By TRAVIS LOLLER, Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation helped galvanize opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, has hearings on Dec. 8-9 in the human smuggling case against him in Tennessee.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw will hear evidence on motions from the defense asking him to dismiss the charges and throw out some of the evidence. The hearing was originally scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. A brief entry from the judge in the electronic docket does not explain the reason for the change after a nonpublic status conference between the judge and the attorneys on Friday. However, the two sides have been fighting over what documents and testimony the government will be required to provide to Abrego Garcia as he tries to prove the charges against him were motivated by a desire to punish him for the embarrassment of his mistaken deportation.

Here’s what to know about the latest developments in the case:

Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

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.

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While he was allowed to live and work in the U.S. under Immigration and Customs Enforcement 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 Crenshaw to dismiss them.

What are the charges?

Abrego Garcia is charged with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling, with prosecutors claiming 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.

What is the motion to dismiss about?

Abrego Garcia has asked Crenshaw to dismiss the smuggling charges on the grounds of “selective or vindictive prosecution.”

In a recent ruling, Crenshaw found “some evidence that the prosecution against him may be vindictive” and said many statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.” Crenshaw specifically cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, on a Fox News Channel program, that seemed to suggest the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful-deportation case.

The two sides have been sparring over whether senior Justice Department officials, including Blanche, can be required to testify in the case.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire has argued in court filings that it doesn’t matter what members of the Trump administration have said about Abrego Garcia.

“The relevant prosecutorial decision-maker, the Acting U.S. Attorney, has explained on the record that this prosecution was not brought for vindictive or discriminatory reasons,” McGuire writes in a court filing. He adds that any public statements by senior Trump administration officials about Abrego Garcia reflect public safety concerns that are “plainly consistent with a legitimate motivation to prosecute him.”

What is the main motion to suppress evidence about?

Another motion from Abrego Garcia asks the judge to suppress evidence in the case. It claims the 2022 traffic stop that ultimately led to the smuggling charges was illegal, so evidence from that stop should not be used at trial.

In support, court filings say the state trooper who pulled him over stated that the speed limit was 65 mph (105 kph) when it was actually 70 mph (113 kph). The trooper accused him of driving at 75 mph (120 kph), but there is no record that the trooper used a radar gun or pacing to gauge the speed. Abrego Garcia said he was driving at 70 mph, correctly noting the speed limit.

Attorneys for the government argue that the trooper made an honest mistake. The speed limit decreases to 65 mph about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) farther down the interstate. The attorneys also note that Abrego Garcia was driving in the left lane “consistent with an individual traveling in excess of the posted speed limit.” And the trooper, they said, had “no reason or motivation to manufacture a traffic violation against him.”

Is he being deported?

Abrego Garcia currently can’t be deported to El Salvador thanks to the 2019 settlement that found he had a “well founded fear” of danger there. However, the Trump administration has said he cannot stay in the U.S. Over the past couple of months government officials have said they would deport him to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and, most recently, Liberia.

The administration’s deportation agreements with so-called third countries have been contested in court by advocacy groups, which have noted that some immigrants are being sent to countries with long histories of human rights violations. But in June, a divided Supreme Court allowed the swift removal of immigrants to countries other than their homelands and with minimal notice.

Abrego Garcia sued the Trump administration in a Maryland court over his earlier deportation, and the judge in that case has temporarily barred his removal. If the judge decides to lift that order, government attorneys have said they are ready to deport him right away.

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

Tuesday marks the final day of voting in a contentious election season. City Limits spoke to residents about what they want the city’s next mayor to prioritize when taking office on Jan. 1. Submit yours, and we’ll share these with whoever takes office at City Hall next year.

Some of the New Yorkers City Limits has spoken to so far say they want the next mayor to lower the cost of rent and housing, provide more resources for youth, improve city shelters and more. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Tuesday marks the final day of voting in a contentious New York City election season. After a crowded Democratic primary in June, voters this week can choose between three leading candidates to be the city’s next mayor: former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (running as an independent), Democratic nominee and State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, and Republican Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.

More than 735,000 residents have already cast their ballots via early voting—a record high for a non-presidential election year, according to the New York Times.

