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The Trump administration has transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations under an 18th century wartime declaration targeting Venezuelan gang members, officials said Sunday. Flights were in the air at the time of the ruling.U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order Saturday temporarily blocking the deportations, but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the airone headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but they apparently were not and he did not include the directive in his written order.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement Sunday, responded to speculation about whether the administration was flouting court orders: “The administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory.”The acronym refers to the Tren de Aragua gang, which Trump targeted in his unusual proclamation that was released Saturday.In a court filing Sunday, the Department of Justice, which has appealed Boasberg’s decision, said it would not use the Trump proclamation he blocked for further deportations if his decision is not overturned.Trump sidestepped a question over whether his administration violated a court order while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening.“I don’t know. You have to speak to the lawyers about that,” he said, although he defended the deportations. “I can tell you this. These were bad people.”Asked about invoking presidential powers used in times of war, Trump said, “This is a time of war,” describing the influx of criminal migrants as “an invasion.”Trump’s allies were gleeful over the results.“Oopsie . . . Too late,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who agreed to house about 300 immigrants for a year at a cost of $6 million in his country’s prisons, wrote on the social media site X above an article about Boasberg’s ruling. That post was recirculated by White House communications director Steven Cheung.Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who negotiated an earlier deal with Bukele to house immigrants, posted on the site: “We sent over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars.”Steve Vladeck, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said that Boasberg’s verbal directive to turn around the planes was not technically part of his final order but that the Trump administration clearly violated the “spirit” of it.“This just incentivizes future courts to be hyper specific in their orders and not give the government any wiggle room,” Vladeck said.The immigrants were deported after Trump’s declaration of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has been used only three times in U.S. history.The law, invoked during the War of 1812 and World Wars I and II, requires a president to declare the United States is at war, giving him extraordinary powers to detain or remove foreigners who otherwise would have protections under immigration or criminal laws. It was last used to justify the detention of Japanese-American civilians during World War II.Venezuela’s government in a statement Sunday rejected the use of Trump’s declaration of the law, characterizing it as evocative of “the darkest episodes in human history, from slavery to the horror of the Nazi concentration camps.”Tren de Aragua originated in an infamously lawless prison in the central state of Aragua and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy came undone during the past decade. Trump seized on the gang during his campaign to paint misleading pictures of communities that he contended were “taken over” by what were actually a handful of lawbreakers.The Trump administration has not identified the immigrants deported, provided any evidence they are in fact members of Tren de Aragua or that they committed any crimes in the United States. It also sent two top members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang to El Salvador who had been arrested in the United States.Video released by El Salvador’s government Sunday showed men exiting airplanes onto an airport tarmac lined by officers in riot gear. The men, who had their hands and ankles shackled, struggled to walk as officers pushed their heads down to have them bend down at the waist.The video also showed the men being transported to prison in a large convoy of buses guarded by police and military vehicles and at least one helicopter. The men were shown kneeling on the ground as their heads were shaved before they changed into the prison’s all-white uniformknee-length shorts, T-shirt, socks, and rubber clogsand placed in cells.The immigrants were taken to the notorious CECOT facility, the centerpiece of Bukele’s push to pacify his once violence-wracked country through tough police measures and limits on basic rights.The Trump administration said the president actually signed the proclamation contending Tren de Aragua was invading the United States on Friday night but didn’t announce it until Saturday afternoon. Immigration lawyers said that, late Friday, they noticed Venezuelans who otherwise couldn’t be deported under immigration law being moved to Texas for deportation flights. They began to file lawsuits to halt the transfers.“Basically any Venezuelan citizen in the US may be removed on pretext of belonging to Tren de Aragua, with no chance at defense,” Adam Isacson of the Washington Office for Latin America, a human rights group, warned on X.The litigation that led to the hold on deportations was filed on behalf of five Venezuelans held in Texas who lawyers said were concerned they’d be falsely accused of being members of the gang. Once the act is invoked, they warned, Trump could simply declare anyone a Tren de Aragua member and remove them from the country.Boasberg barred those Venezuelans’ deportations Saturday morning when the suit was filed, but only broadened it to all people in federal custody who could be targeted by the act after his afternoon hearing. He noted that the law has never before been used outside of a congressionally declared war and that plaintiffs may successfully argue Trump exceeded his legal authority in invoking it.The bar on deportations stands for up to 14 days and the immigrants will remain in federal custody during that time. Boasberg has scheduled a hearing Friday to hear additional arguments in the case.He said he had to act because the immigrants whose deportations may actually violate the U.S. Constitution deserved a chance to have their pleas heard in court.“Once they’re out of the country,” Boasberg said, “there’s little I could do.” Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Nicholas Riccardi and Regina Garcia Cano, Associated Press
