White House

Both the University of Alabama and federal immigration officials confirm that an Iranian UA doctoral student is in ICE custody, but few details are being made available. Alabama Public Radio was contacted by classmates of the student, identified in published reports as Alireza Doroudi, was detained by ICE agents this week. The student's F-1 student had reportedly been revoked. However, the reasons behind Doroudi’s arrest remain unclear. It’s just the latest student to be detained by the Trump administration.

Major trade partners swiftly hit back at President Donald Trump's increased tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, imposing stiff new taxes on U.S products from textiles and water heaters to beef and bourbon. Alabama may be impacted by actions Canada is taking on products that the state exports north of the border.

Donald Trump’s tariffs against Mexico and Canada are set to go back into effect this coming Tuesday (3/4.) The Port of Mobile, and Alabama’s Port Authority, are watching to see whether this could help or hurt.

President Trump has been busy since taking office. The new commander in chief has signed executive orders on declaring a national emergency along the Mexico border and pardons for the people accused in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. It’s what he hasn’t done yet that have some people worried. One goal in the conservative blueprint called Project 2025 calls for ending the U.S. Department of Education. Could this mean for small states like Alabama.

Published reports indicate there may have been a reprieve at NASA. Probationary workers, including those at Alabama’s Marshall Space Center, were bracing for job cuts. The websites ARS Technica and NASA watch say mass firings have not yet occurred and there’s no clear reason for the delay.

The Port of Mobile is bracing for Donald Trump’s tariffs against Canada and Mexico which could resume as soon as March. Automakers told CBS News that new car prices could jump by six thousand dollars each if the trade war starts up again. That could hit the Port of Mobile which handles automobile shipments with Mexico.

The White House crackdown on grant money from the National Institutes of Health has universities concerned, reportedly including UAB. Donald Trump’s move against diversity programs could change how research schools spend federal dollars. The current policy allows half of NIH grants to be used for staff or other costs. The White House wants that trimmed to fifteen percent. UAB received three quarters of a billion from NIH in 2022.

President Trump is taking action to pardon or commute the prison sentences of over fifteen hundred people accused in the January sixth insurrection at the Capitol. We’re awaiting confirmation on whether that includes nineteen Alabamians. Russell Alford of Hokes Bluff and Joshua Black are part of that group. Each was reportedly convicted of crimes ranging from illegally possessing a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds and disorderly conduct. Trump’s list also includes leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of failed plots to keep the Republican in power.

Donald Trump is settling into his second term in office. Now, an Associated Press analysis is using Alabama as an example of how he might try to stick around for a third. The Constitution prevents Trump from staying in office past his current term. But, the AP points out that didn’t stop George Wallace from remaining in power as governor.

The process of swearing in the next commander in chief involves parts of the Capitol that seem to get less time in the spotlight, that is, unless you go yourself. An estimated 10,000 people visit the US Capitol every day.