Texas Lawmaker Condemns ICE for Attempting to Deport Families to Venezuela After Massive Quakes

Congressmember Joaquin Castro is condemning ICE officials for attempting to deport more people to Venezuela in the aftermath of back-to-back earthquakes. In a social media post, Castro said ICE had tried to deport Venezuelan children and families currently detained in Texas’s Dilley ICE jail. The families were ultimately returned to Dilley after being flown to Arizona. He said, “It is unthinkable to send children and families, who have committed no crimes, into a country plunged into chaos by natural disaster.” This comes after the Trump administration deported more than 100 immigrants back to Venezuela just hours before the earthquakes. The vast majority now assumed dead. www.democracynow.org

Rights Groups Demand End to Venezuela Sanctions as Earthquake Death Toll Passes 2,000

A coalition of human rights and antiwar groups are calling on President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lift all U.S. sanctions on Venezuela as the death toll from last week’s devastating twin earthquakes continues to rise and as humanitarian aid advocates warn of a widening health and hunger crisis. In a letter obtained by the publication Common Dreams, the groups write, “As long as sweeping economic sanctions remain in place and Venezuelan assets remain frozen abroad, reconstruction will be unnecessarily delayed, and millions of people will continue to suffer.” The letter has been signed by dozens of organizations, including the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. The U.N. Development Program has estimated the earthquakes have caused $6.7 billion in damage. On Wednesday, the death toll had already surpassed 2,000, which is believed to be a vast undercount, with tens of thousands of people still unaccounted for. www.democracynow.org

Trump Defends Financial Report Showing His Personal Income Soared to $2.2 Billion in 2025

President Trump faces a growing backlash after financial disclosure forms revealed his personal income soared to $2.2 billion in the first year of his second term. That includes $635 million from a licensing agreement for Trump-branded cryptocurrency “meme coins” and $590 million from the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto project. Trump earned another $575 million from his real estate holdings. Trump’s financial disclosure report sprawled over more than 900 pages; by comparison, President Obama’s last such disclosure was just eight pages. Editorial boards, including The Wall Street Journal, and Fox News have criticized Trump’s latest business ventures. On Wednesday, Trump defended his windfall profits. Reporter: “To critics who say you’re profiting off the presidency, Mr. President?” President Donald Trump: “Well, you know why I’m profiting? Because the stock market is going up. Everybody’s profiting. If you have a — you have a 401(k)? How has your 401(k) done? It’s about up 85%. Thank you, President Trump.” Trump was speaking to reporters before boarding the new Air Force One, a Boeing 747 jet donated to the U.S. by the royal family of Qatar. The Air Force expedited a retrofit of the luxury plane, reportedly at a cost of $400 million. Trump plans to keep the jet after leaving office, saying he’ll donate it to his presidential library. Democrats have accused him of receiving a foreign emolument — or bribe — which is prohibited under the Constitution. www.democracynow.org

Over 400,000 Children Appeared in U.S. Immigration Courts Without Lawyers

In immigration news, hundreds of thousands of immigrant children facing deportation orders are having to represent themselves in court. That’s according to the Vera Institute of Justice and Drop Site News, which looked at federal immigration data that showed more than 400,000 immigrant children have been forced to appear in court without legal representation. In related news, a federal court in Denver, Colorado, is the latest to oppose the Trump administration’s efforts to indefinitely imprison immigrants, most of whom have no criminal records, without access to a bond hearing. This is at least the fourth time a federal court has rejected Trump’s mass detention policy. www.democracynow.org

Trump Bought Stock in Taser Company Before ICE Announced $220 Million Contract

President Trump purchased up to $5 million worth of stock in the corporation that makes Taser weapons, just two weeks before ICE solicited a $220 million contract for the devices. Trump’s investment in Axon Enterprise was first reported by CNBC. This comes as House Democrats are pushing for passage of the No Getting Rich in Congress Act, a bill that would prevent public officials, including the president, from profiting from conflicts of interest. www.democracynow.org

SCOTUS Declines to Hear Trump’s Appeal of $5 Million Sex Abuse and Defamation Case

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to consider President Trump’s appeal of a $5 million verdict in a civil suit that found that he sexually assaulted writer E. Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in the 1990s — and later defamed her. The court dismissed the case without explanation. Trump’s lawyers have indicated they’ll ask the Supreme Court to consider a second defamation case successfully brought by E. Jean Carroll after Trump called her a liar, following the first verdict. Trump was ordered to pay more than $83 million in that case. www.democracynow.org

Rights Group Says Israel Is Killing Palestinian Children in West Bank at Fastest Rate Since 1967

In news from the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in the city of al-Bireh, near Ramallah, Monday. Amir Ahmad Jawad Jaber was reportedly shot in the head and chest during a raid. This comes as a new report by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem found Israeli soldiers killed at least 54 Palestinian children and teens in the West Bank last year, in 2025, the highest rate since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. www.democracynow.org