Like most of the Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules. Then Trump rewrote them.
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The Big Story

July 18, 2025 · View in browser

In today’s newsletter: Detained and then disappeared; Texas requires detailed accounting for anti-abortion program; uninvestigated deaths in Idaho; plus more from our newsroom. 

He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared.

Like most of the more than 230 Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules. Then Trump rewrote them.

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Impact

Texas overhauls anti-abortion program that spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars with little oversight

Photo illustration of a calculator with the word WASTE displayed on its screen
 

Long before Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Texas funded a program called Alternatives to Abortion, a system of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. After abortion became largely illegal in Texas, the program was rebranded as Thriving Texas Families and its budget was dramatically increased; lawmakers said they had shifted the money to supporting needy families affected by the state’s abortion ban.

Last year, a ProPublica/CBS News investigation found the crisis pregnancy centers in the network were riddled with waste and lack oversight. ProPublica’s Cassandra Jaramillo and Jeremy Kohler reported recently that, following that investigation, Texas health officials are overhauling Thriving Texas Families, requiring the nonprofits in the program to provide a detailed accounting of their expenses. 

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Quoted

 
 

“Someone shows up with a dead body and just says they died of natural causes. I mean, really, do you just take their word for it?”

 

— Amy Belanger, whose mother, Betty Strong, was brought to the hospital by her husband, Clayton Strong, after her death in 2016. He claimed she’d been suffering from complications of Parkinson’s disease.

Five of six national death investigation experts ProPublica consulted said the coroner should have obtained medical records to confirm Betty Strong was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, examined the trailer where her husband said she died or both.

Reporter Audrey Dutton investigates how Idaho’s coroner system allowed crucial evidence to disappear. 

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More from the newsroom

 

The Most Interesting Email I Ever Received: Remembering the Incredible Life of DIY Geneticist Jill Viles

The USDA Wouldn’t Let Her Give Up Her House When She Couldn’t Pay Her Mortgage. Instead, It Crushed Her With Debt.

Former NYPD Commissioner Accuses Mayor Adams of Running “Criminal Enterprise” and Cites ProPublica Investigation

RFK Jr. Wants to Change a Program That Stopped Vaccine Makers From Leaving the U.S. Market. They Could Flee Again.

FDA Inspectors Again Find Dangerous Breakdowns at an Indian Factory Supplying Medications to U.S. Consumers

 
 
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