Good morning!🙋🏼‍♀️ I’m Nicole Fallert. Allergy sufferers, the sniffles are about to get bad.
Take a quick look at Monday’s news:
Immigration officers increasingly search electronic devices of travelers
More travelers are facing scrutiny by immigration and border control officers, including searches through electronic devices, amid orders by the Trump administration to increase national security.
Why it matters: Free speech activities, such as social media posts on political issues, are now being subject to exams and subsequent visa issues.
👉 Keep reading: The UK, Germany and Nordic nations revised their travel advice in response to detentions at the U.S. border.
These progressive lawmakers are ‘fighting oligarchy’
Progressives Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are traveling across the U.S. on their “fighting oligarchy” tour. Over 34,000 people attended their Friday rally in Denver, Colorado, where the lawmakers challenged President Trump and DOGE’s Elon Musk. The multi-city tour comes amid tensions within the Democratic party following a vote by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., eight other Democrats and one independent to back a Republican crafted spending bill and avert a government shutdown last week. Ocasio-Cortez also called out Democrats, saying that Americans “need a Democratic party that fights harder for us too.”
More news to know now
Time for a break! Play today’s USA TODAY Crossword. Sally says Play Your Cards Right.
Gaza death toll passes 50,000
An Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed a Hamas political leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, on Sunday, the militant group said, as Palestinian officials put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000. Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign last week. Explosions echoed throughout the north, central and southern Gaza Strip early Sunday, as Israeli planes hit several targets in those areas. Witnesses said it was an escalation of the attacks that began in the preceding week.
Without the Education Department, what happens to students with disabilities?
The Department of Education’s Office of Special Education has reported to Congress annually about how students with disabilities are performing in schools. But the Trump administration recently gutted the Institute of Education Sciences, the federal agency’s research arm. The research freeze especially concerns experts, who say special education can look different from state to state. Access gaps among states could now grow without adequate research from the agency.
Today’s talkers
How a NHL team’s execs milked youth hockey families
Three Dallas Stars employees used their positions with the National Hockey League team and a prominent youth hockey nonprofit organizations to profit at thousands of families’ expense, a USA TODAY investigation found. The employee organized dozens of Stars-run youth hockey tournaments that required out-of-town participants to book rooms for a minimum number of nights at select hotels. At the same time, they separately ran a company, Stay2Play LLC, that acted as a middleman between the Stars and the hotels, taking a cut of the revenue. Read the full investigation from USA TODAY.
Photo of the day:Â Who’s in the Sweet 16?
Players are taking a rest Monday following the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Among the highlights from the first two rounds, No. 10 Arkansas pulled off a stunner by beating No. 2 St. John’s to reach the men’s Sweet 16 in coach John Calipari’s first season. Here are the men’s and women’s March Madness winners and losers so far.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at [email protected].