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Consumers are urged to check their kitchens and pantries after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a notice that warned about health risks associated with select chowder soups. A recall has been issued for the select chowder soup products due to fears they have the potential to be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. The bacterium can cause a potentially deadly form of food poisoning known as botulism. Heres what you need to know about the recall. Whats happened? The FDA has posted a notice of a voluntary recall being conducted by the SeaBear Company of Anacortes, Washington. SeaBear initiated the recall after the company became concerned that select lots of two of its chowder soup products had the potential to harbor the Clostridium botulinum bacterium. SeaBear initiated the voluntary recall after discovering that there was a pouch sealing issue on the products packaging caused by a mechanical issue with some of the companys equipment. The packaging seal could not be fully bonded, which means some of the chowder soup packages had the ability to leak. Which products are affected? According to SeaBear Company, there are two SeaBear Smokehouse chowder soup products included in this recall. Those products are: Brand: SeaBear Smokehouse Product: SeaBear Salmon Chowder Net wt.12oz. UPC: 0 34507 07001 3 Impacted lot codes: view list here Brand: SeaBear Smokehouse Product: Alehouse Clam Chowder Net wt 12oz. UPC: 0 34507 07021 1 Impacted lot codes: view list here Images of the packaging of the recalled products can be found here. Where were the recalled products sold? SeaBear Company says the recalled products were distributed through physical retail stores in the following states: Alaska California Colorado Oregon Washington The products were also sold nationwide at seabear.com. SeaBear says the impacted products were sold between 10/1/2024 and 03/14/2025. Thankfully, the companys notice states that there have been no reports of illness due to the recalled products so far. What is botulism? Botulism is a type of potentially deadly form of food poisoning. It is caused by the Clostridium botulinum bacterium. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says botulism is a rare but serious illness. There are five types of the diseaseall of which are medical emergencies, according to the agency. What are the symptoms of botulism? There are five types of botulism, but the CDC says that all five types have some of the same symptoms, including: Difficulty swallowing Muscle weakness Double vision Drooping eyelids Blurry vision Slurred speech Difficulty breathing Difficulty moving the eyes Foodborne botulism symptoms may also have the following symptoms: Vomiting Nausea Stomach pain Diarrhea Botulism may occur in adults, children, and infants. In infants, symptoms of botulism may also include: Constipation Poor feeding Drooping eyelids Pupils that are slow to react to light Face showing less expression than usual Weak cry that sounds different than usual What do I do if I have the recalled products? SeaBears recall notice says that those who have the recalled chowder soup products in their possession should not consume them. Instead, owners of the products should contact SeaBears customer service team for a full refund. SeaBears customer service contact phone number is 1-800-645-3474; the email is smokehouse@seabear.com. Full details of the product recall can be found here.
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E-Commerce
Shopping for a new home? Ready to renovate your kitchen or install a new deck? You’ll be paying more to do so.The Trump administration’s tariffs on imported goods from Canada, Mexico and China some already in place, others set to take effect in a few weeks are already driving up the cost of building materials used in new residential construction and home remodeling projects.The tariffs are projected to raise the costs that go into building a single-family home in the U.S. by $7,500 to $10,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Such costs are typically passed along to the homebuyer in the form of higher prices, which could hurt demand at a time when the U.S. housing market remains in a slump and many builders are having to offer buyers costly incentives to drum up sales.We Buy Houses in San Francisco, which purchases foreclosed homes and then typically renovates and sells them, is increasing prices on its refurbished properties between 7% and 12%. That’s even after saving $52,000 in costs by stockpiling 62% more Canadian lumber than usual.“The uncertainty of how long these tariffs will continue has been the most challenging aspect of our planning,” said CEO Mamta Saini. Bad timing for builders The timing of the tariffs couldn’t be worse for homebuilders and the home remodeling industry, as this is typically the busiest time of year for home sales. The prospect of a trade war has roiled the stock market and stoked worries about the economy, which could lead many would-be homebuyers to remain on the sidelines.