Plane Flips Over in Toronto, and Migrants Trapped in Panama Hotel
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What are the key highlights of today's episode?
From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, February 18th. Here's what we're covering.
What details have emerged about the Toronto plane crash?
This is an active investigation. It's very early on. It's really important that we do not speculate.
Authorities have released only a few details about the dramatic crash landing of a Delta Airlines flight in Toronto yesterday. The small jet was carrying 80 people on a flight from Minneapolis when it tried to touch down amid heavy winds and drifting snow. As it landed, it flipped upside down, losing its tail and a wing. No one was killed, but 18 people were injured.
How did passengers experience the Toronto plane incident?
There was no real indication of anything. And then, yeah, we hit the ground and We were sideways and then we were upside down, hanging like bats. And then everybody was just like, get out, get out, get out. We could smell like jet fuel.
And then we just crawled out the back of the airplane. Passengers described having to climb out of the overturned plane as part of it burst into flames. It's not clear what caused the crash, but it's the latest in a series of recent airline disasters that has travelers on edge, including a deadly crash in South Korea in December where a plane slid off the runway, and the midair collision near Washington last month between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter.
What is the current status of the U.S. deportation plan?
As the Trump administration tries to carry out its plan for sweeping deportations, it's faced a major challenge. Many migrants in the U.S. come from countries it's not easy to deport them back to for various reasons, like Afghanistan, Iran, or China. Now the administration has come up with an alternate plan. Send them to another country that is willing to take them. In the last week, the U.S. military has flown hundreds of people who come from countries in Asia, Africa, or the Middle East to Panama. 350 of them are now locked in a hotel in Panama City. They've been told they're going to be sent to a camp near the jungle, then on to their home countries.
What challenges are migrants facing in Panama?
The government of Panama is not allowing journalists to come and visit these migrants and interview them. But they're visible from their windows of their hotel. And they were able to get their messages out through holding up signs, such as one woman did, holding up a piece of paper that read Afghan. Another family of Iranian asylum seekers who had fled for America wrote in lipstick on the window, help us.
My colleague Hamed Ali Aziz says the migrants have been stripped of their passports and barred from talking to lawyers. He was able to speak with one woman who held onto her cell phone.
My colleague and I were able to get a hold of one migrant in the hotel, an Iranian woman named Artemis Qasemzadeh. She's 27 years old, and she was a Christian convert in Iran. She had hoped to come to America to build a new life and be able to practice her religion, Christianity, freely. Of course, in Iran, converting from Islam is a crime punishable by death, so currently she is
How are affected migrants responding to their situation?
very, very concerned about her future.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that none of the migrants told authorities they were scared to return to their home country. But Hamed says many feel they are in danger. And some people in the hotel described desperate attempts to escape. One man broke his leg trying. The plan to send migrants to other countries will soon extend beyond Panama.
What are potential future developments in the deportation strategy?
Costa Rica announced yesterday that it will also accept deportees. A flight carrying around 200 people, originally from Central Asia and India, is expected to land there this week.
This is an indicator that countries that are hoping to come into the good graces of the United States are willing to do things like this, take on hundreds of migrants from countries across the world. And the Trump administration has not been shy about saying that they will look for all avenues to deport people and that just because an individual is from a country that is hard to deport to, it will not prevent them from being removed from the United States. And this is an indication that they really mean that.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What are the key highlights of today's episode?
0:02–0:14
2
What details have emerged about the Toronto plane crash?
0:14–0:43
3
How did passengers experience the Toronto plane incident?
0:43–1:28
4
What is the current status of the U.S. deportation plan?
1:28–2:09
5
What challenges are migrants facing in Panama?
2:09–3:20
6
How are affected migrants responding to their situation?
3:20–3:45
7
What are potential future developments in the deportation strategy?
3:45–8:46
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The Headlines
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