Category: ESTA News

The $9 billion budget cut for international aid and public broadcasting requested by the Trump administration passed the threshold of the federal Congress on the 18th.According to the Associated Press and other news agencies, the House of Representatives voted on the budget recovery bill that was passed in the Senate with some amendments and then passed again in the House, with 216 in favor and 213 against.

The bill passed the House on the 12th of last month but was revised in the Senate on the 17th of this month and went through the House of Representatives’ re-voting process.

Most of the cut (approximately $8 billion) is for international aid projects, and $1.1 billion, the two-year budget of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which funds public radio NPR and public television PBS, was also included in the cut.

The bill, which passed the congressional gate, now only needs to be signed by President Trump.

President Trump has been pushing for budget cuts, viewing the US international aid program as wasteful. He also criticized NPR and PBS for being biased toward the progressive side and began cutting the budget.

It has been found that as many as 500 immigrants are being held in ICE detention facilities in the New York City area.

According to ICE Detention Statistics, as of the 7th, the average daily detention population (ADP) in the five immigration detention facilities in the New York City area was 492.The average daily number of inmates by detention facility was highest at Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey with 276, followed by Orange County Detention Center in New York with 113, Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey with 89, Nassau County Detention Center in New York with 10, and Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center with 4.According to these statistics, most of the inmates in immigration detention facilities have no criminal records.

In the case of Elizabeth Detention Center, which has the largest number of inmates, those classified as “no ICE threat level” without a criminal record, or about 90% of the total inmates, were classified.

Among the inmates in Elizabeth Detention Center, five were classified as “Level 1 threats,” which is the highest level of criminal severity, eight were classified as “Level 2 threats,” and 13 were classified as “Level 3 threats.”

In the case of the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey, which has been the subject of numerous controversies, including inmate escapes, since it began operating in May, 95% of the total inmates were classified as “no ICE threat level” with no criminal records.

In the Orange County Detention Center in New York State, 74 inmates, or about 65% of the inmates, were classified as “no ICE threat level,” while 13 were classified as “level 1 threats,” 13 as “level 2 threats,” and 13 as “level 3 threats.” Meanwhile, the Associated Press analyzed ICE detention statistics and reported that as of the 29th of last month, a total of 57,861 people were detained in ICE detention centers across the U.S., and of these, 41,495, or about 71%, had not been convicted of a criminal offense.

According to the AP, only 7% of those detained in 201 detention facilities across the U.S. were classified as Level 1 threats, 4% as Level 2 threats, and 5% as Level 3 threats. In response, Lauren Brook Eisen, senior director of the Brennan Center for Justice, argued, “President Donald Trump has justified his hard-liner immigration policies based on the claim that immigrants drive violent crime in the United States, but there is no research or evidence to support this claim.”

However, Tricia McLaughlin, Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security, strongly refuted the claim, saying, “The claim that ICE does not target immigrants with criminal records is false,” and “Secretary of Homeland Security Christie Noem has directed ICE to target the worst criminals, including gang members, murderers, and rapists.”

As President Donald Trump signed the massive tax cut bill (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) on the 4th, it appears that about 300,000 food stamp (SNAP) beneficiaries in New York will lose their eligibility.

With the Trump tax cut law enacted, the budget for Medicaid and food stamp (SNAP) was cut by 1.2 trillion dollars, and the service reduction became inevitable. New York State estimates that about 300,000 people, or 10% of the total 3 million food stamp beneficiaries, will lose their eligibility due to the tax cut law.

According to the New York State Temporary and Disability Assistance Administration (NYSTPDA), which oversees the food stamp program, approximately 400,000 New Yorkers will no longer be eligible for work exemptions to receive SNAP benefits due to the implementation of the Trump tax cut law, and approximately 300,000 of these are expected to ultimately be eliminated.

Under the Trump tax cut law, veterans and the homeless, who were previously exempt from the work requirement, must now meet the work requirement to receive SNAP benefits. In addition, only parents with dependent children under the age of 14 and seniors over the age of 65 are now exempt from the work requirement.

Previously, this exemption also included parents with dependent children under the age of 18 and seniors over the age of 55. Food stamps are a food assistance program provided to poor residents, and as of 2024, a household of one can purchase up to $292 per month and a household of four can purchase up to $975 per month. However, to receive SNAP benefits, even poor people must meet the ‘Able-Born Adult Without Dependents’ (ABAWD) work requirement of at least 80 hours per month.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 12th that SpaceX, a space development company run by Elon Musk, has decided to invest 2 billion dollars in xAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup founded and run by the same person.

This is part of the equity investment in xAI announced by Morgan Stanley last month, and accounts for 40% of the 5 billion dollars in total. This is the first time that SpaceX has decided to invest in xAI has been known.

