Georgia Today: Federal govt. restores legal status of intl. students; The future of Piedmont Park

Peter Biello: Welcome to Georgia Today. Here we bring you the latest from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, Savannah City officials draw up a new zoning district for affordable housing. A nonprofit unveils its future vision for Atlanta's Piedmont Park. And after a brief court battle, the federal government restores the legal status of dozens of international students.

Charles Kuck: Oh, this is 100% ICE realizing that they were wrong. I can only imagine the conversations with their lawyers.

Peter Biello: Today is Friday, April 25. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: The federal government is reversing the termination of legal status for international students after many filed court challenges around the U.S. GPB's Chase McGee spoke with immigration attorney Charles Kuck to learn more on what that means for students in Georgia.

Chase McGee: When did you hear about these developments?

Charles Kuck: We heard officially this morning after a hearing in Oakland around — it was about 11 o'clock or so this morning, 11:30. But we noticed last night that we were started getting phone calls from some of the new plaintiffs, that we were bringing on to the class action, that they had been notified by the DSO around 6 o'clock that their status had been restored. I called a DSO friend of mine at a school and she confirmed that one of her 15 students who had been revoked had in fact just been restored and she was checking every five minutes. And these reports came in from around the United States. By the time I went to bed last night, I knew of at least 50 cases, so it became clear a couple of things. One, they were clearly reversing course. These were people that had not sued. Two, they were doing it randomly. Three, they were doing it manually, and that was all confirmed this morning that they were manually restoring all the students. What we do not yet know, however, is why. Well, is it losing 50 times? I would suspect that might have something to do with it, in federal court. Is it some other policy change? We also don't know the consequences of this. Are they now talking to the Department of State to unrevoke the visas that they revoked? Will they be talking to the individuals and apologizing? Will they finding out if they need assistance with change of status or — or change of schools? All things that were interrupted by this action by — by ICE. We don't know those answers yet because ICE has not officially said anything.

Chase McGee: First thing you mentioned there, a DSO, that's a designated school officer, the person in charge of dealing with international students on campus, and you mentioned a possibility that they would go to the State Department. Would that be for different removal proceedings?

Charles Kuck: The State Department revoked the visas, and anybody with a revoked visa can be ordered deported. That's the ground of deportation. That was clearly created by ICE's actions. We would expect at a minimum that ICE would contact the Department of State and say, "Hey, we made a mistake, can you un-revoke the visas?" Which they can do. We just don't know if they've done that, and frankly, I doubt they have.

Chase McGee: Have you heard anything from the plaintiffs in your lawsuit in response?

Charles Kuck: Well, our plaintiffs in our original lawsuit were already restored. So they're relieved that it's happening for everybody else. The new plaintiffs we were onboarding, first of all, didn't believe it. Second, they saw their friends — it happened to their friends but didn't think it was going to happen to them. And now most of them have actually received the restoration as well. Keep in mind, there are thousands of cases and they must have been working all night at ICE doing this, because we woke up to hundreds instead of just 50 this morning receiving that notification. But we had been prepared to move forward on a class action early next week with hundreds of people. So frankly, it's good that ICE did this.

Chase McGee: So are you chalking this up to a win?

Charles Kuck: Oh, this is 100% ICE realizing that they were wrong. I can only imagine the conversations with their lawyers saying, "Why are you making us go to court, say these ridiculous things which don't make any sense and which we're losing every single time?" At a certain point, I think the lawyers do get a little bit of say-so in this administration.

Chase McGee: One more thing before you go, do you think this is the end of these legal troubles for students in the U.S.?

Charles Kuck: If we have learned nothing about this administration to date, it's that this is the beginning, not the end.

Chase McGee: Thanks so much. That's Charles Kuck, founding partner at Kuck-Baxter.

Charles Kuck: Thanks, bye bye.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: U.S. Sen. John Ossoff says he's doing what he can to push back on the Trump administration's cuts to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other programs.

Jon Ossoff: There is no button that I can simply press that I'm not pressing or some tool of procedure that I can use that I am not using that will reverse what they're doing.

Peter Biello: He was speaking at a town hall in Marietta today. Around 2,400 layoffs at the CDC included people working on programs that track and prevent asthma, smoking, gun violence, and climate change. The center that researches and protects worker health was largely decimated, people at the agency said. Ossoff is up for reelection next year. No serious challengers have declared their candidacy for his seat yet, but Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is rumored to be considering a run.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Officials in Savannah have drawn up a map outlining the city's new zoning district for affordable housing. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: City council members met on Thursday to define the boundaries of Savannah's new affordable housing overlay district. They agreed upon a map encompassing over 400 acres of property, the bulk of it lying just south of Savannah's popular Forsyth Park. Within this area, the city's predominantly single-family zoning code will be relaxed, allowing property owners to build more high-density housing like duplexes and apartment buildings. Alderwoman Estella Edwards-Shabazz:

Estella Edwards-Shabazz: We have got to get started with increasing our inventory for housing. This is real in this city, it's real all over this country.

Benjamin Payne: Nearly half of all renters in Savannah are considered what the city calls cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Nurses at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Decatur plan to protest tomorrow layoffs they say will impact patient care. Two VA employee unions are organizing the protest, National Nurses United and the American Federation of Government Employees Local 518. The protest aims to put a spotlight on former Georgia representative Doug Collins, who is now VA Secretary, and supports President Trump's efforts to pare down the VA's workforce. The VA in Decatur serves more than 125,000 veterans annually, and veterans often experience long wait times. For example, new patients face waits of 109 days for gastroenterology and 67 days for neurology. A VA spokesperson says the VA is working to fix this.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is partnering with Uber to help travelers earn SkyMiles while using Uber and Uber Eats. Starting this week, some users could earn $1 per mile spent on restaurant and grocery store orders of $40 or more, and $1 on UberX rides to and from airports. A Delta spokesperson says this makes it easier to reward Delta SkyMiles members.

