only about 2 in 10 think things will get better, with Republicans being more optimistic.

The belief that things will get better has slipped from last year, when about 4 in 10 said that 2025 would be better than 2024.

Millicent Simpson, 56, of Cleveland, Ohio, said she expects the economy to be worse for people like her who rely on Medicaid for health care and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Simpson voted Democratic last year and blames Trump for the greater economic pressures that she faces going into the winter.

“He’s making it rough for us,” she said. “He’s messing with the government assistance for everybody, young and old.”

The AP-NORC poll of 1,146 adults was conducted Dec. 4-8 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Vikings at Cowboys (-6½)

Minnesota sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy shocked the world last Sunday with a three-touchdown performance in the Vikings’ shutout of Jayden Daniels and the hapless Commanders. The Commies’ effort was the most nauseating performance to come out of the nation’s capital in at least several minutes.
Pick: Cowboys by 7

Chargers at Chiefs (-5½)

Patrick Mahomes was terrible again last Sunday night against Houston in a loss that severely damaged Kansas City’s faint playoff hopes. But on the bright side, the Chiefs’ quarterback is the early favorite to win the next FIFA Peace Prize.
Pick: Chiefs by 3

Colts at Seahawks (-10½)

Forty-four-year-old Philip Rivers is coming out of retirement to fill in for Colts QB Daniel Jones, who suffered a season-ending torn Achilles‘ tendon to go with his broken fibula. Since his retirement, the 10-time father has been mostly keeping busy by repopulating the planet.
Pick: Seahawks by 14

Raiders at Eagles (-13½)

Philly QB Jalen Hurts had a historically poor Monday night against the Chargers, committing five turnovers, including an NFL record two on a single play. It was a display of irresponsible giveaways that would make even Tim Walz blush.
Pick: Eagles by 17

Bills at Patriots (+1½)

New England needs a victory to dethrone Buffalo and clinch a division title. It would be the first since the Patriots were led to the 2019 AFC East crown by Bill Belichick, about three years before he officially turned in his Man Card.
Pick: Patriots by 3

Packers at Broncos (+1½)

It’s hard to believe, but the mildly-talented Bo Nix and his Broncos are tied for the best record in the National Football League. Colorado fans have been deliriously happy about their quarterback’s play, mostly due to the state’s historically high consumption of cannabis products.
Pick: Packers by 3

Browns at Bears (-6½)

Chicago QB Caleb Williams threw away last Sunday’s pivotal game with an ineptly underthrown pass in the final moments in Green Bay. This surprised many longtime Williams watchers who thought he’d wait until the postseason to disappoint everyone who has ever known him.
Pick: Bears by 16

Dolphins at Steelers (-3½)

Miami football fans are super excited that the Hurricanes have qualified for college football’s championship tournament. That’s because most won’t live long enough to see the Dolphins play for a championship in God’s Waiting Room.
Pick: Dolphins by 3

Ravens at Bengals (+1½)

Joe Burrow and the Bengals collapsed down the stretch last Sunday against Buffalo, all but knocking them out of the AFC playoff chase. Cincinnati sports fans haven’t been this chagrined since the last time they caught sight of Marge Schott.
Pick: Ravens by 7

Jets at Jaguars (-12½)

Jacksonville is suddenly in prime playoff position, leading the AFC South and on pace to host a first-round playoff game. Tragically, that means some unfortunate wild-card team will have to spend part of January in godforsaken Duval County.
Pick: Jaguars by 7

OTHER GAMES

Lions at Rams (-4½)
Pick: Lions by 3

Titans at 49ers (-13½)
Pick: 49ers by 17

Panthers at Saints (+2½)
Pick: Panthers by 7

Cardinals at Texans (-7½)
Pick: Texans by 7

Commanders at Giants (-1½)
Pick: Giants by 3

Record

Week 14
8-6 straight up
8-6 vs. spread

Season
130-77-1 straight up (.628)
105-103 vs. spread (.505)

All-time (2003-25)
3949-2178-15 straight up (.645)
3016-2982-145 vs spread (.503)

You can hear Kevin Cusick on Thursdays on Bob Sansevere’s “BS Show” podcast on iTunes. You can follow Kevin on X– @theloopnow. He can be reached at kcusick@pioneerpress.com.

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