The migrant crisis in Niger.

THIS WEEKEND

Special Section

The papers each bore twonames, one unknown, the otherubiquitous, facing off across theletter V. The V was important. Itmeant that in America, anyonecould sue the president of theUnited States and hope to win.

In New York, there was Dar-weesh v. Trump. In Colorado,Hagig v. Trump. There was alsoAli v. Trump, Zadeh v. Trump,Bayani v. Trump, Albaldawi v.Trump.

This was the same Americawhose president had declared aban on travelers from predomi-nantly Muslim countries thattrapped people in airports and in-terrupted lives. And the sameAmerica where an Ali or a Hagig

could do what, back home, wouldhave been the unthinkable: call alawyer; stop the president.

“It was never my intention to goagainst the president of theUnited States,” said MohamedIye, a Somali-born American citi-zen whose Somali wife and twoAmerican daughters werestranded in Nairobi after Presi-dent Trump’s first travel orderprevented them from joining himin Minnesota. “I was just follow-ing the law and doing everythingthe way it’s in the books. And itcame to this.”

It came to this: more than 50lawsuits across the country, withat least as many individual plain-tiffs; a reprieve from a federaljudge in Seattle; a new ban; and,on March 15, a new set of road-blocks from federal judges in Ha-

waii and Maryland. On Wednes-day, the judge in Hawaii turned histemporary restraining orderagainst the ban into an indefiniteone, fixing it in place unless it isoverturned.

The government is appealingthose decisions, which havedrawn Mr. Trump’s fury. His ad-ministration has insisted it willprevail.

The people who sued the presi-dent this winter were Muslim, andthey were Christian. They were

professors and grocery clerks.They were parents, daughtersand sons-in-law, and they weremarried but divided, or just plan-ning the wedding. They wereAmericans, or trying to becomeones.

The ban “isn’t really what thiscountry’s about,” Mr. Iye, 66, saidrecently through an interpreter. “Iwouldn’t have brought my familyif I didn’t love this country, if I did-n’t believe this country was theland of dreams.”

Mr. Trump’s original executiveorder, signed on Jan. 27, barredvisitors from Iran, Iraq, Libya,Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen,including those with valid visas,from coming to the United Stateswhile federal agencies tightenedtheir vetting procedures. It also

In Lawsuit After Lawsuit, It’s Everyday People v. the PresidentBy VIVIAN YEE

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Ali, center, a Yemeni-born American citizen, was briefly stranded in Djibouti by the first travel ban.MAX WHITTAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A14

More Than 50 CasesAgainst an Order on

Immigration

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WASHINGTON — The WhiteHouse on Friday revived Presi-dent Trump’s unproven wiretap-ping allegations against theObama administration, insistingthat there is new evidence that itconducted “politically motivated”surveillance of Mr. Trump’s presi-dential campaign.

Senior government officials, in-cluding James B. Comey, the F.B.I.director, and lawmakers fromboth parties, have repeatedly andforcefully rejected the president’sclaim, saying they have seen noevidence of direct surveillance. Aspokesman for former PresidentBarack Obama has denied thatMr. Obama ever ordered surveil-lance of Mr. Trump or hisassociates.

But Sean Spicer, the WhiteHouse press secretary, asserted toreporters during his daily newsbriefing that members of Mr. Oba-ma’s administration had done“very, very bad things,” just as Mr.Trump alleged without proof onMarch 4 when he posted mes-sages on Twitter accusing Mr.Obama of “wire tapping” hisphones at Trump Tower.

“The question is why? Who elsedid it? Was it ordered? Bywhom?” Mr. Spicer said. “But Ithink more and more the sub-stance that continues to come outon the record by individualscontinues to point to exactly whatthe president was talking aboutthat day.”

Mr. Spicer appeared to bebasing his assertions on reportsfrom right-wing news outlets thattook out of context a month-old in-terview with a former Obama ad-ministration official.

Mr. Spicer’s comments came inthe midst of a drumbeat of devel-opments in the multiple investiga-tions into Russian contacts withMr. Trump’s associates, and aweek after the president failed to

Continued on Page A11

Spicer AssertsPolitical IntentIn Surveillance

Comments Come AmidInquiries Into Russia

By MICHAEL D. SHEARand JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kush-ner, President Trump’s daughterand son-in-law, will remain thebeneficiaries of a sprawling realestate and investment businessstill worth as much as $740 mil-lion, despite their new govern-ment responsibilities, accordingto ethics filings released by theWhite House Friday night.

Ms. Trump will also maintain astake in the Trump InternationalHotel in Washington, D.C. The ho-tel, just down the street from theWhite House, has drawn protestsfrom ethics experts who worrythat foreign governments or spe-cial interests could stay there inorder to curry favor with the ad-ministration.

It is unclear how Ms. Trumpwould earn income from thatstake. Mr. Kushner’s financial dis-closures said that Ms. Trumpearned between $1 million and $5million from the hotel betweenJanuary 2016 and March 2017, andput the value of her stake at be-tween $5 million and $25 million.

The disclosures were part of abroad, Friday-night document re-lease by the White House that ex-posed the assets of as many as 180senior officials to public scrutiny.The reports showed the assetsand wealth of senior staff mem-bers at the time they entered gov-ernment service.

Those disclosures included theassets of Gary D. Cohn, the formerpresident of Goldman Sachs whonow leads the National EconomicCouncil; Kellyanne Conway, thepollster and counsel to Mr.Trump; and Stephen K. Bannon,the chief strategist to the presi-

Continued on Page A15

TRUMP’S FAMILYSTILL BENEFITINGFROM BUSINESSES

ETHICS FILINGS RELEASED

Kushner Empire WorthUp to $740 Million —

Ties Scrutinized

This article is by Jesse Drucker,Eric Lipton and Maggie Haberman.