“Rising costs due to tariffs on imports will leave builders with few options,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “They can choose to pass higher costs along to consumers, which will mean higher home prices, or try to use less of these materials, which will mean smaller homes.”Prices for building materials, including lumber, have been rising, even though the White House has delayed its tariffs rollout on some products. Lumber futures jumped to $658.71 per thousand board feet on March 4, reaching their highest level in more than two years.The increase is already inflating costs for construction projects.Dana Schnipper, a partner at building materials supplier JC Ryan in Farmingdale, New York, sourced wooden doors and frames for an apartment complex in Nassau County from a company in Canada that cost less than the American equivalent.Half the job has already been supplied. But once the tariff goes into effect it will be applied to the remaining $75,000, adding $19,000 to the at-cost total. Once JC Ryan applies its mark up, that means the customer will owe $30,000 more than originally planned, Schnipper said.He also expects the tariffs will give American manufacturers cover to raise prices on steel components.“These prices will never come down,” Schnipper said. “Whatever is going to happen, these things will be sticky and hopefully we’re good enough as a small business, that we can absorb some of that. We can’t certainly absorb all of it, so I don’t know. It’s going to be an interesting couple of months.”Sidestepping the tariffs by using an alternative to imported building materials isn’t always an option.Bar Zakheim, owner of Better Place Design & Build, a contracting business in San Diego that specializes in building accessible dwelling units, or ADUs, said Canada remains the best source for lumber.By sticking with imported lumber, Zakheim had to raise his prices about 15% compared with a year ago. He also has 8% fewer jobs lined up compared with last year.“I’m not about to go out of business, but it’s looking to be a slow, expensive year for us,” he said. Tariffs rollercoaster On March 6, the Trump administration announced a one-month delay on its 25% tariffs on certain imports from Mexico and Canada, including softwood lumber. Tariffs of 20% on imports from China are already in effect. A 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports50% on those from Canadakicked in on March 12.Tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods slated to go into effect next month will raise the cost of imported construction materials by more than $3 billion, according to the NAHB. Those price hikes would be in addition to a 14.5% tariff on Canadian lumber previously imposed by the U.S., ratcheting up tariffs on Canadian lumber to 39.5%.On Air Force One, President Donald Trump said he was pushing forward with his plans for tariffs on April 2 despite recent disruption in the stock market and nervousness about the economic impact.“April 2 is a liberating day for our country,” he said. “We’re getting back some of the wealth that very, very foolish presidents gave away because they had no clue what they were doing.”Building materials costs overall are already up 34% since December 2020, according to the NAHB.Builders depend on raw materials, appliances and many other components produced abroad. About 7.3% of all products used in single-family home and apartment building construction are imported. Of those, nearly a quarter come from Canada and Mexico, according to the NAHB.Both nations also account for 70% of the imports of two key home construction materials: lumber and gypsum. Canadian lumber is used in everything from framing to cabinetry and furniture. Mexican gypsum is used to make drywall.Beyond raw materials, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and an array of other home components are manufactured in Mexico and China, which is also a key source of steel and aluminum.The tariffs will mean higher prices for home improvement shoppers, said Dent Johnson, president of True Value Hardware, which operates more than 4,000 independently owned hardware stores.“The reality is that many products on the shelves of your local hardware store will eventually be affected,” he said in a statement emailed to the Associated Press. Chilling effect Confusion over the timing and scope of the tariffs, and their impact on the economy, could have a bigger chilling effect on the new-home market than higher prices.“If consumers can’t plan, if builders can’t plan, it gets very difficult to know how to price product because you don’t know what price you need to move it,” said Carl Reichardt, a homebuilding analyst at BTIG. “If people are worried about their jobs, worried about the future, it’s very difficult to make the decision to buy a new home, whatever the price.”The uncertainty created by the Trump administration’s tariffs policy will probably result in increased volatility for home sales and new home construction this year, said Robert Dietz, the NAHB’s chief economist.Still, because it can take several months for a home to be built, the larger impact of from building materials costs are going to happen “down the road,” Dietz said.The impact tariffs are having on consumers is already evident at Slutsky Lumber in Ellenville, N.Y.“There ar not as many people getting ready for spring like they usually are,” said co-owner Jonathan Falcon. “It seems like people are just cutting back on spending.”Falcon also worries that smaller businesses like his will have a tough time absorbing the impact of the tariffs.“This is just like another thing that’s going to be harder for small lumber yards to handle than the big guys and just sort of keep driving businesses like us to not make it,” he said.__Reporter Anne D’Innocenzio contributed. Alex Vega and Mae Anderson, AP Business Writers
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