By CORA LEWIS

NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of student borrowers could begin having their wages garnished as soon as this summer, according to estimates from credit bureau TransUnion.

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The company predicts that by August roughly 3 million borrowers could move into default, meaning they’re 270 days past due on payments. At that point, loan holders are at risk of having 15% of their pay docked by the government, with the money going toward the outstanding debt. There has been no clear indication of when wage garnishment will start.

After the pandemic-era pause on student loan payments ended in May, borrowers have had to reassess the state of their loans and budgets. According to TransUnion, another 2 million borrowers are on course to default in September.

A Biden-administration grace period, during which late or missed payments were not counted against credit scores, ended in the fall.

Since then, millions of borrowers have seen hits to their credit ratings.

Here’s what to know:

What you can do to prepare

“The most important thing borrowers can do before administrative wage garnishment restarts is to log into studentaid.gov to check whether their federal student loans are in default and take steps now to remove them from default,” said Kyra Taylor, staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.

Taylor said it’s not uncommon for borrowers to be unaware that their loans are in default. If borrowers attended college or graduate school during different periods of time, or if they have different federal loan types, they may also have multiple student loan servicers.

If that’s the case, you should act now to get your loans out of default and back into good standing by either entering a rehabilitation agreement, where you must make nine consecutive payments based on their income, or by consolidating your loans into a new federal Direct Loan.

“Because this hasn’t happened for so long, there are many people who have no idea they’re at risk,” said Aissa Canchola Bañez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center.

Wait times for student borrowers attempting to contact their loan servicers have been long, with many dropped calls, in part due to layoffs at the Education Department. Bañez recommends contacting your congressperson, using a casework tool that can guide you through submitting a constituent request.

“These offices have entire teams dedicated to constituent casework for when you have an issue with a federal agency, such as the Department of Education,” she said. “So you can request assistance from your member of congress — your representative or senator.”

What happens if you remain in default

Until past due payments are paid or the loan’s default status is resolved, borrowers are at risk of having up to 15% of their wages deducted directly from their paychecks.

The Department of Education has sent notices to borrowers warning that tax refunds and wages could be withheld starting this summer if borrowers don’t take steps to restart payments. The department hasn’t yet provided additional information on timing.

Richelle Brooks, 37, an education administrator based in Los Angeles, said she’s received warnings and notices about the resumption of collection of her loans. For several degrees, she still has $239,000 in outstanding debt, and she was informed her monthly payments on those loans will be roughly $3,000.

“I can’t afford it,” she said. “We just came out of the moratorium — not paying for five years. People getting these notices — they’re terrified. I’m uneasy, too.”

Brooks said she’s an informed borrower who stays up to date on each development and who knows her options. She plans to enroll in coding classes, at least half-time, which could place her loans in deferment, so she wouldn’t be required to make monthly payments, while she makes a financial plan.

Some options if you fear your wages will be garnished

There’s still time to take action.

According to Taylor, the Department of Education must provide 30 days notice before it sends a garnishment order to your employer. During that time, you can request a hearing to object by telling the department that the garnishment would cause you financial hardship. You can also request that the department reduce the amount being garnished and submit documentation about your income and expenses.

To do this, you must make your hearing request in writing, postmarked no later than 30 days after the garnishment order. Your loan holder will then arrange the hearing. If you’re unsure who your loan holder is, you can contact the Education Department’s Default Resolution Group.

If you were laid off from your last job, you can also object to garnishment if you have not been in your current job for 12 consecutive months. You can further request a hearing and object if you submitted an application for certain kinds of statutory discharges and those have not yet been decided. Some common reasons for statutory discharge of student loans include: if the school you attended closed before you could complete your degree, if your school owes you a refund but fails to pay it, if you’re experiencing total disability, or if you’re experiencing bankruptcy.

“If the borrower requests a hearing within 30 days after receiving the garnishment notice, the department cannot start garnishment until it issues a decision on the borrower’s objections and financial hardship request,” Taylor said.

You can request a hearing after the 30 day period is up, but in those cases the department will generally not stop garnishing your wages while the hearing request is pending.

The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Thai and Cambodian officials met in Malaysia on Monday for the first round of cross-border committee talks since a tense ceasefire was brokered last week after five days of deadly armed border clashes that killed dozens and displaced over 260,000 people.

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The four-day General Border Committee meetings were initially due to be hosted by Cambodia, but both sides later agreed to a neutral venue in Malaysia, the annual chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has mediated the halt in hostilities last month.

The July 28 ceasefire followed economic pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who had warned the two warring nations that the U.S. would not conclude trade deals with them if the fighting persisted. Washington lowered tariffs on goods from the two countries from 36% to 19% on Aug. 1 following the truce.

Monday’s talks focused on ironing out details to avoid further clashes. Discussions of the decades-long competing territorial claims over the pockets of land near the shared border are not on the agenda.

Thailand and Cambodia have been feuding neighbors for centuries, since both were mighty empires. In modern times, a 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice awarding Cambodia the land on which the ancient Preah Vihear temple stands marked a new low point in relations, and other border territory remained claimed by both countries.

Fighting erupted in 2011 at Preah Vihaer, after which the International Court of Justice in 2013 reaffirmed its earlier ruling, rankling Thailand. Relations deteriorated again sharply in May this year, when a Cambodian soldier was shot dead in a brief fracas in one of the disputed border zones, setting off diplomatic and trade sanctions, one against the other.

