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Around 230 Venezuelans deported to and imprisoned in El Salvador’s brutal CECOT prison are being sent to Caracas, Venezuela, Daily Kos can confirm.  In exchange, Venezuela will release five U.S. citizens and five U.S. permanent residents into custody of the American government, according to Reuters, which was the first to report the news through government sources.  “This nightmare is finally coming to an end. Unbelievable,” Gris Vogt, a San Francisco-based education specialist for the blind who has spent the past four months assisting families of the imprisoned men, told Daily Kos.  Since March, Vogt has worked with families in Venezuela, serving as a lifeline for their access to the American Civil Liberties Union and helping them communicate across the geopolitical gaps of Venezuela, El Salvador, and the U.S.  At least one planeload of prisoners arrived in Caracas on Friday afternoon, she told Daily Kos. “I’m happy for them, I’m happy for everybody,” she said.  YouTube Video After this story was first published, Salvadoran dictator Nayib Bukele posted on X that his government has “handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country.” On March 15, President Donald Trump deported 238 Venezuelan immigrants to the notoriously abusive CECOT prison on the flimsy claims that they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang.  However, the most concrete proof that the administration has provided is that the people had tattoos that officials claimed were affiliated with the gang. Experts have cast doubt on the reliability of using tattoos to gauge gang affiliation, though. Additionally, the vast majority of the original 238 deported Venezuelan migrants have no criminal record, according to “60 Minutes.” While around 230 Venezuelans are to be sent to their home country, the U.S. has deported over 250 Venezuelans to El Salvador.  Daily Kos has reached out to government officials for comment but did not immediately hear back.  As for other Venezuelan inmates without criminal convictions, their family members have been waiting months for this day to come. Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Salvadoran dictator Nayib Bukele.

A cartoon by Mike Luckovich. Related | Trump goons take another step toward creating a secret police force

Insurance premiums through the Affordable Care Act marketplace are expected to skyrocket next year, with plans rising by a median of 15% across 105 insurers, according to an analysis from the health policy outlet KFF. The expected price increases—the largest since 2018, when President Donald Trump was first in office—can be directly linked to the actions of Trump and congressional Republicans. Much of the expected increase stems from the fact that Republicans are about to let premium tax credits expire. Those credits were passed in 2021 by congressional Democrats and signed into law by former President Joe Biden. The credits helped 22 million people afford insurance plans in ACA marketplaces. Once those tax credits expire at the end of this year, people will see a 75% increase in premiums they’d be responsible for, according to KFF. Healthier people who feel they don’t need insurance are expected to then drop their coverage rather than pay astronomically more for it. And that smaller, sicker pool of enrollees would be more expensive for insurance companies to cover, leading to spikes in premium prices. The federal website where consumers can sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is shown on a computer screen in Washington in November 2018. “Insurers expect a large share of enrollees to leave the market, and that those enrollees will be healthier on average, thus leaving the risk pool sicker on average,” KFF wrote. Meanwhile, Trump’s idiotic tariffs are also set to spike the price of drugs and medical equipment, which is, in turn, having an effect on insurance premiums. “The costs of health care services like hospitalizations and physician care, as well as prescription drug costs tend to go up every year, and insurers often raise premiums to cover their increased costs,” KFF wrote. It’s why the American Hospital Association, a major trade group, has pushed back on Trump’s nonsensical tariffs. “Tariffs on [medical devices] could impact patient care by jeopardizing the availability of vital medications and essential health care devices. They also could raise costs for hospitals and heighten shortages and supply chain disruptions,” the group wrote in a May 2025 press release about the financial pressure tariffs will put on hospitals. Already, insurers on some state insurance marketplaces are announcing even higher premiums For example, the Wall Street Journal reported that Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois wants to implement a 27% increase, while Blue Cross in Texas wants to jack up rates 21%.  Democrats will hang those price increases around Republicans’ necks in the 2026 midterm elections. “Trump and Republicans are making your health care more expensive,” Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington wrote in a post on X. We already know health insurance is a powerful issue. It’s largely how Democrats won back control of the House in 2018, after Trump and the GOP unsuccessfully tried to repeal the ACA during his first term.  Now the GOP is once again coming for people’s health care. And they may find out anew how badly that will end for them. 

PoliticusUSA is independent news that is here for you. Please consider supporting our work by becoming a subscriber. Subscribe now Trump and his White House like to say that they are transparent, but the American people got a dose of Trump’s definition of transparency at the White House on Friday. After signing a cryptocurrency bill, Trump departed the stage, shook a few hands, and listened to questions from reporters stationed by the door where the president would be making his exit. The reporter asked Trump about why he hasn’t done more to release the Jeffrey Epstein information. Another reporter can be overheard asking Trump about the birthday card that he wrote for Epstein. Trump didn’t say a word and got out of that room. PoliticusUSA is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Video: No matter how much Trump threatens lawsuits, blames Democrats, yells, or complains, the Epstein questions are not going away. After the publication of The Wall Street Journal’s story about Trump’s birthday card to Epstein, the questions are getting even louder. Trump has threatened to sue Rupert Murdoch, The Wall Street Journal, and News Corporation, but the questions keep coming. There is only one thing that Trump can do to make the questions go away. It is also the one thing that the president absolutely refuses to do. Trump could release all of the Epstein case information, which reportedly includes visitor logs to Epstein’s island. If Trump has nothing to hide, why is he hiding something? Donald Trump usually can’t get enough of the television cameras, but now that the topic has turned to Jeffrey Epstein, the president has gone quiet and has nothing to say. The one way for Trump to prove that he is innocent is to release everything. The fact that he won’t speaks volumes. What do you think about Trump fleeing the room? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Leave a comment