By MICHAEL CASEY

BOSTON (AP) — The Trump administration apologized in court for a “mistake” in the deportation of a Massachusetts college student who was detained trying to fly home to surprise her family for Thanksgiving, but still argued the error should not affect her case.

Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman, was detained at Boston’s airport on Nov. 20 and flown to Honduras two days later. Her removal came despite an emergency court order on Nov. 21 directing the government to keep her in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the United States for at least 72 hours.

Lopez Belloza, whose family emigrated from Honduras to the U.S. in 2014, is currently staying with grandparents and studying remotely. She is not detained and was recently visiting an aunt in El Salvador.

Her case is the latest involving a deportation carried out despite a court order. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador despite a ruling that should have prevented it. The Trump administration initially fought efforts to bring him back to the U.S. but eventually complied after the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in. And last June, a Guatemalan man identified as O.C.G. was returned to the U.S. after a judge found his removal from Mexico likely “lacked any semblance of due process.”

At a federal court hearing Tuesday in Boston, the government argued the court lacks jurisdiction because lawyers for Lopez Belloza filed their action several hours after she arrived in Texas while en route out of the country. But the government also acknowledged it violated the judge’s order.

In court filings and in open court, government lawyers said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer mistakenly believed the order no longer applied because Lopez Belloza had already left Massachusetts. The officer failed to activate a system that alerts other ICE officers that a case is subject to judicial review and that removal should be halted.

“On behalf of the government, we want to sincerely apologize,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter told the judge, saying the employee understands “he made a mistake.” The violation, Sauter added, was “an inadvertent mistake by one individual, not a willful act of violating a court order.”

In a declaration filed with the court Jan. 2, the ICE officer also admitted he did not notify ICE’s enforcement office in Port Isabel, Texas, that the removal mission needed to be canceled. He said he believed the judge’s order did not apply once Lopez Belloza was no longer in the state.

The government maintains her deportation was lawful because an immigration judge ordered the removal of Lopez Belloza and her mother in 2016, and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed their appeal in 2017. Prosecutors said she could have pursued additional appeals or sought a stay of removal.

Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, countered that she was deported in clear violation of the Nov. 21 order and said the government’s actions deprived her of due process. “I was hoping the government would show some leniency and bring her back,” he said. “They violated a court order.”

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U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns said he appreciated the government acknowledging the error, calling it a “tragic” bureaucratic mistake. But appeared to rule out holding the government in contempt, noting the violation did not appear intentional. He also questioned whether he has jurisdiction over the case, appearing to side with the government in concluding the court order had been filed several hours after she had been sent to Texas.

“It might not be anybody’s fault, but she was the victim of it,” Stearns said, adding at one point that Lopez Belloza could explore applying for a student visa.

Pomerleau said one possible resolution would be allowing Lopez Belloza to return to finish her studies while he works to reopen the underlying removal order.

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to dissolve the lower house of Parliament soon to pave the way for a snap election to seek the public’s mandate for her policies, a top party official said Wednesday.

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Takaichi was elected as Japan’s first female prime minister in October. A snap election is seen as an attempt to capitalize her still strong approval ratings of around 70% to help her beleaguered governing party gain more seats.

Shunichi Suzuki, secretary general of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters that Takaichi told him and other top officials her plan to dissolve the lower house “soon” after it convenes on Jan. 23.

Suzuki did not give dates for a dissolution or a snap election, and said Takaichi will explain her plans at a news conference next Monday.

Her scandal-tainted LDP and its coalition has a slim majority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber Parliament, after an election loss in 2024.

With an early election, Takaichi appeared to be aiming for securing a bigger share for the LDP and its new junior partner.

Opposition lawmakers criticized the plan as a selfish move that would delay parliamentary discussion on the budget, which needs to be approved as soon as possible.

Media reports have said Takaichi plans to dissolve the house on Jan. 23, the first day of this year’s ordinary session, paving the way for a snap election as early as Feb. 8.

Takaichi wants to seek the public’s mandate for her policies including “proactive” fiscal spending and plans to further accelerate the ongoing military buildup under the coalition with a new partner, the Japan Innovation Party, Suzuki said.