For Braulio Jatar, it was the big-gest scoop in years: Venezuela’spresident was being chased by acrowd screaming of hunger, bang-ing on pots and pans.

The photos and video of Presi-dent Nicolás Maduro soon ap-peared on Mr. Jatar’s news site,Reporte Confidencial, and spreadthroughout the nation. The mobcornering Mr. Maduro was ashock in Venezuela — anger in

food lines and even riots were a fa-miliar sight, but no one had everambushed the president that way.

Before he went to bed, Mr. Jatarfired off a series of Twitter mes-sages, some alluding to witnesstestimony he would soon broad-cast on his 9 a.m. radio show. Buthe never got the chance. He nowsits locked in a jail cell, a politicalprisoner, rights activists say.

Venezuela this week took itsbiggest plunge yet toward theone-man rule of Mr. Maduro as hisloyalists on the Supreme Court

gutted the country’s opposition-controlled legislature, seizing thepowers of the only body seen as acounter to the president’s growingauthority.

But the move was just part of aslide from democracy that hasbeen gaining steady momentumin the country over the past year— seen starkly in prison cellswhere the ranks of politicalprisoners are growing. Thosecells are filled with well-knownopponents of Mr. Maduro, like a

Prison Ranks Attest to Grip of Venezuelan RuleBy NICHOLAS CASEY

and ANA VANESSA HERRERO

Continued on Page A9

Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed onFriday to close the troubled jailcomplex on Rikers Island, whichhas spawned federal investiga-tions, brought waves of protestsand became a byword for brutal-ity, in a move he said was intendedto end an era of mass incarcera-tion in New York City.

The pledge to eventually closeRikers, a proposition once thoughtto be politically and practically un-feasible, came as an independentcommission was about to releasea 97-page report that recom-mended replacing the jails on Rik-ers with a system of smaller, bor-ough-based jails, at a cost of $10.6billion.

“This is a very serious, sober,forever decision,” Mr. de Blasiosaid, standing in the marbled ro-tunda of City Hall beside thespeaker of the City Council, Melis-sa Mark-Viverito, who has cham-pioned the closing of the complexwhile pushing the mayor to em-brace the idea. “Once you’re off,you’re off,” he said of the island.

Mr. de Blasio said the jails couldbe closed in 10 years, providing thecity could reduce the number ofpeople who cycle through thecity’s system to 5,000; lowenough, that is, for every inmateto be taken off the 400-acre islandand housed instead in jails else-where in the city.

De Blasio VowsTo Close Rikers,

Ending an EraBy J. DAVID GOODMAN

Continued on Page A19

WASHINGTON — Increas-ingly, when it comes to foreigntrade, the Trump administrationis talking loudly and brandishing asmall stick.

The widening gap betweenPresident Trump’s bellicose talkand the modest actions of his ad-ministration was again on displayFriday afternoon as he presided atthe ceremonial signing of two ex-ecutive orders. They would, hesaid, “set the stage for a great re-vival of American manufactur-ing.”

“Under my administration, thetheft of American prosperity willend,” he said.

But the new orders, authorizinga large research study and

strengthened enforcement of anexisting law, are unlikely to effecta major change in the nation’s for-tunes. Instead, the ceremonyhighlighted an emerging patternon trade.

Mr. Trump blasted the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a “potentialdisaster” and made a great showof removing the United Statesfrom the ratification process. OnFriday, one of Mr. Trump’s topadvisers on trade said the Trumpadministration planned to use thescorned agreement as a “startingpoint” for its own deals.

Mr. Trump described the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement

President’s Growing Trade Gap: A Gulf Between Talk and Action

By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM

President Trump before signing two executive orders on Friday.ERIC THAYER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A13

A revival of the play “Zoot Suit,” above,which debuted on Broadway in 1979,inspires fans to dress the part. PAGE A10

NATIONAL A10-17

Splashy ‘Zoot Suit’ Devotees

The fight over the Supreme Court con-firmation reflects years of partisantensions and hypocrisy. PAGE A16

Schoolyard Logic on Nominee

Coach Roy Williams of the University ofNorth Carolina has a distinct style ofteaching, and of speaking. PAGE D1

SPORTSSATURDAY D1-8

Coach Williams Does It His Way

The Spokane, Wash., university’s bas-ketball team has turned a 16th-centuryJesuit into a household name. PAGE D2

Behind the Name Gonzaga

A devastating attack on officials inAfghanistan early this year offers cluesto the entanglements and rivalries of anenduring war. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

A Deadly Trail to the Taliban

The secretary of state affirmed the U.S.commitment to NATO, but again toldallies to invest more in defense. PAGE A8

U.S. to NATO: Pay Up

As deaths from heroin and pills in-crease, many educators want to havean opioid antidote on hand. PAGE A18

NEW YORK A18-20

Schools Prepare for Overdoses

April D. Ryan’s run-in with the WhiteHouse press secretary propelled herinto a debate over the administration’sattitudes on gender and race. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-6

Chastised Reporter Wins Fans

William T. Coleman Jr., who rose aboveracial barriers as an influential lawyerand as a cabinet secretary in the Fordadministration, was 96. PAGE A24

OBITUARIES A21, 24

Champion of Civil Rights

Gail Collins PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

Late Edition

VOL. CLXVI . . . No. 57,554 + © 2017 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2017

RON JENKINS/GETTY IMAGES

Morgan William’s jumper for Mississippi State beat the Huskies in the Final Four. Page D1.The Shot That Ended Connecticut’s Winning Streak

Today, mostly cloudy, some morningrain, high 46. Tonight, partly cloudy,low 37. Tomorrow, mostly sunny,breezy, a milder afternoon, high 58.Weather map appears on Page C8.

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