tiruchy l sunday l may 24, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION Don’s ‘apply from home country’ rule for green cards draws anger Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates on Saturday demanded that the Trump administration withdraw its new green card policy democrats call it Attack on legal immigration Will help curb illegal immigration: USCIS Democratic lawmakers vowed to pursue every avenue to fight against the new policy, which they said will make legal immigration to the US much more harder. They also highlighted it will separate families when a member has to leave the US to apply for green card from their home country, a process that in some cases could stretch on months or a year ■ ■ The earlier policy allowed foreigners to change from non-immigrant to immigrant by applying for “adjustment of status” from within the US The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said the new policy cuts the need to find and remove those who “slip into the shadows” and remain in the US illegally after being denied residency 6,00,000 people who are already in the U.S. apply for green card each year CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Modi gets Trump’s invite for early visit Rubio hands over letter; unveils America First visa plan J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Net fuel rates up by `5/L after 3rd hike R a k e s h K u m a r @ New Delhi Prices of petrol and diesel went up by up to 91 paise per litre on Saturday, the third such hike in less than 10 days, raising the cumulative retail fuel rates across the country by nearly `5 a litre. In Delhi, petrol became costlier by 87 paise — from `98.64 to `99.51 per litre. Diesel rates jumped by 91 paise — from `91.58 to `92.49 a litre. Likewise, the cost of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) went up by `1 per kg, taking its retail cost in the Capital to `81.09 per kg. The latest hike comes amid disruption in global oil and gas supplies following the conflict in West Asia. Despite the hikes, fuel retailers continue to absorb significant losses. Amid long queues and reports of shortage at petrol pumps and some outlets running dry, Indian Oil said there was no overall shortage, adding fuel outage at certain retail outlets as “highly localised” and temporary. The IOL statement said the higher demand at certain outlets was driven by a seasonal rise in diesel consumption during the harvesting season. Express Read Personally not keen on joining TVK: Thiruma Chennai: VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan on Saturday said that while his personal preference was to give only outside support to TVK govt, VCK office-bearers persuaded him to join the ministry. “I made the move only after getting the DMK chief’s nod,” he said | P4 436 out of 717 Tasmac shops shut so far: Min Chennai: Of the 717 Tasmac outlets identified across TN to be functioning near educational institutions & places of worship, 436 have been closed down so far, Excise Minister K Vignesh said. Officials have been asked to expedite the closure of the remaining outlets, he added | P4 WITH THIS ISSUE America Made in Pakistan PLUS 12 P AGES In his first visit to India as US Secretary of State to shore up ties that have come under strain in recent times, Marco Rubio met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and handed over an invitation from President Donald Trump for an early visit to the White House. He later described India as a “cornerstone” of Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy and said an “America First” visa schedule prioritising business professionals will deepen economic ties with New Delhi. Rubio, who arrived in New Delhi after a stop in Kolkata earlier in the day, held wideranging discussions with Modi on bilateral ties, regional security and the Indo-Pacific ahead of the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting scheduled in Delhi on May 26. After the meeting, Modi said the two sides discussed “sustained progress” in the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership as well as regional and global security issues. “India and the United States will continue to work closely for the global good,” Modi said on X. Speaking at the inauguration of the new US Embassy Support Annex Building here, Rubio underlined India’s growing importance in Washington’s strategic calculations. “It is at the cornerstone of this important partnership between us and India, which, as I said, is an incredibly important one,” Rubio said. “It’s the reason why I’m here on this visit — to reaffirm those ties, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI We had a phenomenal meeting today with the Prime Minister. It’s a relationship we deeply care about. It’s a relationship that is growing Sergio Gor, US Ambassador At Mother House Earlier in the day, Morco Rubio visited the Mother House of Saint Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata before flying to Delhi build upon them. We think in the months ahead, we’re going to have even more exciting and new announcements to make about the development and strengthening of the relationship between the two countries.” The US Secretary of State also announced a new “America First” visa schedule designed to prioritise business professionals and strengthen commercial engagement between the two countries. “We’re introducing a new America First visa schedule that prioritises business professionals that strengthen these ties,” Rubio said, adding that the new embassy facility would help improve efficiency and support America’s diplomatic and security operations in India. Rubio also highlighted the personal chemistry between Modi and Trump. “You can just see the connection between them,” he said. within 24 hours Two arrested for rape, murder of 10-year-old in TN Phogat wins the dangal at Delhi HC U D AYAN K I SHOR e @ New Delhi E X P RESS NEWS SER V I CE @ Coimbatore A day after a 10-year-old girl was found dead near a lake at Kannampalayam in Coimbatore, the Sulur police on Saturday arrested two persons on charges of abduction, rape, and murder after medical examination confirmed sexual assault of the child. According to police, the main accused, K Karthi (33) of Nagapattinam, had lured the girl, sexually assaulted her and murdered her at a coconut grove near the Kannampalayam lake. The prime suspect, a daily-wage labourer residing on the outskirts of Coimbatore, suffered fractures to his right hand and leg when he fell off a building while allegedly attempting to flee the police on Saturday. He is undergoing treatment at Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. The second accused, R Mohan (30) of Pallapalayam, had allegedly assisted Karthi in executing the crime. He has been remanded in judicial custody . The girl, a Class 5 student of a government school, went missing while playing near her home around 5 pm on Thursday . Her parents lodged a complaint with the Sulur police around 8.30 pm the same day . Five police teams were formed to trace the girl, and her body was found on Friday. Terming the incident “inhuman and unforgivable”, CM C Joseph Vijay assured strict action against those responsible.  P5 The law must ensure that motherhood does not become a ground for exclusion or marginalisation of female athletes, such as the appellant Delhi High Court Trials to be recorded The bench ordered the selection trials, be videorecorded and an independent observer from Sports Authority of India and Indian Olympic Association each remain present The Delhi High Court has allowed celebrated wrestler Vinesh Phogat to participate in the upcoming Asian Games 2026 selection trials to be held from May 30 to 31, saying motherhood cannot be treated as a professional impediment. A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia called Phogat “an internationally acclaimed athlete” and said she could not meet the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) “exclusionary” selection policy only because she was on maternity leave. “It is acknowledged that motherhood cannot be treated as a professional impediment or a circumstance warranting adverse treatment. A legal and regulatory framework that either expressly or impliedly disadvantages a woman on account of pregnancy or post-partum recovery would clearly violate the principles of non-discrimination enshrined in Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution of India,” the division bench noted in its order on Friday The order was uploaded on the . court website on Saturday . The bench also slammed the “deplorable” show-cause notice issued to Phogat by WFI, in which the wrestling body said she had caused a “national embarrassment” by getting disqualified from the Paris Olympics for being overweight ahead of her gold-medal match. “Such observations made in the SCN (showcause notice), despite the award issued by CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), which clearly held that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the appellant (Phogat), appear to be pre-mediated and are ex-facie misconceived and ought to have been avoided,” the bench said.