Soon after two incidents last month in which Thai soldiers were wounded by land mines in disputed territory, for which Thailand blamed Cambodia, the two sides downgraded diplomatic relations and fighting broke out, each side blaming the other for starting the armed clashes.

File – In this photo released by the Government Spokesman Office, Military attaches from various countries visit a hospital that was damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP, File)

The talks this week will include finalizing details and scope of reference for an ASEAN monitoring team, Malaysian Chief of Defense Forces Gen. Mohamad Nizam Jaffar said Monday.

Despite some reports of attacks after the ceasefire came into effect, Nizam said such incidents were typical spillover violence and both sides showed strong committment during Monday’s talks to uphold the ceasefire.

The main session of the General Border Committee on Thursday will be led by Thai Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Natthaphon Nakpanit and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister cum Defense Minister Tea Seih and include observers from Malaysia, the United States and China, officials said.

Despite the truce, tensions have persisted as both countries organized tours of the former battle areas for foreign diplomats and other observers to highlight damage allegedly caused by the other side. The two countries also continue to accuse each other of having violated international humanitarian laws with attacks on civilians and the use of illegal weapons.

By MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is proposing requiring applicants for business and tourist visas to post a bond of up to $15,000 to enter the United States, a move that may make the process unaffordable for many.

In a notice to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the department said it would start a 12-month pilot program under which people from countries deemed to have high overstay rates and deficient internal document security controls could be required to post bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 when they apply for a visa.

The proposal comes as the Trump administration is tightening requirements for visa applicants. Last week, the State Department announced that many visa renewal applicants would have to submit to an additional in-person interview, something that was not required in the past. In addition, the department is proposing that applicants for the Visa Diversity Lottery program have valid passports from their country of citizenship.

A preview of the bond notice, which was posted on the Federal Register website on Monday, said the pilot program would take effect within 15 days of its formal publication and is necessary to ensure that the U.S. government is not financially liable if a visitor does not comply with the terms of his or her visa.

“Aliens applying for visas as temporary visitors for business or pleasure and who are nationals of countries identified by the department as having high visa overstay rates, where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient, or offering citizenship by investment, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement, may be subject to the pilot program,” the notice said.

The countries affected will be listed once the program takes effect, it said.

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The bond would not apply to citizens of countries enrolled in the Visa Waiver Program and could be waived for others depending on an applicant’s individual circumstances.

Visa bonds have been proposed in the past but have not been implemented. The State Department has traditionally discouraged the requirement because of the cumbersome process of posting and discharging a bond and because of a possible misperceptions by the public.

However, the department said that previous view “is not supported by any recent examples or evidence, as visa bonds have not generally been required in any recent period.”

By CALEIGH WELLS

When wildfires burn, the smoke can travel long distances and degrade air quality far away, which presents risks for those breathing it.

Fires burning in one state can make air worse several states away, and wildfires in Canada can send smoke into U.S. cities.

Here’s what to know about taking precautions against poor air quality due to wildfires.

What counts as bad air?

The EPA’s Air Quality Index converts all pollutant levels into a single number. The lower the number, the better.

Anything below 50 is classified as “healthy.” Fifty to 100 is “moderate” while 100-150 is unhealthy for “sensitive groups,” and anything above 150 is bad for everyone.

Sensitive groups include people with asthma, lung disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said Dr. Sanjay Sethi, chief of the division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at the University of Buffalo’s medical school.

“If you have heart or lung problems, then you’ve got to be definitely more careful,” Sethi said. “I would either avoid going outside or wear an N95 (mask) or at least a dust mask.”

Is my air unhealthy?

Sometimes the air is bad enough to see or smell the smoke. Even if you don’t see the pollution, it can be unhealthy to breathe.

The EPA maintains a website with up-to-date, regional air quality information. PurpleAir, a company that sells air quality sensors and publishes real-time air quality data, has a citizen scientist, air quality monitoring network with a more granular map of street-by-street air quality readings.

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The best way to get indoor air quality readings is to buy a monitor, said Joseph Allen, director of Harvard University’s Healthy Buildings Program.

“You can find these low-cost, indoor air quality monitors just about everywhere online now. They don’t cost all that much anymore,” he said.

What if I have to go outside?

For most people, going outside for just a short time won’t have a negative long-term impact, said Sethi.

Wearing an N95 mask, which became common during the coronavirus pandemic, will help filter out the pollution.

“N95 is going to get rid of 90-95% of the particles,” said Jennifer Stowell, a research scientist at Boston University’s Center for Climate and Health. “If you have access to a mask that has a respirator-type attachment to it, then that’s the very best.”

If you must be outside and you experience symptoms, experts say you should head indoors or somewhere else with better air quality. Even if you are healthy, it’s good to take precautions.

“If you start wheezing, which is like this whistling sound of the chest, or if you’re feeling short of breath, that’s definitely more concerning,” Sethi said.

How do I make my air cleaner?

Close the windows and turn on the air conditioner, if you have one, setting it to circulate the indoor air. Use blankets to cover cracks that allow outside air into your home, such as under doors.

Finally, swapping the air conditioner’s filter for a MERV 13 filter can help, though you should make sure it’s installed correctly.

“If you happen to have access to an air purifier, even if it’s just a room air purifier, try to keep it running and in the room that you’re doing most of your activities in,” said Stowell.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental 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.