Welcome back to another edition of The Detour — where we explore the context and consequences behind U.S. and global events. Here’s what’s on deck this week:
🔴 The anatomy of Sen. Cory Booker’s non-filibuster filibuster
🔴 New flood risk projections put Florida, Northeast in harm’s way by 2050
🔴 Ecuadorian footballer Antonela Romoleroux just made history
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2.5 million — The number of people projected to be at risk from severe coastal flooding by 2050 in the contiguous United States, according to an analysis released today by Climate Central. The highest concentrations of residents in the projected risk zones live in the Northeast, but Florida represented the largest overall numbers of homes (355,000) and people (505,000) that will be hardest hit. Climate researchers warn that even under low-emission scenarios, sea levels will continue rising for decades due to warming that has already occurred.
CC’s Coastal Risk Finder is a free online tool that can be used to explore projected sea level rise, coastal flood risks, and policy solutions in your area. // Source: Climate Central
11 percent — The decline in asylum applications recorded across the European Union, Norway, and Switzerland in 2024, according to a recent analysis from the European Union Agency for Asylum. Despite this decrease, the region has seen over one million asylum applications for the third consecutive year — a milestone that punctuates years-long debates among European leaders over how to manage the continued influx of migrants, most of whom come from Syria, Afghanistan, and Venezuela.
The rise of “return hubs” — Two weeks ago, the European Commission introduced a controversial proposal to establish “return hubs,” or temporary detention centers, in order to speed up the deportation of migrants entering EU countries illegally. This plan would effectively allow EU states to strike deals with non-EU nations willing to host migrants in exchange for financial incentives.
Here’s where it gets sticky: Unlike current rules, which require migrants’ consent for transfers to transit countries, the new law removes this safeguard entirely. Plus, human rights advocates warn this proposal echoes failed policies like Australia’s offshore detention scheme, which launched in 2001 but was significantly scaled back by in 2017 amid concerns of widespread human rights violations and indefinite detention of countless migrants.
A map of locations where asylum-seekers were held in detention facilities in the region supported by Australia. Green dots represent detention centers on non-Australian territory. // Source: Rob Fiedler via Research Gate
The policy — widely considered a flawed model by experts — involved sending asylum seekers to detention centers on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island instead of allowing them to reach Australian shores.
$4 billion — The estimated funding lost across the African continent due to recent U.S. foreign aid freezes, according to an analysis by the Center for Global Development. At least nine African nations may have lost all projects previously funded by the agency, with the deepest cuts affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania. In total, 44 African countries have been impacted, disrupting critical health, education, and humanitarian programs in regions already facing significant challenges.
The darker the color of a given country, the more USAID funding that has been cut since January. // Source: foreignassistance.gov
1 — The number of dispatched emergency teams sent by the U.S. government to earthquake-ravaged Myanmar, which was hit with a 7.7-magnitude earthquake over the weekend, killing over 2,000. The U.S., once a leader in foreign aid, confirmed they will send $2 million in aid and a meager three-person USAID assessment team today.
A screenshot of the USAID site as of 4/1/25, in my attempts to verify the amount of aid USAID supplied foreign countries through the years.
By contrast, following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, USAID allocated $62 million for relief efforts, including emergency shelter, medical supplies, and support for displaced populations. (USAID webpages detailing these numbers have since been archived by the Trump administration.) In 2022, USAID committed $55 million in assistance, plus shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies after an earthquake struck Afghanistan.
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On Monday evening at 7 pm, U.S. Senator Cory Booker took to the Senate floor, “because Donald Trump and Elon Musk have shown a complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people,” he said.
By 8:05 pm the following day, Booker made history for conducting the longest-ever speech on the Senate floor.
Sen. Strom Thurmond, a South Carolina lawmaker whose time in office ended in 1956, once held that record, speaking for 24 hours and 18 minutes to protest the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Last night, Booker broke that record by 46 minutes.
Booker routinely quoted the late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis, who was made famous for his heedless advocacy of racial justice and for his role in the Selma to Montgomery marches. Booker concluded his speech by saying of Lewis: “He said for us to go out and cause some good trouble, necessary trouble, to redeem the soul of our nation.”
Here are some of the highlights from Sen. Booker’s historic speech.
U.S. Senator Cory Booker speaks on the U.S. Senate Floor in Washington, DC, on March 31. // Source: C-SPAN
7:07 pm — On basic rights & democracy
“In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy, and even our aspirations as a people,” said Booker.
With the help of 1164 pages of prepared material, including over 200 personal stories from Americans across the country, Booker wove a tapestry of data and human narrative to make a firm case against the Trump administration’s agenda and the work of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. He was not allowed to sit down or stop speaking and only stopped to allow the Senate chaplain to deliver a traditional prayer at noon, and to allow fellow Democratic senators to ask him questions.
“The Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress are trying to gut Medicaid and Medicare — programs that nearly a third of our country relies on — all to pay for tax cuts. They're also dismantling the very institutions meant to safeguard our nation's health and well-being,” said Booker.