The conservative JIP joined the ruling bloc after the centrist Komeito left due to disagreements over Takaichi’s ideological views and anti-corruption measures.

Takaichi met with Suzuki and other coalition officials Wednesday after holding talks in Nara with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at a summit intended to deepen ties between the neighboring countries as she faces intensifying trade and political tension with China over a remark about Taiwan that angered Beijing days after she took office.

Winning an upcoming election also would help Takaichi and her governing bloc to pass the budget and other legislation more easily.

In late December, her Cabinet approved a record 122.3 trillion yen ($770 billion) budget that needs to be approved before the upcoming fiscal year starting April to fund measures to fight inflation, support low-income households and projects to help economic growth.

Takaichi, known for her hawkish and nationalistic views and is ultra-conservative on social issues such as gender and sexual diversity, wants to win back conservative voters wooed by emerging populist parties in recent major elections.

The LDP has since handpicked a number of independents to join the governing coalition to reach a slim majority, but still is a minority in the upper house.

By STEVE PEOPLES

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s only two weeks into the new year, and President Donald Trump has already claimed control of Venezuela, escalated threats to seize Greenland and flooded American streets with masked immigration agents.

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And that’s not even counting an unprecedented criminal investigation at the Federal Reserve, a cornerstone of the national economy that Trump wants to bend to his will.

Even for a president who thrives on chaos, Trump is generating a stunning level of turmoil as voters prepare to deliver their verdict on his leadership in the upcoming midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Each decision carries tremendous risks, from the possibility of an overseas quagmire to undermining the country’s financial system, but Trump has barreled forward with a ferocity that has rattled even some of his Republican allies.

“The presidency has gone rogue,” said historian Joanne B. Freeman, a Yale University professor. She said it’s something “we haven’t seen in this way before.”

Trump seems undeterred by the potential blowback. Although he doesn’t always follow through, he seems intent on doubling and tripling down whenever possible.

“Right now I’m feeling pretty good,” Trump said Tuesday in Detroit. His speech was ostensibly arranged to refocus attention on the economy, which the president claimed is surging despite lingering concerns about higher prices.

However, he couldn’t resist lashing out at Jerome Powell, who leads the Federal Reserve and has resisted Trump’s pressure to lower interest rates.

“That jerk will be gone soon,” Trump said.

Federal Reserve probe a step too far?

Republican leaders have overwhelmingly rallied behind Trump throughout his turbulent second term. But new cracks began to appear this week immediately after Powell disclosed on Sunday that the Federal Reserve was facing a criminal investigation over his testimony about the central bank’s building renovations.

Over the last year, the Justice Department has already pursued criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and former national security adviser John Bolton, among other Trump adversaries.

But going after Powell, who helps set the nation’s monetary policy, appeared to be a step too far for some conservatives. Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, a fierce Trump defender, was unusually critical.

“It just feels like most on Wall Street do not want to see this kind of fight,” she said during her Monday show. “The president has very good points, certainly. But Wall Street doesn’t want to see this kind of investigation.”

The Federal Reserve plays a key role in the economy by calibrating interest rates, which Trump insists should be lower. However, reducing the institution’s independence could backfire and cause borrowing costs to increase instead.

Trump takes ‘America First’ foreign policy in new direction

At the same time, Trump has decided to expand the United States’ role in complicated foreign entanglements — a seeming departure from the “America First” foreign policy that he promised on the campaign trail.

No move was more significant than the U.S. military operation earlier this month to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from his country. In the months leading up to the attack, Trump frequently insisted he was targeting Maduro because of his role in the drug trade. He has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as an economic opportunity for the U.S.

Trump has said the U.S. will start controlling the sale of some Venezuelan oil, and he declared that the South American nation will be run from Washington. He even posted a meme declaring himself the “acting president of Venezuela.”

Trump has also threatened the leadership of Cuba and Iran, while insisting that the U.S. will control Greenland “ one way or the other ” — a position that has raised questions about U.S. relations with European allies. Greenland belongs to Denmark, a NATO member.

