Daily Briefing: Deportation politics

Good morning!🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert. I can't stop using ChatGPT to turn my dog into a human.

Close out the week with Friday's news:

• Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man wrongly deported to El Salvador.
• A suspected Florida shooter had a history of espousing radical ideas.
• Jordan Chiles and UCLA advance to the NCAA gymnastics championships final.

Maryland senator meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen said he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a union sheet metal worker and father of three who was wrongly deported to El Salvador last month.

The background: Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador in hopes of touring the notorious CECOT prison and meeting with Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador despite a prior court order that forbade him from being returned to the Central American nation. Department of Justice attorneys later confirmed that the man was wrongly removed from the country.

• Paste BN was following the senator's motorcade when it was stopped by armed guards at a military checkpoint earlier on Thursday, less than two miles from CECOT. The checkpoint appeared to be set up specifically to keep him from reaching the prison.
• Can Trump bring him back? He sidestepped the question in the Oval Office on Thursday, saying "I'm not involved in it. I'm going to respond to that by saying you’ll have to speak to the lawyers, the DOJ."
• Deportation politics: The fight over deportations like Abrego Garcia's could impact voter turnout during the 2026 midterm election and how both parties address the issue for years to come.

Florida campus shuttered in shock on Friday

All classes and events at Florida State University are canceled on Friday, the day after an alleged gunman opened fire, killing two people and injuring six others. Police say the suspect, identified as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, was the son of a local sheriff's deputy. At the scene, investigators recovered a handgun that belonged to the suspect's mother, a longtime deputy with the Leon County Sheriff's Office, officials said. A shotgun was also found, but it's unclear whether it was used. Ikner, an FSU student majoring in political science, had previously attended trainings held by the law enforcement agency. An FSU student recalled to Paste BN a terrifying morning barricading in academic buildings.

More news to know now

• Snow in Hawaii?
• Trump floated a plan to nix the federal income tax and replace revenue with money from tariffs.
• Luigi Mangione was indicted on federal charges.
• The Menendez brothers resentencing hearing is underway.
• Why does Puerto Rico keep facing massive power outages?

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs headed to court

Sean "Diddy" Combs is due in court on Friday for a conference ahead of his trial next month on sex trafficking charges. Combs, 55, is facing five criminal counts including racketeering and sex trafficking. Prosecutors accuse Combs of using his business empire to sexually abuse women between 2004 and 2024. As his May 5 trial looms, Combes earlier this week requested a postponement of the legal proceeding. In the filing, his lawyers said that the two-month delay will allow Combs the "necessary time to prepare his defense" for a third superseding indictment as well as resolve an issue with evidence regarding an additional accuser. That includes forensic analysis of videos of Combs attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016.

• Step inside the courtroom with Paste BN:  Subscribe to the Diddy on Trial newsletter. 

These young man were sucked into the manosphere

“I was in this nihilistic mindset at the time, nothing matters, life sucks, you kind of suffer, and then you die. This 80/20 dogma was kind of like a confirmation bias of ‘the world's not fair, and so you should kind of just give up.’”

~ Michael McKenzie, 27, who counts himself among a growing number of young men who were sucked into "the manosphere," a digital collection of websites, videos and social media that promote male supremacy and advocate for traditional gender roles. He found his way out. But for some young men, they told Paste BN, it's not that simple.

Today's talkers

• Americans are spending money on candy, not eggs, this Easter.
• It's curvaceous, colossal and naked.
• Keep your 4/20 munchy.
• Weekend two of Coachella is here — along with wait times.
• iPhone toasters are actually genius.
• Serena Williams spoke out on Jannik Sinner's PED ban.

It's do-or-die for the NBA playoffs Play-In Tournament

The court is a high-stakes win-or-go-home situation, competing for the final seed in the NBA playoff bracket. The Miami Heat face-off against the Atlanta Hawks while the Dallas Mavericks are up against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, in the remaining games of the NBA Play-In Tournament. Once the bracket is set, the 2025 NBA playoffs will kick off with a bang on Saturday, as eight teams gear up for four thrilling matchups in the first round. The excitement continues on Sunday, with the remaining eight teams stepping onto the court for Game 1 of the playoffs, setting the stage for the entire tournament. Here are nine storylines to watch heading into the 2025 NBA playoffs.

Photo of the day: The relief of sticking the landing

Team USA star Jordan Chiles and the UCLA Bruins will compete for an NCAA title Saturday after advancing out of their semifinal session at the 2025 gymnastics championships in Fort Worth, Texas. Defending NCAA champion LSU, which failed to advance in a thrilling second semifinal session — with everybody asking, "Where is Livvy Dunne?"

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.