News from around the nation.

Over 30 sanctioned ships in Venezuela at risk after US tanker seizure; Judge orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia be released from ICE custody 'immediately'; NY communities get resources, help to prepare for ICE raids; 'Rebalance the scales': A push for taxing WA's wealthy; WI diversified, specialty farmers could be slighted in federal aid.

Transcript

The Public News Service Thursday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

More than 30 U.S. sanctioned oil vessels doing business in Venezuela could face punishment.

By Washington, after the Coast Guard seized a supertanker carrying Venezuelan crude oil for export, according to shipping data, that from Reuters.

And from CNN, a federal judge in Maryland ordered the release of Kelmar Albrego Garcia.

Since Obrego Garcia's return from wrongwall detention in El Salvador, he has been redetained again without lawful authority, the judge wrote.

For this reason, the court will grant Abrego Garcia's petition for immediate release from ICE custody.

Meantime, New York communities are getting help to prepare for immigration raids.

The Deportation Data Project finds more than seventy two hundred people have been detained under the Trump administration's policies this year.

Some arrests are being carried out at people's homes, but others are taking place at workplaces, courthouses and community centers.

Some groups are helping immigrant communities prepare for raids.

Roz Lee with Nonviolent Peace Force says, rather than be reactive, communities must be proactive.

Proactively being prepared to de-escalate situation.

Proactively being present and of support.

To their fellow community members finding themselves confronted by challenging conditions.

Other advice for community members includes knowing their rights.

Some states also have laws in place to protect immigrants.

New York's Protect Our Courts Act shields immigrants from warrantless ICE arrests.

While attending court proceedings.

Though the Justice Department sued to stop the law from being enacted, it lost as the courts found the law constitutional.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

And Washington State is entering the new year with an estimated revenue shortfall of $11 billion.

In response, advocates for working families are urging the state to generate new revenue by raising taxes on its wealthiest residents.

Research shows Washington has the second most regressive tax system in the country, with low and middle income residents paying upwards of 14 percent of their income to taxes, while the wealthiest pay just 4 percent.

Emily Venanek with the Washington State Budget and Policy Center says the state needs a more progressive tax system, explaining it's not about politics.

Rather, it's an attempt to rebalance the scales.

Washington already gives preferential treatment to wealthy people and wealthy corporations, and that was doubled down on at the federal level.

And so how do we pay for the services and programs that people use as lifelines, frankly, when we're asking people with the least to pay the most?

Critics argue that progressive taxes drive away wealth.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

And policy experts predict that small specialty farms will be on the losing end of the latest federal agriculture bailout meant to offset farmers' losses from rising production costs and the market disruptions.

From new tariff policies, Success Okefor with the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute says the plan appears to reinforce large-scale agriculture.

The paperwork, the deadline, they tend to just favor large-scale commodity producers.

The USDA's $12 billion relief package alleges $1 billion to the specialty crop and the rest to major row crop producers.

This is Public News Service.

Clergy in West Virginia say members of their congregations are being deported and families are being separated in ICE raids.

The faith leaders say often the men being rounded up are solely responsible for their families' income.

Monsignor Reverend Paul Hudock, a Catholic priest working with Hispanic residents in Clarksburg and Morgantown, says his parishioners are now regularly being detained and arrested, including a man who worked as a roofer as he came down from his roof at his work site in the city of Morgantown.

The story is that ICE officers were waiting for him as he got down off the roof.

Two weeks later, he was deported.

Hudok adds, Many undocumented residents are now concerned about calling medical emergency services out of fear that will lead to an encounter with ICE agents.

This is Nadia Ramlagan for West Virginia News Service.

And Minnesota homes and businesses will crank up the heat this weekend as Arctic Air settles in.

A new statewide coalition of builders and designers wants future structures not as overly reliant on energy. with a renewed push for a sustainable construction.

High performance and low emissions are key goals laid out by the recently launched Minnesota Efficient Builders Coalition.

The group Fresh Energy is bringing together regional leaders in construction, architecture, and other industry partners to advance best practices and engage on building codes.

Brian Mussels is with the firm Intent Built and is a coalition co-chair.

He says it's time for a conversation reset.

Building with purpose is one of the key points that I like to focus on as we start to get momentum.

It's just Why are we building what we're building and what is the impact?

The coalition says in 2022, emissions from Minnesota residential structures were up 38 percent over 2005 levels and RAF 48 percent for commercial properties.

I'm Mike Moen.

And Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering several bills to protect insects and promote native plants amid growing concerns over declining species.

The state is home to 77 threatened insects, including the monarch butterfly and the American bumblebee.

Nate Regal with Sierra Club, Pennsylvania, says pollinators are crucial to agriculture, and many insects provide food for wildlife, control pests, and help cycle nutrients.

He says the proposal would boost farm productivity and environmental health, and notes Pennsylvania currently has no way to list a native land-dwelling insect as threatened or endangered.

There is no state agency that has authority over the native insects.

House Bill 441 would grant that authority to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Thankfully, they've already been doing a lot of great work when it comes to insect conservation.

House Bill 441 has already passed the House and is now in the Senate committee.

Danielle Smith reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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