Recently, SpaceX was known to have over $3 billion in internal cash holdings, but it has not been very active in investing in other companies. The acquisition of satellite communications company ‘Swarm Technologies’ for $524 million in 2021 is a recent major external investment by SpaceX.

Musk has mobilized his other affiliates to grow xAI.

When he announced that xAI had acquired social media X in March of this year, he valued X at $33 billion and xAI at $80 billion. Musk has often used SpaceX to support other businesses he operates. He personally borrowed $20 million (28 billion won) from SpaceX to fund the early founding of Tesla and used SpaceX equipment when he founded the tunnel boring company ‘The Boring Company’.

Just before acquiring Twitter, the predecessor to X, in October 2022, Musk personally borrowed $1 billion from SpaceX, which he paid back the following month after the acquisition was finalized. SpaceX’s investment in xAI could be risky for SpaceX, the WSJ pointed out.

SpaceX’s revenue has surged in recent years, but its Starship rocket, which is under development, has been delayed due to successive test flight failures and a large explosion during an engine test last month. The WSJ pointed out that xAI, which is recognized as a highly valuable company, spends tens of billions of dollars annually to train AI models, and that competing AI companies are also experiencing this cash pressure.

The WSJ quoted an investor as saying that xAI raised $5 billion in debt along with equity investment and is expected to raise more funds within the year.

As the number of deaths from the Texas floods continues to rise, criticism is pouring in that the administration’s delayed warnings and lax response have led to loss of life.

According to AP and Bloomberg on the 5th, the number of deaths from flooding in Kerr County and other areas in central Texas the previous day has increased to 51. The number of deaths continues to rise as the search for missing persons continues, and the whereabouts of 27 female children who participated in Camp Mystic, a summer camp held by a Christian group in the area, have also not been confirmed, so the scale of the damage is expected to increase further. Authorities are also unable to say how many people are missing.

U.S. media outlets are also reporting questions about whether authorities provided adequate warnings to camps and residents in areas at high risk for flash flooding and whether they were sufficiently prepared to evacuate.

The Guadalupe River, which begins in Kerr County and flows toward San Antonio, swelled 26 feet (about 8 m) in 45 minutes due to heavy rain, and the riverside campground was packed with people celebrating the Fourth of July holiday.

750 girls were attending the historic “Camp Mystic,” which has a history of more than a century. A 13-year-old girl who was rescued from the scene said, “The camp was completely destroyed.”

In response, AccuWeather, a private company that provides weather data, said that it and the National Weather Service (NWS) warned of the possibility of flash flooding hours before the heavy rain arrived.

“This warning should have given officials enough time to evacuate camps like Camp Mystic and get people to safety,” AccuWeather said in a statement.

The company emphasized that the Hill Country, which has been particularly battered by heavy rain, is one of the most prone to flash flooding in the United States due to its geography and multiple waterways. The Hill Country encompasses all or part of more than 20 counties in central Texas.

Authorities and officials say they did not anticipate months of rain falling on the area at once.

“We knew it was going to rain; we knew the rivers were going to rise, but nobody could have predicted this level of rain,” said Judge Rob Kelly, Kerr County’s top elected official. He said Kerr County considered implementing a flood warning system like a tornado warning system six or seven years ago, but funding issues prevented the project from getting off the ground.

Texas U.S. Rep. Chip Roy called the flooding a “once-in-a-century” and acknowledged that there will be criticism and blame as people look for someone to blame.

Texas says 850 people have been rescued so far from flooded roads, with helicopters, boats and drones used to search for them.

The NWS advised residents to seek higher ground as additional heavy rain and flash flooding was expected in the area, and flood watches and warnings were issued for parts of the central region, including Austin and San Antonio.

Federal investigators have indicted more than 300 people, including Koreans from New Jersey, in the largest-ever crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Federal prosecutors announced on the 1st that they had indicted 324 people nationwide through the ‘2025 National Healthcare Fraud Crackdown’, which was conducted in cooperation with the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration on the 30th of last month.

The total amount of fraud is over $14.6 billion. Prosecutors reported that among the suspects caught this time for healthcare fraud, there were 96 licensed medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

According to prosecutors, Kim (43), who lives in Rivervale, New Jersey, was also indicted on charges of medical fraud. Kim, a physical therapist working at a pain clinic, is accused of conspiring to falsely and fraudulently claim medical insurance for an Amtrak employee who was a client.

Prosecutors have found that Kim participated in submitting false and fraudulent claims for non-provided procedures and services based on the client’s insurance information, and the amount of false claims is reported to be $2,253,453.In New York, JD Express Inc., which provides Medicaid free car service in Forest Hills, Queens, agreed to pay $331,000 in civil settlements with prosecutors after being caught with inconsistent tolls and unlicensed and suspended drivers.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors seized a total of $245 million worth of assets nationwide through this operation, including cash, luxury vehicles, and cryptocurrencies. The operation also reportedly helped the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) block more than $4 billion worth of fraudulent claims in advance.

