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The Trump administration has launched a review of organizations that provide temporary housing and other aid to migrants, suggesting they may have violated a law used to prosecute smugglers.The Department of Homeland Security has “significant concerns” that federal grants used to address a surge of migration under former President Joe Biden were used for illegal activities, wrote Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.His letter, dated Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press, asks recipients of grants from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program to provide names and contact information for migrants served and “a detailed and descriptive list of specific services provided” within 30 days. The letter says funding will be withheld during the review.While it doesn’t explicitly threaten criminal prosecution, it raises concerns that recipients may have violated U.S. Criminal Code Section 1324, a felony offense against bringing people across the border illegally or transporting them within the United States. It also says executive officers must sign sworn statements that they have no knowledge or suspicions of anyone in their organizations violating the smuggling law.FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.The demand appears to be a new salvo against organizations that provide food, housing and travel aid to people who cross the border. Migrants often arrive exhausted, low on money, and unsure how to navigate on their own through bus stations and airports.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who was at odds with the Biden administration over immigration and is closely aligned with the Trump White House, took a similar tack against migrant aid groups but was blocked in court.FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program awarded $641 million to dozens of state and local governments and organizations across the country in the 2024 fiscal year to help them deal with large numbers of migrants who crossed the border from Mexico. They include the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Denver, as well as the United Way of Miami, the San Antonio Food Bank, and several branches of Catholic Charities.It was unclear if any any governments received the letters, but the Trump administration has fiercely criticized states, counties, and cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Last month, it sued Chicago over laws that it said thwarted federal law enforcement. Valerie Gonzalez, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Donatella Versace has been replaced as creative director of the fashion house founded by her late brother Gianni Versace, assuming the new role of chief brand ambassador, Versace’s U.S. owner Capri Holdings announced on Thursday.Versace will be replaced by Dario Vitale, who most recently was design director at the Miu Miu brand owned by the Prada Group. His appointment is effective on April 1.The creative shift comes amid speculation that the Prada Group is in talks to buy Versace from Capri Holdings, which paid 2 billion euros (currently $2.2 billion) for the fashion house in 2018. The U.S. group also owns Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo.Miuccia Prada acknowledged interest in the brand on the sidelines of Milan Fashion Week last month, while Versace made no comment at what was to be her last runway show. Versace, 69, took over as creative director in 1997, after her brother’s murder in Miami.Capri Holding’s statement made no mention of any plans to sell Versace, but the arrival of a designer from Miu Miu is only likely to fuel speculation of a possible deal.Versace CEO John D. Idol said in a statement that the creative shift was “part of a thoughtful succession plan for Versace.” He called Vitale “a strong leader,” and expressed confidence that “his talent and vision will be instrumental to Versace’s future growth.”As chief brand ambassador, Versace “will continue to champion the Versace brand and its values,” Idol said.Versace said she was “thrilled” as a champion of the next generation of designers that Vitale would join Versace and that she was “excited” to see the brand her brother founded in 1978 “through new eyes.”“It has been the greatest honor of my life to carry on my brother Gianni’s legacy. He was the true genius, but I hope to have some of his spirit and tenacity,” she said in a statement. “In my new role as chief brand ambassador, I will remain Versace’s most passionate supporter. Versace is in my DNA and always in my heart.”Versace represented 20% of Capri Holdings 2024 revenue of 5.2 billion euros. Capri recently laid out strategic plans to rebalance the Versace portfolio to return the brand to its more daring roots, increase sales of accessories and win back entry-level consumers put off by a post-pandemic focus on higher net-worth clients. Colleen Barry, AP Fashion Writer
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E-Commerce
An hours-long outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as President Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency.Hundreds of users reported FAFSA outages to Downdetector starting midday Wednesday, saying they were having trouble completing the form, which is required for financial aid at colleges nationwide. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, a group of people who handle colleges’ financial aid awards, also received reports of users experiencing technical issues and having trouble completing the FAFSA.“We’ve been trying to get more clarity on why it’s down,” said Allie Bidwell Arcese, a spokeswoman for NASFAA. The Education Department hadn’t shared any information on the outage, she said. “The maintenance and troubleshooting may be impacted by yesterday’s layoffs.”The developers and IT support staff who worked on the FAFSA form were hard hit in the Education Department’s layoffs Tuesday, along with staff buyouts and the termination of probationary employees. In all, the Education Department has reduced its staff by half, to roughly 2,000, since Trump took office.A list of laid-off staff obtained and verified by AP shows more than 300 people cut from Federal Student Aid two dozen of them from Federal Student Aid’s technology division. That included the entire team responsible for systems supporting the FAFSA form, a person with knowledge of the outage told The Associated Press, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation. While laid-off staffers are still technically employed until March 21, they had limited access to their email, phones and computers, making a response to the outage difficult, the person said. At one point Wednesday, about 70 people had joined a Teams call to try to pinpoint the cause of the outage.The call continued for hours. By Wednesday evening, the website carried a banner claiming “Planned Maintenance” was underway, and login access was cut off.The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment on the outage.Problems with the FAFSA had vexed the administration of former President Joe Biden, drawing rebuke from Republicans. The form was overhauled last year in an attempt to simplify it, but technical problems blocked students from submitting forms or bungled financial aid calculations.Advocates had feared frustration would lead thousands of students to give up on going to college at all. But overall freshman enrollment at U.S. colleges increased over the previous year. Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said freshman enrollment at U.S. colleges had dropped in fall 2024. That data was corrected in January by the National Student Clearinghouse, which cited an error in its methodology. Freshman enrollment increased over the previous year. 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. Collin Binkley and Jocelyn Gecker, AP Education Writers
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E-Commerce
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