RELATED READING: The Candidates for Mayor On Housing, Zoning and NYCHA

For the last several weeks, City Limits has been talking to New York City residents about what they want the next mayor to prioritize when taking office on Jan. 1. We spoke to renters, NYCHA tenants, people who’ve experienced homelessness and others about their top issues on their minds. We heard an array of answers, among them public safety, resources for seniors and youth, and the high cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Want to submit your own? Upload a video here, or send us a written answer here. We may include them in our future reporting. Either way, we’ll share the responses we receive with whichever candidate ends up taking over at City Hall come Jan. 1.

I Want My Next Mayor To…

“I would like to see a rent freeze, for one thing,” said Kurt Hill, a rent stabilized tenant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at a rally outside Gracie Mansion on Sept. 30—a day before rent increases for tenants in the city’s roughly 1 million stabilized apartments were set to take effect.

RELATED READING: Can Eric Adams Really Block a Mamdani Rent Freeze?

The politics of a rent freeze for regulated units, a key Mamdani campaign pledge, has been a hotly debated issue throughout the election. Under outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, the Rent Guidelines Board that sets those annual rates has increased rents for stabilized apartments by 12 percent over the last four years, what Hill called “simply unacceptable.”

Jeremy Santana, a 40-year-old resident in the Williamsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx and a chef at a Chipotle in Manhattan, said he wants to see lower costs for housing and public transportation, and more police on the subways—especially overnight. “You guys should focus on the real crime, not worrying about little tickets and little like, somebody hopped the train—that’s not something they should be focusing on. They should be focusing on protecting the city.”

In general, though, he said he wants the next mayor to do one key thing: deliver what they promised. “A lot of people who have been elected into the mayoral race give you a lot of false dreams, and they tell you they’re going to do all this stuff, and it just never happens,” Santana said.

“Do what you say you’re going to do,” he said. “That’s what I would like. Make a better New York.”

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Adi@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org. Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post New York City Residents, Finish This Sentence: ‘I Want My Next Mayor To…’ appeared first on City Limits.

By MORIAH BALINGIT, MAKIYA SEMINERA and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, Associated Press

The government shutdown is triggering a wave of closures of Head Start centers, leaving working parents scrambling for child care and shutting some of the nation’s neediest children out of preschool.

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Dozens of centers are missing out on federal grant payments that were due to arrive Nov. 1. Some say they’ll close indefinitely, while others are staying afloat with emergency funding from local governments and school districts. The closures mean Head Start students — who come from low-income households, are homeless or are in foster care — are missing out on preschool, where they are fed two meals a day and receive therapy vital to their development.

“Children love school, and the fact that they can’t go is breaking their hearts,” said Sarah Sloan, who oversees small-town Head Start centers in Scioto County, Ohio. Staff told families they planned to close Monday. “It’s hampering our families’ ability to put food on the table and to know that their children are safe during the day.”

A half-dozen Head Start programs never received grants that were anticipated in October, but there are now 140 programs that have not received their annual infusion of federal funding. All told, the programs have capacity to assist 65,000 preschoolers and expectant parents.

Among the preschools closing as of Monday are 24 Migrant and Seasonal Head Start centers spread across five states. Those centers, created to assist the children of migrant farmworkers, typically operate on 10- to 12-hour days to accommodate the long hours parents work on farms.

Children attending the centers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Oklahoma recently came home with fliers warning of possible closures, along with other parent notifications. Those centers serving more than 1,100 children will now remain closed until the shutdown ends, said East Coast Migrant Head Start Project CEO Javier Gonzalez. About 900 staff members across the centers also have been furloughed.

In the absence of other options for child care, some parents’ only option may be to bring their young child to the fields where they work, Gonzalez said.

Pause in food aid compounds struggles for Head Start families

Many of the families that qualify for the federal preschool program also depend on food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP or food stamps. That program also was on track to run dry of money due to the shutdown, although a pair of federal judges on Friday ordered the Trump administration to keep the program running with emergency reserve funds.

That means many Head Start families have been worried about food aid, along with the child care they rely on to make ends meet. A day without child care means a day without work for many parents — and a day without pay.

In Kansas City, Missouri, Jhanee Hunt teaches toddlers at a Head Start site, the Emmanuel Family and Child Development Center, where her 6-month-old son is cared for in another classroom. The center said it can scrape up enough money to stay open for a few weeks, but the money won’t last much beyond November.

At dropoff, she said, parents often are wearing uniforms for fast food restaurants like Wendy’s and McDonald’s. Some work as certified nurse assistants in nursing homes. None have much extra money. The most urgent concern right now is food, she said.

