Philly prepares for mass deportations | Morning Newsletter
And meet the ultimate ‘Rocky’ fan
The Morning Newsletter
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Welcome to a new month. It’s a chilly and partly sunny Sunday.
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to remove millions of people who lack the permission to be in the United States. Today’s main read highlights the ramifications of this plan on Philadelphia and beyond.
— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Donald Trump promised to proceed with the mass deportation of an estimated 13 million undocumented people in the country, beginning on his first day in office.
There are about 47,000 in Philadelphia, one of the nation’s preeminent sanctuary cities.
Trump has provided few details of his plan, but it would require authorities to locate, capture, confine, feed, adjudicate, and remove several times the number of all of those currently held in American jails and prisons.
Experts say it would be hard for Trump to accomplish this, especially for practical and logistical reasons. It would demand billions in tax dollars, an unrivaled government mobilization, and a radical expansion of the nation’s deportation apparatus.
Still, local people who lack legal status are worried.
Notable quote: “We’re preparing as if everything he says is going to be real,” said Blanca Pacheco (pictured above), codirector of New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, an advocacy group. “We’re not in denial of how bad it could get. But we refuse to enter into panic.”
Immigration reporter Jeff Gammage explores the potential scenarios and disruptions to the economy and American civic life.
What you should know today
Power was restored Saturday afternoon at Philadelphia International Airport’s Terminal D. The 16 ½-hour outage disrupted airport operations, delayed flights and inconvenienced Thanksgiving weekend travelers.
Two inmates stabbed each other inside Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Northeast Philadelphia Friday night, police said.
Despite widespread claims on social media from conservative activists, Amish voters cannot be credited with winning Pennsylvania for Trump, according to vote returns.
In one of his first interviews since conceding, Bob Casey blamed his Senate loss on the infusion of super PAC money supporting McCormick and described Trump’s strength in Pennsylvania as powerful.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has filed a lawsuit against a Philadelphia-area provider of doula services for allegedly taking money for birth and postpartum care that was not delivered and failing to make refunds.
As University of the Arts’ bankruptcy proceeds, Dec. 11 has been set as the day for potential buyers to submit bids on its prime Center City properties.
The city wants to install a heated shelter at the Greyhound bus terminal on Spring Garden Street. But Northern Liberties community members are not happy about it.
Thwarted by the U.S. International Trade Commission in its push to boost tariffs on 14 countries, some U.S. manufacturers, including owners of the Western Extrusion works in Pennsauken, are counting on the Trump administration to boost import taxes as promised.
A Chester boy was told he had a learning disability, but he actually had an issue with his eyes. Now his mom is pushing for legislation that would require more comprehensive eye exams for kids.
As winter approaches, bringing colder weather and more indoor gatherings, Philadelphians should prepare for a surge in cases of colds, flu, and COVID-19. Here’s where to find free or low-cost vaccines this season.
🎤 Let’s pass the mic to reporter Rita Giordano.
Yo, Philly. Meet Joey Umana, a Rocky fan like no other.
He saw it on the big screen when he was 14, and now this 62-year-old super-aficionado has watched each Rocky movie about 100 times — “at least!”
Rocky Balboa spoke to him from the start.
“I loved that he was the underdog. I love that,” Umana said. “He didn’t even care if he won the fight. He just wanted to go the distance, and that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life.”
Over the years, he’s amassed all manner of Rocky memorabilia: posters, autographs, signed boxing gloves. Once he showed up at a bleary-eyed-early hour outside a hotel where the man himself was staying — Sylvester Stallone — in the hopes of getting a photo taken together. Indeed, the gods of fandom smiled. That was decades ago.
But since last November, Umana’s taken his devotion to a whole other level. The retired truck driver had never been an arts-and-crafts guy but began building intricate replicas of sites from the Rocky movies. He did it all freestyle. No instructions.
“I had no idea what I was doing. I said, ‘Let me see if I can do this.’ I just found a talent I never knew I had.” — Rita Giordano
Read along with Rita to check out the veritable shrine to all things Italian Stallion, and to hear Umana’s story of finding Rocky at a vulnerable time in his life.
❓Pop quiz
Philadelphians Max Liechty and Kausi Raman pitched this kid-friendly power tool on ABC’s Shark Tank (and now they’re apparently running low on their inventory).
A) HappySaw
B) ChompSaw
C) SharkSaw
D) StrongSaw
Think you know? Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: The first South Jerseyan headed to the U.S. Senate since World War II
DAY MINK
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Niki Thompson who correctly guessed Wednesday’s answer: Lizzy McAlpine. The Narberth-raised singer is bringing her musical talents to the Broadway stage this spring.
🥁 Spectators lined the Ben Franklin Parkway on a rainy Thanksgiving morning to watch the 105th 6abc Dunkin’ Thanksgiving Day Parade.
🎶 Today’s track goes like this: “So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay / Watching the tide roll away.”
👋🏽 Have a great day. Julie will be back in your inbox tomorrow with the latest news.