As Congress prepares to consider massive cuts to health care and social services, those changes could spell significant changes for families in Michigan, particularly within the immigrant community.

“These folks are our neighbors. They’re our coworkers. They live in communities across the state, and they play key roles in Michigan’s economy,” said Christine Sauvé with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.

As part of its budget reconciliation bill, Congress is considering potentially cutting $163 billion from federal spending to boost defense and homeland security. That nearly 10 % reduction would drastically cut vital community resources for all citizens, including education, subsidized food programs, and housing support.

“Any safety net restrictions imposed through budget reconciliation will harm only lawfully present immigrants and their U.S. citizen children, rather, U.S. citizen family members,” said Esther Reyes with the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition.

Some potential program cuts that would directly impact Michiganders include the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helped more than 430,000 households in the state last year, the Child Tax Credit and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“With food prices persistently high and wages frozen in place, food security is already out of reach for far too many Michigan families and children,” said Anna Almanza with the Food Bank Council of Michigan.

“We’ll see Michigan families losing that access to care and will experience costly delays in care, not just immigrants,” said Jackie Chandler with the Michigan Primary Care Association.

While the current budget plan still has a long way to go, community leaders say it is essential to prepare for what may come.

It only took 50 seconds of game time for junior attacker Madison Taylor to break the seal on No. 3 Northwestern’s NCAA Tournament second-round matchup with Michigan.

By halftime, she’d already scored four goals, and by the end of the third quarter, nine of her shots had found the back of the net.

By converting a free-position goal with five minutes left in the contest, Taylor cemented her place in NCAA history, setting the record for most goals scored in an NCAA tournament game with her 10th goal.

The junior’s milestone mark — which outscored Michigan — propelled the Wildcats (17-2, 8-0 Big Ten) to a 15-7 win over the Wolverines (13-7, 5-3 Big Ten), advancing NU to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. 

“I didn’t know I scored that many goals until I got off the field,” Taylor said. “But I just feel really grateful to be here. … I just love this group, I love this team and I love playing this game.”

Taylor wasted no time getting going, charging toward the net and uncurling a shot past Michigan’s Erin O’Grady. After the ‘Cats controlled the draw, she scored her second, wrapping around the goal to score.

Michigan responded with a goal courtesy of Emma Bradbury to trim the deficit to one before Taylor secured a hat trick less than seven minutes into the first quarter.

As time dwindled in the period, Taylor secured a ground ball and passed to sprinting senior midfielder Emerson Bohlig. Bohlig, with breakneck speed, stormed into the fan and connected with senior midfielder Sam Smith. Smith’s shot found nylon to put NU up 4-1.

Freshman defender Mary Carroll caused a turnover as the first quarter expired, a resounding exclamation point on the ’Cats’ defensive domination. Throughout the game, NU caused nine turnovers and snagged 16 ground balls.

Between the pipes, graduate student goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer stood firm all game, making eight saves and allowing just seven goals. Two Michigan goals came in garbage time.

“(Sweitzer has) a level of confidence, charity, calm, positivity,” ’Cats coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “She really brings all those things to the table, and she lifts up the (defense) in that way all the time.”

The Wolverines scratched a goal back before junior attacker Lucy Munro earned a free position. As she started her motion, Taylor blitzed into the fan, receiving the incoming feed and scoring her fourth goal.

Ahead of halftime, Michigan scored another goal to decrease NU’s lead to 5-3. Sweitzer made a save with just seconds left in the half to keep the ’Cats’ lead at two.

Taylor then turned in one of the most dominant quarters in the history of the NCAA tournament.

She ripped off five consecutive goals in a little more than 10 minutes, extending NU’s lead to 11-4, as she made mincemeat out of the Michigan defense. The Wolverines double-teamed her. They tried a face guard. It made no difference for the Tewaaraton Award finalist. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” Taylor said. “Having all that prep all week, and then actually being able to do it on the field is a really good feeling.”

The ‘Cats widened their lead as the second half progressed. Graduate student attacker Niki Miles, redshirt junior attacker Abby LoCascio and sophomore attacker Taylor Lapointe tallied goals to enlarge NU’s control.

The running clock briefly began after Taylor’s 10th goal, and Amonte Hiller slowly began to cycle in her bench players. Michigan’s Jill Smith scored a fourth-quarter hat trick to get the Wolverines to seven goals.

Taylor’s season tally now sits at 99 goals and is tied for the most in a season in Big Ten history with program legend Izzy Scane, who set the record in 2023. The NCAA Division I record is 103, set by High Point’s Abby Hormes in 2022.

After being held to just two goals — tying a season-low — in the ’Cats’ Big Ten Championship game against Maryland, Taylor tied NU’s program record for goals in a game.

“The reason is because of her work ethic,” Amonte Hiller said. “She worked all week for two weeks and prepared herself for this moment.”

NU will take on Penn in the quarterfinal round Thursday, with a first draw time set for 11 a.m..

On the line: a trip to the semifinals in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

“This is a lot of fun, and this is really what we dream about when we’re little,” Amonte Hiller said. “We all dreamed about being part of these types of moments.”

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— Lacrosse: Northwestern earns No. 3 seed in NCAA Tournament

— Lacrosse: No. 3 Northwestern tops No. 7 Maryland in final seconds to win fifth Big Ten Championship

The 2025 Michigan Wolverines football season is just a few months away, and there is hope for quite a few guys to make a name for themselves and catch the attention of the next level. Here’s what their top 2026 NFL Draft prospects need to do to secure themselves as first-rounders next year.

Edge Derrick Moore

Michigan has produced plenty of defensive linemen in the last decade, specifically on the edge. Moore could be the next one, with an ideal 6-foot-3, 256-pound frame that rivals those selected in Round 1 this year.

But in order to really take that next step, he needs to make more of a difference on the stat sheet. The average number of sacks for guys selected in the first in 2025 was 6.5, and the average number of tackles for loss was about 13. Moore only has nine sacks and 12 tackles for loss in his career thus far.

Additionally, we need to see more of a burst. Moore is a solid pass rusher, but he doesn’t pop off the screen like David Ojabo and Aidan Hutchinson did. It could certainly be in there, but NFL teams are paying more and more attention to 40-yard times in their evaluations. If he surprises and hits a 4.6 or lower, he’ll have a much better shot at being a first-rounder.

Edge T.J. Guy

Similar to Moore, Guy has an NFL-ready frame at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds. And while 5.5 sacks in 2024 was more than expected, he’ll likely need to approach double digits to even be considered in that range. Not impossible by any means.

But we also saw Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart go in the top-15 this spring despite only 1.5 sacks in 2024 and 4.5 total in his career. Again, if he has sneaky athleticism that maybe we don’t know about, anything can happen.

Cornerback Jyaire Hill

The name trending the most on the Michigan roster in mock drafts is Hill. At 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, he is lankier than the average first-round corner over the past five years. Most expect him to run in the low 4.4s to high 4.3s in the 40-yard dash, which gives him the intangibles of a corner taken in this range.

But Hill is rough around the edges. He went through growing pains last year and allowed some big plays at times, but he also improved as the season went on. By the time The Game rolls around, the hope is that he is ready to take on one of college’s top wideouts in Jeremiah Smith and give him fits. That game could go a long way in his NFL evaluation.

Defensive Tackle Rayshaun Benny

If I were to fast forward a year from now, I think Benny will have the best shot at being a top-15 selection. He’s been overshadowed by Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, but now it’s his time to shine.

One of two things must happen — he either has to put on weight and stuff running lanes, or he’s got to show off a great 40-time. Benny is far from small at 296 pounds, but first-round guys at his position are usually heavier than 300 pounds and running in the 4.6-4.7 range. His best bet will be putting on a few pounds and still showing off his natural athleticism.

The average first-round interior defensive lineman stats over the past five drafts are 37.5 tackles, four sacks and nine tackles for loss in their final college season. While Benny has 71 career tackles, the other two metrics are right around what he has for his career.

Linebacker Jaishawn Barham

The priority for Barham is figuring out where he best fits. He’s far from a prototypical middle linebacker at 6-foot-3, 248. He’s a physical specimen who can turn into the top linebacker off the board, but he must he can clean up some of his mistakes from last year.

Where that typically lies for Barham is in coverage. He’s far from polished in covering running backs and is usually a step slow in getting into his lanes in zone. His play recognition in the pass game is usually late, allowing receivers to get open. Additionally, he can be a better tackler — he relies too much on his physicality and less on fundamentals.

That’s why he might be better suited on the edge, but time will tell how much he will play there this season. He’s a really athletic player, so it’s just a matter of finding where he fits in best and what position provides him the highest upside in the NFL.