Nearly 300 deportees from US held in Panama hotel as officials try to return them to their countries

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By JUAN ZAMORANO, Associated Press

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama is detaining in a hotel nearly 300 people from various countries deported under U.S. President Donald Trump, not allowing them to leave while waiting for international authorities to organize a return to their countries.

More than 40% of the migrants, authorities say, won’t voluntarily return to their homeland. Migrants in the hotel rooms held messages to the windows reading “Help” and “We are not save (sic) in our country.”

The migrants hailed from 10 mostly Asian countries, including Iran, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and others. The U.S. has difficulty deporting directly to some of those countries so Panama is being used as a stopover. Costa Rica was expected to receive a similar flight of third-country deportees on Wednesday.

Panama’s Security Minister Frank Abrego said Tuesday the migrants are receiving medical attention and food as part of a migration agreement between Panama and the U.S.

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The Panamanian government has now agreed to serve as a “bridge” or transit country for deportees, while the U.S. bears all the costs of the operation. The agreement was announced earlier this month after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, who faces political pressure over Trump’s threats of retaking control of the Panama Canal, announced the arrival of the first of the deportation flights last Thursday.

The confinement and legal limbo the deportees face has raised alarm in the Central American country, especially as images spread of migrants peaking through the windows of their rooms on high floors of the hotel and displaying the notes pleading for help.

Abrego denied the foreigners are being detained even though they cannot leave the rooms of their hotel, which is being guarded by police.

Abrego said that 171 of the 299 deportees have agreed to return voluntarily to their respective countries with help from the International Organization for Migration and the U.N. Refugee Agency. U.N. agencies are talking with the other 128 migrants in an effort to find a destination for them in third countries. Abrego said that one deported Irish citizen has already returned to her country.

Those who do not agree to return to their countries will be temporarily held in a facility in the remote Darien province through which hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed on their journey north in recent years, Abrego said.

The Panamanian Ombudsman’s Office was scheduled to provide more details on the deportees’ situation later Tuesday.

Rooney pitches shutout as Frost blank Montreal

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LAVAL, Quebec — Maddie Rooney made 21 saves for her first shutout this season to lead the Minnesota Frost past the league-leading Montreal Victoire 4-0 in their PWHL game on Tuesday night.

Denisa Krizova scored twice — including an empty-netter — and Liz Schepers and Kendall Coyne Schofield also scored for Minnesota.

The Frost ended a three-game losing skid and halted Montreal’s winning streak at six games.

Coyne Schofield joined Toronto’s Hannah Miller as the league’s leading scorer with 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists).

Montreal was shut out for the first time this season in front of 6,696 at Place Bell. Elaine Chuli stopped 24 shots in her fifth start this season.

The Frost moved into sole possession of second place in the six-team PWHL. Minnesota has 29 points to trail Montreal by five, but the Victoire have two games in hand.

The Frost shut it down defensively after leaking 15 goals in their previous three games.

The Victoire started well, but they quickly lost steam when Rooney shut the door. The Victoire mustered only three shots in a trying second period after posting nine in the first.

The key moment came when the Frost shut down the Victoire’s power play a third time with 9:51 remaining. Krizova made it 3-0 two minutes after the penalty expired.

The Frost wrapped up their longest road trip in team history, travelling nearly 3,000 miles in 11 days from Minnesota to Toronto, Ottawa, Boston and Montreal.

The Frost next play host to the Toronto Sceptres on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center.

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District-wide cellphone policy prohibiting use approved by SPPS Board of Education Tuesday

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The St. Paul Public Schools Board of Education approved a cellphone policy for students Tuesday prohibiting their use during school hours that it will implement this fall.

Districts across the state are adopting district-wide policies on cellphone use since the Legislature mandated them last year. The deadline for districts to set school board-approved policies is March 15.

The policy states that the use of personal electronic devices will not be permitted during school hours and must either remain at home, in lockers or turned off and put away. It includes cellphones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches, gaming systems and earbuds.

“There is no such thing as a perfect policy, but I do think that we’re at a point where we’ve crafted something that answers the original question that we had of, how do we enact this law in a way that is as equitable as it can be, and rooted in the understanding that technology is here and not going away, as well as bringing in as many stakeholders as we can,” said Chair Halla Henderson.

Elementary level

The majority of SPPS schools already do not allow the use of cellphones during the entire school day, according to the district.

Currently, no SPPS elementary schools allow cellphone use during the school day and most middle schools don’t allow their use, either.

Board members did discuss allowing the use of smartwatches — some elementary students use them to navigate their way to and from school.

High school level

For the majority of high schools, some use of cellphones, such as during lunch, is permitted.

As part of the approved cellphone policy, schools can develop their own documented plans with school stakeholders for grades nine and above that must be reviewed annually.

Schools could then decide for those grade levels to allow cellphone use before and after school, between class periods or during lunch, but must have an objective of reducing their use. Electronic devices still would not be permitted during class periods, in bathrooms or in locker rooms.

Schools often share updates on cellphone practices in back-to-school materials, said Jodi Danielson, SPPS director of schools and learning and facilitator of the district’s cellphone policy workgroup, last week.

“So that’s really where parents will be able to hear about and plan for any changes that they might experience at their school,” Danielson said.

According to the policy, staff will refer to the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook when responding to policy violations. This can include students losing the privilege to bring devices such as cellphones to school.

Legislation

Legislation introduced in January would require that school districts’ cellphone policies, starting in the 2026-27 school year, prohibit cellphones and smartwatches for students in kindergarten through eighth grade and prohibit them in classrooms for students in grades nine through 12. It allows some exceptions, such as students with medical conditions requiring monitoring or students with individual education plans or other exceptions set by the principal.

Implementation planning for the new policy is expected to happen through the spring and summer, according to Danielson. The policy begins district-wide on Sept. 2.

See the full approved policy available on the SPPS website by going to spps.org/about/board-of-education/2025-meeting-materials.

The policy can be found by going to the Board of Education section and selecting the Feb. 18 BoardBook.

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Trump administration halts support for representing unaccompanied children in immigration court

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Tuesday stopped support for legal representation in immigration court for children who enter the United States alone, a setback for those fighting deportation who can’t afford a lawyer.

The Acacia Center for Justice says it serves 26,000 migrant children under its federal contract. The Interior Department gave no explanation for the stop-work order, telling the group only that it was done for “causes outside of your control” and should not be interpreted as a judgment of poor performance. The halt remains in effect until further notice.

The Interior Department and Health and Human Services Department, which oversees unaccompanied migrant children, did not respond to requests for comment late Tuesday.

Acacia says it runs the legal aid program through a network of 85 organizations nationwide that represent children under 18.

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The halt comes shortly after the Justice Department briefly stopped support for other contacts to provide legal information and guidance to people facing deportation. It restored funding after being sued by advocacy groups.

People fighting deportation may hire attorneys at their own expense, but the government does not provide them. Groups that rely on federal support to represent children said the most vulnerable would suffer most under the decision to halt work on the $200 million contract.

“Expecting a child to represent themself in immigration court absurd and deeply unjust,” said Christine Lin, director of training and technical assistance at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies.