A Family On the Verge of Being Torn Apart

Coming up on today’s show:

• The Pukri family has been in the United States for 17 years. Now, they may be forced to return to Albania, or risk having their family split up across more than 5,000 miles. Takeaway Producer Oliver Lazarus went to Clifton, New Jersey, to speak with the Pukri family.

• Many important safety rules for cars, trains, airplanes, commercial buses, trucks, and more have been rolled back or sidelined under President Trump’s direction, an recent investigation finds. Joan Lowy transportation reporter for The Associated Press, explains.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with President Trump in Washington ahead of the The American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference. But a corruption investigation back home is hanging over his head. Ruth Eglash, the Jerusalem correspondent for the Washington Post, is traveling with the prime minister this week, and she joins The Takeaway from Washington. 

• It’s another day off for students across West Virginia, as teachers and staff continue their strike which began on February 22nd. School union representatives say they are unified in the strike and vow to hold out until the government honors an agreement to raise salaries by five percent. Jake Jarvis,staff writer at The State Journal, has been following the negotiations and brings us the latest. 

• The East Mississippi Correctional Facility has been plagued for years by allegations of abuse, neglect, and corruption among correctional officers. In 2014, a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the prisoners by civil rights groups was brought against the privately-run prison, and on Monday, that case goes to trial. Arielle Dreher,news reporter at the Jackson Free Press, discusses the issue at the heart of this case. 

• “An American Marriage,” by Tayari Jones tells the story of a newly-married young African American couple, and what happens to their relationship after the husband, Roy, is wrongly accused and convicted of a crime. Jones joined WNYC’s Rebecca Carroll in conversation as part of our book club series, “Reading the Reckoning.”

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich