Mariana Bacayau

For a business model that already has such thin margins, Technomics Shanks says most new restaurants won't last as long as McCormick's or Bernstein's.

In Nashville, I'm Mariana Bacayau for Marketplace.

The defense focused their questioning on why the Justice Department considered a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee a top priority.

The DOJ did not begin investigating Abrego Garcia until after the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to return him to the U.S.

Several government officials testified that although state troopers had alerted the FBI and other agencies after that traffic stop that Abrego Garcia was potentially smuggling migrants...

Top officials only turned their attention to him after his deportation.

In court, they said that the high-profile nature of the case made it a top priority within the department.

A ruling is expected sometime in early April.

For NPR News, I'm Mariana Bacayau in Nashville.

It's Tennessee's political, not literal, climate that has some people staying in their homes even as the overnight lows continue to dip below freezing.

Lisa Sherman Luna with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition says many people without legal status have avoided calling 911 or taking advantage of warming shelters in the cold out of fear of being deported.

As the winter weather continues, some households are now marking their fourth day without power.

For NPR News, I'm Marianna Bacayau in Nashville.

Judge Waverly Crenshaw has reviewed internal documents that show the charges against Abrego Garcia from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee were made a, quote, top priority for the DOJ a few days after the U.S.

Supreme Court ordered him return to the U.S.

That's after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March.

Since then, Abrego Garcia's case has become a flashpoint for critics of the administration's crackdown on illegal immigration.

In a statement, the federal attorney's office says that the decision to prosecute was made based on facts and standard practices.

The next hearing in the case is set for late January.

For NPR News, I'm Mariana Bacayau in Nashville.