Jonah Valdez

5 days ago | theintercept.com | Jonah Valdez

Americans know that the U.S. government and defense industry exports huge amounts of military goods to Israel — but they may not be aware that in some cases these shipments travel beside them. On Saturday afternoon, a cargo airplane carrying 14 tons of explosive materials bound for an Israeli weapons manufacturing company is expected to fly out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Saturday afternoon, according to air cargo documents reviewed by The Intercept.

5 days ago | rsn.org | Jonah Valdez

“The Bukele model is built upon Kilmar Abregos — there are thousands of them.” Meetings between President Donald Trump and foreign leaders can be tense or bruising affairs. But when Trump invited Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to the White House in April, it was all smiles as they joked about mass incarceration. “Sometimes they say that we imprisoned thousands — I like to say that we actually liberated millions,” Bukele told reporters, referring to his so-called war on gangs in El Salvador.

6 days ago | theintercept.com | Jonah Valdez

Meetings between President Donald Trump and foreign leaders can be tense or bruising affairs. But when Trump invited Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to the White House in April, it was all smiles as they joked about mass incarceration. “Sometimes they say that we imprisoned thousands — I like to say that we actually liberated millions,” Bukele told reporters, referring to his so-called war on gangs in El Salvador. Trump responded glowingly to Bukele’s remarks. “Who gave him that line?” he said.

1 month ago | theintercept.com | Jonah Valdez

From a small courtroom in a remote immigration jail in Jena, La., Judge Jamee Comans ruled on Friday that the government can deport Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil based solely on his advocacy for Palestine.

1 month ago | znetwork.org | Jonah Valdez

The Trump administration’s case to deport Columbia University graduate and activist leader Mahmoud Khalil rests solely on a letter written by Secretary of State Marco Rubio which repeats the baseless claim that Khalil engaged in “antisemitism,” according to a copy of the letter shared with The Intercept. The Department of Homeland Security submitted Rubio’s letter, a 1 ½-page declaration, on Wednesday evening at a Louisiana immigration court at the LaSalle ICE facility.