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday morning. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”

Immigration raids sow chaos

Meanwhile, Trump’s immigration crackdown continues to spark confrontations in American cities. Some have turned deadly, such as when a federal agent shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three in Minneapolis.

Administration officials have said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer acted in self-defense, accusing Good of trying to hit him with her car. But that explanation has been widely disputed by local officials and others based on videos circulating online.

The incident came after Trump dispatched 2,000 immigration agents to Minnesota, responding to reports of fraud involving the state’s Somali community.

On Tuesday, Trump said the administration was targeting “thousands of already convicted murderers, drug dealers and addicts, rapists, violent released and escaped prisoners, dangerous people from foreign mental institutions and insane asylums, and other deadly criminals too dangerous to even mention.”

The Trump administration’s moves have created “chaos, confusion and uncertainty,” said Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, who leads the Democratic Mayors Association.

“There’s so much uncertainty across my city right now. The ICE raids in Minneapolis have really shocked the consciousness of many of my residents, and we’re trying to do everything we can to calm that concerns and quell those fears,” Bibb said. “But people don’t feel like the world is getting better. People don’t feel like the economy is getting better.”

Midterm elections are a political test

Voters across the nation will have their next chance to weigh in on Trump’s leadership at the ballot box this November, when Republicans hope to retain control of Congress for the last two years of his presidency.

Democratic campaign officials in Washington are focused largely on the economy in their early political messaging. Most voters maintain a decidedly negative view on the issue, despite Trump’s rosy assessment this week.

Just 37% of U.S. adults approved of how the president is handling the economy, according to a January poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. His economic approval, which was previously a strength, has been low throughout his second term.

“Donald Trump’s visit to Michigan puts a glaring, unflattering spotlight on how he and House Republicans have failed to address the affordability crisis,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, who leads the Democrats’ House campaign arm.

But some activists are frustrated that their party’s leadership isn’t focusing more on Trump’s unprecedented power grabs.

Ezra Levin, co-founder of the leading progressive protest group Indivisible, said he expects Trump’s actions to get worse as his second and final term nears its conclusion.

“Folks at the end of last year who thought he would become a typical lame duck and limp toward a midterm loss have a framework for understanding this moment that is drastically outdated,” Levin said. “Authoritarians don’t willingly give up power. When weakened and cornered they lash out.”

Trump has repeatedly insisted he’s only doing what voters elected him to do, and his allies in Washington remain overwhelmingly united behind him.

Republican National Committee spokesperson Kiersten Pels predicted that voters will reward the party this year.

“Voters elected President Trump to put American lives first — and that’s exactly what he’s doing,” she said. “President Trump is making our country safer, and the American people will remember it in November.”

Mounds View High School principal Rob Reetz has been named the 2026 Minnesota High School Principal of the Year.

“It’s very humbling,” Reetz said. “I feel like a lot of the success I have in this position is due in large part to partnership. It’s other people that I work closely with that contribute great things — teachers, fellow administrators, our deans. Everyone works so hard to do such amazing things with our kids that it’s humbling to be recognized for something that I know is a reflection of a lot of people’s really great work.”

The Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals divides the state into eight regions, each with a selected representative. The region Reetz was selected to represent includes 93 schools in the east metro.

The selection board reviewed the eight representatives in December and selected Reetz as the honoree. He will represent more than 450 lead principals at the national level.

Reetz has worked in the Mounds View Public Schools district for around 19 years. Past roles have included principal of Edgewood Middle School and Chippewa Middle School, professional learning specialist, instructional strategies facilitator and special education teacher, according to the district website. He also has worked as a coach and led professional development at the district’s central office, Reetz said.

“I think it’s really understanding the importance of student and teacher voice in the decisions that school leaders make,” Reetz said. “I think I’ve really learned to galvanize people in times of crisis. And generally to listen and be curious and try to understand the the real essence of a problem before we jump to solving it.”

Since learning of his recognition, Reetz said he has spent the day thinking about his mentors and those who have influenced him, including his twin brother Russ Reetz, who is the principal at White Bear Lake Area High School.

Reetz received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth campus, a master’s degree in special education from Augsburg College and an education specialist degree in leadership, policy and administration from University of St. Thomas.

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