In the quiet town of Cactus, Texas, Haitian migrants like Nicole and Idaneau Mintor are facing a new wave of fear and uncertainty. Both work long hours at the JBS meatpacking plant—home to 3,700 workers, many of them immigrants—debating whether the American dream they chased is now slipping away.

Nicole, who arrived through the CBP One program last November, says she was drawn to the region for its job opportunities and higher wages. She earns more than $20 an hour deboning cattle—money she could never have hoped to make in Haiti. But earlier this month, she received a message warning her to leave the U.S. within seven days or face deportation or fines.

“They would consider going back to Haiti,” she said in Haitian Creole. “But the country is in a bad situation right now. You can’t make a decision. You have no idea what to do.”

The Biden-era immigration parole program allowed hundreds of thousands from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter legally. But recent actions under Donald Trump’s renewed crackdown have thrown those protections into question. Although a federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of deportation notices, many like Nicole still live in fear of losing their jobs, homes, and work permits.

“I don’t steal. I pay my bills. I respect the laws,” said Mintor. “But they are planning to take away my work permit.”

For these workers, the uncertainty is not just legal—it’s existential. With no clear path forward and no safe way back, their futures hang in limbo.

Lebanese authorities warned the Palestinian Hamas group Friday not to carry out any attacks from Lebanon otherwise they will face the “harshest measures.”

The warning by the Higher Defense Council, Lebanon’s top military body, came weeks after several Lebanese and Palestinians were detained on suspicion of firing rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel.

The move comes as Lebanese authorities are spreading their authority throughout the country, mainly in the south near the border with Israel after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that ended in late November with the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

“Hamas and other factions will not be allowed to endanger national stability,” the council said. “The safety of Lebanon’s territories is above all.”

Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests by The Associated Press for comment on the Lebanese decision.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, the Palestinian group that has armed presence in Lebanon has carried out several attacks against Israel. Israel has since carried out airstrikes that killed Hamas official, including one of its top military chiefs, Saleh Arouri, in Beirut.

Lebanese authorities detained last month several people, including a number of Palestinians, who were allegedly involved in firing rockets toward Israel in two separate attacks in late March that triggered intense Israeli airstrikes on parts of Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group denied at the time that it was behind the firing of rockets. “The harshest measures will be taken to put a complete end to any act that infringes on Lebanon’s sovereignty,” said the statement that was read by Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Mustafa.

The meeting of the Higher Defense Council was attended by senior officials including the country’s president, prime minister, army commander and heads of security services. The council’s statement quoted Prime Minister Nawaf Salam as saying that all “illegal weapons” should be handed over to the state.

The announcement in Beirut came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit Lebanon later this month. Since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire went into effect in late late November, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes that left dozens of civilians and Hezbollah members dead.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone fired three missiles Friday morning at a gas station in the southern village of Houla wounding five poeple. On Thursday, Israel said it killed an official with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in a drone strike in south Lebanon.

Kyiv residents and family members of missing Ukrainian soldiers reacted to the U.S. and Ukraine mineral deal with mixed feelings on Thursday.

After months of tense negotiations, the U.S. and Ukraine signed a deal that is expected to give Washington access to the country’s critical minerals and other natural resources, an agreement Kyiv hopes will secure long-term support for its defense against Russia.

But few details have been shared about what the deal will entail.

Diana Abramova joined hundreds of others at a protest for the families of missing Ukrainian soldiers on Kyiv’s Independence Square.

Her father Valentyn Stroyvans went missing last year fighting in Toretsk in the Donetsk region.

She told the Associated Press she hopes that the world will unite to help to end the war and bring back their loved ones.

“Any news is hard to take, whether it’s about negotiations or something else. I still believe and hope that any action will yield some result that will lead our Ukraine to victory. Only to victory,” she said.

Despite not knowing the details of the deal, 74-year-old university lecturer Natalia Vysotska expressed optimism, saying “if it was signed, then our experts must have compared the pros and cons. I hope it will be beneficial.”

But others felt more depleted. For 37-year-old Iryna Vasylevska, the deal served as another reminder that “our land is just a bargaining chip for the rest of the world and that we do not have our own full protection.”

“My vision is that instead of strengthening ourselves, we continue to give it all away,” she said. “I feel terrible about the fact that our human resources in war are considered as meat. I am sure that there are other possible agreements, except those that will make us poor in all areas.”

According to Ukrainian officials, the version of the deal signed Wednesday is far more beneficial to Ukraine than previous iterations, which they said reduced Kyiv to a junior partner and gave Washington unprecedented rights to the country’s resources.

The agreement — which the Ukrainian parliament must ratify — would establish a reconstruction fund for Ukraine that Ukrainian officials hope will be a vehicle to ensure future American military assistance.

A previous agreement was nearly signed before being derailed in a tense Oval Office meeting involving U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.