Caption

2023 404 Day celebration at Piedmont Park.

Credit: 404 Day / Facebook

Story 6:

Peter Biello: The nonprofit organization that works to conserve and improve Atlanta's central gathering space, Piedmont Park, has unveiled a future vision for the park. GPB's Orlando Montoya reports it's the attraction's first master plan in 25 years.

Orlando Montoya: More than 6 million visitors come to the park each year, and the Piedmont Park Conservancy expects that number to grow with new connections to the city's popular bike and pedestrian trail, the Beltline. The plan's chief designer, Thomas Woltz, says the master plan addresses community priorities from recreation and maintenance to ecological restoration.

Thomas Woltz: What we've tried to do is enhance the beautiful existing conditions, but also add new amenities and facilities that meet the 21st-century needs of today's park user.

Orlando Montoya: Some of those amenities are designed to spread people out to avoid crowding. It's expected to take ongoing fundraising and a decade to implement fully. For GPB News, I'm Orlando Montoya.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: A new documentary reframes the 1996 Olympic Games, going beyond the headlines to focus on a legendary friendship between two Georgia icons who built bridges between Atlanta and the world. GPB's Kristi York Wooten has more. 

Kristi York Wooten: What image comes to mind when you think of the Olympics in Atlanta? A parade of pickup trucks in the stadium? Gymnast Carrie Strug vaulting the U.S. women's team to gold? The terrible bombing that killed two people? Or the triumph of Muhammad Ali carrying the torch as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra played Beethoven's Ninth? With The Games in Black and White, filmmakers Bob Judson and George Hurtler forget surface perceptions and dig deep into the unlikely pairing of Andrew Young, a Black civil rights leader, pastor, mayor of Atlanta, and ambassador to the United Nations, and Billy Payne, a white real estate attorney, former college football star, and future chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, who came together to win the bid. Hurtler says that example of persistence and unity resonates today.

George Hurtler: Despite the fact that nobody thinks we've got a chance, we might actually pull this thing off. Who would have thought that this story from 30 years, 35 years ago, would have the kind of social relevance and meaning and importance, as Bob said, a critical message for our time.

Kristi York Wooten: The Games in Black and White follows the journey from the seed of a crazy idea of bringing the Olympics to Atlanta to years of planning and America's largest TV viewing audience ever for a summer games and how those moments shaped the city's reputation as a hub for diversity and progress. Here's Billy Payne from a key scene in the film.

Billy Payne: Never ever did I even entertain the thought that we would look as an Olympic organization any different than we looked as a community. I mean, that was out of the question. This is Atlanta, you know? We're the world's best demonstration of different races working together — not perfectly, as Andy would say, but, but in harmony. And I wanted I wanted the world to see that.

Kristi York Wooten: Although the civil rights movement is one of the through lines for the film, Atlanta's global reach is its byproduct. Here's Bob Judson.

Bob Judson: We also want to focus, obviously, on the two big stories that most people didn't know, which was the Equal Opportunity Initiative that Andy pushed for, and Olympic Aid that, you know, with UNICEF, managed to help over 15 million African children.

Kristi York Wooten: In a scene from Centennial Park after the Olympic Games, Andrew Young spoke to his hopes for Atlanta's future.

Andrew Young: And so we say to those who suffered here, that we assure you that your suffering is not in vain. And we're sure that the 21st century will remember the joy, the wonderful, the celebration, the vitality of the people of the Earth gathered in this farm.

Kristi York Wooten: The Games in Black and White has its world premiere April 26 at the Atlanta Film Festival and will be shown on GPB in the future. None of it would be complete without a homegrown soundtrack and a theme song by Dallas Austin and Champ.

MUSIC: Dallas Austin and Champ

Kristi York Wooten: As well as a score from fourth-generation Atlantan and jazz musician Joe Alterman, who was just 8 years old when the Olympics came to town.

Joe Alterman: To me, growing up, I've always seen Dallas Austin as someone who has helped elevate our city through music. There is an Atlanta sound that I hear. It sounds kind of Southern, a little country. You hear some jazz, that I thought, "We got to bring that sound out."

Kristi York Wooten: For GPB News, I'm Kristi York Wooten.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: The Atlanta Falcons doubled down on their commitment to boosting their pass rush by selecting Georgia linebacker Jalen Walker with the No. 15 overall pick last night. Walker won the 2024 Butkus award as the nation's best linebacker. He's viewed as a player with the potential to play a hybrid role in the NFL as a linebacker and edge rusher. Also taken in the draft was Columbus native Michael Williams, who was selected in the first round and 11th overall by the San Francisco 49ers.

In baseball, the Braves take on the Diamondbacks in Arizona tonight to begin a three-game series. Chris Sale will start for the Bravers against Zach Galen. Atlanta has gone 2-11 in road games and is 10-14 overall. And in soccer, Atlanta United faces Orlando City in Florida tomorrow in the first meeting between the two teams this season.

Peter Biello: And that is a wrap on a busy week of news. Thank you so much for choosing Georgia Today. We'll be back on Monday with more of what's been going on in Georgia. Subscribe to this podcast now so you won't miss a thing. And you can always find updates and new stories at GPB.org/news. Your feedback powers this podcast. Send your tips for improvement and story tips to GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you on Monday.

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