The Supreme Court ruled on the 27th that parents have the right to exclude their children from classes that use books containing LGBT content in elementary schools. The Supreme Court ruled in a lawsuit filed by a conservative parents’ group against the Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland that “schools cannot force students to participate in classes if parents have religious objections to the book.”

This overturned a lower court decision, with six conservative justices leading the ruling, while three liberal justices dissented.

The Montgomery County Board of Education previously approved several books to be used in the 2022 English curriculum, including a children’s book called “The Prince and the Knight,” which tells the story of a prince and a knight who fall in love after defeating a dragon.

Another book, “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” contains a nephew who worries that his uncle will have less time to spend with him after marrying another man. In addition, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Texas in a lawsuit filed by the adult entertainment industry claiming that the state’s law requiring age verification when accessing porn sites is unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court also ruled to maintain insurance companies’ provision of free preventive health services under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and to maintain $8 billion in subsidies for internet and phone services in rural and low-income communities.

The New York State Child Protection Act has been enacted.

According to New York State, the related bill (S.7695B/A.8149A) signed by New York Governor Cathy Hokule on June 20 last year went into effect on the 20th after a one-year grace period.

The New York State Child Protection Act is essentially prohibiting advertising, collecting, using, sharing, and selling personal information of children and adolescents under the age of 18 on the Internet. However, prior consent is an exception; children under the age of 13 must have parental consent.

The state attorney general has the authority to crack down, and if a violation is discovered, the social media company (platform company) in question can be fined up to $5,000 per case and a restraining order can be issued. Damage can also be claimed against the company.

Assembly member Neely Logic, who led this bill, added, “Protecting children’s information online is no longer optional,” and “Now in New York State, it is illegal to collect, use, share, or sell personal information of children under the age of 18 without consent.”

Waymo, a self-driving taxi company, has reportedly begun operating in New York City.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company that operates Waymo, announced on the 18th that it had applied for a Waymo operating permit in New York City to the New York City Department of Transportation. However, it was reported that this application was submitted on the condition that the vehicle would be operated in autonomous driving mode with a safety manager in the driver’s seat, not unmanned operation.

Alphabet explained, “Waymo is not yet ready to provide a smooth autonomous transportation service throughout New York City, but we plan to gradually expand the service starting with a pilot operation.”

Waymo previously collected data in manual driving mode in some areas of New York City in 2021. Waymo’s car-hailing service, ‘Waymo One’, is currently operating 250,000 trips per week in LA, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin, Texas. Meanwhile, unmanned autonomous driving is currently prohibited in New York State.

The salvage operation for the luxury yacht Bayesian, which sank off the coast of Sicily, Italy last summer, has been successfully completed.

Attention is being paid to whether the cause of the accident, which took the lives of seven people including Autonomy founder Mike Lynch, who was called the “British Bill Gates,” and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, will be solved.

According to Italian daily Corriere della Sera on the 22nd (local time), Bayesian, which was raised to the surface the previous day, was moved to Termini Imerese Port in Palermo, northern Sicily, on the same day. Once the work of placing the hull on a special support is completed, a full-scale investigation into the cause of the accident will begin.

The 56m-long Bayean reportedly capsized in just 15 seconds in strong winds exceeding 130km/h and sank, but Italian investigators are investigating the possibility of a human disaster. Authorities are considering several possibilities, citing the fact that other nearby ships were floating on the sea without sinking despite the strong storm at the time of the accident. There is also interest in what information is contained in the hard drive reportedly stored in a waterproof safe inside the yacht.

CNN reported that the hard drive may contain “sensitive” information that foreign governments such as Russia and China would be interested in. Lynch, a British IT industry magnate, had relationships with American and British intelligence agencies through several companies, including the cybersecurity company Darktrace, which he founded.

Accident survivors testified that Lynch “did not trust cloud services” and carried data storage devices inside the yacht whenever he sailed. The Bayesian, owned by Lynch’s wife’s company, sank about 700 meters off the Porticello Port in Palermo, Sicily, on the morning of August 19th last year.

Of the 22 passengers on board (12 passengers and 10 crew members), only 15, including Lynch’s wife and a one-year-old baby, were rescued. The passengers had gathered to celebrate Lynch’s acquittal on fraud charges that he had inflated the value of Autonomy when it was sold to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the United States for $11 billion 2011.

To celebrate his acquittal, Lynch invited those who had fought with him in court to a luxury yacht trip, but it ended up being a “death voyage.” The Bayesian was originally scheduled to be salvaged last month, but the salvage schedule was completely suspended on May 9th when one of the divers died while working underwater.

Accordingly, the Italian authorities reviewed safety issues and revised the plan to use unmanned diving equipment, delaying the salvage operation by about a month.