Economic experts, including those who published a recent report for the Economic Policy Institute in February, uphold this claim. Here’s the latest: The Trump Administration has repeatedly denied that it will cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. But as of right now, Republican policymakers are locked in debates about whether to overhaul Medicaid to account for Trump's myriad tax proposals, including $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade laid out by the Trump Administration.
~ 3:00 AM — On America’s Education System
“The [Trump Administration] is seeking to dismantle, defund, and destroy the Department of Education — not through congressional debate, but by executive action. … At its core, this is about a fundamental question: Do we, as a nation, believe every child deserves a quality education? And if we do, are we willing to organize ourselves to meet that calling?” said Booker.
Last week, Trump issued an executive order to close the Department of Education in a move that would impact 49.5 million public school students who rely on its resources and programming. Because the move requires congressional approval, experts say a full shut-down is unlikely, and a timeline of its dismantling remains unclear. Advocates warn that shutting down the DOE in any meaningful way would undermine its mandate to ensure educational equity, protect students' civil rights, and uphold privacy laws. They also warn that cutting staff and resources would harm low-income and marginalized students by reducing funding, student loans, and grants, deepening racial inequities. This morning, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren announced an investigation into reported plans to replace DOE call centers with chatbots.
5:55 AM — On immigration enforcement & due process
“Maybe you’re an immigrant who has never broken the law. Maybe you’re a citizen. Even if you think the administration’s immigration agenda doesn’t apply to you, please understand that the reckless behavior we’re witnessing erodes all of our rights,” said Booker.
Just before dawn, Booker criticized the Trump administration for deporting individuals to El Salvador without due process. He read from a Tuesday report from The Atlantic covering the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father and husband with protected status who, despite a 2019 immigration judge's ruling granting him protection from deportation due to credible threats, was mistakenly deported and is currently imprisoned in El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center. The administration acknowledged this as an "administrative error" but refused to facilitate his return, citing unproven gang affiliations. Booker emphasized that such actions violate constitutional due process and endanger lives.
“President Trump promised America the cleanest air and cleanest water. Upon entering office, he instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to cut a long list of commonsense environmental protections,” said Booker.
This is correct, although it’s subjective whether environmental protections are universally considered “commonsense.” Here’s what recent reports say — Just last week, the Trump administration invited private companies to request exemptions from nine clean-air regulations, such as mercury limits for power plants and pollution controls in plastic production, in a move that experts say threatens to “evade established limits on toxic pollution that protect millions of people across the U.S,” Environmental Defense Fund’s general counsel, Vickie Patton, told Reuters yesterday.
~ 7:34 pm — On Parkinson’s disease and NIH funding
“I thank God that my mom had the resources to care for my dad, but I watched how that degenerative disease stole his life over 20 years — and how much it cost. I know so many Americans who live in fear every day that one misstep could destabilize their financial security,” said Booker.
Booker used his family's personal struggle with his father’s Parkinson’s disease, along with a letter from a constituent facing the same challenge, to highlight his deep concern over proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget — cuts that could amount to $5.5 billion annually. Booker warned these cuts would severely hinder progress in understanding and treating Parkinson’s and other incurable diseases. (Notably, one of the doctors behind award-winning Parkinson’s research was among the NIH scientists purged last week, per a report from Wired.)
~ 8:05 pm — Closing remarks & inciting John Lewis’ civil rights activism
“John Lewis loved this nation so much that he endured savage beatings — on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, at lunch counters, on freedom rides. He refused to normalize injustice. He would not simply go along with business as usual. He didn’t always know how to solve the problems he faced, but he knew what he had to do. He called on us to stir up ‘good trouble’ — necessary trouble — to redeem the soul of our nation. I want us to redeem the dream,” said Booker before yielding the floor.
Reddit threads are abuzz over Ecuadorian footballer Antonela Romoleroux. Over 112 million people watched the 21-year-old athlete score a stunning goal in the Queens League earlier this week, marking it as one of the most-watched goals in women’s soccer history.
“I didn’t expect it at all. To me, it felt like just a regular goal. I was so focused on the game that I didn’t even realize the goal I had scored. Plus, I played against my former team, so I didn’t celebrate the way I normally would. I apologized and continued playing. But I’m thrilled to know it’s reached so many people, including a lot of famous people. I still can't believe it,” Romoleroux said in a Spanish-language interview with Gamavisión Ecuador yesterday.
The milestone goal underscores the remarkable growth in popularity of women's soccer, punctuated by by significant increases in viewership and fan engagement worldwide. The Queens League, established in 2023, has contributed massively to this surge, accumulating over 13 million hours of watch time in its inaugural season alone. In the U.S., the National Women's Soccer League has experienced unprecedented growth, too: In 2024, the NWSL surpassed two million in regular-season attendance for the first time, marking a 44 percent increase over the previous year.
That’s all for now, folks. Catch you next week.
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Quiz answer: U.S. Senator Cory Booker spoke for 25 hours and four minutes