“A lot of the parents, they’re, you know, going around trying to find food pantries,” she said. “A parent actually asked me, do I know a food pantry?”

More than 90% of the center’s families rely on SNAP food assistance, said Deborah Mann, the center’s executive director. One construction company offered to help fill the grocery carts of some families that use the center. But overall, families are distressed, she said.

“We’ve had parents crying. We’ve had parents just don’t know what to do,” Mann said.

Some centers stay open — for now

Launched six decades ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, Head Start programs provide a range of services beyond early education, such as medical and dental screenings, school meals and family support to children from low-income households who can’t afford other child care options.

The initiative is funded almost entirely by the federal government, leaving it with little cushion from funding disruptions.

Some that have missed out on grant payments have managed to remain open, with philanthropies, school districts and local governments filling in gaps. Others are relying on fast-dwindling reserves and warn they can’t keep their doors open for much longer.

“If the government doesn’t open back up, we will be providing less services each week,” said Rekah Strong, who heads a social services nonprofit that runs Head Start centers in southern Washington state. She’s already had to close one center and several classrooms and cut back home-based visiting services. “It feels more bleak every day.”

In Florida, Head Start centers in Tallahassee and surrounding Leon County closed Oct. 27, but then reopened the next day thanks to a grant from Children’s Services Council of Leon County. The local school district and churches have stepped up to provide meals for the children.

“It takes a village to raise a child, and our village has come together,” said Nina Self, interim CEO of Capital Area Community Action Agency.

But children in rural Jefferson and Franklin counties, where the agency runs two small Head Start centers, were not as lucky. They’ve been closed since late October.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By MATTHEW PERRONE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Food and Drug Administration’s drug center abruptly resigned Sunday after federal officials began reviewing “serious concerns about his personal conduct,” according to a government spokesperson.

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Dr. George Tidmarsh, who was named to the FDA post in July, was placed on leave Friday after officials in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of General Counsel were notified of the issues, HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard said in an email. Tidmarsh then resigned Sunday morning.

“Secretary Kennedy expects the highest ethical standards from all individuals serving under his leadership and remains committed to full transparency,” Hilliard said.

The departure came the same day that a drugmaker connected to one of Tidmarsh’s former business associates filed a lawsuit alleging that he made “false and defamatory statements,” during his time at the FDA.

The lawsuit, brought by Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, alleges that Tidmarsh used his FDA position to pursue a “longstanding personal vendetta” against the chair of the company’s board of directors, Kevin Tang.

Tang previously served as a board member of several drugmakers where Tidmarsh was an executive, including La Jolla Pharmaceutical, and was involved in his ouster from those leadership positions, according to the lawsuit.

Messages placed to Tidmarsh and his lawyer were not immediately returned late Sunday.

Tidmarsh founded and led a series of pharmaceutical companies over several decades working in California’s pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Before joining the FDA, he also served as an adjunct professor at Stanford University. He was recruited to join the agency over the summer after meeting with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.

Tidmarsh’s ouster is the latest in a string of haphazard leadership changes at the agency, which has been rocked for months by firings, departures and controversial decisions on vaccines, fluoride and other products.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, who oversees FDA’s vaccine and biologics center, resigned in July after coming under fire from conservative activists close to President Donald Trump, only to rejoin the agency two weeks later at the behest of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The FDA’s drug center, which Tidmarsh oversaw, has lost more than 1,000 staffers over the past year to layoffs or resignations, according to agency figures. The center is the largest division of the FDA and is responsible for the review, safety and quality control of prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

In September, Tidmarsh drew public attention for a highly unusual post on LinkedIn stating that one of Aurinia Pharmaceutical’s products, a kidney drug, had “not been shown to provide a direct clinical benefit for patients.” It’s very unusual for an FDA regulator to single out individual companies and products in public comments online.

According to the company’s lawsuit, Aurinia’s stock dropped 20% shortly after the post, wiping out more than $350 million in shareholder value.

Tidmarsh later deleted the LinkedIn post and said he had posted it in his personal capacity, not as an FDA official.

Aurinia’s lawsuit also alleges, among other things, that Tidmarsh used his post at FDA to target a type of thyroid drug made by another company, American Laboratories, where Tang also serves as board chair.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court of Maryland, seeks compensatory and punitive damages and “to set the record straight,” according to the company.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.